03x13 - Fire in the Hole

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Previously on The Shield.

Neil O'Brien, who's he? He's on Treasury's radar?

As soon as he puts some of our marked money into the system.

Congratulations, you just got yourself a spot on Treasury's Most Wanted.

VIC: Guess who Dutch boy and his Treasury bitch just brought in.

O'Brien? Yes.

Those marked bills that we dropped on him must've hit the banks.

Which means that we're... We're free and clear.

No more Armenian problems. Feels good.

You releasing him?

He's sticking with his "I found it on the sidewalk" story.

We'll look into his finances, tap his phone, see who he calls.

He's scared. Stir things up, see what drifts to the top.

So you got a knack for finding things, huh?

Yes, I do. And we can start by finding your smile.

Is she hooked up with anybody?

She's my partner. Shut up.

You saying I'm not good enough?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Huh. Well, we'll see what she says.

Tell us who's doing what at AGC.

We'll let you stay open.

Customize cars with one small addition.

What's that? Bugs. Cameras.

But if this breaks right, it'll be the biggest case you and me will ever see.

It'll set crime in Farmington back 20 years.

The last couple of weeks, Matthew's been a serious problem.

We'll continue to work with Matthew as best we can.

If he injures another child, we'll have to ask you to find another school.

Please don't do that.

What school is gonna take an autistic kid that you've branded as being violent?

I don't get Trish back in one piece, I'll use every g*dd*mn favor I've banked for the last 14 years to get your lazy ass fired.

It's a relief that you're all right.

I had to do some coke to keep my cover.

Do you need to see a doctor? I should get checked out for STDs.

Get the morning after pill. Son of a bitch.

VIC: Shane bother telling you about his latest mistake?

Sending Tavon flying through a windshield?

What? Yeah, Tavon and Shane, they were mixing it up.

Mara cracked him in the back of the head with an iron.

He got back in the van, swerved himself into critical condition.

[CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO]

MAN: Take a look right here.

[CAR DOOR SLAMS]

CASSIDY [SOBBING]: Daddy.

Okay, honey, okay. It's okay, I'm here. Let me see.

Oh, my God.

What happened?

I was in the bathroom, and they, um, had some soup on the stove.

Matthew got a hold of some cooking spray and...

Where is he?

My mom took him and Megan.

He didn't know what he was doing.

Uh, hey, uh, listen, thanks for all your help.

Close call. If your wife hadn't grabbed that fire extinguisher, this whole place could've b*rned up.

Uh-huh. Yeah, you know what?

I, um... I left the stove on too high, and the grease just went "woosh."

Uh, why don't you, uh, get some stuff together.

You and the kids are coming to my place.

Vic... You can't stay here.

Help your mom pack up, please.

Listen, I, uh...

I think we both know that this wasn't a grease fire.

Yeah, I just need to determine if it was set intentionally.

It wasn't.

I have a young boy who has developmental problems.

His mom is worried sick about him.

He was just playing where he shouldn't be.

He's only 7 years old.

I'm sure I can write this up as an accident.

I appreciate it. Thank your boys for me, okay?

Oh, uh, you ever need a favor...

Hey, are you talking now?

You're that new nurse here for my sponge bath, right?

[CHUCKLES]

We lost you to the twilight zone there for a few weeks, man.

Doctor says you can start rehab pretty soon.

I'll be back riding with you guys in a minute.

Everybody misses you.

You remember much?

Last thing I can see is

getting into it with Shane.

You remember that?

Uh, I just remember fighting with him.

We got our first good hit off the AGC surveillance.

We've been monitoring the bugs and cameras planted in four cars.

Mainly just blunts and blowjobs, but, uh, some pretty good prelim intel.

Chief's asking why we've sunk a ton into this sting and haven't come up with anything.

This ought to cure his blue balls. Check it.

What's up?

All right.

Here's half the money.

You're gonna get the rest after.

After tomorrow night, you guys will be long gone.

Hey, man, the Horde's good for it.

That's Jantell Davis.

He's a player with the Spookstreet Souljahs.

Jesse Ventura here is with the Horde.

The biker g*ng?

What are the Aryans doing with a black banger in Farmington?

It's no Rainbow Coalition.

Horde rolls into town to do a job.

They grease the natives. Nobody's feathers get ruffled.

