“She used to stay with a friend whose mother offered to take care of her, but now she and the girl are not friends anymore. So it’s awkward. Maddie always says she’s fine to stay by herself but I don’t like that idea.”

“I don’t either. But I don’t know about this, Harry. Did you ask Maddie?”

“Not yet. I’ll tell her tonight.”

“You can’t ‘tell’ her. It’s got to be her decision, too. You have to ask her.”

“Look, I know she likes you and I know you two talk.”

“We don’t talk talk. We’re Facebook friends.”

“Well, for her that’s the same thing. Facebook and texting are how these kids talk. You got her the beer for my birthday. She reached out to you.”

“That’s nothing. Certainly a different level than actually staying with her in your house.”

“I know but I think she’ll be fine with it. If it makes you feel better, I’ll ask her tonight when I get home. When she says yes, will you then say yes?”

Pino came and took their salad plates away. Bosch asked the question again once the waiter was gone.

“Yes, I’ll do it,” Hannah said. “I’d love to do it. I’d also love to stay there when you’re home, too.”

She had mentioned their moving in together before. Bosch was comfortable with the relationship but wasn’t sure he wanted to take that next step. He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t a young man. What was he waiting for?

“Well, this would be a step toward that, wouldn’t it?” he asked, in attempt to sidestep the issue.

“Seems like it’s more like some sort of a weird tryout. If I pass the daughter test, then I’m in.”

“It’s not like that, Hannah. But look, I don’t want to get off on this topic right now. I’m in the middle of a case, I have to travel on Sunday or Monday, and I’ve got a detective from Professional Standards on my tail. I want to talk about this. It’s important. But can it wait until some of this other stuff is out of the way?”

“Sure.”

She said it in a way that communicated that she wasn’t happy about him pushing the question aside.

“Come on, don’t be upset.”

“I’m not.”

“I know you are.”

“I just want it to be clear that I’m not in your life to be a babysitter.”

Bosch shook his head. The conversation was getting out of hand. He smiled reflexively. He always did that when he felt cornered.

“Look, I simply asked if you could do me this favor. If you don’t want to do it or if doing it is going to have all of this bad feeling attached to it, then we—”