9 Dragons

who is
we
?”
    “I’m with the MPPD. They IDed our guy off the video and then took me right to him.”
    Bosch could feel the pulse pounding in his temple. No doubt, getting the ID of the triad bagman-if it was legit-was a big step in the investigation. But everything else he was hearing wasn’t. Bringing another police department into the case and moving in on the suspect were potentially fatal mistakes and should never have been even considered without the lead investigator’s knowledge and approval. But Bosch knew he couldn’t go off on Chu. Not yet. He had to stay calm and do his best to contain a bad situation.
    “Detective Chu, listen closely to me. Did you make contact with the suspect?”
    “Contact? No, not yet. We were waiting for the right moment. He’s not alone right now.”
    Thank God for that, Bosch thought but didn’t say.
    “Has the suspect seen you?”
    “No, Harry, we’re across the street.”
    Bosch let out some more air. He was beginning to think that the situation might be salvageable.
    “Okay, I want you to hold where you are and tell me what moves you’ve made and where exactly we’re at. How did you get to Monterey Park”
    “The AGU has a strong relationship with Monterey Park’s gang detail. Tonight after work I took by the photo of our guy to see if anybody recognized him. I got a positive ID from the third guy I showed it to.”
    “The third guy. Who was that?”
    “Detective Tao. I’m with him and his partner right now.”
    “Okay, give me the name you got.”
    “Bo-Jing Chang.”
    He spelled the name out.
    “So the last name is Chang?” Bosch asked.
    “Right. And according to their intel, he’s in
Yung Kim
-Brave Knife. It fits with the tattoo.”
    “Okay, what else?”
    “That’s it at the moment. He’s supposedly a low-level guy. All these guys have real jobs. He works at a used-car lot here in MP. He has been here since ’ninety-five and has dual citizenship. No arrest record-over here, at least.”
    “And you got a twenty on him right now?”
    “I’m watching him play cards. Brave Knife is mostly centered here in MP. And there’s a club here where they like to get together at the end of the day. Tao and Herrera took me.”
    Bosch assumed Herrera was Tao’s partner.
    “You said you’re across the street?”
    “Yeah, the club’s in a little strip mall. We’re across the street. We can see them in there playing cards. We can see Chang with the binoculars.”
    “Okay, listen, I’m coming out there. I want you to back away until I get there. Move at least another block away.”
    There was a long pause before Chu responded.
    “We don’t need to move back, Harry. If we lose track of him he might get away.”
    “Listen, Detective, I need you to back away. If he gets away, that will be on me, not you. I don’t want to risk him seeing a police presence.”
    “We’re across the street,” Chu protested. “Four lanes.”
    “Chu, you’re not listening. If you can see him, then he can see you. Back the fuck away. I want you to move at least a block down the street and wait for me. I’ll be there in less than thirty minutes.”
    “This is going to be embarrassing,” Chu said in a near whisper.
    “I don’t care what it is. If you’d handled this the right way, you would’ve called me the moment you had an ID on the guy. Instead, you’re out there cowboying my case and I’m going to stop it before you fuck things up.”
    “You’ve got it wrong, Harry. I called you.”
    “Yeah, well, I appreciate that. Now back away. I’ll call when I’m close. What’s the name of the place?”
    After a pause Chu answered in a sulking voice.
    “It’s called Club Eighty-eight. It’s on Garvey about four blocks west of Garfield. Take the ten out to-”
    “I know how to get there. I’m on my way.”
    He closed the phone to end any further dispute and debate. Chu was on notice. If he didn’t back off or control the two Monterey Park officers, then his ass would belong to Bosch in an internal complaint process.

12
    H arry was out the door within two minutes. He drove down out of the hills and then took the 101 back through Hollywood into downtown. He hooked up with the 10 and headed east. Monterey Park was another ten minutes in light traffic. Along the way Bosch called Ignacio Ferras at home, apprised him of what was happening and offered him the opportunity to meet up in Monterey Park. Ferras declined, saying it might be better if one of them was