01x10 - Apprehension

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Witchblade: I'm worried about you.

Not to mention I'm taking all kinds of heat.

You're a lot like your father.

A loner, a rogue.

You've got absolutely no right to talk about my father like that.

- Who the hell do you think you are?

- Your new boss.

Captain Siri is retiring.

Why do you want her so bad?

Pezzini and me, we go way back.

I mean, actually her dad and I go way back.

Let her walk on this.

Let the feud die.

Did anyone ask you why you got whisked into this job over several candidates who are actually qualified?

We call ourselves the White Bulls.

It's our totem, our talisman.

JOE: I'm not dying, Pez, I'm retiring.

I've seen your mug every day for six years, Joe.

I'm gonna miss it.

This invitation is, uh, offered to you one time and one time only.

- I'm in.

- You won't be sorry.

- He betrayed you.

- Yeah, there's a lot of that going around.

I wanna tell you, the guy is absolutely full of crap.

You are a good and faithful servant, Ian.

But you know not your master.

Sara Pezzini, a New York City detective drawn into a chance encounter with a supernatural w*apon.

Each day, each mystery, each encounter will ultimately reveal her true destiny.

Settle down, settle down.

I got it.

- Give me the rest of it.

- Pig.

The rest of it! Your attention, please.

Okay.

All right, everybody, keep Dorfman, shut up, please, will you?

All right.

I think you should all know that tonight's entertainment has been cordially provided by, uh, Refined Escort Service.

Now, the usual The usual considerations apply, right?

For the next 30 days, any girl showing you a Refined business card will be excused from any compromising position she may find herself in.

Okay.

Good, good.

Now, ladies, uh, we really appreciate your, uh, company, really.

But, uh, we got some business to attend to.

So good night.

- Aww - Yeah.

I'm sorry.

- Come on, ladies, time to go.

- Good night.

I'll talk to you later.

Males to the right, please, females to the left.

Ahem.

Let's go, let's keep it moving.

Males to the right, females to the left.

- Go.

- Very good.

- Very orderly and very quiet, please.

- This is your fault.

Males to the right, very good.

Females to the left, ver Excuse me.

Either side.

Keep it quiet now.

Anyone acquainted with the deceased flesh-peddler, Mr.

Prospero McQueen please raise your hands.

Anyone not acquainted with Prospero, please raise your hands.

- Can we go now?

- Ahem.

No, you can't go now.

Everybody quiet.

Stay in your lines.

Back in line.

- Stay in line.

- Hey, rookie, give me a minute.

Oh, sure.

Take two.

Ten, an hour.

Leave me here.

Tonight, the White Bulls would like to give special recognition to Detective Tommy Burgess.

- All right.

- Come on.

Now, within one week of getting his gold shield Tommy was working a heroin sting.

Now, to our great dismay, a dispute broke out between the dealer and buyer, and somehow they both fatally got sh*t.

Yeah, neither the contraband or the cash was ever recovered but the good news is that the White Bull scholarship fund is approximately $50,000 to the good.

My name is Officer James Pezzini, New York Police Department.

Badge number 7945.

Dad?

You're good.

Say hello to Margie for me, will you?

The date, February 22nd, 1984.

If you're watching this, it means that I'm already dead.

If I am, the likely reason is I've been working to expose a corrupt secret society within the New York P.

D.

They call themselves the White Bulls.

I got some news concerning a certain female pain-in-the-ass homicide detective.

They rule by intimidation.

They They abuse the badge in every possible way.

And this is their trademark.

They use this round when the Bulls want to assassinate one of their enemies.

If one their members finds this shell at a m*rder scene he'll desist in his investigation of that crime.

And they're currently in a renaissance led by this deadly band of new young recruits.

Most notably, this rising young sergeant by the name of Bruno Dante.

I've warned you guys to be careful around that bitch.

Now, some of you know first-hand just how resistant she can be to persuasion.

I believe the White Bulls have been operating in the department for decades.

And they go way up the ranks.

Too far for me to solve the problem by any internal means.

I'm happy to report that due to some aggressive recruiting by yours truly we're very, very close to solving the Pezzini problem.

Because finally, we have an inside man.

Hey, need a little help here.

Yeah.

That makes two of us.

Titillation, enigma, seduction.

What do these words have in common?

Hmm?

I'll go on, then.

Intimidation, temptation abandonment, rejection, opposition.

Is the picture getting clearer?

These are all stratagems for controlling Sara Pezzini.

For containing her.

I had envisioned a scenario in which Sara would become a member of our family and you could serve us both.

I still hold that hope.

Your infatuation and devotion to Sara Pezzini is touchingly apparent.

