Harlan Coben's Shelter (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

Previously on Shelter
Shira told me about this kid.
Dylan Shakes.
He disappeared right
after his baseball game.
My dad had the same hat
as Dylan Shakes in this photo.
They were best friends.
If arresting my nephew
is your twisted way
of trying to get my attention
Don't flatter yourself.
I stopped thinking about
you a long time ago.
Ooh, I'm so sorry.
- Shira?
- Hannah.
Oh, my God.
Kitty will be out in a minute.
I just wanted to speak
with you both for a moment.
Just make sure to take
it easy for a bit, okay?
Mickey!
Mom. I missed you so much.
So we have to assume
whoever attacked Dr. Kent
is connected to Ashley's disappearance.
Yeah, yeah, and that they believed
the Kents were Ashley's parents too.
The man who did this to my husband,
he had a tattoo on his face.
A tattoo of what?
An octopus.
That doesn't belong to you.
Did you say that the guy
that you and Spoon
saw at Bat Lady's house
had a shaved head and sunglasses on?
Holy fuck, is that guy
watching us right now?
Hey, stop! Stop!
Who are you?
Why were you at Bat Lady's house,
and why are you following me?
You're not yet ready for those answers.
Bat Lady said my dad is still alive.
- Believe me.
- She shouldn't have said that.
I don't know where my mom
is. She never came home.
Mickey, you silly goose,
you left your door unlocked.
Anything?
Anything about Ashley?
Still looking.
You told Mickey he's still alive.
I know.
Why?
Come on, there must be
something in here on Ashley.
Just this so far.
Well, we will do what we must.
But?
But I'm not sure everyone will survive.
We'll reach out
if there are any new developments.
But for now, she just needs some time.
We require no contact
during this period.
Okay.
All right. Thanks.
You're welcome.
Your mom's been readmitted.
She wasn't ready.
No, she wasn't.
Is this why you didn't
want my mom to marry my dad?
The depression?
It's complicated.
I'll get the car.
That doesn't belong to you.
Rachel Caldwell.
Mickey Bolitar.
Hmm.
- Charlotte.
- Here.
- John.
- Present.
Sit down, Mr. Taylor.
What are you doing?
Hey.
Have you heard anything from Mickey?
No.
He's probably with his mom.
Yeah.
I don't know.
He never reached out
to me after I gave him
my dad's coconut pie,
and I just kind of
thought he would text me
Seriously?
You went over there?
You shouldn't have interrupted them.
- What is your problem?
- I didn't interrupt them.
Like, there was nobody there.
Well, there was supposed to be.
Well, there wasn't, so
wait, there was somebody there.
This was kind of scary, actually.
I found this guy.
I mean, he's pretty cute, but also,
doesn't he kind of look like me?
Like, a bit? Like, with a hat?
Did you steal that from their house?
I didn't s
okay, Mickey would be happy
if he knew that I found
okay.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Back to your desk, Mr. Spindell.
On it.
Are you going to assembly next period?
Uh, yeah.
I mean, it's mandatory, right?
Like you care.
You mind if I
Wow, what's this?
Oh, that's that's, like, nothing.
Don't be embarrassed. It's so dark.
I fucking love it.
- Do you have a uDOu?
- No.
- Uh, I mean, no.
- Get one.
You should totally post your art there.
I, uh, gotta gotta go.
Allen, has she gained weight?
I can't tell if her ankles are swollen
or it's just those unfortunate socks.
Ellen, they're ankles.
I think she looks gorgeous.
Not as gorgeous as
her mother, of course.
Smooth talker.
Just being romantic.
You're hoping to get some.
I'm hoping to get a lot.
Hello.
Mom?
- Hi, honeybunch.
- Hi, Dad.
I see you're still snoring.
There's an app for that, you know.
Yeah, it's called the App-nea.
Oh, God. Wow.
Why are you guys here?
We need an invitation to our own home?
I told you we should have called first.
I texted. What's the problem?
Okay, I need some coffee.
