The Midnight Club Read online

  Contents

  Raves for James Patterson, America’s #1 Thriller Writer

  Books by James Patterson

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter: 1

  Chapter: 2

  Chapter: 3

  Chapter: 4

  Chapter: 5

  Chapter: 6

  Part One: The Grave Dancer

  Chapter: 7

  Chapter: 8

  Chapter: 9

  Chapter: 10

  Chapter: 11

  Chapter: 12

  Chapter: 13

  Chapter: 14

  Chapter: 15

  Chapter: 16

  Chapter: 17

  Chapter: 18

  Chapter: 19

  Chapter: 20

  Chapter: 21

  Chapter: 22

  Chapter: 23

  Chapter: 24

  Chapter: 25

  Chapter: 26

  Chapter: 27

  Chapter: 28

  Chapter: 29

  Chapter: 30

  Chapter: 31

  Chapter: 32

  Chapter: 33

  Chapter: 34

  Part Two: The Sixth Estate

  Chapter: 35

  Chapter: 36

  Chapter: 37

  Chapter: 38

  Chapter: 39

  Chapter: 40

  Chapter: 41

  Chapter: 42

  Chapter: 43

  Chapter: 44

  Chapter: 45

  Chapter: 46

  Chapter: 47

  Chapter: 48

  Chapter: 49

  Chapter: 50

  Chapter: 51

  Chapter: 52

  Chapter: 53

  Chapter: 54

  Chapter: 55

  Chapter: 56

  Chapter: 57

  Chapter: 58

  Part Three: The Midnight Club

  Chapter: 59

  Chapter: 60

  Chapter: 61

  Chapter: 62

  Chapter: 63

  Chapter: 64

  Chapter: 65

  Chapter: 66

  Chapter: 67

  Chapter: 68

  Chapter: 69

  Chapter: 70

  Chapter: 71

  Chapter: 72

  Chapter: 73

  Chapter: 74

  Chapter: 75

  Chapter: 76

  Chapter: 77

  Chapter: 78

  Chapter: 79

  Chapter: 80

  Chapter: 81

  Chapter: 82

  Chapter: 83

  Chapter: 84

  Chapter: 85

  Chapter: 86

  Chapter: 87

  Chapter: 88

  Chapter: 89

  Chapter: 90

  Chapter: 91

  Chapter: 92

  Chapter: 93

  Chapter: 94

  Chapter: 95

  Chapter: 96

  Chapter: 97

  Chapter: 98

  Chapter: 99

  Chapter: 100

  Chapter: 101

  Chapter: 102

  Chapter: 103

  Epilogue

  Chapter: 104

  Chapter: 105

  James Patterson—#1 Bestselling Author

  PROLOGUE

  Night of the Detective

  1

  Long Beach, New York, March 1986

  THE NIGHT THAT John Stefanovitch was shot couldn’t have been colder, or the stars more dazzling in high winter skies.

  Shortly past midnight, Stefanovitch tramped down the creaking, solidly frozen boardwalk at Long Beach. He was humming “Surfer Girl,” one of those awful beach-town ditties that could usually bring a smile to his lips.

  Stefanovitch’s eyes stayed sharply focused. They very carefully swept the silent, gritty beachfront neighborhood.

  The Grave Dancer was nearby. Stefanovitch felt it all through his body. It was a second sense he had sometimes, almost a paranormal gift. The scumbucket he had been tracking for almost two years was so close it made his skin crawl.

  He finally arrived back on Florida Street, the desolate side lane where he and his detectives had agreed to gather. Actually, he’d been there ten minutes ago, then walked down to New York Avenue and the funkytown boardwalk to clear his head.

  The full team of fourteen Narcotics detectives was assembled. This was a joint Nassau County and N.Y.P.D. strike force, each of them handpicked to go after the Grave Dancer.

  Stefanovitch said his hellos, patting the backs of down parkas, playing the crowd.

  Stefanovitch fit in, which was unusual for a lieutenant. Maybe it was because he’d never seemed overly impressed with himself, never felt making “Loo” meant that much anyway. Or maybe it was because he was more cynical, and funnier about his perspective on the world, than any of the detectives working under him.

  True to form, he was wearing a weathered black leather coat, over a hooded gray sweatshirt. The outfit made his six feet two inches seem more compact, more physically impressive. Underneath a crushed black fedora, his hair was long and brown, and unruly. His eyes were a cool, dark brown, but could warm up once he got comfortable with someone. People said Stefanovitch looked like some kind of flaky film star, and he thought that wasn’t all bad. Flaky film stars seemed to be running the world these days.

  In the electrified darkness of Florida Street, car trunks sprung open with almost no sound. Out came .357 Magnums, twelve-gauge shotguns, N.Y.P.D.- and Nassau County-issue guns. Also, full ammo pouches.

  The beachfront neighborhood felt as if it were about to explode.

