Covert Affairs s05e01 Episode Script

I just keep thinking that it's got to stop.
It has to end.
We have to find some place more normal.
For people like us, there is no normal.
So, is that it? Is this the end? I guess so.
You want me as DCS? What about Joan Campbell? She'll have a chance to properly compete for the job when the time comes.
Is that who I think it is? Do you think it's Khalid Ansari, son of one of the most powerful oil men in Saudi Arabia? Mossad believes Khalid is moving money through charities to terror organizations.
Killing you would be the easiest thing in the world right now.
But it won't solve anything.
You went after Arthur, and Joan.
You've crossed every line, Henry.
When you get back, there's somebody who wants to meet you.
It's a boy.
Mackenzie Campbell.
I'll see you back in D.
C.
This is interesting, man.
Okay.
Nobody debates, right, that the Italians invented pizza.
But in the case of the calzone, we've got the Swedish, the Greeks, even the Scottish claiming them.
Stop it.
You're making me hungry.
Well, we can order some Auggie.
Yeah.
Hello? Thank you.
Annie's back.
What did she say? Voicemail.
Outgoing message said she wants to meet me alone on the mall in an hour.
We reverse-tracked Annie's entrance into the metro system.
Traced her as far back as Albany.
Before that, she's a ghost.
What does that suggest to you? That she doesn't want us to know where she's coming from.
Four months off the grid? Suddenly she wants to meet? Why alone? Why now? I don't know, Calder.
I imagined a different sort of homecoming.
Auggie.
Annie.
Thanks for coming alone.
You look good.
I've taken up judo.
You should check it out, it's a hoot.
It's good to see you, too.
I know there've gotta be a lot of questions about where I've been and what I've been doing, but I'd like to come back to work.
Good.
You should come back to Langley with me.
We didn't have to do this here unless you wanted to hit the Air and Space Museum first.
I wanted to talk to you.
To explain myself without prying Agency ears and eyes.
What did you wanna say? I'd like you to be my handler again.
I'd like to go back to when things were simpler.
Before I went dark, before Henry, before everything got so messy.
I've had a lot of time to think about myself and the Agency.
And I've realized that I can't do this job and have emotional attachments.
I've gotta concentrate solely on the work.
I hope that's okay.
Annie, you dropped off the map there for a while.
Time passed.
We're good.
Really? Yeah.
Really.
Why, did you wanna make out or something? Welcome back, Annie.
Let's start again from the beginning.
After Hong Kong, you went to Turkey, the Datca Peninsula.
Yes.
You had spotters there.
But you evaded our spotters.
Where did you go? To another beach.
Fatu Hiva, South Pacific.
For the last four months? Yes.
And now I'm ready to return to the agency I've faithfully served for four years.
Any other locations? No.
Did you have contact with any spies What's the machine saying? Line is steady on every question.
Well, that would indicate she's telling the truth.
But she's not.
What's she holding back? No, I did not.
Go.
So You passed.
Not so fast.
What are you not telling us, Annie? You just said I passed the poly.
You beat the poly.
A machine doesn't know you like Auggie and I know you.
You wanna tell us what's going on? I took out Henry Wilcox.
I took four months off.
And now I'm ready to come back to work.
Calder? Line one.
Priority.
Calder Michaels.
Auggie.
Can you talk to him? I can, but But what? But it's a valid question.
We're just trying to look out for you, Annie.
Timetable's changed.
A very dangerous friend of yours was just spotted on a surveillance camera in Chicago.
Who? Khalid Ansari.
Khalid Ansari's on American soil? Exactly.
This is major.
A guy like Khalid, smart, careful He's on all the watch lists.
Why would he take that risk? He dropped out of sight in Riyadh a few days ago.
But we never thought he'd reappear on US soil.
Annie, you know this guy.
We need you in Chicago.
We have an off-book facility there.
You'll meet with the chief.
He'll get you set up.
I understand.
Hold on.
Don't think we're finished here.
Walker.
Welcome.
Charles Schinderman.
Auggie Anderson spoke very highly of you.
Ah.
I hope so.
He was the best man at my wedding.
Guy gives a hell of a toast.
I'm sorry about the mess.
This is my wife's car.
Mine is in the shop with a timing belt issue.
Let's get you to the facility.