Deal was probably brokered in the joint.

What's the job?

Uh, we don't know what the target is.

Just that it's going down tonight and Jantell's providing getaway and layoff cars.

The Horde's got a pretty violent history.

No joke. They dropped two bank guards last week in Sacramento.

So this is all we have?

At the moment.

So how do we find out the when and where without exposing to them and the other marks that we're bugging AGC's cars?

It's gonna be a balancing act.

[POLICE SIREN BLARING]

[TIRES SCREECH]

Someone miss the drive-through?

Came up stolen. We were in pursuit.

Driver tried to take a shortcut.

How bad?

Dove out of the way just in time.

Driver fled on foot. We lost him.

Owners. Been open less than a week.

I'll talk to them.

Did you see the man who was driving the car?

WOMAN: No.

[WHISTLES]

Scotch. No tax sticker.

That's a lot of stolen booze.

Yeah, 30-year-old booze.

This stuff is worth, like, 120 a fifth.

I'm a light-beer man, myself. This is single malt.

You don't know what you're missing.

You could school me sometime.

No insurance. It'll come out of their pocket if we don't find the guy who did this.

Yeah, well, even if we catch our rabbit, I doubt he can cover these damages.

Who we looking for?

Bootlegger.

I thought we were gonna keep this operation under wraps.

This AGC sting could go on for months. A year even.

I'm gonna be moving on. Claudette's gonna be moving in.

Might as well get her up to speed now.

Jantell made a call after the meet to a cloned cell phone.

Reported in he got half the payoff. Ten G's.

It's gotta be something big for the Horde to drop 20 grand.

Armed-car schedules for today.

Plus personnel info for banks and check-cashing joints.

Do you want me to alert these places?

No, let's do our homework first before we get these people all worked up.

We're clamping down on Spookstreet.

We'll bust one of their bangers on something unrelated.

Sweat him until he gives us this heist.

That'll keep AGC in the clear.

If you need anything from this end, run it through Claudette.

Let's not make this a contest, okay? You work together.

[DOOR OPENS]

You, uh... You running the Strike Team again?

Aceveda's just keeping me in the loop.

Yeah, and?

I'm in the loop.

[SCOFFS]

Yeah, I've, uh, got my own things too. Very hush-hush.

Tavon's up and talking.

You spoke to him?

He's groggy, but he's making sense.

Sweet.

Really?

What did he say to you?

Well, the good news is he's recovering.

The bad news is he remembers getting in a fight with Shane before Mara clocked him over the head with an iron.

What?

Tavon told you that?

No, Vic did.

But Tavon remembers everything up to that.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, what...? What happened?

Shane put him in the hospital and lied to us.

SHANE: He came into my home.

Yeah? He threw down first.

Why didn't you tell us then instead of making up bullshit?

VIC: It was my call not to tell you.

LEM: Really? I was protecting the team.

You think this is still a team?

I'd do the same thing for you.

You know what? You won't need to with me.

There's dirt on your hands just like the rest of us.

We can toss around blame or we can fix it.

If this gets hung on Shane, we're all under the microscope.

They look hard enough, they'll find our money-train cash.

So, what do we do about Tavon?

He's only gonna remember more, not less.

g*dd*mn it.

sh*t.

VIC: Jantell and his boys are hopping today.

Look, all the crap we've been through lately?

Trust me, we're a team. We just gotta get through this.

We never should have taken that money.

God.

Hey, take a walk.

You take a walk. We're on the eye here.

Walon? What the hell are you doing here?

You're gonna tip these assholes off.

Me? Why don't you just paint five-0 on the side of the van?

You're on the Spookstreet crew? What for?

What do you care? You're compromising everyone.

Trish is in the store, Annie over there.

You're stepping on our case.

We were here first.

[CHANGE JANGLES] Get lost.

You get lost. Oh, Jesus Christ.

[♪♪♪]

WALON: Little tight in here, isn't it?

Why are you sitting on Spookstreet?

Gathering intel on some goober named Durwin.

He's making kid-on-kid sex tapes.

That's pretty vile, even for them.

Durwin's running this on the side.

Rest of the g*ng seems to be in the dark.

Where's he get the kids?

He's got a social worker in his pocket.

Most of her caseloads are cr*ck moms.

