"Tell me," "Tell me," "Tell me about Jenny," "Edward Roel?" "Eduardo Roel." "Edward Roel?" "Eduardo Roel." "You're home then." "My name's Wilson." "Wilson?" "You wrote me about my daughter." "Oh, uh, yeah." "Come in." "Who's done it then?" "Snuffed her?" "What are you talking about?" "I sent you the newspaper clipping." "Told you all I know." "I never said anything about nobody being snuffed." "Look..." "There was an investigation." "The car was totalled." "Jenny was..." "Her neck broke, they said, on impact." "So she wouldn't have felt the fire, Those streets up them hills," "You got to be careful." "You got to keep your eyes on the ball." "Two o'clock in the morning, it's dark, your mind's a little agitated." "You're driving a little too fast..." "Those curves don't kid around." "Could've happened to anybody, Jenny wasn't reckless, She'd drink, have a little pot, but that was it." "No, not my girl," "Self-control she had." "It was a point of pride." "Where'd she get it, this grass," " or whatever?" " No, no, no." "I'm no drug dealer, man." "What do you think?" "I think you didn't get that ink in the Navy, doing your national service," "Hey, I already told you, man, Corcoran, you know?" "You know what that is?" "State prison." "I did my time." "My sister, her man is doing 8 years in Chino." "I work." "I put my life together." "I put all that shit behind me." "Five years in the joint." "That's it." "I just got out myself, didn't I?" "This bloke she was bunked up with," " Terry what's-it," " Terry Valentine," " What's he got to say for himself?" " I don't know," "They had a fight, she drove away, she was upset." "A few weeks before Jenny died, she had me drive her downtown," "She said she wanted to talk to her boyfriend, Valentine." "But I think she was looking for him," " Catch him with another bird?" " That's what I thought." "But we didn't go to the hotel We went someplace else," "Whereabouts?" "Some bad place, Bad people," "Some guy unloading trucks, Some kind of deal going on," "Now, I don't know and I don't care, okay?" "It could have been fava beans to Eskimos," " Did Jenny know?" " Valentine wasn't there, so if he or she were involved, who's to say?" "But I'll tell you," "Jenny stood in front of those guys, eyeballing them," "I felt like she was covering my ass," "I can't believe that." "Really?" "What did she say?" "Hang on." "May I help you?" "Can't be too careful nowadays." "Lot of tea leaves about." " You know what I mean?" " Excuse me?" "Tea leaves - thieves." "Terry Valentine." "Do you know him?" "And... who are you?" "Wilson." "My name's Wilson." "Wilson." " I never heard of you." " I'm not that well-known." "Except around certain police nicks." " Police what?" " Who me?" "No, can't be bothered." "Hey!" "Who the fuck are you?" "How did you get in here?" "A little bird told me you and Terry Valentine have business dealings." " I don't know a Terry Valentine." " Don't you?" "Take a walk, pal." "You're making a big mistake." "Go on, get the hell out." "What have you been up to, pal?" "What have you been doing, son?" "You got to buck your ideas up." "What have you been doing?" "Jennifer Wilson." "That name mean anything to you?" "Hey, what's the deal here?" "Hey, whoa, hold on!" "What the hell?" "Who is this guy?" "The only reason you're not dead is I want to know who you are." "Jennifer Wilson was my daughter." " Who the fuck is..." " Was she that chick that came here?" "Yeah, talked the same way as this cocksucker." "Terry Valentine is a friend of mine." "And I don't talk about my friends with strangers." "Your cunt daughter come up here sticking her tits in my face." "Who am I?" "How do I know Terry?" "What's the nature of our business together?" "I admire Terry for a lot of things, but I got to say, he let himself get royally pussy-whipped by that fucking bitch." "Know what I would like to have done to her?" "What I would like to have done?" "Then after I got done..." "I bet she would've liked that." "Too bas she took a nose dive off that cliff." "Probably dried her all up." "I got a gun right here!" "Get him out of here." " You want me to call an ambulance?" " No!" "I'm gonna call Avery." "Go, man!" "Just get out of here!" "Come back here again, Pop, and we'll kill you." "This is private property." "We will shoot you, fuck-o." "Get it?" "Old fart comes here with his big dangerous gun." "We're quaking!" "We're quaking!" "Yeah." "Shit!" "Come on back and visit and trespass." "We look forward to it, asshole." "Stupid English fuck!" "You tell him!" "You tell him I'm coming!" "Tell him I'm fucking coming!" ""Tell 'em I'm coming?"" ""Tell him I'm coming,"" "Who?" "Nobody knows," "Adhara." "I remember telling your parents," ""If you want a name, you can't go wrong with a constellation."" "Well, I used to hate it." "Now I like it." "It could be worse." "They could have called you" "Reticulum..." "Pleiades." "God, you're beautiful." "Is there anything in this world you want or need?" "I want to know why you need that scary man in your house." "Gordon's been with me for years." "He's not as tough as he looks." " Then what good is he?" " Heard of loyalty?" "Yeah." "I'm loyal to things that make me happy." "Oh, am I a thing?" "You're certainly not a person." " I'm not?" " No." "You're not specific enough to be a person." "You're more like a vibe." "I'm glad we're having this chat." "Come here." "Get out of the pool." "Terry!" "I don't know what transpired exactly," "Our friends downtown, someone took them out." "What the fuck does "took them out" mean?" "It used to mean a gangland slaying." "Maybe it still does." "Well, who?" "Blacks?" "Blacks?" "No, Terry, it's not their style." "From what I gather, it was a Ione gunman." "You sound like the 5 o'clock news," "Why are you telling me this shit?" "I don't want you to hear about it and then freak out." "Fuck you, Jim." "I don't freak out anymore." "It was probably nothing." "That's usually what senseless mayhem comes down to, Bad loan, bad judgement, bad faith," "These were bad people, involved with worse people." "Cops got a lot of leads, so..." "As long as nobody can connect anything to me." "No one will connect anything to you." "That was a one-off deal, You hopped on, you hopped off," "Anything else, I would have had you walk away." "You never saw them again, right?" "Are you crazy?" "They're your friends, not mine," "What?" "Your "clients"?" "Let's say I befriended them when you needed them." "Well, the cops." "I mean..." "Are they satisfied with this gangland shit or what?" "The cops don't get satisfied." "They get placated." "They're talking to the kid who got away." "The kid who called me." "Scared out of his wits, this kid." "All he can say is that the shooter" " is some crazy guy." " "Shooter"?" "Jesus Christ." "Yeah, he said he went nuts." "He was screaming, "Tell him I'm coming!"" ""Tell 'em I'm coming?"" ""Tell him I'm coming."" "Who?" "Nobody knows." "Great." "This is sure making the fuck out of my day." "Oh, come on." "Terry, relax, would you please?" "The goods are gone." "Money's been turned around." "Middlemen are dead." "This is a good thing." "So don't panic, okay?" "No one can link anybody to you." "Jenny did." "Yeah, well, Jenny could," "She'd already got to you," "Terry Valentine," "Do you know him?" "Valentine comes into the restaurant a couple of times." "He's a money guy." "They were together how long?" "Five years." "A long time." "There you go." "Jenny must have liked him." "Jenny would introduce me." "He'd shake my hand, but he wouldn't even see me." "Jenny met him, got blinded by his smile." "Can you believe it?" "That son of a bitch never smiled at me." "Jenny and I were friends, but we didn't travel in the same social circles," "She had her life." "I had mine." "How did you two hook up then?" "Jenny was in my acting class." "She was 21 when she came to me, straight from leaving you." "Maybe you should talk to her best friend, Elaine." "I do