However, Sara Pezzini is a lioness.

Fascinating as a zoological specimen, but worthless as a pet.

And yet invaluable for the blood that crosses through her veins.

And it's her blood you covet.

You can't hold me.

I gotta work.

- I will get to you as soon as I can.

- No, no, no.

You get to me right now, Beavis, or I'm out of here.

Hey, hey.

We got a dead pimp.

Your pimp.

Can you prove you didn't k*ll him?

Prove it?

No.

Then why don't you sit down and shut up?

Maybe I explained it wrong.

How the hell do you find the truth when everybody lies?

I asked my dad that question once.

He answered, "Diogenes.

" - Diogenes?

- Yeah.

- Who's Diogenes?

- Look him up.

I'm not kidding you.

The girl is odd.

Tell him, captain.

Yeah.

We're out of here.

Settle down.

- Stop.

- I ain't no five-0 sl*ve.

Get out of here.

- Give me the rest.

- Pig.

The rest of it! The rest of it! This is discrimina This is discrimination, is what it is.

- If you don't sit down and wait your turn - Hey, Jake, let her go.

- What?

- Let them all go.

All except her.

Are you nuts?

We just spent two hours rounding them up.

Cut them loose, Jake.

Put this one on an overnight hold.

I gotta go see somebody.

See somebody at this hour?

Thanks, partner.

JOE: Okay.

I'm coming.

Hang on.

Sara.

- What time is it?

- It's late, it's too late.

- What are you talking about?

- The White Bulls, Joe.

Joe, who is it?

It's, uh It's a pizza guy, he's got the wrong apartment.

- You have to go.

- The White Bulls, Bruno Dante.

My father talked to me, Joe.

- There's nothing to talk about.

- My dad trusted you.

I trust you.

You practically raised me.

So please don't lie to me, Joe.

Sara, I'm out of it.

I escaped with my life.

I am out of it.

- Well, I'm in it.

- I'm sorry.

I Joe, I need help.

No, no, not from me.

From who, then?

Anyone I ask could be one of them.

Sara, you know I care a great deal about you.

Please, take my advice.

Stick with Homicide mind your own business, and try to live to retirement.

- It's wonderful.

I've never been more happy.

- Mind my own business?

You know I can't do that, Joe.

Come on, talk to me.

Joe.

- Sara.

- Marie, I was just She was in the neighborhood.

Great seeing you, Joe.

Marie, I'm sorry.

One is enriched to unfortunate events.

Confucius?

No, I Ching.

The book of changes.

- Appropriate reading for you right now.

- Yeah, I'll say.

You know, you got a fat nerve being dead right now.

- I could really use someone like you.

- I'm right here.

Someone alive, Danny.

- You know what I could use right now?

- What?

One of those.

Could you?

I bet that smells good.

Oh, there is one person you can trust.

Yeah, who would that be?

So do you always talk to yourself or do you just save it for when you're around me?

The White Bulls, ever heard of them?

Uh, r*cist cops.

Alabama, George Wallace?

Wrong.

- Albinos in Pamplona?

- Last chance, Gabriel.

Why don't you tell me?

Dirty cops right here in New York.

I need an overnight education.

Sorry, that's not my department.

Gabriel?

All right.

I got this one client.

A real conspiracy nut.

I don't listen to half of what he says, but his checks don't bounce, you know?

He hates cops.

Collects brutality memorabilia.

Axe handles, lynching nooses, uh Stacey Koon's Rodney King nightstick.

- I got five figures for that.

- Okay, Gabriel, fast-forward.

Nothing.

He just mentioned the name once.

I thought this was his usual nut-bag B.

S.

Well, what did he say?

They have this engraved b*llet they use to k*ll people.

I have a standing offer for 50 grand if I can deliver a real one.

You okay?

Yeah.

Maybe it's better if you leave this one alone.

- Why?

What are you not telling me?

- Nothing.

Yeah, now who's lying?

Hey, Gabriel, I just don't wanna put you in danger, all right?

Like I'm scared.

Like you should be.

So tell me.

What is it that Pezzini loves most in this world?

Provocative question.

Why do you ask?

Because her temper is her Achilles' heel.

And whenever she loses control of it that's when she makes errors in judgment.

So I was thinking, what if one by one everything that Pezzini loves starts to go away?

Well, she loves that motorcycle she rides.

Keep going.

Something more personal.

You have no right to keep me here.

I got nothing to say to you.

Good.

I'd rather you keep silent than lie to me like everyone else.

Now, I know that Prospero was your pimp, Charlene.

I'm betting you met him when you were just a kid.

What, 15, 16?

He bought you clothes, probably took you out to clubs.

