Ali Cross

At home, Ali borrows one of the bulletin boards his dad uses for solving cases. On it, he puts a map of Washington DC, places pins at his school and Gabe’s home, and draws Gabe’s homeward route in yellow highlighter. He then goes online, downloads the MPD information on Gabe’s case, prints out copies, and tacks one to the board.

Ali begins a brainstorming session, putting thoughts onto index cards, one idea per card. The cards read:

TRAFFIC CAMERAS

ANY WITNESSES?

CANVASSING THE NEIGHBORHOOD

SCHOOL

GABE’S PHONE WORKING?

HOSPITALS

SOCIAL MEDIA

MR. AND MRS. QUALLS

OUTPOST (62-63).

He texts his mother at the MPD, asking if he can look at traffic-camera footage on Gabe’s route the day he disappeared. Then he decides to visit the Qualls. On his way out, Nana intercepts him. He says he’s going to the store and asks if she needs anything. She answers, “World peace,” and Ali says he’ll look for it.

Ali visits Gabe’s house in a rundown part of town. He’s never been there before, and the person who answers is a big, cranky white man with tattoos. Ali is surprised because Gabe isn’t white. He introduces himself, and Mr. Qualls recognizes him as the son of the “dirty cop.” Ali doesn’t take the bait but instead asks if he can search Gabe’s room for clues. Mr. Qualls, irritated, shuts the door.

Ali realizes he’s getting nowhere by himself with his father, Detective Sutter, or the Qualls. He decides, “It was time to start pulling together my own team” (68).

Bree surprises Ali by bringing home a thumb drive that contains the traffic-camera footage he requested. The footage shows Gabe walking just after he left Ali at school and again minutes later on another street. Ali notices that Gabe’s backpack, normally nearly empty, is filled to capacity. Also, the street is different from the one he normally takes. Ali reasons that, since it was too cold to sleep in the nearby park, perhaps Gabe was heading across the river. The footage provides the biggest clues Ali has seen. He hugs his mom and thanks her.

Ali signs on to the Outpost game. His friends Cedric, Mateo, and Ruby already are online. They only know Gabe through the game, but Ali fills them in on what he’s learned about Gabe’s disappearance, and then asks for their help with his investigation. Mateo calls Ali “a geek,” but Cedric defends him as Alex Cross’s kid: “It’s in the blood” (76).

They agree to help. They start by entering Outpost, where players build their own residences on a big island. Ali hopes Gabe’s station will contain clues. He buys an ATV, and they hop in. On the way to Gabe’s station, they’re attacked by another team that hopes to steal the ATV; Mateo’s laser shot disposes of them. An alien sniper aims at them, but Ruby’s laser blast cooks it.

While driving, Ali asks if they’ll help him canvass Gabe’s neighborhood. Cedric agrees, but Ruby says her parents will nix it. Mateo, Ruby’s brother, says he’ll go, and they argue briefly, but Ali asks her instead to canvass her large online following on Instagram.

They see Gabe’s station—fittingly for Gabe, it’s way out on its own—and head for it.

Gabe’s station lies on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It’s “a big corrugated steel half-cylinder lying on its side, with no windows and just one door” (82). The door is locked with a keypad; Ali tries a simple combo, but it fails. Cedric fires his wrist laser at it, and the rebound shock dumps them out of the game.

They restart and recharge their avatars. Ruby points out that, although Gabe hasn’t signed in under his regular moniker, “QUB,” it doesn’t mean he can’t play using another avatar. Mateo says Gabe might even be in the game at that moment. Ali realizes he doesn’t know Gabe as well as he thought.

Jannie competes the next day at an indoor, high-school invitational track meet in Baltimore. Alex, Bree, and Ali are in the stands. Ali asks his father what he knows about Mr. Qualls; Alex replies that the man recently returned home from prison. Ali asks what he was in for, but Alex warns his son about nosing into police business.

Jannie is entered in the 400-meter footrace. At the gun, she sprints ahead, and Ali worries that she’ll peter out too soon, but she hangs on. Her big rival, Anacostia High School’s Claire Wilson, pulls into the lead. Jannie hangs on to second place, then puts on steam during the last straightaway, comes even with Claire, leans in at the finish line, and wins by a half-second. Ali notices college scouts in the stands, making notes.

Ali doesn’t always get along with Jannie, “but when she’s on the track, [he’s] always proud of her” (93).

Late that night, the doorbell rings repeatedly. Bree and Alex go downstairs. Bree carefully opens the door and finds a bag filled with some of the things stolen from their house on Christmas Eve. Ali wonders if Gabe stole the items, and then regretted it and brought some back. Ali darts out of the house, shouting Gabe’s name.

His father catches up to him and tells him to take a breath, focus, and “take control of the situation” (99). He then asks which way a person leaving was likely to run. Ali says to the right, where it’s quicker to escape beyond the highway. Alex says he’s thinking like a detective, but he tells him always also to look up, just in case. Ali scans the trees and rooftops but, this time, sees nothing.

He wonders if Gabe might be the perp. His dad admits it’s something they can’t rule out. Ali offers his theory about Gabe returning some gifts and the guns. Alex stares at him a moment, then says, “You really are in deep with this, aren’t you?” Ali replies, “That’s how I am with everything, right?” (101).

Alex can’t sleep. He goes to the back porch and plays a few tunes on the family’s upright piano. Then he goes upstairs to his office, where he thinks about preparations for his upcoming trial.