She inserts herself into their lives, gets to know them, and after a while, she, uh, offers it as a way to earn.

Lovely.

We're putting things together.

We should be rounding everybody up by the end of the week.

We don't have till the end of the week.

We gotta bring your banger in now.

What for?

To corroborate a tip.

What for?

We can't say.

For reasons I'd like to share, but I can't.

Oh, so I show you mine, but you don't show me yours?

Like when I had your team streak through here.

You think this is funny?

ACEVEDA: We need to fold your case into ours.

We're not even assigned to Farmington.

ACEVEDA: I've spoken to your captain.

We need to grab your p*rn guy now.

I'll decoy as a social worker, Trish is the cr*ck mom.

As soon as the money's exchanged, we can use the guy for our thing.

Whoa, slow down. You go in, the real social worker walks.

She's arranging for kids to sixty-nine each other, for Christ's sake.

I don't like the wicked witch flying away scot-free any more than you do, but believe me, our thing is real.

I'm not working for her again.

You're already inside.

I'll just be helping any way I can.

Fine.

[PHONE RINGS]

Hello. VIC: Hey, ready for your seminar?

Yeah. I just got my schedule.

You're still driving down, right?

Ha. You kidding me? How could I miss

"Groundwater impact on decomposition rate"?

Or maybe you'd be more interested in

"Rewards used to help motivate a dog perform special tasks."

Hi. Hi.

I got us adjoining rooms. Ocean view.

And yours is under the name Jackson Benjamin.

Ah, imaginative.

Should I wear a disguise?

Yeah, you laugh, but a lot of my colleagues are there and they know Hunter.

Relax. I don't plan on leaving the room much.

[BABY CRYING]

Neil O'Brien's missing?

That's right. Looks like the Armenians paid him a visit.

Jesus. You sure it wasn't just an angry maid?

Turkish cigarettes. You can only get these in Little Armenia.

I thought your people had O'Brien under surveillance 24/7.

Last night, someone logged into our system with security clearance from an agent who retired five months ago. He pulled surveil off O'Brien.

So we thinking he was snatched?

Unless he smelled trouble and ducked out somehow.

There's no blood. Car's not in the garage.

ACEVEDA: In any case, the Armenians have someone inside Treasury.

Half the ROC is former KGB with deep U.S. ties.

The Armenians work with the Russians.

They got vodka buddies, very high places.

How do we handle this?

It's been your case from the start.

Until I find this leak, it's best if it stays local.

I'll let you know if I find anything on my end.

Bring in Vic. He's dealt with the Armenians more than anyone.

As a resource, right?

I'm still running this.

Yes, Dutch. You're in charge.

Okay, Durwin Gethers. Grew up in South Gate.

In and out of custody since he was 16.

Anything else I need to know about this guy?

Hey, I'm just a cr*ck ho today.

I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been undercover.

Back in those days, there were hardly any women on the job let alone a black one. Bad guys never saw me coming.

You'll be fine.

Just like riding a bike.

I've been a social worker for 15 years.

Hated it for the last 10.

My ex-husband gambled away our savings so I earn on the side from the crackheads who I can't help anyway, even if I wanted to.

And you've been one of my cases for the last 10 months.

You'll be fine.

If I could take back what you went through...

You can't.

I'd take it on myself.

We're cops.

sh*t happens.

Is everything all right?

No. I, um...

Hunter was mugged. He's hurt.

Is he at the hospital?

He's at home.

Are the police there? No, he, uh... He called me.

He didn't report it? What happened?

I'm going home to find out, but I have to cancel San Diego.

I gotta go. I'll call you.

Hey, Julien.

That wagon was jacked from a school two blocks away.

Customs reported 11 cases of Glen Callan Scotch stolen from a freight container in San Pedro last week.

Yeah, but there were only seven in the wagon.

That means there's still four unaccounted for.

Hey, you guys busy?

JULIEN: A little. What's up?

Uh, got a mugging incident needs checking out.

What happened?

This guy got injured, but he didn't report it.

If you guys got an opening, maybe you can go over there, see what happened? Who's the victim?

Um, boyfriend of Lauren Riley.

She's, uh, the dog handler, helped us with the meth-lab case.

She's a friend.

We can try.

All right, here's the address. Thanks.

