The Narrows (2004)

by Michael Connelly

  "So," Dei said after the story was finished. "That's an interesting story. A lot of information. Why don't you put it into context for us now. What does it all mean to you?"

  "You're asking me that? I thought that's what Quantico does, puts it all into the blender and pours out a case profile and all of the answers."

  "Don't worry, we will. But I'd like your view of it."

  "Well," I said, but then didn't continue. I was trying to put it all together and into my own blender, adding Robert Backus in as the newest ingredient.

  "Well, what?"

  "Sorry, I was just trying to put it together."

  "Just tell us what you are thinking."

  "Did anybody here know Terry McCaleb?"

  "We all did. What does that have to do with-"

  "I mean really know him."

  "I did once," Rachel said. "We worked cases. But I hadn't been in touch. I didn't even know he was dead until today."

  "Well, you should know, and will know once you go over there and check his house and his boat and everything else, that he was still working cases. He couldn't let it go. He worked some of his own old un-solveds and he worked new cases. He read the papers and watched TV. He made calls to cops on cases that interested him and offered to help out." "And this got him killed?" Dei asked.

  I nodded.

  "Eventually. I think so. In January the LA. Times ran that story in the file you have there. Terry read it and got interested. He called over to Vegas Metro to offer his services. They shined him on, not interested. But they weren't above dropping his name in the local paper when it ran a follow-up story on the missing men."

  "When was that?"

  "Beginning of February. I'm sure you can check. Anyway, that story, his name in that story, drew the Poet to him."

  "Look, we're not confirming anything about the Poet. Do you understand that?"

  "Sure, whatever you want. You can take this whole thing as a hypothetical if you want."

  "Go on with it."

  "Somebody was abducting those men-and we now know burying them in the desert. Like all good serial killers he kept his eye on the media, to see if anybody was putting two and two together and getting close. He sees the follow-up story and he sees McCaleb's name. It's an old colleague. My guess is he knew McCaleb back in the day. At Quantico, before Terry came out to set up the Behavioral Sciences outpost in L.A. Before he went down with the bad heart."

  "Actually, Terry was the first agent Backus mentored in the unit," Walling said.

  Dei looked at her like she had betrayed some trust. Walling ignored her and I liked that about her.

  "There you go," I said. "They had that connection. Backus sees the name in the paper and one of two things happened. He took it as a challenge or he knew McCaleb was relentless and was going to keep coming, despite the apparent lack of interest in him from Metro."

  "So he went after McCaleb," Dei said.

  "Right."

  "And he had to eliminate him in a way that would not raise questions," Rachel added.

  "Right."

  I looked at Zigo. It was time for him to chime in but he said nothing.

  "So he went over there and checked him out," I continued. "He had the beard, the hat, the glasses, probably a little plastic surgery to go with it. He hired Terry to take him fishing."

  "And Terry didn't know it was him," Rachel said.

  "Terry got suspicious of something but I'm not sure of what. Those photos were part of a series. Terry knew something was up with the guy and took extra photos. But I think that if he knew then that the guy was Backus he would've done something about it. He didn't, and that makes me think he wasn't sure what he had or who the guy was."

  I looked at Rachel.

  "You looked at the photo. Can you tell, is it him? I mean, in a hypothetical sort of way."

  "I can't say, hypothetically or not. I can't see his eyes or enough of his face. If it's him he was cut. His nose is different. So are his cheeks."

  "Easily changeable," I said. "Come to L.A. sometime. I'll take you to a guy I know in Hollywood who does work for the escort trade. He's got some before and after photos that will make you praise the wonders of medical science."

  "I'm sure," Dei said, even though I was talking to Rachel. "Then what? When's he switch McCaleb's meds?"

  I wanted to consult my chronology but my notebook was in my coat pocket. They hadn't searched me yet, so I wanted to keep the notebook out of it, maybe get out of there with it.

  "Um, about two weeks after the charter Terry's boat was broken into. Whoever it was took a GPS device but I think that was just as a cover in case Terry realized somebody had-what is it?"

  I had watched their reactions. The GPS meant something.

  "What kind of GPS was it?" Rachel asked.

  "Rachel," Dei cut in quickly. "You're an observer, remember?"

  "A Gulliver," I said. "I don't remember the exact model. The sheriff's report is on the boat. It actually wasn't Terry's. It was his partner's."

  "Do you know the partner's name?" Dei asked.

  "Yeah, Buddy Lockridge. Don't you remember him from the movie?"

  "I didn't see it. Do you know anything more about the history of this GPS device?"

