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8578fd4
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WHEN COLE CUT HIM FREE, Jon amscrayed back to West Hollywood. He hadn't been home long enough to heat his pool, but Jon stripped as he walked through his house, and hit the water like a naked lawn dart. The
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Robert Crais |
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3df83df
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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.
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Robert Crais |
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60e382f
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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.
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Robert Crais |
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2a4d6bd
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Pike closed the Jeep, and watched them. He was vaguely aware of the bodyguards, but they were as inconsequential as a passing thought. He focused on Darko. Darko had done these things, and now Pike had an obligation to Frank. The obligation existed because they carried each other's slack and trusted their teammates would pick them up if they fell. No one was left behind, which meant the obligation extended beyond logic and reason. It was an..
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Robert Crais |
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7df926f
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When Pike reached home, he stretched in the parking lot to cool, then peeled off his sweatshirt, deactivated the alarms, and let himself in. His condo was austere and functional with little in the way of decoration. Dining room set off the kitchen; couch, chair, and coffee table in the living room; a flat-screen television for sports and news. A black stone meditation fountain burbled in the corner. Pike found peace in the natural sound, as..
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Robert Crais |
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afeb655
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Behind him, McIntosh whispered. "What if it's people?" "It's not." "I know these are animal heads, but this could be human blood. These organs could be from people." "They aren't. Butchered people smell different." McIntosh studied Pike as if wondering how Pike knew that, then pointed out the wall behind the counter. "Check"
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Robert Crais |
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9305101
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Pike moved along the side of the house, looking into each window he passed, and checking for signs of tampering. The first room appeared to be a guest bedroom, and the next was the kitchen. The bedroom appeared undisturbed, but Pike's view was limited. He saw dirty dishes, three empty beer bottles, and a cutting board on the kitchen counter. Pike told himself the dishes indicated Wilson and Dru planned to return home, but the goat heads and..
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Robert Crais |
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dc4f385
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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 Orleans at better than a hundred miles an hour, but back here in the alley--in a cheap one-room apartment over a po'boy shop--the wind was no stronger than an arrogant breeze. The
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Robert Crais |
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8d9e95e
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Daniel said, all serious, "I asked you, you seen a zombie? They got'm here in this place, I know for a fact." Tolley"
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Robert Crais |
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39e1d2d
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He snuggled closer, spooning into her back, both of them staring at nothing. Jack wondered what she was seeing. Krista
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Robert Crais |
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4054b7f
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A shopping bag from a local hobby store contained kits for making buzzers and doorbells. Jugs of liquid resin and rolls of plastic food wrap sat beside the bag, and a mini-loaf baking pan was wedged between the jugs. Plastic sewing kits were stacked next to X-Acto knives, and so many arts and crafts supplies Amy could open a hobby shop. The
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Robert Crais |
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f944378
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The two men shook hands, then the cowboy walked through the main gate to an anonymous Buick and drove away. Watching
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Robert Crais |
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9541596
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Daniel reloaded, tucked away his gun, then took out the satellite phone. The cell stations were out all over the city, but the sat phone worked great. He checked the time, hit the speed dial, then waited for a link. It always took a few seconds. In that time, he stood taller, straightened himself, and resumed his normal manner. When the connection was made, Daniel reported. "Tolliver James is dead. He didn't provide anything useful." Daniel..
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Robert Crais |
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0ad5985
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If a zombie appeared, Daniel planned to jump out the window after it and rip its putrid, unnatural flesh to pieces with his teeth. He was, after all, a werewolf, which was why he was such a good hunter and killer. Werewolves feared nothing. Daniel
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Robert Crais |
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25d9201
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Pike had at least four minutes inside if the breach registered at a top private security firm. The duty monitor would run a system diagnostic to make sure the alarm hadn't been triggered by a malfunction, then phone the subscriber. If the subscriber could not be reached, the monitor would alert a mobile unit or the police, who would respond only after finishing their current call. Four minutes was the best-case response time, but Pike knew ..
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Robert Crais |
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f155652
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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." Cole made a soft whistle. "How do you know?" "I just spent three hours with them." Pike sketched out what he found at Willowbrook, what happened when Walsh had him picked up, and the information she gave him about Darko."