double duty as a voice coach." "Not that her accent would have hobbled her progress." "Not with that look." "She didn't write me." "She didn't know what to say," "I figured somebody should say something to someone." "You're Jenny's father." "Why did you come here?" "Thought it would be nice to chat with you." "No." " Why did you come here?" " Get a few things sorted out," "Been busy, have you?" "How do you mean?" "I heard you were, uh," "What's that adorable expression?" ""At Her Majesty's pleasure."" "It was the bars, then?" "What was it, Wembley Stadium job?" "That was it, right?" "Pink Floyd concert receipts?" "Earning interest in an offshore account." "Tidy little premium per annum, that." "Security like that can't be bought." "It must be more comforting than a daughter to greet you." " Ain't you gonna let me in?" " You can call me again." "Weren't you in a soap on the box?" "Three seasons." "Did Eddie tell you that?" "Yeah, Eddie." "He's my new china." ""China plate." Mate." "Me and him." "Quite a character, isn't he?" "Not to you, of course," "To us squares in the outside world." "He give me your address." "I gave him yours." "I thought I was being loyal to Jenny." "Who told me she had no father." "Before, of course, proceeding to tell me why." "Yeah, well," "she was right, in a way." "Her mum died when she was six." "Then she was on her own." "Aunts and uncles, and then, well..." "How you gonna keep her down on the farm after she's seen L.A.?" "They give me compassionate leave to visit her in hospital." "'Cause we was always mates." "Jenny's mum and me," "I like to think they're together now," "Heavenly choir." "That's what you heard?" "That's where Eddie wrote you?" "In prison?" "Oh, no." "I knew." "I knew before Ed." "What time did it happen?" "Eddie said two in the morning." "There's 8 hours difference between here and London." "That makes it 10 o'clock my time." "I was going out in the yard." "I used to save my newspaper until then." "You know, stretch my legs, breath of fresh air, bit of a read." "Stretch out the good part of the day." "And I couldn't open the newspaper." "It was like the page was glued together, my hands were that weak." "I thought it was a heart attack." "Of course, I knew it wasn't." "A guy I knew came up. "Wilson, you're as white as a sheet."" "I said, "Well, fuck me, I been in prison half my life."" "But he was dead-on, because I'd felt all the blood drain out of my head." "And I knew..." "I knew something had happened to Jen." "She was... magic." "I can't believe Jenny told you all about me." "She was always so embarrassed." "Not embarrassed." "Ashamed?" "Not ashamed," "Disappointed." "Do you even know who Terry Valentine is?" "Some sort of pop producer, isn't he?" "We call it rock 'n' roll." "Kind of a promoter, I guess." "Whatever that means." "Anyway, he took the whole 60 Southern California Zeitgeist and ran with it," "Packaged and sold it," "Made out like a bandit," "What's the deal?" "You and Terry Valentine at 20 paces?" "Come on." "Is that it?" "Don't see why not." "Are you serious?" "Have you ever known me not to be?" "You fucking guys and your dicks." "What do you want me to do?" "Stay at home doing sweet F.A.?" "You don't believe it was a car accident?" "Oh, yeah..." "She fell asleep at the wheel." "Terry will never give you that satisfaction." " He is not that type." " Depends, don't it?" "On what?" "What makes you so certain?" "I bloody ask him." "Fine." "There's the phone." "You want his number?" "Oh, I've got his number." "Whatever you got to do, man, better go do it." " He's brought in the heavy mob." " You're kidding." "Extra muscle." "Bodyguards." "They look like a right lot of wallies." "You should see them." " Patrolling in front of his house." " Let me see." "All done up like Household Cavalry." "Those are valets." "What do you mean, valets?" "Who does he think he is?" "The Marquees of fucking Tavistock?" "Valets, man." "They park cars." "Looks like they're having a party." "Are they?" "Thank you." "Hey, trousers, keep it handy." "We're not staying long." "Yes, sir." "We're a little early, huh?" "First in, first out." "That's me." "Mind how you go." "Gentlemen, what can I get you?" "Babysham, Eduardo?" "Dubonnet with a twist." "Tomato juice with Tabasco?" "I'll have a Coke." "You have the same posters." "What?" "That are in your office." "No, they're different." "Well, I like the colors." "We all did." "Must have been a time, huh." "A golden moment." "Have you ever dreamed about a place you never recalled being to before?" "A place that maybe only exists in your imagination." "Someplace far away, half-remembered when you wake up?" "When you were there, though, you knew the language." "You knew your way around." "That was the sixties." "No, it wasn't that either." "It was just 66 and early 67." "That's all it was." "I'll have a butcher's around the house." "Who you gonna butcher?" ""Butcher's hook." "Look."" "Hi." " Terry, how are you?" " Great." "And you?" " Very well, thank you." " Good to see you." "Our counterfeit CDs are doing well." "It was supposed to be an infinity pool and go off the edge." " Definitely business affairs." " Terry Valentine." " Good to see you." " Nice to meet you." "Shit." "Hello?" "Hey." "No, it's Crestview Terrace, not Crestview Place." "Yeah." "There's three different ways up the hill." "The best way is Loma Vista." "Loma Linda." "Yeah." "Yes." "Okay." "All right, bye." "Well, it's the record business, what can you say?" " It's the "Hi, how are you?" crowd." " It's got to be done, yeah." "There you are." "You know Jim." " Of course." " Hi, how are you?" "Blimey!" "Yeah, if you can afford a house like this, you buy one." "What are we standing on?" "Trust." "You know, you could see the sea out there if you could see it." "Could you?" "Where are you going?" "Hello?" "Don't do it." "You produced the first Christopher Cross album?" "Wow, that record changed my life!" "What was he like?" "Just give me a scoop." "A nugget." "Basically I just do the contracts." "That's it?" "Just the contracts?" "Bring the motor round." "Bang out in front." "Point it downhill." "As I was turning into Seward, I saw this old guy locking up a car." "And it was so unmarked it was marked." "I mean, it was just..." "Excuse me." "Can I help you?" "Go!" "Go!" "Sir, are you okay?" "Steady on, Fangio." "You "steady on", man!" "What the fuck did you do?" "You didn't cap the guy, did you?" "Did you?" "No, too easy." "Too easy?" "He's got to know why." "You think a guy like that ever will?" "Down!" "What are we doing?" "Fuck!" "Wilson!" "Wilson!" "Wilson!" "Wilson, come on, man!" "Come on, come on!" "Shit!" "You're getting me into all this shit." "Wilson." "Oh, boy." "I should have done the talking." "Because you're my security consultant?" " What the fuck?" " What did you tell them?" "I told them that a longtime employee flipped out." "That he had drug problems and refused counselling, which is true." "And that he committed suicide." "And one of the guests tried to stop him." "Jim, how the fuck do you stop Gordon at four hundred pounds?" "That was good." "Well, he's heavier than that now." "Jenny never told you about her dad?" "Her dad?" "What dad?" "The one who was in prison for nine years." "He was released last month." "Jenny's father was in prison?" " For what?" " Armed robbery." "Again." " Again?" "Oh, God." " Yeah, he's a career criminal." "He's on leave of absence." "Get it?" "Where are you going?" "I want to find him before they do." "Oh, man, I am fucking screwed." "I am screwed to the wall!" "I don't suppose he entered the country under his own name." "Oh, give me a fucking break." "Can you do that?" "I would if I came this far to kill someone." "Oh, man." "Okay." "Not even one of your guys should handle this." " What should I do?" "Tell them?" " No, I mean," "I told them I didn't know who he was." "People come, people go." "How will you find him?" "Terry, he's not James