"You got your father's hands." "My father made me nervous." "Maybe you were already nervous." "Maybe you lacked grit." "I see you, running through the trees." "You're small." "The trees are like giants." "Men are chasing you." "I'm right here." "You step out of the trees." "You ain't that fast." "Oh, son, they kill you." "They shoot you to pieces." "Where is this?" "I don't know." "You were here first." "Monstrous Mike's Morning Mash-Up moves on with a little Zevon to get you all the way up." "Pissed myself." "What the fuck, man?" "I'm commanding officer of this detail." "You call me, you got something." "Well, I got shot." "That's something." "I found our murder scene." "That's something else." "You don't enter a scene without your partner, me." "I didn't know it was a scene." "I walk in, next thing, somebody shotgunned me." "Twice." " Then how are you still..." "Rubber buckshot." "It's just impact." "Riot shells." "You know, like, uh..." "Like cops use." "You all right?" "Couple of cracked ribs." "Took one in the sternum, so my heart aches." "And how did you find this place?" "Prost tip through a CI." "Said Caspere took her here once." "All right." "Well, get cleared by a doctor." "See if you can bring in the hooker." "Fuck, it smells like piss." "Burris is already inside." "So, I'll go ahead and take the day, Xena?" "Everything goes through Vinci PD Special Homicide Task Force." "What are you doing with my scene, Lieutenant?" "Securing it." "One of my men gets shot, you better believe I'm on site." "It's all yours." "Soundproofing." "Christ." "It ain't working." "Look, this, uh..." "God damn it." "Is it the place?" "This never happened to me in my fucking life." "Maybe we could get a room nearby?" "Take our time?" "I ain't got the time." "This is important, Frank." "No shit." "You don't think I know that?" "There is no part of my life not overwrought with live-or-die importance." "I take a shit, there's a gun to my head saying," ""Make it a good one." "Don't fuck up."" "Baby, just relax." "This whole thing is unnatural." "Don't feel right." "We talked about this." "A lot." "It's unnatural." "They already said I'm fine." "What does that mean?" "What I said." "This." "This." "Phenomenal motility, the doc said." "God forgive me for misreading what subtle clues you embed for me in your limp dick, which is as wishy-washy as your fucking mood." "So what if it's hard for us?" "Like I'm your fucking incubator." "Suck your own dick." "Bungalow was a business lease through the Catalast Group." "Same place leased his car." "Utilities paid by Porpoise LLC, which was Caspere's company." "And he had a landline here, too." "Printed out the phone record." "If we don't get anything today, I want you on working girls." "Put those looks to use." "Sure." "So, I could not mention it, but you're an adult." "All right." "All right." "That actress..." "If you're asking me if I did what she said, then I'm gonna get out of the fucking car." "Well, I was gonna ask if you thought the exposure would interfere with doing fieldwork." "I seriously doubt it." "You should sue her when it's over." "Chick's loaded." "Is that a fucking e-cigarette?" "You can't talk on the phone?" "I'm trying to stay off the phone." "What?" "What do you got?" "Who else knew about that spot?" "Caspere's place?" "You walked me into something, Frank." "What are you on about?" "Wow." "That's some luck on you." "Fuck." "Where's the girl who gave up the place?" "Caspere bought whores." "She was one of Danny Santos'." "My crew don't pimp." "Well, then maybe she had a boyfriend." "You know, set Caspere up for him." "Or maybe Caspere was into so much dirt, there's no telling which side the ax came from, because let me tell you, there was some fucked-up psychology at work in that place before it was a murder scene." "Now, are you gonna tell me what Caspere was doing with you, or do I wait to walk into another dark room, this time with real bullets?" "There's a certain stridency at work here." "I'm gonna put it off to you getting blasted." "Oh, frankly, I'm apoplectic." "I'm feeling a little apoplectic myself." "What's with the water?" "Booze tends to take the edge off." "I want to stay angry." "Caspere had a lot of my money in play." "Real estate." "Property adjacent to the rail line." "How long did