The Guardian (2001) s03e17 Episode Script

It's my fault.
- If I don't hear something by tomorrow - She'll be back.
[Doorbell rings.]
Oh it's Laurie Solt.
No, Dad.
I'II I'll talk to her.
I'll talk to her.
Shannon's missing.
- She ran away.
- When? - Sometime this afternoon.
- Why didn't you call me? Well, we called the police and I'll go to the office and get an attachment order.
The Sheriff's Department can start looking for her before she becomes a missing person.
Great.
Thanks, Laurie.
- Okay.
Bye.
- Appreciate it.
Hey.
What are you doing? You all right? A little dizzy.
Why don't you sit down? I gotta talk to Roy.
What? I'm gonna need a ride.
You're not giving him this money.
I'm gonna do whatever I have to.
Okay.
Let's go.
Hey, guys.
I was actually just gonna call you see if you heard anything.
What're you doing, Roy? Oh, I'm just taking some old crap to Goodwill.
This time of night? They got a drop-off box in the back.
Where are you going, Roy? Those guys I owe, they keep threatening me.
Now that they can't find Malcolm, it's all on my ass.
You leaving town? I'm running outta time here, and I can't find the money.
Well, I want you to take me to them.
No way.
I show up there without that money, - those guys are gonna break my - I'll pay.
I'll pay.
All right.
~ Well, there is trouble ~ ~ In my mind ~ ~ There is dark ~ ~ There is dark and there is light ~ ~ There is no order ~ ~ There is chaos ~ ~ And there is crime ~ ~ There is no one ~ ~ Home tonight ~ ~ In the empire of my mind ~ ~ There is trouble in my mind ~ Stay here.
I'll go find him.
You okay? Yeah.
You used to play pool when you were younger.
In college, yeah.
We oughta play sometime.
Malcolm already paid.
- What? - He already paid.
I don't know how the hell he got the money.
Yeah, you do.
Hey.
- Sorry to keep you waiting.
- That's all right.
Why don't you come with me? We have some information about Malcolm Reeves We arrested Malcolm Reeves an hour ago.
Was Shannon with him? Malcolm says Shannon showed up at his house this afternoon and he told her she wasn't allowed to be around him.
And he called a cab sent her on her way.
Does he know where she is? He's got a lawyer now.
He's not talking anymore.
- This is Alison Scanlon.
- Hi.
She's a Federal Agent that works with SAFE.
- What's that? - Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement.
Alison came to town on the Candace Bleier case.
Who? Candace Bleier.
The girl in the photos found in Malcolm Reeves' studio.
I've been trying to find Candace for over a year.
Up until today, all that's surfaced is a few videos.
You think Shannon might be with this girl? If Candace is still alive, it's a possibility.
Mr.
Fallin, just because Malcolm Reeves was in possession of photographs of Candace doesn't mean he took them and doesn't mean he's done anything to your foster child.
The man's a pornographer.
He came up with ten thousand dollars in one day.
Now where do you think he got that money? Can you help us find Shannon? It's very hard.
These people move around a lot.
Operate out of warehouses and motels and homes.
Sometimes for days, sometimes just for hours.
Well, can you tell me it's not impossible to find her.
They do have to sell their product.
That's one way to track them.
Through encrypted codes they post on the Internet or in the back of local papers.
Wherever there are personal, escort, or massage ads, there may be leads.
[Echoing.]
Dad.
Dad.
[Man.]
Mr.
Fallin.
Dr.
Levy.
Your father has an abnormal opening between his middle and inner ear.
It's a result of the head injury he received a few days ago.
Okay.
It, uh has a fancy name Perilymph Fistula but all that means is that he has a balance disorder.
Vertigo.
- Okay.
- Now, we've admitted him for the night, but he'll need strict bed rest for at least a week.
- Right.
- All right? No driving.
- [Cell phone ringing.]
- No straining or heavy lifting.
No sudden changes in air pressure.
- Nick.
- Dad.
They may have found her.
Mr.
Fallin, you need to stay in bed.
Where's that? - Nothing.
- No? No one saw anything.
Somebody called.
It's anonymous.
Could've been a prank.
Amber alerts all over the place.
We'll do everything we can to find her, sir.
All right.
Thank you.
You might want to take a look at this.
