01x06 - Celina

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Ransom". Aired: January 2017 to May 2019.*
Watch/Buy Amazon


"Ransom" follows an experienced crisis and hostage negotiator, and his team, who solve kidnap and ransom cases with the most dangerous criminals in the world.
Post Reply

01x06 - Celina

Post by bunniefuu »

We're going. That's it.

Paul, it's too dangerous.

There are 1,000 of these next-gen ceramic water filters arriving in Kinshasa tomorrow.

If Paul and I aren't there, 200 will be lost in a warehouse, and a further 50 will be inspected and never returned.

And if you are there, Mkono Wa Kifo will try to k*ll you.

We're only going for five days.

Julien can take of it.

You both are too important to lose.

We're not important. The work is important.

[Cellphone vibrates, beeps]

She'll be here in a minute.

David... we really appreciate your concern, but we can't let the Hand of Death scare us.

We'll stay safe.

[Car door closes]

[Giggles]

Oh, Celina!

[Car door closes]

Hey.

How's our baby doing?

[Giggles]

Let's get you inside, love.

Okay, great.

Hey, Sarah.

Ça va?

Paul: Hi, Celina.

[Gasps]

Oh, he's so beautiful.

What about those headaches?

Uh... no better, I'm afraid.

Well, what's the obstetrician say?

That we need to keep an eye on her.

You should go to Africa without me.

[Scoffs]

Oh, Sarah, they need your help more than I do.

Listen, you've given me my own private nurse.

How many people get that?

I feel like I'm a Kardashian or something.

I'm just sorry for making you nervous about all of these health complaints.

Don't ever say the "S" word again, not after what you've done.

♪♪

Wait!

Fresh from the garden.

Dr. Sarah is prescribing plenty of veggie smoothies.

Awesome. Thank you.

I'll make one as soon as I get home.

[Engine starts]

♪♪

[Tires squeal]

[Tires screech]

Whoa!

Hey!

[Horn honks]

[Tires screech]

[Car doors close]

♪♪

Paul: Thank God you're here.

This is my wife, Sarah.

Hey.

Thank you so much for coming.

This is my team... Oliver Yates, profiler, Zara Hallam, security expert...

Right.

...and my second... Maxine Carlson.

Hi.

Hi, there.

I-I'm... I'm sure our insurance company told you that the surrogate mother of our baby, Celina Walker, was abducted at gunpoint yesterday.

Yes, t-they let her nurse go, but told her if we called the police then...

Well, it would be difficult to call anyway.

Because surrogacy is illegal in France.

We understand.

There hasn't been a demand yet, but Noelle, the nurse, said they would be in contact.

So you think she was taken in order to hurt you?

Have you heard of Mkono Wa Kifo?

It's Swahili for "Hand of Death"... an extremist insurgency group out of central Africa.

Not nice guys.

Sarah: We were supposed to be in Kinshasa today, delivering filters, providing clean drinking water for thousands of villagers.

Over the past few years, the Hand of Death have carried out vicious att*cks against our NGO... issued threats to Sarah and me, personally.

I have a trust fund. I'll empty it out.

Eric: But if the Hand of Death has Celina, the only currency that they accept is... blood.

[Monitor beeping]

[Breathing heavily]

Hello?

Hello?!

[Voice breaking] Help!

♪♪

Our suspects, Hand of Death, are remorseless... t*rture, beheading, r*pe.

Clue's in the name, huh?

So, I reached out to our associates in Africa.

They're trying to confirm with intermediaries that they did, in fact, take Celina.

But you're doubtful.

I mean, these guys are bad news, absolutely, and they probably hate the Clarkes, but even though they've k*lled thousands locally, they've never reached outside central Africa.

And I had Annie skim through the EU Border Patrol Databases.

There's no record of any suspected Hand of Death affiliates having entered Europe in the past year.

So... surrogacy is illegal here.

Anyone else uncomfortable with the fact that we're working for people who've broken the law?

That baby boy that Celina is carrying is innocent, Maxine.

He's our client.

Yeah, but who even knew that the baby belonged to the Clarkes?

