"You all right, bud?" "Yeah, I'm okay." "Worried about the other kids?" "How much longer do I have to go to school?" "A while longer, sorry to say." "You got that camping trip coming up next weekend, huh?" "That'll be fun, right?" "Hey, you like your new kicks?" "All right." "Go on, pal." "Mom or Richard will pick you up." "I'll see you in two weeks, yeah?" "Head up." "Strong." "Hey, I love you, buddy." "Now be proud." "Hey, Chad." "Nice sweater." "I really like it." "Oh, and I like your shoes, too." "They match your hair." "It's great." "It wasn't an incident." "She was, uh, beaten." "Raped." "I'm sorry, I need to ask." "Your wife, was she pregnant at the time?" "We think so." "You were trying a long time, right?" "Mmm." "Your son was born nine months after what happened?" "And they never caught the man who did it, correct?" "No." "They never caught the guy." "And how is the relationship with your son?" "It's good." "It's real good." "I mean, he's a true-blue kid, you know?" "I..." "I bought us..." "I got us these digital recorders." "You see?" "So we can send each other letters, like, and express stuff, talk." "Book said that can be effective, so..." "So, why do you feel your visitation rights should be expanded, Detective Velcoro?" "Well, how about I raised him alone for two months when she took off?" "You know?" "It was me and him." "She comes back, she's talking divorce." "Did either of you request a paternity test?" "No." "My son is my son." "They're gonna ask that question." "More rudely than I just did." "Look, you're not getting..." "There's me and him, and I'm his dad." "And I just need you to come up with something, all right?" "You might have the wrong idea." "Why?" "You like paying taxes?" "Just..." "You were with LA Sheriff's Department eight years before Vinci PD." "Anything there gonna hurt you?" "No." "I welcome judgment." "Deputy Velcoro, right?" "This filth hurt your woman." "We know this guy." "Tell me." "Sometimes everybody's not always on the same side." "Fine, it's business." "But this..." "No." "Fuck that." "Some things don't stand." "What do you know about it?" "Fits the description, right?" "My people know him." "He's not with us." "Amphetamine freak." "Bragged about it, said, well..." "Matched your wife's account." "How do you know my wife's account?" "This is only information, man." "Shit in the air." "I'm sharing with you." "I wanted to do this." "And now it's done." "That's it." "What do you want from me?" " Me?" " Yeah." "Not a thing." "Maybe we'll talk sometime." "Maybe not." "Your wife, she doing better?" "Did you go to sleep?" "No." "Big day." "All the marbles." "Suits you better than you think." "Behold what was once a man." "You think I should have sprung for the country club?" "Don't put on airs." "You don't need to fake anything." "You're better than that." "Caspere pitches at developers." "Russians in for five." "Somebody taking Osip through customs?" "United Ambassadors are meeting him at the ramp." "Maybe I should have gone to the airport." "Don't want to look hungry." "Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating." "What?" "The fuck?" "An eight-part series?" "Talks city corruption, sweatshops, nothing on us." "Nothing?" "What's Osip gonna tweak from this?" "That we're not buttoned down at the least." "Could put Tom or Ivar on the reporter you want, but I think..." "No, get Velcoro." "He won't get carried away." "If this story gets play, there could be a state investigation." "But I'm saying you're not touched." "This place is built on a codependency of interest." "Worries me, you talking so stupid." "Everybody gets touched." "Hey, hey, I'm sorry." "Look, don't let that ruin it." "Just..." "It took me by surprise, was all, you know?" "I didn't expect that." "Forget it." "Don't worry about it." "Oh, come on, we don't have to stop, right?" "You know, it's just I wasn't really ready." "And I didn't think..." "I mean, I don't know." "Do you like that?" "Sometimes." "Okay." "I just didn't think that most women..." "You know, you would..." "I'm just used to..." "You know, I mean..." "Have you done that a lot?" "Let's not talk this to death." "Hey, I still got some time before I report." "Yeah, I've got to get ready for work." "Can we talk?" "Please?" "I mean, forget this, what just happened." "You know, I think this is good, right?" "Depends on what's expected." "Well, I wanted..." "I mean, I thought, you know, maybe we could talk about taking things forward." "Steve, you're a nice guy, but right now is not the time you want to have this conversation." "Okay." "But if you..." "Can you get your stuff?" "'Cause I gotta get going." "Yeah." "Sheriff's Department!" "Yo, what's this?" "Hands!" "Hands!" "On your knees." "You running hookers?" "Right there!" "Stay there!" " Sheriff's Department!" " Hands up!" "Get up!" "Get up!" " Clear!" " All right, everybody out." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Come on." " Right here, right here." " Let's go, move, move." "Clear in the back." " What is this?" " Webcams." "Private subscribers." "Totally legit." "We ain't broke no law of yours." "Got IDs for these girls?" "Visas?" "They American, that what you mean?" "Who here is an American?" "Say, "I am an American," one by one." "I am an American." "I am an American." "I am an American." "I am an American." "This is private property." " Shut the fuck up." " Come on, now." "Everybody out." "Let's go." "Let's go, on your feet." "Hey!" "All right." "I ran this op because I heard a rumor." "Unbelievable." "Porn." "It's not porn, okay?" "Not everybody has a problem with sex." "I'm a performer." "Oh, okay, I'm sorry." "So, this is like some kind of Meryl Streep-type expressive creativity?" "Are you off your meds?" "God, you're fucking hilarious, man." "You want people to stop screwing and start taking drugs, right?" "That is so typical." "So typical you." "That's not..." "This isn't right." "It's not healthy." "Not healthy?" "Really?" "And what do you know about being healthy?" "When you walk, it's like erasers clapping." "Okay." "Okay." "This isn't your business." "So, what is this?" "This is like another "I hate my sister" cycle?" "When does that stop?" "You take another bust?" "Bust doing what?" "Masturbating?" "I'm straight edge now, okay?" "I'm totally clean." "Okay, then maybe you should get back on something." "You know, what you say are my problems are really your fucking problems." "Don't think we got anything." "They even have the business license." "Yep." "That low background rumble is the sound of paper shredders on the third floor." "First part of a series, it says." "Talks about municipal salaries, undocumented workers, pollution, policing practices." "He uses the word "extortionary."" "Are we expecting subpoenas?" "You know Ben Caspere, the city manager?" "Gone missing." "Second day he hasn't shown up for work." "Lots of people looking for him." " Fix on his phone?" " Shut off." "Mayor Chessani's on DEFCON." "His office has been on the horn all morning." "Some big meeting today." "Get with Teague Dixon on this." "Caspere is officially a missing person." "Dixon?" "Seriously, Lieutenant, he's..." "We're lucky just to detail the two of you." "Uh..." "You know where I should start?" "City manager's office, I imagine." "All right." "License and registration, please, ma'am." "Uh, yes." "Yeah." "Um..." "I, um, don't have my license on me right now." "It's at my house." "It's just, like, a mile away in Malibu." "I'm really close." "You had anything to drink this morning, ma'am?" "To drink?" "No." "No, sir." "Well, I absolutely have not..." "Have not have had anything to drink." "Would you step out of the car for me, ma'am?" "Sir..." "Please, if I get in trouble again..." "Look, I pay my parents' bills for them and..." "Um..." "Look, maybe you could just escort me home, and we could talk or do something." "A trade, like..." "Hell, I know, Paul." "We all know it's bullshit." "Soliciting a blowjob to avoid a citation." "That ain't you, kid." "But they're already looking at that mercenary work." "This actress, she violated her parole by leaving the fucking house." "To score, I guess." "Swerves into traffic high, freaks," "I'm getting flushed." " No." " Yes." "Administrative leave with pay, just until IA finishes." "The Black Mountain work, do you know how hard they're looking?" "You got a little vacation, that's all." "Comes back around about this girl, and it will, you'll be reinstated." "Back on the bike?" "I like the bike, sir." "The highway, it suits me." "I am no good on the sidelines." "The other watch commanders want me to convey our full support." "Black Mountain." "We were working for America, sir." "I know you were, son." "Woodrugh, tell me it's true." "Hey, Bart. Enjoying it?" " Yes." " All right." "Nice to see you." "Good to see you, too." "Mayor." "You heard from Caspere?" "Newspaper shit couldn't wait, huh?" "Federal contracts come through, they can write all the stories they fucking want." "Newspaper's not gonna be a problem." "Let's allow an afternoon for celebration, gents." "See that?" "I tell people