So what do you think, Miss Scanlon? Well, it fits their M.
O.
Check into a cheap motel.
Make a What? Make a video.
Take photographs.
Right.
And then they move on.
They don't leave much behind.
So I'll call you when we hear something.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
What are you doing here, Dad? Let's get you home.
No, no.
I'm gonna talk to everyone here.
[Door opens.]
Thank you.
Sorry.
- Dad, let's go.
- This is the last one.
Hi.
Yeah? I'm, uh looking for my daughter.
She's thirteen years old, and she disappeared.
Somebody from this motel called and said they'd seen her.
Sorry.
Come on, Dad.
It's time to go home.
No.
You you heard the man.
He said it was probably a prank.
Somebody made that call from here.
Right.
Well, we'll look into it tomorrow.
- Let's just - [door opens.]
I did it.
I made the call.
Why didn't you talk to the police? 'Cause I got my daughter and I got priors and the cops are gonna take her away again if they see me living like this.
Do you know who took my daughter away? Do you know where they took her? Maybe.
I only called the cops because I was worried about that little blonde girl.
She looked nice.
It's the only reason I called.
Look, you've got to talk to the police.
- No way.
- Well, then tell me.
What do you want? You want money? I'll give you money.
I'll give you a thousand dollars.
Take it.
Hey.
Hey.
You call the cops, I ain't telling you nothing.
You'll take me to her? Can't just leave my girl.
My son'll take care of her.
- Hey, will you slow down? - She'll take me to her.
She's a prostitute, Dad.
She'll do anything for a thousand dollars.
I'll go.
You wait.
I'll go.
No cops.
Just need a newspaper.
They got codes in the back.
Sit tight.
There's a paper in the car.
I need a pen and a phone.
Just give me a second.
They spread the phone number over a couple ads.
Okay.
Got it.
[Engine starts.]
Hey.
Hi.
What's your name? Violet.
Who are you? I'm Burton.
Friend of your mom's.
Where are you going? I'll be quiet, mister.
You don't have to sit in a closet, honey.
You have any food? No.
Stop here.
This is the place.
Just go in that door there and ask for Damon.
Tell him you're a friend.
- And what are you gonna do? - Can't go in there with you.
Why not? Just tell him you're a john.
You need a young girl to get off.
Have your money ready.
Just tell him you're a watcher so you don't gotta do nothing with her.
I'm going home.
Just tell him you're a watcher.
Never seen you before.
Yeah, well, you know How'd you get here? Friend of Dina's.
Okay.
What do you want? Uh I got girls, boys.
Kid on kid, adult on kid, hard core, Asian, S&M, S&M Lite, gonzo style, - whatever product you want.
- I'm just looking for a girl.
- Okay.
What kind? - Blonde.
Young.
- Teen? Pre-teen? - I don't know.
I don't know.
I'm a watcher.
I just I like to watch.
Okay.
Well, I got a young blonde upstairs pretty new.
Be two grand.
Yeah.
It's two thousand dollars for half an hour.
Take a seat.
Right.
Come on up.
[Car alarm beeps.]
Yeah.
Yeah.
Can I have Alison Scanlon, please? We arrested everybody in the place.
Five girls in there.
Confiscated two dozen tapes.
Spent the better part of the night going over the evidence.
The reason we called you in, there's a tape.
The quality on it isn't very good, and the girl in it is drugged, but we're concerned it might be Shannon.
We need one of you to take a look.
You know, Dad, you should just let me do this.
If it's Shannon, I need to know what she's been through.
Oh, you're pretty.
I like your hair.
Good Lord.
Hey stop.
What? Can you rewind it? Press Play.
Pause it.
[Knock on door.]
Okay, Violet.
What the hell are you doing? I saw the tape.
What are you talking about? Police Station downtown there's a video tape of Shannon.
- You're in it.
- I'm not in a tape.
I saw your reflection.
I saw you.
Sexual abuse of children's a second degree felony.
You're looking at four years minimum.
And Violet, she becomes a ward of the State.
I know.
I know.
- Where's Violet? - [Violet.]
In here.
It's okay, Violet.
You can come out.
I didn't touch your sister.
I didn't do nothing but sit with her and keep her calm.
You know where she is? I could try again.
