Jack & Jill (novel)

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Jack and Jill is the third book in a series written by James Patterson which features Washington DC psychiatrist, homicide police detective Alex Cross. The previous two books are Along Came A Spider and Kiss The Girls.

[edit] Plot summary

The book begins at night, with a man calling himself Sam Harrison, wearing a disguise and stalking United States Senator Daniel Fitzpatrick. Sam plans on killing the senator, and has been planning this for quite some time. The Senator has just gone into a bar with a young woman. . Sam is very sharply dressed, to blend in the bar. After a few minutes he strolls into the bar and waits. Soon he goes upstairs to the Senators flat. The young woman answers the door. “Jack’ she says. “Jill” he replies back.

In another part of Washington DC, another killer was hiding in a “tent” among an area of thick pines. He is also putting on a disguise, but his is like a homeless person. He walks toward a poor neighborhood and blows up a balloon and waits for a kid to show up. A little six year old black girl approaches him. As he goes to give her the balloon he takes out a baseball bat that he was hiding behind his back and starts swinging at her.

Back at the flat in the bar, Jack and Jill tie up the drunk, old Senator with handcuffs. The Senator pleads for his life but Jack shoots him twice on the head.

The book continues where Kiss the Girls ended, where John Sampson knocks on the door at 3:30 AM waking up Dr. Alex Cross. Cross answers the door and Sampson informs Cross there has been a honey of a murder. It is December and the weather is cold.

Sampson tells Cross that a six year old girl was murdered at Sojourner Truth School, where Cross’ little boy, Damon, also goes to school.

Alex and Sampson are at the crime scene. There are a lot of people gathered in the area. Alex and Sampson examine the body. The little girl was also naked. Cross also noticed a well dressed white woman standing behind the crowd, next to her was a Mercedes-Benz. The woman did not seem to belong in that neighborhood.

At the Senator’s apartment a man goes in. He finds the Senator dead and a poem signed by Jack and Jill. They promised this was the beginning. The man looks thru the apartment then leaves the apartment, walks down a few block and then calls the police anonymously.

Sampson and Cross go thru the neighborhood to see if anyone had seen anything, but no success there. Sampson and Cross stop at the home of a couple. They mention the police have not caught “Chop it off Chucky”, the nickname of a known pedophile and killer. Chop it of Chuckey’s nickname came from the dead kids genitals being cut. Cross had heard of the killer, but lamented the police of the area didn’t have the resources to investigate. Cross is frustrated and sickened by such a brutal murder. Later that night, Cross tried to play the piano to help him relax but it was unsuccessful.

Sam and Sara (Jack & Jill) Rosen played a game to determine the next murder. It would be a woman. The game made it impossible for the police and the FBI to predict a pattern or motive.

Sampson and Cross are now at the park where the little girl was killed. The balloon still floated in a branch.

Cross and Sampson meet with a snitch named Alvin. The little murdered girl lived in the same building as his aunt. Alvin also tells them he knows who “Chop it off Chucky” is and offers to take them to where he is. Cross and Sampson follow Alvin to the Northfield projects. Chop it off Chucky was a Hispanic man named Emanuel Perez. Cross and Sampson see Perez hanging outside with some children. They approach him but he takes off running. Cross & Sampson race after him.

The 2 cops race after Perez but he is very fast. As Perez tries to get away from them he goes up a building and jumps thru the rooftops. On one of them he trips and falls to the ground, dying instantly.

Elsewhere the real killer is still alive and rejoicing he got away with the killing. He is walking around a Toys r us store inside the Arlington Mall looking for a new victim.

The killer tries to take a five year old boy, but takes them to his parents when they see him. He tells them the boy was lost and was taking to the front of the store.

At Cross’ home, Janelle wakes Alex up. Chief Pitman and the Police Commissioner are there to see Alex. FBI Special Agent Kyle Craig requests that Alex be involved in the senator’s murder. Alex declines, says he has other murders to take care of but the Commissioner and the Chief gave him no choice. Alex is upset because, like in the book Along Came a Spider, nobody cares about dead black poor people.

Later that day, he gives his children boxing lessons. (This is the first time it’s mentioned in the series, but it explains that these lessons are 3 times a week.) After the lesson, Alex and Damon go for a walk. As they approach the school, Alex notices the sophisticated woman, again. Damon tells him that it’s Ms. Johnson, the new principal.. Alex was floored by her beauty and elegance, but questioned getting into a relationship after what happened the last few years with Jezzie Flannigan Along Came a Spider and Kate McTiernan Kiss the Girls.

