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d7414ae
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You good with Arabic?" Bam! Out of left field, and now Stone was smiling. There were many Arabic dialects, from Moroccan Arabic with Berber words which often did not even sound Arabic, to the aristocratic Arabic spoken by the Saudi royal family, which was different from the Arabic spoken in the streets."
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Robert Crais |
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fd5f118
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The lock was removed, and the door rose with a ratcheting clatter, filling the truck with grim red shadows. Jack checked the time. 2:55 A.M. The people ahead of them started to move. Krista's
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Robert Crais |
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6812403
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Stone dropped farther back when the Explorer's blinker came on. He had to be even more careful now in the confined residential streets. His eighty-thousand-dollar Rover stood out in the shabby area like a gleaming black diamond, not that this bothered him. It was another challenge, and Stone loved challenges. They made life interesting. He
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Robert Crais |
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e21abab
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Ramos walked away. "Two." "Got him." Pike stayed with Cole and Park, letting Stone pick up Ramos. They had designated Park as Target One and Ramos as Target Two. Jon was on Two. If the meet went bad, Jon would drop Ramos and Pike would drop Park. They would then lay down suppressing fire so Cole could escape. If Cole was killed or wounded, they would terminate everyone in the tow yard. "What I'm saying is, I know time is of the essence an' ..
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Robert Crais |
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0310a25
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Stone touched the air with the tip of his chopstick as if he was dotting an i with a quill pen. "Your talker there, he's Sang Ki Park. He doesn't run the gang. That would be his uncle, Young Min Park. Sang is the second in command. They're Ssang Yong Pa--the Double Dragon gang--straight out of the R-O-K. Hard-core and nasty." ROK was the Republic of Korea. I"
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Robert Crais |
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931db08
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Stone checked his watch. Tempus fugit. "Gotta"
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Robert Crais |
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3ea4b1a
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Pike didn't know what he would find or if he would find anything, but the Malibu's back seat was filled with their duffels and sleeping bags. Pike checked to make sure no one was watching, then used a jiggler key to open the car. Pike
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Robert Crais |
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3223f79
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Pike tapped Jon's leg, and Jon rolled on, cruising back to their cars. Everything moved quickly after their brief reconnoiter, which was how Pike liked it. Speed was good. In armed confrontations, speed was the difference between life and death. Cole
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Robert Crais |
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bfe8f9f
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As Cole and Pike slipped out, Stone said, "Want the M4? It's ideal for urban assault." Cole frowned at Stone. "You have an M4?" "Shit, yeah, man. Suppressed. Frangible bullets so you don't kill a buncha people in the next house. Straight from the Delta Armory." Cole looked at Pike. "Is he kidding?" "Let's go." Pike jogged away, and Cole fell in behind him. They slowed as they neared the house, then lingered at the nearest side gate to let a..
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Robert Crais |
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8b19872
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You see the van?" "Yeah, we're almost there. Don't worry." The criminal with a Bolivian cartel after him telling Cole not to worry. Perfect. "Make"
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Robert Crais |
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31c9260
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The rocks and rotten branches cut into Daniel's back. He took a tentative breath, and heard a wet popping in his chest. He coughed, but all that came out was aborted vomit. Daniel
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Robert Crais |
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f638dcd
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Vincent said, "You never answered my question." "What question was that?" "Down south. You think we faced off before?" "No." "How you know that for sure?" "You'd be dead." "That's funny. The boys told me the same thing about you." Pike"
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Robert Crais |
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f3c8c40
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Pike jogged back across Mulholland, and found Rose Platt squatting beside Rainey. He tried to understand what he felt about her, but he mostly felt nothing. Rose stood when she saw him, and Pike slowed to a walk. She still had the eyes. Smart, and complicated, and completely alive. Maybe that's what drew him to her. The life in her eyes. She
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Robert Crais |
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1e7fc0e
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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 branches. Branches, pine needles, twisted gnarled deformed warped scrub oak branches like arthritic fingers with leaves. Tobey cried, "Daniel?" Cleo whimpered, "Daniel?" Daniel felt himself shrinking, like the world was growing larger and he was g..
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Robert Crais |
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0fb4ef4
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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 wands used by TSA screeners, but this one did not screen for metal. He passed it over my chest, back, arms, and legs, searching for the RF and IR signals emitted by transmitters, recorders, and listening devices. I must have passed, becau..