it's her brains." "Maybe you'd like something to eat?" "See you in a bit." "Yeah." "Caspere hasn't been to work in two days." "He hasn't?" "This is his entire goddamn pitch." "Watch the mayor." "He's getting a load on." "You think I should have sprung for the country club?" "Nah." "What did you say about looking hungry?" "Osip landed yet?" "Just touched down." "No family?" "Bachelor." "He didn't have any trips on the books?" "Not the type to just take off?" "No, sir." "He wouldn't leave without saying something." "He had been going up to Monterey and the Russian River Valley a lot, but he wouldn't be out of touch like this." "He mention anything about the newspaper?" "You know, that journalist." "Nothing I've heard." "I've only been here about six weeks, though." "I didn't know a whole lot about him yet." "Bad blood?" "Any enemies?" "I don't think so." "I mean, not like enemies." "Mr. Caspere sort of holds the purse strings for a lot of stuff." "A lot of people have to go through him." "Okay." "Can you give us a list of his properties?" "I, uh..." "Well, I guess that's okay." "Sure, it is." "We're the police." "Big place for one guy." "Hey, you see that, too, right?" "Now we got us something-something." "You ever meet this guy?" "Once or twice." "Some civic thing." "I had no idea he was so adventurous." "You know, I got instructions." "Anything happens to me, you burn all my shit quick." "Took the computer." "This is fucked." "We need a tech crew in here for prints." "Anything they can catch." "Catalog what's left behind." "We should let the bosses know." "You sure they don't know already?" "We need to treat this like a 207." " What?" " Kidnapping." "Teague, we don't belong on this." "Francis Semyon." "Look now at you." "This man in the '90s, what a terror." "The good life suits you." "Osip, have a champagne." "To friends and the future." "Hear, hear." "Frank, I don't think you met Michael in Paris." "Michael Bugulari, my attorney." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Semyon." "Osip, you should meet some people." "Contractors, developers." "If he turns up, I'm gonna put my size 13s so far up Caspere's ass..." "He'll spit shoelaces?" "They should make the fucking banks deliver these things." "This the best they got for police to do?" "Take people's houses?" "They just make us drop the paper, ma'am." "We are sorry." "You want to be police?" "Why you don't find my sister?" "Uh..." "Who's that?" "She missing?" "My little sister, Vera." "She's 24." "How long she been missing?" "We're not sure." "I mean, about a month ago," "I hadn't heard from her for a few weeks." "Started calling, getting voice mail." "One day it's disconnected." "I go to her apartment." "Her old roommate says she moved out a while back." "Took all her stuff." "They didn't know where." "Does she have a job?" "She worked as a maid at a couple of places." "But they said she quit." "Well, could you come down, file a report, and we could get started on it?" "We told city police." "Never heard anything." "Last place she worked, this, like, religious place, an institute." "Panticapaeum?" "The Panticapaeum Institute?" "Yeah, that's it." "What are we gonna do?" "Our city manager, Ben Caspere, was going to be here to explain this, but I suppose I can approximate the information." "So everybody knows Proposition 1 has passed." "And next year construction will start on a $68 billion high-speed rail up Central California." "An undeveloped valley adjacent to the rail and the coastal highway has been purchased by several holding companies anticipating a commercial development that will be in line for hundreds of millions in federal grants." "And the feds have guaranteed cost overages." "I was told something a long time ago." "Let me share it with you." "When you see only with God's eyes, you see only the truth." "And you recognize a meaningless universe." "Ginsberg said this to me once." "And it was a gift." "So, today's exercise is to recognize the world as meaningless, and to understand that God did not create a meaningless world." "Hold both thoughts as irrefutable and equal, because this is how we must live now in the final age of man." "She gave her notice maybe two months back." " Any forwarding address?" " No." "She said she got a new job, less hours, more money." "Told me she was working, like, some club circuit." "She mentioned Sonoma, I think." "All right if we talk to the rest of your staff?" "Of course." "Shh." "I may have seen her." "Just on the grounds, but..." "No." "No, not speak to her." "I wouldn't know