Low, morose tone. Burns looked at her as if for the first time. Bland curiosity, no sympathy.

Milo prodded Burns’s shoulder with a fingertip. “Keep going.”

Twenty-nine seconds after Wedd’s exit, a third vehicle, smaller, shaped like a car, zipped through Prema’s gate.

Pinpointing the make and registration was easy: brand-new Hyundai Accent, Banner Rental. It took several calls but Milo finally reached a supervisor at the company’s corporate headquarters in Lodi and obtained the details.

Adriana Betts had rented the car three days prior from the Banner office on Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A. Taking advantage of special weeklong rates.

Poor deluded woman playing amateur detective.

Milo took the laptop from Burns, fast-forwarded through another ten minutes. Twenty. Nothing. He handed the machine back to Burns, said, “Let’s go.”

Prema said, “It’s happening?”

“In a bit, Ms. Moon.”

“Why the delay?”

“We’re organizing, ma’am. Now I suggest you go and find a place where you can—”

“Just as long as you do it before the tribe returns. I can’t have them exposed to bad things.”

I thought: If it were only that simple.

CHAPTER
54

We headed for Prema’s acre of parking lot. Burns said, “Fresh air. Finally.”

I said, “You don’t like actors.”

“Don’t try to shrink me, Doc.”

Milo said, “It’s a reasonable question, Morry. Whatever your bullshit is, it came close to obstructing.”

Burns turned pale. “I—”

“It’s still a good question, Morry.”

“Whatever,” said Burns. He began to walk ahead of us, thought better of it, stopped, threw his hands up. “My sister was an actor. Did some crap off-Broadway, nothing serious. She killed herself five years ago. Completely ruined my parents’ lives.”

“Sorry,” I said. “The business was too much for her?”

“How would I know about the business?” said Burns. “She ruined their lives by killing herself because she was a narcissistic drama queen, always had been.”

Milo said, “Morry, stay in the van, see if you can do anything else with the machines.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll get nothing but I’ll try.”

As Burns loaded his equipment, Tyler O’Shea emerged with Sally. He rubbed Sally’s scruff. The dog looked rejuvenated.

Milo said, “We’re a go, Ty, let’s do it on foot. I’m gonna start with the soft approach, nothing SWAT-ty, because this joker’s no genius, he has drug issues and a closetful of guns, I’m hoping the element of surprise will be enough.”

“Plus he’s famous,” said O’Shea.

“What does that have to do with it?”

“More of a surprise, El Tee. Probably no one ever bugs him.”

“Famous,” said Milo. “If everything works out, that’ll change to infamous.”

The walk from Prema’s property to Rader’s took six minutes. Sally would’ve preferred to run it in two. Milo had the gate code, courtesy Prema Moon: 10001.