Bond." "This is some pathetic sad sack wandering around." "Tell that to Gordon." "What's England anyway?" "Some rinky-dink country, where the cops don't even carry guns?" "Oh, man, this is getting all too close to me." "You know, people close to you keep falling into canyons." "Now, that's brilliant." "Hey, relax." "I have other resources." "I have other resources." "No one even near to me." "Because I am out of here." "I'm gone." "How do you keep getting so lucky?" "I learned how to skate when I was a boy." "Even after a dozen interventions, if a person won't face up to..." "I guess not." "Lots of people in the music industry have been taken down by doing too many... many... drugs." "Straight rotation." "Call your shots, scratch on the eight, you lose." " Okay." " I break, right?" "Yeah, break 'em up." "He broke last time." "What did you say?" " He broke last time." " Let me break." "So what?" "He loves to break." "Look, he's all excited." "I see that." "I don't give a shit if he does or not." "It's my break." " I won the break." " "I won the break."" " What the fuck is that?" " I'm kidding." " Are these your quarters?" " Yeah." " What the fuck is he doing?" " I don't know, man." "Go fuck yourself!" "And take Mr. Goodwrench with you." "I'd tell you to blow it out your ass but my dick's in the way." "Did I cross the line?" "Does that mean you forfeit?" " It was just a game." " Stacy!" "Come over here." "How's it going?" "Not bad." " Like to kill someone for me?" " Okay." "Same as last time." "The rest after." "Where do we go?" "When you find the guy, you'll know." "What is this shit?" "I do it, I don't organize it." "I can point you, but you've got to take it into the end zone." "This bum's a hit-and-run gunman." "I doubt he's cruising the Polo Lounge." "This is un-fucking-professional." "Well, a successful man like me has limitations." "I lose touch at the street level, so I have to depend on a smart boy like you who's closer to the nitty-gritty." "Fuck you, Mr. Whatever-your-name is!" "This is a lifestyle I embrace." "That's why I'm letting you take care of this." "I'm the one with appearances to maintain." "But who gives a shit about you?" "Not even God." "Get it done." "Get a tie." " How much?" " Five grand." "Got half in my pocket." " Making trouble for someone?" " Yup." "Which kind?" "The forever kind." " She may not know the English dude," " I don't know," " She was tight with his daughter." " But that don't mean nothing." "She's nice looking." " So what?" " I just said she's nice looking." "And I said, "So what?" Is she happier?" " What do you mean, "happier"?" " Happier than any other asshole?" "I don't know." "I never met her." "What is this shit?" "They should make shows about people's daily lives." ""Sick Old Man" or "Skinny Little Weakling."" ""Big Fat Guy"." "Wouldn't you watch a show called "Big Fat Guy"?" "Extras?" "Oh, excuse me, "background artists"." ""Hi, Mom, Dad." "Yeah, Hollywood's great." "I'm still a loser."" "I wonder what it's like to have tits." "Jesus, are you gay enough?" ""Hello, Studio City!"" "Fag." "Look at this guy." "Yeah, they need that right away." "What's the smartest thing to come out of a woman's mouth?" "Einstein's cock." "That little kid's kind of cute, though, you know?" "A little young, but..." "You want to run it with me now?" "Did you forget your words?" "I got him." "Step aside, ma'am." "Come with us." "Wasn't half crowded in the back of that car." "Drug Enforcement?" "Narcs?" "I don't suppose you prefer a steady income." "I've got a steady income." "I'm on the dole." "A leech on the welfare state as well." "You don't miss a trick." "Just a fiddle." "They've got me down as an immigrant with five kids." "Jenny spoke fondly of her imaginary siblings." "Do you even remember the last time you saw her?" "I remember every time I saw her." "I watched her grow up in increments." "She said you were a ghost in her life," "Daddy, the friendly ghost," "She twigged when she was 8 or 9 that I wasn't in the Royal Marines." "Or playing Iago in some world tour of Othello." "Freedom is a word I rarely use without thinking," "without thinking," "of the time, of the time when I've been loved," "She was always threatening me," "Can you imagine?" ""If you're naughty, Dad, I'll put the law on you." "Promise"." "She didn't want me to get sent down again." "And if she got wind that I was planning something," ""I'll shop you, Dad." "I promise I'll shop you"." "I can see her picking up the phone:" ""Look, I'm calling the Old Bill."" "It became a joke between us, only..." "It wasn't really," "She would never have turned you in." "Not in a million years." "I know that." "But as time went on, well, in ever decreasing circles, the joke wore off." "She had a feeling about this last job." "How long I'd get banged up for." "Said she wouldn't be around this time, when I got out." "And she wasn't," "How you doing then?" "You all right?" "Now, squire, I can see you're the guv'nor here." "I'm on your manor now, so don't get your knickers in a twist." "Whatever this bollocks is between you and that slag Valentine, it's got nothing to do with me." "All right, mate?" "I'll explain it to you." "When I was in prison the second time..." "No, tell a lie, third stretch." "Yeah, third." "There was this screw what really had it in for me." "And that geezer was top of my list." "Two years after I got sprung, I sees him in Holland Park, on a bench feeding bloody pigeons." "There was no one about." "I could have gone up and snapped his neck." "Wallop!" "But I left it." "I could have knobbed him, but I didn't." "What I thought I wanted, I didn't." "I was thinking about something else." "I didn't give a toss." "It didn't matter." "This berk on the bench wasn't worth my time." "It meant sod all in the end." "You got to choose when to do something or let it go." "When it matters and when it don't." "Bide your time." "Prison teaches you that if nothing else." "Bide your time and everything becomes clear." "And you can act accordingly." "There's one thing I don't understand." "The thing I don't understand is every motherfucking word you say." "Do you know what I reckon?" "You and I are after the same thing, but for different reasons." " And what would that be?" " The reasons?" "Start with the thing." "I would guess that whatever you're after, involves a considerable sum of money." "And that's not what lights your fire?" "In the past, granted, I have been known to redistribute wealth." "But no, I'm after another kind of satisfaction." "Know what I mean?" "You're not from around here, are you?" "You don't carry any kind of I.D." "I.D.?" "No." "When your chaps went through my pockets, they found nothing." "Your connection to Terry Valentine?" "My daughter was living with him when she died." "I imagine about the same time as whatever the deal was that Terry Valentine grafted you out of your share of." "When I say "grafted", I..." "You think Valentine screwed me out of some deal?" "It wouldn't surprise me." "He's about as straight as a dog's hind leg." "What could this deal have been, to set in motion such an unfortunate chain of events?" "Could have been anything." "A shitload of heroin imported from somewhere or other." "The usual scumbags involved." "But the thing about scumbags is no matter what they do with drugs, it's harder to move the money." "The money." "In my line of work, you follow the money." "Because you can't hide the money, only disguise it." "So what do you do?" "Find some rich fool to bank the cash coming in, make it look legitimate, in exchange for skimming a percentage off the top." "Maybe as much as a million dollars commission." "Rich fool who overextended himself over time, in danger of not being so rich anymore." "But I can't be sure." "Can't prove anything." "Anything at all." "What was your daughter's involvement?" "That's what I want to know." "I was hoping you might." "The security guy that works for Valentine