I didn't think Khalid Ansari would risk coming stateside.
Well, when one of the most wanted men in financing terror pings inside the loop, something big's gonna happen.
My file says you were the one that turned him against his father.
I just gave Khalid some facts.
He killed his father all on his own.
Where are we at now? Right now, we're trying to figure out how he got into the country.
What alias he might be using, who he's contacted.
We're canvassing the Muslim community, trying to figure out who might be harboring him.
That's not his style.
Show his picture on some of the luxury hotels.
The ones that are most discreet about high-end pros.
He likes white girls.
Probably used a Western name.
So, here we are.
Home sweet off-book home.
You can drop your gear here.
Make yourself comfortable.
Scratch that.
We've located Khalid.
He's at the Bradham Hotel.
Nice instincts, Walker.
What are we looking at? Bell captain says he checked into room 8273 about an hour ago.
All right, let's keep it low-profile.
Four guys inside the hotel.
No guns unless we have to.
You're with us.
You two, seal off the exits.
Jacob.
Khalid? Stop.
Annie Walker of the CIA.
Of course it's you.
I'm such a fool.
Put the gun down.
I can protect you.
Oh, protect me? Then tell them to put their guns down! Tell 'em! Put your guns down.
Put 'em down.
You know me well enough to know that what I say is true.
There's a way out of this.
You put the gun down, you tell me what you're doing in Chicago, and we'll walk out of here together.
You don't know? Then I'm an even bigger fool.
Know what? Khalid? Oh, you think you're in control? If these people can do this to me, what chance do you think you have? What What people, Khalid? Khalid.
They've given me no choice.
Go.
Sweep team is coming for the body and Khalid's possessions.
I'll order up your charter back to D.
C.
For you.
You made a mistake back there.
What, saving your life? I knew Khalid Ansari.
And I knew he wasn't gonna shoot me.
Besides, he never would've got a shot off before me, anyway.
And now, we have nothing.
Look, I don't know you, but I wasn't about to let you die.
You're right.
You don't know me.
I don't quit.
Now, let's go back to the facility and figure this out.
Auggie? Joan! I thought your maternity leave ends next week.
Yes, but Annie happened this week.
And now Khalid 25 minutes ago.
She's doing all right.
She's a different operative now.
She was in and out of here so fast, I didn't even see her.
Yeah, her and Charlie are drilling down on Khalid's purpose in Chicago.
Good.
Keep me posted.
I'm meeting with the DCI right now.
Give him crap for only spending five minutes at the Agency Christmas party, would you? I most certainly will not.
Auggie? Yeah.
What do you think Annie was up to for the last few months? She's being pretty vague.
She says she was at the beach the whole time.
And you believe her? No.
What about you two? Keeping things balkanized.
Operative and handler, just like old times.
Interesting analogy.
I worked in the Balkans.
It was complicated.
Well, this isn't gonna be.
Okay.
Wish me luck.
Good luck.
We found 800,000 US bills stuffed into the lining of Khalid's suitcase.
Saudi spy service, they don't stand on ceremony.
So we had them raid Khalid's condo in Riyadh.
Contents of a safe there led us to one local contact.
Borz Altan, Crimean-American, Muslim.
Trips to Chechnya.
Intriguing.
In Borz's younger days he did US military service.
Made it to sergeant, but his career stagnated due to chronic migraines.
After his service, he worked for McQuaid Security for a short while.
He flamed out fast.
Tough culture, those PMC's.
Worse than the military.
Get me what you can from McQuaid Security.
You got it.
Tight-knit family.
Lives with his younger brother, Mykola, 26.
Religious.
Travels to Yemen, which is never great.
Couple of felonies for theft.
Anything else I should know? Uh, there's a sister, Oksana, who lives with them as well.
Anything else you should know, meaning I'm gonna move on Borz immediately.
It's not the best conditions for an approach.
We don't know his role here, or how's he connected to Khalid.
These are the cards we've been dealt.
So I'm gonna play this hand.
Oh, now, I get it.
What? Why Auggie was so into you.
Calder.
Hey, Joan.
I thought I was meeting with the DCI.
I did, too.
Calder, Joan.
Joe.
Where's the DCI? Got pulled into a meeting.
This is a meeting.
I'm his deputy.