Sure.

Vic, our main suspect in the Armenian money-train robbery, Neil O'Brien, just disappeared from his apartment.

Huh?

We alerted airport security. Posted unis at train stations.

Any help you could provide...

Well, if the Armenian Might got to him, he won't be walking out of town.

Talked to his landlord.

Neil has a taste for Mexican hookers.

What is it about Irish guys and Latin tail?

Aceveda said I could use your team.

Well, I sort of got my hands full with this other thing.

Which is what, by the way?

Heh. Uh, can't talk about it, but, uh, nice try.

In any case, captain's pulling you off it to see if you can help with anything on O'Brien.

I'll canvass his neighbors, check the bar where he, uh, said he found the marked money.

I'll check out the d*ck dolls, see what the street knows.

Anything you find, run it by me.

Oh, sure, Dutch boy.

Let's connect after you get back from the Smog jumper.

Talk to you later. Yeah.

SHANE: They're hiding it from you.

LEM: What do you mean? Why? SHANE: To protect you.

All right, so, what's up?

We got a problem.

That Irish hump we dropped the money off on has gone missing.

The Armenians are on his tail.

Jesus, how'd they find out about him?

A leak in Treasury.

LEM: They get him, they'll k*ll him.

Well, they can't trace him back to us.

If O'Brien's dead, the feds will plant themselves here.

Keep digging.

If he's a fugitive, then they'll keep busy until this case collects dust.

What about the fact that the guy's innocent?

The guy's an assh*le with a rap sheet as long as your sad face.

What, Tavon wasn't enough for you?

Jesus Christ. Cut the sh*t.

Quit. Look, you don't want this thing to blow up, you better keep your head.

Lem's right.

We dropped the money off on O'Brien to divert the feds.

Not to set him up for an Armenian hit.

LEM: What are we supposed to do?

Get to him before the feet-choppers do.

Get his ass on a Greyhound to Akron.

There's no Armenian powerbase there.

God.

Get your ass in the van.

Start checking the screw shacks in Byz Lats turf.

We'll talk to Diagur.

See if his girlfriends are spreading for a gringo.

Yeah. Yeah. Go.

VIC: Diagur.

Who'd you lose, man?

My cousin Aramis in Chino, man. Some Armenian chopped off his fingers and stabbed him in the neck.

You know why?

No, man, we ain't got no beef with no Armenians.

You think it's about the marked cash the feds found on us?

Could be.

Armenians got a guy inside Treasury feeding them intel about the marked bills.

Man, those cats do some sick sh*t.

This guy right here? Number one on their most-wanted list.

Name's Neil O'Brien.

We think he's behind the robbery.

I gotta find him, prove it, stop the Armenians from finding the next pair of size 10s.

What do you need, then?

Well, he's a gambler, he likes to hit cheap Mexican ass.

Well, if he's in the hood, we'll find him.

He hangs at Smog jumpers.

Have one of your boys camp out on a stool there, call us if he shows.

You're lucky we needed a favor, Felicia, because throwing your ass in prison was my first choice.

I understand.

You wave. Keep your mouth shut.

[DOORBELL RINGS]

What's up? Durwin.

You and me need to talk some business.

Who the hell are you?

Felicia's supervisor.

I don't know no Felicia.

CLAUDETTE: Who's that?

I'm also her business partner.

We split everything fifty-fifty.

You paid her $1200 last week for that little movie star she hooked you up with.

Can I come in?

[R & B MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO]

So, what's this business you trying to speak on?

Felicia shorted me 300.

How's that my problem?

It's not.

Just as long as we can deal directly with each other from now on.

All right, whatever.

I need to find those two little honeys she been looking into.

All right, tell me what you need.

It's like I told Felicia, they need to be dark-skinned, no older than 11, and ready to freak.

I got two girls, 8 and 10.

How much? Two thousand.

Mama's gotta get 500 off the top.

And these little breezies gonna do whatever I say?

'Cause they gonna be getting into some hard sh*t.

It's no problem. Just tell me when you need them.

HUNTER: I didn't file a report.

Why are you...? I, uh... I mentioned it to a couple of people at the station.

JULIEN: Where were you att*cked?

In the parking lot of my restaurant.

He's a sous-chef at Le Malpeste.

