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Bosch’s legs gave way again and he started to fall. Topknot caught him and held him up.

“No, you don’t,” Topknot said. “Stay up. Let’s go. One foot in front of the other.”

Supporting part of Bosch’s weight, Topknot walked him toward the SUV. As they passed his own car, Bosch saw that the door was open and Sidewalls was leaning in and grabbing his phone out of the charger.

“Where are we going?” Bosch asked.

“Don’t worry about that,” Topknot said. “Just fucking keep moving.”

They spoke with slight accents. They both sounded Slavic, but the accent wasn’t exactly the same.

They got to the SUV and Topknot propped Bosch up against the rear quarter panel and held him there with one hand while he opened the rear passenger door with the other.

“Okay, get in,” he ordered.

Bosch hesitated and Topknot grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him toward the open door.

“I said get in.”

Bosch started to slowly get into the car and finally Topknot shoved him in from behind. He fell across the bench seat. The door slammed behind him.

His abductors got into the front and Bosch saw Sidewalls hand his wallet to Topknot.

“I can’t even pronounce the fucker’s name,” Sidewalls said.

Topknot opened the wallet and looked at Bosch’s driver’s license.

“Don’t ask me,” he said.

Sidewalls backed the SUV out of the service road and onto Mulholland, then drove back toward the Novak place. Topknot sat sideways in the passenger seat so he could keep his eye on Bosch.

The car turned into the driveway of the Novak estate. The gate slid open, and at the circle, one of the garage bays was open. The SUV slipped in.

“What is this place?” Bosch asked. “Why are we — ”

“Just shut the fuck up,” Topknot said. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Bosch heard the garage door closing behind them.

19

BOSCH SAT IN the car until Topknot opened the back door.

“Out,” he said.

Bosch slowly climbed out, holding a hand against his stomach and wondering if the punch had caused damage to his internal organs. Once he was standing, he looked around. It was a four-bay garage, but the only other vehicle besides the SUV was a white van with STOVAK PLUMBING SUPPLIES on its side. Without warning, Topknot pushed him back hard against the quarter panel again. Sidewalls came around from the driver’s side and held Bosch’s phone out.

“Open it,” he said.

Bosch knew that a refusal to type in the passcode would result in another assault, and he didn’t think he could take another impact like the first one, even if this time it was not a sucker punch. He typed in his daughter’s birthday. Sidewalls expertly navigated to the settings and disengaged password protection. He looked at Topknot.

“I’ll go get him,” he said. “Watch this guy.”

Sidewalls left through a side door of the garage. It was clear to Bosch that Topknot reported to Sidewalls, and Sidewalls reported to someone else, someone Bosch was about to meet.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here,” Bosch said. “I know I was trespassing up there, but I had no idea it was private — ”

“I’m not going to talk to you,” Topknot said. “So just shut the fuck up, if you know what’s good for you.”