Nine Dragons Read online

  From behind the wheel of his own car, Bosch watched Chang as he performed menial chores at Tsing Motors in Monterey Park. The car lot had formerly been a 1950s-style gas station with two garage bays and an attached office. Bosch was parked a half block away on busy Garvey Avenue and was in no danger of being made. Chu was in his own car half a block past the car lot in the other direction. Using their personal cars for the surveillance was a violation of departmental policy but Bosch had checked with the motor pool and there were no undercover vehicles available. The choice was to use their unmarked detective cruisers, which might as well have been painted black and white for all the camouflage they offered, or to break policy. Bosch didn’t mind breaking policy because he had a six-CD stack in his car. Today he had it loaded with music from his latest discovery. Tomasz Stan´ko was a Polish trumpeter who sounded like the ghost of Miles Davis. His horn was sharp and soulful. It was good surveillance music. It kept Bosch alert.

  For almost three hours they had watched their suspect handle his mundane duties on the lot. He had washed cars, greased tires to make them look new, even taken the one prospective customer on a test drive of a 1989 Mustang. And for the past half hour he had been systematically moving each of the three dozen cars on the lot to new positions in an effort to make it appear that the inventory was changing, that there was sales activity and that business was good.

  At 4 P.M. “Soul of Things” came out of the stack and Bosch couldn’t help but think that even Miles would grudgingly give Stan´ko his due. Harry was following the groove with his fingers on the steering wheel when he saw Chang go into the small office and change his shirt. When he stepped out he was finished for the day. He got into the Mustang and drove by himself off the lot.

  Bosch’s phone immediately buzzed with a call from Chu. Harry killed the music.

  “You got him?” Chu asked. “He’s moving.”

  “Yeah, I see.”

  “Heading up to the ten. You think he’s done for the day?”

  “He changed his shirt. I think he’s done. I’ll take the lead and then you be ready to move up.”

  Bosch followed five car lengths behind and then caught up as Chang headed west on the 10 toward downtown. He was not going home. Bosch and Chu had followed him the night before to an apartment in Monterey Park—also owned by Vincent Tsing—and had watched the place for an hour after the lights had gone out and they felt comfortable with the belief that he was in for the night.

  Now he was heading into L.A. and Bosch’s instincts told him he was carrying out triad business. He sped up and passed by the Mustang, holding his cell phone up to his ear so Chang wouldn’t get a look at his face. He called Chu and told him he was now on point.

  Bosch and Chu continued to trade off the point while Chang connected to the 101 Freeway and headed north through Hollywood toward the Valley. Traffic bogged down in the rush-hour crunch and following the suspect was easy. It took Chang nearly an hour to get up to Sherman Oaks, where he finally exited on the Sepulveda Boulevard ramp. Bosch called Chu.

  “I think he’s going to the other store,” he told his surveillance partner.

  “I think you’re right. Should we call Robert Li and warn him?”

  Bosch paused. It was a good question. He had to decide whether Robert Li was in danger. If so, he should be warned. But if he was not in danger, a warning could blow the whole operation.

  “No, not yet. Let’s see what happens. If Chang goes into the store, we go in with him. And we’ll step in if things go wrong.”

  “You sure, Harry?”

  “No, but that’s how we’ll play it. Make sure you make the light.”

  They held the connection. The light at the bottom of the ramp had just turned green. Bosch was four cars behind Chang but Chu was at least eight.

  Traffic moved slowly and Bosch crept along, watching the light. It turned yellow just as he hit the intersection. He made it but Chu wouldn’t.

  “Okay, I got him,” he said into the phone. “No worries.”

  “Good. I’ll be there in three minutes.”

  Bosch closed the phone. Just then he heard a siren from directly behind him and saw flashing blues in the rearview.

  “Shit!”

  He looked ahead and saw Chang proceeding south on Sepulveda. He was four blocks from Fortune Fine Foods & Liquor. Bosch quickly pulled to the curb and hit the brake. He opened his door and jumped out. He was holding his badge up as he approached the officer on the motorcycle who had pulled him over.