Uh
I'm I'm not in college anymore.
You don't need to stock my fridge.
Oh, honey, these aren't for you.
They're for our party guests.
What party?
Our 49th wedding anniversary.
You forgot, right?
Anyway, we were all
set to go on a cruise.
To the Bahamas, from Fort Lauderdale.
Cabin upgrade.
But with what happened to Kitty
It's better this way.
More family time.
It'll be good for Mickey.
And when exactly is this party?
In, uh, five hours.
Welcome, Kasselton Camels.
Yeah.
Yeah!
Thank you all for coming.
Still no sign of Mickey.
I'm sure it's fine.
European history.
And do I have huge news for all of you.
But first, a bit of bad news.
Our beloved drama instructor, Mr. V,
he was called away
on a family emergency,
and, uh, we wish him well.
What's up with all the paparazzi?
But that means I'll be in charge
- I don't know.
- of the school musical this year.
- How's my hair?
- Fear not.
I have some experience in this.
Have you ever seen a bird's nest
after a raccoon attack?
God, I wish.
Curtain Call is a nonprofit for the arts
that chooses a celebrity to sponsor
one high school musical a year.
Ema, Ema, Ema, Ema
Our celebrity sponsor needs
no introduction, kids.
May I present to you
the one and only Angelica Wyatt.
Ooh!
Can you, like, fucking chill, please?
Not even a little bit.
Angelica Wyatt's my favorite actor ever.
Bar none. I mean, she has an EGOT.
She has an Emmy. She has a Grammy.
- She has an Oscar
- I really don't care, Spoon.
Have you ever seen Flipping for Love?
I wished for a dolphin
12 Hanukkahs in a row.
That's 96 nights of wishing.
You're hot!
Art.
Art for art's sake.
It makes life so much more interesting,
so much more manageable.
And the truth is,
the medium is not what's important.
The important thing is
getting out there and doing.
Doing things you like.
Doing things that scare
the shit out of you.
Oh. Oops, sorry.
Can I say shit?
Oh, she's bad, dude.
All right, let's get to the
reason I'm here, shall we?
This year's musical is
Phantom of the Opera.
Ema, I'm gonna audition,
and I'm gonna get the Phantom,
and then she's gonna pull
a truthful performance from out of me,
and then we're gonna
get really, really close,
and we're gonna bond
and we're gonna start going on walks
and she'll invite me over for dinner,
and then we're gonna
enter an open marriage,
- and it's gonna be beautiful.
- Whoa, that's foul, Spoon.
- You should stop.
- Just grow up, Ema.
It takes a very brave and bold spirit
to truly inhabit the role of Phantom.
Buck! Buck!
Buck! Buck!
Come on. Hey.
Buck! Buck! Buck! Buck!
Buck! Buck! Buck!
Buck! Buck! Buck! Buck!
Buck! Buck! Buck!
I'm gonna destroy his world.
I so look forward
to starting this process with you today.
We're going to go on a journey together,
and we're going to
create something magical.
And now she's
she's been readmitted.
Mickey, I'm really sorry.
Really. I second that.
Truly.
We need to focus on finding Ashley.
You guys said you had something new?
Let's show him.
Mickey, I'm so sorry.
I stole this from you.
Not that thing, Spoon.
The Ashley thing.
- Oh, yes.
- What is this?
It's okay. Don't worry about it.
What is this place?
This, my gorgeous, gorgeous girls,
is the Spindell Spot.
A secret to most,
a haven for the lucky few.
Okay.
It's also an abandoned boiler room
that hasn't been used since,
like, the 1950s or something.
What's that sound?
Oh, teachers.
- What?
- Yeah.
So you know how old pipes carry sound?
This pipe runs straight to the
sink in the teachers' lounge.
I hear the craziest stuff.
These teachers are very,
very complicated people.
Also, they really, really hate us.
How did you find this place?
My dad's head janitor here, remember?
He lets me use the
space for my MILF Club.
- What?
- What the fuck is that?
Musicals I Love Foundation.