I was going to my car, and I... I got jumped.

They... They... They wanted my money.

DANNY: They? More than one?

HUNTER: Three, I think.

Did you get a look at them?

No.

Were there any weapons?

No. They went for my watch.

That's when I started swinging.

Hunter.

Situations like this, it's usually best to give them what they're after.

You gave me this watch.

I wasn't gonna let them take it.

Came in a couple times a week.

Watch a game. Place a few bets.

Who'd he bet with?

I promise I'm not out to hassle anybody for making book.

I just need to find him. He's in danger.

Bookie's name is, uh...

Damn, he's got, like, a dog's name.

Sparky? Scout? Something like that.

I think he owns a furniture store, upholstery place, around here.

Faces I know. Names...

Okay.

If O'Brien or the bookie come in, give me a call.

Hey, um, any other cops come in?

Meet with or ask about O'Brien? Mackey?

Shaved head, uh, redneck partner?

Don't think so.

DUTCH: Okay.

All right, man, I hear you. Thanks for the heads up.

Diagur found O'Brien in a motel.

He's with a brown patch.

Well, let's go, then. He also said that Dutch is looking into us.

Dutch? Why?

I slipped up.

Mentioned the name of the bar, Smog jumpers, to him.

Dutch knows I shouldn't know about that place.

Christ, Dutch is looking into us.

Dutch would look into his mother if he thought he could catch a case.

He's got nothing.

Let's just get O'Brien out of town.

I can't do this alone.

[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

[WHISPERS] Up. Up. Get up. Go.

Hey. sh*t.

And wash your hands. What?

You just took a piss. Wash your hands.

What? That's disgusting.

There's a lot of people looking for you.

Looking to k*ll me.

I came home last night, saw those Armenian freaks turning over my place.

You gonna put me in Protective Custody?

Not exactly. Sit down.

All right, look. We're with Special Teams.

There's a leak in Treasury and our department.

That's how the Armenians found you.

Holy sh*t.

And the fact of the matter is, there's not a safe place we can offer you in this state.

I got no dough to split.

And what about the money you took from the Armenians?

I didn't do that. Right.

What about the money that you found in front of Smog jumpers?

Feds froze most of it.

It's what I get for putting it in a g*dd*mn bank.

The other 16 grand I lost on a sure thing.

Smart.

I got 3 large on the Lakers tonight.

I make that, I can move.

You listen to the game while you drive out of town.

My guy, Rex already has my bet.

Look, we'll front you the travel money.

Lakers come through, we'll make sure Rex wires you.

Where am I supposed to go?

VIC: Akron.

Where's that?

Where the kids at?

With my baby daddy.

They'll be here in a minute. Where my money at?

When I see the kids.

Oh, that's a nice touch.

Real nice.

That's them over there.

Eight hundred for the both of them.

CLAUDETTE: The deal was 5.

TRISH: Man. DURWIN: Which is the youngest?

Tayquanna. She the one on the left.

She ever suck a d*ck before?

I had a boyfriend.

They got about it a couple times.

Hey, Vic. Followed up on that mugging for you.

Oh.

DANNY: Things didn't really add up.

Although the girlfriend's buying the story.

She's fawning all over that guy like he's some superhero.

Well, they've been together for a while.

It's probably complicated.

Or not. Some women just have a thing for assholes.

Any luck finding O'Brien?

Uh, not yet.

Hey, um, a while back, you asked me to keep Vic out of the loop with the Armenians.

Why was that?

He was working on a quota mandate.

I didn't wanna distract him with anything g*ng-related. Why?

Just, you know, being nosey.

Sir, I need to talk to you. Is he being cooperative?

Sir? Very.

ACEVEDA: Okay.

Sir, they just found a body behind Manzana Groceria.

The feet are missing.

Okay.

[CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO]

[SIGHS]

Cigarette burns.

You think Diagur bitched us out to the Armenians?

He didn't know we were involved.

We were looking for O'Brien.

And we kept asking about the marked money.

Diagur Leyva. Ran the Byz Lats.

DUTCH: Any luck with the hookers?

Well, me and my boys got laid.

[SNICKERS] But, uh, no O'Brien.

Listen, uh, I gotta ask you, how is it you knew the name of the bar when I didn't mention it or you didn't read the report?