They've had to been pretty discreet about it.

Well, that's what we got to find out and fast.

Celina's apparently been suffering from headaches and high blood pressure for the past month.

That's why they hired her the nurse.

Well, they're thinking pre-eclampsia.

What's that?

It's a malfunction of the placenta.

If eclampsia's confirmed, it could k*ll her and the baby if delivery isn't induced right away.

So, what's our strategy?

Well, we need to find her fast, so we divide and conquer.

♪♪

Can you describe the men who took Celina?

Anything could be useful, Noelle.

I was very scared.

Two men came out of the first car, both white, and then behind, uh... two more men.

Black, I think.

Can you tell me anything else... uh... tall, short? Anything?

I have to go to work.

You can walk with me.

[Door opens]

♪♪

I can't believe this is happening.

Can you show me some of the threats the Hand of Death have made against you?

Of course.

Oliver: How well did you know Celina?

I worked with her for a month, since the headaches began.

Can you think of anyone who may have wanted to harm her... old acquaintances, an ex-boyfriend?

Did she know many people in Nice?

I don't know. I don't think so.

Okay, Ms. Alli, please.

Do you think there's any chance Celina wanted to run away?

I-I don't know.

Maxine: How did you meet Celina?

She was waitressing in our favorite bistro.

She had just arrived in the country.

We liked her, then we became friends.

She watched us go through IVF treatment, and it's just disappointment after disappointment.

And then, two years ago, we had a stillbirth.

Oh, I'm sorry.

And then one night, she just...

She just told us that she wanted to help us.

Celina had offered us a chance to make our dreams come true.

[Voice breaking] I mean, we took every precaution.

We got her an apartment to keep things quiet, did the IVF treatment in Spain, and we hired Noelle when she started feeling unwell.

I mean, everything to keep her safe.

Somehow, the dream's just become a nightmare.

They left 100 of them in our offices.

They sent thousands of e-mails, horrible photos.

Not just threats, of course.

I was there when they fire-bombed our offices in Kinshasa three years ago.

But, uh... nothing ever came to your home?

No.

[b*llet thuds]

[Bell pealing in distance]

♪♪

[Dog barks in distance]

[Flashlight clicks]

Zara: I checked through Celina's apartment.

Couldn't find much... but that's maybe because someone else had been through it first.

I'm guessing they were looking for her passport since I couldn't find it.

Maybe they're planning on taking her somewhere.

[Cellphone rings]

Eric.

[Ringing continues]

Okay, contact.

Hello?

Man: [Distorted] Paul Clarke?

No, this is Eric Beaumont of Crisis Resolution.

We have Celina.

Okay, and just out of interest, who are "We"?

We're the ones who talk. You're the ones who listen.

The Clarkes cannot go to the police to report Celina's abduction, but we have a solution...

$5 million in a Swiss bank account by noon tomorrow.

Proof of life will arrive shortly.

Goodbye.


$5 million?

We can't get $5 million, not by noon tomorrow.

[Breathing shakily]

[Monitor beeping]

Who are you? Why am I here?

Please, stay calm. It's for you and your baby.

[Whimpering]

What are you doing?! Help!

I have to do this.

[Sobbing]

Oliver: That's proof of life.

Sarah: What have they done to her?

And this came with it.

[Keyboard clacks]

[Voice breaking] The baby!

I need some air.

[Door closes]

[Door opens]

[Ship horn blares in distance]

We should talk about this demand.

Our ransom insurance provides up to a million dollars.

There's roughly another million in my wife's trust.

To get to five, we'd have to sell the house.

We can't do that by noon tomorrow.

We need to know who we're dealing with.

And it seems very unlikely it's the Hand of Death.

Is there any light that you could shed on it?

No.

I don't believe you, Mr. Clarke.

Why would I lie?

Well, I'm not saying you're lying... per se, but you are holding back.

Do you know what a person's cognitive load is?

It's the maximum amount of information that you can process at any one time.

Now, if you exceed it, your brain starts shutting down nonessential functions, like twirling that pen around your fingers.

It's a very simple question.

You shouldn't have to think about it.