He was your daddy.

So you knew a lot of his business.

His girls, his johns.

His money.

Where he kept it, how he spent it.

Who he paid off.

Come on, Charlene.

We all know a businessman cannot operate on the streets unless he takes care of the cops, right?

I'm not talking to you, remember?

That's fine.

I'll do the talking.

Prospero got fed up with the bribery, didn't he?

He said he didn't wanna be a sl*ve to the five-0.

I tried to warn the fool.

- Please, you can't keep me here.

- We can't let you go.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Why can't we keep you here, Charlene?

Because the cop that k*lled Prospero is here, isn't he?

Did you see him?

No, I didn't see anything.

Did he see you?

I don't know.

But you're not putting me on a stand so he can take a sh*t at me.

I will not let anything happen to you.

I promise you that.

Yeah?

How you gonna do that?

What do you think?

I think everything is connected.

You gonna buy that a cop is guilty based on a h**ker's testimony?

- What, do you think she's lying?

- I think she's telling the truth.

But I don't know how you got it out of her.

You barely even asked her a question.

- Want to book her as a material witness?

- No, not yet.

- Take her back into holding.

- Look, we gotta move on this.

Jake, we can hold her for 72 hours.

We still have time.

Put her in her cell, tell her to keep quiet.

I gotta decide how I wanna play this.

Sara.

You gotta let me in.

I will, just not here.

Wherever you feel safe.

- I don't feel safe anywhere, Jake.

- Sara, it's me.

- Yeah, Pezzini.

- Marie's gone to her sisters.

- Can you come over?

- I'm on my way.

- Don't tell a soul.

Be very careful.

- Okay.

Hey.

Cafe Enigma around the corner from my apartment, 8:00 tonight.

The White Bulls k*lled your father.

No, Tommy Gallo k*lled Dad.

He pulled the trigger, but it was a contract hit.

What?

How do you know this?

Because I caught the rollout.

And, uh when I got there I found this on the ground beside his body.

Uh What did you do?

I did nothing.

Not a damn thing.

Now, what could I do?

The Bulls were all around.

I could feel eyes boring into my back for weeks afterwards.

I know they were watching me.

Marie and I were just married.

We were about to have our first baby.

I didn't wanna be next.

Could you please say something?

Uh Like what, Joe?

Like, uh Like, "That's all right"?

Like, "There was nothing you could do"?

- I was scared.

- So was Dad.

It didn't stop him.

He was a better man than I am.

I don't expect your sympathy, Sara.

I've carried this burden ever since that night and it has cost me dearly.

You?

If you can answer me one question I'll grant you my absolution for whatever that's worth.

It would mean the world to me.

Did Bruno Dante take out the contract?

Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who walked around Athens with a lantern in broad daylight.

He said he was looking for an honest man.

- You looked it up.

- I did.

Didn't say whether he ever found one.

Uh, some accounts say only when he looked in a mirror.

Meaning, if you want to find an honest man, be one.

That's the way my dad read it.

Jake, I gotta tell you something.

If this is about mixing partnership without personalizing it, it's cool.

No, no, no.

Nothing like that.

We have a problem in our department.

A big problem.

There's a, uh A force within the force.

A bunch of bad cops.

They call themselves the White Bulls.

They've been around a long time, and, uh they actually k*lled my dad.

- What?

- Yeah.

He was on to them.

They mask as these righteous crusaders.

But what they're really about is corruption, bribes, protection, the works.

This McQueen m*rder feels like their handiwork.

- And one of their leaders - Let me guess.

Captain Dante.

I knew there was something wrong there.

Dante suddenly got promoted, not one but two ranks the year after my dad's death.

That's public record.

And I have other evidence and the word of a witness.

If you say it, I believe you.

I trust you, Sara.

And you can trust me too.

What do we do?

Go to I.

A.

, outside agency, FBI?

I'm not sure yet.

What kind of evidence do you have?

I have articles.

I have reports.

I even have a video tape my dad left me with specific time-date incidents.

Yeah, but your dad's been dead for years, Sara.

Those crimes must be pretty old.

There's no statute on m*rder, Jake.

Who's your witness?

- I - Okay.

You'll tell me when you're ready.

Meanwhile, can I see the video?

Listen.

Our best bet might be the media, get it all public.

- Make it hard for them to move against us.

- I thought that too.

And you're staying on my couch till further notice.

- What?

- We'll swing by your place pick up what you need for a couple of days, stick together.

Jake, if they wanna get me They have to get both of us.

How can I say no to that?

You ever notice how people who say, "everyone in the world is dishonest" are usually dishonest themselves?