Unknown to Alex, He and Damon were being watched by the Killer. We discover two quick bits of info, 1. The killer hated his father and 2. The killer’s father had been a cop. The killer knew about Dr. Cross. The killer was also upset that Jack and Jill were taking his spotlight.

At a charity gala, Jack moves thru the crowd. Diana, Princes of Wales is there and we are lead to believe she is victim number two, but instead we find out Jack is after a woman network reporter, Natalie Sheehan.

A little bit drunk, she leaves with Jack (under the alias of Scott Cookson) to her place. She seduces him and when they get to bed he takes out a pair of handcuffs and ties her to the bed. There is a knock on the door. It’s Jill.

Cross is at Sheehan’s apartment trying to make sense of the situation. He tries to figure out what the connection is between the reporter and the senator, and between the 2 killers. Kyle Craig is there also.

Cross goes to the bedroom, where Pittman was. Pittman orders Cross to leave and come back when they are done. Pittman pushes Cross and soon the two get into an altercation.

We also discover a few bits of information. The codename the Secret Service uses for the President of the United States is Jack. The First Lady’s Jill. The President has gotten out of the White House without his protection as he’s having an affair. The President is Thomas Byrne. The Secret Service lost him in pursuit of a red Jeep that The President had gotten in.

Kyle Craig calls Cross to inform him they have a break in the case. Jack and Jill have sent a video to the Washington CNN office. Soon, in a small crowded room, Secret Service, CIA and FBI are all gathered in to watch the video. Everyone is surprised when on the opening shot, they discover Jack and Jill had been shooting video outside the Senator’s flat when the police was there. Surprise turns to shock when the Senator is shot in the head. Jack and Jill speak, their voices had been filtered. Jack and Jill are upset at the American system. Cross realizes that Jack and Jill are not playing a game, but fighting a war.

Dr. Cross was now on another crime scene. A little boy has been murdered, just like the little girl a few nights earlier. It is now in early December. Like the little Girl, half his skull was beaten. Mrs. Johnson is there. She knew the little boy. She is visibly upset.

Late the next night, Cross and Sampson meet with two other cops at the school. They are going to work the little kids’ murders on their own time.

Alex visits Mrs. Christine Johnson at the school. He is impressed by her.

Motion Picture actor Michael Robinson is was at his hotel suite awaiting a male escort. The escort arrives and it was Jack, who shoots him in the head.

Cross and the FBI are at Robinsons hotel suite. Kyle Craig is there. The killers had phoned the Washington Post about the murder. While examining the body, the Secret Service come in and ask Cross to go with them to the White House.

Dr. Cross is at the White House. He is there because of his last two high profile cases, Gary Soneji Along Came a Spider and Casanova Kiss the Girls. Members of the Secret Service, CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff are present. They share information with each other. They let Cross know that Jack and Jill are the codenames for The President of the United States and the First Lady. Secret Service Agent Jay Grayer reveals that Jack and Jill have been letting the Secret Service know immediately after the murders take place. (Grayer was the person in Fitzpatrick’s loft before the police arrived.), and that they’re practicing for the big one.

Sara and Sam Rosen (Jack and Jill) get a room at the Four Seasons Hotel. They were taking the weekend off. On Monday Sara (Jill) goes back to her “real” job of nine years. Sara Rosen worked inside the White House.

In the San Francisco airport, Kevin Hawkins, The Photojournalist, was there to kill a Japanese businessman. The man has 4 bodyguards. A smoke bomb explodes near him. The guards move to another corridor where a real bomb explodes, killing them all. After this, The Photojournalist is going to Washington DC.

In DC, Cross is in the West Wing of the White House. He's in the Map Room. Soon an aid comes in and surprises him by telling Cross that President Byrne wishes to see him.

Dr. Cross meets with President Byrne. Alex is taken by the President and thinks of him as a genuinely good person. Alex gives him his opinion on Jack and Jill.

Alex returns home and Nana is upset Alex isn’t working on the children’s case. Alex tells her he’s doing both.

Cross meets with another snitch, he tells Alex that someone had seen a white homeless man where the first girl was killed. Alex thought it weird as this was a black area.

Cross stops at the school, lets Christine know to watch for a white homeless man.

Jack and Jill fly 49,000 feet above Camp David on a Sailplane.

Sam (Jack) tells Sara (Jill) about the Photojournalist. He was in Washington DC, attending an opera at the Kennedy Center. During intermission he shoots a young woman, who was out with a Supreme Court Justice.

Jay Grayer calls Alex to tell him the news. They both go to the Kennedy Center. They wonder if it was a mistake, but Alex doesn’t think so. Soon they discover the girl was President’s mistress.