Two weeks ago...

Celina threatened to go to the police unless I paid her off, said we'd never get the baby.

It came totally out of the blue. She's not like that.

I couldn't tell Sarah. She'd be devastated.

Why didn't you say anything before?

Celina obviously hasn't gone and staged her own kidnapping.

Did she say what prompted her to ask for the money?

No.

She has nothing really... except what she makes from waitressing.

But to thr*aten you, Mr. Clarke, as you say, it's... out of character.

♪♪

[Monitor beeping]

What are you doing?

I have a headache.

I need to see the doctor.

Please.

[Voice breaking] Please!

My baby could die.

Look, the Clarkes, they have money.

You have to help me.

They can give you whatever it is that you want.

Please.

[Horn honks in distance]

Please!

[Buzzer sounds]

Oliver said she was being evasive.

Still no answer.

Yeah, Noelle's hiding something.

She may be our only link to Celina.

See if you can find her and convince her to talk.

I'll wait here a little longer.

Okay.

Maybe try the hospital.

Celina's blood pressure has risen.

Well, that's hardly surprising. She's under a lot of stress.

Probably 'cause she's just been abducted.

I took a blood sample. I can take it to the lab...

No.

No blood sample.

I won't let some lab technician blow this.

Okay. D'accord.

But if something happens to her or the baby, it's not kidnapping, it's m*rder.

Well, just remember, if she dies, there's just as much blood on your hands as mine.

You're being well paid.

♪♪

[Footsteps approaching]

Good afternoon, Celina.

I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well.

And I'm sorry for this... unpleasantness.

It's temporary, of course. I don't want to harm you.

In fact, I want to take you to a fantastic private hospital tomorrow.

Take me there now.

Uh, let me finish.

And afterwards, when you deliver the baby, I want to give you a half a million euros.

All you have to do is give up the baby.

I can't do that.

It's not your baby, Celina. It was never meant to be.

You can always have another one.

[Sobs]

Okay. I see you're gonna need some time.

But this is a good deal I'm offering, and the longer you resist, the greater risk to that child.

In a few hours, you'll realize there's really only one option here.

♪♪

Who are you?!

[Insects chirping]

[Speaking French]

[Engine starts]

[Cellphone ringing]

Zara.

Eric, we found no encrypted data in the e-mails or proof-of-life photo.

They were scrubbed clean.

And I can't get anything from the recording, not even the program used to disguise it.

I'm really hoping this is all just preamble to the good news.

Whoever this guy is, he's uber-professional, right?

So we started looking into Paul's past with his charity, and we turned up something... pretty spicy.

I like spicy.

This is Dylan Figgis.

Oh, God.

Old pal of yours?

Uh... he's just a fixer for hire, pretends to be legitimate.

We used his services until we found out the truth about him.

Three years ago, he was up before a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

One of a litany of things he and his company were accused of was... aggravated kidnapping.

[Exhales sharply]

He only narrowly avoided jail, but they did strip away licenses from his business, seize assets, and your testimony against him was key to that, Mr. Clarke.

Do you think he took her?

Lots of people testified against Figgis, not just me.

He flew into Nice International Airport four days ago.

Awfully big coincidence.

You have any way to contact Mr. Figgis?

I can ask.

Someone will have a phone number for him.

Okay, good, but you can't pay the $5 million demand, correct?

Not by noon tomorrow. Impossible.

But we can negotiate, Mr. Beaumont.

I can, but the success of a negotiation usually depend on building trust with the hostage taker.

Mr. Dylan Figgis trusts no one.

So, if he took Celina, then how do we get her back?

Well, we'll use a strategy called "Positionism."

Oliver: We express our position, and we don't budge until he accepts without any real compensation given.

But why would he agree to that?

Because there's reason to believe Celina urgently requires medical attention, Mr. Clarke.

And a hostage isn't worth much to a hostage taker if she's dead.

[Speaks French]

Merci.

Maxine: Bonjour, madam. Parlez vous anglais?

Woman: Um... just a little.

I'm looking for Noelle Alli. She works here part time, right?