Folks who think people are basically honest tend to be honest?

Yeah, exactly.

This was no accident, Sara.

What took you so long?

- You finally grew some stones, Joe?

- Yeah.

Feels pretty damn good too.

What?

Telling a girl that her dad's a hero instead of telling her the truth?

That is the truth.

Jim was a hero.

And you're a schmuck.

All you did was sign Sara's death warrant.

Not to mention my own.

You're right, Bruno.

I did sign two death warrants tonight.

But they weren't mine and Sara's.

They were mine and yours.

Joe, I found this in your room.

You don't mind if I use it, do you?

You don't have to bring them back.

I don't wanna be responsible for them.

- You're not.

- They're not mine.

- They were a gift.

- They were a loan.

Collateral, remember?

Aren't we a little past that?

Oh.

You know, I, uh I hate to ask this, but you seem like you're putting your affairs in order.

Yeah, something like that.

- The White Bulls are coming after me.

- Holy I'm not gonna give them a stationary target.

What do you mean, coming after you?

They trashed my bike last night, Gabriel.

Sent me a message.

Your Buell?

Oh, man, I'm sorry, Sara.

Look, are Are you sure that?

Yeah, okay, never mind.

You're lucky you weren't there when it happened.

No, lucky for them.

Now, you listen to me, Gabriel.

I want you to stay away from me for as long as you can as far as possible.

Why the one person you can trust?

Hey, listen.

When somebody messes with one of my friends they mess with me.

I appreciate that.

I really do.

But you gotta understand something.

That people who get close to me, they die.

Come on, Pez, that's just paranoia talking.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Tell that to my father and my partner and my boyfriend.

- Come on.

- Where am I going?

If you're smart, Alaska.

Quick, let's go.

Come on.

Pezzini.

Give me the rest of it.

- Hey, watch it.

- Pay up.

Pig.

I ain't no five-0 sl*ve.

The rest of it! What's happening, detective?

Uh, nothing, Orlinsky.

I thought she might have been a witness to the Prospero McQueen sh**ting.

Maybe even a suspect.

But I was wrong.

- And you're sure?

- Yeah.

Vicky Po said the sh**t must've been right-handed judging from the entry wounds.

This girl's a southpaw.

Besides, her daddy said she was with him the night of the m*rder.

If I was her daddy, I'd protect her too.

Make sure you know where you can reach her.

You got it.

Pezzini.

Look, you stay low, out of sight.

- I may need you to come - No.

I told you I'm not Look, I will only contact you when I can guarantee your safety.

Otherwise, I will leave you alone.

Do you believe me?

Yeah.

Charlene, between you and me that guy was our k*ller, wasn't he?

It's okay.

Come on.

Whoa.

Behold the future, Sara.

What are you doing here?

I came to apologize to you.

For?

When I first met you, my only interest was in the Witchblade.

I offered you the I offered the world on a silver platter, but that was not altruistic and genuine.

You rejected me and you had a right to do so.

Apology not required but accepted.

Then later when you came to me for help, I refused out of bitterness.

But you came through in the end.

Two million dollars' worth.

That was Ian's doing.

He shamed me into realizing I was consigning you to death by refusing to help you.

So I express my heartfelt regrets and I ask your forgiveness.

Should you need anything from me in the future, anything I am at your service.

Excuse me.

I can only eat so much crow at one sitting.

Available, detective.

Units reporting a dead body rollout at 4711 Prospect Street.

Joe.

Wait a minute.

What the hell are you guys doing?

- You can't do that until - I got the case, Pezzini.

- The call just came in.

- Yeah, I know.

I was in the neighborhood.

- You were what?

- You don't want this one, Pezzini.

You're too close.

It's Joe Siri.

People around you keep dying.

Why is that?

Marie, I I Joe You're turning into something you are not.

- What is that, the I Ching again?

- No, Radiohead.

Sara, if you do this, the Bulls win.

- They're winning anyway.

- Don't forget.

Nothing is what it seems.

You're right.

They k*lled Joe Siri, covered it up, called it a su1c1de.

So nothing is what it seems, Danny.

It's worse.

I am gonna take you down.

Is that a g*n at my chest or you happy to see me?

I always knew you were a disgrace to the badge.

You k*lled Joe Siri.

You taking hallucinogens again?

Because I understand you have taste for them, Pezzini.

Just keep talking.

Because nothing would please me more than to pull this trigger and blow your brains all over that pillow.

Like father like daughter, huh?

You tell me everything there is to know about the White Bulls.

Yeah.

Like that's gonna happen.

You know, maybe you can hold your own against hookers and pimps but believe me, you have no idea who you're up against.

Who you kidding?