  "Buddy told me he won it in a poker game. It had a lot of good fishing spots marked on it. He was pissed off when it got stolen, thought it was another fishing guide who took it."

  I could tell by their reactions that I was hitting every pitch. The GPS was important. It had not been taken simply as a cover. I was wrong about that. It took me a minute but then I put it together.

  "I get it," I said. "That's how you found this place, isn't it? Backus sent you people the GPS with this place marked. He led you here like he did with Terry."

  "This is not about us," Dei said. "It's about you."

  But I glanced at Rachel and saw the confirmation in her eyes. I took the next jump and figured it had been sent to her. That was why she was here as an observer. Backus called her out, just as he had called out Terry.

  "You said Terry was the first agent Backus mentored in the unit. Who was the second?"

  "Let's move on," Dei said.

  Rachel didn't answer but she gave me that slight smile that looked so sad with those dead eyes. She was telling me I had it right. She came after Terry McCaleb in the mentoring program.

  "I hope you are taking appropriate precautions," I said quietly.

  Dei opened the file on the table.

  "That's actually no business of yours," she said. "Now, there are some things in your notes here I want to ask you about. First of all, who is William Bing?"

  I looked at Dei. She thought that it was my file and my notes.

  "I don't know. Just a name I came across."

  "Where?"

  "I think Terry had written it down. I haven't figured out who it is yet."

  "And this reference to the triangle theory, what does it mean?"

  "What does it mean to you?" "Mr. Bosch, don't annoy me. Don't play cute."

  "Cherie?" Rachel asked.

  "What?"

  "I think those are probably Terry's notes."

  Dei looked down at the file and realized Rachel was right. I looked at Rachel like I was hurt that she had ratted me out. Dei closed the file abruptly.

  "Right. Of course."

  She looked up at me.

  "You know what that means?"

  "No, but I think you'll tell me."

  "It means we'll take it from here. You can head on back to L.A. now."

  "I'm not going to L.A. I'm going to Las Vegas. I have a place there."

  "You can go wherever you want but stay away from this investigation. We are officially taking it over."

  "You know I don't work for any police department, Agent Dei. You can't take anything over from me unless I want you to. I'm a private operator."

  She nodded like she was understanding of my situation.

  "That's fine, Mr. Bosch, we'll be speaking to your em
ployer later today and you'll be unemployed before sunset."

  "I'm just trying to make a living."

  "I'm just trying to catch a killer. So understand me, your services are no longer required. Stay away from it. You're out. You're finished. Can I be any clearer?"

  "Think maybe you could put it in writing, too?"

  "You know what, I think you should get out of here and go home while you still can. Tom, would you get Mr. Bosch his license and keys and escort him to his car?" "Gladly," Zigo said, his first word uttered in the motor home.

  I reached for the file but she snatched it away from my grasp.

  "And we'll be keeping this."

  "Sure. Happy hunting, Agent Dei."

  "Thank you."

  I followed Zigo toward the door. I glanced back and nodded to Rachel and she did the same to me. I think I saw a trace of light enter her eyes.

  CHAPTER 20

  THE THREE AGENTS WERE Still talking about Bosch when the helicopter lifted off the desert floor and they began the forty-minute journey back to Las Vegas. The three agents wore headphones so they could communicate with each other despite the noise of the rotor wash. Dei clearly remained annoyed with the private detective and Rachel thought that maybe Cherie felt that somehow Bosch had gotten something over on her. Rachel remained amused. She knew they hadn't seen the last of Bosch. He had seen-it-all-twice eyes, and that nod at the end told her he wasn't going to just fold up his tent and go home.

  "What about the triangle theory?" Dei said.

  Rachel waited for Zigo to go first but as usual he said nothing.

  "I think Terry was probably onto something," she said. "Somebody should go to work on it."

  "At the moment I don't know if we have the bodies to chase all of this stuff. I'll ask Brass if she's got anybody. And this William Bing-that name hasn't come up before."

  "My guess is that he is a doctor. Terry was coming over here and probably wanted to have a name in case something went wrong."

  "Rachel, when we get back, can you just run that down? I know what Alpert said, you're an observer and all, but if that's just a loose end, then it will be good to nail it down."

  "No problem. I can do it from my hotel room if you don't want him seeing me working a phone."

  "No, stay in the FO. If Alpert doesn't see you he'll start wondering what you're up to."

  Dei, who was in the front passenger seat, turned and looked back at Rachel, who was behind the pilot's seat.

  "What was with you two, anyway?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You know what I mean. You and Bosch. All the looks, the smiles. 'I hope you are taking appropriate precautions.' What's going on with that, Rachel?"