you know him?" "Started working with him the last few years." "He was here when we moved out of the city." "They stole a hidden camera after they shot me." "Hard drive." "Boggles the mind what might be on it." "Like I said," "I'm gonna put off the stridency." "Well, you do that, Frank." "Is Ray hurt?" "What happened?" "Somebody murdered him." "The mayor of Vinci lives in Bel-Air?" "Are you Betty Chessani?" "We're state police, ma'am." "Veronica Chessani." "I'm Betty's stepmother." "Mrs. Chessani, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" "Did you know, uh, Ben Caspere, the Vinci city manager?" "Only a little." "A dinner party, I meet him once." "You guys have a party last night?" "No." "Is medicine for my eyes." "Hello." "Do you remember Mr. Caspere and your husband ever talking late at night?" "No, I don't think." "Have you talked to Austin?" "He say okay for you coming here?" " Sure." " Oh." "We're checking because Mr. Caspere kept an apartment in the city." "Mmm." "And his phone records show a lot of phone calls coming to this house." "1:00, 2:00 a.m." "I don't..." "I don't know." "I don't pay attention." "Is upstairs line." "Business." "So, how long have you been married to Mr. Chessani?" "Mayor Chessani." "Never "mister," he says." "For a year." "And how'd you guys meet?" "A party." "Hey." "Everything all right?" "And stay down there, you dumb bitch." "I tell you to keep these whores from my house!" "Yo, Ronnie, who the fuck these people?" "State police." "Cover yourself." "Got a warrant?" "Why you hurt me like this, huh?" "Yo, why don't you chug a pot of coffee?" "Take a Xanax and chill your ass." "Bodine on his way down." "I called him." "People ain't happy with y'all goose-stepping up in here." "You knew Ben Caspere?" "Nah, some old guy who worked with my pops." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Who left door open?" "Where'd you, uh, pick up that accent?" "Accent?" "You racist woman." "Mmm-mmm." "I admit, it's a total put-on." "Different roles for different jobs." "I have a lot of friends." "And what is it you do?" "Specialty events." "I am an organizer." "What kind of events?" "All kinds." "Now, if you'll excuse me, y'all best to get stepping 'fore my man Bodine come in here with a lawyer, chew your asses out." "You ain't got no jurisdiction coming in here." "Burst capillaries, cholesterol terrible, your liver is redlining." "Can I ask how much you drink in an average week?" "All I can." "Drugs?" "A few." "And I'll just go out on a limb here, and guess that your diet isn't particularly healthy." "Well, this, you know, had me thinking about, uh," "changing some things." "Well, it's certainly possible to live with unhealthy habits, but it helps if you don't have every one under the sun." "Am I cleared?" "I'd take a couple days, but, yeah, you're cleared." "Burris says to clear you at any rate." "Great." "All right, see you." "Can I ask you something, Mr. Velcoro?" "Do you want to live?" "What are you doing here?" "Vertical mall." "What do you need, Frank?" "Gratitude, for starters." "Frank, you know I'm grateful." "I've told you." "Gratitude you can count." "Frank, what I pulled together to take your shares back, no one else would have paid what I did." "And I'm grateful with the rail corridor stuff." "It's great." "Thank you." "How many times do you expect to be paid for the same thing?" "Every month." "25% of your net." "I..." "I already paid you." "Come on, man." "You moved on." "Things change." "If they change for me, they can change for you." "Things are good right now." "That's good." "Maybe one day the Teamsters, your electrical workers, they get a problem with this site." "Probity Loan that loaned you that money, that lets you buy into this gravy train, they're gonna call back the note, and you'll need a friend, which is what I'm offering you." "How's Mary and the boys?" "She stood by you, huh?" "You like the schools in Tarzana?" "I want weekend deliveries." "And those electrician fucks, they're charging me for five guys when three will do." "There you go." "One hand in the other." "First of the month, Bart." "I'm not going anywhere." "He had a safe-deposit box at a Bel-Air security firm." "Articles of incorporation for a couple LLCs." "These corporations, he'd formed within the last year." "We're