Who's in this MILF Club?
Well, there's me
Just show him the thing, Spoon.
Yes.
What is all of this?
Dylan Shakes.
The little boy that they're
holding the memorial for.
Yeah, okay.
So ever since we talked
about him a few days ago,
my brain just developed
this deep, uh, itch.
Dylan Shakes, missing
kid from Kasselton.
Ashley Kent, missing kid from Kasselton.
They're connected?
Dylan Shakes goes missing
after his little league game in 1995.
Don't people say his dad killed him?
Yeah, the police considered
him their number one suspect,
but there was never
really enough evidence
to actually go through with an arrest.
- Where's his dad now?
- Nobody knows.
He left Kasselton right after.
Okay, well, it's definitely weird
that two kids from the
same town went missing.
What does one have to do with the other?
Well, that's the kicker.
Dylan Shakes goes
missing on September 8th.
The same day Ashley went missing.
Yeah, 27 years earlier.
But okay, what do we think that means?
That Dylan's dad took Ashley?
Potentially, a stretch, right?
But potentially could be.
I think we should be
looking for connections
- between Dylan and Ashley.
- But how?
There's nothing about Ashley online.
No social media, anything.
It's like she doesn't exist.
We forgot to look in
the most obvious place.
Where is that?
Her locker.
And it's completely empty.
Yeah, the school must
have cleared it out
after Ashley withdrew.
Yeah, I guess.
Guys.
This shit tracks her
every move all day long.
If we could get all the security footage
the day Ashley disappeared,
we might be able to reconstruct her day.
And maybe we can see
what happened to her.
Well, how do we get that footage?
Yeah, it would definitely
be really hard
to download every second
of every surveillance camera
the day Ashley disappeared.
Okay.
So I downloaded every second
from every surveillance camera
on the day Ashley disappeared.
- How'd you pull that off?
- You're serious.
I suspected Bailey Barrios
of faking her limp last year
to get out of gym class, so I
hacked into the security
system for proof.
She has arthritis, you asshole.
Yeah, I didn't say I was right, did I?
I don't know what the
fuck's wrong with him.
Guys, okay, it's gonna take us days
to go through that kind of footage.
We should take turns.
I can take the first shift.
I've trained my teachers not
to expect regular attendance.
You?
I learn when I want to learn, Mickey.
If it's cool with you,
I don't mind going first.
I'm really nervous, Mickey.
Are you nervous?
Hey, hey, you'll be okay.
Mickey, that's easy for
you to say, show-off.
I mean, you speak fluent Spanish.
- Okay.
- When I try to speak Spanish,
all the words get jumbled in my head.
Hey, listen, you're overthinking it.
Spanish is like poetry.
It's meant to be consumed in your heart,
absorbed in your bones.
Did you just say
"absorbed in your bones"?
- Yeah.
- OK, Spanish speakers.
Okay.
Let's see your version of
an impassioned conversation.
Ashley, Mickey, you're up.
Hey! Stop!
This is my parking spot!
No, sir. This par
This one is the mine.
No, I don't think you understand.
This has been my parking
spot for many years.
Prove it to me or I will park here!
Well, my name is on the sign.
Oh, yeah!
Oh, yeah.
Your name is on the sign.
So I will let you park here.
Yes, thank you.
- Hey.
- You okay?
Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.
What time is it?
It's 5:00. It's my turn.
Oh, shit, I gotta go.
- Uh, where?
- Home.
Rachel and I are doing a
history project together,
and I'm late, so bye.
Bye.
Can't keep Cheer Princess waiting.
That's for sure.
There he is.
My handsome boy.
Grandma!
Give your grandma smooches.
I'll settle for some hugs, kiddo.
Aye!
I can't believe I get
to see you guys here.
Did you get tall? He got
taller, a foot at least.
He got more handsome, that's for sure.
Although I'm not surprised.
What I am surprised about
is why you would let a
pretty girl like Rachel
wait so long for you.
I'm sorry about that.
It's cool. It's cool. You
were busy with smooches.
