The Games
Page 26
Coppertone Girl made a quick twisting move and then he was somehow down on his back with something hard digging into his crotch. He looked down. It was her .45!
“I’ll do it. You know I will, you pig,” she said, her green eyes cold behind the white-blond shards of her bangs.
Then she kissed him hard.
And they both started to die laughing.
It never got old, this fired-up feeling afterward. They’d walked the rope with no net, and now they were back on sweet, exhilaratingly solid ground.
They kissed again, and then he pressed in her pouty pink lower lip with his callused thumb. She bit his thumb playfully, and then he was jumping over the front seat and turning the engine over.
An hour later, they’d put all the gear and the van back at the South Bronx safe house and were showered and changed and rolling back into Manhattan in their new Volvo crossover. They actually found a parking spot right in front of their Federal-style brick town house, in SoHo on Wooster Street between Broome and Spring.
They stood holding hands on the sidewalk for a moment. Nothing but the famous chic neighborhood’s incredible beaux arts nineteenth-century cast-iron buildings in every direction. The cobblestones, Corinthian columns, and delicate wrought iron railings dusted in the still-falling snow were like what might appear on the cover of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas.
Not bad for an Indiana shit kicker, the man thought, drinking in the billion-dollar view down his block.
Not bad at all, he thought, looking at his exquisite wife, now in a candy-blue Benetton down coat, cream mini-sweaterdress, and black leather leggings.
He knocked the snow off his shoes on their doormat and keyed open their front door.
“Mommy! Daddy! You’re home!” their four-year-old daughter, Victoria, squealed, a blur of pink footie pajamas and strawberry-blond curls as she ran in from the family room, sliding on the gleaming hardwood in her Nana-made wool slippers.
“Yes! We! Are!” said the husband with equal excitement as he pretended to let his giggling daughter tackle him.
“That was a quick movie,” said Jenna, the babysitter, bringing up the rear, holding a sheet of still-raw cookies.
“We arrived late, with all the snow, so we just decided to get some dessert instead,” said the wife.
“Dessert? Wow. You guys just live on the razor’s edge, don’t you?” said their ever-sarcastic NYU film student sitter with an eye roll.
“Oh, that’s us. We’re real wild,” the husband said, laughing as he hung his car coat in the front hall closet and snitched a glob of raw oatmeal cookie dough.
“Yep, we’re complete psychos, all right,” agreed his wife as she lifted Victoria and blew a raspberry on her cheek.
About the Authors
JAMES PATTERSON received the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community at the 2015 National Book Awards. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers, and his books have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide. A tireless champion of the power of books and reading, Patterson has created a new children’s book imprint, JIMMY Patterson, whose mission is simple: “We want every kid who finishes a JIMMY Book to say, ‘PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK.’” He has donated more than one million books to students and soldiers and funds over four hundred Teacher Education Scholarships at twenty-four colleges and universities. He has also donated millions to independent bookstores and school libraries. Patterson will be investing proceeds from the sales of JIMMY Patterson Books in pro-reading initiatives.
MARK SULLIVAN is the solo author of thirteen thrillers, including Thief, and the coauthor of five Private novels with James Patterson. He lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his family, and loves to travel.
jamespatterson.com
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Books by James Patterson
The Private Novels
The Games (with Mark Sullivan)
Private Paris (with Mark Sullivan)
Private Vegas (with Maxine Paetro)
Private India: City on Fire (with Ashwin Sanghi)
Private Down Under (with Michael White)
Private L.A. (with Mark Sullivan)
Private Berlin (with Mark Sullivan)
Private London (with Mark Pearson)
Private Games (with Mark Sullivan)
Private: #1 Suspect (with Maxine Paetro)
Private (with Maxine Paetro)
Featuring Alex Cross
Cross Justice
Hope to Die
Cross My Heart
Alex Cross, Run
Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
Kill Alex Cross
Cross Fire
I, Alex Cross
Alex Cross’s Trial (with Richard DiLallo)
Cross Country
Double Cross
Cross (also published as Alex Cross)
Mary, Mary
London Bridges
The Big Bad Wolf
Four Blind Mice
Violets Are Blue
Roses Are Red
Pop Goes the Weasel
Cat & Mouse
Jack & Jill
Kiss the Girls
Along Came a Spider
The Women’s Murder Club
15th Affair (with Maxine Paetro)
14th Deadly Sin (with Maxine Paetro)
Unlucky 13 (with Maxine Paetro)
12th of Never (with Maxine Paetro)
11th Hour (with Maxine Paetro)
10th Anniversary (with Maxine Paetro)
The 9th Judgment (with Maxine Paetro)
The 8th Confession (with Maxine Paetro)
7th Heaven (with Maxine Paetro)
The 6th Target (with Maxine Paetro)
The 5th Horseman (with Maxine Paetro)
4th of July (with Maxine Paetro)
3rd Degree (with Andrew Gross)
2nd Chance (with Andrew Gross)
1st to Die
Featuring Michael Bennett
Alert (with Michael Ledwidge)
Burn (with Michael Ledwidge)
Gone (with Michael Ledwidge)
I, Michael Bennett (with Michael Ledwidge)
Tick Tock (with Michael Ledwidge)
Worst Case (with Michael Ledwidge)
Run for Your Life (with Michael Ledwidge)
NYPD Red Novels
