He said, Have you heard of two bank hitters named Marchenko and Parsons? Holman watched her stiffen and knew she was finally interested. Now she wasn’t just being nice or killing time until she could...
He came around with a red plastic gas can and got into one of the boats and filled its tank. Watch out for those rat bastard ski boats, he said. Damn rich kids come out here and run wild all over the...
Harvey didn’t set his phone to beep or buzz or vibrate like a normal person. Harvey’s phone screeched with a string piece from the Hitchcock movie Psycho, the scene with Janet Leigh in the shower, the...
Green looked at it without touching it and shook his head. This means nothing. For all anyone knows you wrote it yourself. It isn’t admissible. Not in a court of law, Jonathan. But we’re going to try...
Grebner shuffled warily to his feet. Pike turned him around, tied off his hands, then pushed him back to the floor. Grebner squinted at Pike, trying to read him, but saw only the mirrored surface of P...
Flynn seemed to want a response, so Pike nodded. I respect your service, but I don’t give a rat’s ass about it. Half this police force was in the Marines and the other half is tired of hearing about i...
Elvis Cole LARKIN CONNER BARKLEY wouldn’t talk to him. Cole asked about the property owners and tenants near her loft, but he might as well have spoken in a foreign language. Her lips pulled into a pe...
Does the Great Colinski have a first name? Royal. Such a name, don’t you think? Royal Colinski from East L.A. The burner vibrated in my pocket, but I was learning too much to stop. Why
Daniel saw dancing lights, and thought they were Cleo, but the lights raced toward him, right up to his face, then tromboned away fast as a gunshot, then snapped into hyper-sharp focus. Daniel saw bra...
Daniel loved these damned hurricanes. He folded back the shutters, then opened the window. Rain hit him good. It tasted of salt and smelled of dead fish and weeds. The cat-five wind clawed through New...
Cole was still working on the car when a dark green Lexus stopped across his drive. Cole straightened, and was surprised to see Pike and a young woman with ragged hair and big sunglasses get out. The...
Cole stared at the Pinocchio clock, then a small ceramic figurine of Jiminy Cricket a client had given him. Let your conscience be your guide. Everyone needed a Jiminy.
Cole got out of his car first. He scanned the surrounding roofs and windows like a Secret Service agent clearing the way for the president, then meandered around his car to the passenger side. He heft...
Chen tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. He worked up some spit. You’re not—listen, Chris, you’re not going to tell—well, I mean, Harriet doesn’t need to— LaMolla, still considering him with he...
Chen didn’t get back to the lab until almost six, only to find Harriet haunting the gun room like the Ghost of Christmas Future. Pike was certain to be impatient with the delay and no doubt would be g...
Can you talk? Absolutely. What did you find out? I’m going to put you on speaker. Terry’s here. The sound qual ity went from crisp to hollow when she put him on speaker. Hey,
Bud handed them to Pike, and tapped the top picture. This man was one of the original home invaders. You shot him in Malibu. He’s the only one of the five you shot who was also one of the home invader...
Bud Orso was in his early forties, with a chubby scoutmaster’s face topped by a crown of short black hair. He was waiting when Scott stepped off the elevator, which Scott had not expected. Bud
Bobby’s cheek was swollen and beginning to color but he still managed a grin. Probably because he had a Ruger .380 automatic in his left hand instead of a nightstick. He aimed it at me and said, Here’...
Behind the parking lot was a larger, two-story corrugated-steel building. The front building blocked most of what lay behind it from view, but Pike could see that the grounds were crowded with stacked...