  The dope raid was going to be bigger than the celebrated French Connection. As much as two hundred kilograms; over a million and a half fixes for New York’s 250,000 addicts.

  They were closing in on Alexandre St.-Germain, the animal called the Grave Dancer; the man who had been Stefanovitch’s obsession during the past twenty-two months. That was no accident either. Stefanovitch regularly got the most important narcotics cases in the N.Y.P.D. He was talented, and he thrived on challenges. For the past few years he’d been the department’s “big play man.” Nothing but the fast track for him.

  Stefanovitch finally turned to his second in command, a 260-pound detective named Bear Kupchek. “You all ready, Charlie Chan?” he asked.

  “Ah. Wise man never ready to walk down dark alleyway at night.” Kupchek grinned like the portly Chinese detective.

  “Fuck you, Charlie,” said Stefanovitch.

  2

  John and Anna Stefanovitch; Brooklyn Heights

  HOURS BEFORE, Stefanovitch and his wife, Anna, had gone out to dinner. He had taken her to the glittery River Cafe, tucked like an expensive tiara beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

  After dinner, they had gone back to their apartment in Brooklyn and snuck up to the indoor pool on the roof. It was closed after nine, but Stefanovitch had a key. He brought a tape deck, and they danced on the rooftop, first to Robert Cray and his blues, then to the romantic Brazilian Laurindo Almeida.

  “We’re breaking the law that you’re sworn to uphold,” Anna whispered against his cheek. She was so soft and fine to hold; a great slow dancer, too. Elegant and totally desirable.

  “Bad law. Unenforceable,” Stefanovitch whispered back.

  “Some policeman you are. No respect for authority.”

  “You bet. I know too many authority figures.”

  He started to unbutton Anna’s dress, which picked up the green of her eyes, the gold of her hair, and which felt like the smoothest silk under his fingers.

  “You going to try for indecent exposure now?” Anna smiled softly.

  “For starters maybe. I have some other felonies in mind, too.”

&nb
sp; After they slipped out of their dinner clothes, they did a few slow laps; then they floated languorously in the moonlit pool, under the glass rooftop, the twinkling stars.

  With Anna, Stefanovitch had a way of doing wonderfully romantic things. He’d become a master of the unexpected: a dozen American roses arriving at the grade school where Anna taught fourth grade; a weekend ski trip to Stowe, in Vermont; gold shell earrings he spent an hour at Saks picking out himself.

  He reached out and pulled her body closer in the deep end of the pool. Her green eyes were warm and wise—spectacular eyes. Her body seemed glazed in the moonlight. She was a fantasy he’d had since he’d been a kid in school. The two of them fit together perfectly.

  “Sometimes I can’t believe how much I love you,” he whispered, his breath catching slightly on the words. “Anna, I love you more than all the rest of my life put together. I’d be lost without you. Sad but true.”

  “Not so sad, Stef.”

  They made tender, then passionate love in the still, blue-green water of the swimming pool. In the middle of the coldest March in years.

  At the moment, John Stefanovitch was sure he had everything he had ever wanted out of life. Getting St.-Germain would be the icing on his cake.

  3

  The Grave Dancer; Long Beach

  UNTIL PAST MIDNIGHT, Alexandre St.-Germain had been at a black tie affair given at a Fifth Avenue penthouse in Manhattan. The party-goers were mostly investment bankers and other Wall Street power brokers; their wives; assorted young playthings. A very good black combo played, and seemed particularly out of place in the setting.

  St.-Germain himself fit in splendidly: he was sophisticated; wittier than any of the bankers; a wealthy and respected European investor with seemingly unlimited capital…

  Now, the Grave Dancer was approaching Long Beach Island, cruising along in a dark sports car. He was feeling particularly sanguine about the past few weeks. He had been mapping out a strategy that would ultimately change the face of organized crime. He had financial backing, both in New York and abroad. He simply had to make certain nothing went wrong during the next few critical months.

  One man has been interfering lately, St.-Germain was thinking as he crossed the bridge onto Long Beach. A detective named Stefanovitch had taken it upon himself to make St.-Germain’s life in America difficult, if not impossible. He was a master at harassment. He was persistent, and cleverer than most policemen. He had already caused more trouble and embarrassment than St.-Germain could allow.

  Twice he had trailed St.-Germain to Europe. He had conducted surveillance watches outside his apartment on Central Park West. One evening, he had followed St.-Germain into Le Cirque, practically interviewing the restaurant’s owner, Sirio Maccioni.

  This desire to prevail against the odds, to tilt against windmills, seemed to be an American trait. St.-Germain had watched it fail miserably in Southeast Asia during the early seventies; he would watch it fail again now in New York. Stefanovitch was challenging him, and that couldn’t be permitted.

  His sports car finally entered Long Beach, and he gunned it toward his rendezvous. An important lesson had to be taught tonight.