He gets a text from Isaac Olayinka, the detective in charge of the Christmas Eve burglaries. He says there’s a new set of similar crimes that night in Alex’s neighborhood. Alex is on desk duty until his trial, but Olayinka gives him his current location at a nearby home. Alex says he’ll be there shortly.

At the crime scene, Olayinka says the stolen items—electronic devices, jewelry—fit the previous crimes, but the means of entry is a small doggie door in the kitchen exit. The burglar probably is a kid. Alex realizes Ali might be right about his friend. He tells Olayinka to call Detective Sutter in the morning and compare notes about Gabe.

After school, Ali meets Cedric and hands him flyers that contain Gabe’s picture. They ask people if they’ve seen Gabe; most are uninterested, but a few take the flyers. Ali’s school enemy, Kahlil Weyland, walks past. Ali asks if he’s seen Gabe; Kahlil says he doesn’t care and adds that Ali’s dad is a crooked cop. Cedric walks over and suggests that Kahlil leave. As Kahlil backs away, he quips that Gabe is probably dead. Ali lunges at Kahlil, but Cedric holds him back.

On New Year’s Eve, Cedric drops by the Cross house, along with Ruby, Mateo, and their folks, Reverend and Mrs. Sandoval. The kids go to the basement, where they discuss Gabe’s case. Mateo called local hospitals, but none have a patient with Gabe’s name. He wonders if Gabe might have amnesia and doesn’t remember his own name.

Ruby reports that Gabe’s Instagram page, which contains images of things he designed on Outpost, has nothing new on it. Her own page, where she posted a flyer, and her Facebook page are getting some shares.

They agree that, because Gabe comes from an impoverished, Black family, people won’t much care what happens to him. They decide that the boy at least has them on his side. They put their hands together and say, “For Gabe.”

Back at school after the holidays, Principal Garmon calls an assembly of all 350 students to talk about the missing Gabe. Ali’s flyer is projected onto a big screen; he’s surprised by all the interest. The principal asks that, if any student knows or suspects anything about the case, they inform an adult or a counselor. Kahlil quips that it’s Gabe who needs a counselor. Ali ignores him.

Ruby announces a Facebook page for Gabe where students can post questions or info. Also, there’s a hashtag, “#FindGabeQualls.” Kahlil says, “More like hashtag, #wheresthebody?” (124) Ali leaps to his feet and tells Kahlil to shut up. A teacher warns Ali about causing trouble. Ali sits, determined not to be goaded anymore. It doesn’t last.

In the hallway, Kahlil and his friend Darius taunt Ali about his father’s upcoming trial. Ali lunges at Kahlil and hits him square in the nose. Blood squirts out. Kahlil throws a left that hits Ali’s right cheek, sending him sprawling. Kids chant, “Fight, fight,” while Kahlil yanks Ali up and readies a second punch, but Mr. Garmon separates them. The boys trade insults; Garmon leads Ali away to the office.

Alex arrives at the school. His son has a red blemish under his eye that will soon turn purple. He asks Ali what happened; Ali says, “I didn’t know he was lefthanded” (132). Principal Garmon calls them into his office. Alex learns that Ali took the first swing. Garmon sympathizes with Ali over Kahlil’s taunts but gives the boy a four-day suspension. Ali is shocked but doesn’t argue. To Alex, this is good: His son accepts his punishment.

On the drive home, Ali says Kahlil was talking trash about Alex, even though he should know better, since his father also is a cop. The detective says Kahlil is one of many who are saying mean things, and Ali can’t go around punching all of them. He grounds Ali and forbids him TV and PlayStation.

Ali asks if Alex will be charged with murder if Mr. Yang dies. Alex replies that, although he didn’t push Yang, many people will reach that conclusion, given that bad cops sometimes escape punishment. Alex promises they’ll get through this mess together. He wants to offer his son some good news to lift the boy’s spirits, but he doesn’t have any today.

Ali worries silently about how he’s not helping things by getting himself in trouble. While his brother and sister were busy being good students and athletes, “I was the one dragging Dad down to school in the middle of the day to clean up some mess I’d made” (140).

He also regrets hitting Kahlil—not that the guy didn’t deserve it—but it got Ali grounded just when he needs to go into overdrive searching for Gabe.

Alex dials Kahlil’s dad, policeman Victor Weyland. He asks if they can discuss their sons’ altercation, but Weyland says it’s cops like Alex who make trouble for the entire force and that Alex must keep his son away from Kahlil or find himself embroiled in another lawsuit. He hangs up.

Stuck at home on a school day with Nana, Ali pretends to study hard but spends most of his time monitoring online sources about Gabe or contacting his Outpost buddies. Ruby and Mateo’s father is organizing a vigil, while Cedric is handing out flyers outside school.

Ali texts Gabe twice a day. He sends notes like, “Did you know you have your own Facebook group now?” (148). He doesn’t expect a response, but he wants Gabe to know what’s going on and that people are thinking of him. Gabe never answers.

Ali can’t stop thinking about the Gabe situation. Nana notices he’s worrying and not doing his homework. She tells him not to focus on the difficulties. Quoting James Baldwin, she points out that Black history is a “perpetual testimony to the achievement of the impossible” (153). Neither she nor Ali would be able to enjoy the good lives they have if the Black community had decided such things were impossible.

She advises Ali to have some faith and move forward positively on the investigation. She’d consider that an acceptable part of his duties, as long as he also gets his regular schoolwork done. Ali thanks her.