Quotes from Robert Crais

We asked the people at the flower shop if they had seen anything, but they hadn't. We asked every shopkeeper in the strip mall and most of the employees, but they all said no. I hoped they had seen something to indicate that Karen was safe, but deep down, where your blood runs cold, I knew they hadn't.

Khat was a shrub native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where people chewed the leaves as a stimulant. Poor man's speed. Stone's

Pike moved very close until he stood over her. Stealing her space. Increasing the pressure.

I'll be there in five." Eight minutes later I parked in the parking garage, climbed the four flights to my floor, and walked down the hall. The building has an elevator, but tough guys climbed stairs. Picture me bristling with manliness. Also, impatience. Cindy's door was closed. The door to the little insurance agency across from my office was closed. My door was open.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I did not move. He did a slow three-sixty until his eyes settled on the taco stand. A middle-aged Latina was ordering food. The red-haired cop was forty yards away, but I still saw the lines that trapped his eyes like spiderwebs. The

When Pike finally released the pressure, he knew the pain would burn on with the ferocity of ant poison, so he touched another spot, this one in the man's neck, which reduced the pain. The man sagged, and his face paled to the color of meat left in water.

We pulled into Spago and let the valet have the car. Lucy suggested that I wear my Groucho Marx nose as a disguise to prevent adoring fans from mobbing me, but I pointed out that then everyone might think I was Groucho Marx and I would be mobbed anyway. I decided to risk going as myself.

Pike said, "This is dim mak. That's Chinese. It means death touch." Dim mak was the dark side of acupuncture; in one, pressure points were used to heal, in the other, to damage.

Pike rolled down his window and motioned them over. Pike spoke Spanish pretty well, along with French, gutter German, a little Vietnamese, a little Arabic, and enough Swahili to make himself understood to most Bantu speakers.

We're not so different." The girl burst out laughing. "Ohmigod! Oh my God—dude! Maybe you're high!" Pike put the car in gear, but kept his foot on the brake. Their sameness seemed obvious. "You want to be seen; me, I want to be invisible. It's all the same." The girl stared at him, then straightened herself the way he had straightened himself. She said, "An idealist.

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?

Jon said, "Two hundred kilograms is four hundred forty pounds. That much C-4 takes up about eight cubic feet, which is your basic cardboard box." Amy

Tyson glanced at Amber, and eased his phone from his pocket. He was frowning at my reply when Amber stepped away from the woman and her dog. Tyson saw her turn, and jammed the phone back into his pocket. Even from the sidewalk, his mad scramble to hide the phone told me Tyson was keeping secrets. Double hm.

Pike rolled down his window and motioned them over. Pike spoke Spanish pretty well, along with French, gutter German, a little Vietnamese, a little Arabic, and enough Swahili to make himself understood to most Bantu speakers. "Excuse me. May I ask you a question?" The three men exchanged glances before they approached, and the youngest man answered in English.

Pike had hinted at some kind of conspiracy, but Chen figured he was talking about a couple of crooked cops. Now it looked like the feds and Parker Center were involved, and no one seemed to know why, or what they were doing, even though they were doing things that no legitimate police agency would do. The chain of evidence was sacrosanct, and now the evidence was gone.

It was quiet, this late, there in the peaceful neighborhood. The porches were empty. The old people and the families were sleeping. Cars were parked and streets were empty except for Pike and the five cousins, there in the cone of blue light.

Thanks, Lyle. It's good to be here." Mr. Sincerity.

Pike slipped behind the wheel of his Jeep, lowered the sun visor, then started the engine. None of the three men looked toward the enormous Do-It-Yourself parking lot across the street. They would have seen nothing if they had. The Jeep was just another tree in a two-hundred-tree forest. Pike

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 to the ocean through Marina del Rey, and fed the five inland canals with life. Small fish swam in the shallow water, and sea plants grew in wavy clumps. Pike

The hunt was picking up speed, and now Pike wanted to push harder. The harder he pushed, the faster Meesh would have to react, and the more demands he would make on his men. His men would grow resentful and Meesh would get angry, and Pike would push faster and harder. This was called stressing the enemy, and when Meesh felt enough stress, he would realize he was no longer the hunter. He would accept that he was the prey. This was called breaking the enemy. Then Meesh would make a mistake.

I had seen Tyson in person only once, and then from a block away. He was a nice-looking kid, but held himself close, as if wary. Amber was the opposite. She was lean, pretty, and her smile was bright with confident energy. A blousy, off-the-shoulder cream top exposed flawless skin, and long, slender legs were revealed by little white shorts that were loose, but not nasty. The Gucci sunglasses looked great on her.

Scott slapped on their flashers, and pushed out of their car. The flashers painted the street and surrounding buildings with blue kaleidoscope pulses. Stephanie

Scott told himself to be patient, but wondered what Cole knew. Cole's offer to help was like a worrisome terrier that wouldn't let go of his ankle. Cole might be one of those people who colored outside the lines, but people who hung it over the edge weren't always wrong. Cole might be able to use his secret knowledge and shady connections to break the case faster than Carter. Scott

Some guys can charm the stitches off a baseball.