NYPD Red 4 (with Marshall Karp)
NYPD Red 3 (with Marshall Karp)
NYPD Red 2 (with Marshall Karp)
NYPD Red (with Marshall Karp)
Summer Novels
Second Honeymoon (with Howard Roughan)
Now You See Her (with Michael Ledwidge)
Swimsuit (with Maxine Paetro)
Sail (with Howard Roughan)
Beach Road (with Peter de Jonge)
Lifeguard (with Andrew Gross)
Honeymoon (with Howard Roughan)
The Beach House (with Peter de Jonge)
Stand-alone Novels
The Murder House (with David Ellis)
Truth or Die (with Howard Roughan)
Miracle at Augusta (with Peter de Jonge)
Invisible (with David Ellis)
First Love (with Emily Raymond)
Mistress (with David Ellis)
Zoo (with Michael Ledwidge)
Guilty Wives (with David Ellis)
The Christmas Wedding (with Richard DiLallo)
Kill Me If You Can (with Marshall Karp)
Toys (with Neil McMahon)
Don’t Blink (with Howard Roughan)
The Postcard Killers (with Liza Marklund)
The Murder of King Tut (with Martin Dugard)
Against Medical Advice (with Hal Friedman)
Sundays at Tiffany’s (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
You’ve Been Warned (with Howard Roughan)
The Quickie (with Michael Ledwidge)
Judge & Jury (with Andrew Gross)
The Lake House
The Jester (with Andrew Gross)
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas
Cradle and All
When the Wind Blows
Miracle on the 17th Green (with Peter de Jonge)
Hide & Seek
The Midnight Club
Black Friday (originally published as Black Market)
See How They Run
Season of the Machete
The Thomas Berryman Number
For Readers of All Ages
Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride Forever
Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure
ANGEL: A Maximum Ride Novel
FANG: A Maximum Ride Novel
MAX: A Maximum Ride Novel
The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride Novel
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports: A Maximum Ride Novel
School’s Out—Forever: A Maximum Ride Novel
The Angel Experiment: A Maximum Ride Novel
Daniel X
Daniel X: Lights Out (with Chris Grabenstein)
Daniel X: Armageddon (with Chris Grabenstein)
Daniel X: Game Over (with Ned Rust)
Daniel X: Demons and Druids (with Adam Sadler)
Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust)
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge)
Witch and Wizard
Witch & Wizard: The Lost (with Emily Raymond)
Witch & Wizard: The Kiss (with Jill Dembowski)
Witch & Wizard: The Fire (with Jill Dembowski)
Witch & Wizard: The Gift (with Ned Rust)
Witch & Wizard (with Gabrielle Charbonnet)
Confessions
Confessions: The Murder of an Angel (with Maxine Paetro)
Confessions: The Paris Mysteries (with Maxine Paetro)
Confessions: The Private School Murders (with Maxine Paetro)
Confessions of a Murder Suspect (with Maxine Paetro)
Middle School
Middle School: Just My Rotten Luck (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park)
Middle School: Save Rafe! (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park)
Middle School: Ultimate Showdown (with Julia Bergen, illustrated by Alec Longstretch)
Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park)
Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar (with Lisa Papademetriou, illustrated by Neil Swaab)
Middle School: Get Me Out of Here (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park)
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park)
I, Funny
I Funny TV: A Middle School Story (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park)
I Totally Funniest: A Middle School Story (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park)
I Even Funnier: A Middle School Story (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park)
I Funny: A Middle School Story (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Laura Park)
Treasure Hunters
Treasure Hunters:Secret of the Forbidden City (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld)
Treasure Hunters: Danger Down the Nile (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld)
Treasure Hunters (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld)
Other Books for Readers of All Ages
Jacky Ha-Ha (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Kerascoët)
House of Robots: Robots Go Wild! (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld)
Public School Superhero (with Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Cory Thomas)
House of Robots (with Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Juliana Neufeld)
Homeroom Diaries (with Lisa Papademetriou, illustrated by Keino)
Med Head (with Hal Friedman)
santaKid (illustrated by Michael Garland)
For previews and information about the author, visit JamesPatterson.com or find him on Facebook or at your app store.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
PART ONE: World Cup Fever Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Twenty-Four Months and Two Weeks Later
PART TWO: A Tale of Two Cities 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
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
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
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Acknowledgments
A Preview of “Bullseye”
About the Authors
Books by James Patterson
Newsletters
Copyright
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 © 2016 by James Patterson
Excerpt from Bullseye copyright © 2016 by James Patterson
Cover design by Kapo Ng
Cover photograph by Pali Rao / Getty Image
s
Author photograph by Sue Patterson
Cover © copyright 2016 Hachette Book Group
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First Edition: June 2016
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ISBN 978-0-316-29019-7
E3-20160531-NF-DA