02x07 - La Huesuda

[bunniefuu]

Jack: Over million Americans

leave the safety of
our borders every year.

If danger strikes,

the FBI's International Response Team

is called into action.

♪♪

Man: Welcome to Mexico, señor.

[Woman rapping in Spanish]

[Laughter]

All you hear about growing up
in San Diego

is how dangerous T.J. is.

But all... I mean, this place rocks!

Oh. Thanks for inviting me.

You only turn once. We
might as well do it right.

True that. And about time

you finally invited
me down here with you.

You know, I was waiting
for the right time.

I wanted you to have
the best experience ever.

Well, speaking of...

Look what I got.

Where the hell did you get that?

This guy was passed out in the
bathroom with it in his hand.

Whoa, hey!

You need to slow down.

- You're crazy.
- No way!

I'm in T.J. with my best
friend, and I'm ready to party!

[Grunts]

[Gagging]

Oh.

[Retching]

It's okay.

Oh.

[Coughs]

Breathe.

It's almost over. You're okay.

[Beeping]

Oh.

[Coughs]

Roxy?

Promise you're not gonna
tell anyone at school.

Roxy?

Roxy?

Roxy?

This isn't funny.

If you're trying to
scare me, it's working.

What?

[Screams]

Monty: Lee Kern, an
-year-old high school senior

from San Diego, California,
was identified as the victim

when Federales found his cellphone

still in his possession
in Delgado Square

completely covered in red paint.

They immediately contacted
the U.S. Consulate,

who, in turn, asked for our help.

What's the preliminary C.O.D.?

It's hard to tell
with all the red paint,

but his neck was sliced at the carotid.

Religious iconography aside,

do you think there's a message here?

Persecuting him for his
sins, making him a martyr.

Martyr or not, it's clearly someone

wanting to make a statement.

Yeah, whoever it was, they weren't shy.

Agreed. The hanging in a public area

and the red paint scream
someone is looking for attention.

Yeah, but from whom?
Cops, locals, tourists?

Jack, seems Lee wasn't alone.

Border patrols sent this.

Meet Roxy Bental... also
... A classmate of Lee's.

Boyfriend-girlfriend?

Yeah, from the look of
Lee's social media page,

more like friends ringing in
Lee's th birthday T.J. style.

Yeah, road-tripping there
is like a rite of passage

for American kids since
the drinking at is .

Yeah, but most kids return home safely,

like Roxy did last night.

Border Patrol has he crossing

back into the U.S. at : P.M.

So Lee ends up dead,

and Roxy skips back across the border.

Does that smell funny to you guys?

About to get stinkier, actually.

Roxy has a SENTRI card.

Isn't that for frequent border-crossers?

Yes, it's issued by U.S.
Customs to U.S. citizens

for quicker crossing in
and out of the country.

Seems Roxy not only made the
pilgrimage to T.J. weekly,

each time, it's with a different guy

as you can see here.

So why would a teen
girl go back and forth

over the border so often?

Maybe she's a drug mule.

Mae: Well, as long as there's demand,

this is gonna keep happening.

I mean, there were
drug-related murders

of foreigners in Mexico last year.

So did these kids get
mixed up in the drug trade?

Once we're on the ground,

Simmons and I will
check the crime scene.

Mae, you take a look at the Vic.

Clara, you have a chat with Roxy.

We're not about to let the
m*rder of an -year-old

high school student go unpunished.

♪

[Theme music]

Jack: There's an old Mexican
expression that says,

They tried to bury us.

They didn't know we were seeds.

[Mariachi music plays]

I talked to Officer Calderon.

He said they lost six
officers in the past month.

Well, the cartels, they I.D. officers

coming to and from crime scenes,

they target them for investigating.

And sometimes their families.

You see why the masks are
a necessary precaution.

Mm-hmm.

[Speaking Spanish]

I'm Officer Roberto Calderon.
Gracias for coming.

Matt Simmons.

Thanks for having us.

Local store owner saw
the body this morning

while opening up.

So how did no one notice
a body being strung up

in a popular place like this?

Even Delgado Square slows
down for a small window of time

between night and day.

Whoever did this must have known that.

Might even live around here.

It's not easy getting
a body up that high.

Corpse with a slit-open neck
would have painted this tree

and everything underneath it with blood.

