“What’s the brother’s name?”

“All I got was Quick. He said his name was Quick but like with his sister, they never got a last name.”

“That’s not a lot of help. Anything else”

“Well, they confirmed what Maddie told you, that Quick was the one who smoked. They said he was sort of rough trade. He has tattoos and bracelets and I guess…well, I guess they sort of were attracted to the element of danger.”

“They or Madeline?”

“Maddie mostly.”

“Did they think she might have gone with him Friday after school?”

“They wouldn’t say so but, yes, I think that’s what they were trying to say.”

“Did you ask if Quick ever talked about triad affiliation?”

“I asked that and they said that never came up. It wouldn’t have, anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t talk about that here. The triads are anonymous. They’re everywhere but anonymous.”

“Okay.”

“You know, you haven’t really told me what you think is going on. I’m not stupid. I know what you’re doing. You’re trying not to upset me with the facts but I think I need to know the facts now, Harry.”

“Okay.”

Bosch knew she was right. If he wanted her best effort, then she had to know all he knew.

“I’m working the murder of a Chinese man who owned a liquor store in the south end. He made regular protection payments to the triad. He was killed on the same day and during the same hour that the weekly payments were always made. That put us onto Bo-Jing Chang, the triad bagman. The trouble is, that’s all we’ve got. No evidence directly connecting him to the murder. Then today we had to take Chang down because he was about to get on a plane and flee the country. We had no choice. So what it comes down to is we have the weekend to get enough evidence to support the charge or we let him walk and he gets on a plane, never to be seen again.”

“And how does this connect to our daughter”

“Eleanor, I’m dealing with people I don’t know. The Asian Gang Unit in the LAPD and the Monterey Park Police. Somebody got the word to Chang directly or to the triad that we were onto him and that’s why he tried to bolt. They could just as easily have backgrounded me and zeroed in on Madeline as a way to get to me, to send the message that I need to stand down. I got a call. Somebody told me there would be consequences if I didn’t back off Chang. I never dreamed that the consequences would be…”

“Maddie,” Eleanor said, finishing the thought.

A long silence followed and Bosch guessed that his ex-wife was trying to control her emotions, hating Bosch at the same time she had to rely on him to save their daughter.

“Eleanor?” he finally asked.

“What?”

Her voice was clipped but very obviously filled with dark rage.

“Did Maddie’s friends give you an age on this kid Quick?”

“They both said they thought he was at least seventeen. They said he had a car. I spoke to them separately and they both said the same thing about all of this. I think they were telling me what they knew.”

Bosch didn’t respond. He was thinking.

“The mall opens in a couple hours,” Eleanor continued. “I plan to be there with photos of Maddie.”

“That’s a good idea. There might be video. If Quick was a problem in the past, mall security might have a jacket on him.”

“I thought about all of that.”

“Sorry, I know.”

“What does your suspect say about all of this?”

“Our suspect won’t talk and I’ve just been through his suitcase and his phone and we’re still working on the car. So far nothing.”

“What about where he lives”

“As of now we don’t have enough for a search warrant.”

That hung out there for a few moments, both of them knowing that with their daughter missing, legal formalities like search warrant approvals were not going to matter to Bosch.

“I should probably get back to it. I have six hours before I have to be at the airport.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll talk to you as soon-”

“Harry?”

“What?”

“I am so upset I don’t know what to say.”

“I understand, Eleanor.”

“If we get her back, you may never see her again. I just need to tell you that.”

Bosch paused. He knew she was entitled to her anger and everything else. Anger might make her sharper in her efforts.

“There is no if,” he finally said. “I’m going to get her back.”

He waited for her to respond but got only silence.

“Okay, Eleanor. I’ll call you when I know something.”

After closing the phone Bosch turned to his desktop computer and pulled up Chang’s booking photo. He then sent it over to the color printer. He wanted to have a copy of it with him in Hong Kong.

Chu called back after that and said he had gotten the PCD signed and was leaving the courthouse. He said he had spoken to an officer at the AGU who had taken Bosch’s fax and could confirm that both sides of the business card said the same thing. The card came from a manager of a taxi fleet based in Causeway Bay. Completely innocuous on its face, but Bosch was still bothered by the card being secreted in Chang’s shoe and by it being from a business located so close to where his daughter had last been seen by her friends. Bosch had never been a believer in coincidence. He wasn’t going to start now.

Bosch thanked Chu and hung up just as Lieutenant Gandle stopped by his cubicle on the way out.

“Harry, I feel like I’m leaving you in the lurch. What can I do for you?”

“There’s nothing that can be done that is not already being done.”

He updated Gandle on the searches and the lack of solid findings so far. He also reported that there was nothing new on his daughter’s whereabouts or abductors. Gandle’s face turned sour.

“We need a break,” he said. “We really need a break.”

“We’re working on it.”

“When do you leave?”

“In six hours.”

“Okay, you have my numbers. Call me anytime, day or night, if you need anything. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Thanks, Boss.”

“You want me to stay here with you”

“No, I’m fine. I was about to head over to the OPG and let Ferras go home if he wants to.”

“Okay, Harry, let me know when you find something.”

“Will do.”

“You’ll get her back. I know you will.”

“I know it, too.”

Gandle then awkwardly put his hand out and Bosch shook it. It was probably the first time since they had met three years earlier that they shook. Gandle left then and Bosch surveyed the squad room. It looked like he was the only one left.

He turned and looked down at the suitcase. He knew he had to lug it to the elevator and get it down to evidence lockup. The phone had to be booked into evidence, too. After that, he would leave the building as well. But not for a leisurely weekend at home with the family. Bosch was on a mission. And he would stop at nothing to see it through. Even under Eleanor’s last threat. Even if it meant that saving his daughter might mean he’d never see her again.