Chapter summaries Crosshairs James Patterson & James O. Born

Chapter 66: Family Fractures and a Growing Suspicion

⚠️ Spoiler Warning

This summary and analysis contains full plot details for Chapter 66 of Crosshairs. Read ahead only if you’ve finished the chapter.

Summary

Bennett arrives home late, eats leftovers, and notices his sons Trent and Ricky pretending to study while gaming on their phones. Mary Catherine gives him space. He sits with his iPad and examines the victim files Walter Jackson emailed. Each dead person is presented in a flattering light: Marie Ballard raised two children alone and worked decades at the Housing Authority; firefighter Thomas Bannon coached Little League; Adam Glossner’s family photos fill the tabloids. Only Lois Frang from the Brooklyn Democrat dared report that Gus Querva served time for strong-arm robbery and repeatedly beat his first wife. Bennett then reads a financial journal piece about Glossner’s firm, Holbrook Financial, which paid an SEC fine; the article names attorney Chloe Lewis. As he absorbs the sanitized narratives, his daughter Juliana approaches, eyes bloodshot. She asks if he and Rob had a fight because Rob texted her that he couldn’t talk until “you and him got something straight.” Bennett says the issue isn’t about her and cites a work restriction he cannot discuss, but the lie makes him feel terrible. He can’t focus the rest of the evening and sleeps poorly, his mind circling one relentless thought: could Rob Trilling be the Longshot Killer?

Key Events

  • Bennett reviews four victim profiles and one older financial article.
  • He realizes that most reporters avoid negativity about the dead, but Lois Frang’s piece reveals Querva’s violent criminal history.
  • A detail about Adam Glossner’s company surfaces: an SEC fine and the name of the agency’s lawyer, Chloe Lewis.
  • Juliana confronts Bennett after receiving a distant message from Rob.
  • Bennett withholds the real reason for the rift, straining his relationship with his daughter.
  • Bennett’s suspicion that Rob Trilling might be the Longshot Killer crystalizes and keeps him awake.

Character Development

Bennett’s internal conflict sharpens. The secrecy the case demands forces him to lie to Juliana, leaving him guilt-ridden and calling his own identity as a father into question. His nightly obsession—whether his partner could be a serial killer—shows how paranoia is eating away his foundations. Juliana’s tearful vulnerability highlights the collateral damage of the investigation, and Bennett’s curt response deepens the wedge between them. The chapter transforms Rob from a professional concern into a personal threat, amplifying Bennett’s sense of isolation.

Themes, Motifs, or Symbols

  • Curated Public Image vs. Hidden Reality: The media neatly packages victims as saints, but Querva’s history of violence and Glossner’s corporate punishment expose the darker truths Bennett must now follow.
  • Intrusion of Work into Family Life: The case doesn’t stay at the precinct; Rob’s message poisons Juliana’s trust, and Bennett cannot shield his children from the fallout.
  • Trust and Betrayal: Bennett wrestles with his eroding faith in Rob while simultaneously betraying his daughter’s faith by hiding the truth.
  • Father-Daughter Strain: The bloodshot eyes and the quiet confrontation underscore the fragility of the bond Bennett is forced to compromise.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter turns the investigation inward and upward. The discovery of the SEC fine and attorney Chloe Lewis plants a concrete lead that may link Glossner’s murder to white-collar crime. More immediately, Rob’s indirect message to Juliana shatters the last barrier between Bennett’s work and home lives. Bennett’s sleepless night, spent replaying whether his partner could be the Longshot Killer, raises the personal stakes to a breaking point and sets the stage for a direct confrontation or a desperate search for proof.

Study Questions & Answers

  1. Why does Bennett focus on the gaps and biases in the victim profiles, and what does that reveal about the investigation’s direction? Bennett notices that only Lois Frang reported Querva’s criminal past, while other sources painted only rosy pictures. This selective storytelling signals that the real connections among victims lie beneath polite surfaces. The investigation is pivoting from public sympathy to an urgent hunt for hidden motives and shared secrets.

  2. How does Bennett’s response to Juliana illustrate the central conflict between his professional and personal responsibilities? He can’t divulge work details, so he gives Juliana a half-truth that makes him feel “like shit.” The moment shows how his duty of confidentiality directly hurts his daughter. The case is no longer just a job—it’s a force tearing at his family, and he’s powerless to stop the damage without breaking the rules.

  3. What might the mention of Chloe Lewis and the SEC fine suggest about the Longshot Killer’s possible motive? The fine and Lewis’s involvement hint that Glossner’s firm was entangled in securities violations. If other victims are similarly linked to financial scandals or covered-up lawsuits, the Longshot Killer may be targeting people responsible for ruinous white-collar crimes—making the murders a twisted form of vigilante justice rather than random acts.

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