Yeah, or it would have bled dry.

But there's none of that here.

This isn't the original crime scene.

The question is where's the primary,

and who would be brazen
enough to do this?

All the roads in Mexico
lead to the cartels.

Whoever this kid was, he unfortunately

came across them, did
something to piss them off,

and paid the price.

Clara: Are you aware
that the FBI believes

you're smuggling dr*gs from
Mexico into the United States?

Because I am. And I
stand by my conviction.

I'm not a puppet

of the United States
of Special Interests.

What are you talking about?

The pharmaceutical companies
might have you and the feds

in their back pocket, but not me.

So you're not smuggling
recreational dr*gs.

No. No, no, I'm not a criminal.

I'm an entrepreneur. I
provide a much-needed service

for senior citizens who can't
afford prescription meds.

So you're buying
prescription meds in Mexico,

bringing them into
America, for what reason,

out of the kindness of your heart?

No. But I'm charging
pennies on the dollar

compared to what Big Brother charges.

Hmm.

And all the different
boys who follow you there

and tag along, do they
get a small percentage

- of your up charge?
- No.

Then why bring them?

Because every frat boy
with his liquid courage

has a tendency to hit on me,
and if I've got some arm candy,

they tend to leave me alone.

And what about Lee? Did he
know why you invited him?

Of course not.

But he was having such a good time

until he ran off on me.

Ran off?

Yeah, he was blowing chunks.

[Retching]

And so I told him I'd
be back in a minute,

I covered him with my
jacket, and then I ran off.

When I got back, he'd
gotten up and split.

Why did you leave him?

'Cause the pharmacies were closing.

And I've got customers
with serious health issues

that can't afford to
miss their daily dose.

Knowing Lee, he stumbled back
home and is sleeping it off.

Lee is dead.

What?

No, that's impossible.

You're lying.

I wish that I was.

Listen, I need you to think.

Is there anything he
could have done or said

that would have led someone
to want to m*rder him?

m*rder?

No.

No, not that I can think of.
We were just having a good time.

No, he did say that there was a guy

passed out in the bathroom

with a bag of coke in his hand.

Lee took it.

How much coke?

I don't know.

Like, um, a sandwich bag full.

I threw it out.

That can go for a pretty
penny on the streets.

I need the name of that bar.

Yeah, of course.

Of course.

This is my fault.

This is my fault.

If I hadn't have brought him down there,

then he wouldn't be dead!

[Sobs]

Thank you for allowing me to
assist you, Examiner Granado.

I should thank you.

We're so understaffed and overworked.

I can use an extra pair of hands.

After all these years, it's
still not easy to see the dead.

And especially this young.

So much life ahead of him.

Well, the cut is clean.

It's not jagged, so the
blade wouldn't be serrated.

The C.O.D. is an exsanguination due

to the cutting of the carotid.

It was a quick death.

Like the way you bleed an animal.

What kind of blade do we think did this?

The path of the wound
tapers off as if it's curved.

Like what?

When I was a kid, I would
spend my spring breaks

at my grandparents' house,
and they had a garden.

And so I was always there to help plant.

And my job was to cut all of the weeds.

So my grandpa would give me...

this.

A sickle?

Sí.

Can you hand me the tweezers?

Thank you.

It looks like somebody has
been playing in the sand box.

[Mariachi music playing]

Roxy said she left Lee here.

Arterial spray.

This is our primary crime scene.

Simmons: There's also a trail
of blood... ends abruptly.

So whoever did this must have
a vehicle they're moving him in.

That explains how they got
Lee's body up in that tree.

Tie a little rope to a bumper,

you got yourself an instant winch.

The owner any help?

He said it's too many
kids come through here

to remember any one face.

He prays that American
kids stop coming down here.

They're too much trouble.

Officer Calderon, we
believe whoever did this

transported the body
in some kind of vehicle.

Unless you got a plate number,

it would be almost
impossible to find it.

We got traffic cameras at the border,

but not across the city.

I've seen this before... La Horca.

Mm-hmm. The Gallows Cartel.

They mark their territory.

Roxy said that Lee
lifted a bag of cocaine

off of some guy who'd
passed out in the bathroom.

What if he was a member of La Horca?

Like I told you, all
roads lead to the cartels.

[Cellphone buzzes]

[Beep] What do you got, Mae?

