Jon had spent most of his career gathering intelligence, providing security, rescuing hostages, and, one way or another, in direct, boots-on-the-ground combat with individuals identified as terrorists...
Jon glanced at his bedroom again. Nothing moved within the black rectangle framed by the doors. Al-Qaeda. Pike nodded. Listen, so you know, just because some idiot sells this crap doesn’t mean it’s go...
Jon burst out laughing. Spy. Jesus. Nancie Stendahl said, You always laugh at yourself? If you heard the crap in my head, you’d laugh, too. Stendahl was leaning against Pike’s Jeep, which had been rel...
Jon Stone spoke thirteen languages and was fluent in six, French being one. He spoke it so well the girls thought he was a native Parisian pretending to be an American. This ability to blend with the...
Joe shifted in his seat. Reality begins changing. Lucy crossed her arms and leaned forward. Are you saying that Jonathan stays away from it? Sure. He’s got Truly. He’s got Kerris. He’s hidden by layer...
Jimmy smiled, wide and mindless, the way a pit bull smiles before he bites you. He said, How about that, Terry. You think we got something as pussy as the mafia down here?
Jesus Christ, Brownell. What in hell’s got you so scared? The bar door opened and the blond guy from the Lexus came in. He was maybe six-two, with hard shoulders and sharp features and ice blue eyes t...
It’s six. We’re closed. You need to leave, or I’ll call the police. Eddie said, Asshole fed. They were glaring at me when Eddie suddenly focused on something behind me, and his face sagged. Oh shit. I...
It’s me. Where’s Rina? With Yanni. I brought her back after our tour. Do me a favor, and go get them. The ATF knows I was at their building, and suspects I was seeing a source. They want the source. C...
It's easy to sound good. All you do is leave in the parts where you act tough and forget the parts where you get shoved around.
It was a lovely morning, hinting at a brutally hot day. Cole squinted into the milky haze that filled his canyon, enjoyed the coffee, and noticed a red-tailed hawk circling overhead, searching for fie...
In L.A., next to riots and earthquakes, fires are our largest spectator sport.
I went over to the big couch and sat down next to Mimi. She was watching everything the way a goldfish watches the world from its bowl, all big eyes and vulnerability and with an assumption of invisib...
I watched the mirror for black sedans as we pulled away, and checked every side street as we drove to the freeway. I looked for their big black beast as we climbed the ramp, and kept looking, even aft...
I told myself Tyson was going to pick up their laptops, but half a mile later they joined the drive-thru line at an In-N-Out Burger. Tyson. Eating was constant. Maybe he needed sustenance before they...
I said, Luce? She looked at me. I opened my mouth but did not speak. My mouth felt dry and there was a kind of faraway ringing and my fingers and legs suddenly went cold. There are those times when in...
I reset the alarm, let myself out, and went to my car. I dumped the yearbooks and files onto the passenger seat, but didn’t drive away. I thought about the gun. Amy might have had second thoughts. She...
I read the file, Meryl. Her corporate biography makes a big deal out of her experience. Double- and triple-based composite fuels. Slurries, gels, and castable propellants. Plasticized accelerants. I h...
I put the Corvette in its spot in the parking garage and rode up in the elevator and went into my office and closed the door. There was a message on my answering machine from someone looking for Bob,...
I put out my hand. Harlan Green. He waved the cowboy toward me without shaking. He’s going to check you. You know what to do? I know. I stood with my feet apart and arms out. The wand looked like the...