I glanced at Pike, but Pike was staring out the front door. Intimidating the neighborhood. I said, Maybe he mentioned a buddy who worked at a Shell Station or an ex-con he would have drinks with.
I came to do business, and you’re starting this shit? Park touched his arm. Come. We speak elsewhere. Fuck that. I’m not going anywhere. He shook off Park’s hand, but Park gripped him again. You are n...
His face went sullen and his breathing grew loud. He had more of the Hamm’s. He had more of the Hamm’s again. My neck was hurting so bad I thought it would go into spasm.
He made a sympathetic shrug, then spread his hands. Flexibility, my friend. Flexibility is the key to all happiness. Remember that.
He cupped her face and forced her to see him. She had to see past her fear. Her eyes met his and he knew they were together. Watch me. Don’t look at them or anything else. Watch me until I motion for...
He bent to take her arm, and I saw his shirt was spattered with blood. Streaks and drips of blood marked his shirt with slaughterhouse designs, and more blood speckled his face. I
Four hours later Pike was gone and I was cooking a very nice puttanesca sauce when I decided to call Lucy Chenier. I was most of the way through a bottle of California merlot. In the course of my life...
During the past two months, Holman had trained part-time as a trimmer in the printing plant, which meant his job was to load five-, six-, and eight-foot-wide rolls of fabric into the printer, make sur...
Daniel said, all serious, I asked you, you seen a zombie? They got’m here in this place, I know for a fact. Tolley
Cole’s interest was a tell. He wasn’t expressing casual curiosity. He was all business, and carried himself like a man with a need to know. Scott didn’t like the way Cole’s friends were staring, like...
COLE STOPPED by his office that morning to pick up the calling logs before heading on to stay with the girl. His friend at the phone company had faxed twenty-six pages of outgoing and incoming phone n...
An older woman wearing breeches and riding boots pushed a stroller out of a driveway and into the street. I stopped to let her cross. She smiled, thanking me. I smiled, saying take your time. A tiny h...
Amber said, I love your earrings. The waitress rolled her eyes. Boyfriend medicine. Girl, don’t I know! They laughed together like besties forever. Tyson had seen Amber’s magic too many times to count...
A left-behind look.
A fourth man entered, this guy a little shorter than the others, but wider, and hard to see when your eyes are blurring. He was in his fifties, with crinkly gray hair and a florid face and a dark blue...
A dog barked further inland somewhere in Ghost Town, and Pike heard vehicles on nearby Pacific Boulevard, but here the houses slept. The smell of the sea was strong. The largest canal—Grand Canal—ran...
Nostrils flickered and twitched. Her breathing pattern changed when she sniffed for a scent. Sniffing wasn’t breathing. The air she drew for sniffing did not enter her lungs. Sniffs were small sips sh...
Cat came toward him, paced away, then returned. Its dark face was as fierce as a Maori. The fur on its spine was spiked like a Mohawk warrior. Pike
With her sunglasses off, her eyes were red, and Cole wondered if she had been crying. She caught him looking, and flashed the crooked smile. It was smart and inviting, and could never be made by someo...
When the light changed, the arrow dude crossed with the crowd, walking along Sunset like he was normal. Daniel clocked the dude as he passed. Big guy, hard, but he moved as if he was floating. Nasty h...