and those creeps after you" "I shouldn't wonder." "Yeah, must have done." "He's a slippery fellow." "But he keeps his hands clean, and Valentine's." "Darn it." "There go my slippery hands again." "There was an incident in downtown L, A, a few days ago that may have spurred this most recent activity." "But you know nothing about that, right?" "Thank you." "Your daughter had a fondness for dangerous men." "Shame about the money going into Valentine's pocket and not yours." "I don't give a shit about the money." "Personally, I prefer the heroin." "See, crooks move faster than the system, so if we're going to clean up the neighborhood, we don't have time to wait for search warrants and trials," "Procedure becomes whatever you got to do on the day." "Well, cheers, mate." "Go with God." "Yeah." "I was coming back from a motorcycle classic in Sturgis, South Dakota, on my motorcycle." "On U.S. Highway 14." "Just outside Spotted Horse," "I ran into a deer." "I had no chance." "Even though the highway people had mowed the sides, they couldn't mow around the culverts, and the doe jumped right in front of the bike." "I had a chance to say one word, "Fuck!", and then I hit it." "I know this:" "If a bullet has my name on it," "I won't be calling for my mother." "But the only reason I'm alive and telling this story, is because of the big FL front end and that solid tire on my Fat Boy." " Oh, your Fat Boy." " Yeah, exactly." "I was wearing the Fat Boy." "I saw the ground, and I thought, "Put it down."" "And I just rode this bike down into the ground." "You told me this story before." " I did?" " Yeah." "I'm sorry." " I'll hear it again, if you want." " Oh, you're sweet." "God, you are wonderful." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "It must be hard to pass on this road." "Oh, the freeway's faster, but it lacks a certain majesty." "It's just the car behind us has been following us for a while." "I sure hope so." "Where is Big Sur?" "Up the coast," "How far?" "I don't know," "A few hours, I guess, Why?" "That's where he scarpered," " How do you know?" " Bloke told me," "You shouldn't go back to your place, Not till this is settled," "What's a sliding scale?" "A sliding scale?" "Well, a sliding scale, um," "If we were in a union, we'd all make different rates based on the time we served," " So since he's been..." " That's not a sliding scale." " What?" " That's not a sliding scale." " Well, what's a sliding scale?" " A sliding scale is..." "The scale is, you know, you start off somewhere and you move up." "Or you move down." "That's a sliding scale." " He doesn't know what it is." " You move down?" "Dogshit cues!" "I could break a branch off a tree that's straighter than this." "Stacy!" "Go ahead, break 'em up." "I just got chewed out." "You fucking believe that?" " What does he want from us?" " That's what I said." "He didn't tell us there were Negroes following the guy too." "Something's on, man." "What?" "Let's just say I know more about Mr. Avery than he thinks I do." " I got a guy on the inside." " Who's that?" "That putz Tom from Seattle." " Tom Johanssen?" " Yeah, from Seattle." " I sent him to Avery." " And what did he say?" "They're taking a road trip up the coast." "He and Avery and a couple of guys," "Should we hit this English guy again?" "Yeah, if he hasn't gotten whacked in bucktown, we might still have our aces." "I just can't figure out who this guy is." "A courier?" "A buyer?" "A seller?" "Anyway," "Avery wants him." "Those jigs wanted him." "You can bet your ass there's a briefcase somewhere." "A briefcase?" "What's in it?" "Drugs, cash, whatever." "Both, if we're lucky." "And while they're all fucking each other over, we move right in." "Can I ask you a question?" "Another one?" "Yeah, like, do you have any friends?" "Yeah." "You could call them that, I suppose." "Yeah, down the boozer." "Saturday night." "Meet the chaps." "Friends and colleagues." "A lot of them are gone," "The old faces," "Don't know where," "Different characters nowadays, Different assumptions, You don't know where you are," "The last load of friends I had turned out not to be my friends after all." "Elaine, you ever understand half the shit this guy is saying?" "No, but I know what he means." "You know, I should be in Paris or Kurdistan." "He'd find you in Kurdistan." "Try London." "He has a history of being apprehended there." "You're a font of optimism." "What else have your techies come up with?" "Terry, we're trying to hunt him down, and I've got my foot soldiers out there." "What more can I do?" "And if he comes here?" "And what if he does?" "Yeah." "You don't want to tell me about this?" "About being here, with the bodyguards and everything." "I don't suppose you've ever had anything like enemies?" "Well, I never went for the cheerleading squad, and I never stole anyone's boyfriend that I know of." "So... no, I'd like to think not." "You never will." "Come on now." "I don't want anybody limiting my possibilities." "That won't happen either." "This is..." "This is just a precaution." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to drag you along." "I needed you to, um..." " I just don't..." " You don't want to be alone?" "You see?" "You understand that about me already." "Where is she?" "Terry scattered her ashes from a boat," "He buries her at a private service." "Private for who?" "Him?" "Shit." "Jenny lived at the beach when she moved here." "She loved the ocean," "She was from an island." "Shit." "Are you throwing the shells back in there?" "Feel better?" "Yeah." "It's amazing here, I went out last night, We went to this," "We went to this Italian restaurant and," "Check the news." " Where's the remote?" " I don't know." "Fuck." "Where the hell is Rick?" "Shut off all the inside lights." "And stay away from the windows." " Have you heard of knocking?" " Come with me." " What's going on?" " Now." " Look at that?" " What?" "That shadow." "I don't see it." "I thought I told you to stay away from the windows." "Come on, everybody." "In here." "Go on, behind the counter." "Let's go." "Behind the counter." "Terry." "What's going on here?" " We think somebody's here." " What?" "We think?" "We can't find Rick and, uh..." "Larry." " Did you call the cops?" " No." " Why not?" " Because I'm handling it." "You guys are nuts!" "I'm calling the cops." "Mr. Avery." "Watch my back." "Son of a bitch." " Fuck." " What is it?" "I think Avery's down." "Fuck this!" "Don't!" "I'm a friend of Stacy's!" "Fuck you, Tom." "Stay there." "What?" "Where are you going?" "Jesus!" "Tell me." "Tell me about Jenny." "Tell me about Jenny." "Tell me about Jenny!" "I needed money." "I would have given her anything she wanted but she found out about my deal." "She tried to stop me." "She said she was going to turn me in." "She was going to call the cops." "I couldn't stop it," "It had happened." "It was over." "She was going to call the cops," "She meant it," "She had the phone in her hand," "She was going to call the cops," "She meant it," "I couldn't stop it," "I couldn't do anything," "You're English." "That's right." "I can never decide what's better." "Leaving home or coming back," "I prefer staying home, me," "Oh, so you're a reluctant traveler," "Got called out to L, A, unexpected-like," "Do a job of work," "No rest for the wicked," "Been away a lot," "Where else?" "Out on an oil rig in the North Sea," "Nine years," "Nine years?" "Wow!" "Is that legal?" "Well, time off for good behavior." "I shouldn't have been there," "It was those other lads what should have been there in my place," "Then just when I finished my nine years, my contract..." "Wallop!" "I had to bugger off to the States." "Sounds like you need a rest." "Yeah, could be." "Freedom is a word I rarely use without thinking," "without thinking" "of the time, of the time when I was loved," "Very good." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Getting better, aren't I?" " You are." "Tell me," "Tell me," "Tell me about Jenny," "Edward Roel?" "Eduardo Roel." "Edward Roel?" "Eduardo Roel." "You're home then." "My name's Wilson." "Wilson?" "You wrote me about my daughter." "Oh, uh, yeah." "Come in." "Who's done it then?" "Snuffed her?" "What are you talking about?" "I sent you the newspaper clipping." "Told you all I know." "I never said anything about nobody being snuffed." "Look..." "There was an investigation." "The car was totalled." "Jenny was..." "Her neck broke, they said, on impact." "So she wouldn't have felt the fire, Those streets up them hills," "You got to be careful." "You got to keep your eyes on the ball." "Two o'clock in the morning, it's dark, your mind's a little agitated." "You're driving a little too fast..." "Those curves don't kid around." "Could've happened to anybody, Jenny wasn't reckless, She'd drink, have a little pot, but that was it." "No, not my girl," "Self-control she had." "It was a point of pride." "Where'd she get it, this grass," " or whatever?" " No, no, no." "I'm no drug dealer, man." "What do you think?" "I think you didn't get that ink in the Navy, doing your national service," "Hey, I already told you, man, Corcoran, you know?" "You know what that is?" "State prison." "I did my time." "My sister, her man is doing 8 years in Chino." "I work." "I put my life together." "I put all that shit behind me." "Five years in the joint." "That's it." "I just got out myself, didn't I?" "This bloke she was bunked up with," " Terry what's-it," " Terry Valentine," " What's he got to say for himself?" " I don't know," "They had a fight, she drove away, she was upset." "A few weeks before Jenny died, she had me drive her downtown," "She said she wanted to talk to her boyfriend, Valentine." "But I think she was looking for him," " Catch him with another bird?" " That's what I thought." "But we didn't go to the hotel We went someplace else," "Whereabouts?" "Some bad place, Bad people," "Some guy unloading trucks, Some kind of deal going on," "Now, I don't know and I don't care, okay?" "It could have been fava beans to Eskimos," " Did Jenny know?" " Valentine wasn't there, so if he or she were involved, who's to say?" "But I'll tell you," "Jenny stood in front of those guys, eyeballing them," "I felt like she was covering my ass," "I can't believe that." "Really?" "What did she say?" "Hang on." "May I help you?" "Can't be too careful nowadays." "Lot of tea leaves about." " You know what I mean?" " Excuse me?" "Tea leaves - thieves." "Terry Valentine." "Do you know him?" "And... who are you?" "Wilson." "My name's Wilson." "Wilson." " I never heard of you." " I'm not that well-known." "Except around certain police nicks." " Police what?" " Who me?" "No, can't be bothered." "Hey!" "Who the fuck are you?" "How did you get in here?" "A little bird told me you and Terry Valentine have business dealings." " I don't know a Terry Valentine." " Don't you?" "Take a walk, pal." "You're making a big mistake." "Go on, get the hell out." "What have you been up to, pal?" "What have you been doing, son?" "You got to buck your ideas up." "What have you been doing?" "Jennifer Wilson." "That name mean anything to you?" "Hey, what's the deal here?" "Hey, whoa, hold on!" "What the hell?" "Who is this guy?" "The only reason you're not dead is I want to know who you are." "Jennifer Wilson was my daughter." " Who the fuck is..." " Was she that chick that came here?" "Yeah, talked the same way as this cocksucker." "Terry Valentine is a friend of mine." "And I don't talk about my friends with strangers." "Your cunt daughter come up here sticking her tits in my face." "Who am I?" "How do I know Terry?" "What's the nature of our business together?" "I admire Terry for a lot of things, but I got to say, he let himself get royally pussy-whipped by that fucking bitch." "Know what I would like to have done to her?" "What I would like to have done?" "Then after I got done..." "I bet she would've liked that." "Too bas she took a nose dive off that cliff." "Probably dried her all up." "I got a gun right here!" "Get him out of here." " You want me to call an ambulance?" " No!" "I'm gonna call Avery." "Go, man!" "Just get out of here!" "Come back here again, Pop, and we'll kill you." "This is private property." "We will shoot you, fuck-o." "Get it?" "Old fart comes here with his big dangerous gun." "We're quaking!" "We're quaking!" "Yeah." "Shit!" "Come on back and visit and trespass." "We look forward to it, asshole." "Stupid English fuck!" "You tell him!" "You tell him I'm coming!" "Tell him I'm fucking coming!" ""Tell 'em I'm coming?"" ""Tell him I'm coming,"" "Who?" "Nobody knows," "Adhara." "I remember telling your parents," ""If you want a name, you can't go wrong with a constellation."" "Well, I used to hate it." "Now I like it." "It could be worse." "They could have called you" "Reticulum..." "Pleiades." "God, you're beautiful." "Is there anything in this world you want or need?" "I want to know why you need that scary man in your house." "Gordon's been with me for years." "He's not as tough as he looks." " Then what good is he?" " Heard of loyalty?" "Yeah." "I'm loyal to things that make me happy." "Oh, am I a thing?" "You're certainly not a person." " I'm not?" " No." "You're not specific enough to be a person." "You're more like a vibe." "I'm glad we're having this chat." "Come here." "Get out of the pool." "Terry!" "I don't know what transpired exactly," "Our friends downtown, someone took them out." "What the fuck does "took them out" mean?" "It used to mean a gangland slaying." "Maybe it still does." "Well, who?" "Blacks?" "Blacks?" "No, Terry, it's not their style." "From what I gather, it was a Ione gunman." "You sound like the 5 o'clock news," "Why are you telling me this shit?" "I don't want you to hear about it and then freak out." "Fuck you, Jim." "I don't freak out anymore." "It was probably nothing." "That's usually what senseless mayhem comes down to, Bad loan, bad judgement, bad faith," "These were bad people, involved with worse people." "Cops got a lot of leads, so..." "As long as nobody can connect anything to me." "No one will connect anything to you." "That was a one-off deal, You hopped on, you hopped off," "Anything else, I would have had you walk away." "You never saw them again, right?" "Are you crazy?" "They're your friends, not mine," "What?" "Your "clients"?" "Let's say I befriended them when you needed them." "Well, the cops." "I mean..." "Are they satisfied with this gangland shit or what?" "The cops don't get satisfied." "They get placated." "They're talking to the kid who got away." "The kid who called me." "Scared out of his wits, this kid." "All he can say is that the shooter" " is some crazy guy." " "Shooter"?" "Jesus Christ." "Yeah, he said he went nuts." "He was screaming, "Tell him I'm coming!"" ""Tell 'em I'm coming?"" ""Tell him I'm coming."" "Who?" "Nobody knows." "Great." "This is sure making the fuck out of my day." "Oh, come on." "Terry, relax, would you please?" "The goods are gone." "Money's been turned around." "Middlemen are dead." "This is a good thing." "So don't panic, okay?" "No one can link anybody to you." "Jenny did." "Yeah, well, Jenny could," "She'd already got to you," "Terry Valentine," "Do you know him?" "Valentine comes into the restaurant a couple of times." "He's a money guy." "They were together how long?" "Five years." "A long time." "There you go." "Jenny must have liked him." "Jenny would introduce me." "He'd shake my hand, but he wouldn't even see me." "Jenny met him, got blinded by his smile." "Can you believe it?" "That son of a bitch never smiled at me." "Jenny and I were friends, but we didn't travel in the same social circles," "She had her life." "I had mine." "How did you two hook up then?" "Jenny was in my acting class." "She was 21 when she came to me, straight from leaving you." "Maybe you should talk to her best friend, Elaine." "I do