  4

  John Stefanovitch; Long Beach

  FOURTEEN N.Y.P.D. and Nassau County detectives walked single file, making uneven lines on either side of Ocean View Street in Long Beach.

  They passed forty-year-old tract houses and a few Irish bars on the narrow street. Occasionally, there was a pizza stand or ramshackle novelty store, boarded up for the winter.

  “I could use a slice of pizza,” Bear Kupchek cracked. “Pepperoni and onions, extra cheese.”

  “I could use a sane partner,” John Stefanovitch whispered back.

  They continued walking until they reached an even narrower street, called Louisiana. Nothing but parked cars were visible there, dented and rusting like the dank beach cottages themselves.

  At the far end of Louisiana, the detectives entered a sharp bend, which opened into a wide fork. Two large beach houses stood at either end, like sentinels.

  Stefanovitch knew everything about Alexandre St.-Germain: that he was the current drug star in Europe, the largest narcotics dealer in years; that he was also known as a businessman in parts of the world, a legitimate financier and investor—which made tripping him up that much more difficult. Stefanovitch knew that St.-Germain and his organization were moving very impressively into the United States; that St.-Germain had masterminded a Byzantine, highly effective system to control organized crime throughout Europe, known as the “street law.”

  This street law applied to criminals and to the police alike. There were strict rules, and they were known to everyone. Rival crime lords, but also policemen, prosecuting attorneys, even judges who came into conflict with St.-Germain’s system, were dealt with ruthlessly. Murder and sadistic torture were the usual forms of retribution. Revenge against friends and family members was common. Alexandre St.-Germain said that he refused to live by the rules of the weak.

  Tonight, Stefanovitch and his Narcotics detectives were breaking the street law. They were striking a major St.-Germain drug factory inside the United States.

  Stefanovitch’s eyes were drawn suddenly to the far left of the cul-de-sac. The house lights there had blinked out.

  “Uh-oh. The left. See that?” Bear Kupchek pointed.

  Stefanovitch and everyone else stopped, their legs and feet suddenly frozen in step.

  The wind from the ocean held a sibilant, almost ominous whistle in the background.

  “What’s that all about?” Kupchek whispered. “I hope somebody’s just going beddy-bye late.”

  “I don’t know. Hold tight.” Stefanovitch was slowly raising his Remington. He had a sick feeling, the beginning of an adrenal rush.

  Through the trees the moon had cast everything in a pattern of strange black and white shapes.

  “Hey, detectives! Big fucking surprise, huh?”

  A voice suddenly boomed.

  “Hey!…Over here!”

  More gruff voices came from the opposite side of the narrow street. Several men were hiding in the darkness.

  “No! Over here, cocksuckers!”

  A row of blinding white floodlights went on. Bright crisscrossing lights bloomed in every direction.

  Then heavy gunfire exploded from both sides of the street; a deadly commotion of noise and blazing light commenced on signal.

  “Get down. Everybody get down!” Stefanovitch yelled as he pressed the safety, pumped his own shotgun, and felt his body shift into automatic.

  “Get down!” he screamed as he fired at the beaming lights. “Everybody, down!”

  5

  ALL OVER THE STREET there was pandemonium. Detectives were screaming and cursing. Stefanovitch finally dropped on his stomach. He was gasping for breath. He had a flashing thought about Anna: the idea of never seeing her again.

  He pressed his body against the freezing cold concrete. He didn’t know whether he’d been hit or not. He genuinely didn’t know. The odors of motor oil and gasoline stuffed his nose.

  Down on his stomach, Stefanovitch wiggled until he was underneath the rear end of a parked car. He ripped his hands and knees as he struggled forward. Where the hell was the backup? What could he do now?

  He made it to a second parked car. As he did, his head cracked against the undercarriage. He cursed. His lungs ached horribly. The submachine guns kept giving fire.

  For a moment, he was hidden under a third parked car.

  He wondered if he should stay there. The auto’s body was so low that his face scraped the ground. His mind screamed.

  A fourth car was parked up tightly against the third vehicle, cheek to cheek. He kept straining to hear the sound of approaching police sirens.

  Nothing. No one in the neighborhood had called the police.

  He kept moving from parked car to car. Away from the killers and the massacre. Did they know where he was? Had anyone seen him?

&nbs
p; He stopped counting how many cars he’d gone under. He was numb all over from the cold.

  The last parked car was anchored at the corner of Ocean View. The attackers’ voices were fading down the street. He needed a breath, before he got up and tried to run.

  Stefanovitch finally pushed himself from underneath the last car.

  Then he ran as fast as he could, sprinting to his left.

  He was numb and sweaty-cold, so otherworldly and out of it. He was running, though, and nobody was going to catch him. He zigzagged as he went, feeling like a ground missile released from its cramped vault.

  Everything was unreal. His feet had never struck against the pavement quite like this before. His breathing was labored and very painful.