Lost Light

gig.”
    “Fuck those guys.”
    “Yeah, that’s the way I was feeling a few hours ago.”
    “So then what’s it going to be, Bosch?”
    He had just pulled a gun on two strangers in a near-violent collision of high-testosterone levels and already the tide had subsided. The surface was calm. The incident was off his radar screen after only one sweep. It was a trait that in the past I had most often seen in psychopaths. I wanted to give Lindell the benefit of the doubt so I chalked it up to the sort of federal arrogance I had also seen before as a genetic trait in bureau men.
    “You staying or running?” he asked.
    That made me angry but I tried not to show it. I cracked a smile.
    “Neither,” I said. “I’m walking.”
    I turned and left him there. I started walking up Mulholland toward Woodrow Wilson and home. He threw a barrage of curses at my back but that didn’t slow me down.

21
    The garage door was open at Lawton Cross’s house and it looked as though it might have been left that way through the night. I had the cab drop me off in the street next to my Mercedes. It didn’t look like the car had been moved, though I had to assume it had been searched. I had left it unlocked and it still was. I put the small bag I had packed and brought with me into the backseat. I then got behind the wheel, started the engine and pulled the car into the open bay of the garage.
    After I got out I went to the house’s door and pushed a button that would either ring a bell inside or close the garage door. It closed the door. I went over to the Chevy, slid my hands beneath the hood and felt for the release latch. The steel springs yawned loudly as I raised the hood. I looked down at a dusty but clean engine with a chrome air filter cowling and fan highlighting a painted red block. Lawton had obviously babied the car and had appreciated its internal as well as exterior beauty.
    The documents from the investigative file that I had slipped beneath the hood the night before had survived the FBI search. They had fallen and been cradled by the web of spark plug wires on the left side of the block. As I gathered them I noticed that the car’s battery had been disconnected and I wondered when this had been done. It was a smart thing to do with a car that was not going to be used for a while. Lawton probably would have thought of doing it but would not have been able to actually do it. Maybe he had talked Danny through the procedure.
    “What’s going on? What are you doing, Harry?”
    I turned. Danny Cross was in the doorway to the house.
    “Hello, Danny. I just came back for some things I forgot. I also need to use some of Law’s tools. I think something’s wrong with my car.”
    I gestured toward the workbench and Peg-Board that lined the wall next to the Malibu. An array of tools and automotive equipment was on display. She shook her head like I had forgotten to explain the obvious.
    “What about last night? They took you. I saw the handcuffs. The agents who stayed said you wouldn’t be coming back.”
    “Scare tactics, Danny. That’s all that was. As you can see, I’m back.”
    I closed the hood with one hand, leaving it partially sprung in the way I had found it. I walked to the Mercedes and reached the documents in through the open window to the passenger seat. I then thought better about that and opened the door, raised the floor mat and put them under it. It wasn’t a great hiding place but it would do for the moment. I closed the door and looked at Danny.
    “How is Law?”
    “Not good.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “They were in there with him last night. They wouldn’t let me in and then they turned off the monitor so I couldn’t exactly hear everything. But they scared him. And they scared me. I want you to go, Harry. I want you to go and not come back.”
    “How’d they scare you? What did they say?”
    She hesitated and I knew that was part of the scare.
    “They told you not to talk about it, right? Not to talk to me?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Okay, Danny, I don’t want to get you in trouble. What about Law? Can I talk to him?”
    “He said he doesn’t want to see you anymore. That it’s caused too much trouble.”
    I nodded and looked over at the workbench.
    “Then let me just get to my car and I’ll get out of here.”
    “Did they hurt you, Harry?”
    I looked at her. I think she really cared about the answer.
    “No, I’m all right.”
    “Okay.”
    “Uh, Danny, I need to get