double duty as a voice coach." "Not that her accent would have hobbled her progress." "Not with that look." "She didn't write me." "She didn't know what to say," "I figured somebody should say something to someone." "You're Jenny's father." "Why did you come here?" "Thought it would be nice to chat with you." "No." " Why did you come here?" " Get a few things sorted out," "Been busy, have you?" "How do you mean?" "I heard you were, uh," "What's that adorable expression?" ""At Her Majesty's pleasure."" "It was the bars, then?" "What was it, Wembley Stadium job?" "That was it, right?" "Pink Floyd concert receipts?" "Earning interest in an offshore account." "Tidy little premium per annum, that." "Security like that can't be bought." "It must be more comforting than a daughter to greet you." " Ain't you gonna let me in?" " You can call me again." "Weren't you in a soap on the box?" "Three seasons." "Did Eddie tell you that?" "Yeah, Eddie." "He's my new china." ""China plate." Mate." "Me and him." "Quite a character, isn't he?" "Not to you, of course," "To us squares in the outside world." "He give me your address." "I gave him yours." "I thought I was being loyal to Jenny." "Who told me she had no father." "Before, of course, proceeding to tell me why." "Yeah, well," "she was right, in a way." "Her mum died when she was six." "Then she was on her own." "Aunts and uncles, and then, well..." "How you gonna keep her down on the farm after she's seen L.A.?" "They give me compassionate leave to visit her in hospital." "'Cause we was always mates." "Jenny's mum and me," "I like to think they're together now," "Heavenly choir." "That's what you heard?" "That's where Eddie wrote you?" "In prison?" "Oh, no." "I knew." "I knew before Ed." "What time did it happen?" "Eddie said two in the morning." "There's 8 hours difference between here and London." "That makes it 10 o'clock my time." "I was going out in the yard." "I used to save my newspaper until then." "You know, stretch my legs, breath of fresh air, bit of a read." "Stretch out the good part of the day." "And I couldn't open the newspaper." "It was like the page was glued together, my hands were that weak." "I thought it was a heart attack." "Of course, I knew it wasn't." "A guy I knew came up. "Wilson, you're as white as a sheet."" "I said, "Well, fuck me, I been in prison half my life."" "But he was dead-on, because I'd felt all the blood drain out of my head." "And I knew..." "I knew something had happened to Jen." "She was... magic." "I can't believe Jenny told you all about me." "She was always so embarrassed." "Not embarrassed." "Ashamed?" "Not ashamed," "Disappointed." "Do you even know who Terry Valentine is?" "Some sort of pop producer, isn't he?" "We call it rock 'n' roll." "Kind of a promoter, I guess." "Whatever that means." "Anyway, he took the whole 60 Southern California Zeitgeist and ran with it," "Packaged and sold it," "Made out like a bandit," "What's the deal?" "You and Terry Valentine at 20 paces?" "Come on." "Is that it?" "Don't see why not." "Are you serious?" "Have you ever known me not to be?" "You fucking guys and your dicks." "What do you want me to do?" "Stay at home doing sweet F.A.?" "You don't believe it was a car accident?" "Oh, yeah..." "She fell asleep at the wheel." "Terry will never give you that satisfaction." " He is not that type." " Depends, don't it?" "On what?" "What makes you so certain?" "I bloody ask him." "Fine." "There's the phone." "You want his number?" "Oh, I've got his number." "Whatever you got to do, man, better go do it." " He's brought in the heavy mob." " You're kidding." "Extra muscle." "Bodyguards." "They look like a right lot of wallies." "You should see them." " Patrolling in front of his house." " Let me see." "All done up like Household Cavalry." "Those are valets." "What do you mean, valets?" "Who does he think he is?" "The Marquees of fucking Tavistock?" "Valets, man." "They park cars." "Looks like they're having a party." "Are they?" "Thank you." "Hey, trousers, keep it handy." "We're not staying long." "Yes, sir." "We're a little early, huh?" "First in, first out." "That's me." "Mind how you go." "Gentlemen, what can I get you?" "Babysham, Eduardo?" "Dubonnet with a twist." "Tomato juice with Tabasco?" "I'll have a Coke." "You have the same posters." "What?" "That are in your office." "No, they're different." "Well, I like the colors." "We all did." "Must have been a time, huh." "A golden moment." "Have you ever dreamed about a place you never recalled being to before?" "A place that maybe only exists in your imagination." "Someplace far away, half-remembered when you wake up?" "When you were there, though, you knew the language." "You knew your way around." "That was the sixties." "No, it wasn't that either." "It was just 66 and early 67." "That's all it was." "I'll have a butcher's around the house." "Who you gonna butcher?" ""Butcher's hook." "Look."" "Hi." " Terry, how are you?" " Great." "And you?" " Very well, thank you." " Good to see you." "Our counterfeit CDs are doing well." "It was supposed to be an infinity pool and go off the edge." " Definitely business affairs." " Terry Valentine." " Good to see you." " Nice to meet you." "Shit." "Hello?" "Hey." "No, it's Crestview Terrace, not Crestview Place." "Yeah." "There's three different ways up the hill." "The best way is Loma Vista." "Loma Linda." "Yeah." "Yes." "Okay." "All right, bye." "Well, it's the record business, what can you say?" " It's the "Hi, how are you?" crowd." " It's got to be done, yeah." "There you are." "You know Jim." " Of course." " Hi, how are you?" "Blimey!" "Yeah, if you can afford a house like this, you buy one." "What are we standing on?" "Trust." "You know, you could see the sea out there if you could see it." "Could you?" "Where are you going?" "Hello?" "Don't do it." "You produced the first Christopher Cross album?" "Wow, that record changed my life!" "What was he like?" "Just give me a scoop." "A nugget." "Basically I just do the contracts." "That's it?" "Just the contracts?" "Bring the motor round." "Bang out in front." "Point it downhill." "As I was turning into Seward, I saw this old guy locking up a car." "And it was so unmarked it was marked." "I mean, it was just..." "Excuse me." "Can I help you?" "Go!" "Go!" "Sir, are you okay?" "Steady on, Fangio." "You "steady on", man!" "What the fuck did you do?" "You didn't cap the guy, did you?" "Did you?" "No, too easy." "Too easy?" "He's got to know why." "You think a guy like that ever will?" "Down!" "What are we doing?" "Fuck!" "Wilson!" "Wilson!" "Wilson!" "Wilson, come on, man!" "Come on, come on!" "Shit!" "You're getting me into all this shit." "Wilson." "Oh, boy." "I should have done the talking." "Because you're my security consultant?" " What the fuck?" " What did you tell them?" "I told them that a longtime employee flipped out." "That he had drug problems and refused counselling, which is true." "And that he committed suicide." "And one of the guests tried to stop him." "Jim, how the fuck do you stop Gordon at four hundred pounds?" "That was good." "Well, he's heavier than that now." "Jenny never told you about her dad?" "Her dad?" "What dad?" "The one who was in prison for nine years." "He was released last month." "Jenny's father was in prison?" " For what?" " Armed robbery." "Again." " Again?" "Oh, God." " Yeah, he's a career criminal." "He's on leave of absence." "Get it?" "Where are you going?" "I want to find him before they do." "Oh, man, I am fucking screwed." "I am screwed to the wall!" "I don't suppose he entered the country under his own name." "Oh, give me a fucking break." "Can you do that?" "I would if I came this far to kill someone." "Oh, man." "Okay." "Not even one of your guys should handle this." " What should I do?" "Tell them?" " No, I mean," "I told them I didn't know who he was." "People come, people go." "How will you find him?" "Terry, he's not James