  “I’m on a surveillance! I can’t stop!”

  “Talking on a cell phone is illegal.”

  “Then write it up and send it to the chief. I’m not blowing a surveillance for this.”

  He turned around and went back to his car. He bulled his way back into the traffic and looked ahead for Chang’s Mustang. It was gone. The next traffic signal turned red and he was stopped again. He banged the heel of his hand off the steering wheel and started wondering if he should call Robert Li.

  His phone buzzed. It was Chu.

  “I’m making the turn. Where are you?”

  “I’m only a block ahead of you. I got pulled over by a motor cop for talking on a cell phone.”

  “That’s just great! Where’s Chang?”

  “Somewhere up ahead. I’m moving now.”

  Traffic was slowly moving through the intersection. Bosch wasn’t panicked because the road was so glutted with vehicles that he knew Chang could not have gotten too far ahead. He stayed in his lane, knowing that he might draw attention in Chang’s mirrors if he started jockeying between lanes and cars to move up.

  In another two minutes he got to the major intersection of Sepulveda and Ventura Boulevard. He could see the lights of Fortune Fine Foods & Liquor a block further down Sepulveda at the next intersection. He did not see Chang’s Mustang anywhere in front of him. He buzzed Chu.

  “I’m at the light at Ventura and don’t see him. He might already be there.”

  “I’m one light back. What do we do?”

  “I’m going to park and go in. You stay out and look for his car. Buzz me when you see either him or the car.”

  “You’re going right to Li?”

  “We’ll see.”

  As soon as the light turned green Bosch pinned the accelerator and jumped into the intersection, nearly broadsiding a red-light runner. He cruised up the next block and took a right into the market’s parking lot. He didn’t see Chang’s car or any open parking spaces other than the one clearly marked for handicapped motorists. Bosch pulled through the lot into the alley and parked behind a trash bin with a no parking sticker on it. He jumped out and trotted back through the parking lot to the market’s front door.

  Just as Bosch was going through the automatic door marked ENTER, he saw Chang coming out the door marked EXIT. Bosch raised his hand and brushed it through his hair, blocking his face with his arm. He kept going and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  He walked between the two checkout counters. Two women, different from the ones the day before, stood at the cash registers waiting for customers.

  “Where’s Mr. Li?” Bosch asked without stopping.

  “In the back,” said one woman.

  “His office,” said the other.

  Bosch called Chu as he was walking quickly down the main aisle to the back of the store.

  “He just walked out the front door. Stay with him. I’ll check on Li.”

  “Got it.”

  Bosch disconnected and pocketed the phone. He followed the same route to Li’s office as he had the day before. When he got there, the office door was closed. He felt adrenaline burst inside him as he reached for the knob.

  Bosch pushed the door open without knocking and found Li and another Asian man sitting at the two desks. They were in a conversation that abruptly stopped when the door came open. Li jumped up and Bosch saw immediately that he was physically unharmed.

  “Detective!” Li exclaimed. “I was just about to call
you! He was here! That man you showed me was here!”

  “I know. I was following him. Are you all right?”

  “Just scared, that’s all.”

  “What happened?”

  Li hesitated for a moment to gather his words.

  “Sit down and calm down,” Bosch said. “Then you can tell me. Who are you?”

  Bosch pointed at the man seated at the other desk.

  “This is Eugene, my assistant manager.”

  The man stood up and offered his hand to Bosch.

  “Eugene Lam, Detective.”

  Bosch shook his hand.

  “You were here when Chang came in?” he asked.

  “Chang?” Li responded.

  “That’s his name. The man in the photograph I showed you.”

  “Yes, Eugene and I were both here. He just walked into the office.”

  “What did he want?”

  “He said I had to pay the triad now. He said my father was gone and I had to pay now. He said he would come back in one week and I had to pay.”

  “Did he say anything about your father’s murder?”