Well, the victim's
carotid artery was severed

with a sickle.

A farmer's tool?

Give the man a prize.

Interesting choice of
w*apon for the cartels.

I also found some traces
of sand on Lee's body,

a possible secondary transfer.

Sand?

La Horca's one of the cartels
vying for supremacy in T.J.

They love to surf.

Maybe the transfer is
from one of their hangouts

near Aguila Beach.

Great. Let's roll.

[Man speaking Spanish over radio]

[Speaking Spanish]

I'm sorry, I can't go.

I got called to another crime scene.

Please proceed without me.

I'll catch up when I can.

[Man rapping in Spanish]

_

You check the house.

You got this?

Yeah, I'm good.

Uh, psst. Carlos.

Jack Garrett, FBI.

[Speaking Spanish]

They're a little...

protective of me.

Maybe they have good reason to be.

[Chuckles]

You got big cojones, my friend.

I'm not your friend.

Seen him?

Why? Did you lose him?

He's dead.

Uh...

Where you been for the last hours?

Right here, partying.

With plenty of witnesses
to support my alibi.

House is clean.

What about the sand?

Scraped this off one
of the boards inside.

Can I offer you guys a beer?

Una mamacita to keep you warm?

Mi casa es su casa.

[Socket wrench rachets]

Cole?!

Cole?!

Yeah?

You got someplace better to be?

You know this agente?

Yeah.

Yeah?

I did four years...

at Lompoc 'cause of this Fed.

Hmm. Don't recall.

All you dirt bags look the same to me.

Shh, shh!

[Speaking Spanish]

Stupid move, Cole.

It seems you need your
boyfriend here to protect you.

Come on, let's get him out of here.

Up, up, up.

Next time, duck, Fed.

[Laughter]

Why didn't I get a
deconfliction notification

from FBI Headquarters
that you were here, Ryan?

Because it was on a
need to know basis, Dad,

and you didn't need to know.

Well, if I did, we wouldn't
have blown your cover!

I've been in Tijuana
the last three months,

deep cover, as biker Cole Dabb.

What does La Horca believe
you bring to the table?

Security.

With this biker g*ng I got,
we've done some small drug runs

into El Paso to prove ourself
to Hector and his cartel.

And we are just weeks
away from the big shipment

that will take them all down.

So us crashing Hector's
party compromised all that.

Yeah. Yeah, but that's on me.

I should have never
looked away from Dad.

I think... I think I was just
shocked that he was there.

It's all right, it's a rookie mistake.

- I should know better.
- Yes, you should.

But the fight was a nice cover.

Okay, so what now?

Well, we have a backstop plan.

What's a backstop plan?

If things go sideways in
an undercover investigation,

there's a contingency
plan to save cover.

So what is it?

Sorry, Mae. It's above
your clearance level.

Oh, well, I really
need a promotion then.

But, Dad, I need to
get back out there now.

They'll assume we're interrogating you,

so we have until morning before
La Horca becomes suspicious.

And right now, I need
your expertise on Tijuana.

I thought that's what
the local police were for.

We thought so, too, but
right now, they're fighting

too many wars on too many fronts

to worry about us and our problems.

So we need you.

What do you got?

We know all crime in Tijuana
leads right back to the cartels.

Yeah. They're like an octopus.

They have their tentacles in everything.

But this... this kid's death
had nothing to do with La Horca.

How can you be so sure of that?

Because even the smallest crimes
have to be blessed by Hector,

their leader, and this wasn't.

Well, the forensic evidence
supports what Ryan's saying.

The sand is free of
any organic materials,

which means it didn't
come from the beach.

Then where did it come from?

A sand bag.

Wet sand or dirt with organic materials

can rot and decompose.

It creates a problem with mold
and mildew and unpleasant odors.

And so they filter all of that
out in the store-made sand bags.

Yeah, sand bags are typically
associated with flooding,

but they can be used
to hold things down.

A sickle, a sand bag, and a vehicle.

If this wasn't La Horca, who was it?

And who'd be so bold as to do
this in the cartel's territory?

Guys, we got another body.

We have an I.D.?

American businessman Robert Miller.

Where?

That's the thing, just like last time,

there are two crime scenes.

Mexican authorities found his car

at a parking lot just
outside the dog track.

That's probably where he was abducted.