You must be famished.
I'll make you a schmear with lox.
Oh, Grandma, don't worry about it.
We gotta go downstairs
and do a history project.
Oh, they have homework, Ellen.
Dad, stop. Seriously.
Actual homework, Pops.
Mm-hmm.
What's the project on?
It's on a little girl named Lizzy Sobek.
Lizzy Lizzy Sobek?
- Yeah.
- You've heard of her?
Absolutely, we have.
She rescued kids on
a train to Auschwitz.
Most people never heard of her.
Some think she didn't exist,
that she's an urban legend,
but she's a hero to us.
Very inspirational.
Wow.
Well, we hope to do right by her.
I don't doubt it.
Dad, let them go work.
All right. All right.
Keep that door open, you two.
Pops.
It's okay.
You don't have to worry.
Ashley.
Oh, shit.
We're doing fine, Dad.
Just relax and have fun.
Surprise.
Hey, Shira.
Hi hey, guys.
I actually ran into your
dad at the supermarket,
and he told your mom,
and your mom called us,
and here we are, so
Just like old times.
Hey.
Hey, Rachel.
- You look so nice.
- Oh, thanks.
I've haven't seen you at
the house lately, Rachel.
Cheerleading taking
up a lot of your time?
- Dad.
- What?
Um, something like that.
I actually have a lot of homework to do,
so I gotta go, but it
was so nice to see you.
I'll see ya.
Hey, what's your deal?
You're not responding to my texts.
You don't show up to school today.
I'm just really busy.
Yeah, you're not too busy for Bolitar.
We're doing a history project together,
one of the many stressful things
- I have going on right now.
- Hey, hey, hey. Come here.
Do you ever think that maybe
I could have something
Come here.
If you're stressed, just tell me, okay?
I can help.
Okay?
Plus,
I've got this magic stress stick.
Makes it all go away.
You always know how to ruin it.
- It's so fucked up, honestly.
- Baby, come on.
I can't believe I could even talk
I was joking.
Get the fuck away from me!
What the fuck, Rachel?
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that.
I
Stop right there!
Get the fuck away from me!
So I turned to your grandmother
and said, "Where's Brad?"
As soon as the bus
drove off, we realized
your father never got off.
He was only six.
But Shira had memorized the bus number.
Took us two hours to
track your father down.
When we found him,
he'd become best
friends with the driver.
Passengers shared food with him.
That's the kind of kid he was.
Magnetic.
Didn't you have, like, a thing
back in high school with my dad?
Hey, hold up there, Troy.
Oh, it's okay, Ken.
Yes.
In fact, we were a thing.
And you were friends with my mom?
Best friends.
Is that weird now,
that your ex-boyfriend is now
married to your best friend?
Come on, son. It's ancient history now.
I left town after graduation,
so all bets were off.
And it all turned out for the best.
Hannah and Ken have a
wonderful life together,
amazing children.
What's your point, Mom?
No point.
Life reflects choices.
You, for example,
have a successful law career in Seattle.
Hmm, which is Mom code
for a failed marriage
and a dormant womb.
Well, it's not my fault
if your uterus has an expiration date.
I don't care. I don't want kids.
I never have, and I'm okay with that.
But clearly, you aren't.
Well, it's just that
now you have no parenting skills
when you need them the most.
Okay, whatever you say.
I knew I'd find you up here.
Here we are again.
Feels like we're back in high school.
Oh, God.
Okay, back to the roof.
Welcome.
You gonna share that?
Ask and you shall receive.
Your mom's in rare form.
The only form she knows.
You gonna be okay?
Yeah, I'm fine.
It's just, is she saying that
because I've never given birth,
I don't have any maternal instincts?
She can just fuck right off.
Of course you do. You know you do.
I just don't know why I
let her get to me still.
She is your mom.
You know, you're genetically programmed
to let her get under your skin.
I see it with Troy right now.
Oh, my God, my voice is like
nails on a chalkboard to him.
Ditto, with Mickey.
