Page 107 of Resurrection Walk

“Fifteen hundred.”

“You have a credit card, Harry? Put it on that and expense it. You’ll get it back.”

“That’s what I thought. There’s one other thing. Silver is making noise about getting paid himself.”

“Fucking weasel. Nobody’s getting paid on this. Where is he? Let me talk to him.”

“Hold on. He’s with Cisco and Shami. I think Cisco wants to put him in a headlock and squeeze.”

“Yeah, not yet. Put Silver on and then see if they’ll take a credit card on the past invoice.”

“Hold on.”

I heard a door open and close and knew Harry had called me from his car. There was the sound of another door as he entered Applied Forensics. I heard some muffled voices and then Frank Silver was on the phone.

“Mick, you heard the good news?”

“I did. I also heard you’re making noise about wanting money.”

“This is only coming together because of me, and my time is money. I want a couple grand, that’s all.”

“First of all, we don’t know what we have there yet. Second, I’m going to have to pay the bill you skipped out on five years ago. And last and most important, you’re a witness in this case. If I pay you a dime before you testify and the AG finds out, you aren’t a witness anymore.”

“I told you, I’m not testifying. I’m not letting you throw me under the bus on an ineffective rap.”

“That ship has sailed, Frank. You don’t have to worry. That’s not why you’re a witness. If this pans out with Applied Forensics, I’m going to need you to get on the stand and set it up. Tell how the evidence got there and why it’s still there five years later. It’ll be your moment to be the hero.”

“I like that. But then I get paid.”

“Listen, there may be some CJA money when this is all said and done, but you don’t get paid until we all get paid.”

“‘CJA’? What’s that?”

“It’s federal money for defense lawyers — the Criminal Justice Act. It won’t be a lot but it will be something, and whatever we get, you’ll get it all. I’m about to talk to Judge Coelho and I’ll bring it up. Now put Harry back on the phone.”

“Okay, Mick. By the way, I like Harry. But I don’t like that big guy you got.”

“You’re not supposed to. Put Harry on.”

I stood up and paced in the hall while I waited. I was trying to contain my excitement over what this could mean. Bosch’s voice came back on the call.

“Mick?”

“Yeah. They taking your credit card?”

“Yeah, I gave it to them.”

“Okay, what’s Shami doing?”

“She’s on a tour of the lab now. They love her. I guess she’s sort of famous in her field.”

“That she is. When she’s finished with the tour, tell her to prep them for a court order directing them to test the evidence for DNA and then compare it to a sample that should be coming in by the end of the day.”

“Will do. And we want a rush on it, right?”

“We will pay for expedited testing. Need this back by Monday.”

“Okay. What about you?”

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