Like Father Like Son Read online

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2021 by James Patterson

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  First ebook edition: June 2021

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  ISBN 978-0-316-70569-1

  E3-20210427-JV-NF-ORI

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Alex Cross

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  About the Author

  Jimmy Patterson Books for Young Readers

  Newsletters

  ALI CROSS, WHERE are you???

  When I saw that text from my great-grandmother, Nana Mama, I got a bad feeling in my gut. Something told me my perfect day was about to come to a very imperfect end.

  “Yo, I think I might have a problem here,” I said, and showed my phone to Cedric.

  He gave a low, bad-news kind of whistle. “Uh-oh,” he said. “Tropical storm Nana Mama, moving in quick.”

  “Right?” I said. “If she finds out where I am, I’m toast.”

  The thing was, I’d told Nana Mama that I was going to be working on a report for school at Cedric’s house that day. But it wasn’t true. I mean, I was with Cedric. We just weren’t anywhere near his house.

  We were at the Anacostia Park Music Festival, having an awesome time with our friends. Ruby, Mateo, and Gabe were there, along with Ruby’s best friend, Zoe. And if I’m being honest, I’d say Zoe was about 90 percent of the reason I’d gone AWOL in the first place.

  I mean, I’d had crushes on other girls before, but this was the first time I’d ever thought one of them might actually like me back. That’s what you call a miracle. So you could say there was a lot on the line.

  We’d already stuffed our faces with cheesesteaks and fried dough, checked out a bunch of different acts, gotten our picture taken in this giant ANACOSTIA ROCKS photo frame, and even sat in on a steel drum lesson.

  But none of that was the main event.

  “You can’t go now,” Zoe said. “We’re just getting started.”

  “I’m working on it,” I told her, as we pushed through the crowd toward the main stage. “What time’s your mom go on?”

  Zoe looked at her phone. “Supposedly like an hour ago. But you know how it is.”

  I just nodded, like I knew exactly how it was to be the kid of a famous musician. Washington famous, anyway. People kept saying Zoe’s mom, Vanessa “Dee-Cee” Knight, was going to hit the big time any day now. They called her the Queen of Go-Go, which is a homegrown Washington DC kind of music—a little funk, a little R&B, and a little old school hip-hop. It’s not my usual jam, but again, I wasn’t there for the music. I was there for Zoe.

  So I doubled down with Nana Mama, and tried to buy a little more time.

  Still working on my report at Cedric’s, I texted back. I’ll be home for dinner!

  And don’t get it twisted, by the way. I love my great-grandma, big time. But I’m not allowed to cross the Anacostia River without an adult. Not even to go to the park. Which was crazy. I mean, even Ruby and Mateo were allowed to be there, and their family’s way stricter than mine. It was time for Nana to start figuring out I wasn’t a little kid anymore.

  “Let me see if I can find out what’s up with my mom’s show,” Zoe said. “Give me five minutes. She’s got to be back there somewhere.”

  Zoe pointed to the parking lot behind the stage. It was full of trailers, semis, and RVs, which I think were the dressing rooms. But it was also a restricted area. They had a long line of bike racks set up like a temporary fence to keep people out.

  Not that it was going to stop Zoe. Already, she had her hands on that fence like she was ready to sneak over, no problem.

  “Why don’t you just go that way?” Ruby asked, and pointed at the actual backstage entrance, where a couple of uniformed dudes were checking IDs. “Just tell them your mom’s headlining. They’ll let you in.”

  “Yeah, no,” Zoe said. “I’m allergic to cops.”

  The “cops” were really just security guards, but I didn’t bother to correct her. I also didn’t mention that my dad was a detective with the Metropolitan Police Department. Hopefully that wouldn’t mean Zoe was allergic to me, too.

  “I got this,” she said. Then she started rapping, right there on the spot.

  “Dee-Cee hanging back don’t know where but gonna find out.

  “Once she hits the stage gonna rage and blow your mind out.

  “Watch me slip the line right on time here I go, yo.

  “Quick as that there and back coming at you like a yo-yo.”

  “That was awesome,” Mateo said, which it totally was. Zoe had a reputation at school for writing some dope poetry, and she could obviously freestyle, too. I guess it was in her blood, considering what her mom did for a living. Kind of like the way I’m always thinking about police procedure and crime scene investigation. (What can I say? I’m a cop’s kid.)

  “Don’t leave before I get back,” Zoe said, and pointed right at me in a way that made my stomach jump. A second later, she’d slipped that fence like it wasn
’t even there, cut up between two of those big semitrucks, and disappeared.