looking into asset listings now." "Good." "They can use that to follow his money." "No closer on a suspect?" "Velcoro didn't see who shot him?" "Said they were masked." "You think he could have staged that?" "I mean, at the end of the day, he just got banged up some." "Can't imagine why he would." "There was something else in that box, too." "Blue diamonds." "We'll follow up on the corporate holdings and the prostitution connections while the lab processes the apartment." "Caspere seems deep with Catalast." "Nothing much public on them." "Own a lot of land." "Gotten close to Velcoro?" "My impression?" "Straight up?" "Mmm." "Guy's a burnout." "Bitch comes into my house, no warrant, no nothing, harasses my wife, my children." "The mayor is very upset." "What did you find, Ray?" "A murder scene in an apartment in West Hollywood." "This private development group," "Catalast, rented it for Caspere." "And?" "Oh, same kinds of weirdness we found at his other place." "You know, his fetish shit." "And there was a spot where a camera and a hard drive had been, but the guy that shot me took it." "And you didn't get a look at him?" "No." "As soon as I turned, I just saw the blast." "What about the cunt?" "Bezzerides." "She ask any questions about the department?" "No, not really." "Velcoro's dirty." "I want him." "I thought I was clear on that." "We got a crooked Vinci cop we can leverage." "All the better." "He's a man, for Christ's sake." "Yeah, so what?" "I'm not saying fuck him, but maybe let him think you might fuck him." "Detective Bezzerides isn't IA or UC." "She's tasked with a murder." "Sure." "Sure." "And I'm not putting this in a memo, but Velcoro is worth a bonus." "I can see working a promotion for you." "State attorney subpoenaed our timesheets." "Huh." "What's your next move on Caspere?" "Well..." "I want her badge." "I want her hick sheriff boss' badge." "This state thing is gonna get cleared up soon enough." "They're gonna come out owing me, and that cunt is walking the plank." "Look, the camera taken means there was something on it." "Maybe the killing, maybe footage of the killer." "But he was traveling up and down the state doing land deals." "Well, that's smoke and no fire." "Land deals aren't gonna bring this in." "But keep working the hooker angle and get it wrapped before state makes this part of their probe." "Clear?" "Um..." "Bezzerides is running the case, sir." "Bezzerides is gonna be running a yogurt stand." "So steer her to something concrete." "I like a pimp for this." "Look, you want the truth?" "Maybe this is a good excuse to take me off." "You know?" "I mean, she don't trust me." "And I ain't ever exactly been Columbo." "What the fuck does that mean?" "This is your best man?" "You're on it, Ray, period." "How's the, uh, probe looking?" "We'll work it out." "Yeah." "They treating you all right?" "Like a cheerleader on an oil rig." "Shit." "Hey, thought your phone was busted." "I heard you were up here." "I thought I'd stop by." "Okay, yeah." "I'm..." "I've just been working down south." "No, yeah, I know." "I know." "I just thought maybe we could go grab a bite." "I can come down, you know, since you're not answering my phone calls." "Yeah, Steve, look, you're a decent guy, but..." "Wait, wait, wait." "Come on." "This has run its course." "Okay?" "No big deal." "You didn't do anything." "But you and I, there's just not much there." "There's not much there?" "Well, you could have fooled me." "You know, you fucking started this." "Don't push this somewhere ugly." "Just be a little mature about it." "Have some dignity." "Dignity?" "You're a real suck 'em and leave 'em type, huh?" "You talk to me like that again, you're gonna need a little baggie to carry your teeth home." "Mama's boy." "What?" "Stop." "Stop." "Get the fuck out of my squad room." "All right." "You know, you got serious problems, Detective." "I'm whittling them down." " Wow." " Yeah?" "Nice." " You got something to say?" "Nothing at all." "Ah." "You could just drink from the bottle." "Drink out the bottle, you got a problem." "You know that last shit you gave me kept me up all night." "Thought I could hear your mother." "Well, not that." "It's indica." "The smell of burning flesh." "Your own." "Well, then talk!" "What did you do with the stuff?" "Now wait a