Free The Hostage: BookShots (Hotel Series) by James Patterson Page A

vast marbled space, frantically scanning the crowds in front of him. ‘Savage, where are you?’
    He ran across to the entrance of the hotel, where people were being lined up and counted out as part of the evacuation process. He grabbed hold of the first officer he came across.
    ‘Where’s Inspector Savage?’ he asked urgently, then repeated, ‘Where is Inspector Savage?’ with even greater urgency before the officer had a chance to answer.
    ‘He was here a couple of minutes ago,’ said the officer, ‘but he could see we had everything under control. He said we should continue the evacuation until the foyer was empty.’
    Before the officer had finished speaking, Roscoe was sprinting across the lobby. ‘Where’s the inspector?’ he shouted as he ran towards one of the armed officers who’d accompanied him to the twenty-fifth floor.
    The officer replied immediately, ‘I’ve been securing the restaurant area, sir. I haven’t seen him since we came down in the elevator.’
    Bloodied and exhausted but driven on by adrenaline, Roscoe ran back to the reception desk and jumped up onto the counter.
    ‘Savage! Has anyone seen Inspector Savage?’
    The crowd assembled in the lobby looked at Roscoe with a mixture of fear and anticipation. In his blood-covered T-shirt, Roscoe realised he looked an alarming sight but he knew he had to find the inspector while he still could. Still standing on top of the reception desk, he turned towards the elevator bank.
    The express elevator had stopped at the fortieth floor.
    He charged back into the office and knelt down by the couch where Jocasta remained with her daughter.
    ‘Mrs Harlington, I need your help. To stop these killings we must speak to your son.’
    ‘My Joseph?’
    Roscoe nodded.
    ‘He was seven years old the last time I saw him. I can’t begin to imagine what he’s been through.’ Jocasta looked desperately at Roscoe, and he wished he could offer her some kind of hope. ‘I know what you’re thinking, Jon.’
    Roscoe put his hand on her arm. ‘I’m afraid I’m certain of it. Mrs Harlington, the killer is your son. And the only person who can get him to stop is you.’

CHAPTER 23
    TAKING JOCASTA HARLINGTON by the hand, Jon Roscoe led her across the hotel lobby towards the elevator bank. As he did so, he looked across to the entrance of the hotel and saw the evacuees continuing to leave the building. This was almost over.
    As they stepped into the express elevator, Jocasta turned to Roscoe.
    ‘I never thought I would see my son again, Jon.’
    Roscoe looked across at the mother of a multiple killer. It was impossible for him to imagine how she felt. There were three brutally murdered bodies scattered around the hotel, as well as Stanley fighting for his life in hospital. Her son had been taken from her sixteen years ago and now was about to be returned to her as some kind of avenging executioner.
    ‘I’m terrified, Jon. But at the same time I can’t help but feel some kind of anticipation. I’m about to see my son.’
    ‘Even after what he did to Mr Harlington?’ Roscoe looked deep into Jocasta’s eyes. He felt sure Jackson Harlington had been involved in the boy’s kidnap and that was what was driving these revenge attacks.
    The elevator doors opened and Roscoe stepped out ahead of Jocasta Harlington. Crossing the glass footbridge that leads from the elevator to the infinity pool, Jocasta stopped.
    ‘Jackson wasn’t Joseph’s father.’
    ‘Did he know that?’ replied Roscoe, startled but not totally surprised as he fit the pieces together in his mind.
    ‘Yes,’ she said.
    ‘When did Jackson discover he wasn’t Joseph’s father?’
    ‘The month before he disappeared.’
    Roscoe turned away from Mrs Harlington and looked out across the royal park opposite the hotel. Suddenly it all made sense.
    ‘Jackson was a powerful man, in every sense of the word,’ Jocasta said. ‘I feared him every second of the day, especially after he found out