Cross Justice

This novel in the Alex Cross series follows the Washington, DC, detective and psychologist as he returns to his childhood hometown to defend a cousin accused of murder, only to uncover a sprawling criminal conspiracy and long-buried family secrets.

The novel opens in Palm Beach, Florida, where a cross-dressing man named Coco murders a woman named Lisa by dropping a plugged-in radio into her bathtub. After stealing designer gowns, jewelry, and cash, Coco drives away. This storyline runs parallel to the main narrative, resurfacing as Coco kills additional wealthy Palm Beach women.

Alex Cross, a homicide detective with the DC Metro Police, travels to Starksville, North Carolina, with his wife Bree, their children Jannie and Ali, and his ninety-something grandmother, Regina "Nana Mama" Cross. Alex has not visited his hometown in thirty-five years. His niece Naomi Cross, an attorney and the daughter of his late brother Aaron, has asked him to help defend their cousin Stefan Tate, who is charged with the rape, torture, and murder of thirteen-year-old Rashawn Turnbull. The indictment alleges Stefan dealt drugs to students, raped a student named Sharon Lawrence, and killed Rashawn after the boy rejected his advances. Stefan insists he is being framed.

The Cross family settles into the bungalow where Alex grew up in Birney, a predominantly Black neighborhood in a town marked by steep economic decline. Alex reconnects with his aunts and is overwhelmed by memories of his mother Christina, who descended into heroin and vodka addiction after witnessing her own father's suicide. The physical evidence against Stefan is formidable: his semen on Rashawn's body, his blood-smeared school ID at the quarry crime scene, a pruning saw with the victim's DNA in his basement, and a bag of drugs bearing his fingerprints. Stefan tells Alex he was mentoring Rashawn and investigating drugs at the school but refuses to name his suspects.

As Alex investigates, the name Marvin Bell surfaces repeatedly. Alex's aunts reveal that Bell, who presents himself as a legitimate businessman, once "owned" Alex's parents (72), supplying their drugs and controlling them through addiction. Bell allegedly tied Alex's father Jason to his car and dragged him through the streets. When Alex confronts Bell, the man denies all involvement and warns Naomi not to mention his name at trial.

A series of violent events escalates the danger. A sniper fires at Alex and Bree at the quarry. A shooter kills Stefan's neighbor Sydney Fox in a case of mistaken identity; the intended target was Stefan's fiancée, Patty Converse. Someone plants drugs in Jannie's gym bag. Hooded men attack Alex on the town bridge. The brakes on the family's SUV fail on a mountain road in what appears to be sabotage.

Detective Guy Pedelini, a member of the Stark County Sheriff's Office, inadvertently reveals old case files classifying Alex's mother's death as homicide by asphyxiation, with Jason Cross as the chief suspect. Jason was shot by police while allegedly trying to escape and fell into the town's deep gorge. Alex, who had always believed his mother died of cancer, is shattered. His aunts admit they lied because young Alex had blocked out the traumatic memories. Later, Alex's cousin Pinkie reveals that Jason survived the fall: Uncle Cliff found him alive, nursed him in secret, and watched him leave for Florida, where Jason reportedly died by suicide two years later.

Driven to learn his father's story, Alex flies to Florida. There he meets Sergeant Pete Drummond, an older Black detective whose face bears scars from a Gulf War injury, and his partner Detective Richard S. Johnson, who are investigating the murders of three Palm Beach socialites and their shared Haitian maid, Francie Letourneau. Alex helps identify Jeffrey Mize, an art gallery owner, as the killer Coco; all three victims had portraits painted by Coco, and Francie had discovered Mize's cross-dressing secret. When Alex finds Mize strangling a fourth victim, Pauline Striker, Drummond and Johnson arrest him.

Back in Starksville, Bree conducts surveillance and observes Finn Davis, one of Bell's associates, delivering an envelope to Pedelini, suggesting the detective is compromised. She also films Davis signaling to men riding freight cars at night and uses trail cameras to establish that the riders board near the Caine Industries fertilizer plant. Alex boards a freight train and discovers hidden drug packages. A rider mentions "Grandfather and the company" (316), referring to the conspiracy's shadowy leader and its drug-distribution network, before leaping to his death. FBI analysis confirms the substance is a designer methamphetamine identical to the meth planted in Stefan's basement.

At trial, Naomi introduces FBI drug tests proving the semen found on Rashawn's body and in Sharon Lawrence's underwear contains no drugs or alcohol, contradicting the prosecution's claim that Stefan acted in a drug-fueled rage. A third female DNA source indicates the semen was taken from a used condom and planted. Confronted with this evidence, Lawrence admits the rape accusation was fabricated, testifying that Davis paid her and her mother to lie. The rape charges are dropped.

Before the murder charges can be resolved, Sergeant Drummond bursts into the courtroom pressing a sawed-off shotgun to Marvin Bell's head. Under duress, Bell confesses to running a drug network called "the Company," using freight trains to ship meth from Montreal to Miami. He identifies his secret partner as Harold Caine, Rashawn's own maternal grandfather and the owner of Caine Industries. Caine killed his mixed-race grandson out of racist hatred, telling Bell he had "gotten rid of two problems at the same time, Stefan Tate and his black bastard grandson" (390). Bell also confesses to smothering Christina Cross while a drugged Jason watched helplessly, then turning Jason over to corrupt Police Chief Randy Sherman and Sheriff Nathan Bean, who shot Jason and pushed him off the bridge as a young Judge Varney looked on. FBI agents arrest Sherman and Varney.

Drummond lowers the shotgun and, weeping, reveals he is Jason Cross, Alex's father, alive for thirty-five years. After surviving the gorge, Jason assumed the identity of Peter Drummond, a young Marine who had died by suicide behind Reverend Alicia Maya's church in Pahokee, Florida. A Gulf War injury left his face unrecognizable. He married Reverend Maya, who had lied to Alex during his earlier visit at Jason's request.

Alex, Nana Mama, and Jason embrace in the courtroom. Stefan is freed, and Harold Caine is arrested for Rashawn's murder. At a family reunion in Aunt Hattie's backyard, Jason introduces Reverend Maya as his wife, and the extended Cross family gathers and toasts together as fireflies flash in the pines.