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Robert Crais |
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a707de5
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The rifle was mottled with a synthetic preservative that smelled like overripe peaches. The stock and pistol grip were made of a bright orange wood that was slick with the preservative. The Russians had gone to polymer stocks, but the Chinese still went with the wood. Pike opened the bolt to inspect the receiver and breech. They were flawless. Stone
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Robert Crais |
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b7a2507
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Pike hung up. He knew he couldn't convince Darko with more talk. Darko would have to convince himself, and now he would either show or he wouldn't. Cole
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Robert Crais |
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0b2edb3
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WALSH AND FOUR AGENTS from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms arrived at Cole's house an hour later. Two stayed with their cars, but two male agents came in with Walsh--a tough-looking Latin guy named Paul Rodriguez and a tall lanky guy named Steve Hurwitz. Hurwitz was wearing an olive green Special Response Team jumpsuit. SRT was the ATF's version of SWAT. They spread through Cole's living room with an air of watchful suspicion, ..
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Robert Crais |
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efb8b59
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Seven hundred fifty thousand dollars in cash didn't take up much room. It could be packed in four shoe boxes, and fit in a single grocery bag. Walsh carried the money in a gym bag slung over her shoulder. The bag was smaller than Pike thought, but he could see the weight in her walk. She
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Robert Crais |
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ceb8b38
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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 not here to die. I am not here to threaten. Walk here. Away from our men, so no one hear." Park steered him across the lot to a sleeping flatbed. I followed along with them. Park's men floated into new positions without being told, securin..
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Robert Crais |
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0000002
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Jack met Kwan's eyes, glanced away, then looked back. Jack nodded once, kind of like saying hi, but Kwan did not respond. His lean face was all planes and angles, and as warm as a granite mask. He also had a split lip and a heavy purple bruise on his cheek from the guards. Jack
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Robert Crais |
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ef54ee9
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They spent the next hour going over their plan and setting up their equipment. Stone loaded his software onto Carlos's laptop, then fit locators on Pike and Cole, one in Cole's hair, and the other on the back of Pike's belt buckle. Both Walsh and Hurwitz made multiple calls, coordinating the tactical SRT team and six additional Special Agents. At
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Robert Crais |
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2340205
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You. Yeah, you, c'mon, get up." He spoke perfect English, but Jack couldn't tell if the Korean kid understood English or not. The guard motioned him to get up, so he slowly stood. The guard motioned him closer, so he went closer. He didn't shuffle forward with downcast eyes like the others. He held himself erect and met the guard's eyes."
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Robert Crais |
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4b70d84
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Pike said, "The hat?" "Still there, in front of the taco stand like you said." "Mm." "I'm thinking I'll go in alone, while you keep an eye on the hat." "What about the brothers?" "I'll feel them out. They may not even know what their father was doing." Pike turned away without another word, slipped into his Jeep, and left. Mr. Small Talk. Sixty-five seconds later, I parked on the street across from the gate, and no one except the hat man pa..
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Robert Crais |
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f85f4f3
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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,"
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Robert Crais |
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3118fb7
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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 released along with everything else. The parking lot was near empty, though he saw the big white ATF van on the far side. Stone was pleased to see her. He sympathized with her personal involvement, and respected the all-in effort she was makin..
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Robert Crais |
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fb12fd1
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I spoke with Steve Brown today, the man who owns Smith's house, and I had another talk with Jared. I have to tell you some things, and you're not going to like it. I don't think Dru has been honest with you." Cole paused for Pike to react, but Pike gave him no more reaction than a department store mannequin. The cat left the edge of the deck, twined once through Pike's legs, then sat, its eyes narrow and watchful."
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Robert Crais |
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88e3e77
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Jon Stone looked like a demented surfer with his spiky, bleached hair and pierced ear, but I knew his background with Delta. Sometimes you forget what that means. Most people think Delta, they're thinking of Rambo, with the big gun and even bigger muscles. D-boys are deadly warriors, for sure, but you won't find many who look like Rambo. This is because you can't rescue hostages or snatch high-value targets from hostile villages unless you ..
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Robert Crais |
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3fbcbad
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Pike said, "What were they saying?" "Couldn't hear, but it's an easy guess. The nephew here just lost two hundred thousand and a boatload of workers. They probably weren't talking about a promotion." Their next stop was a large two-level strip mall on Vermont. The strip mall was in the final stages of being remodeled, with a club and a restaurant taking up most of the upper level and what looked like another bar and a karaoke lounge on the ..
