Bosch nodded.
“All of them have to go down,” he said.
“They will,” Ballard said. “The bureau will go silent but then the hammer will come down on all of them at once. A great reckoning of assholes. And if it doesn’t happen that way, then we make a call, and that’ll get some action going.”
Bosch nodded again.
“When should we go to the bureau?” he asked.
“How about right now?” Ballard said.
Bosch put on the blinker and started negotiating his way to the transition lanes to the eastbound 10. They were headed downtown.
EPILOGUE
Ballard was walking up Finley with Pinto when she saw the black SUV double-parked in front of her building. She had been on a pre-drive walk with the dog so he could take care of business before she headed out to surf Trancas Point. It would take over an hour to get out there. The surf report had a west swell and winds out of the north, perfect conditions for Trancas. She hadn’t been to the Point since before the pandemic and was looking forward to being on the ocean up there and riding a few waves. She would go alone, except for the dog. Garrett Single was on duty.
As she got closer she could hear the SUV idling and could tell by the license plate that it was a city car, not a vehicle from a limo service waiting on an airport run. A large man in a suit waited by the passenger-side door for the return of his passenger. She pulled out her earbuds and killed the music on her phone. Marvin Gaye was singing “What’s Going On.”
When she got to the security gate, she saw a man with gray hair and in a full police uniform, four stars on the collar. It was the chief of police. He heard the dog’s collar jingle and turned to see Ballard approach.
“Detective Ballard?” he asked.
“Well, I’m Ballard,” she said. “It’s not ‘Detective’ anymore.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Have we met previously?”
“No, not in person. But I know who you are, Chief.”
“Is there a place we can talk privately?”
“I don’t think anyone can hear us here.”
The point was clear. She wasn’t inviting him in.
“Then here is good,” he said.
“What can I do for you?” Ballard said.
“Well, I’ve been apprised of your work on some of the cases that have made recent headlines. Your uncredited work, I should say. Both before and after you turned in your badge.”
“And?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. Ballard recognized the number. It was the one she had worn until two weeks earlier.
“I want you to take it back,” he said.
“You want me to come back?” she asked.
“I do. The department needs to change. To do that, it has to change from within. How can we accomplish that if the good people who can make change choose to leave?”
“I don’t think the department wants someone like me. And I don’t think the department wants to change.”
“It doesn’t matter what the department wants, Detective Ballard. If an organization doesn’t change, it dies. And that’s why I want you back. I need you to help bring the change.”
“What would my job be?”
“Whatever you want it to be.”
Ballard nodded. She thought about Bosch and how he had told her that change had to come from within. A million people protesting in the street wasn’t enough. And she thought about the partnership she and Bosch had planned.
“Can I think about it, Chief?” she said.
“Sure, think about it,” he said. “Just don’t take too long. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
He held up the badge.
“I’ll keep this until I hear from you,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” Ballard said.
The chief headed back to the car, and the driver held the door for him. The black SUV took off down Finley, and Ballard watched it go.
Then she went surfing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to Team Ballard and Bosch, an all-star lineup of editors, readers, advisers, and investigators who helped the author with this novel in immeasurable ways. They include Asya Muchnick, Bill Massey, Emad Akhtar, Pamela Marshall, Betsy Uhrig, Jane Davis, Heather Rizzo, Dennis Wojciechowski, Henrik Bastin, John Houghton, Terrill Lee Lankford, and Linda Connelly. The detectives roundtable includes Mitzi Roberts, the inspiration for Ballard, as well as Rick Jackson, David Lambkin, and Tim Marcia, inspirations all. Many thanks to all who lent a hand to the author.