And the we found his body
staged under a bridge in Tijuana.

Clara, Simmons, see what you
can find from the abduction site.

Mae, you and Ryan come with me.

No, I can't show my face out there.

Then you won't.

Mae: Well, staging is clearly similar.

He's also painted black.

His carotid is sliced upon,

and he's been left out in the open.

Yet significantly more gruesome.

Unsub removed his arms.
The v*olence is escalating.

Yeah, but he didn't pose him.

So the religious
connotations of the first body

are most likely coincidental. Agreed.

He's sliced, gutted,
bled out, and dismembered

before being coated with
black paint postmortem.

I mean, it's almost like
he was dipped in a vat.

How can you tell when
the body was painted?

Well...

the unsub painted over dried blood,

so the body bled out
before being painted,

which tells us something
about the unsub's ritual.

Like?

Well, all the mutilations and
the force-feeding of cigars

and I smell beer, too, it's postmortem.

So this isn't about
the victim suffering.

There doesn't appear to
be any malice towards them.

Lee Kern's body was
displayed in a public square

for everyone to see, Robert
Miller is under a bridge.

Given the conflicting
settings, it doesn't appear

that the unsub is trying
to make a statement.

Not a consistent one, at least.

[Cellphone buzzes]

Go.

Hey, Jack, the front left tire

on the vic's vehicle was slashed.

Yeah, the unsub probably ambushed him.

Mae: That indicates a
highly-organized att*ck.

And, Jack, we also found
something else interesting.

Jack: sh**t.

Well, whatever vehicle they're using

to transport the bodies

is leaking fuel in its own tire track.

Yep. I found it here, too.

Gas.

Peanuts.

Well, whoever's doing this
has converted their vehicle

to be Eco-friendly.

And we didn't see it in the alleyway

at the first k*ll because
we were at the scene

almost hours after
the fact and it dried.

Monty, you there?

Monty: I am, indeed.

And it seems that the Eco-friendly craze

is still pretty small there in Tijuana.

So let me see what I can dig up.

Are you able to find a
connection between the vics?

No, in fact, other than
them both being American,

it seems they couldn't
be any more different.

Lee Kern was a high school
senior from San Diego,

Miller was from Flagstaff, Arizona,

who was an engineer for
BTL Petroleum Industries.

Wait, he works for a
Mexican oil company?

That's correct.

Could this be Eco-terrorism?

Guys, come here.

Or is it the cartels?

I thought you said La Horca
wasn't involved in this.

Right, La Horca, but there
are other cartels in Tijuana

vying for power, and their
mutual enemy is Big Oil.

Big Oil?

Yeah, a few years back,

the cartels started tapping
into the oil company's

main line and siphoning off
large amounts of oil to sell.

To combat this,

the oil companies
brought in mercenaries.

It's been a w*r ever since.

Like this place doesn't
have enough problems already.

But the different cartels
don't agree on anything

except their mutual hatred for Big Oil.

So maybe this wasn't just a message.

Maybe it was a blood sacrifice.

A blood sacrifice?

Yeah, think like an animal sacrifice,

only the cigar and the
beer were the offerings.

Okay, but to whom?

When I saw the offerings,
I started thinking

how the cartels used to
commonly go to black magic

looking for protection or favor.

Clara: Of course! Like
in , there was

this American college
student who was abducted

in a border town by local dealers.

He was k*lled as part
of a human sacrifice

to protect a large drug
shipment going out the next day.

So Officer Calderon was
right, this was the cartels.

Just not the way we thought.

So this has nothing to do
with someone running afoul

of Mexican drug dealers.

But may have everything to do with

the cartels' black magic rituals.

They employ a spirit guide.

It's one part voodoo
doctor, one part priest,

and the rest, all devil worship.

He's the number one guy in these parts,

his name is Julio
Salazar... A.K.A. El Cuco.

If he's not behind
this, he knows who is.

Where can we find him?

- You're kidding me.
- No.

When El Cuco is not
doing black magic rituals,

he's giving palm readings to tourists

or selling occult
paraphernalia to the locals.

I mean, just the idea that
he's getting this close

to innocent people on a daily
basis makes my skin crawl.

Yeah, well, wait till you meet him.

He's got the charm of a rattlesnake.

The shop is halfway
between the k*ll sites

and where the unsub has been
bleeding out their victims.