minute, fellas." "Louis is okay." "I had a dream about you." "I can't ever remember my dreams." "Barely sleep anyway." "Where's your badge?" "Well, it's..." "You shouldn't do that." "Whatever you saw on the news, or whatever pissed you off, you'll wake up one day and you'll miss it." "I won't miss it." "There ain't no PD anymore." "Well, if you're gonna throw it away, I'll take it." "I'll give it to Chad." "Pull." "Have you got any friends with push like that?" "You been eating?" "Nah, I don't get hungry." "Well, that grass will give you an appetite." " Put you to sleep, too." " Mmm." "Mmm." "How's your boy?" "He's all right." "It's hard being a kid." "We don't see each other as much as we'd like." "Pop, the guys in Vinci, you knew Kevin Burris a little." "Holloway, the chief?" "Holloway's a good man." "Hard charger." "Old school." "Worked them tough beats under Gates." "Back when you could actually do police work." "Yeah, Burris, too." "Why'd he leave?" "Set up shop in Vinci?" "'Cause he's fucking smart." "Then after the riots and O.J., we just couldn't do the job right." "So, he said, "So long" to those cunts and headed on out of town." "I should have been looking ahead." "Wouldn't have no half pension now." "Anyways, I hadn't seen you in a while." "Yeah." "I figured you needed your medicine." "Look at that shit." "Kirk Douglas." "No country for white men, boy." "I guess I'll take off, then." "I don't get it." "We'll be in Vegas for a few days." "I have other business." "Gives me time to confer with my people." "We can talk next week." "A month ago, it sounded like we were a done deal." "We've been over this, Frank." "I don't make these decisions myself." "And Caspere?" "My thinking is this is somehow connected to you getting cold feet." "Sure." "We're not stupid." "What you had sewn up, the stitching's frayed, Frank." "This is too big to walk away from." "I don't ask permission." "I wasn't talking about you." "You leaving?" "Bon fucking voyage." "All right, Frank." "Fucking Commie Jew fuck." "Where's Blake?" "I messaged him." "And Stan?" "Why isn't he here?" "Shouldn't a reasonable man infer from Osip's arrival and departure, and fucking failure to make good on our terms as being connected not just to Caspere, but prefiguring Caspere?" "In a causal sense." "I'm saying..." "Do you think Osip could have done Caspere?" "Not my department." "But if you're asking me, is he that kind of guy, he looks half anaconda and half great white." "So, I saw that paper, bro." "Thought I'd check up on you." "Got you downrange, huh?" "It's bullshit." "I'm half working this thing for state." "Supposed to see me through." "So?" "So, fuck no, I didn't." "Yeah, well, I didn't think you did." "So, you been going to meetings?" "I went the first year." "I mean, if you want to get over something, maybe sitting around and remembering it in every detail" "ain't the right way." "Yeah, well, the thing of it is some of that knowledge they spill makes sense." "Stuff about the past, not denying it," "letting it be a part of you." "Yeah." "You working?" "Yeah, just, uh, some things here and there." "Mmm." "I got on with the electricians' union." "Mmm, great." "Still a low man." "You ever miss it?" "Yeah." "You know, I keep thinking about the village." "Outside Al-Awja." "The valley." "Nice people, man." "Mountains." "We ain't soldiers anymore, man." "I remember thinking" "I could have just stayed there." "Just forget finding the squad." "I mean..." "I think, like, that was like the..." "It was the last time shit felt right for me, bro." "You mean combat." "Would you ever go back to it?" "I don't think so." "Didn't think I'd stay on as long as I did." "And then it was hard to see coming home, you know?" "That's not what I mean." "You know what I'm talking about." "Them three days?" "I think about you, man." "Stop it." "Why?" "What if I don't want to forget, huh?" "Dude, you should go." "I'm out." "Hey, look, look..." "Don't pretend, all right?" "Don't..." "Hey, hey, hey." "You see that?" "Fuck you, asshole." "Woodrugh, I'm sorry, man." "I didn't mean for that." "I'm sorry, man." "I'm drunk." "I am drunk." "I'm sorry." "City traffic cams came back." "Ventura picked this one up 1:00 a.m., night of the murder." "Caddy pulling onto PCH from the 33." "Car's registered to a film