  I just stood there, watching the spot where she’d been, thinking about that sweet and salty smile of hers. And those gold box braids mixed in with the black ones. And the pink kicks she always wore. Let’s just say Zoe Knight wasn’t the type of girl you could easily miss in a crowd.

  “I think someone likes you,” Ruby said, as soon as Zoe was gone. “And I think their name starts with a Z.”

  “You think?” Cedric said, and he and Mateo fell on me, knocking me around and giving me a hard time. Not that I minded. Those two are my boys.

  “She’s super nice,” Gabe said. “And really pretty, too.”

  Gabe’s a little different, but I like how chill he can be, even if he is a typical gamer slash space cadet slash computer genius.

  “I just hope Zoe gets back soon,” I told them, because I knew the Nana clock was ticking.

  And then sure enough, we’d barely been waiting two minutes before the next text from my great-grandma dinged into my phone.

  If you’re at Cedric’s house, why doesn’t his mother know where he is???

  “Aw, man,” Cedric said, reading over my shoulder. “That’s what you call bad timing.”

  Nana wasn’t playing, either. A second after that, my phone started ringing, with her name on the caller ID. I could practically feel the heat coming off the screen, just looking at it.

  Mateo put his arms out, zombie style, and stumbled a few steps. “Nana… calls… must… obey…”

  He wasn’t wrong. But I also knew that if I had to leave before Zoe got back, I could kiss my chances with her good-bye. Which was probably the only thing I’d be kissing anytime soon.

  “You going to answer that?” Gabe asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. I was just putting it off for as long as possible.

  But then… everything changed.

  I was just about to pick up Nana’s call when a loud bang came from somewhere in that backstage parking lot.

  It wasn’t the kind of soft pop you hear sometimes. More like a hammer coming down on a piece of metal, which meant it was close by. Maybe four hundred feet, if I was guessing.

  And in any case, I knew exactly what I’d just heard.

  It was the sound of a single gunshot.

  WHEN MY HEAD snapped in the direction of that sound, I was staring almost exactly the direction Zoe had gone a few minutes ago. But there was nothing to see, really. With all those trucks in the way, it was impossible to know what was going on. All we could know for sure was that Zoe was still back there—somewhere.

  I felt like I’d just been wired with a thousand-volt current. I couldn’t move, and my friends’ faces looked like they were just as scared as I was. Not for ourselves, but because I think we were all wondering the same thing.

  “What about Zoe?” Ruby asked.

  People on our side of the fence weren’t doing much, but everyone from the backstage area was coming our way. A couple of truckers knocked down a big piece of the barrier and kept moving, past us toward the river.

  “Let’s just make sure she comes back,” Gabe said.

  “She might be with her mom,” Mateo said.

  “And she might not,” Ruby said, already working her phone. “She’s not picking up, either.”

  We all stood there like statues, trying to make a decision about what direction to move in. But then Cedric decided for us.

  “Come on,” he said. He stepped over the place where the barrier was down. “We have to make sure she’s okay. Watch your step.”

  There hadn’t been any more gunshots, anyway. Just the one. The only banging now was inside my chest. My heart was going so fast it hurt. Still, there was no way we’d be splitting up. If I were Zoe in that situation, I’d want to know that my friends had my back.

  A second later, we were following Cedric between the same two semis where she’d gone. It was like a canyon made out of trucks, and I couldn’t see anything except what was straight ahead and straight behind.

  “Where are those trailers?” Cedric asked.

  “Maybe over there?” Mateo said, pointing. “Just keep going.”

  “And everyone stick together,” I said. “No matter what.”

  When we came out of that truck canyon, there was a wide lane for driving, and then another row of vehicles and trailers. The whole place was like a giant maze, with no sign of Zoe.

  “Zoe!” Ruby yelled.

  “Zoe Knight!” Gabe added.

  “Where are you?” Mateo yelled. But there was no answer.

  We cut up between two more semis and kept going. So far, we hadn’t seen anyone at all. As far as I could tell, nobody was back here anymore.

  “Maybe we should turn around,” Ruby said.

  Except then I got one more idea. “Hang on,” I said. I dropped flat to the ground and put my cheek down sideways. If I couldn’t see through all those trucks, I could at least try to see under them.

  Looking left, there was nothing but more parking lot. So I pivoted one-eighty, while the cement chewed into my hands and knees. That didn’t matter, though, because as soon as I’d turned around, I spotted Zoe.

  I couldn’t see her face, but I recognized those pink J’s on her feet right away. She was kneeling on the cement, a couple of rows over. And she wasn’t alone.

