I, Alex Cross

I moved through the foyer and turned right, past another agent shuttling two dark-ski

I passed open, empty parlors on either side, then came to a glass-walled smoking room at the end of the house. It stank of cigars and sex, but nobody was inside at the moment.

When I doubled back, I could hear shouting from near the entrance. Somebody was objecting to our presence – and loudly.

"Get your hands off me! Don't touch me, you wanker!" A tall blond man with an English accent was attempting to come down the big main staircase while two FBI agents held him back.

"This is an illegal search, goddamnit!" The Englishman had some spine; I could see that much. They finally had to put him down on the marble landing just to get a zip tie around his wrists.

I took the stairs two at a time, to where Mahoney was trying to question the guy. "Are you in charge here? You're Nicholson, right?"

"Piss off! I've already called my attorney. You're trespassing, every one of you." He was well over six feet and didn't seem to be losing steam. "You're breaking the law just being here. This is private property. Goddamnit, let me up! This is an outrage. This is a private party in a private house."

"Keep him separated from the others," Mahoney told the agents. "I don't want Mr. Nicholson talking to anyone else."

We quickly established a couple of holding areas on the first floor and started working through the house, culling the paying customers from the staff, taking names as best we could.

"Yes, my name is Nicholson – very soon you won't be able to forget it!" I heard from one of the rooms. "Nicholson, like the moving-picture star."

Chapter 46

IT WAS AS bizarre a raid as I'd seen since I'd been on the force. Pretty fu

We pulled one joker out of a concrete-block room, where he was still manacled to the wall in his thong underwear, presumably ditched there by his dominatrix. In fact, most of the people I saw were in one state of undress or another – completely naked, satin underwear, skimpy see-through robes – and one soaking-wet couple in towels, including turbans, the male smoking a cigar.

The men were a mix of Saudi and American. From what I gleaned, one was a billionaire by the name of Al-Hamad. He was having a birthday party that night. And a very happy fiftieth to you. One you won't forget.

We kept the English manager – if that was what he was – in a small study downstairs. By the time I got back to him, he'd settled into a stubborn silence. When I asked about the bruise on his cheek, Mahoney told me he'd taken to spitting at the arresting officer. Never a good idea.

I stood in the doorway, watching him sulk on an antique settee, surrounded by high shelves of books I couldn't imagine anyone had ever read. He was obviously a nasty son of a bitch and presumably a pimp. But was he also a killer? And why was he acting so arrogant about the raid?

His lawyer got there less than an hour later, wearing suspenders and a bow tie in the middle of the night. If I'd seen him on the street, I'd never have expected he was tied into something like this. He was Dilbert, minus the pocket protector.

Unfortunately, his paperwork was very good.

"What's this?" Mahoney asked, as the lawyer handed it over to him.

"Motion to quash. As of this moment, your ex parte's void, and this raid is illegal. My client will generously allow you five minutes to clear out. After that, we're looking at contempt of court and criminal trespassing."

Mahoney did a slow double take between the lawyer's little bug eyes and the motion to quash. Whatever he saw seemed to have the intended effect. He dropped the pages to the floor and walked away as they fluttered. Then I heard him shouting orders and shutting everyone down, the entire raid.

I picked up the motion and started sca

He actually reached up and flipped the page for me, pointed. "The Honorable Laurence Gibson."

"Of course, I thought. Senators, congressmen, billionaires for clients – why not a judge?

Part Three. WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

Chapter 47

I GOT HOME early Sunday morning, somewhere between the newspaper delivery trucks and the overzealous joggers heading to the park.

Whoa! What was this?

I found Nana in the sunporch, fast asleep in one of the wicker chairs. Other than her ancient pink terry slippers, she was already dressed for church in a gray fla

I put a hand on her shoulder, and she woke with a shrug. All it took was one quick look at my face. "Bad night?" she asked.

I flopped down on the love seat across from her. "Am I that obvious all the time?"

"Only to the initiated. All right, tell me what happened. Talk to me."

If this were any other case, I would have pleaded exhaustion, but Nana deserved to know about it. Still, I kept the details down to a PG rating; there was no need to overemphasize the dark side of Caroline's life. Nana knew, I was sure. She always seemed to, somehow.

By the time I got to the part about the geeky lawyer with the "motion to quash," I started getting worked up all over again. I'd just wasted a whole night, and I'd run out on Ali and Ja

"I think Ja

"Oh, you know. They'll survive," she said, but then added, "Assuming that's all you need them to do."

"It was like a pat on the head and a smack on the cheek at the same time. Pure Nana Mama.

"So that was your twin sister waving me out the door last night? Telling me it was all good. See, I could have sworn it was you."

"Now, don't get defensive on me, Alex." She sat up a little straighter and cricked her neck, massaging it on one side. "I'm just saying, the children don't always care why you're gone, Alex. They just know that you are. Especially little Damon."

"You mean Ali."

"That's what I said, isn't it? The boy's only six, after all."

I leaned in for a better look at her. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

She made her pssh sound. "Old people don't need sleep. It's one of the secret advantages. Reason I can still whip you in a debate. Now, help me up and I'll start some coffee. You look like you could use it."

I had a hand on her elbow and she was halfway up, when she stopped suddenly and sagged a little.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just, um…"

At first she looked confused. Then all at once, her face creased with pain and she doubled over in my arms. Before I could even get her back down again, she'd passed out.

Oh God, no.

Her small body was like nothing to hold in my arms. I laid her gently on the love seat and felt for a pulse at her neck. There was none.

"Nana? Can you hear me? Nana?"

My heart was flying now. The doctors at St. Anthony's had told me the signs to look for – no movement, no breath, and she just lay there, horribly still.

Nana was in cardiac arrest.