her name." "I still have an office, but..." "I don't spend as much time here as I used to." "Just a few lectures a year." "I've wondered how you are." "You talk to Athena?" "A few days ago, actually." "She seems good." "Clear eye, has a job." "You talk to her that much?" "Do you know what her job is?" "Something on the Internet." "Web camera performances, she said." "Athena, goddess of love." "I won't go near computers, you understand." "She's doing porn." "Well, what exactly is porn?" "I remember, you see, when the status quo, they labeled anything they didn't like pornography." "Avant-garde cinema, then, featuring live sex acts for paying customers." "She has a different outlook." "Athena said it was theater." "God damn." "You don't have any feeling, your daughter doing that?" "Well, what would you have me do, Antigone?" "Since I've never been good at guessing your needs." "Maybe talk her into doing something with her life." "Maybe convey some guidance, some values she could carry." "We have always disagreed here." "I am not comfortable imposing my will on anyone, and I haven't been since 1978." "Not even to stop them walking into a river." "Yes, not even then." "And if your mother's flair for drama had been more present in her acting, she might have gone on to great things." "These totems, they watch over departed spirits." "I've always felt your mother among them." "You won't even own it a little." "She abandoned the two of you, I didn't." "You should spend less time in a state of resistance making up problems for yourself." "What does that mean?" "A failed marriage, a few relationships, you're angry at the entire world, and men in particular, out of a false sense of entitlement for something you never received." "Your entire personality is an extended criticism of my values." "Meant, I'm sure, to compel me into engagement through argument." "Do you even like what you do?" "Or is it just a reflexive urge toward authority out of defiance?" "Talk to your daughter, prick." "Help her." "I just did." " Hey, bud." " Dad?" " Hey." " Hey, Ray." "You're, uh, not till next Friday." "Hey, buddy, I knew you had a camping trip coming up, and I just wanted to..." "Here, it's a Coleman." "It's, like, top line." " Oh, thanks." " Yeah." "Camping trip was last weekend." "He ended up having a stomachache." "Wait a minute." "Where's your shoes?" "What?" "He's wearing shoes." "Ray, you been drinking?" "Not those, the Nikes." "The fucking LeBrons or whatever." "The tennis shoes he begged..." "You know what I'm talking about." "I just didn't wear them." "You realize I tell when people are lying for a living?" "All right, Ray." "Let's talk about this later." "Is that..." "Is that blood on your sleeve?" "What happened to your shoes?" "It was a little thing that happened last week." "Boys." "What happened?" "What happened to your shoes?" "Ray, God damn it." "They took his shoes out of his gym locker." "And what?" "What, shit on them?" "They cut 'em up." "That's it." "Christ, man, come on." "This isn't good for him." " Who was it, boy?" " Ray, stop it." "Let's talk later somewhere else." "Jesus, God, you fat pussy." "You're gonna give me a kid's name right now, or I'll pull down your pants and I'll spank you in front of the fucking cheerleading squad." "Don't look at him!" "You look at me!" "You tell me the name of that kid, Chad." "I'm gonna count to three." "One, two..." "Aspen." "Aspen Conroy." "Aspen?" "That's a boy's name?" "Chad." "God damn it, Ray." "What the hell is the matter with you?" "Asshole." "We, uh, just had a..." "A thing, me and you." "Totally, totally my fault." "Childhood is so scary." "I used..." "I used to want to be an astronaut." "But astronauts don't even go to the moon anymore." "Detective Velcoro?" "Yeah." "Yeah, got that Conroy address you wanted." "Place in Sherman Oaks." "Go." "Last name Conroy, first name Wit. 982..." "And your pop, he's a piece of work, huh?" "Don't talk about my family, Elvis." "Come on back, baby." "I've got something for you." "It's been a week, Mr. Policeman." "Get that dick over here." "Hold that thought." "I'm pretty rank." "Let me jump in the shower." "I'm gonna get clean for you." "I like it when you stink." "I don't mind." "Five minutes and I'll be right out." "Can I soap you up?" "No, I like you the way you are." "One hot shower, I'm ready to go." "I'm timing you, Officer Woodrugh." "Jeez, that was like 30 minutes." "I thought you had drowned." "What took you so..." "Oh, it's been a long day." "I had to work some kinks out." "Well, I've got a place