“I want to put in for some vacation time. I think I need some time to think about things.”

O’Toole paused as though considering whether he was walking into a trap.

“When do you want to go?” he finally asked.

“I was thinking next week,” Bosch said. “I know it’s Friday and this is short notice, but my partner can cover anything we have open and he’s already working on a pickup trip with Trish Allmand.”

“What about the Snow White case? Weren’t you telling me not two days ago that nothing was going to hold you up on it?”

Bosch nodded contritely.

“Yeah, well, it’s sort of cooled down at the moment. I’m waiting on developments.”

O’Toole nodded like he knew all along that Bosch would hit a wall on the case.

“You know this isn’t going to change the internal investigation,” he said.

“I know,” Bosch said. “I just need to get away, think about priorities for a little bit.”

Bosch saw O’Toole trying to hold back a self-congratulatory smile. He couldn’t wait to call the tenth floor and report that Bosch was not going to be a problem, that the prodigal detective had finally seen the light and returned to the fold.

“So, you’re taking the week, then?” he asked.

“Yeah, just a week,” Bosch replied. “I’ve got about two months banked.”

“I normally want a little more notice, but I’ll allow the exception this time. You’re good to go, Detective. I’ll mark it down.”

“Thanks, L-T.”

“Do you mind closing the door when you leave?”

“Gladly.”

Bosch left him there to quietly make his call to the chief. Before Harry got back to his cubicle, he already had a plan for taking care of things at home while he was gone.

Chapter 22

22

Ca’ Del Sole had become their place. They met there more often than anywhere else in the city. This was a choice based on romance, taste—they agreed on Italian—and price, but most of all it was based on convenience. The North Hollywood restaurant was equidistant in time and traffic from both their homes and jobs, with a little bit of an edge to Hannah Stone.

Edge or no edge, Bosch got there first and was shown to the booth that had become their regular table. Hannah had told him she might arrive late because her appointments at the halfway house in Panorama City had backed up domino-style after the unscheduled interview with Mendenhall. Bosch had brought a file with him and was content to work while he waited.

Before the day ended in the Open-Unsolved Unit, David Chu had compiled short preliminary bios on the five men Bosch wanted to focus on. Drawing from both public and law enforcement databases, Chu was able to put together in two hours what would have taken Bosch two weeks to gather twenty years ago.