El Cuco definitely needs
blood for his rituals.

Could be why we didn't find all
the blood at the crime scene.

So he's collecting them
at a secondary location

for ritualistic purposes.

All right, everybody follow my lead.

Ryan, you stay back, cover our six.

FBI.

[Door closes]

[Beads rattling]

His eyes are gone.

This definitely looks like black magic.

Yeah, well, black magic
is treated differently here

than it is in the States.

Yeah, superstitions have a long
tradition in Mexican culture,

so spells to the locals
are like prayers to us.

All right, let's go through this.

The third victim is Julio Salazar,

k*lled in the same
manner as the first two.

His neck was slashed with a sickle,

and like the second victim, he
had cigars stuffed in his mouth.

But this time, his eyes were removed.

Yeah, it looks like the
same k*ller, but if it was,

why wasn't the body
painted in the same manner?

Yeah, the body wasn't dipped in a vat

like the other ones, or even moved.

All the blood confirms that
this is the primary crime scene.

But if this is another blood sacrifice,

how does it fit the pattern?

Or why does it deviate? I
mean, the first two kills

were clean and precise,

and this one just
seems angry and rushed.

And how are these victims connected?

In under hours, we have
three murders with similar M.O.s.

But if his spells provided
protection to the cartels,

then why k*ll him?

Because the unsubs weren't
tied to the cartels,

more likely an individual driven
to make black magic sacrifices.

For their own protection?

Maybe. Certainly feels
like a spree-oriented k*ll.

The K*llers seem to be deviating.

Their pace is increasing.

Yeah. But to what end?

And for whom?

[Cellphone buzzes]

Go ahead, Monty.

Monty: So with pollution
and w*r over oil in Tijuana,

a few locals have converted
their diesel engines

to run on food oils.

Five people have registered

their biodiesel engines with the DMV.

I was able to find four of them,

and they have confirmed
alibis with the police.

But the fifth one is M.I.A.

You got a name?

Miguel Gonzalez, .

Essentially fallen off the planet.

Access to his address has been blocked,

but I put in a call to the Tijuana DMV

to figure out why.

That seems like a person of interest.

What else have you found?

Robert Miller's employer
laid him off nine months ago.

However, he's been crossing
the border into Mexico

from his home in Arizona, where
he's married with two kids.

He could have just been
searching for other employment.

Maybe, but, strangely, he
had his severance check

forwarded to an address
in the village of Narvado

on the outskirts of Tijuana

instead of his home in the U.S.

All right, Mae, you stay with the body

until the local authorities arrive.

Monty, get me an address for Miller.

- [Cellphone buzzes]
- You got it.

Why don't you guys head to Miller's,

and I'll catch up with you later?

Are you okay, Dad?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.

I'll see you in a bit.

Okay.

[Door closes]

Agent Jack Garrett.

Section Chief Cruz, Jack.

Mateo, long time, no speak.

What can I do for you?

I think you know the answer to that.

The director's not happy.

We're handling it.

You pulled you son from a high-profile

undercover operation and
have yet to pull the trigger

on the backstop plan. Why?

Since we have no local
assistance in the area,

Ryan's knowledge on the ground has been

an integral part of the
I.R.T.'s investigation.

Cut the bull, Jack. You
had no right to pull him.

His cover was blown.

It was compromised, okay?

You're trying to buy time,
and we don't have any.

You've got to put the
backstop plan in motion ASAP.

Look, I understand he's
your son, but duty calls.

Copy.

Good.

I'll tell the director that
there will be no more delays.

[Beep]

We got the call.

[Speaking Spanish]

How did you come upon such darkness?

Some clues and some
profiling led us to his door.

- You know him?
- Sí.

He's the Don of Darkness,
but from the looks of it,

he got what he had coming to him.

Probably got double crossed
by his bosses in the cartels.

Why do you say that?

Who else would dare k*ll a
priest of such dark power?

Maybe someone who needs
or wants that power.

_

Ryan, perimeter's clean.

No signs of blood or struggle anywhere.

All right. Let's take a look inside.

[Knocks on door]

Hola.

[Speaking Spanish]

My name is Ana Sofia.

I speak English, if that's easier.

- Great.
- Mama?

_

They're just here to
ask a few questions.

But why don't you go to your room,

and I'll tell you all about it later.

How about that? Yeah?

Please, come in.

What's going on here?

That's what we're
hoping you can tell us.

[Door closes]

Simmons, Clara.

Robert Miller is your
husband, Arturo is his son?

Sí.

Is this about his other family?

So you know about them?

I only discovered it a few months ago

when his job sent over some paperwork

listing his wife in Arizona.

And what happened when you
confronted him about it?

He admitted it, and we fought.

But...

my son needs a father, so...

we're managing.

But you're here for another reason.

What did Roberto do?

I'm sorry, but your husband

has been the victim of a homicide.

Dios mío.

Mrs. Miller, you didn't
know about your husband's

other family for years.

Is it possible that he
had other affiliations,

relationships that
could have led to this?

My husband gambled, and he drank, and...

God knows what else, but...

he always kept a roof over our heads,

and he never laid a hand on me.

Or my son or anybody else.

But you do know
something, don't you, Ana?

What is it?

A shrine to the Grim Reaper?

No.

La Santa Muerte...

Patron saint of those
who've been left behind.

Left behind by whom?

By God.

Ana, did you have something to
do with your husband's death?

I was so angry.

I prayed for bad things.

But I didn't mean any of them.

I was so upset.

You prayed here at this altar?

Yeah.

And at the Tijuana mobile altars.

Mama?

If you need anything,
I'll be with my son.

The La Santa Muerte following
is one of the largest

belief systems in Mexico.

They've got million followers.

Right, but both the Catholic Church,

who views it as an evil
offshoot of Catholicism,

and the local police, who
see it as a belief system

for the lower class, have
outlawed and denounced

the faith's practice.

Outlawed it?

Yeah, there are no churches.

I mean, its followers have
to set up prayer altars

like these that are either
mobile or easily dismantled

so the local police don't
find them and destroy them.

Well, isn't it true that
if you ask for something

from La Santa Muerte,
you have to offer her

- something in return?
- Yes.

Like a metaphysical quid pro quo.

Is the unsub doing this
because they want something

from La Santa Muerte,
and if so, what is it?

The colors strewn across the altar,

they're the same colors

that the first two victims were painted.

Yeah, this is more
than just superstition.

We're looking at a La
Santa Muerte practitioner

or a fanatic.

- Hey.
- All right, Monty.

Everyone's here. Go ahead.

Okay, La Santa Muerte
is highly adaptable

to the individual believer.

Not only do they not have any churches,

there's also no bible, either.

Followers have spells
that have been handed down

from generations through word of mouth.

I found one ex-member who wrote a blog

that outlines some of the spells.

Can you link any of them to the murders?

What seems to be consistent
here is that two of the three

murders have been blood sacrifice spells

designed to restore an absent loved one.

So the unsub lost someone.

And this is all a personal
act to get that person back.

Turns out the colors have
a power structure to them.

Red is the lowest, then black
is a little bit more powerful.

Gold is king.

Jack: Lee Kern was the
first, and he was red.

Yeah, and the red spell
asks for the bloodletting

of someone young.

So the sacrifice of Lee
Kern should have satisfied

the saint and returned
the unsub's loved ones.

But, clearly, it didn't.

So then the unsub tried
to cast a stronger spell.

Exactamundo.

The color black asks for
the bloodletting of a sinner,

so the display of Robert
Miller should have worked, too.

But it didn't, either.

Therefore, the unsub
felt he needed more power

and tried to absorb it by
k*lling the occult priest,

Julio Salazar.

And now with the most
powerful color left,

they believe that they will
get their loved one back.

What does the gold sacrifice entail?

Taking the heart from
a person of authority,

but unlike the others,
the victim must be alive,

aware during the ceremony.

So this grief-induced
spiritually-motivated unsub

is out there right now looking
for someone who fits that.

Someone like an officer of the law.

[Siren chirps]

[Speaking Spanish]

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[Replies in Spanish]

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[Grunts]

[Sinister music]

Monty: Officer Calderon is missing.

He was on a disturbing the peace call

for a La Santa Muerte altar.

He ran the plates, and they
belong to Miguel Gonzalez.

But here's the thing. I
found Miguel, and he's dead.

Who was driving the truck?

Impound records show that Alma Gonzalez

has reclaimed the car three times.

Gonzalez? Any relation to Miguel?