Mm-hmm.

Do you have any idea how I might reach her?

Oh, maybe at the lab.

Here.

Merci beaucoup.

♪♪

Hey! [Shouting in French]

[Speaks French] Noelle?

[Speaks French]

Okay.

Merci.

[Monitor beeping]

How is it?

[Footsteps approaching]

Lucie, may I talk to you a moment?

How was your walk? Refreshing?

We need to find out what's wrong.

No, you need to do as I tell you.

That's what I'm paying you for.

[Cellphone rings, vibrates]

Please. Feel free.

It's the blood test, isn't it?

Well...?

She's developed eclampsia.

[Sighs]

We need to take her to a hospital immediately.

What's going on?

She's going to start having convulsions, then she'll suffer a stroke and fall into coma.

They're both going to die!

[Whimpers]

[Breathing heavily] Lucie.

[Voice breaking] Lucie, please.

Please, can you just help us?

Please?

Eric: Hey, Dylan. Now, I know what you're thinking.

"Why are Paul and Sarah Clarke calling?"

I would introduce myself, but we've already spoken.

Although I guess this time, you're gonna sound a little less like Darth Vader with a head cold.

I'm sorry. I really have no idea what you're talking about.

You know what? You seem like a man with expensive taste.

Have you eaten in any good restaurants since you've been here?

It's just me and my team are gonna need somewhere to go right after you bring Celina back.

I... think you're confusing me with someone else.

Listen, I'm gonna go. I'm really very busy.

[Beeping]

Call location is bouncing around.

It's basically untraceable.

Now, it's not totally clear to me yet exactly who you and your team are working for, but I have a message for them and you...

You have asked for $5 million.

I have a counteroffer... nothing.

Okay...

You know, in fact, I'd like you to pay us for Celina's medical treatment and, no doubt, the therapy it's going to take to make sure she fully recovers from what you've put her through.

And I'm gonna send you the bill for that dinner me and my friends are gonna enjoy.

Don't take too long to respond.

We both know that this is a time-sensitive situation.

[Sighs]

[Cellphone beeps]

♪♪

Latency and timing were totally off.

It's definitely him.

I've been in a lot of negotiations, but I've... never heard anything like that.

Underneath the superficial cool, he's worried.

Yeah, Figgis has a lot to lose.

Normally he's operating under some dictator's bogus authority.

But on French soil, if he gets caught, he'll feel the full weight of the law.

This'll force him to accelerate things.

Knock on wood, make a mistake, that means we get Celina and the baby back safe.

Paul: We'll leave you to your work.

Well, I think that tallies with your theory.

Noelle was at the hospital. I'm sure of it.

What if the diagnosis of eclampsia has been confirmed?

She may only have hours left.

All right, see if you can find Noelle, maybe another nurse she works with.

You two keep digging into Figgis.

He's got to be working for someone.

[Knock on door]

Oh, trying to keep busy.

That's our latest initiative to provide safe drinking water.

We're trying to distribute them all across Sub-Saharan Africa eventually.

They're economic, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Sarah, who knew Celina was your surrogate?

Me, Noelle, Celina, and Paul... nobody else.

So how could Dylan Figgis know to target her?

I have no idea. Truly.

If you want to know the truth, I blame myself.

I presume you know that I... We...

We had a stillbirth.

I don't know if I can explain that experience in any meaningful way, but the labor took 10 hours.

[Voice breaking] And... it was difficult, and... painful.

And when it was all over, there was just this silence.

I've never been in a room so quiet.

So...

[Normal voice] ...when Celina volunteered...

...I mean, Paul had misgivings for all the reasons you can imagine, but... [Sighs]

...he knew how much I wanted that child.

So he did everything he could to make it happen.

Must have been difficult on your marriage.

Yes, but Paul's a great man, and he does amazing things, and I love him.

Unfortunately... love's not enough, is it?

You need to really communicate or those tiny little fissures and cracks in a marriage...

I mean, they can...

They can grow into something much more dangerous.

♪♪

[Cellphone beeps, dialing]

Come on. Come on.

