ank ban,” she whispered.
Make love to me, soldier man.
Starkey was there in the apartment, but his head was in Vietnam. Kym was shaking and he loved that, the total control he felt, the evil he was capable of, the electricity it could bring into his system.
He looked at Harris and his friend knew. He just knew.
They fired the guns simultaneously.
The girls flew back against the wall and then slid down onto the floor. Kym was shaking all over, very close to death. “Why?” she whispered.
Starkey just shrugged at her.
Upstairs there were two more pffthts. The sound of falling bodies, Susie and Hoa. Warren Griffin had been waiting for them. He knew, too.
It was just like in the An Lao Valley, Vietnam.
Where the madness had started.
Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice
Chapter Sixty-Seven
When we finished up at Colonel Bennett's house, Sampson and I checked into the Hotel Thayer, right on the grounds of West Point. I continued to think about the three killers and how they kept getting away. Force without any conscience. That was what Agent Fescoe had called it.
In the morning I met Sampson for breakfast in the hotel dining room overlooking the majestic Hudson, which appeared almost steely gray in the distance and was topped by whitecaps. We talked about the grisly Bennett murders and wondered if they were connected to the others, and if the killers had changed their pattern.
“Or maybe there are more murders that we just don't know about,” Sampson said. “Who knows how many have been killed at this point, or how far back the murders go?” He poured himself another steaming cup of coffee. “It has to come down to the three killers. They were here, Alex. It has to be the same three men.”
I couldn't disagree with him. 'I have to make a few calls,
then we're out of here. I want to make sure the local police are checking into whether anybody actually saw three men who don't belong on the grounds or in Highland Falls.'
I went upstairs to my room and called Director Bums. He wasn't in, so I left a message. I wanted to call Jamilla, but it was too early in California so I logged onto my computer and sent her a long e-mail.
Then I found that I had a new message. Now what?
It turned out to be from Jannie and Damon. They were breaking my chops about being away from home again, even' for a night. When was I coming back? Would they get a neat souvenir from West Point? How about a shiny new sword for each of them? And one for little Alex, too.
There was a second message for me.
It wasn't from the kids.
Or Jamilla.
Detective Cross. While you are at West Point, you ought to see Colonel Owen Handler. He teaches political science. He might have some answers for you. He's a friend of the Bennetts. He might even know who killed them.
I'm just trying to be helpful. You need all the help you can get.
Foot Soldier.
Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice
Chapter Sixty-Eight
The three killers had been right here. I couldn't get the thought out of my head, but the feeling was in my bones, my blood.
Sampson and I walked along the main drag toward Thayer Hall. Several cadets were out practicing for parade on the Plains. As we got closer, I saw that wooden pegs were driven into the ground to show the cadets exactly where to turn their faultlessly sharp corners. I had to smile. It reminded me that so many things in life were an illusion. Maybe even the 'facts' I was collecting on this case.
“So what do you think about this help we're getting? The mad e-mailer? The Foot Soldier?” Sampson asked. “I don't like it, Alex. It's too convenient, too pat. This whole case is about being set up.”
“You're right, we don't have any reason to trust the information we're getting. So I don't. On the other hand, we're here. Why not talk to Colonel Handler? It can't hurt.”
Sampson shook his head. “I wish that was so, Alex.”
I had called the History Department immediately after I received the 'helpful' e-mail from Foot Soldier. I was told that Colonel Handler had a class that met from eleven until noon. We had twenty minutes to kill, so we took in
