“And if I do this, I pick second chair and my own investigator out of the LAPD. People I can trust.”
“In or outside my office for your second?”
“I would need someone inside.”
“Then I assume we’re talking about your ex-wife.”
“That’s right-if she’ll take it. And if somehow we get a conviction out of this thing, you pull her out of Van Nuys and put her downtown in Major Crimes, where she belongs.”
“That’s easier said than-”
“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
Williams glanced at Ridell and I saw the supposed sidekick give an almost imperceptible nod of approval.
“All right,” Williams said, turning back to me. “Then I guess I’ll take it. You win and she’s in. We have a deal.”
He reached his hand across the table and I shook it. He smiled but I didn’t.
“Mickey Haller for the People,” he said. “Has a nice ring to it.”
For the People. It should have made me feel good. It should have made me feel like I was part of something that was noble and right. But all I had was the bad feeling that I had crossed some sort of line within myself.
“Wonderful,” I said.
Two
Friday, February 12, 10:00 A.M .
Harry Bosch stepped up to the front counter of the District Attorney’s Office on the eighteenth floor of the Criminal Courts Building. He gave his name and said he had a ten A.M. appointment with District Attorney Gabriel Williams.
“Actually, your meeting is in conference room A,” said the receptionist after checking a computer screen in front of her. “You go through the door, turn right and go to the end of the hall. Right again and CONFERENCE ROOM A is on the left. It’s marked on the door. They’re expecting you.”
The door in the paneled-wood wall behind her buzzed free and Bosch went through, wondering about the fact that they were waiting for him. Since he had received the summons from the DA’s secretary the afternoon before, Bosch had been unable to determine what it was about. Secrecy was expected from the DA’s Office but usually some information trickled out. He hadn’t even known he would be meeting with more than one person until now.