right here where you can work that kink out." "Osip, we talked this through in Paris." "Caspere's absence don't mean a thing." "It is happening, though." "Vinci tapped fed money from the subway line, and the same thing will happen on a much, much bigger scale with the rail corridor." "Owned by our holding companies." "Set up through Catalast." "This goes beyond us." "A legitimate legacy." "Chance for the grandkids to be part of one of those old California families." "Don't even remember where the money comes from." "Let's talk more at dinner." "Give us a minute, friends." "I thought we already had an agreement, Osip." "Frank, you know you have my complete confidence, but our organization has very old rules." "Checks and balances." "I have to perform my due diligence." "Sure." "Sure." "But, Osip, it's a buy-in." "I thought you were here to close." "I will close when I'm ready to close." "Do not rush me, Frank." "Sure." "Yeah, of course." "You guys should relax." "Get some rest before dinner." "I look forward to meeting Caspere." "Fuckin' Caspere." "What could you have to talk to my son about?" "Relax, it's nothing." "Maybe I just want to ask him about some stolen property." "Look, bud, you want to call him out, and maybe we can take care of this, you know, right here?" "You don't even have to tell the missus." "Yeah, hold on." "Um..." "Great." "Hey, son?" "It'll just be a second, honey." "This man's with the police." "He says he has something to ask you." "You like to bully kids, Ass-pen." "Hold on, what is this?" "You're 12 years old and you're already evil as fuck." "Hey, you can't talk..." "No!" "You're gonna run out on your dad?" "Take a look." "He's doing this for you." "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop?" "Stop?" "I thought that got you off, kid, seeing people in pain." "If you ever bully or hurt anybody again," "I'll come back and butt-fuck your father with your mom's headless corpse on this goddamn lawn." "Twelve years old, my ass." "Fuck you." "Oh, my God, Wit!" "What's this one?" "The big one." "I know you don't like talking about the army, but I keep wondering..." "It's not from the army." "It's from before." "A long time ago." "What are you doing?" "I'm working on something." "Just got to check it out." "How are you working on something?" "You're on leave." "It's a side job, babe." "Told a friend I'd help him out." "That sounds like bullshit, Paul." "Hey, it's not." "I swear." "Are you ever gonna spend the night?" "Hey, there's no one else." "It's just, right now my life is kind of fucked." "I gotta keep working." "I need to do something." "I need to work." "You need to come back to bed." "It's just work." "That's it." "These are all his files and his laptop." "I asked him how long he thought it took Stephen Hawking to type a piece of investigative journalism." "He ain't gonna be writing that story no more." "Good." "Yeah." "Give him something to chew on." "Supposed to savor that." "Yeah?" "Let me try it again." "Tying one on?" "Not particularly." "How's your kid?" "You talk to that lawyer I put you with?" "Harris?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "She's gonna see what she can do." "She said, you know, don't get my hopes up." "Is your dinner okay, Ray?" " Yeah." "You want something else?" "No, thank you, darling." "You seeing anybody?" "A woman?" "There something else I'd be seeing?" "Nah, not interested in anything like that anymore." "Need to get back on that horse, my friend." "A good woman mitigates our baser tendencies." "You got time." "Have more kids." "We're trying." "Gonna be doing this, uh, IVF thing." "I tell you," "I ain't looking forward to jerking off in no cup." "Huh." "No." "Anyways, good job with the thing." "Sure." "Jordan has our friends at the Soho Bar." "We should join them." "Right." "Take care, Raymond." "Talk soon." "Yeah." "Fuck!" "Stop it." "You motherfucker." "What the fuck?" "Sir?" "Fuck." "Fuck." "911, what's your emergency?" "Lucia." "Fuck your little..." "Yeah, El?" "Lieutenant." "I need you in Ventura." "PCH, Point Mugu." "Use the sirens." "What?" "How?" "Why?" "They found Ben Caspere." "Eyes are gone, obviously." "Looks like chemical burn." "Acid, maybe." "Some kind or other abrasion in the sockets." "Can't call COD yet, but he bled out somewhere else." "Severe pelvic wound." "That's the guy we've been waiting on?" "Velcoro, Vinci PD." "This man's a missing person with us." "Ilinca, Bezzerides," "Ventura Sheriff CID." "Paul Woodrugh, CHP." "The fuck is Vinci?" "A city, supposedly." "That's bullshit."