Echo Park
Page 33
“What was it you said about mumbo-jumbo conspiracies the other day? Marilyn didn’t overdose; the Kennedys had her killed. Bosch knew Anthony would bring a gun to the meeting and would start shooting? Rachel, it all sounds like—”
“And what about what you said about being a true detective?”
She stared pointedly at him.
“Rachel, listen to me. There was no way anybody could have predicted this. There was no—”
“Predicted, hoped, accidentaly set in motion—what’s the difference? You remember what you said to Pratt the other night by the pool?”
“I said a lot of things to him.”
Her voice took on a tone of sadness.
“You told him about the choices we all make.”
She pointed across the grass at the boathouse.
“And, well, Harry, I guess this is the dog you chose to feed. I hope you’re happy with it. And I hope it fits in perfectly well with the way of the true detective.”
She turned and walked back toward the boathouse and the knot of investigators crowding the crime scene.
Bosch let her go. For a long time he didn’t move. Her words had gone through him like the sounds of a roller coaster. Low rumbling and high shrieks. He squeezed the ball of aluminum foil in his hand and shot it toward a trash can sitting next to the mariscos truck.
He missed by a mile.
39
KIZ RIDER CAME THROUGH the double doors in a wheelchair. She found it embarrassing but that was the hospital rule. Bosch was waiting for her with a smile and a bouquet of flowers he had bought from a vendor at the freeway exit near the hospital. As soon as she was allowed by the nurse, she got up and out of the chair. She tentatively hugged Bosch as though she felt fragile, and thanked him for coming to take her home.
“I’m right out front,” he said.
With his arm across her back he walked her out to the waiting Mustang. He helped her get in, then put a bag of cards and gifts she had received into the trunk and came around to the driver’s side.
“You want to go anywhere first?” he asked once he was in the car.
“No, just home. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.”
“I hear you.”
He started the car and pulled out, heading back to the freeway. They drove silently. When he got back to the 134 the flower vendor was still in the median. Rider looked down at the bouquet in her hand, realized that Bosch had gotten them as an afterthought and started laughing. Bosch joined in.
“Oh, shit, that hurts!” she said, touching her hand to her neck.
“Sorry.”
“It’s all right, Harry. I need to laugh.”
Bosch nodded his agreement.
“Is Sheila going to come by today?” he asked.
“Yeah, after work.”
“Good.”
He nodded because there wasn’t anything else to do. They lapsed back into silence.
“Harry, I took your advice,” Rider said after a few minutes.
“What was that?”
“I told them I didn’t have a shot. I told them I didn’t want to hit Olivas.”
“That’s good, Kiz.”
He thought about things for a few moments.
“Does that mean you’re going to keep your badge?” he asked.
“Yes, Harry, I’m keeping the badge . . . but not my partner.”
Bosch looked over at her.
“I talked to the chief,” Rider said. “After I finish rehab I’m going to go back to work in his office, Harry. I hope that will be all right with you.”
“Whatever you want to do is all right with me. You know that. I’m glad you’re staying.”
“Me, too.”
A few more minutes went by and when she spoke again it was as if the conversation had never lagged.
“Besides, up there on the sixth floor, I’ll be able to watch out for you, Harry. Maybe keep you out of all the politics and bureaucratic scrapping. Lord knows you’re still going to need me from time to time.”
Bosch smiled broadly. He couldn’t help it. He liked the idea of her being up there one floor above him. Watching out and watching over.
“I like it,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a guardian angel before.”
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges a number of people who greatly helped in the research and writing of this book. They include Asya Muchnick, Michael Pietsch, Jane Wood, Pamela Marshall, Shannon Byrne, Terrill Lee Lankford, Jan Burke, Pam Wilson, Jerry Hooten and Ken Delavigne. Also of great help to the author were Linda Connelly, Jane Davis, Maryelizabeth Capps, Carolyn Chriss, Dan Daly, Roger Mills and Gerald Chaleff. Also many thanks to Sgt. Bob McDonald and Detectives Tim Marcia, Rick Jackson and David Lambkin of the Los Angeles Police Department.
About the Author
Michael Connelly is the author of the bestselling Harry Bosch series of novels as well as the recent #1 New York Times bestseller The Lincoln Lawyer. He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He spends his time in California and Florida.
Contents
THE HIGH TOWER
Part One
THE KILLER
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Part Two
THE FIELD TRIP
14
15
16
17
18
Part Three
HALLOWED GROUND
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Part Four
THE DOG YOU FEED
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Part Five
ECHO PARK
36
37
38
39
Acknowledgments
About the Author