Robert Crais - Stalking the Angel

The blonde who walked into Coles office was the best-looking woman hed seen in weeks. The only thing that kept her from rating a perfect 10 was the briefcase on one arm and the uptight hotel magnate on the other. Bradley Warren had lost something very valuablesomething that belonged to someone else: a rare thirteenth-century Japanese manuscript called the Hagakure.

Just about all Cole knew about Japanese culture hed learned from reading Shgun, but he knew a lot about crooksand what he didnt know his sociopathic sidekick, Joe Pike, did. Together their search begins in L.A.s Little Tokyo and the nest of the notorious Japanese mafia, the yakuza, and leads to a white-knuckled adventure filled with madness, murder, sexual obsession, and a stunning double-whammy ending. For Elvis Cole, its just another days work.

THE MONKEYS RAINCOAT
STALKING THE ANGEL
FREE FALL
LULLABY TOWN
VOODOO RIVER
SUNSET EXPRESS
L.A. REQUIEM
HOSTAGE
DEMOLITION ANGEL
THE LAST DETECTIVE

Available from Bantam Books

STALKING THE ANGEL

A Bantam Crime Line Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition / October 1989
Bantam paperback edition / April 1992

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following: Somebody to Love, on page vii, Lyrics and Music by Darby Slick, copyright 1967 IRVING MUSIC INC. ( BMI ). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Old Time Rock & Roll, on page 56, copyright1977. Muscle Shoals Sound Publishing Co. Inc. Cruel Summer, on page 38, copyright1984 IN A BUNCH MUSIC LTD. &RED BUS MUSIC, LTD . All rights on behalf of IN A BUNCH MUSIC LTD . administered by WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP . All rights reserved. Used by permission.

All rights reserved
Copyright1989 by Robert Crais.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:89-6805 .
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eISBN: 978-0-307-78996-9

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For Lauren,
whose parents will always love her,
& for Carol and Bill,
who have made me larger
by sharing their lives.

I love to hear the story
which angel voices tell.

When the truth is found to be lies,
and all the joy within you dies,
dont you want somebody to love?

I was standing on my head in the middle of my office when the door opened and the best looking woman Id seen in three weeks walked in. She stopped in the door to stare, then remembered herself and moved aside for a grim-faced man who frowned when he saw me. A sure sign of disapproval. The woman said, Mr. Cole, Im Jillian Becker. This is Bradley Warren. May we speak with you?

Jillian Becker was in her early thirties, slender in gray pants and a white ruffled shirt with a fluffy bow at the neck and a gray jacket. She held a cordovan Gucci briefcase that complemented the gray nicely, and had very blond hair and eyes that I would call amber but she would call green. Good eyes. There was an intelligent humor in them that the Serious Businesswoman look didnt diminish.

I said, You should try this. Invigorates the scalp. Retards the aging process. Makes for embarrassing moments when prospective clients walk in. Upside down, my face was the color of beef liver.

Jillian Becker smiled politely. Mr. Warren and I dont have very much time, she said. Mr. Warren and I have to catch the noon flight to Kyoto, Japan. Mr. Warren.

Of course.

I dropped down from the headstand, held one of the two directors chairs opposite my desk for Jillian Becker, shook hands with Mr. Warren, then tucked in my shirt and took a seat at my desk. I had taken off the shoulder holster earlier so it wouldnt flop into my face when I was upside down. What can I do for you? I said. Clever opening lines are my forte.

Bradley Warren looked around the office and frowned again. He was ten years older than Jillian, and had the manicured, no-hair-out-of-place look that serious corporate types go for. There was an $8000 gold Rolex watch on his left wrist and a $3000 Wesley Barron pinstripe suit on the rest of him and he didnt seem too worried that Id slug him and steal the Rolex. Probably had another just like it at home. Are you in business by yourself, Mr. Cole? Hed have been more comfortable if Id been in a suit and had a couple of wanted posters lying around.

I have a partner named Joe Pike. Mr. Pike is not a licensed private investigator. He is a former Los Angeles police officer. I hold the license. I pointed out the framed pink license that the Bureau of Collections of the State of California had issued to me. You see. Elvis Cole. The license hangs beside this animation cel Ive got of the Blue Fairy and Pinocchio. Pinocchio is as close as I come to a wanted poster.

Bradley Warren stared at the Blue Fairy and looked doubtful. He said, Something very valuable was stolen from my home four days ago. I need someone to find it.

Okay.

Do you know anything about the Japanese culture?

I read Shgun.

Warren made a quick hand gesture and said, Jillian. His manner was brusque and I didnt like it much. Jillian Becker didnt seem to mind, but she was probably used to it.

Jillian said, The Japanese culture was once predicated on a very specific code of behavior and personal conduct developed by the samurai during Japans feudal period.

Samurai. Better buckle the old seat belt for this one.

In the eighteenth century, a man named Jch Yamamoto outlined every aspect of proper behavior for the samurai in manuscript form. It was called Recorded Words of the Hagakure Master, or, simply, the Hagakure, and only a few of the original editions survive. Mr. Warren had arranged the loan of one of these from the Tashiro family in Kyoto, with whom his company has extensive business dealings. The manuscript was in his home safe when it was stolen.

As Jillian spoke, Bradley Warren looked around the office again and did some more frowning. He frowned at the Mickey Mouse phone. He frowned at the little figurines of Jiminy Cricket. He frowned at the SpiderMan mug. I considered taking out my gun and letting him frown at that, too, but thought it might seem peevish. How much is the Hagakure worth?