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Chapter Twenty-sixAfter the scuff with the other Chrysler, Vanessa took the wheel of the car and John sat in the back seat spinning theories about Randy and semipacked luggage. " Drugs. It has to be drugs. " " No, John, " said Vanessa. " There's nothing in Susan's banking or Visa card patterns that indicates a consistent drain of drug-caliber discretionary cash. " " You got her banking info? " " I gave her Susan's Visa number, " said Ryan. " It was in the video shop's computer. I mean, once somebody's got your Visa number, they can pretty well clone you. " " Not really, " said Vanessa. " In order to clone you they'd also need your phone number. " " Why do I bother even trying to generate ideas? " asked John. " You two are the most drag-and-click people I've ever met. You're wearing the pants here, Vanessa. Why don't you tell me what we ought to be doing next? " " Okay, I will. We are currently en route to the North Hollywood home of one Dreama Ng. " " She's a numerologist, " said Ryan. " Is she going to give us potatoes, as well? " " Oh, grow up, " said Vanessa. " Susan's been giving Dreama Ng twenty-five hundred bucks a month for a few years now. " " I told you, it was drugs. " " Your naivete yet again sickens me, " said Vanessa, adding, " You, who spent maybe 1. 7 to 2 million dollars on both drugs and drub rehab programs over the past six years. " " Oof. That much? " asked John. " Probably more. I wasn't able to access one stream of data out of Geneva. " Vanessa continued steering the car with a pinky around a sharp curve. " You know as well as anybody, John, that drug consumption only escalates. It does not remain stable month in, month out over several years. I also ran a. check on Ms. Ng's finances, and, lo and behold, who do you think she signs over her check to each month? " " Drum roll. . . " said Ryan. " Randy Hexum. " " Well, I'll be fucked, " said John. " A bit less color, if you please, " said Vanessa. " Anyway, we're almost there. I already phoned ahead and made an appointment to get our numbers read. " " What else have you done that I don't know about? " " When you two were out unlocking the bumpers a few minutes ago, I phoned my brother Mark, and he is now parked across the street from Randy Montarelli's house, and you're paying him twenty-five dollars an hour plus meals so that he can maybe get an inkling where that luggage is headed. " " Where were you when I was making The Other Side of Hate? " asked John. " If you'd betn running things, it could have been a hit. " " No, John. It was unsavable. " Vanessa and Ryan plunged invisible peacock feathers down their throats. John went quiet. They spun onto and then off the Hollywood Freeway, and parked outside Dreama's apartment building. John had a dé jà vu, but then realized it was actually a flashback to the beginning of his film career. The smell of 22O
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