“Impossible. I never sleep.” “We’re back from Kyoto. Bradley wants to see you.” I had fallen asleep on the couch, watching a two A.M. rerun of It Came from Beneath the Sea with Ken Tobey and Faith Domergue. The cat had watched it with me and had fallen asleep on my chest. He was still there. I said, “I went by Bradley’s house last night. Someone called and scared the hell out of Sheila.” “That’s one of the reasons Bradley wants to see you. We’re at the Century City office. May we expect you in thirty minutes?” “Better gimme a little longer. I want to think up something real funny to see if I can make you laugh.” She hung up. I lifted off the cat, went into the kitchen, filled a large glass with water, drank it, and filled it once more when the phone rang again. Lou Poitras. He said, “I made some calls. Those two guys who sixed you yesterday were Asian Task Force cops.” “Gee, you mean Nobu Ishida isn’t a simple businessman?” “If ATF people are in, Hound Dog, it’s gotta be heavy.”