  Someone was standing there, facing her. A man, I’d guess, but I couldn’t tell. All I could see were some heavy black work boots and the bottom of a long tan coat. I didn’t know if they were talking to each other, or if something terrible was about to happen.

  “ZOE!” I yelled as loud as I could.

  “What is it?” Mateo asked. Everyone dropped to get a look for themselves. At the same time, whoever was in those black boots turned real quick, and moved off in another direction, out of sight—leaving Zoe behind.

  What was going on?

  The fastest way to her now was in a straight line. I didn’t even think about it. I just stayed low and half crawled, half rolled under that big truck, then kept going, underneath the one next to it. Everyone else was right behind me.

  When we all came out from under that second truck, Zoe was there, next to one of those dressing room RVs. It might have been her mom’s, I didn’t know, but there was no sign of anyone else. Zoe was still on her knees, looking dazed like she barely even knew we were there.

  And that’s when I noticed the blood.

  It was dripping down her arm, over her hand, and making big red dots on the concrete. There was also an ugly black hole in the sleeve of her jacket, just above the wrist.

  “You’re hurt!” Ruby said. “Omigod… Zoe, are you shot?”

  I could feel my breath coming up short while I tried not to panic.

  “You guys?” Zoe’s voice sounded weird, like it was coming from farther away than it was. Then she looked down at her arm, just before she collapsed the rest of the way to the ground.

  I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t even imagine this was actually happening.

  And the only people around to help Zoe right then were us.

  “ZOE? ZOE?” I yelled. “Can you hear me?”

  Zoe looked around at us with this weird expression, like she was sorry for something. Her right hand was gripping her left wrist. The blood was still soaking her sleeve, and she had a splatter of it on her cheek, too.

  “Ali?” She reached out like she wanted to get up, but I put a hand at the back of her head and got her to lie down instead.

  “Call 911!” I said.

  “I already am!” Ruby said. She had a hand pressed over her ear so she could hear. “Hello? Hello? Are you there?”

  “Where’s your mom?” Gabe asked.

  “I dunno,” she said. “Couldn’t find her…” She was mumbling, and working just to get the words out. I wondered if she was in shock. Was that even a thing for a wound like this?

  Cedric and Mateo were flanking us on either side. Gabe looked like he was going to be sick, but he h
ung in next to me, cradling Zoe’s head while I moved down to her arm.

  My heart was thundering. I knew I had to keep Zoe calm. Even more important, though, I had to stop her bleeding.

  “Put your hand up,” I told her, and helped her slowly raise the wounded arm. “That’s it. Just keep it above your heart.”

  It was like my brain had gone into autopilot. The words coming out of my mouth felt like they were coming from someone else. But the fact was, I knew what to do. I’d been absorbing this stuff all my life, watching two zillion episodes of Law & Order, reading like crazy about detectives and emergency responders, and surfing YouTubes on crime scenes and first aid for as long as I could remember.

  Still, there’s YouTube and then there’s real life. I just prayed I wouldn’t mess this up, because it didn’t get any realer than this.

  “Hello?” I heard Ruby again behind me. “My friend’s been shot! We need an ambulance right away. We’re at the Anacostia Park Music Festival, in the parking lot behind the main stage! Please, please hurry!”

  Meanwhile, I needed something for a bandage to put some pressure on the wound. I couldn’t just use my hands.

  “Cedric, hold her arm for a second,” I said.

  He grabbed on and I yanked my DC NATIVE sweatshirt over my head as fast as I could.

  “Okay, let me back in there,” I said.

  I wrapped one of the sleeves three times around Zoe’s wrist. Then I put my hands around the whole thing and squeezed as tightly as I could.

  Zoe groaned.

  “You’re hurting her!” Mateo said.

  “I’m sorry!” I said. “It’s how you’re supposed to do it.”

  “Just… do what… you need to…” Zoe gutted out, taking a breath every couple of words. I couldn’t believe how strong she was. If it were me, I think I would have passed out by then. Even now, I felt like I was going to blow my lunch.

  “We got you, Zoe,” Gabe said. He had his hands on her feet, and he sounded calm enough, but I could tell he was just as scared as me. Everyone was either crying or trying not to.

  “Where’s that ambulance?” Ruby asked. She was looking around, but the two trucks on either side of us were making it just as impossible to see as ever. So Cedric and Mateo took off in both directions, to try and get a wider lookout. Ruby stayed on the phone with 911, while Gabe and I stuck with Zoe. It had only been a minute but it already felt like forever.