The Narrows

probably has them in a warehouse somewhere."
    Rachel watched Bosch adjust his grip on the steering wheel and add a few more miles to his speed, drawing them closer to Thomas.
    "Didn't think about that, did you?"
    "No, not really,"
    "So don't lose him."
    "I told you, I won't."
    "I know. It just helps me to say it."
    She gestured toward the windshield.
    "How often does it get like this?"
    "Almost never," Bosch said. "They said on the news that it's a hundred-year storm. It's like something's wrong, something's broken. The canyons are probably washing out in Malibu. Landslides in the Palisades. And the river's probably over its sides. Last year we had the fires. This year maybe it's going to be rain. One way or another it's always something. It's like you always have to pass a test or something."
    He turned on the radio to pick up a weather report. But Rachel immediately reached over and turned it off and pointed ahead through the windshield.
    "Concentrate on this," she ordered. "I don't care about the weather report,"
    "Right."
    "Get closer. I don't care if you're right behind him. He won't be able to see you in this mess."
    "I get behind him I might hit him, then what do we say?"
    "Just don't-"
    "Lose him. Yeah, I know." They drove for the next half hour without a word. The freeway rose and crossed over the mountains. Rachel saw a large stone structure on the top of the mountain. It looked like some sort of postmodern castle in the gray and gloom and Bosch told her it was the Getty Museum.
    As they descended into the Valley she saw the turn signal flare from the back of Thomas's car. Bosch moved into the turning lane three cars back.
    "He's taking the one-oh-one. We're almost there."
    "You mean to Canoga Park?"
    "That's right. He'll take this out west and men go north again on surface streets."
    Bosch grew quiet again as he concentrated on the driving and following. In another fifteen minutes the turn signal on the Explorer flared again and Thomas exited on DeSoto Avenue and headed north. Bosch and Walling trailed behind on the exit ramp, but this time without the cover of other traffic.
    On DeSoto, Thomas almost immediately pulled to the curb in a no parking area and Bosch had to drive by him or the surveillance would have been obvious.
    "I think he's looking at a map or directions," Rachel said. "He had the light on and his head was down."
    "Okay."
    Bosch pulled into a service station, circled around the pumps and then drove back out to the street. He paused before pulling out, looking left down the street at Thomas's Explorer. He waited and after a half minute Thomas pulled his Explorer back into traffic. Bosch waited for him to go by, holding his cell phone up to his left ear to block any view of his face in case Thomas was looking and could see in the rain. He let another car go by and then pulled out.
    "He must be close," Rachel said.
    "Yeah."
    But Thomas drove several more blocks before turning right. Bosch slowed before doing the same.
    "Valerio," Rachel said, seeing the street sign in the murk. "This is if"
    When Bosch made the turn she saw the brake lights on Thomas's car. He was stopped in the middle of the road three blocks ahead. He was at a dead end.
    Bosch quickly pulled to the curb behind a parked car,
    "The dome light's on," Rachel said. "I think he's looking at his map again."
    "The river," Bosch said.
    "What?"
    "I told you, Valerio cuts across the whole Valley. But so does the river. So he's probably figuring out a way to get around it. The river cuts off all these streets in here. He probably has to get to Valerio on the other side."
    "I don't see any river up there. I see a fence and concrete."
    "It's not what you would consider a river. In fact, technically that isn't the river. It's probably either the Aliso or Brown's Canyon wash. It goes to the river."
    They waited. Thomas didn't move.
    "The river used to flood in storms like this. It would wipe out a third of the city. So they tried to control it Contain it. Somebody had the idea to capture it in stone, put it in concrete. So that's what they did and everybody's house and home was supposedly safe after that"
    "I guess that's called progress." Bosch nodded and then re-gripped his hands on the wheel.
    "He's moving."
    Thomas turned left and once his car was out of sight Bosch pulled away from the curb and followed. Thomas drove north to Saticoy and then took a right. He went over a bridge crossing the wash below. As they followed, Rachel looked