Dark Sacred Night (Harry Bosch Universe #31)(27)

“Can you show me where?” Bosch asked.

Cardinale entered his garage and Bosch followed, signaling Lourdes and Luzon to follow. The shop owner led them to the rear of the first garage bay.

“Back here,” he said. “There were holes in this wall that looked like they were from bullets. I remember thinking that at the time. We patched them all up.”

He pointed behind a workbench that was covered with tools and pipe-bending vises. The area fit with the description Bosch had gotten from the witness Martin Perez.

“Okay,” Bosch said. “We’re going to have to move this bench and the tools out of here. We need to open the wall.”

“And who closes it back up?” Cardinale asked.

“We have a city crew here that will make the necessary repairs. I can’t promise it will be all painted and back to normal by the end of the day, but we’ll get it there.”

Cardinale frowned. He didn’t put much stock in the promise. Bosch turned to Lourdes.

“Let’s get the city guys in here to clear this and then bring the metal detector first,” he said. “Let’s move fast, maybe get out of here before the neighborhood takes notice.”

“Too late,” Lourdes said.

She signaled Bosch over into a private conversation.

“We have a problem,” she said in a whisper. “The LAPD guy says Tranquillo Cortez is across the street.”

“Are you kidding?” Bosch said. “How’d he find out so fast?”

“Good question. He’s out there with some of his boys.”

“Come on.”

Bosch walked quickly out of the garage, with Lourdes following. Across the street was a lavandería with a small front parking lot. The business had not yet opened for the day, but there was a car in the lot, a classic old Lincoln Continental with pearl-white paint and suicide doors. Its suspension had been dropped a few notches so that it would barely clear a speed bump. Three men were leaning against its side with their arms folded, their tattoo sleeves on full display. The man in the middle wore a flat-brimmed Dodgers cap and a long white T-shirt that went down to his thighs. He was the smallest of the three but presented as the man in charge. Bosch recognized him from a photo on a SanFers organizational chart at the SFPD gang unit office. Tranquillo Cortez.

Without hesitation Bosch crossed the street.

“Harry, what are we doing?” Lourdes whispered from behind.

“Just gonna ask him a few questions,” Bosch said.

As they entered the laundry’s parking lot, only Cortez pushed his hips off the car and stood tall to greet Bosch.

“Officer, how are you today?” he said.

Bosch didn’t answer. He walked directly up to Cortez and leaned down to get in the shorter man’s face. He noticed the diamond earrings on both sides and the two blue tears tattooed off the outside corner of his left eye.

“Cortez, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m waiting for the laundry to open,” Cortez said. “You know, wash my clothes, see how white my whites can be with Tide and all.”

He picked at his T-shirt and adjusted it like he was looking in a mirror.

“Who told you we were coming here?” Bosch said.

“Hmm, that’s a good question,” Cortez said. “I’m not sure I remember. Who told you to come here?”

Bosch didn’t answer. Cortez wore his hat up high. He had shaved sidewalls with “VSF” tattooed above his right ear and “13” above his left. He smiled and his dark eyes became slits.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Bosch ordered.

“You arresting me if I don’t?” Cortez challenged.

“Yeah, I’ll have you arrested for interfering with a police investigation. Then, who knows, maybe they make a mistake and put you in the Pacoima Flats tank and we see what happens next.”

Cortez flashed the smile again.

“That’d be fun,” he said. “For me, but not them.”

Bosch reached up and slapped the brim of Cortez’s Dodgers cap, knocking it off his head to the ground. A dark anger momentarily invaded the gangster’s eyes. But then it cleared and Cortez returned to his standard smirk. He glanced back at his seconds and nodded. They pushed off the car and one opened the back door of the Lincoln for Cortez while the other retrieved his fallen hat.

“Catch you later, homeboy,” Cortez said.

Bosch didn’t respond. He and Lourdes stood there until the Lincoln pulled out of the lot and headed down San Fernando Road.

“Harry, why’d you do that with the hat?” Lourdes said.

Bosch ignored the question and answered with his own.

“How’d he know about this?” he asked.

“Like Sergeant Rosenberg said yesterday,” Lourdes said. “They’ve got eyes everywhere.”

Bosch shook his head. He didn’t believe that Cortez had shown up just because he got a message from someone who happened to see the police activity at the garage.

“We might as well pull out of here right now,” he said.

“Harry, what are you talking about?” Lourdes said. “They’re in there, getting ready to take down the wall.”

“Cortez was gloating. Why else would he show up here? He must know there’s no slugs in the wall and no case.”