Obsessed

Table of Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 Chapter 38
 Chapter 39
 Chapter 40
 Chapter 41
 Chapter 42
 Chapter 43
 Chapter 44
 Chapter 45
 Chapter 46
 Chapter 47
 Chapter 48
 Chapter 49
 Chapter 50
 Chapter 51
 Chapter 52
 Chapter 53
 Chapter 54
 Chapter 55
 Chapter 56
 Chapter 57
 Chapter 58
 Chapter 59
 Chapter 60
 Chapter 61
 Chapter 62
 Chapter 63
 Chapter 64
 Chapter 65
 Chapter 66
 Chapter 67
 Chapter 68
 Chapter 69
 Chapter 70
 Chapter 71
 Chapter 72
 Chapter 73
 Chapter 74
 Chapter 75
 Chapter 76
 Chapter 77
 Chapter 78
 Chapter 79
 Chapter 80
 Chapter 81
 Chapter 82
 Chapter 83
 Chapter 84
 Chapter 85
 Chapter 86
 Chapter 87
 Chapter 88
 Chapter 89
 Chapter 90
 Chapter 91
 Chapter 92
 Chapter 93
 Chapter 94
 Chapter 95
 Chapter 96
 Chapter 97
 Chapter 98
 Chapter 99
 Chapter 100
 Chapter 101
 Chapter 102
 Chapter 103
 Chapter 104
 Chapter 105
 Chapter 106
 Chapter 107
 Chapter 108
 Chapter 109
 Discover More
 About the Authors
 Books by James Patterson featuring Michael Bennett
 
 
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 The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
 Copyright © 2023 by James Patterson
 Cover design by Mario J. Pulice
 Cover photographs: Helena GH / Getty Images and iStock / Getty Images (cityscape); Shutterstock (woman)
 Cover © 2023 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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 First ebook edition: July 2023
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 ISBN 9780316499583
 E3-20230524-DA-NF-ORI
 
 
 
 
 
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 Chapter 1
 
 THE NYPD BOAT lurched and I almost slipped on the deck.
 The waves made a monotonous slapping sound against the boat’s hull, like an uneven drumbeat, as we cut through the choppy water. I sucked in a deep breath and could practically taste the Hudson River. The toxic odors of rotting fish and garbage didn’t do anything to help the nausea I felt. I prayed it would pass.
 One of the officers assigned to the boat tapped me on the shoulder. He grinned and offered me a piece of beef jerky.
 “Very funny, asshole,” Detective Terri Hernandez said as she snatched the jerky from the smirking cop and gave him a shove. “We’re here to work. There’s a woman’s body out there.” She turned to me. “You okay, Mike?”
 “Never better. Fresh air, the sea. Who could ask for more?”
 She smiled and said, “That’s called karma for all the pranks you’ve played.”
 Terri was trying to distract me. That’s why I like working with her. I was on edge, terrified that I’d recognize the body we were on our way to recover.
 Suzanne Morton, a friend of my oldest daughter, Juliana, had gone missing three weeks ago. The last place anyone saw her was at a prestigious acting class in SoHo. Suzanne and my daughter had been in a few classes together in the past. The NYU sophomore kept a busy schedule but never missed an acting class. She had been a good influence around my house, encouraging my younger daughters to pursue their passions.
 I’d spent hours with Suzanne’s parents. I had first met them six months ago when we attended a short play both the girls were in. Since Suzanne’s disappearance, they’d asked me over and over again what the NYPD was doing to find their daughter. I understood. If your child is missing, you want the whole world to stop and go look for them.
 As a parent of ten kids, I always seem to have something to worry about. At least none of them was missing.
 I didn’t need to use my imagination to worry about what might have happened to Suzanne. I’d seen enough as a homicide detective. It felt like a knife in my abdomen every time I pictured the young woman, her light-brown hair framing a beautiful face that had deep dimples when she smiled.
 I felt a change in the engine just as the pilot looked over her shoulder. She yelled in my direction, “Wind chop is really bad today! I’ll get as close as I can.”
 I looked