Bond." "This is some pathetic sad sack wandering around." "Tell that to Gordon." "What's England anyway?" "Some rinky-dink country, where the cops don't even carry guns?" "Oh, man, this is getting all too close to me." "You know, people close to you keep falling into canyons." "Now, that's brilliant." "Hey, relax." "I have other resources." "I have other resources." "No one even near to me." "Because I am out of here." "I'm gone." "How do you keep getting so lucky?" "I learned how to skate when I was a boy." "Even after a dozen interventions, if a person won't face up to..." "I guess not." "Lots of people in the music industry have been taken down by doing too many... many... drugs." "Straight rotation." "Call your shots, scratch on the eight, you lose." " Okay." " I break, right?" "Yeah, break 'em up." "He broke last time." "What did you say?" " He broke last time." " Let me break." "So what?" "He loves to break." "Look, he's all excited." "I see that." "I don't give a shit if he does or not." "It's my break." " I won the break." " "I won the break."" " What the fuck is that?" " I'm kidding." " Are these your quarters?" " Yeah." " What the fuck is he doing?" " I don't know, man." "Go fuck yourself!" "And take Mr. Goodwrench with you." "I'd tell you to blow it out your ass but my dick's in the way." "Did I cross the line?" "Does that mean you forfeit?" " It was just a game." " Stacy!" "Come over here." "How's it going?" "Not bad." " Like to kill someone for me?" " Okay." "Same as last time." "The rest after." "Where do we go?" "When you find the guy, you'll know." "What is this shit?" "I do it, I don't organize it." "I can point you, but you've got to take it into the end zone." "This bum's a hit-and-run gunman." "I doubt he's cruising the Polo Lounge." "This is un-fucking-professional." "Well, a successful man like me has limitations." "I lose touch at the street level, so I have to depend on a smart boy like you who's closer to the nitty-gritty." "Fuck you, Mr. Whatever-your-name is!" "This is a lifestyle I embrace." "That's why I'm letting you take care of this." "I'm the one with appearances to maintain." "But who gives a shit about you?" "Not even God." "Get it done." "Get a tie." " How much?" " Five grand." "Got half in my pocket." " Making trouble for someone?" " Yup." "Which kind?" "The forever kind." " She may not know the English dude," " I don't know," " She was tight with his daughter." " But that don't mean nothing." "She's nice looking." " So what?" " I just said she's nice looking." "And I said, "So what?" Is she happier?" " What do you mean, "happier"?" " Happier than any other asshole?" "I don't know." "I never met her." "What is this shit?" "They should make shows about people's daily lives." ""Sick Old Man" or "Skinny Little Weakling."" ""Big Fat Guy"." "Wouldn't you watch a show called "Big Fat Guy"?" "Extras?" "Oh, excuse me, "background artists"." ""Hi, Mom, Dad." "Yeah, Hollywood's great." "I'm still a loser."" "I wonder what it's like to have tits." "Jesus, are you gay enough?" ""Hello, Studio City!"" "Fag." "Look at this guy." "Yeah, they need that right away." "What's the smartest thing to come out of a woman's mouth?" "Einstein's cock." "That little kid's kind of cute, though, you know?" "A little young, but..." "You want to run it with me now?" "Did you forget your words?" "I got him." "Step aside, ma'am." "Come with us." "Wasn't half crowded in the back of that car." "Drug Enforcement?" "Narcs?" "I don't suppose you prefer a steady income." "I've got a steady income." "I'm on the dole." "A leech on the welfare state as well." "You don't miss a trick." "Just a fiddle." "They've got me down as an immigrant with five kids." "Jenny spoke fondly of her imaginary siblings." "Do you even remember the last time you saw her?" "I remember every time I saw her." "I watched her grow up in increments." "She said you were a ghost in her life," "Daddy, the friendly ghost," "She twigged when she was 8 or 9 that I wasn't in the Royal Marines." "Or playing Iago in some world tour of Othello." "Freedom is a word I rarely use without thinking," "without thinking," "of the time, of the time when I've been loved," "She was always threatening me," "Can you imagine?" ""If you're naughty, Dad, I'll put the law on you." "Promise"." "She didn't want me to get sent down again." "And if she got wind that I was planning something," ""I'll shop you, Dad." "I promise I'll shop you"." "I can see her picking up the phone:" ""Look, I'm calling the Old Bill."" "It became a joke between us, only..." "It wasn't really," "She would never have turned you in." "Not in a million years." "I know that." "But as time went on, well, in ever decreasing circles, the joke wore off." "She had a feeling about this last job." "How long I'd get banged up for." "Said she wouldn't be around this time, when I got out." "And she wasn't," "How you doing then?" "You all right?" "Now, squire, I can see you're the guv'nor here." "I'm on your manor now, so don't get your knickers in a twist." "Whatever this bollocks is between you and that slag Valentine, it's got nothing to do with me." "All right, mate?" "I'll explain it to you." "When I was in prison the second time..." "No, tell a lie, third stretch." "Yeah, third." "There was this screw what really had it in for me." "And that geezer was top of my list." "Two years after I got sprung, I sees him in Holland Park, on a bench feeding bloody pigeons." "There was no one about." "I could have gone up and snapped his neck." "Wallop!" "But I left it." "I could have knobbed him, but I didn't." "What I thought I wanted, I didn't." "I was thinking about something else." "I didn't give a toss." "It didn't matter." "This berk on the bench wasn't worth my time." "It meant sod all in the end." "You got to choose when to do something or let it go." "When it matters and when it don't." "Bide your time." "Prison teaches you that if nothing else." "Bide your time and everything becomes clear." "And you can act accordingly." "There's one thing I don't understand." "The thing I don't understand is every motherfucking word you say." "Do you know what I reckon?" "You and I are after the same thing, but for different reasons." " And what would that be?" " The reasons?" "Start with the thing." "I would guess that whatever you're after, involves a considerable sum of money." "And that's not what lights your fire?" "In the past, granted, I have been known to redistribute wealth." "But no, I'm after another kind of satisfaction." "Know what I mean?" "You're not from around here, are you?" "You don't carry any kind of I.D." "I.D.?" "No." "When your chaps went through my pockets, they found nothing." "Your connection to Terry Valentine?" "My daughter was living with him when she died." "I imagine about the same time as whatever the deal was that Terry Valentine grafted you out of your share of." "When I say "grafted", I..." "You think Valentine screwed me out of some deal?" "It wouldn't surprise me." "He's about as straight as a dog's hind leg." "What could this deal have been, to set in motion such an unfortunate chain of events?" "Could have been anything." "A shitload of heroin imported from somewhere or other." "The usual scumbags involved." "But the thing about scumbags is no matter what they do with drugs, it's harder to move the money." "The money." "In my line of work, you follow the money." "Because you can't hide the money, only disguise it." "So what do you do?" "Find some rich fool to bank the cash coming in, make it look legitimate, in exchange for skimming a percentage off the top." "Maybe as much as a million dollars commission." "Rich fool who overextended himself over time, in danger of not being so rich anymore." "But I can't be sure." "Can't prove anything." "Anything at all." "What was your daughter's involvement?" "That's what I want to know." "I was hoping you might." "The security guy that works for Valentine