I, uh... I saw O'Brien's rap sheet.

Yeah, he'd been picked up on a bunch of gambling stings.

Liked Mexican hookers.

There's only one place in town you can do both and be white.

Right, Smog jumpers.

Right.

You find anything there?

No.

I think you're gonna be very happy with the final product.

Good. [DOORBELL BUZZES]

That's my babies.

All right. Let's let the nasty begin.

[DOORBELL BUZZING]

You gonna let them in?

Not till I get paid, black.

Mama gotta get low.

[SIGHS]

Look, I'm gonna give you half now, half when we finish.

I'm gonna let your homegirl hold the cheese for safekeeping.

Police! Stay down!

You're under arrest.

Come on. Hell, no.

Hell, yeah.

Okay, let Mommy put the lid on first.

Matthew's not helping.

Matthew, put the, uh...

Put the napkins on the table like I told you.

He threw the napkins on the floor.

Hello. Hey, sweetheart.

How does chicken, roasted potatoes and salad sound?

Perfect.

Did you get ice cream?

Oh, just chocolate and strawberry.

Hey, little man.

Come here, you.

Come here, little man. Let me give you a kiss. Mwah.

And one for you.

Cassidy, finish setting the table, okay?

Matthew!

Okay, okay. Let me help you.

Take the napkin just like this.

Remember how I showed you?

How long will we be staying here?

Well, uh, we'll see.

Kitchen still needs fixing.

There's gonna be painters in the house if you wanna change the color of your room.

Hey, that's it. That's the stuff, little man.

Very good.

Now you gotta put the silverware on top of it.

Okay? MATTHEW: Okay.

Ah, there she is.

You here on business or pleasure?

Always pleasure to see you.

McCoy Tyner at the Blues Project.

That's a sold-out show.

These tickets are hot.

Sizzling.

[LAUGHS] No, stolen.

Oh, come on.

Would I take you to a show with jacked tickets?

You're a fence. Isn't that what you do?

Come on, blue. I have been waiting for an hour to see you.

Did I say you could come in?

Okay, why you gotta step on a brother's goodwill like that?

Come on, Taylor, I'm busy.

Look, we got a lot of paperwork because some idiot crashed while running stolen merch.

Hey, did somebody say stolen? Did I hear stolen, huh?

Huh? Huh? How can I help?

Okay, we're looking for a guy who's selling stolen Scotch.

Glen Callan.

I don't know a lot of hood joints that's pouring three-0.

However, there are a couple of possibilities that we can investigate.

We?

Yeah. Look, I'd need a police escort.

All right, I got a contractor coming over to the house to work up an estimate.

I need to know what it's really gonna cost so the insurance people don't try to lowball us.

Thanks for tonight. It was nice.

What if one of the kids got hurt?

That aerosol can could've blown up in Matthew's face.

We got the new therapist starting this week.

But you need to... I need to what?

Matthew doesn't even think he did anything wrong.

How can I reason with him?

Somehow.

I can't spend every second with him.

You... You can't take him.

What are we supposed to do, put him in a home?

You're serious.

No. I don't know.

We are not gonna put him away.

I don't want to.

Then don't bring it up again.

Megan has a sh*t at a normal life.

Is this fair to her? Of course not.

But that doesn't mean we commit our son.

I am doing everything I can.

Well, then I'm gonna have to step in.

Maybe you got me on an obscenity beef. Or maybe you don't.

Because the Constitution says that titty, coochie, and badonkadonk is erotic expression.

So that sh*t is protected.

You're a pedophile, Durwin, and I don't have to tell you what the life expectancy is on the inside when you mess with kids.

Someone has a chance to take out a short eyes and doesn't catches a shank in the back themselves.

The mamas didn't have no problem with their kids getting dirty.

Let's see how you get dirty in prison. You ever suck a d*ck?

You cooperate, maybe we can file on you in a way that keeps you from getting your throat cut.

Now, Spookstreet's got its fingers in a lot of pies.

What's happening with your boys?

Usual sh*t.

Can't help you unless you got something unusual.

There's Primo.

He just got out of the pen and he passing around bad checks to get his pockets tight.

If he could've given us anything else, don't you think he would've by now?

He's a foot soldier.

So we just swapped out a social worker who tricks out kids for a guy passing bad checks? That sucks.