transportation department." "That flick they're shooting here?" "Got it in one." "You're back." "Yeah, not for lack of trying." "Caspere arranged our tax incentives." "Only way you can film anything in California now." "Threw him a co-producer credit." "Real sorry to hear what happened." "Cut." "Was he around here much?" "Nah." "I mean, he came by." "We were in prep." "Helped out with PD, zoning." "That producer credit come with a paycheck?" "Back end, yeah." "What about that car?" "The Caddy?" "Went missing one morning last week." "We filed it stolen with Sheriff's." "Put in the insurance papers yesterday." "I'll bring you to our transpo head." "Yeah, Monday morning, it was gone." "Lock on the gate was bolt cut." "Sheriff's took a report." "Any personnel missing?" "No, nothing unusual." "We had a driver, quit the week before due to family issues." "I never knew the Caspere guy." "I need names and addresses of everyone in your department." "Sure." "Yeah." "Cut." "Fuck it." "Check the gate." "Let's move." "Hey, what's this thing about?" "About two tons of shit." "Some, uh, collapse-of-civilization revenge flick." "Ought to make it a silent picture the way the guy does his lines." "That's your job?" "Yeah, set photographer." "It's the best use of my time so far." "You ever, uh..." "You ever seen this guy around?" "Yeah, I've seen him." "Some city guy." "Um..." "Wants to brush shoulders with the industry, I guess." "Heard he partied with our director once or twice." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah, Daisun was going on about some party they went to." ""Well-attended," he said." "I mean pussy." "Like, wall-to-wall." "Hmm." "I guess being the set photographer don't rate an invite." "Yeah, it was just like a dinner, drinks thing." "Lots of suits, potential investors." "What about girls?" "Yeah, girls were there." "They are over half the population." "Were there any hookers at this party?" "I really wouldn't know that, ma'am." "Hmm." "Where was it?" "Somewhere up above Ventura." "I really don't remember." "Tell you the truth, I drink." "So it makes my recollection unreliable." "Jack, get everyone up for a rehearsal." "I'll be there in a sec." "Burning dollars." "Yeah." "I still work for the city manager's office." "With Mr. Caspere..." "With what happened, they sent me down to collect copies of the tax agreements." "Why?" "Is something wrong with them?" "I don't think so." "They're just trying to get all the city's paperwork in order." "With the state's inquiry." "All right." "Thank you." "The fuck have you been?" "You take off on me now?" "Just with my lady." "My phone died." "Your fucking phone died?" "Am I a goddamn teenage girl?" "Frank, Stan." "What about him?" "He's dead." "Couple of our Mexicans found him, boss." "What is this, huh?" "Who the fuck would have something against Stan?" "Don't make any fucking sense." "What is he to anybody?" "Too much coming right after Caspere." "No shit." "Who, huh?" "Who the fuck's coming after me?" "Huh?" "Who?" "Get Santos, Fregredo, Constantine, anybody that works on our property, or what used to be our property, now, tonight!" "Santos' place." "What are you thinking?" "Just fucking do what I tell you." "Pack him up." "He deserves better than this." "How you guys doing?" "You ever see this guy around?" "You ever see this guy?" "You guys, uh, ever see this guy around?" "Look, I'm not vice." "I don't give a shit who fucks who here." "No?" "I've seen him before." "Where?" "Never dated him, I mean, but he'd been around a few times." "I was working." "Good with faces." "Where was this?" "Couple times, this club a couple blocks down." "Lux Infinitum." "You been there?" "No." "Is it big with hookers?" "Big with all sorts." "But, yeah, they got some primetime in there." "It's one of them circuit clubs, you know?" "Trade runs through." "Some European." "That pussy is expensive, so..." "Yeah, you got party people, but also suits and whatnot." "All right." "Thanks." "They're not gonna talk to you." "They probably wouldn't even let you in." "This angsty cop drama you're rolling." "You like models, I guess?" "Yeah, started building them with my kid." "Then I just started doing them without him." "Thanks." "Shit." "Just a minute." "Hey." "Look, Ray, I, uh..." "I just wanted to see about Chad." "Yeah, I