and those creeps after you" "I shouldn't wonder." "Yeah, must have done." "He's a slippery fellow." "But he keeps his hands clean, and Valentine's." "Darn it." "There go my slippery hands again." "There was an incident in downtown L, A, a few days ago that may have spurred this most recent activity." "But you know nothing about that, right?" "Thank you." "Your daughter had a fondness for dangerous men." "Shame about the money going into Valentine's pocket and not yours." "I don't give a shit about the money." "Personally, I prefer the heroin." "See, crooks move faster than the system, so if we're going to clean up the neighborhood, we don't have time to wait for search warrants and trials," "Procedure becomes whatever you got to do on the day." "Well, cheers, mate." "Go with God." "Yeah." "I was coming back from a motorcycle classic in Sturgis, South Dakota, on my motorcycle." "On U.S. Highway 14." "Just outside Spotted Horse," "I ran into a deer." "I had no chance." "Even though the highway people had mowed the sides, they couldn't mow around the culverts, and the doe jumped right in front of the bike." "I had a chance to say one word, "Fuck!", and then I hit it." "I know this:" "If a bullet has my name on it," "I won't be calling for my mother." "But the only reason I'm alive and telling this story, is because of the big FL front end and that solid tire on my Fat Boy." " Oh, your Fat Boy." " Yeah, exactly." "I was wearing the Fat Boy." "I saw the ground, and I thought, "Put it down."" "And I just rode this bike down into the ground." "You told me this story before." " I did?" " Yeah." "I'm sorry." " I'll hear it again, if you want." " Oh, you're sweet." "God, you are wonderful." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "It must be hard to pass on this road." "Oh, the freeway's faster, but it lacks a certain majesty." "It's just the car behind us has been following us for a while." "I sure hope so." "Where is Big Sur?" "Up the coast," "How far?" "I don't know," "A few hours, I guess, Why?" "That's where he scarpered," " How do you know?" " Bloke told me," "You shouldn't go back to your place, Not till this is settled," "What's a sliding scale?" "A sliding scale?" "Well, a sliding scale, um," "If we were in a union, we'd all make different rates based on the time we served," " So since he's been..." " That's not a sliding scale." " What?" " That's not a sliding scale." " Well, what's a sliding scale?" " A sliding scale is..." "The scale is, you know, you start off somewhere and you move up." "Or you move down." "That's a sliding scale." " He doesn't know what it is." " You move down?" "Dogshit cues!" "I could break a branch off a tree that's straighter than this." "Stacy!" "Go ahead, break 'em up." "I just got chewed out." "You fucking believe that?" " What does he want from us?" " That's what I said." "He didn't tell us there were Negroes following the guy too." "Something's on, man." "What?" "Let's just say I know more about Mr. Avery than he thinks I do." " I got a guy on the inside." " Who's that?" "That putz Tom from Seattle." " Tom Johanssen?" " Yeah, from Seattle." " I sent him to Avery." " And what did he say?" "They're taking a road trip up the coast." "He and Avery and a couple of guys," "Should we hit this English guy again?" "Yeah, if he hasn't gotten whacked in bucktown, we might still have our aces." "I just can't figure out who this guy is." "A courier?" "A buyer?" "A seller?" "Anyway," "Avery wants him." "Those jigs wanted him." "You can bet your ass there's a briefcase somewhere." "A briefcase?" "What's in it?" "Drugs, cash, whatever." "Both, if we're lucky." "And while they're all fucking each other over, we move right in." "Can I ask you a question?" "Another one?" "Yeah, like, do you have any friends?" "Yeah." "You could call them that, I suppose." "Yeah, down the boozer." "Saturday night." "Meet the chaps." "Friends and colleagues." "A lot of them are gone," "The old faces," "Don't know where," "Different characters nowadays, Different assumptions, You don't know where you are," "The last load of friends I had turned out not to be my friends after all." "Elaine, you ever understand half the shit this guy is saying?" "No, but I know what he means." "You know, I should be in Paris or Kurdistan." "He'd find you in Kurdistan." "Try London." "He has a history of being apprehended there." "You're a font of optimism." "What else have your techies come up with?" "Terry, we're trying to hunt him down, and I've got my foot soldiers out there." "What more can I do?" "And if he comes here?" "And what if he does?" "Yeah." "You don't want to tell me about this?" "About being here, with the bodyguards and everything." "I don't suppose you've ever had anything like enemies?" "Well, I never went for the cheerleading squad, and I never stole anyone's boyfriend that I know of." "So... no, I'd like to think not." "You never will." "Come on now." "I don't want anybody limiting my possibilities." "That won't happen either." "This is..." "This is just a precaution." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to drag you along." "I needed you to, um..." " I just don't..." " You don't want to be alone?" "You see?" "You understand that about me already." "Where is she?" "Terry scattered her ashes from a boat," "He buries her at a private service." "Private for who?" "Him?" "Shit." "Jenny lived at the beach when she moved here." "She loved the ocean," "She was from an island." "Shit." "Are you throwing the shells back in there?" "Feel better?" "Yeah." "It's amazing here, I went out last night, We went to this," "We went to this Italian restaurant and," "Check the news." " Where's the remote?" " I don't know." "Fuck." "Where the hell is Rick?" "Shut off all the inside lights." "And stay away from the windows." " Have you heard of knocking?" " Come with me." " What's going on?" " Now." " Look at that?" " What?" "That shadow." "I don't see it." "I thought I told you to stay away from the windows." "Come on, everybody." "In here." "Go on, behind the counter." "Let's go." "Behind the counter." "Terry." "What's going on here?" " We think somebody's here." " What?" "We think?" "We can't find Rick and, uh..." "Larry." " Did you call the cops?" " No." " Why not?" " Because I'm handling it." "You guys are nuts!" "I'm calling the cops." "Mr. Avery." "Watch my back." "Son of a bitch." " Fuck." " What is it?" "I think Avery's down." "Fuck this!" "Don't!" "I'm a friend of Stacy's!" "Fuck you, Tom." "Stay there." "What?" "Where are you going?" "Jesus!" "Tell me." "Tell me about Jenny." "Tell me about Jenny." "Tell me about Jenny!" "I needed money." "I would have given her anything she wanted but she found out about my deal." "She tried to stop me." "She said she was going to turn me in." "She was going to call the cops." "I couldn't stop it," "It had happened." "It was over." "She was going to call the cops," "She meant it," "She had the phone in her hand," "She was going to call the cops," "She meant it," "I couldn't stop it," "I couldn't do anything," "You're English." "That's right." "I can never decide what's better." "Leaving home or coming back," "I prefer staying home, me," "Oh, so you're a reluctant traveler," "Got called out to L, A, unexpected-like," "Do a job of work," "No rest for the wicked," "Been away a lot," "Where else?" "Out on an oil rig in the North Sea," "Nine years," "Nine years?" "Wow!" "Is that legal?" "Well, time off for good behavior." "I shouldn't have been there," "It was those other lads what should have been there in my place," "Then just when I finished my nine years, my contract..." "Wallop!" "I had to bugger off to the States." "Sounds like you need a rest." "Yeah, could be." "Freedom is a word I rarely use without thinking," "without thinking" "of the time, of the time when I was loved," "Very good." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Getting better, aren't I?" " You are."