in the corner that contained old case files Bosch had copied.
“I’ll get these out of here,” he said.
He moved them one at a time into his bedroom. He continued to talk to her as he moved up and down the hall.
“I know you don’t have a private bathroom but the guest bathroom in the hall is all yours. I don’t get many guests here, anyway.”
After moving the boxes, Bosch sat down on the bed and looked at his daughter. She was still standing in the middle of the room. The look on her face cut Bosch deeply. He could see the reality of the situation hitting her. It didn’t matter that she had repeatedly voiced a desire to live in L.A. She was now here permanently and grasping that fact was a daunting task.
“Maddie, I just want to tell you something,” he said. “I’m used to being your father four weeks a year. That was easy. This is going to be hard. I am going to make mistakes and I’m going to need you to be patient with me while I learn. But I promise you I will do the best I can.”
“Okay.”
“Now, what can I get you? Are you hungry? Tired? What?”
“No, I’m fine. I guess I shouldn’t have slept so much on the plane.”
“Doesn’t matter. You needed the sleep right then. And sleep is always good. It heals.”
She nodded and looked awkwardly around the room. It was a basic guest room. A bed, bureau and a table with a lamp.
“Tomorrow we’ll get you a TV to put in here. One of those flat screens. And also a computer and a desk. We’ll need to go shopping for a lot of things.”
“I think I need a new cell phone. Quick took mine.”
“Yeah, we’ll get you a new phone, too. I have your memory card from the old one, so you won’t lose your contacts.”
She looked over at him and he realized he had made a mistake.
“You have the card? Did you get it from Quick? Was his sister there?”
Bosch held his hands up in a calming gesture and shook his head.
“I never met Quick or his sister. I found your phone but it was broken. All I got was the memory card.”
“She tried to save me. She found out that Quick was going to sell me and tried to stop it. But he kicked her out of the car.”
Bosch waited for her to say more but that was it. He wanted to ask her many questions about the brother and sister and everything else but his role as father overtook his role as cop. Now wasn’t the right time. He had to get her calmed and situated. There would be time later to be a cop, to ask about Quick and He and to tell her what happened to them.
He studied her face and she seemed to be drained of emotion. She still looked tired, even after all the sleep on the plane.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Maddie. I promise.”
She nodded.
“Um, do you think I can just be alone for a little while in here”
“Sure you can. It’s your room. I think I should make some calls, anyway.”
He got up and headed to the door. He hesitated as he was closing it behind him and looked back at her.
“You’ll tell me if you need anything, right?”
“Yes, Dad. Thanks.”
He closed the door and went out to the living room. He pulled his phone and called David Chu.
“It’s Bosch. Sorry to call so late.”
“No problem. How is it going over there”
“I’m back in L.A.”
“You’re back? What about your daughter?”
“She’s safe. What’s the status on Chang?”
There was a hesitation before Chu answered. He didn’t want to be the messenger.
“Well, he walks in the morning. We don’t have anything to file on him.”
“What about the extortion?”
“I took a last run at Li and Lam today. They won’t file a formal complaint. They’re too scared of the triad. Li said somebody called already and threatened him.”
Bosch thought for a moment about the threatening call he had received on Friday. He assumed it was the same caller.
“So Chang walks out of the DDC in the morning and heads to the airport,” he said. “He gets on a plane and we never see him again.”
“Looks like we lost this one, Harry.”
Bosch shook his head, his rage boiling over.
“Goddamn those motherfuckers.”
Bosch realized his daughter might be able to hear him. He opened one of the living room sliders and stepped out onto the rear deck. The sound