[Cellphone rings]

[Cellphone beeps]

Why are you letting that negotiator call me?

[Sighs] I couldn't stop him.

$5 million, by the way? You know we don't have that.

Well, that's cheap considering we're about to have a dead girl on our hands.

She's got the pre...

Pre-so-bad-I-can't-even-pronounce-it.

Oh, God. That's it then.

We'll have to take her to a hospital.

I'll... I'll lose everything.

No, you won't. She's not going to any hospital.

I can't let her die.

I'm afraid that's not your call.

I... I-I can't do this.

Well, Paul, look at this way... at least you won't have to change any diapers.

No, no. Listen. We need to talk about this.

Please.

Lighthouse Bar in half an hour.

Don't make me wait.

[Click]

[Monitor beeping]

It's for seizures.

Will it stop them?

For an hour or two.

And then what?

The baby will die if we don't go to the hospital.

I'm trying to help.

Then try harder.

♪♪

[Engine starts]

♪♪

This way. Noelle will meet us.

[Celina breathing heavily]

Okay, this way.

[Ship horn blares in distance]

[Light jazz plays]

[Gate creaks]

[g*n cocks]

[Door opens, closes]

He's not here yet, huh?

[Sighs] Man, you drove here fast.

It's lucky you brought that phone for me to follow.

And, uh... this...

I guess this is the one you use to... keep in touch with Mr. Figgis.

I... um...

He's probably gonna be here any second, so why don't you start talking before he and his friends walk in and put a b*llet in the back of both our skulls?

Okay. You okay?

Not much further.

♪♪

Noelle?

Noelle: Yes?

It's okay. Come on. Okay?

It's a trap.

All right, I tell you what, Mr. Clarke.

How about I run through my theory, and you just let me know whether I'm on the right track, okay?

Look at me.

I don't believe Celina tried to extort money from you, not someone who would volunteer to be your surrogate.

But something drove you to make a deal with the devil.

So what was it?

Maybe the struggle for a baby strained your marriage.

I mean, Celina was an attractive presence in your life, in your home.

She idolized you, and one night it just happened.

It was around the time of the IVF treatment.

Maybe she was worried it hadn't worked, maybe she regretted what she had done.

Everything was in flux, emotions were running high, and you two... had sex.

That probably only happened once.

[Glass thuds]

And when it became clear that she was pregnant, she thought she could forget about it.

I mean, she was the surrogate... nothing more, nothing less.

Celina wanted to forget it ever happened, but she couldn't.

What if the baby wasn't from the IVF?

What if it was from your night together?

So, she gets a DNA test, and it's her baby... not Sarah's.

I mean, Celina couldn't give up her own baby, and she couldn't let Sarah live with the lie.

That's what she told you. Not that she wanted money.

She told you you needed to tell the truth to Sarah, but you couldn't do that, could you, Paul?

Your wife's money, the charity you'd worked your whole life to build...

I mean, you'd lose it all.

Dylan, he's going to be here.

Oh, yeah. Thank you. Him.

You were forced to hire a man you hate, because you knew he could and would clean up your mess, convince Celina to disappear, return the baby to Sarah, used your wife's trust fund to pay for his services.

But it hasn't worked out how you planed.

I mean, Figgis has gone rouge.

How much did you agree, originally?

$2 million.

Hmm. He kind of did want revenge.

$5 million would... would wipe you out.

But he thought you'd pay, and maybe you would have.

But unfortunately, Celina and the baby are about to die along with those nurses that Figgis has hired.

So decide and decide quickly.

Are you really ready to sacrifice all those lives to preserve your own?

♪♪

Where are we going?

Oh, getting you some help.

[Cellphone ringing]

[Cellphone beeps]

I went to the bar. Where were you?

That negotiator followed me. I had to leave.

So he suspects you.

He can't prove anything, but he's convinced Sarah not to pay.

What are we going to do?

[Sighs]

Oh, I'm taking care of things.

Be at the port in one hour. I'm bringing Celina.

And also, I'm a little short on cash.

Whatever you can spare.

[Cellphone beeps]

[Cellphone beeps]

♪♪

[Sighs deeply]

What now?