If you promise not to call the cops, I could try again.
- Is this gonna be like last time? - I took you some place real, didn't I? I am not trying to play you.
Yeah, I think you're gonna try again.
Or I can talk to the police about the tape.
I can't promise you she's in there.
Just go in there and check.
These guys don't always want me around.
It's just sometimes they know I can help them calm down the new girls.
'Cause I know how to talk to 'em 'cause I was a new girl once.
Tell me if she's inside.
I wasn't playing you.
I felt bad for your sister because I'd been there myself.
Hi.
What's your favorite color? Uh l I I don't really have one.
I like green.
That's good.
That's nice.
Really.
Why is that? I just really like it.
Right.
[Door opens, closes.]
She's in there.
Thank you.
[Policeman.]
Let's hurry it up.
Go around back.
Police! Everybody get down! Jonas, get the back room! [Shouting.]
She's in pretty good shape, physically.
But she's taken or been given drugs, so she's still a little bit out of it.
Right.
The police'll want to see her first thing in the morning.
Okay.
Was, uh No, it's okay.
She wasn't raped.
Thank God.
Burton, you're gonna need some help dealing with her.
Yeah.
In the short term, I'd just tell her you don't blame her for anything that happened.
Don't ask her too many questions.
And don't punish her for disobeying you in the first place.
I've got a list of therapists for Shannon.
And one for you, if you want to talk to anybody.
Oh, no.
I'm fine.
But thank you.
Thank you.
Okay.
I'll go see if they're ready to release her.
Okay.
Good.
Thank you very much.
When'd he get here? About ten minutes ago.
I'm glad they found her, huh? - Mr.
Fallin, I, uh - You should've stayed away.
She's my kid.
You should've stayed away.
I never meant for anything to happen to her, sir.
Shannon.
Hey.
It's okay, Shannon.
It's gonna be all right.
Um you gotta go with Burton.
Okay? I'm sorry.
[Beep.]
[Doorbell rings.]
[Alison.]
Shannon, can you tell us about your relationship with Malcolm Reeves? Malcolm is a photographer.
Okay.
He said I could be a model.
Did Malcolm ever touch you? Did he ever ask you to take your clothes off? No.
Your father said you called and said you were going to Malcolm's studio.
I did and he told me to go home.
He called me a cab and told me to go.
Did you get into a cab? It was like a van.
I think I just I fell asleep in the back.
Was Malcolm in the van with you? No.
What else do you remember? I don't know.
It was like I slept for a long time.
I remember watching television somewhere in this house, and then I remember the police coming in.
Do you remember anything about the last two days? No.
Shannon, there's a tape.
I don't really remember, okay? You don't remember being taken to a motel room? I said I don't remember anything.
Shannon honey.
Tell Miss Scanlon the truth.
I am.
I am telling her the truth.
Maybe we should talk again tomorrow.
That's fine.
Thank you, Shannon.
Laurie, uh, give me a minute, will you? I'll be right out.
She's clearly drugged on the tape.
Could be she was sedated for the last few days or she just might not want to talk about it.
So what're you gonna do? Dina, the prostitute we arrested, isn't talking.
If Shannon doesn't cooperate, we can't do much.
And Malcolm? He made bail this morning.
We've got him on a possession of child pornography charge.
That's all we can do for now.
Hey.
Hey.
How's Shannon? Uh I don't know, she's What about Burton? He's fine.
Well, you know, I, uh I put together some information.
When when you think it's appropriate, I can send it over to him.
Great.
Thanks.
I'Il I'll pass it on to him.
Uh okay.
You busy tonight? I don't have any plans, no.
Great, 'cause I'd like to take you someplace.
Where? It's a surprise.
- What do you mean? - L I'll pick you up later here.
Nick How's Violet doing? She doesn't seem to like talking much.
But from what I can tell, she never went to kindergarten, preschool, nothing.
She just, uh, sat around in her motel room all day.
That's right.
Hey, Violet.
Do you remember me? I'm gonna help to find you a nice place to stay for a while, okay? How come you don't have a favorite color? Uh I I don't know.
Everyone has a favorite color.
Violet.
What? Violet.
Seems like a nice color.
Shut up.
- Honey, listen - I'm gonna watch television.
Shannon, look listen, uh I talked to some people about getting you some help.