Dr. Cross drives down to Langley, Virginia to meet with CIA Inspector General, Jean Sterling. She tells Cross that they suspect Jack and Jill might be rouge CIA Agents or a corrupt Contract killer used by the CIA.

A few days later, Sterling arranges for Cross to interview a retired CIA agent. Cross is disturbed by how CIA agents are programmed and how scary they are. Sterling also informs Cross that at least 3 agents have been killed in the last few weeks.

Sampson, who is getting worn by the workload, is still working on the children killer. He goes to Theodore Roosevelt military academy. The school uses Garfield Park (where the little girl was killed.) for athletics and military exercises. The killer watches Sampson. The killer is afraid he may have been caught. We are now shown that the killer is a student at the Military Academy and has contempt for authority, and hatred of others. This chapter is written from the killer’s Point of View. The killer is a 13 year old boy. Sampson is there to ask the students to keep an eye out for “unusual people” in the area. Sampson also wants to know if anyone has noticed anything unusual.

Alex tries to sleep, but is unable. The murders keep bothering him. He goes for a drive and ends up in Mitchellville at Christine Johnson’s home. They talk for a little bit about the murdered children, a little chit chat and then Cross leaves for home. In the morning he’s woken up by the phone.

At the Tysons Corner Center Sam Rosen (Jack) arrives at 6am. He parks his car and jogs to rich neighborhood outside the mall limits. He jogs the area. He is going to kill one of his best friends. He breaks into the house. Everyone is sleeping. Upstairs, Gen. Aiden Cornwall, former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, heard footsteps and gets up. He goes and recognizes Jack. Jack shoots him twice. The General’s young 9 year old son recognizes Jack. Jack kills the boy also, but feels terrible about it.

Alex is summoned to the White House where Jay Grayer tells Alex about the murders of the General and his son. He also tells Alex that Jill contacted the President directly, which is impossible as all call to the White House go to a private switchboard. She asked the President if he was ready to die.

Alex is taken to Cornwall’s home in McLean. Alex can’t figure out the motive or reason. The previous murder victims were liberal but Cornwall was conservative. There appeared to be no angle to the murders. Cross wanted the FBI to work on the poems again.

That night Alex is at Quantico at the FBI headquarters. He is listening to the recorded call Jill made to the President, where she vows to kill him.

He sees President Byrnes that night and Alex tells him that whoever Jill is, she has access to the White House. Alex also asks the President to give him a list of his enemies. The President names people in the Joint Chiefs, the FBI, the Senate, the mob and then is surprised when the President names his Vice President. The President refuses to authorize surveillance on the senators and the vice president.

A censor for Prodigy (ISP) watches on a messageboard a message that someone claiming to be the child killer and was giving vivid details. The censor called the police ad reached John Sampson.

That morning Sampson wakes Cross up. The two drive to an upscale house. Two other cops are waiting for them. Inside are Col. Frank Moore and his wife, having breakfast in the kitchen. Sampson and Cross come thru the front and the other two go out back. The police have their guns out. Cross asks if they have internet access thru Prodigy. The Colonel says the internet is for his 13 year old son, Sumner Moore, who is an honor student at Roosevelt Military Academy. Cross lets them know they think Sumner killed those kids. The Colonel take the police to Sumner’s room, but the boy is gone. On his bed a note that said: Nobody is gone. Next to the note were 2 articles of clothing from the murdered kids.

The killer is running toward Sojourner Truth School. Sumner is looking for Damon Cross. He felt dizzy and confused. He was angry that the newspaper had nothing about him, only about Jack and Jill. He was angry that Sampson was the one that went to the school and not Cross. In the school Christine Johnson approaches him, thinking him to be a student there. Christine watches him but does nothing. He leaves when he sees a policeman.

The next day Cross returns to Langley to meet with Sterling. She wants a list of suspects. He names three people. Sterling wants to talk about one that was on her short list also, Kevin Hawkins.

Sterling reveals to Cross that Hawkins is under surveillance. They drive up to Hawkins’ home in Maryland. At Hawkins’ house he steps outside and recognizes Cross. He starts to run. Hawkins gets on his motorcycle which was on the driveway. There is a chase. Hawkins falls from the motorcycle when he swerves to avoid kids playing in the street. He gets up, stops a car, shoots the driver and takes his car. Hawkins gets away.

That night Nana Mama was home with Sampson. Someone had called 12 times but kept hanging up.

The next day, President Byrnes meets with the “team”. He tells them he is no longer hiding and going back to his regular schedule.

The child killer has been hiding at his parent’s attic. That night he goes to their bedroom and shoots them both. On the wall, in their blood he writes: Nobody was here.

