Neal makes a pushing motion to nudge everybody into the hall. “I’m securing this room. My sergeant will be here in five minutes. Until we sort this out, nobody’s leaving.”
I’m out of options, so I try pulling rank. “Goddamn it, Officer! I’m a detective grade one!”
Neal shakes his head. “Not here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
He’s right. I’m not the boss of him.
CHAPTER 99
Cross
“DAD! OH MY GOD! DAD!”
Alex Cross is face down on a cold concrete floor. His ribs feel bruised. His back feels twisted. And his ears must be playing tricks on him.
“Dad!”
He feels hands on him, rolling him over. He blinks in the glare of an overhead light. A figure is hovering over him. Alex shades his eyes with one hand.
“Damon?”
Alex’s heart is racing. He tries to lift himself up. Can’t do it. Hurts too much.
“Dad, don’t move!”
Dazed and disoriented, Alex manages to turn his head to one side. The walls are cinder block. The ceiling is steel. The stench is horrific. Pain shoots through his body. He squeezes his eyesshut, praying that he’s not hallucinating. “Damon! Is that really you?”
He feels a hand squeezing his. “Yes, Dad! It’s me! I’m okay.”
Alex opens his eyes again and grabs his son’s arm. “The men! The rednecks. The ones who took your bike—”
“How do you know about them?” asks Damon.
“Never mind,” says Alex. “Did they hurt you? Are they the ones who brought you here?”
Damon shakes his head. “No. They chased me on the main road. I felt too exposed staying there, so I went into the reserve and stayed there all day, until dark. Then I tried going home, but I couldn’t find my way back to the main road. I was too turned around. I finally saw some lights from a farmhouse, so I headed that way. Before I even got there, I was whacked on the head and dumped into this goddamn pit.”
“Brophy,” says Alex.
“Who?”
“Colton Brophy. The guy who owns this place. That’s his name. He’s some kind of Confederate fanboy Civil War reenactor.” Alex sits up with a groan. He touches his belt, feeling for his gun. Nothing but the empty holster. “Damn it! Brophy has my gun. My phone and badge too.”
“You’ve talked to him?” Damon asks.
Alex nods. “Earlier today. I was in his house up top. I showed him your picture. Asked for his help. But something didn’t feel right, so I came back tonight. I got careless, and he caught me. Nobody knows I’m here.”
Alex feels like an idiot. It’s not the first time his independent nature has gotten him in trouble or put him in danger. He should know better by now.
He flinches when he sees movement in the shadows behind his son.
Damon turns and beckons two people over. “Guys, this is my father, Dr. Alex Cross. Dad, this is Professor Lucas and Amy Tyne.”
Holy shit.
Darius Lucas is a slim, serious-looking Black man. Amy Tyne is petite and pale with a short, elfin haircut. “Sorry to meet you this way, Dr. Cross,” she says. She kneels alongside Alex and runs her hands over his legs. “Can you feel this?”
Alex nods.
