Page 64 of The Proving Ground
“What about Harry Bosch?” Cisco said. “Can I call him?”
“You can call him,” I said. “But last I heard, he wasn’t doing so good. You might want to get somebody who can move quickly if they have to.”
“Got it,” Cisco said.
“What’s wrong with Harry?” Lorna asked.
“He’s now got some heart stuff going on,” I said. “He’s on blood thinners for blood clots, stuff like that.”
“Oh boy,” Lorna said.
“What about Bamba?” Cisco asked. “Could use him if he’s free.”
“No,” I said, a little too quickly. “Uh, I’d prefer it if you used people with legit PI licenses for this. I have to make some calls now.”
“What do you need from me, Mickey?” Lorna asked. “I could go to Frisco with Cisco. Has a nice ring to it.”
I handed her the file.
“No, I need you down here running the show, Lorna,” I said. “And I need you to get these X-ray copies to Cassandra Snow’s doctor.”
“Will do,” Lorna said.
Back in my office, I sat down and felt relieved that I had stopped Cisco from calling Bamba Bishop to be part of the Lily Kitchens protective detail. Possible disaster averted. I called Jack McEvoy up in Palo Alto.
“Jack, I want you to stick around up there,” I said. “No settlement. We aren’t folding our tent.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” McEvoy said.
“I bet you are. Wouldn’t be much of a book if everybody signed NDAs.”
“There would be no book.”
“That still might be the case if we don’t get Naomi Kitchens back on our witness list.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I’m sending Cisco up with a crew to watch over her daughter. Tell her that.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Come on, Jack, you’re a journalist. You must encounter a lot of people who don’t want to talk to you. But you always find a way, I bet. Same thing here. You have to impress upon her that she and her daughter won’t be safe until she testifies. Once her story is on the record, there’s no reason for Tidalwaiv to do anything to them.”
“Got it.”
“We need to get her down here so I can work with her a little bit before the trial starts. She’ll be on the stand by Tuesday, I’m thinking.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“By the way, did you ever look into the voice Tidalwaiv used for Clair?”
“I did. They tested several voices. There was a lot of research put into it, but I haven’t had time to dig further.”
“Okay, let me know when you do. And let me know if anything changes with Kitchens. If you need me to come up there, I will.”
“I’ll let you know.”
I hung up, took a few deep breaths, then picked the phone back up and called Bruce Colton. It would have been easier to deliver the news to Trisha, but I kind of relished the idea of giving the bully the bad news.