Sorry I was so weird at
the station the other night.
- I was
- Don't be.
I don't know what I was thinking.
No, don't be.
You are allowed some well-placed anger.
My 18-year-old self was a selfish shit.
I own it.
Well, what if we start fresh, you know?
Just forget all the other stuff.
That'd be great.
Even though you did steal my man.
Oh, do you want him back?
- Please.
- I don't.
I don't, actually. I don't. Here.
I could have something arranged.
Oh, God.
So when I found the
footage of Ashley crying,
I followed her backward.
Oh, to find out why.
But the problem is,
once Ashley goes outside,
I completely lose her.
How many cameras are covering
the door she came through?
Two.
Let's each take one.
Deal.
El
This is not the right time, Allen.
It's never the right time,
but here we are.
Our son's gone. We
have to talk about it.
Don't you think I know that?
I don't know what you know
because you don't tell me!
That's how I survive.
That's how I get myself
out of bed every morning.
That's how I keep myself
from screaming with fury
because our son was taken away from us!
Dad?
Dad, you're washing
blood off your hands.
What happened?
Nothing.
- Where's Mom?
- She's fine.
We're gonna meet her in a few hours.
So I gotta pack up camp?
Hey, Mickey? Hey.
We don't have time to
pack. We need to go now.
Dad, you're freaking me out.
Come here. Come here.
Listen to me.
Your mom and I do
important work, all right?
We help people who
cannot help themselves,
but doing the right thing
doesn't make you immune
to the bad that's in this world.
And my job is to watch for
it, to stay in front of it,
and when that fails, my
job is to protect my family.
All right?
And that's what I'm doing right now,
so you and I, we gotta go.
We gotta go.
I miss him too.
But he wouldn't want you guys to fight.
Mickey.
It's just hard being
back at the old house.
We see your dad's face in every room.
Seeing you here makes it better.
It's awful down here, right?
Drafty in the winter.
Hot as hell in the summer.
Your dad and Myron loved it down here.
They got along so well, those two.
We were lucky. They
never fought, right, El?
Never.
Now, your Aunt Shira
Yes, okay, Shira could
be a pain in the tuchus,
but nothing made your dad happier
than rebounding baskets
for his big sister.
Your aunt and uncle and
dad lived on our driveway.
Shooting hoops, hour after hour.
Hey, we heard you might
not try out for the team.
Allen, don't push him.
Who's pushing?
I'm just asking my grandson a question.
Uh
I don't know.
I just don't really
want to play anymore.
I get it.
It's up to you.
My grandfather had an expression.
"When the father gives
to the son, both laugh.
When the son gives to
the father, both cry."
Sounds better in Yiddish.
Hey, I think I found something.
Here, top corner.
What the actual fuck?
Ensnared in a viper's pit of pom-poms.
Bitches.
Wait, where'd she go?
Is there a camera that
covers this side of the field?
No, I think that's a blind spot.
Let's just keep looking.
Hey, you you want to
play a little game of horse?
Nah, I'm good.
What, too scared to lose to me?
I get it. It's fine.
No, I just I just don't
want to hear you whine
when I mop the floor with you.
Ooh.
Uh, Grandma told me it got
pretty intense down there.
You want to talk about it?
Nah, not really.
Mm-hmm.
By the way, you were right.
I I didn't think
your mom was the best
match for your dad.
Why not?
Well, because out of nowhere,
here comes this famous tennis prodigy
and just sweeps my little brother
off of his feet, and he starts
changing all of his life's plans.
I mean, the two of them together
It was a lot.
Yeah, intense.
Come on, please tell me
that you are going to try
out for the basketball team.
Wasn't planning on it.
Will you at least go
to the basketball pancake
breakfast thing with me?
Pancake breakfast?
Yeah, it's an orientation.
It's a lot of carbs,
very little commitment.
I think you're
I know your dad would want this for you.
When a son gives to his father
- What?
- Yeah.
Just something Pops told me.
Hmm.
Go on. Go be with your friends.