  “He just said that he was gone and now I had to pay.”

  “Did he say what would happen if you didn’t pay?”

  “He didn’t have to.”

  Bosch nodded. Li was right. The threat was implicit, especially after what had happened to Li’s father. Bosch was excited. Chang’s coming to Robert Li widened the possibilities. He was attempting to extort Li and that could lead to an arrest that could ultimately lead to a murder charge.

  Harry turned to Lam.

  “And you witnessed this—everything that was said?”

  Lam was clearly hesitant but then nodded. Bosch thought that maybe he was reluctant to be involved.

  “You did or you didn’t, Eugene? You just told me you were here.”

  Lam nodded again before responding.

  “Yes, I saw the man, but…I don’t speak Chinese. I understand a little bit but not that much.”

  Bosch turned to Li.

  “He spoke to you in Chinese?”

  Li nodded.

  “Yes.”

  “But you understood him and it was clear he was telling you that you had to start making weekly payments now that your father is gone.”

  “Yes, that was clear. But…”

  “But what?”

  “Are you going to arrest this man? Will I have to appear in court?”

  He was clearly scared of the possibility.

  “Look, it’s too early to tell whether this ever even leaves this room. We don’t want the guy for extortion. If he killed your father, that’s what we want him for. And I am sure you will do what you need to do to help us put your father’s killer away.”

  Li nodded but Bosch could still see the hesitation. Considering what had happened to his father, Robert clearly didn’t want to cross Chang or the triad.

  “I need to make a quick call to my partner,” Bosch said. “I’m going to step out and make it, then I’ll be back in here.”

  Bosch left the office and closed the door. He called Chu.

  “You got him?”

  “Yes, he’s heading back to the freeway. What happened?”

  “He told Li he had to start making the payments his father had been making. To the triad.”

  “Holy shit! We’ve got our case!”

  “Don’t get too excited. A case of extortion maybe—and that’s only if the kid cooperates. We’re still a long way from a murder charge.”

  Chu didn’t respond and Bosch suddenly felt bad about raining on his excitement.

  “But you’re right,” he said. “We’re getting closer. Which way is he headed?”

  “He’s in the right lane for the southbound one oh one. It looks like he’s in a hurry. He’s tailgating the guy in front of him but it’s not doing him any good.”

  It looked like Chang was heading back the way he had come.

  “Okay. I’m going to talk to these guys a little longer and then I’ll clear. Call me when Chang stops somewhere.”

  “‘These guys’? Who else besides Robert Li?”

  “His assistant manager. Eugene Lam. He was in the office when Chang came in and told Li how things were going to be. Only, Chang was speaking Chinese and Lam only knows English. He won’t be a good witness other than to place Chang in the store’s office.”

  “Okay, Harry,” Chu said. “We’re on the freeway now.”

  “Stay with him and I’ll call you as soon as I clear,” Bosch said.

  Bosch closed the phone and went back into the office. Li and Lam were still at their desks, waiting for him.

  “Do you have video surveillance in the store?” he asked first.

  “Yes,” Li said. “Same system we have in the south end store. Only we have more cameras in this location. It records in multiplex. Eight screens at once.”

  Bosch looked up at the ceiling and the upper walls.

  “There is no camera in here, right?”

  “No, Detective,” Li said. “Not in the office.”

  “Well, I’m still going to need the disc so we can prove Chang came back here to see you.”

  Li nodded hesitantly, like a boy being pulled onto the dance floor by somebody he didn’t want to dance with.

  “Eugene, would you go get the disc for Detective Bosch?” he said.

  “No,” Bosch said quickly. “I need to witness you pulling the disc. Chain of evidence and custody. I’ll go with you.”

  “No problem.”

