The Wrong Side of Goodbye(85)

“You finished with the Sheriff’s investigators?” Valdez said.

“For now,” Bosch said. “They sent me home. How is Bella?”

“She’s sleeping. Taryn here has been allowed to go back and see her a couple of times.”

Bosch introduced himself to Taryn and she thanked him for his part in the rescue. Bosch just nodded, feeling more guilty for his part in sending Lourdes to Dockweiler than good about rescuing her from him.

Bosch looked at Valdez and made a slight head nod toward the hallway. He wanted to talk but not within earshot of Taryn. Valdez got up and excused himself and then walked with Bosch into the hallway.

“So did you get a chance to talk to Bella and find out what happened?” Bosch asked.

“Briefly,” Valdez said. “She’s in bad shape emotionally and I just didn’t want to put her through it. I mean, there’s no hurry, is there?”

“No.”

“Anyway, she said she went over to the yard about noon and nobody was around because it was lunchtime. She went into the offices and found Dockweiler eating at his desk. When she asked about the metal detector, he volunteered to put it in a truck and take it up there to the house.”

“And she said yes because I wasn’t there to help.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. You told her to take Sisto, and besides, Dockweiler, no matter what kind of an asshole he is, is a former cop. She had no reason to feel unsafe.”

“So when did he grab her?”

“They went to the house and searched. The metal detector was heavy and he volunteered to drive it up in a city truck and operate it. You were right. There were keys in the bushes. She just didn’t know they were his. He had parked the truck in the back by the garage so it was pretty secluded. The victim from the attempted assault Friday had not come back yet and there was nobody around. He asked her to help him get the metal detector back in the truck and that’s when he grabbed her from behind and choked her out. He must’ve drugged her then, because she was out a long time. When she woke up she was already down in that dungeon and he was on top of her. He was rough … she’s pretty banged up.”

Bosch shook his head. It was impossible to imagine what Lourdes had experienced.

“The sick fuck,” Valdez said. “He told her he was going to keep her alive down there. He said she would never see sunlight again…”

Bosch was rescued from the grim details by Taryn, who entered the hallway looking for him.

“I just went back to tell her you were here,” she said to Bosch. “She’s awake and wants to see you.”

“She doesn’t have to see me,” Bosch said. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“No, she wants to. Really.”

“Okay, then.”

Taryn led Bosch back through the waiting room and into another hallway. As they walked she shook her head in anguish.

“She’s tough,” Bosch said. “She’ll get through this.”

“No, that’s not it,” Taryn said.

“Then what?”

“I just can’t believe that he’s here, too.”

Bosch was confused.

“The chief?”

“No, Dockweiler! They have him in this hospital.”

Now Bosch got it.

“Does Bella know?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, don’t tell her.”

“I wouldn’t. It would freak her the fuck out.”

“As soon as he’s stabilized they’ll move him. They have a jail hospital down at County-USC. He’ll go there.”

“Good.”

They came to an open door and entered a private room, where Lourdes lay in a bed with side guards up. She was turned away from the door, gazing at the room’s window. Her hands lay limply at her sides. Without looking at her visitors she asked Taryn to give them privacy.

Taryn left and Bosch stood there. He could only see Bella’s left eye but could tell it was swollen and bruised. She also had swelling and a bite mark on her lower lip.

“Hey, Bella,” he finally said.

“I guess I owe you that beer you were talking about,” she said.

Bosch remembered telling her she would owe him if she found something with the metal detector.

“Bella, I should’ve been there with you,” he said. “I am so sorry. I messed up and you paid an awful price.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “You didn’t mess up. I did. I should never have turned my back on him.”

She finally looked at him. There was hemorrhaging around both eyes from when Dockweiler had choked her. She turned a hand up on the bed, an invitation to hold it. Bosch moved closer and squeezed her hand, trying somehow to communicate what he couldn’t find the words to say.

“Thanks for coming,” she said. “And for saving me. The chief told me. You, I would have guessed. Sisto, that was a surprise.”

She tried to smile. Bosch shrugged.

“You solved the case,” he said. “And that saved a lot of other women from him. Remember that.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. Bosch could see tears.

“Harry, I have to tell you something,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked.