Micael Connelly - The Last Coyote

'No, honey.'

'That's Lieutenant, miss,' Bosch said sternly. 'Lieutenant Pounds.'

'That's Ms, Lieutenant. Ms Sharp.'

'And I bet you are. Tell me, Ms Sharp, how far back does that computer run go?'

'Seven years. Anything else?'

'How do I check the years before that?'

'You don't. If you want a hand records search you drop us a letter, Loo-ten-ANT. It will take ten to fourteen days. In your case, count on the fourteen. Anything else?'

'No, but I don't like your demeanor.'

'That makes us even. Good-bye.'

Bosch laughed out loud after flipping the phone closed. He was sure now that trace wouldn't get lost in the

process. Ms. Sharp would see to that. The name Pounds would probably be on the top of the list when it came in to Parker Center. He dialed Edgar's number on the homicide table next and caught him before he had left the bureau for the day.

'Harry, what's up?'

'You busy?'

'No. Nothing new.'

'Can you run a name for me? I already did DMV but I need somebody to do the computer.'

'Uh...'

'Look, can you or can't you? If you're worried about Pounds, then -'

'Hey, Harry, cool it. What's wrong with you, man? I didn't say I couldn't do it. Just give me the name.'

Bosch couldn't understand why Edgar's attitude enraged him. He took a breath and tried to calm down.

'The name's John Fox. Johnny Fox.'

'Shit, there's going to be a hundred John Foxes. You got a DOB?'

'Yeah, I got a DOB.'

Bosch checked his notebook again and gave it to him.

'What'd he do to you? Say, how you doing?'

'Funny. I'll tell you later. You going to run it?'

'Yes, I said I'll do it.'

'Okay, you got my portable number. If you can't get through, leave me a message at home.'

'When I can get to it, Harry.'

'What, you said nothing's happening.'

'Nothing is, but I'm working, man. I can't be running around doing shit for you all the time.'

Bosch was stunned into a short moment of silence.

'Hey, Jerry, fuck you, I'll do it myself'

'Look, Harry, I'm not saying I'm-'

'No, I mean it. Never mind. I don't want to compromise you with your new partner or your fearless leader. I mean after all, that's what it's about, isn't it? So don't give me this shit about working. You're not working. You're about to go out the door for home and you know it. Or wait a minute, maybe it's drinks with Burnsie again tonight.'

'Harry -'

'Take care, man.'

Bosch flipped the phone closed and sat there letting the anger work out of him like heat from the grill of a radiator. The phone rang while it was still in his hand and he immediately felt better. He flipped it open.

'Look, I'm sorry, okay?' he said. 'Forget it.'

There was a long silence.

'Hello?'

It was a woman's voice. Bosch felt immediately embarrassed.

'Yes?'

'Detective Bosch?'

'Yes, I'm sorry, I thought it was someone else.'

'Like who?'

'Who is this?'

'It's Dr Hinojos.'

'Oh.' Bosch closed his eyes and the anger came back. 'What can I do for you?'

'I was just calling to remind you that we have a session tomorrow. Three-thirty. You will be there?'

'I don't have a choice, remember? And you don't have to call to remind me about our sessions. Believe it or not, I have an appointment calendar, a watch, an alarm clock, all of that stuff now.'

He immediately thought he had gone over the top with the sarcasm.

'Sounds like I caught you at a bad time. I'll let -'

'You did.'

'-you go. See you tomorrow, Detective Bosch.'

'Good-bye.'

He snapped the phone closed again and dropped it on the seat. He started the car. He took Ocean Park out to Bundy and then up toward the 10. As he approached the freeway overpass he saw the eastbound cars on top weren't moving and the on ramp was jammed with cars waiting to wait.

'Fuck it,' he said out loud.

He went by the freeway ramp without turning and then under the overpass. He took Bundy up to Wilshire and then headed west into downtown Santa Monica. It took him fifteen minutes to find street parking near the Third Street Promenade. He had been avoiding multilevel parking garages since the quake and didn't want to start using them now.

What a walking contradiction, Bosch thought as he prowled for a parking spot along the curb. You live in a condemned house the inspectors claim is ready to slide down the hill but you won't go into a parking garage. He finally found a spot across from the porno theater about a block from the Promenade.

Bosch spent the rush hours walking up and down the three-block stretch of outdoor restaurants, movie theaters and shops. He went into the King George on Santa Monica, which he knew was a hangout for some of the detectives out of West LA Division, but didn't see anybody he knew. After that, he ate pizza from a to-go joint and people-watched. He saw a street performer juggling five butcher knives at once. And he thought he might know something about how the man felt.

He sat on a bench and watched the droves of people pass him by. The only ones who stopped and paid attention to him were the homeless, and soon he had no

change or dollar bills left to give them. Bosch felt alone. He thought about Katherine Register and what she had said about the past. She had said she was strong but he knew that comfort and strength could come from sadness. That was what she had.

He thought about what she had done five years ago. Her husband dead, she had taken stock of her life and found the hole in her memories. The pain. She had sent him the card in hopes he might do something then. And it had almost worked. He had pulled the murder book from the archives but hadn't had the strength, or maybe it was the weakness, to look at it.

After it got dark he walked down Broadway to Mr B's, found a stool at the bar and ordered a draft with a Jack Daniels depth charge. There was a quintet playing on the small stage in the back, the lead on tenor saxophone. They were finishing up 'Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me' and Bosch got the idea he had come in at the end of a long set. The sax was draggy. It wasn't a clean sound.

Disappointed, he looked away from the group and took a large swallow of beer. He checked his watch and knew he'd have clear driving if he left now. But he stayed. He picked the shot up and dropped it into the mug and drank deeply from the brutal mix. The group moved into 'What a Wonderful World.' No one in the band stepped up to sing the words but, of course, nobody could touch Louis Armstrong's vocals if they tried. It was okay, though. Bosch knew the words.

I see trees of green Red roses, too I see them bloom For me and you And I think to myself What a wonderful world

The song made him feel lonely and sad but that was okay. Loneliness had been the trash can fire he huddled around for most of his life. He was just getting used to it again. It had been that way for him before Sylvia and it could be that way again. It would just take time and the pain of letting her go.

In the three months since she had left, there had been the one postcard and nothing else. Her absence had fractured the sense of continuity in his life. Before her, his job had always been the iron rails, as dependable as the sunset over the Pacific. But with her he had attempted to switch tracks, the bravest jump he had ever made. But somehow he had failed. It wasn't enough to keep her and she was gone. And now he felt he had run clear off the tracks. Inside, he felt as fragmented as his city. Broken, it seemed at times, at every level.

He heard a female voice from nearby singing the words of the song. He turned to see a young woman a few stools away, her eyes closed as she sang very softly. She sang only to herself but Bosch could hear.

I see skies of blue And clouds of white The bright blessed day The dark sacred night And I think to myself What a wonderful world