Episode 2 of "Cross" kicks off with Alex descending the stairs, his gun drawn and nerves jangling. Yet, it's merely his daughter Janelle, thirstily seeking a drink. Alex is startled as a glass shatters into pieces on the floor, drawing Nana Mama's immediate concern. Clearly, Cross remains deeply scarred and haunted by the specters of his past. He offers a heartfelt apology to his daughter, but John is far less lenient in his forgiveness.
When John learns of the incident, he confronts Alex, insisting that he pull himself together and refocuses their attention on the drama entangling Emir and Tavio. Despite the fact that a phone was unmistakably present at the crime scene where Emir was fatally shot, the team has yet to uncover it on him. This lone, viable clue is further compromised by a viral video spreading rapidly online, which surprisingly, no one had bothered to scrutinize. Within the footage, a woman named Vanessa pockets the phone, driven by her determination to seek justice for the victims, a justice she doesn't trust the police to deliver. Her friend Mel provides her with a gun for protection while simultaneously keeping watch over Vanessa's son, Tavie.
Meanwhile, "Josh" – actually Ed in disguise – arrives to meet Shannon, his match from the dating site. Though she's displeased by being catfished, she agrees to join him for breakfast. It's revealed that Bobbie Trey is colluding with Ed, and he cautions Ed against targeting Alex Cross. However, Trey assigns him a task: retrieving Tavio's phone, a mission Trey fully intends to see carried out.
We then witness a series of captivating scenes where Ed expertly courts Shannon, coaxing her to visit him the next morning after flexing his muscles and flaunting his extensive influence. However, the narrative takes a more intricate turn when Janelle finds herself being stalked by a mysterious man lurking in the yard. He remains concealed, seemingly communicating through the compromised security system. In response to the hacking, Nana Mama swiftly disables all the cameras, prompting John and Alex to rush back home.
Alex notices that the numbers on the ground for the Hop Skip Jump game have been subtly altered, now mirroring the precise time and date of Maria's tragic demise. Meanwhile, Cross delves deeper into the Vanessa lead, determined to locate her whereabouts. Vanessa, who has just visited Mel, realizes that the police are hot on her trail and is advised to lay low.
Yet, Vanessa is driven by a mission to share the tape with individuals she believes can secure justice for Emir. This mission is fueled by a journalist named Tania Hightower, who eagerly inquiries about her location. Both Alex and Kayla manage to uncover Vanessa's hiding spot, but they are not alone in their pursuit. Bobby Trey forcefully enters her room, demanding that she enter Tavio's code into his phone to bring an end to this deceitful charade. When Vanessa refuses, Trey responds with a slap and forces her to comply.
Bobby Trey eventually gains access to the phone and takes Vanessa's as well, concealing the SIM cards in his mouth as he packs his belongings. In a brutal act, he slits her throat and flees out the back door, leaving a trail of chaos and despair in his wake.
John and Alex arrive too late to the scene, as Vanessa's fate takes a grim turn; she succumbs to her wounds and expires before she can disclose the identity of her murderer. From this moment onward, everything begins to unravel, yet Cross remains steadfast in his resolve to uncover the truth. He learns that Tavio's phone forwarded a crucial message before going silent, and he devises a plan to leverage Tania Hightower, a seasoned journalist, to uncover its contents. In return, Tania is granted exclusive access to the story, albeit without a guarantee that it will remain under wraps until Cross is ready.
With Vanessa's demise, Alex Cross makes his way to Tavio's side. Using his cunning, Alex gains access to the child's tablet and retrieves the final voice message Tavio sent. Embedded within the recording is an address: 41 Price Street – a place where Ed happens to be in hiding.
The following morning, Shannon arrives for breakfast, her greed for money and fame an irresistible诱惑. However, her野心 is short-lived as Ed slips her a drug, cleverly using the hand sanitizer at the entrance as a covert means to administer it. As Shannon succumbs to the drug's effects and slips into unconsciousness, Ed addresses her with a familiarity, calling her Aileen.