There has been another child killed murdered and left at Garfield Park. This killing was far more brutal than the others. When Cross arrives to see the body, it was Sumner Moore.

President Byrnes asks Cross to go with him to a visit at New York City. In New York Hawkins watches the President as he goes into the Waldorf-Astoria. But watching Hawkins is Jack.

As Jack watches Hawkins, he calls home to speak with his little daughter.

At the Waldorf-Astoria, a bouquet of roses arrives for the President with a poem from Jack and Jill.

At Cross’ home, it’s revealed that the child killer is a 13 year old boy named Danny Boudreaux. He was a foster kid there. His father was a cop that left him and his mom. Danny’s mom eventually committed suicide. He also is on medication to suppress his feelings but hasn’t taken them in weeks, which is why he’s getting worse. He hated Sumner. He was at Cross’ home to kill Cross and his family. Danny wants to prove he’s better than Soneji and Jack & Jill. He makes his way to the back thru the porch when he sees John Sampson sitting on a chair with a gun. Danny retreats but vows to come back.

Sam (Jack) takes a jog thru Central Park early that morning. When he gets to his hotel Sara (Jill) is there. They go into Sam’s room and make love. Sara tells him that there is an army of secret service and FBI waiting. They make love again, and as they make love, Sam grabs a gun with a Suppressor (silencer) and shoots Sara in the head.

Later that morning, the President leaves his hotel and heads to Madison Square Garden, where he was doing a speech. There are a lot of people there. Hawkins is also there, but he is dressed as a woman. He also has an FBI ID card. The President shakes hands with the people and a bomb explodes, although the President is alive and unhurt, many people are hurt and dead. Cross realizes the bomb was not meant to kill Byrnes but to get him to use the planned escape route. Soon there are five shots and Alex can’t tell if Byrnes was shot although there is a woman (Hawkins) lying dead on the ground. Byrnes was also shot.

Sam Rosen leaves New York and returns home to Delaware. He is sad about Sara, but vows to no longer think about it. At home he is greeted by his wife, who, of course, knows about what Sam does.

Soon Cross and Grayer are at the Peninsula hotel where the NYPD had called them. They found the body of Jill. Sara Rosen had worked at the White House’s communications office. That’s how the call had gone thru Byrnes, when Jill had called to threaten Byrnes.

At DC, Christine and her husband, George, are making dinner. The door bell rings and there is a kid at the door. George answers the door and Danny shoots him twice.

Alex returns to DC that same night. Danny had demanded to see Cross. He was holding Christine hostage. The police discover that he was taking medication for anger, depression and rage cycles since age 7. Alex goes in. He talks with Danny for a while, slowly moving himself and Christine into position to take Danny down.

Alex and Danny get into a fight and Alex eventually takes him down alive.

Alex feels bad for Christine, but Sampson takes Cross home where he sleeps with his children that night. On the morning he’s told President Thomas Byrnes died.

Sampson arrives later that morning. Jay Grayer had called and wanted to know if Cross wanted in on the search of Sara’s apartment. He goes but the place is overcrowded.

Early the next day he goes to her apartment. He is alone and starts going thru stuff. He comes to a box of video tapes and notices that tape doesn’t match the cover. Cross puts the tape in the VCR and sees an unedited tape of the Fitzpatrick murder and sees Jack’s real face. He recognizes the face from a picture he had seen.

Jack was a retired Colonel that had been in Desert Storm. Alex recognizes the house Jack was coming out of. Alex and the Secret Service take him down a few miles down. Afterwards they return to his house to take down the real Jill, Jean Sterling. Jack had been Bret Sterling.

Everything comes full circle. Sara Rosen was a CIA mole planted inside the White House. Byrnes was killed because he was trying to make changes to the CIA. They felt Byrnes was not the right man to be President. Jay Grayer arrests Jean for treason, but a flash bomb in the kitchen distracts them, jean takes a gun out and shoots Jay in the chest. Jill gets on her car and tries to gets away. The agents corral the back of the driveway. Jean uses her child as a shield. Cross runs to the car, grabs her and pulls her out by the window and punches her, taking her down alive.

The next day Jay Grayer calls Alex. Alex goes to the prison that the Sterlings were held in. they were murdered.

Epilogue. As Damon and Janelle open their present on Christmas Day, Alex receives a call from Gary Soneji. Soneji claims he’s the one that left Rosie the cat as a present for him. They hang up. Until next time.

The End

[edit] Notes

• Jack and Jill left little nursery rhymes at all of their murders.
• Jack and Jill was also the Secret Service codename for The President and the First Lady.