Gone (Michael Bennett)

ALSO BY JAMES PATTERSON
     
    DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES
     
    Step on a Crack ( with Michael Ledwidge )
Run for Your Life ( with Michael Ledwidge )
Worst Case ( with Michael Ledwidge )
Tick Tock ( with Michael Ledwidge )
I, Michael Bennett ( with Michael Ledwidge )
     
    ALEX CROSS NOVELS
     
    Along Came a Spider
Kiss the Girls
Jack and Jill
Cat and Mouse
Pop Goes the Weasel
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Four Blind Mice
The Big Bad Wolf
London Bridges
Mary, Mary
Cross
Double Cross
Cross Country
Alex Cross’s Trial ( with Richard DiLallo )
I, Alex Cross
Cross Fire
Kill Alex Cross
Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
Alex Cross, Run
Cross My Heart ( to be published November 2013 )
     
    THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB SERIES
     
    1st to Die
2nd Chance ( with Andrew Gross )
3rd Degree ( with Andrew Gross )
4th of July ( with Maxine Paetro )
The 5th Horseman ( with Maxine Paetro )
The 6th Target ( with Maxine Paetro )
7th Heaven ( with Maxine Paetro )
8th Confession ( with Maxine Paetro )
9th Judgement ( with Maxine Paetro )
10th Anniversary ( with Maxine Paetro )
11th Hour ( with Maxine Paetro )
12th of Never ( with Maxine Paetro )
     
    PRIVATE NOVELS
     
    Private ( with Maxine Paetro )
Private London ( with Mark Pearson )
Private Games ( with Mark Sullivan )
Private: No. 1 Suspect ( with Maxine Paetro )
Private Berlin ( with Mark Sullivan )
Private Down Under ( with Michael White )
Private LA ( with Mark Sullivan, to be published January 2014 )
     
    STAND-ALONE THRILLERS
     
    Sail ( with Howard Roughan )
Swimsuit ( with Maxine Paetro )
Don’t Blink ( with Howard Roughan )
Postcard Killers ( with Liza Marklund )
Toys ( with Neil McMahon )
Now You See Her ( with Michael Ledwidge )
Kill Me If You Can ( with Marshall Karp )
Guilty Wives ( with David Ellis )
Zoo ( with Michael Ledwidge )
NYPD Red ( with Marshall Karp )
Second Honeymoon ( with Howard Roughan )
Mistress ( with David Ellis )
     
    NON-FICTION
     
    Torn Apart ( with Hal and Cory Friedman )
The Murder of King Tut ( with Martin Dugard )
     
    ROMANCE
     
    Sundays at Tiffany’s ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )
The Christmas Wedding ( with Richard DiLallo )
     
    FAMILY OF PAGE-TURNERS
     
    MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES
     
    The Angel Experiment
School’s Out Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
Max
Fang
Angel
Nevermore
     
    DANIEL X SERIES
     
    The Dangerous Days of Daniel X ( with Michael Ledwidge )
Watch the Skies ( with Ned Rust )
Demons and Druids ( with Adam Sadler )
Game Over ( with Ned Rust )
Armageddon ( with Chris Grabenstein )
     
    WITCH & WIZARD SERIES
     
    Witch & Wizard ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )
The Gift ( with Ned Rust )
The Fire ( with Jill Dembowski )
The Kiss ( with Jill Dembowski )
     
    MIDDLE SCHOOL NOVELS
     
    Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life ( with Chris Tebbetts )
Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! ( with Chris Tebbetts )
Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar ( with Lisa Papademetriou )
Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill ( with Chris Tebbetts )
     
    I FUNNY
     
    I Funny ( with Chris Grabenstein )
I Even Funnier ( with Chris Grabenstein, to be published December 2013 )
     
    TREASURE HUNTERS
     
    Treasure Hunters ( with Chris Grabenstein )
     
    CONFESSIONS SERIES
     
    Confessions of a Murder Suspect ( with Maxine Paetro )
Confessions: The Private School Murders ( with Maxine Paetro, to be published October 2013 )
     
    GRAPHIC NOVELS
     
    Daniel X: Alien Hunter ( with Leopoldo Gout )
Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 1–7 ( with NaRae Lee )
     
    For more information about James Patterson’s novels, visit www.jamespatterson.co.uk
     
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PROLOGUE
    FATHER AND SON
     

ONE
     
    IT WAS THREE A.M. on the button when the unmarked white box truck turned onto the steep slope of Sweetwater Mesa Road and began to climb up into the exclusive Serra Retreat neighborhood of Malibu, California.
    Majestic mountain peaks rising to the left , thought Vida Gomez as she looked out from the truck’s passenger seat. Nothing but moonlit ocean to the right. No wonder so many movie stars lived here.
    As if the sights matter , Vida thought, tearing her eyes off the million-dollar view and putting them back on the screen of the iPhone in her lap. What was up with her? She never got distracted on a job. She took a calming breath. She seriously needed to buckle down. Taking her eye off the ball here would not be prudent. Not tonight.
    She was in the midst of typing a text when out of the