City Of Bones Read Free

where were you before?” Bosch asked Brasher.
    “What do you mean?”
    “You said you were new in Hollywood Division. What about before?”
    “Oh. The academy.”
    He was surprised. He looked over at her, thinking he might need to reassess his age estimate.
    She nodded and said, “I know, I’m old.”
    Bosch got embarrassed.
    “No, I wasn’t saying that. I just thought that you had been somewhere else. You don’t seem like a rookie.”
    “I didn’t go in until I was thirty-four.”
    “Really? Wow.”
    “Yeah. Got the bug a little late.”
    “What were you doing before?”
    “Oh, a bunch of different things. Travel mostly. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. And you want to know what I want to do the most?”
    Bosch looked at her.
    “What?”
    “What you do. Homicide.”
    He didn’t know what to say, whether to encourage her or dissuade her.
    “Well, good luck,” he said.
    “I mean, don’t you just find it to be the most fulfilling job ever? Look at what you do, you take the most evil people out of the mix.”
    “The mix?”
    “Society.”
    “Yeah, I guess so. When we get lucky.”
    They caught up to Dr. Guyot, who had stopped with the dog at the turnaround circle.
    “This the place?”
    “Yes. I let her go here. She went up through there.”
    He pointed to an empty and overgrown lot that started level with the street but then quickly rose into a steep incline toward the crest of the hills. There was a large concrete drainage culvert, which explained why the lot had never been built on. It was city property, used to funnel storm water runoff away from the homes on the street. Many of the streets in the canyon were former creek and river beds. When it rained they would return to their original purpose if not for the drainage system.
    “Are you going up there?” the doctor asked.
    “I’m going to try.”
    “I’ll go with you,” Brasher said.
    Bosch looked at her and then turned at the sound of a car. It was the patrol car. It pulled up and Edgewood put down the window.
    “We got a hot shot, partner. Double D.”
    He nodded toward the empty passenger seat. Brasher frowned and looked at Bosch.
    “I hate domestic disputes.”
    Bosch smiled. He hated them too, especially when they turned into homicides.
    “Sorry about that.”
    “Well, maybe next time.”
    She started around the front of the car.
    “Here,” Bosch said, holding out the MagLite.
    “I’ve got an extra in the car,” she said. “You can just get that back to me.”
    “You sure?”
    He was tempted to ask for a phone number but didn’t.
    “I’m sure. Good luck.”
    “You too. Be careful.”
    She smiled at him and then hurried around the front of the car. She got in and the car pulled away. Bosch turned his attention back to Guyot and the dog.
    “An attractive woman,” Guyot said.
    Bosch ignored it, wondering if the doctor had made the comment based on seeing Bosch’s reaction to Brasher. He hoped he hadn’t been that obvious.
    “Okay, Doctor,” he said, “let the dog go and I’ll try to keep up.”
    Guyot unhooked the leash while patting the dog’s chest.
    “Go get the bone, girl. Get a bone! Go!”
    The dog took off into the lot and was gone from sight before Bosch had taken a step. He almost laughed.
    “Well, I guess you were right about that, Doc.”
    He turned to make sure the patrol car was gone and Brasher hadn’t seen the dog take off.
    “You want me to whistle?”
    “Nah. I’ll just go in and take a look around, see if I can catch up to her.”
    He turned the flashlight on.

Chapter 3
    THE woods were dark long before the sun disappeared. The overhead canopy created by a tall stand of Monterey pines blocked out most of the light before it got to the ground. Bosch used the flashlight and made his way up the hillside in the direction in which he had heard the dog moving through the brush. It was slow moving and hard work. The ground contained a foot-thick layer of pine needles that gave way