There's this one lady who evidently is very good.
She's done a lot of work with kids who've been through what you've been through, and so I, uh asked Laurie to to bring her over here.
When? In about, uh, about an hour.
I'm fine, Burton.
I don't have to talk to anybody.
- Honey, look - I'm fine, Burton, okay? Shannon the fact is I, uh I probably need a little help myself.
Whatever.
I'm bored.
Your social worker just has to finish up some paperwork with Alvin.
- Now that's good.
- It's you.
That's very nice.
Thank you.
You got a TV? No, not here.
[Phone rings.]
Nick Fallin.
You know, Laurie Solt came over to talk to us with a a counselor.
Right.
Shannon says she'd be up in her room watching TV.
They got here, and I go upstairs.
- She's not there.
- She's gone? I didn't hear her leave.
- Did you call the police? - No, I didn't have to.
Laurie Solt she was angry.
Told me she didn't think I could handle Shannon anymore.
Maybe she's right.
Maybe I can't handle all this - [phone rings.]
- That's crap.
You can't blame yourself.
Hello.
Yeah.
Roy.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sure.
Roy's with Shannon at Malcolm's studio.
Honey, you all right? L I need your help.
- What's going on? - I need to talk to you inside.
What's going on here? I'll stay with her.
You want to sit in the car? So I get this call from Malcolm, and he says that Shannon's back here and he wants her out because of all the trouble she causes him.
I drive over, the whole time thinking, "The trouble she caused him?" So I come in here.
I tell her to wait outside.
Asked him what he did it for.
He just lied.
I asked him where he got the money.
He lied.
So I shot him.
Twice.
After what he did what I let him do, I just couldn't have it, sir.
I just couldn't have it.
What's gonna happen to Roy? I don't know, honey.
He's going to jail? For the time being, yeah.
Malcolm told me he'd marry me when I got old enough.
Really? He said we could move somewhere like New York or Los Angeles or Paris.
Right.
He said he loved me all the time.
He would say that all the time.
But then when I got over there he yelled at me.
Called me names.
Told me I got him into trouble.
But, he's he's the one who wanted me to do all that stuff.
Yeah.
The pictures he took and the tape at the motel I remember it, Burton.
I just I remember all of it.
I just promised Malcolm I'd never tell.
Violet's foster parents are here to pick her up.
Thanks.
You ready? Little bit scared? That's okay.
If you need anything anything at all, you just call me, okay? Okay.
It's for your new house.
It's every color in the world.
Oh.
Thanks.
Hey, uh Look, I'm sorry about last night.
I understand.
You don't have to apologize.
It's okay.
What're you doing right now? You know the usual.
Grab your coat.
I want to show you something.
You bought the house? Well, I just put down a deposit.
- Nick - No.
It's just you know, there's so much that's just not safe, and, uh you know, so much that doesn't work and Yeah, but, Nick I want to know that you live somewhere good.
Somewhere safe.
Both you and the baby.
So, uh I want you to have it.
With or without me, I I want you to have it.
With you.
But not like this.
Then however you want.
I mean, I Thank you so much for doing this.
But, I I don't know, I think that, you know, for now we should probably just work on the little things.
The little things? Right.
The little things.
Honey everything's gonna work out just fine, honey.
They got the best people to help you.
Everything's gonna be just fine.
Now, when you go in there, just take your time.
Slow and easy.
Tell them whatever you can.
If you want to stop you just let me know, okay? When this is all over and everything gets back to normal, we'II get the adoption going again.
I feel bad for Roy.
Well, Roy understands.
He's my dad, Burton.
I just feel bad for him.
Well look, we'll talk about this later, okay? Right.
- Ready? - Yeah.
Okay.
How is she? Sleeping.
Did she tell the police everything? Oh yeah.
You know, if I were Roy I would've done the same thing.
If I'd gotten over there first, I'd have done the same thing.
She, uh she doesn't want me to adopt her anymore.
Why is that? She's worried about Roy, and she says she doesn't belong here.
Maybe she's right.
Maybe I just tried too damn hard to be be something that I really am not.
What you did, son.
Thank you for what you did.
Dad, I I didn't do anything.
You're a good man, Nicholas.
Good night.
You don't have to stay here on my account.
I'll be all right.