don't want to repeat that conversation." "I don't want to do that." "I think you've got worse trouble." "State police officers came to see us." "Investigators, two of them." "Wanted to know about you." "Wanted to know what?" "If I ever saw extra cash you couldn't account for." "If I had ever known you to be violent." "If I, uh..." "Ever knew or suspected you took retribution on the man who attacked me." "It's $10,000." "For what?" "To not contest the custody." "We just want to do what's best for Chad." "You think you can buy my son?" "No, it's for..." "It's to just go, Ray." "It's an alternative." "Go somewhere." "Before we can't turn back." "Whatever happens, those questions, a custody battle, it's not gonna be easy for Chad." "So don't start it." "The way those two investigators sounded, it's a matter of time, Ray." "You put that envelope away." "I'm gonna pretend like you never really thought I'd take it." "I didn't." "But I hoped I might be wrong." "You all right?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we should get back to work." "Yeah, he liked it here." "One of them older guys, never left the bar, just wait for the girl to walk up." "Thank you." "You know anyone he ever left with?" "Uh, a few of the girls here for sure, but I wouldn't try talking to them." "You'd just get them into trouble." "He like boys?" "More like he likes to watch." "Had me and this girl go at it while he sat in the corner." "You do girls?" "In a pinch." "With the right medication." "Who's this girl?" "Fuck." "Her name's Tascha." "She's one of them Euro tricks." "Hasn't been around lately." "One of those elite bitches, worked those private parties." "What kind of parties?" "I just heard about them." "Expensive, private, rich men." "Maybe she found a sugar daddy." "Doubles." "You know, Frank," "I don't know what this is, but, look, I don't run things like that." "I mean, shit, who does anymore?" "Mexicans?" "Russians?" "That's a good question." "Who?" "Who has something to gain by trying to fuck with me?" "You think it was someone here?" "What's in it?" "What he means is what you got worth taking anymore, Frank?" "My associate." "His name's Ben Caspere." "He was into that sweet Eastern Bloc pussy you all run between clubs." "So, some of you might have girls that know him." "Daniel here did." "And what I need you to do now for me is put the word out." "Any john you rob, any flea, any tick crawls across your carpet, you ask them about Ben Caspere." "You find out who wants what's mine." "Frankie," "I think you got us confused with them bitches upstairs." "Appreciate our past dealings, but you're the one that left all that behind." "This ain't your club no more." "Those days done been over." "You're straight, right?" "Why don't you call a cop?" "Stay where you fucking are." "Yeah, I know." "You put them crazy eyes on, and everybody's supposed to shit their pants." "Thing is, you ain't that thing no more, what you used to was." "He speak for all of you?" "I'm speaking for me." "Yeah, you're tall, but you're really little, and you're old." "Yo, this meeting is over." "Y'all motherfuckers get out of my place." "Will you talk this much when I rip your fucking lip off?" "All right, Frankie." "You wanna squab?" "You can keep your rings on." "Won't matter to me." "All right." "No!" "I've always hated these fucking things." "What kind of way is that to greet the world?" "We heard you quit your job as a driver a couple weeks back." "Yes, he took care of me." "I was sick." "And he couldn't take the sitting all day." "He's a good boy." "You live here with her?" "Only sometimes." "I got a place with friends." "A car was stolen from where you work." "He wouldn't do it." "He ain't been in trouble since he was a little boy." "Yo, yo, all's I did was quit my job." "Got a lumbar problem." "Is that the fucking car?" "Hey!" "Hey, hold on!" "Don't move!" "Police!" "Fuck." "Get out of here!" "Move!" "Stop, motherfucker!" "Fuck!" "You're gonna burn it all!" "Son of a bitch." "God damn it!" "Oh, fuck!" "My fucking ribs." "That was him." "That was fucking him." "Fuck." "Thank you." "You wanna thank me, tell me what state has on me." "I don't know." "I waited for you." "What happened?" "We should make up." "I thought..." "I stayed up." "Do you wanna talk?" "Maybe tomorrow."