9 Dragons

it couldn’t be that someone waiting in Seattle for Chang would know he wasn’t on the plane. Nevertheless, Chang’s people somehow knew that he was in the hands of the police. They also knew Bosch by name.
    Once again dark thoughts entered Bosch’s brain. Unless Chang was meeting a fellow traveler at LAX or was being watched all the while Bosch was watching him, the evidence once more pointed to a leak inside the investigation.
    He left the cubicle and walked directly back to the video center. This was a small electronics alcove between the RHD’s two interview rooms. The IRs were wired for sight and sound and the space in the middle was where suspects could be observed on the recording equipment.
    Bosch opened the door and found both Chu and Gandle in the room watching Chang on the monitor. Bosch’s entrance made it crowded.
    “Anything?” Bosch asked.
    “Not a word so far,” Gandle said.
    “What about in the car?”
    “Nothing,” Chu said. “I tried to get a conversation going and he just said he wanted a lawyer. That killed it.”
    “Guy’s a rock,” Gandle said.
    “I looked at his plane ticket,” Bosch said. “Seattle doesn’t help us, either.”
    “No, I think it does, actually,” Chu said.
    “How?”
    “I figured he was going to fly to Seattle and go across the border to Vancouver. I have a contact in the RCMP and he was able to check passenger lists for me. Chang’s booked on a flight tonight from Vancouver to Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific Airways. It clearly shows he tried to leave quickly and deceptively.”
    Bosch nodded.
    “Royal Canadian Mounted Police? You get around, Chu. Nice work.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Did you tell this to Ignacio? Chang’s attempt to smoke his trail will help with the PC for the search warrant.”
    “He knows. He put it in.”
    “Good.”
    Bosch looked at the monitor. Chang was sitting at a table with his wrists now handcuffed in front of him to an iron ring bolted through the center of the table. His massive shoulders looked ready to burst the seams of his shirt. He was sitting ramrod straight and staring dead-eyed at the wall directly across from him.
    “Lieutenant, how long are you comfortable with us stalling this before we book him?”
    Gandle looked concerned. He didn’t like being put on the spot with something that could later hit him in the face with blowback.
    “Well, I think we’re stretching it. Chu told me you already gave him the scenic tour coming in. You wait too much longer and a judge might take issue with it.”
    Bosch looked at his watch. They needed another fifty minutes before allowing Chang to call his lawyer. The booking process involved paperwork, fingerprinting and then the physical transfer of the suspect to jail, at which point he would be given access to a phone.
    “Okay, we can start the process. We just keep taking it slow. Chu, you go in and start filling out the sheet with him. If we’re lucky he won’t cooperate and that will just take up more time.”
    Chu nodded.
    “Got it.”
    “We don’t put him into a cell until two at the earliest.”
    “Right.”
    Chu squeezed between the lieutenant and Bosch and left the room. Gandle started out after him but Bosch tapped him on the shoulder and signaled him to stay. Bosch waited until the door was closed before speaking.
    “I just got a phone call. A threat. Somebody told me to back off.”
    “Back off what?”
    “The case. Chang. Back off everything.”
    “How do you know the call was even about this case”
    “Because the caller was Asian and he mentioned Chang. Said Chang was not alone, that I needed to back off or there would be consequences.”
    “You try to trace it? You think it’s serious?”
    “A trace would be a waste of time. And as far as the threat goes, let them come. I’ll be waiting. But the point is, how did they know?”
    “Know what?”
    “That we picked up Chang. We pull him in and then within two hours one of his asshole buddies from the triad calls up and tells me to back the fuck off. We’ve got a leak, Lieutenant. First Chang is tipped, now they know we grabbed him. Somebody’s talking to-”
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa, we don’t know that, Harry. There could be explanations.”
    “Yeah? Then how do they know we have Chang?”
    “Could be a lot of reasons, Harry. He had a cell phone. Maybe he was supposed to check in from the airport. Could be anything.”
    Bosch shook his head. His instincts told him otherwise. There was a leak