I speak for him in his absence.
Okay.
What does he have to say? He's decided to keep you, Calder, in your current post as DCS, and to put you, Joan, back as head of the DPD.
I understand the seriousness of the Chicago situation, but I thought there'd be a proper vetting process.
So did I.
Specifically told the general counsel.
His decision wasn't based on Chicago.
And the DCI couldn't come down here and tell us himself? And it is final.
I'll report to the DPD on Monday.
Calder, a word? Okay.
Look, Joe, I really wish you guys would've given me a heads-up on this.
Look, you've been a really great acting DCS, but you're not official yet.
DCI says you're to remain interim until you get your affairs in order.
And then we'll take you overt.
What does that mean? It means get your shit together.
Joan? Joan! I'm sorry.
I'm just as surprised as you.
This is not how I wanted it to go down.
Well, it went down.
Well Make no mistake, I wanted this job.
But I was not gonna go around anybody's back to get it.
Especially not yours.
I don't think you went around my back.
I think you took advantage of a situation.
No.
None of the above.
You may not wanna hear this, but Arthur didn't do you any favors.
For all the good he did, people in this building were talking about him a lot last year.
A spy's place is in the shadows.
Yes? I'm looking for a Borz Altan.
I'm from Veterans Affairs.
Borz! Borz Altan? I'm from the VA.
I called before? I may have some good news about your benefits.
May I come in? Yeah, sure, come in.
Was that your girlfriend? Sister.
Ah.
Is she a nurse? She's actually a doctor.
She got her degree in Kiev.
Here, she does nursing.
So You said you have good news? Yeah.
There have been some changes made to Title 38 and you may be due more money for your migraines.
First time the Army has ever wanted to give me anything.
What can I say? Progress.
We just need to fill out your profile.
Uh, your name is Borz Altan and you're originally from Sevastopol? That's right, yeah.
And you live here with your siblings? Your brother, Mykola? And my sister, Oksana.
Right.
Uh, do you happen to have your old army ID? I need to verify it for these forms.
Yeah.
Let me get it.
Here you go.
Thanks.
Is there anything else? No, I just I'll leave you with these forms to fill out and I can pick them up later.
Thank you very much.
Pleasure to meet you.
Charlie, they had ceremonial plates and a special occasion prayer rug, suggesting salat al-ghaib.
They're mourning a martyr before the attack.
Something's gonna happen today.
Yes, this is Lisa Morton.
Could I speak with Dr.
Cohen, please? Yes, could you Could you tell him that I just had an episode and to call me back? Thank Thank you.
We need to find Borz, Mykola, or Oksana and pull them in.
If they're operational, we can't risk having them out there.
We've got a secure APB out on the wire.
Next step is to raise the threat level, but I think we should hold a beat until we have more info.
What about the file we asked for from McQuaid Security? Is there anything in there that can help us track Borz? To call it a file is generous.
I need to speak to him.
Get his liaison on the phone.
No, I wanna speak to McQuaid himself.
If his CIA contracts mean anything, he'll get on the phone.
Hey.
Hi.
No nap? Oh, we were having too much fun.
How did it go with the DCI? He gave the DCS job to Calder.
I can end around the GCO.
Why go down without a fight? No.
You know what, if I make a play for the job so soon, it'll seem like sour grapes.
I can't risk taking another step back.
So what do you think happened? No need to dance around it.
They're trying to hurt you because of me.
I stand behind everything I did.
I hope you can see that.
Of course I do.
And others will, in time.
Got him.
Thank you.
Hello, Mr.
McQuaid? I need to ask you a few questions about Borz Altan.
This isn't a great connection.
Can we talk in person? I don't have time to come back to D.
C.
And talk in person.
Where are you? Chicago.
Even better, I can come to you.
I'm already in the air and I was headed from Dallas, but I can divert.
I'll be there in an hour.
Walker.
That's right.
I did some recon on you while I was in-flight.
And? Well, based on what I found out, I was expecting you to be a little more dead.
Well, I'm here.
And I don't have much time.
I have a few questions to ask you about Borz Altan? He did security work for me for four months in Eastern Europe.
That's kind of vague.
I think you can do better.
Do you? Any specialized training? I mean, what exactly did he do for you? You are aware that I have confidentiality agreements with the agencies that I contract with.