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Robert Crais |
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9ddcad4
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Somewhere between Burger King and now, the Syrian's sleight-of-hand security system worked. Pike wasn't here. I never doubted, not once, he would find me. My task was to stay alive until it happened or I could escape on my own. The United States Army sent me to something called Ranger School. The Ranger motto was sua sponte. It meant you're on your own, asshole. Okay.
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Robert Crais |
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8b7a896
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Pike said, "Yanni's building is being watched by the police. You shouldn't go back." Yanni mumbled something in Serbian, and Rina chattered something back. She said, "The police don't care about Yanni. Why would they watch?" "They followed me earlier today. They know I'm trying to find Darko, so now they believe someone in Yanni's complex has information about him. They will look for that person." Rina and Yanni launched into more Serbian, ..
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Robert Crais |
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e972f9b
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I said, "What is this place?" "Old date farm. This building here is where they used to box up the shit and load it onto trucks." Rows"
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Robert Crais |
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1dfda6d
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His hair was a quarter-inch short, his skin was cooked dark, and his knuckles were scarred and coarse. Hydeck
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Robert Crais |
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8073ff0
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They led me across the commissary and along a short hall into the next building. The skinhead was named Royce, and Royce liked to bitch. He and most of the other guards had arrived yesterday, and didn't like busting their asses all night to put up the plywood. He went on about it until the Syrian told him to shut up. Then he shut, and we passed more guards. Most carried shock prods and clubs, but some had short black shotguns and one had a ..
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Robert Crais |
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4945e2d
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They climbed out of their car as Pike pulled in, and were waiting with their badges when he stepped from the Jeep. The man was in his fifties, with a fleshy face, thinning red hair, and a blue summer-weight sport coat. The woman was fifteen years younger, with raven hair, black eyes, and a navy pants suit that hung as if she had recently lost weight. Her gun dimpled the coat at her waist, and she stood with her hand floating close as if she..
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Robert Crais |
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7aaf478
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She shouted for help, screamed and shrieked, and thrashed again. He simply watched until she was winded. Then she finally spoke. "I was in the kitchen--" "Now you're not." She was stirring honey into hot tea. She had not heard him enter. Did not hear him approach. She never knew he compressed her carotid artery, cut off the oxygen to her brain, and put her to sleep. She had not seen him until this moment when she opened her eyes, there in t..
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Robert Crais |
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010b910
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Scott let Maggie out the rear, clipped her lead, and hurried to catch up as Sims and another Fugitive dick brought out Estelle Rolley. Rolley looked like a walking skeleton. Street officers called this "the meth diet." Cowly" --
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Robert Crais |
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d05fb61
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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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9f47f97
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Mills paced to the door, but didn't leave, as if he had needed motion to contain himself. "I"
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Robert Crais |
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a6d5cc5
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Pike stepped into the first bay and spotted the man from the Monte Carlo in an office at the rear of the building. He was in front of a television with his back to the door. The Dodgers were playing a day game. Pike checked to see that the other two men were still struggling with the fender, then slipped toward the office as silently as a fish gliding through water. On
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Robert Crais |
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3b1592e
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I glanced at the address. "He lives in Palm Springs?" "Somewhere in L.A., I think. His family has the house in Palm Springs, or it might belong to a friend, but I don't really know. Krista hasn't told me much about him." Old story. The less Krista told her, the less she could criticize. I put the address aside. "Okay."
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Robert Crais |
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a106774
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Okay. So how is she missing?" "She went for the weekend. That's what she told me, and she always tells me where she's going and exactly how long she'll be gone. But she's been gone now for a week, and she won't return my calls or texts, and I know it's that boy." That boy. "How long have Krista and that boy been together?" Thinking about it seemed to sicken her. "Six or seven months. I've only met him two or three times, but I don't like hi..
