The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2) QUOTES

1 " 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. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

2 " 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. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

3 " 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 obligation made to the living that remained in death. Pike had spent much time thinking about these things, and decided it was a matter of karmic balance. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

4 " 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. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

5 " 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, and Yanni didn’t look happy. Cole turned away as if he had heard enough foreign-language conversations to last a lifetime. “You want something to eat?” “Not yet. Did you find anything running the check on Darko’s condominiums?” “Yeah. They’re not his condos—not in his name or any name I’ve been able to connect to him. This guy is hidden, man—he does not exist, so he’s almost certainly here illegally.” Cole ticked off the points. “No one named Michael Darko appears in the DMV, the Social Security rolls, or the California state tax rolls. No one by that name has an account with any of the major credit card companies, the public utilities here in Los Angeles County, the telephone company, or any of the major cell service providers. Michael Darko has no criminal record that I’ve been able to find.” Rina said, “In Serbia. In Serbia, he was arrested. This I know.” Pike "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

6 " 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, as if someone might jump out of a closet. Jon Stone had brought in a large box of his surveillance gear, and Cole was helping him set up. Cole was shirtless, but had strapped on a bullet-resistant vest. Pike couldn’t blame them for being wary, especially with the cash. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

7 " Walsh looked at Cole. “Both of you?” Pike said, “He’s going to have people. It’ll look better if I have people, too.” Cole pointed at himself. “I’m his people.” Pike went on with it. “He thinks we’re meeting to pick up the money. The real reason is to give him this.” Stone showed them a handheld GPS locator. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

8 " KELLY WALSH STOOD twelve inches from the table, close enough so he was forced to look up, but not so close as to touch the table. Pike recognized this as a controlling technique. By assuming a superior position she hoped to create a sense of authority. Like unplugging the camera. She was demonstrating she had the power to do as she wished, even at Parker Center. Pike "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

9 " 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 Pike’s sunglasses—blue bug eyes in an expressionless face. Pike knew Grebner would find this unnerving. Like Walsh when she had him at Parker Center, he was psyching the edge. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

10 " 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 obligation made to the living that remained in death. Pike had spent much time thinking about these things, and decided it was a matter of karmic balance. Pike "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

11 " Stone held up something that looked like the GPS locator he removed from Pike’s Jeep. “Remember this?” Walsh reddened as Stone went on. “It’s not yours. We canned the one you put on his Jeep. This one’s mine. White-burst digital ceramic, no RF, will not show on airport scanners or wands. It’s better than yours.” The "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

12 " Their call log that night showed fewer than a third their usual number of calls, which made for an easy shift, but left Scott bored. Hence, their search for the unfindable noodle house, which Scott had begun to believe might not exist. Stephanie reached to start the car, but Scott stopped her. “Let’s "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

13 " Stephanie was still holding his hand, and Scott was wondering what she meant by it when an enormous Bentley sedan appeared at the end of the street, as out of place in this neighborhood as a flying carpet, windows up, smoked glass, not a speck of dust on its gleaming skin. Stephanie "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

14 " Pike didn’t like this business about guns. He studied her face, trying to read her. Her eyes were light brown, almost hazel, but not. A vertical line cut the skin between her eyebrows, matched by a scar on her upper lip. No laugh lines, but no frown lines, either. Pike didn’t like her certainty. “How did you find me?” She made an offhand shrug, her face as flat as a Texas highway, ignoring his question. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

15 " I thought it might stand out because of the nature of the arrest.” “A vice sting?” “A Serbian sex ring. They worked for a Serb gang set.” “Ah. Okay, that sounds familiar. NoHo Vice took down thirteen or fourteen girls over by CBS Studio Center. A joint task force deal with OCTF.” Organized Crime Task Force. “That’s it.” “Serbians. Okay, sure. They had cribs all through those complexes. They had so many hookers around the pool over there it looked like the Playboy Mansion. Not that I’ve ever seen the mansion.” “That’s the one. I want to talk to them about events occurring on or about that time.” Sanchez said, “You mind if I ask what this is about?” “A gang pakhan named Michael Darko. Darko heads up the set that owned these particular girls.” Sanchez said, “Darko.” “Yeah. One of his lieutenants probably ran the operation, but Darko was the man. The pakhan. I have some questions about Darko these girls might be able to answer.” The silence from Sanchez was thoughtful. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

16 " 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 auto chassis, rusting pipes, and other types of scrap metal. Two new sedans were parked out front on the street, and two more sedans and a large truck were in the parking lot, but the gravel drive was chained off, and a sign in the front office window read CLOSED. As Pike watched, a man in a blue shirt came out of the front office building, and crunched across the parking lot to the corrugated building. As he reached the door, he spoke to someone Pike didn’t see, and then that man stepped out from behind the parked truck. He was a big man with a big gut, and thick legs to carry it. The two men laughed about something, then the man in the blue shirt went into the building. The big man studied the passing traffic, then slowly returned to his place behind the truck. Everything "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

17 " 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. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

18 " 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. "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

19 " 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 "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)

20 " Don’t tell her what I found here, okay? I want to tell her.” “Whatever you want.” “I have to go.” Pike "

― Robert Crais , The First Rule (Elvis Cole, #13; Joe Pike, #2)