We've got an hour.

Time for you to have a talk with your wife.

[Door closes]

[Sighs]

Sarah, please try to understand.

[Gasps] Oh, my God!

Please.

♪♪
♪♪

[Engine revs]

Okay, look alive. Game time.

Get them on the boat.

Paul?

What's on the boat?

The answer to all our problems.

Now, have you got what I need?

200,000 euros.

That'll do... for now.

What's going to happen to them?

[Sighs] Paul...

I think you know.

Okay, go, go, go, go, go!

[Tires squeal]

[Coughing]

She's really not well. Please.

Shh.

[Tires screech]

♪♪

Dylan Figgis?

Eric Beaumont.

[Grunting]

Nice to meet you in person, finally.

You think I won't sh**t?

Oh, I'm absolutely sure you would.

Zara: Stay quiet.

You okay?

You're wondering, "What's he doing?

Why isn't he afraid?"

You're thinking so much, you're finding it hard to act.

You're reaching the edge of your cognitive load.

Don't feel bad. There's a lot of it going around.

[Coughs]

She's really bad.

I know.

You're wondering "Is there a sn*per?

Is someone about to sh**t?"

Let me spare you the suspense. There isn't.

I don't... thr*aten lives. I save them.

It is my one and only priority.

Can we go now?

Not yet.

The basis of a negotiation is identifying a common interest, but you're only interest is yourself.

That narrows my options.

Luckily, what's best for you is also what's best for Celina.

Look behind you.

Paul has very kindly signed a written statement outlining everything the two of you have done together.

And then there is this.

That'll do... for now.

Paul: What's going to happen to them?

I'm not going to jail.

No. You're not.

Because when you let us take Celina, I'm gonna let you walk away.

What, you think it's a trap? It's not.

A good negotiator never lies, and like I told you, saving lives is my one and only priority.

Is she okay?

She's unconscious.

We should bring her to the hospital right away. - Okay.

I don't care about rest. Here. Take it.

There could be a thousand copies of this.

And there's his statement.

This is the problem with psychopaths.

It's so hard to build trust with you guys.

And that is why I will not double-cross you.

If I let you go now and sell you out later, next time I've got a situation like this... and sadly, there will be a next time... maybe they'll have heard that Eric Beaumont doesn't keep his word.

So an innocent person will die, and I can't take that risk.

So drop the g*n and the money and walk away a free man.

It's a good deal, Mr. Figgis. You should take it.

Oliver, we need an ambulance now.

Okay, the ambulance is on its way.

[Exhales sharply]

Come on.

♪♪

[Exhales sharply]

Sarah... it might not seem like it now... but I did it for us.

You have to believe me.

Stand up... walk out... and never speak to me or anyone I know ever again.

♪♪

[Sighs]

I can't believe we're letting him and that other bastard get away.

Oh, we'll be seeing Dylan Figgis again soon.

We'll make sure of that, all right?

But we lost.

Well, not yet we didn't.

[Door opens]

[Birds chirping]

[Matei Bratescot's "Let Go Tonight" plays]

The guest of honor has arrived.

[Inhales sharply]

[Giggles]

[Coos]

Here we are.

Oh.

Oh, I'm so happy you could come.

Me, too.

Oh, wow.

That's amazing.

Thank you.

Oh, no. This is the wine for me.

Oh, don't worry. There's plenty more.

I know how to throw a Charity Fundraiser.

We're going to get a lot of rich people very drunk.

Speaking of, I'm sure we can count on your generosity, Eric.

Well, don't get your hopes up.

Dig deep. Little Eric needs a good world to grow up in.

Eric?

♪ You'll feel lost anywhere, and still you don't care ♪

Really?

♪ You will find if you dare ♪

No, his name's Sebastian.

[Laughter]

Oh.

Great, You invite me to speak at your charity function, then lampoon me. Open the wine.

♪ Why don't you fear the end? ♪

Give me that baby.

♪ Do your thing and pretend ♪
♪ Let's go tonight ♪

He wants to negotiate.

That's what we do.
Post Reply