That way, you don't have to lose to me.
Oh, yeah. Sure. Dream on.
- See ya.
- See ya.
Watch this.
Okay, so this footage is from 3:00 a.m.
on the morning after Ashley disappeared.
Okay.
The locker was already empty.
Except the William the
Hippo magnet on the door.
Is that Octoface?
Where are you going?
To get answers from Bat Lady.
Okay, let's do it.
No, I'm going alone.
- Hey.
- Hi.
Your mom really knows
how to throw a rager.
Yeah, if only she knew
how to clean up after one.
Did you forget something?
Uh, yeah, I did.
Welcome home.
Took you long enough.
Here's the thing.
It's not like I haven't
been working on my voice.
I have been working on my voice,
and I know that I fucked
the auditions last year
and then the year before that,
but that was during my second puberty,
and that was a complicated
time for my voice.
And it was a hard time
for me emotionally
I think we should have gone with Mickey.
He made it pretty clear
he didn't want us to come.
Yeah, well, no offense, but
you two are pretty stupid
about sensing danger, so
Fair.
But you do see what's happening, right?
Not to, like, hit the
nail directly on the head,
but he's projecting, right?
He couldn't save his dad,
and then he couldn't save his mom
So he's gotta save Ashley.
Yeah.
That's really deep, Spoon.
I am a plethora of surprises.
You are a plethora of something.
- So what's next?
- Okay.
So we know that somebody else must have
cleared out Ashley's locker
before Sunglasses Man, right?
- Yep. On it.
- Kay.
You got balls, kid.
But your shadow game needs work.
Well, so does yours.
Excuse me?
I just saw surveillance footage
of you breaking into
Ashley Kent's locker.
Pretty sloppy.
Well, you're here, aren't you?
Listen, I know you and Bat Lady had
something to do with
Ashley's disappearance.
Oh, you know that, do you?
You're gonna tell me
where Ashley is right now.
I was hoping that you could tell me.
Me? That's why I'm here.
I have no idea.
Is that the only reason, Mickey?
Your father.
Your father, he's not dead.
He's very much alive.
You said my dad is still alive.
Is he?
Mickey
can you see in the darkness?
I don't understand.
Terrible things happen
to people every day.
And if they survive, some people
push those horrible
memories from their mind,
while others tell their stories
but soften the horror with each telling
because that's how the mind copes.
Self-deception.
It takes strength to
live in the darkness,
to remember that darkness
exactly how it was.
Not everyone can.
Question is, can you, Mickey?
I am ready.
He's not ready.
I am.
I imagined your Mrs.
Friedman has taught you
about little Lizzy Sobek?
Yes.
What did you learn?
She rescued 50 children
from a train heading to Auschwitz.
And did dear Mrs.
Friedman tell you the part
about the magical butterflies?
Magical butterflies? I
The butterflies that led those
children to Lizzy and safety.
They became a crucial
part of Lizzy's story
in subsequent tellings because, Mickey,
the truth was unbearable.
I know.
I was there.
There were butterflies,
but not the butterflies
like people like to imagine.
They did lead some to safety,
but most were not so lucky.
In the end,
only 6 of the 49 children escaped.
You're Lizzy Sobek.
Why that train, and
what does this have to do
with Ashley or my father?
The man who executed those 43 children
was called the Butcher of Lodz.
I chose that train because he was on it.
Why?
Because he slaughtered my father.
We have something in common, you and I:
fathers that died in front of our eyes.
Here is the monster who murdered mine.
That's impossible.
No.
No!
This can't be.
I found someone.
So they clearly knew
the combination to Ashley's locker.
Is that Ashley?
I can't see who it is.
It seems like they're trying
to hide from the camera.
Maybe use a different angle.
That's Rachel Caldwell.
Holy fuck.
Mickey is gonna shit.
Your mom and I, we do important work.
We help people who
cannot help themselves.
But even if you do the right thing,
it doesn't make you immune
to the bad that's in this world.
It's always there,
and my job is to watch for it.