Let's see if this check kiter, Primo, is any more plugged in than he is.

All right, but do it fast.

DUTCH: Captain.

Just got a call from the bartender at Smog jumpers.

Says a bookie was in the bar collecting bets.

Apparently he needed the cash to cover a large payout to O'Brien.

O'Brien's still alive.

Bookie owns a furniture shop nearby. I'm tracking him.

Ask Vic.

I'm sure he knows all the bookmakers.

I'll do that.

Everything all right?

Yeah.

I'm really sorry about this weekend.

I was looking forward to it. Maybe another time...

The week you're going out of town this guy gets mugged by three guys he can't identify and he manages to fight them off?

Bet you didn't know you shacked with the man of steel.

You sent those officers over to see if he was lying.

He is lying.

He faked getting att*cked?

Why is that such a stretch? Because it's pathological.

So is saying that he'll slit his throat if you leave him.

I mean, are you ever gonna end it with this guy?

It's not that easy. It's not.

ACEVEDA: Hey, Vic.

Just a minute.

ACEVEDA: Did you find the bookie Dutch was looking for?

I'm sorry, what?

O'Brien's collecting on a bet.

Dutch is tracking down the bookie.

He was gonna check with you.

Well, we must have missed each other.

Who won the Laker game?

L.A., by six.

Hey. The bookie, Rex, where's his shop?

Uh, Flores. Let's go.

What's up?

O'Brien stayed in town to collect his winnings.

Oh, what an assh*le.

Dutch boy's onto him. We gotta get to him first.

DANNY: You ready?

Yeah.

Hey, captain okay your extracurricular police work?

Yeah. No OT, but he said he's buying the first round.

Hey, why are you still here?

They couldn't leave until they boarded up their café.

Told them I'd stick around.

Any luck finding the driver?

No, not so far.

All right, man, where are we going?

Only four joints that serve top-shelf Scotch.

And one of them, the Bling-Bling Room, this hole hasn't served a legal sh*t since the day it opened.

Okay, let's party.

Okay.

Detective Wyms, can I ask you about something?

What?

This couple back here trying to ID the guy who ran into their café...

I heard about them. What do you need?

Well, Dutch said you're dating a guy who's a contractor.

Their café needs a lot of work, new windows.

So I was wondering if your boyfriend might be able to get the materials wholesale.

That would help them out a lot.

I'll ask around.

Glad to see you're making the effort.

No effort, really. They're good people.

Rex?

Oh, sh*t. No feet.

Oh, man.

sh*t. g*dd*mn it.

SHANE: Hey, Vic. Vic.

Oh, for Christ's sake. It's O'Brien.

Oh!

[COUGHS]

They b*rned him and dunked him in turpentine. Jesus.

How long you think they tortured him?

He couldn't tell them anything if he didn't know what he was doing in the middle of this. g*dd*mn!

Listen. Listen to me. sh*t!

Dutch could be here any minute.

We gotta make O'Brien disappear.

LEM: What? He's gotta stay a fugitive.

If he's dead, Dutch, Treasury, they'll turn over every rock.

Eventually, we'll be under one of them.

He's their prime suspect.

If he's alive and missing, he stays that way.

All right. All right, so how...? H-h-h-how do we get rid of him?

We need something close. Simple.

Okay.

Uh...

LEM: g*dd*mn it.

What?

I... I know where to do it.

So Primo, you're fresh out.

Ten days. Long enough to get the prison smell off of me.

What you been up to?

Getting my drink on, my poke on.

Keeping it G'd up from the feet up.

Passing bad checks again?

Heh. No, dog. I paid my debt.

That is a major probation violation.

You had three and a half years left on your sentence when you got paroled, right?

Time to pay in full.

I was just trying to get me some ends so I can start fresh.

In an election year, there's zero tolerance for serial offenders.

But then, this check is yours to rip up if you give us something to make us look good to our bosses.

In the joint, I heard about this credit card ring.

Federal beef. A guy in a suit will get all the love.

I got a line on this ése cat flipping hot Sprewells.

Give me something sexier.

My mom wants to see my picture in the paper.

I know a ring of t-girls out on Santa Monica be rolling their johns.

Johns got it coming. Nice try, Primo.

I'm sorry, we can't do business.