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Robert Crais |
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426a4f4
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Pike said, "What were they saying?" "Couldn't hear, but it's an easy guess. The nephew here just lost two hundred thousand and a boatload of workers. They probably weren't talking about a promotion." Their next stop was a large two-level strip mall on Vermont. The strip mall was in the final stages of being remodeled, with a club and a restaurant taking up most of the upper level and what looked like another bar and a karaoke lounge on the ..
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Robert Crais |
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4b44d21
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Pike was focused on Dru. She had thrown on shorts and a faded T-shirt in her rush to the shop, and now her hair was mussed and her feet were smudged with green. Pike thought the smart eyes seemed worried this morning, but he couldn't stop looking at her--as if she were a book he wanted to read. "You"
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Robert Crais |
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2287ed6
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Wilson said, "It was the same two cops as yesterday, the Mexican gal, what's her name?" Dru frowned. "Officer Hydeck probably wouldn't appreciate being called a Mexican. Or a gal." "She's supposed to tell the detectives, for all the good that's gonna do. I said, you know what, do me a favor, don't. You shoulda seen those idiots who came to the hospital." Wilson stopped sweeping to squint at Pike. "What's with all the questions about you? Th..
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Robert Crais |
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0790b33
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Sit down, Nancy." "Did I do something wrong?" Her eyes were dark as black forest chocolate, but wide as demitasse saucers. She probably thought he was going to chew her out, which he did, often, but now he wanted to teach her. "No,"
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Robert Crais |
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c6dc239
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The tall man's pistol suddenly appeared in front of Orlato's face, locked dead center between his eyes. The flat copper snouts of its bullets slept in their cylinder crypts. "Elvis"
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Robert Crais |
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aab5dd6
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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
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Robert Crais |
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19242b5
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He reached from the ceiling with a rubber arm, Krista threw up her hands to ward him off, and Jack came out of nowhere. He flew over her and slammed into Medina like a mongrel dog. Jack's impact knocked Medina backward. They spun through the kitchen, wrapped together, all arms and legs. Jack made grunting sounds, and found her eyes briefly as he spiraled past. "Garage."
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Robert Crais |
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beb14ea
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Pike glanced in the rearview. "Civilians?" "I don't understand." Stone jabbed him with the rifle. "Women and children, dipshit. A family. You got innocent people living in there, or just dead men like you?" "No one lives there. The house was empty." Stone"
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Robert Crais |
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1589784
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Walsh wet her lips again, and her jaw flexed. As if there was too much information to process, and the swell was lifting her too high and too fast to catch her breath. She finally nodded. "Okay. I'm listening."
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Robert Crais |
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17bbadf
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was gone when I arrived at Sanchez & Sons, but the man in the Subaru was parked a car-length away from a tiny white taqueria stand with an easy view of the tow yard on the opposite side of the street. He was slumped behind the wheel exactly as Pike described, wearing shades as if they made him invisible, and a stylish gray porkpie hat. Three scruffy, dusty men who looked like they worked hard were lined up for tacos. They ignored the hat ma..
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Robert Crais |
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57229b4
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beating
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Robert Crais |
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238af1a
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and eyes that moved back and forth as it tocked. Prospective clients
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Robert Crais |
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acbf36d
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Panel vans were working vans. There were no windows behind the front seats, and the rear bay was a dirty metal box smelling of pesticide and grease. Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi had used an identical van as a place to torture and murder their victims, and record their screams. Wander
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Robert Crais |
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0ec3919
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Pike did not move his eye from the sight picture. Cole, Ramos, Park. The Zeiss was fitted with a laser range finder displaying the range in tiny red numerals in the upper right quadrant of the sight picture. Elvis Cole was forty-two meters away. Overkill. Stone
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Robert Crais |
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437555c
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I left through the front door just like the Koreans, nodded at the officers the way strangers do, and mumbled something about the heat. Spurlow nodded back and Lange ignored me, but the red-haired guy locked eyes with me and didn't let go. I kept walking, just a man going to his car at the end of the day, only I wasn't. Each step was careful and measured, and with each step I hoped they wouldn't stop me. When I passed through the gate, Spur..
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Robert Crais |