The 9th Judgment by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro

rested her elbow on the frame, and looked squarely at the cameras.
    “Yes, I have something to tell the people of San Francisco, and I’m not speaking as the chief medical examiner. I’m speaking
     as a wife and a mother. Are we clear?”
    There was a chorus of yeses.
    “Moms, keep your eyes open,” Claire said. “Don’t trust anyone. Don’t park in lonely places, and don’t get near your car unless
     there are other people around. And, no kidding, get a license to carry a handgun. Then
carry
it.”

Chapter 44
    PETE GORDON SAT in the kitchen, laptop in front of him on the red Formica table, his back to the porch where Sherry was doing
     stupid puppet tricks for her brother. The stink bomb was shrieking with joy or fright, Pete really didn’t know which, because
     it was all like having a screwdriver jabbed through his eardrum.
    Pete yelled over his shoulder, “Keep it down, Sherry! In a minute, I’m going to take off my belt.”
    “We’ll be quiet, Daddy.”
    Gordon returned to the letter he was composing, a kind of ransom note. Yeah. He liked thinking of it that way. He was a pretty
     good writer, but this had to be crystal clear and without any clues to his identity.
    “An open letter to the citizens of San Francisco,” he wrote. “I have something important to tell you.”
    He thought about the word “citizens,” decided it was too stiff, and replaced it with “residents.” Much better.
    “An open letter to the residents of San Francisco.” Then he changed the second line: “I have a proposition to make.” Suddenly
     there was a shrill scream from the porch, and Sherry was shushing the stink bomb and then calling in through the window, “Daddy,
     I’m sorry, please don’t get mad. Stevie didn’t mean it.”
    The baby was crying on both the inhale and the exhale, un-fucking-relenting. Pete clenched his hands, thinking how much he
     hated them and everything about the life he lived now.
Look at me, Ladies and Gentlemen, Captain Peter Gordon, former commando, currently Househusband First Class.
    What a frickin’ tragedy.
    The only thing that gave him joy anymore was working on his plan. Thinking how, after he’d wasted Sherry and the stink bomb,
     it was going to give him great, great pleasure to show the princess who he really was. He could hardly wait to silence her
     nagging.
Pete, sweetie, don’t forget to pick up the milk and don’t forget to take your meds, okay? Hey, handsome, did you make lunch
     for the kids? Make the bed? Call the cable guy?
    He imagined Heidi’s face, pale in the middle of all that red hair, eyes like yo-yos when she realized what he had done. And
     what he was going to do to her.
    Hi-hi, Heidi. Bye-dee-bye.

Chapter 45
    SARAH WELLS CROUCHED in the shrubbery between the huge Tudor-style house and the street, her clothes blending into the shadows.
     She was having a three-dimensional flashback of the Dowling job—how she’d hidden in the closet while the Dowlings made love,
     later knocking into that table of whatnots during her narrow frickin’ escape. And then the worst part—the murder accusation
     hanging over her.
    She considered quitting while she was ahead. On the other hand, the Morley house was a prize.
    The three-story white home with dark beams and bay windows belonged to Jim and Dorian Morley, the Sports Gear Morleys who
     owned a chain of athletic stores up and down the coast. She’d read everything about them on the Web and seen dozens of photos.
     Dorian Morley dressed to impress and owned a stunning jewelry collection that she kept in constant use.
    Sarah had made special note of Mrs. Morley telling a
Chronicle
reporter that she loved to wear diamonds every day, “even around the house.”
    Imagine. Everyday diamonds.
    Which is why Sarah had put the Morleys on her to-do list, done several run-throughs to check out the traffic patterns at nine
     p.m. in their neighborhood, and pinpointed where to stash her car and where to hide. On one of her