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“Sit tight, Bosch. We’re coming.”
Bosch disconnected and used the remote to open the gate.
49
TWO UNMARKED FBI vans and a truck towing a mobile command post pulled through the security gate at B and D Brakes forty minutes later. Cutler was in the first van. Bosch’s offer to take them into the warehouse and point out the locations of the missiles was declined. It was now an FBI-controlled crime scene and Bosch was not welcome. He was a witness, not an investigator.
Cutler said he was going in to look but would be right back to talk to Bosch about how he found Novak and the missing weapons.
“You better tell those guys to stay off radios and phones in there,” Bosch said.
“They know what they’re doing,” Cutler said.
“So did the last group. Supposedly.”
Cutler walked off to check on the search team. Bosch leaned against the trunk of the Mercedes and tried to collect his thoughts and figure out how much he should tell Cutler and the FBI about his investigation. He knew he had acted illegally in his abduction and handling of Novak. He also knew he could not assume that the FBI would look the other way just because he had recovered the missing weapons. Bosch’s fraught history with the Bureau led him to believe that there were people in the agency who would delight in prosecuting him for stepping over the line with Novak.
He decided that the less he revealed to the FBI, the better his chances of staying out of federal lockup were.
When Cutler came out of the brake factory, he immediately pulled his phone and made a call, probably to the big shots at Justice to confirm that the missile threat had been contained. It looked like he took a call as well and mostly listened without speaking. After that, he walked over to Bosch.
“How did you find them?” he asked.
“I told you,” Bosch said. “Novak told me.”
“Was he under duress when he told you?”
“I’m pretty sure he believed that I was going to kill him if he didn’t tell me. But what he thought doesn’t matter. I never had an intent to kill him. He could’ve called my bluff.”
“You’re going to have to be debriefed, but right now the critical incident guys want this whole place cleared. We’re going to evacuate the entire neighborhood before we start the recovery process.”
“Good idea — about the evacuation. I think I’ll pass on the debriefing.”
“You can’t. We’re going to need to know.”
“You can talk to my lawyer about it. If he says I can talk, I’ll talk.”
“Do you really need to bring a lawyer into this?”
“I’ll ask him.”
“Great. You do that.”
Cutler shook his head in frustration.
“Has anybody gotten out to MacLaren yet?” Bosch asked.
“Yes, they’re there,” Cutler said. “I just talked to Shear.”
“Novak?”
“He’s in custody. Shear said he’s claiming you rigged him with zip ties around his neck and threatened to choke him out?”
“I’ll take the Fifth on that.”
“You shouldn’t have done that, Bosch. That could cause us trouble down the line with a prosecution.”
“Put it this way: I’m not admitting anything, but if I hadn’t done whatever it is I did, you’d still be out there looking for the missiles and making a sweetheart deal with a cold-blooded multiple murderer.”