Hold on. Ho... Hold on.

What if I told you the Horde's pulling a job tonight?

The Horde is in town?

[GRUNTS] Oh, God.

Ronnie, make sure his feet aren't in there.

sh*t. All right, I got it. Oh, sh*t.

[GRUNTS]

They're not here.

They must've taken them as trophies. Let's go.

Let's get him in the couch, quick.

One, two, three.

I got it.

One, two, three.

Okay, you ready? Yeah.

[COUGHS]

SHANE: g*dd*mn it.

Primo gave it up.

The Horde's going after the L.A. Motor Club on Treadwell.

Holiday weekend. Probably flush with cash.

Make sure the place is empty. I'm on it.

The Horde's involved? They can get pretty violent, right?

ACEVEDA: I'm seeing if SWAT's available.

Why don't you pull in the Strike Team too.

Aren't they working O'Brien with you?

Haven't been able to turn up this bookie either.

I'm working my own lead, they're all yours.

Heads up, heads up.

[ALL GRUNT] [PHONE RINGS]

Okay, hold it. Hold it.

Yeah.

When?

Okay, we'll be there in 10 minutes.

What? That robbery's going down.

Aceveda wants us at the takedown.

What, now? Yeah.

Okay.

Park the van in front of your place.

People are used to seeing it, they know it belongs to a cop.

No one will screw with it. Yeah, okay.

Okay, we'll grab the... The gear, pick you up at your place on the way to the takedown.

We'll drop the body off late tonight when things quiet down.

Let's go. Okay. All right, let's do it.

That was quick.

Yeah. Mr. Bling-Bling was very cooperative when we discovered only two bottles that weren't stolen.

When I'm right, I'm all right.

Told him we wouldn't look into his supply room if he gave up the name of the guy who sold him the Scotch.

We'll pick him up.

VIC: Four inside.

Driver's still in the van.

Hold until they come out.

OFFICER [ON WALKIE-TALKIE]: Roger that.

No idea that they're about to go to jail for a long time.

Think it's our turn someday? You think we'll see it coming?

It's time we turned our cash over to the real-estate guy.

You know, stop worrying about it.

Yeah.

I'll get it in motion.

They're coming out. Everybody move.

Agh!

Welcome to Hollywood, assh*le.

Lay down, lie down, lie down.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Get your weapons down! Get on your knees right now!

Put your weapons on the ground, put your hands on your head!

OFFICER: Drop it! VIC: Hands on your head!

Down on your knees!

LEM: Down on your knees! RONNIE: Get on your knees!

Hands on your head!

You, drop the g*n!

You, g*dd*mn it, put your hands up!

LEM: Drop it.

VIC: Get down, right now!

They'll assume Spookstreet gave them up.

The AGC operation wasn't compromised, keeps a dozen big cases viable.

Excellent work.

I'm just part of the team.

We're heading out.

Thanks for the help.

Would have liked that social worker, but...

We'll stay on her. Make sure she's out of business.

You have my word.

Not a bad bust.

Not bad at all.

Like riding a bicycle, huh?

Little stiff, but at least I didn't fall off.

No, of course you didn't.

[DOOR BUZZES] See you.

This isn't just Margos calling the sh*ts. He's in town.

He's got a thing for feet, and he's taking them off himself.

ACEVEDA: They get O'Brien? Luck of the Irish.

He slipped away again.

The Armenian Might's out of control.

I don't know who amped up these psychos, but k*lling Diagur, this guy?

They ain't stopping till they get their money back.

You think you can do something?

I make them, this Margos creep, my number-one priority.

You give me the word to hit back hard, I'll unravel them foot by foot.

I'll get Phillips to sign off on it.

You know how hard those people worked to build that restaurant that you crashed into?

You need to loosen up.

[DOOR BUZZES]

DANNY: Pretty soon we're gonna have to deputize you.

So, uh, tell the truth, blue.

You had fun clubbing with me, didn't you?

That was business.

Okay, better than getting sh*t at.

Okay, so, what do you say next time we, uh... We do it for real?

[JULIEN CLEARS THROAT]

All right. Uh, I see where it is.

You have my number if you change your mind.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[SIGHS]

We might fool Dutch and the feds, but the Armenians know the truth.

[♪♪♪]