Uh-huh.
So, translation, you do know more.
You just don't wanna tell me 'cause you might lose money.
Why do you wanna know all this, anyway? It's a matter of national security.
So I assume it has to do with the death of Khalid Ansari.
That's right, I know about it because I'm cleared to know about it.
In an article I read about you in Forbes, it said that you interview every one of your employees personally.
That they're like a family to you.
Is that true or bullshit? That is true.
So what do you remember about Borz Altan? I only met him once.
We talked about cars.
He loves Mustangs and so do I.
That was about all.
It was a brief chat.
Does that help? It may or may not.
Anything else? I'm sorry.
That was all.
Okay, then, I think we're done.
I like it.
What? You're awfully direct.
It's a function of the job.
No, it's not.
Most spies I know are lying sons of bitches.
Well, I'm not most spies.
And I would love to talk about that more.
Give me a call so we can chat about some, you know, some other opportunities.
Here's my card.
What was it about the conversation we just had that made you think I would want to work for you? None of it.
I'm asking you out to dinner.
Okay, folks.
That's it.
I get in trouble when you people don't get your asses back to your desks by the end of lunch.
Great session.
Auggie.
Hey.
Great work today.
Thanks, Marlo.
Listen, if you wanted to go over some more moves, I could stay late.
Auggie, urgent call for you.
Rain check? Sure.
Thanks.
Hello? It's me.
Can you check on a Mustang owned by the Altans? Got it.
Hey, is Charlie still playing with that coin of his? Yeah.
Make fun of him for me, would you? Got it.
Call me back.
Hey.
Are you going to that Pearson Awards thing? No, why? I was going.
I didn't know if I'd run into you there.
No, I'm I'm not going.
You know, I, uh I meant to give you this earlier.
It's a scrambled cell phone, state-of-the-art.
I'm going to need you to use this to communicate with me from now on.
I'm discreet, Calder.
You can trust me.
Baby, I know.
But I need you to do this for me, okay? So it'll help me be discreet.
All right.
Whatever you need.
Whatever.
Whatever.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
I just landed.
What do you think? I always knew you had potential.
Oh, but you still gave me a C in Latin American Political Systems.
Well, looks like the student has surpassed the teacher.
Thank you, Arthur.
So why the call from the plane? Why am I here? Why so urgent? You were always so helpful to me when I was at Annapolis that I thought that maybe I could pay a little back with some unsolicited advice.
Well, this ought to be interesting.
I heard about Joan being passed over for DCS.
That was fast.
The DCI made the wrong move.
You and Joan have given your lives to the Agency, and this is how you're treated? I mean, you on the outside and Joan hitting the glass ceiling? Neither of us is looking at it that way.
I want you to come work with me.
Become a green badge? I know that you've been getting a lot of offers.
Alexandria Associates, PFW, Syncon But over here at McQuaid Security, we do things a little differently.
And it's not just because I pay the most, which I do.
Yeah, it's not just about the money for me.
Don't be afraid of money, Arthur.
It can pay for almost anything.
I mean, you have a new kid.
You've given a lot of good years to the Agency.
You deserve to have the opportunity to provide for little Mack.
I haven't been under a rock, Ryan.
Your company grew exponentially in the early years.
Easy.
But now you want to get to the next level.
And you're going to need deeper connections, greater access.
And a guy with my experience and my Rolodex gives you a lot of options.
All right.
I need you, Arthur.
There, I said it.
You and I could do a lot of special things together and have a shit load of fun doing it.
I'll think about it.
You think about it and you give me a call when you realize that you really can have it all.
Found your Mustang.
Looks like it's been abandoned.
I'm going to check it out.
It's not near any landmarks, so I doubt it's a bomb.
But approach with caution.
Team found traces of Semtex in the car.
And the body? Name's Eduardo Cruz.
Lives in Evanston.
Why would the Altans go after him? Works the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.
That's the target.
I'll scramble our tac team now.
I'll meet you there.
We have a real and credible threat on the Chicago Board of Trade.
We already have a work-up on this scenario, as it was one of the likely hard targets in the domestic threat matrix.
Do we clear the building? If we clear the building and suspend trading, we could create a panic.
Or we might trigger the bombings early.