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Robert Crais |
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aa67d91
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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 had to Google those things to see what they were." "We"
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Robert Crais |
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a995980
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Something about the desk bothered me. I sat and touched the keyboard. The monitors didn't respond. They powered up when I turned them on, but the screens showed only a bright blue field. I looked under and around her desk. I found all the necessary system components except for the brain that tied them together. Amy's computer was missing. I said, "Hmm." Detectives said things like this when they were suspicious. I"
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Robert Crais |
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9d790e5
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Maggie reached the door well before Scott, and saw another door ahead. The intruder and another man were waiting beyond it. Ten thousand generations filled her with a guardian's rage. Scott
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Robert Crais |
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b65e1ee
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Maggie reached the door well before Scott, and saw another door ahead. The intruder and another man were waiting beyond it. Ten thousand generations filled her with a guardian's rage. Scott was hers to care for, and hers to keep. She
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Robert Crais |
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f21980d
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Mr. Locano lowered the note. His cool expression told me I had insulted him. "My practice is immigration law. I help clients obtain visas and green cards, and fight deportation and removal orders. If you believe I'm involved in something illegal, you misunderstand the nature of my work." "That isn't what I meant to suggest, Mr. Locano. If I sounded that way, I apologize." He didn't look mollified. "Nita"
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Robert Crais |
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cd9fb96
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Pike dug his thumb into the side of the man's neck where the C3 nerve root emerged from the third vertebra, crushing the root into the bone. This caused the man's shoulder and chest to go numb with a sharp flash of pain. His diaphragm locked and his breathing stopped mid-breath. The C3 nerve controlled the diaphragm. "If"
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Robert Crais |
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5198a02
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Pike dug his thumb into the side of the man's neck where the C3 nerve root emerged from the third vertebra, crushing the root into the bone. This caused the man's shoulder and chest to go numb with a sharp flash of pain. His diaphragm locked and his breathing stopped mid-breath. The C3 nerve controlled the diaphragm. "If you get up, I'll do this again. It will hurt worse." Pike released the pressure, and knew the man's shoulder and arm now ..
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Robert Crais |
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3a84966
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The Police Administration Building was a beautiful glass-and-concrete building with a triangular atrium that looked like the prow of a crystal ship. The cops who worked there called it the Boat. The opposite side looked like a Borg mothership. Furth
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Robert Crais |
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32345a0
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The new guy smiled and put out a hand the size of a king crab. "Brad Carter. You're Mr. Cole?" "Yes, sir. Elvis Cole." He clutched my hand like a king crab, too. "Thanks"
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Robert Crais |
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64993fb
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Familiar was good. Unfamiliar was bad. A soft scuffing came from beyond the old female's crate. Maggie instantly lifted her head, and cocked her ears toward the sound. She recognized human footsteps, and understood two people were coming up the drive. Maggie hurried to the French doors and pushed her nose under the curtain. She heard a twig snap, brittle leaves being crushed, and the scuffing grow louder. Tree rats stopped moving to hide in..
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Robert Crais |
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7f59fd2
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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 by the United Nations, the United States government, and the civilized world. This being Nigeria, Jon knew the people responsible for the bombing would be members of Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group with ties to al-Qaeda, or a Boko Haram..
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Robert Crais |
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48590ca
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Jon went back inside, and Googled pictures of Jacob Breslyn. He found a tall young man with a thin face, relaxed smile, and high forehead. Geeky, but growing into himself. An everyday, normal civilian. Jon
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Robert Crais |
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c26bcc5
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Jon wondered if Pike needed money. If Pike needed money, Jon could make money. And Jon loved making money. The woman on the far side of the bed snored. The woman beside him stirred. Her voice was cloudy with three-hundred-dollar Scotch. "Qui est-il?" "Rendors-toi." Backpacking French hippie chicks Jon met when he came through Customs. The girl made a hazy smile as her eyes closed. "Il est soldat comme toi?" "Personne n'est comme moi, cherie..
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Robert Crais |
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5a64454
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A taupe couch faced matching taupe chairs across a blocky coffee table. Matching end tables that were too large for the space bracketed the couch, and a generic mass-produced painting hung on the wall. The furnishings appeared new, but looked like furnishings found in a discount motel chain. Pike
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Robert Crais |
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72f076d
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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 natives was a valuable tool when Jon plied his trade. Jon eased from the bed. Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors lined the back of his house, ten-foot-tall, custom-designed monsters so Jon could Zen on the view. Golden lights glittered to the..
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Robert Crais |