9 Dragons

in Chinese, was short.
    “What’s it say?”
    “Wrong number.”
    “That’s it?”
    “He did not accept the deke.”
    “Shit.”
    “What now?”
    “Send another message. Tell him we meet or we go to the police.”
    “Too dangerous. He might decide just to get rid of her.”
    “Not if he has a buyer lined up. You said she’s valuable. Whether it was for sex or organs, she’s valuable. He won’t get rid of her. He might hurry up the deal and that’s the chance we take, but he won’t get rid of her.”
    “We don’t know if this is even the right person. This is just a phone number on your daughter’s list.”
    Bosch shook his head. He knew Sun was right. Shooting messages into the dark was too risky. His thoughts took him back to David Chu. The AGU detective might very well be the leak in the investigation that got Bosch’s daughter abducted. Did he risk calling him now?
    “Sun Yee, do you have anybody in casino security who could run this number down and get us a name and billing address?”
    Sun considered the question for a long moment and then shook his head.
    “No, this is not possible with my associates. There will be an investigation because of Eleanor…”
    Bosch understood. Sun had to do what he could to limit the blowback on his company and the casino. That tipped the scale toward Chu.
    “Okay. I think I might know someone.”
    Bosch opened his phone to go to his contact list but then realized the card from his daughter’s phone was still in place. He started through the process of replacing his own card and returning the phone to his settings and contacts.
    “Who will you call?” Sun asked.
    “A guy I was working with. He’s in the Asian Gang Unit and has contacts over here.”
    “Is he the man you think could be the leak?”
    Bosch nodded. Good question.
    “I can’t rule him out. But it could have been anyone in his unit or another police department we were working with. At the moment, I don’t see where we have any choice.”
    When he had the phone rebooted, he went to his contact list and found Chu’s cell number. He made the call and checked his watch. It was almost midnight Saturday night in Los Angeles.
    Chu answered after one ring.
    “Detective Chu.”
    “David, it’s Bosch. Sorry to call so late.”
    “Not late at all. I’m still working.”
    Bosch was surprised.
    “On the Li case? What’s happening”
    “Yes, I spent a good part of the evening with Robert Li. I am trying to convince him to cooperate with a prosecution of Chang for extortion.”
    “Is he going to?”
    There was a pause before Chu answered.
    “So far no. But I have till Monday morning to work on him. You’re still in Hong Kong, right? Have you found your daughter”
    Chu’s voice picked up an urgent tone as he asked about Madeline.
    “Not yet. But I have a line on her. That’s where I need your help. Can you run down a Hong Kong cell number for me?”
    Another pause.
    “Harry, the police there are much more capable of this than I am.”
    “I know, but I am not working with the police on this.”
    “You’re not.”
    It wasn’t a question.
    “I can’t risk the potential for a leak. I’m close. I’ve tracked her all day and it’s down to this number. I think it belongs to the man who has her. Can you help me?”
    Chu didn’t respond for a long moment.
    “If I help you, my source on this will be within the Hong Kong police, you know that, right?”
    “But you don’t have to tell them the reason you need the information or who you are going to give it to.”
    “But if things blow up over there, it could come back to me.”
    Bosch began to lose his patience but tried to keep it out of his tone as he bluntly gave voice to the nightmare he knew was unfolding.
    “Look, there isn’t a lot of time. Our information is that she is being sold. Most likely today. Maybe right now. I need this information, Dave. Can you get it for me or not?”
    This time there was no hesitation.
    “Give me the number.”

34
    C hu said he would need at least an hour to run the cell number down through his contacts in the Hong Kong police. Bosch hated the idea of giving up so much time when every minute could be the minute his daughter changed to the next set of hands, but he had no choice. He believed that Chu well understood the urgency of the situation. He closed the phone call by telling Chu not to share Bosch’s request with anyone inside the department.
    “You still think there’s a leak,