Just like in the Beirut bombing last year, or the Lagos embassy bombing of '07.
But if we let business proceed, we may be abetting the attack.
We risk hundreds of deaths that could be avoided.
Our rapid response team with Operative Walker on point is moments away.
Operative Walker has suggested we proceed with a discreet sweep and allow the trading floor to remain open.
I strongly support this action.
Keep trading open.
Have the Chicago team sweep the building quickly and quietly.
Let's go.
Thanks for backing my call.
You got a raw deal, Joan, but it's good to have you back in the DPD.
What's the word? Just talked with head of security.
No one has come in yet with Eduardo Cruz's ID card.
Trading is in full swing.
It's a prime opportunity for an attack.
Okay.
Let's ID and take down.
This is Mykola Altan.
He most resembles the dead trader we found in the car.
Here you go.
You can now trade pork bellies.
Let's do this quickly.
The trading floor is on the mezzanine.
We can't let him get up there.
You two take the back exit.
I'm going to take the stairs.
Stay in position.
I'll check the floor.
Okay.
Sorry.
Sorry, man.
I've got him.
He's walking up the stairs towards my position.
Approach with caution.
We go on my orders.
Now! Get the vest off.
Keep his fingers open.
He's clean, no vest.
What are you doing? What's going on? We'll get the real story out of him.
Let's get him to the facility.
Tell us what the plan was, Mykola.
What were you and your brother doing with Khalid Ansari? Now.
Talk to me! Talk to me and you could save yourself.
Talk to me! Charlie? I think I just saw Oksana Altan outside the building.
The sister? Yeah.
Go check it out.
We'll move him in.
Okay.
Clear the detention room.
HIG is coming soon.
I'm done.
Spasibo.
What's that? Stop! Is that blood? What the hell? Don't move, Oksana! Oksana! Listen up, everyone.
Here's what we know.
Mykola Altan had a surgically implanted IED.
We believe the surgery was done by his sister, Oksana.
Oksana was taken down by Annie Walker.
But their brother, Borz Altan, remains in the wind.
The Altans somehow had knowledge of our secret Chicago facility.
And our detention protocols in the wake of the false attempt on the CBO T.
Everyone in the facility at the time of detonation has died.
This is a direct attack on our agency and its people.
It's an attack on all of us.
And we will not stop until we bring the people who did this to justice.
Earlier this afternoon, the Chicago Fire Department responded to an electrical fire at a sub-station in Chicago's financial district.
The fire was contained quickly and without report of injury, although adjoining offices were evacuated for a short time as a precautionary measure.
While a specific cause for the blaze was yet to be I've made calls to all the families.
Twelve different families learning that a loved one was dead.
I promised them all we'd get to the bottom of this.
Any news on Borz? No.
He's in the wind.
The Altans did not do this alone.
The inside information, the planning, the access.
Whoever is behind this knows our playbook.
They knew we would follow down Khalid Ansari to Borz Altan in the CBOT, and they knew we would take Mykola here.
They're a step ahead of us.
They played us.
I wanna stay on this, Calder.
I know you do.
And we need you.
You said you wanted a mission.
Well, now you've got one.
I'll give it everything I got.
Arthur, what's going on? Well, I thought about your offer.
I'm going to take you up on it.
Outstanding.
When do I start? Uh, I just have to go out of town, take care of a few things, but I should be back Monday.
How's that? Monday's great.
See you then.
Okay.
Oh, hey! Question.
When you were at DCS, did you work with an operative named Annie Walker? I know Annie Walker.
Why? We'll talk about it Monday.
Thanks for coming on board, Arthur.
We're gonna kick some serious ass together.
Auggie.
Annie.
Calder talk to you? Yeah, he kept me on this.
That's good.
I'm sorry about Charlie.
Yeah.
Me, too.
It's a hell of a thing, huh? I'm just glad you weren't in there with him.
It's eight months since I've been in the DPD.
It's still your home.
One more thing.
You wanna tell me what happened in the last four months? Auggie.
You said you wanted to go back to the way things were, and a lot of that is based on trust.
So if there's something you wanna tell me, not me and the Agency, not me and Calder, just me, as your handler and your friend.
No matter what it is, now is the time.
There's nothing to say.
You can trust me.
I do trust you.
Then let's get to work.