Yeah, brother and sister.

Well, why was the truck
towed in the first place?

Because it had a La Santa
Muerte altar in the bed.

The altars are illegal,
so the police destroy them

and impound any vehicle
associated with them.

And Alma has a long history of
violations, and even arrests.

The last one, only two
months ago by Officer Calderon

for erecting and displaying
La Santa Muerte altars.

Probably had the sand
bags to hold down the altar

in the back of the truck.

It must have busted open,

transferring some sand to the victims.

Alma's connection to La
Santa Muerte and Miguel

make her our prime suspect.

According to public records,
Alma and her sister, Teresa,

were left a family-owned
business a year ago.

Wait a minute. There's another sibling?

So what if the black
magic priest's m*rder

felt like a different k*ll

because they're two different unsubs?

Alma and Teresa are working as a team.

Together, they drive around
T.J. in a pickup truck

with a Santa Muerte altar,
looking for their next victims.

To find someone young,
they went to Tijuana's

most popular bar district.

They needed a sinner, so they
found a gambler at a dog track.

And needing a man of authority,

they lure a police officer
in with their altar.

So the family biz is a salvage yard,

which he signed over
about a year ago today.

Wait, why would he sign it over?

Miguel applied for a
U.S. Visa, but was denied,

so he did what millions
of other people do

in search for a better life...
He hopped the border illegally.

He didn't make it, did he?

No, and his absence has
been absolutely devastating

to his sisters.

They're about to lose the
salvage yard to bankruptcy,

which explains why I wasn't able

to access the address through the DMV.

The truck's being held up
in a probate court case.

So they haven't heard
or seen their brother

in over a year.

The anniversary of his
disappearance is their trigger.

So the sisters believe that
by performing this ritual,

they can bring their
brother Miguel back to them

and he'll fix everything.

And they needed Officer
Calderon alive to perform it.

We better hurry before
he runs out of time.

Ryan, you hang back.

Anyone tries to get
in or out, stop them.

[Screams]

FBI! Drop the w*apon!

Move away from Officer Calderon!

We know what you're doing.

How your brother,
Miguel, went to the States

to make a better living.

And once settled, he was
going to send for you both,

but he never did.

Because he couldn't.

You see, he made it across,
but he didn't get far.

Mentirosos!

We're not lying, Alma.

You are!

Miguel is in America.

But Teresa and I, we broke
our promise to La Santa Muerte.

We stopped displaying our
altar because we were afraid of

la policia, so she's punishing us.

Keeping Miguel away from us,

taking our business and our home, too!

With this final sacrifice,

we'll satisfy La Huesuda
and return Miguel to us!

Jack: No, no! It's too late for that.

I'm, sorry.

Miguel is dead.

You'll never see Miguel again.

No!

[g*nsh*t]

[Grunts]

[Grunting]

[Handcuffs click]

I pity the sisters.
Their grief, it just...

it twisted a faith that offers
real hope and guidance to many.

You also offer hope.

The way you fight for your
people against monumental odds.

The world can use more
men like you, Calderon.

Gracias.

[Speaking Spanish]

Good work, Dad.

Couldn't have done it without you, son.

I don't know about that.

Look, now that it's over,
I need to get back under.

Why are you taking the toughest,

most dangerous road
there is in the Bureau?

You cast a really large shadow.

I have to make my own way if I ever hope

to step out of it, become my own man.

Yeah, I get that.

But at what price?

The exact same price
you've been willing to pay

your entire career.

I'm asking you to see
me as a fellow agent,

not as your son.

That's easier said than done.

I know you're worried.

But you know the deeper
my cover, the safer I am.

This backstop plan's gonna give me

even more credibility with La Horca.

[Sighs]

Ryan, you remember when you were little

and we used to go to that lake

and fish all day?

Yeah.

Yeah, you'd start a fire.

Fry up some perch or
catfish that we'd caught.

We'd just watch the stars and talk.

Some of the best times of my life.

Yeah, me too.

But when this is over,
you owe me a fishing trip.

[Buzzer sounds]

Habla Inglés?

His name is Cole Dabb, and
we got him on possession,

intent to distribute,

as*ault and battery of a federal agent.

We tried to extradite
him, but we couldn't.

He's your problem now.

[Buzzer rings]

[Buzzer sounds]