  "Look, he's outnumbered here, okay? It's natural that he'd pick one of us to play to. It's covered in the manual on interview techniques and tendencies. Check it out sometime."

  "And what about you? Are you playing to him? Is that in the manual, too?"

  Rachel shook her head as if to dismiss the whole discussion.

  "I just like his style. He acts like he still has the badge, you know? He didn't stand down to us and I think that's sort of cool."

  "You've been out in the boonies too long, Rachel, or you wouldn't say that. We don't like people who won't stand down to us."

  "Maybe I have."

  "So does that mean you think he's going to be a problem?"

  "Definitely," said Zigo.

  "Probably," added Rachel.

  Dei shook her head.

  "I don't have the people for all of this. I can't spend my time watching this guy."

  "You want me to keep tabs on him?" Rachel asked.

  "You volunteering?"

  "I'm looking for something to do. So, yeah, I'm volunteering."

  "You know, before nine-eleven and Homeland Security, we used to get whatever we needed. Bagging serials were the best headlines the bureau got. Now it's terrorists twenty-four-seven and we can't even get overtime."

  Rachel noted how Dei pointedly did not say whether she wanted her to check up on Bosch or not. A nice way to have deniability if something went wrong. She decided that once back at the field office she would get Dei alone and get her to run a check on whether Bosch really had a home in Las Vegas. She'd try to find out what he was up to and keep a loose watch on him.

  She looked out her window and down at the black asphalt ribbon that cut through the desert. They were following it back to the city. At that same moment she saw a black Mercedes-Benz SUV heading in the same direction. It was dirty from off-roading in the desert. She knew it was Bosch making his way to Vegas. Then she noticed the drawing on the roof of the Mercedes. He had used a rag or something to draw a happy face in the white dust on the roof. The drawing made her smile, too.

  Dei's voice came in through the earphones.

  "What is it, Rachel? What are you smiling at?"

  "Nothing. I'm just thinking about something."

  "Yeah, I wish I could smile knowing that there might be a psycho-agent out there waiting to put a plastic bag over my head."

  Rachel looked at Dei, annoyed by such a snide and brutal remark. Dei apparently saw something in her eyes.

  "Sorry. I just think you better start taking this more seriously."

  Rachel looked at her until Dei had to look away.

  "You really think I'm not serious about this?"

  "I know you are. I shouldn't have said anything."

  Rachel looked back down at the I-15 freeway. They were long past the black Mercedes. Bosch was gone, far behind them.

  She studied the terrain for a while. It was all so different yet all the same. A moonscape carpet of rock and sand. She knew it was full of life but all life was hidden. The predators were underground, waiting to come out at night.

  "Ladies and gentlemen?" the pilot's voice said in her ear. "Switch to channel three. You've got an incoming call."

  Rachel had to take her headset off to figure out how to change the frequency. She thought that the headset had a stupid design. When she put the set back on she heard Brass Doran's voice. She was talking rapid-fire the way Rachel remembered she always did whenever something big came up.

  "-cent integrity. It definitely came from him."

  "What?" Rachel said. "I didn't hear any of that."

  "Brass," Dei said, "start again."

  "I said we got a match from the bite mark database. With the gum. It's got ninety-five percent integrity, which is one of the highest matches I've ever seen."

  "Who?" Rachel asked.

  "Rach, you are going to love this. Ted Bundy. That gum was chewed by Ted Bundy."

  "That's impossible," Dei said. "First of all, Bundy's been dead for years, long before any of these men went missing. And he was never known to have gotten to Nevada or California or to have targeted men. Something's wrong with the data, Brass. It's a bad read or-"

  "We ran it twice. Both times it came up Bundy."

  "No," Rachel said. "It's right."

  Dei turned and looked back at her. Rachel was thinking about Bundy. The ultimate serial killer. Handsome, smart and vicious. He was a biter, too. He had been the only one to really give her the creeps. The others she just felt a loathing and disgust for.

  "How do you know it's right, Rachel?"

  "I just know. Twenty-five years ago Backus helped set up the VICAP database. Brass remembers. Over the next eight years the data was collected. Agents from the unit were sent out to interview every serial killer and rapist who was incarcerated in the country. That was before I was there but even later, when I was there, we kept doing interviews and adding to the base. Bundy was in- terviewed several times, mostly by Bob. Right before his execution he called Bob down to Raiford and Bob took me with him. We spent three days interviewing him. I remember that Ted kept borrowing gum from Bob. It was Juicy Fruit. That's what Bob chewed."

  "Then what, he'd spit it back into Bob's hand?" Zigo asked incredulously.