  Bosch spent another fifteen minutes in the store. He first watched the playback of the surveillance video and confirmed that Chang had come in and made his way back to Li’s office, then left after three minutes off camera with Li and Lam. He then collected the disc and returned to the office to go over Li’s account of what happened with Chang one more time. Li’s reluctance seemed to grow with Bosch’s more detailed questioning. Harry began to believe that the murder victim’s son would eventually refuse to cooperate with a prosecution. Still, there was another positive aspect to this latest development. Chang’s attempted extortion could be used in other ways. It could provide probable cause. And with probable cause Bosch could arrest Chang and search his belongings for evidence in the murder, whether Li eventually cooperated with a prosecution or not.

  As he walked out the store’s automatic door, Bosch was excited. The case had new life. He pulled his phone and checked on the suspect.

  “We’re all the way back to his apartment,” Chu said. “No stops. I think he might be in for the night.”

  “It’s too early. It’s not even dark.”

  “Well, all I can tell you is that he booked it home. He pulled the curtains closed, too.”

  “Okay. I’m heading that way.”

  “You mind picking me up a tofu dog on the way, Harry?”

  “No, you’re on your own there, Chu.”

  Chu laughed.

  “Figures,” he said.

  Bosch closed the phone. Chu had obviously caught the case excitement, too.

  15

  Chang didn’t come out of his apartment until nine Friday morning. And when he did, he was carrying something that immediately put Bosch on high alert.

  A large suitcase.

  Bosch phoned Chu to make sure he was awake. They had split the overnight surveillance into four-hour shifts, each man taking a sleeping stint in his car. Chu had the four-to-eight sleep shift but Bosch hadn’t heard from him yet.

  “You awake? Chang’s making a move.”

  Chu still had sleep in his voice.

  “Yeah, what move? You were supposed to call me at eight.”

  “He put a suitcase in his car. He’s running. I think he was tipped.”

  “To us?”

  “No, to buying shares of Microsoft. Don’t play stupid.”

  “Harry, who would tip him?”

  Chang got into the car and started backing out of his space in the apartment complex parking lot.
/>   “That’s a good goddamn question,” Bosch said. “But if anybody has the answer it’s you.”

  “Are you suggesting I tipped off the subject of a major investigation?”

  Chu’s voice carried the requisite outrage of the accused.

  “I don’t know what you did,” Bosch said. “But you put our business out all over Monterey Park, so now it’s who knows who could’ve tipped this guy. All I know right now is that it looks like he’s splitting town.”

  “All over Monterey Park? Are you just making this shit up?”

  Bosch followed the Mustang north out of the parking lot, staying a block back.

  “You told me the other night that the third guy you showed Chang’s photo to over there made the ID. Okay, so that’s three guys and they all have partners and they all have roll calls and they all talk.”

  “Well, maybe this wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t tell Tao and Herrera to back off like we didn’t trust them.”

  Bosch checked his mirror for Chu. He was trying not to let his anger distract him from the tail. They couldn’t lose Chang now.

  “Move up. We’re heading to the ten. After he gets on, I want you to switch off with me and take the lead.”

  “Got it.”

  Chu’s voice still held anger. Bosch didn’t care. If Chang had been tipped to the investigation, then Harry would find out who had made the call and he would burn them to the ground, even if it was Chu.

  Chang got on the westbound 10 Freeway and soon Chu passed Bosch to take the lead. Bosch glanced over and saw Chu flip him the bird.

  Bosch moved over a lane, dropped back and made a call to Lieutenant Gandle.

  “Harry, what’s up?”

  “We’ve got problems.”

  “Tell me.”

  “The first one is that our guy put a suitcase in his trunk this morning and is on the ten heading toward the airport.”

  “Shit, what else?”

  “It looks to me like he was tipped, maybe told to get out of town.”

  “Or maybe he was told all along to split after he clipped Li. Don’t go off the deep end on that, Harry. Not until you know something for sure.”

  It annoyed Bosch that his own lieutenant wasn’t backing him, but he could deal with it. If Chang had been tipped and somewhere along the line the cancer of corruption was in the investigation, Harry would find it. He was sure of that. He let it go for now and concentrated on the choices that involved Chang.