You're not gonna k*ll me, Pezzini.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

You see this?

This is the shell from the round Tommy Gallo used to k*ll my father.

Remember?

There's one just like it right under my hammer.

Now, I might just have to call Tommy Burgess over to check out the hit.

And when he finds this brass on the floor, he's just gonna walk away, right?

Damn, Bruno, you wetting the bed?

See, I know that you've been trying to push me to the breaking point.

But guess what, captain, I'm not gonna break.

You know what else?

I can take this a lot longer than you can.

Sara Pezzini's finally gone too far.

She's currently AWOL from the department.

She's made it very clear to me, gentlemen, that we, our organization, is her target.

Now, she made that statement to me while holding a revolver at my face in my own home, loaded with one of our own b*ll*ts.

If there's been a reason for the expression "sh**t first and ask questions later" that reason is named Sara Pezzini.

Let's go.

Thought the plan was to gaslight Pezzini, make her do something stupid.

It was.

It worked.

But we weren't gonna k*ll her.

Plans change.

I didn't much buy that apology of yours.

You wound me, Sara.

But as for the rest of it, did you mean what you said?

- Which portion of it?

- About helping me, did you mean it?

Try me.

I have a story to tell.

It concerns the police department.

Right now, I have some very serious people that are trying to shut me up.

And the only way that I can save myself is to bring my testimony to light in the media right now.

The offices of my cable network are less than a mile away.

My car is warmed and waiting downstairs.

Did you know I was coming?

We're linked, you and I.

Does this disturb you?

Not this time.

Let's go.

I'm sorry.

I cannot broadcast your story without more evidence.

Look, I have my father's videotape deposition.

I have articles concerning the deaths of New York police officers.

I I even have a witness to the recent extortion m*rder of a Harlem pimp.

And of the recent death of Captain Joseph Siri, retired.

Well, the tape and the clippings are compelling but I'm still gonna have to investigate further.

I don't know, possibly meet your witness.

But that might not be possible.

But But look, Miss Weitzer, this.

See, this is the b*llet that the organization uses for assassination.

They do not wish to be investigated.

You know, if this story is true, it's a journalist's dream.

Believe me, it is true.

But if it's not true this will do incalculable damage to the police department and this city.

Miss Weitzer, they're gonna k*ll me.

Calm down, Miss Pezzini.

You're under the protection of one of the most powerful men in the world.

Just give me 24 hours to corroborate your statements and if I'm satisfied, we'll go on the air.

- No, no.

I don't have 24 hours.

Not even if I can turn this into a full one-hour exposé?

This really isn't a story to waste on the nightly news.

It is if he says it is.

I'm sorry, Sara.

It's a long-standing policy that the VCN newsroom is totally autonomous.

No thinking person would want the network's owner dictating what gets covered and what doesn't.

What, now you grow scruples?

Sara Pezzini, you are under arrest.

Sara, this way out.

I wouldn't, Sara.

He's been setting you up for some time now.

You gonna listen to him?

He lured you out last night so they could vandalize your motorcycle.

He's a hired k*ller.

He's a White Bull.

He's lying, Sara.

He was recruited by Dante.

That's why I wanted to k*ll him, for betraying you.

Irons told you himself.

I provided the ransom for your lover.

And I gave you the tape of your father.

- You what?

- Months ago, under orders I stole it from a box of effects Captain Siri left you.

You're a bastard, Nottingham.

But I returned it to you when you needed it most against orders.

What's he talking about?

Sara, I saved your life.

I am the one person you can trust.

Aah! You, I trust.

- Where did she go?

- End of the hall, she went right.

DANTE: Come on, come on, come on! You overstepped your authority.

Endangered innocent lives, destroyed property.

Had you actually operated with a little more discretion and intelligence you might actually have caught your quarry.

It is frightening to think society's protected by such an incompetent.

Sara Pezzini was the one who overstepped her bounds.

That isn't for you to decide.

The hell it isn't.

Listen, any previous deals that you and I had regarding her are off.

I want her dead.

In fact, if you wanna keep her alive, you're gonna have to k*ll me instead.

Have it your way, captain.

Stop right there.

Where have you been?

Looking for an honest man, like Diogenes.

Only I can't find one.

- Ha.

Not even in the mirror.

- Sara, listen to me I know you've been keeping secrets from me.

No more than you've been keeping from me.

But the fact that you have secrets doesn't mean I don't trust you.

And it shouldn't mean you don't trust me.

I can't do this alone.

I have to roll the dice on someone.

So I'm gonna roll them on you.

- Where you going?

- I gotta keep moving.

- I wanna help.

It's - You are.

Partner.