and at the moment I was clear until ten the following morning. I wanted to take another run at the murder book but knew I didn’t need to be sitting in the house to do that. I could just as easily be sitting on a plane.
I called Southwest Airlines and reserved a flight from Burbank to Las Vegas, arriving at 7:15, and a return flight leaving early the next morning and arriving at 8:30 back at Burbank.
Eleanor answered her cell phone on the second ring and seemed to be whispering.
“It’s Harry. Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“Why are you whispering?”
She spoke up.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was. What’s going on?”
“I’m thinking about coming over there tonight to get my bag and my credit cards.”
When she did not respond right away, I asked, “Are you going to be around?”
“Well, I was going to play tonight. Later.”
“My plane gets in at seven-fifteen. I could come by around eight. Maybe we could have dinner before you go to play.”
I waited and again it seemed like she was taking too long to respond.
“Dinner would be nice. Are you staying overnight?”
“Yeah, I’ve got an early flight out. I have some things to do over here in the morning.”
“Where are you going to stay?”
There was as clear a signal as any.
“I don’t know. I didn’t reserve anything yet.”
“Harry, I don’t think it would be good for you to stay here.”
“Right.”
The line was as silent as the three hundred miles of desert between us.
“I know, I can get you comped at the Bellagio. They’ll do it for me.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks, Eleanor. You want me to come to your place after I get in?”
“No, I’ll come pick you up. Are you checking luggage?”
“No. You already have my bag.”
“Then I’ll be parked out in front of the terminal at seven-fifteen. I’ll see you then.”
I noticed she was whispering again but I didn’t say anything about it this time.
“Thanks, Eleanor.”
“Okay, Harry, I need to juggle some things to get free tonight. So I’m going to go. I’ll see you at the airport. Seven-fifteen. Bye.”
I said good-bye but she had already hung up. It sounded as though there was another voice in the background just as she disconnected the call.
As I thought about this, Louis Armstrong started singing “What a Wonderful World” and I turned it up.
30
At 7:15 that night Eleanor and I repeated the same airport scene. Right down to the kiss when I got into the car. Afterward, I turned awkwardly and lifted the heavy murder book I’d been carrying over the front seats to the back. I dropped it on the backseat next to my suitcase which was on the seat behind Eleanor.
“That looks like a murder book, Harry.”
“It is. I thought I might be able to go through it on the flight.”
“And?”
“I had a screaming baby in the seat behind me. Couldn’t concentrate. Why would anybody bring a kid to Vegas anyway?”
“It’s actually not a bad place to raise a kid. Supposedly.”
“I’m not talking about raising. I mean, why take a little kid like that on a vacation to Sin City? Take him to Disneyland or something.”
“I think you need a drink.”
“And some food. Where do you want to eat?”
“Well, remember when we were still… in L.A. and we’d go to Valentino on special occasions?”
“Don’t tell me.”
She laughed and just being able to look at her again thrilled me. I really liked the way her hair accented her lovely neck.
“Yep, they have one here. I made a reservation.”
“They must have one of everything in Las Vegas.”
“Except you. There’s absolutely no duplicating Harry Bosch.”
The smile stayed on her face as she said it and I liked that, too. We soon dropped into a silence probably as comfortable as it can get with two formerly married people. She expertly maneuvered through traffic that looked like it could easily rival anything found on Los Angeles’ clogged streets and freeways.
It had been about three years since I’d been on the strip but Vegas was a place that taught that time was relative. In three years it had all seemed to change again. I saw new resorts and attractions, taxicabs with electronic ad placards on their roofs, monorails connecting the casinos.
The Las Vegas version of Valentino was in the Venetian, one of the newest jewels in the crown of high-end casinos on the strip. It was a place that didn’t even exist the last time I had been in town. When Eleanor pulled into the valet parking circle I told her to pop the trunk so