Michael Connelly - 9 Dragons

“Have you brought your weapon with you?” the inspector asked.

“No,” Bosch said tiredly. “I know that’s not allowed.”

The inspector typed something on his computer and then directed Bosch, as expected, into a chute for a search of his bag. It would waste another fifteen minutes but Harry stayed cool. He had gained a half hour on the schedule with his early arrival.

The second inspector carefully went through the backpack and made curious looks at the binoculars and other items, including the envelope stuffed with cash. But none of it was illegal to enter the country with. When he was finished he asked Bosch to step through a metal detector and then he was cleared. Harry headed into the baggage terminal and spotted a money exchange window that was open despite the early hour. He stepped up, pulled the cash envelope out of his backpack again and told the woman behind the glass he wanted to change five thousand U.S. dollars into Hong Kong dollars. It was Bosch’s earthquake money, cash he kept hidden in the gun locker in his bedroom. He had learned a valuable lesson back in ’94 when an earthquake rocked L.A. and severely damaged his house. Cash is king. Don’t leave home without it. Now the money he kept hidden for just such a crisis would hopefully help him overcome another. The exchange rate was a little less than eight to one, and his five thousand American became thirty-eight thousand Hong Kong dollars.

After getting his money he headed to the exit doors on the other side of the baggage terminal. The first surprise of the day came when he saw Eleanor Wish waiting for him in the main hall of the airport. She was standing next to a man in a suit who had the feet-splayed posture of a bodyguard. Eleanor made a small gesture with her hand in case Harry hadn’t noticed her. He saw the mixture of pain and hope on her face and had to drop his eyes to the floor as he approached.

“Eleanor. I didn’t-”

She grabbed him in a quick and awkward embrace that abruptly ended his sentence. He understood that she was telling him that blame and recriminations were for later. There were more important things now. She then stepped away and gestured to the man in the suit.

“This is Sun Yee.”

Bosch nodded but then put out his hand, a gesture he hoped would help him figure out what to call Sun Yee.

“Harry,” he said.

The other man nodded back and gripped his hand tightly but said nothing. No help there. He would have to take Eleanor’s cue with the name. Bosch guessed Sun Yee was in his late forties. Eleanor’s age. He was short but powerfully built. His chest and arms pressed the contours of the silk suit jacket to the limit. He wore sunglasses although it was still before dawn.

Bosch turned to his ex-wife.

“He’s driving us?”

“He’s helping us,” she corrected. “He works in security at the casino.”

Bosch nodded. That was one mystery solved.

“Does he speak English?”

“Yes, I do,” the man answered for himself.

Bosch studied him for a moment and then looked at Eleanor and saw in her face a familiar resolve. It was a look he had seen many times when they had been together. She wasn’t going to allow an argument on this. This man was part of the package or Bosch was on his own.

Bosch knew that if circumstances dictated it, he could split off and make his way alone through the city. It was what he had anticipated doing, anyway. But for now he was willing to go with Eleanor’s plan.

“You sure you want to do this, Eleanor? I was planning on working on my own.”

“She’s my daughter, too. Where you go I go.”

“Okay, then.”

They started walking toward the glass doors that would lead them outside. Bosch let Sun Yee take the lead so he could talk privately with his ex-wife. Despite the obvious strain playing clearly on her face, she was just as beautiful as ever to him. She had her hair tied back in a no-nonsense manner. It accented the clean line and determined set of her jaw. No matter how infrequently or what the circumstances, he could never look at her without thinking about the could-have-beens. It was an overworked cliché, but Bosch had always believed that they were meant to be together. Their daughter gave them a lifelong connection, but to Bosch it was not enough.

“So tell me what’s happening, Eleanor,” he said. “I’ve been in the air for almost fourteen hours. What’s new on this end?”

She nodded.

“I spent four hours at the mall yesterday. When you called and left a message from the airport, I must’ve been in security. I either didn’t have a signal or just didn’t hear the call.”

“Don’t worry about it. What did you find out?”

“They have surveillance video that shows her with the brother and sister. Quick and He. It’s all from a distance. They’re not identifiable on it-except for Mad. I’d be able to pick her out anywhere.”

“Does it show the grab?”

“There was no grab. They were hanging out together, mostly in the food court. Then Quick lit up a cigarette and somebody complained. Security moved in and kicked him out. Madeline walked out with them. Voluntarily. And they never came back in.”

Bosch nodded. He could see it. It could all have been a plan to lure her out. Quick lit up, knowing all along that he would be ejected from the mall and that Madeline would go out with him.

“What else?”

“That’s it from the mall. Quick is familiar to security there but they had no ID or file on him.”

“What time was it when they walked out?”

“Six-fifteen.”

Bosch did the math. That was Friday. His daughter had walked off the mall videotape almost thirty-six hours ago.

“When’s it get dark here? What time?”

“Usually by eight. Why?”

“The video that was sent to me was shot in daylight. So less than two hours after she walked out of the mall with them she was in Kowloon and they made the video.”

“I want to see the video, Harry.”

“I’ll show you in the car. You said you got my message. Did you find out about helicopter pads in Kowloon?”

Nodding, Eleanor said, “I called the head of client transportation at the casino. He told me that in Kowloon there are seven rooftop helicopter pads available. I have a list.”

“Good. Did you tell him why you wanted the list?”

“No, Harry. Give me some credit.”

Bosch looked at her and then moved his eyes to Sun, who had now opened up a several-pace lead on them. Eleanor got the message.

“Sun Yee’s different. He knows what’s going on. I brought him in because I can trust him. He’s been my security at the casino for three years.”

Bosch nodded. His ex-wife was a valuable commodity to the Cleopatra Resort and Casino in Macau. They paid for her apartment and the helicopter that brought her to and from work at the private tables where she played against the casino’s wealthiest clients. Security-in the form of Sun Yee-was part of that package.

“Yeah, well, too bad he wasn’t watching over Maddie, too.”

Eleanor abruptly stopped and turned toward Bosch. Unaware, Sun kept going. Eleanor got in Harry’s face.

“Look, you want to get into this right now? Because I can if you want. We can talk about Sun Yee and we can also talk about you and how your work put my daughter in this…this…”

She never finished. Instead, she roughly grabbed Bosch by the jacket and started shaking him angrily until she was hugging him and starting to cry. Bosch put his hand on her back.

“ Our daughter, Eleanor,” he said. “ Our daughter, and we’re going to get her back.”

Sun noticed they were not with him and stopped. He looked back at Bosch, his eyes hidden behind the dark glasses. Still in Eleanor’s grasp, Harry raised a hand to signal him to hold for a moment and keep his distance.