S.W.A.T. (2017) s08e11 Episode Script
Amber
1
Previously on SWAT
You didn't have to do anything
special for today.
Top of your class in law school
to the public defender's office.
I'm proud of you.
Does Hondo know you're still
in touch with your family?
It's been ten years since
I've seen my mom in person.
I actually got to hug
her on her birthday.
I do not regret that.
But if you're still associating
with criminals
They're still my family, Tan.
HICKS: Deputy Chief Bennett's
coming by SWAT today.
You think she's coming here
to influence what you say?
I might buy there's no ulterior motive
if she wasn't married
to Warden Bennett
from the prison where we put
that riot down a couple weeks back.
And let's get this on the
record, too, while we're at it.
You're an incompetent moron.
You got no business
running this or any prison.
When my wife hears
how you handled things today
SWAT handled what you couldn't.
I will tell the truth at
the inquiry into your husband.
I don't care what firestorm you cook up.
I stand by my officers.
Okay, your hat and your water bottle
are in your bag.
Where's your lunch box?
- Did we forget it again?
- Yeah.
Wait here. I'll go grab it.
(SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
Gracie?
Gracie, where are you?
(SCREAMING): Mommy!
Gracie!
Stop!
- Mommy! Mommy!
- Gracie! Stop!
- Mommy!
- Please, not my daughter!
Don't take my daughter away!
Oh, my God.
MAN: 911. What's your emergency?
You forget your shovel?
I assume you're back to try again
to dig up some more dirt on me.
When you read the book How to
Win Friends & Influence People,
I think you skipped
the chapter on charm.
Well, I shoot from the hip
and I tell it straight.
Must be nice to have that luxury.
Mm, well Uh, I'm sorry
your husband lost his job.
But the prison board did
a thorough investigation
and put the blame for the riot squarely
on his shoulders, not SWAT's.
Well, while I disagree
with the board's findings,
I will accept their decision.
And my husband did the right
thing and fell on his sword.
- Ah.
- But I'm not here to talk about that.
I'm here to talk about Officer Gamble.
Are you aware she's
associating with known criminals?
Are you talking about her family?
Her brothers Leon and Judd,
as well as two cousins,
are suspected of carrying out
several train cargo heists.
They've been under surveillance
for the last three weeks.
Early yesterday morning,
LAPD's Cargo Theft Unit
raided their suspected stash house
and came up empty. I wonder why that is.
Maybe they got bad intel.
Maybe somebody tipped them off
that the raid was happening.
Are you implying my officer is dirty?
Surveillance caught Gamble
leaving her cousins' house
the night before the raid went down.
How would she have even known
about the raid?
The Cargo Theft Unit
requested armed backup.
Details were posted
to SWAT's bulletin board.
Gamble could have seen the alert
and tipped them off.
Or are you putting one of
my officers under the microscope
in an attempt to discredit me?
As my daughter likes to say, you
have real main-character energy,
but and this might come
as a surprise
not everything is about you.
And you say
I skipped the chapter on charm.
There is gonna be an
investigation into Gamble
and her links to this crew
and whether or not she's working
for them as an informant.
- Oh
- While it's ongoing,
you need to bench her.
IA moves at glacial speed.
She'll end up sitting
in the armory for a year,
twiddling her thumbs,
only to be found innocent.
It is up to your discretion.
But if I were you,
I would consider how it looks
if she ends up being guilty.
(BEEPING)
Oh. You'll have to excuse me.
As much as I love our little chats,
I got better things to do.
All right, at 7:20 this morning,
six-year-old Gracie Walz was
abducted from her front yard.
Fifteen minutes ago, a manager
of a motel responded to the Amber Alert,
saying he saw Gracie
being dragged, screaming,
into a room by this guy.
Jerod Whitlock.
He's got a long list
of felony convictions.
Any of those felonies child-related?
Assault with a deadly weapon,
forcible coercion.
It's not clear from this if any
of the charges involved minors.
Detectives are already at the hotel.
I told them to set a perimeter,
warned them to stay back
and out of sight.
Does the suspect have
any connection to Gracie?
No, it doesn't seem like it.
Looks like a stranger abduction.
With most stranger abductions,
the victim winds up dead.
74% are killed within
the first three hours.
HONDO: We're not giving Whitlock
a chance to use this kid as a hostage
or do anything worse. Y'all copy?
- Roger.
- Copy.
DEACON: Suspect's in room 217.
RHD confirmed with the
receptionist he hasn't left the room.
HONDO: All right, Tan,
Powell, take the rear in case
he makes a break for it.
Deacon, you cover the front.
Me and Gamble will head inside.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN DISTANCE)
Hold. D-team, report in.
What's your status?
25-David. Moving into position.
30-David. I got the one-side covered.
Moving.
Jerod Whitlock, stop right there.
Suspect spotted us.
He's going back in the room.
Suspect's on the balcony.
TAN: Give it up, Whitlock!
Gamble, stay with the kid.
Copy.
HONDO: Hey, stop!
Give it up.
POWELL: He's headed for the roof.
Split. Take the right side.
LAPD!
Hondo, I'm on him.
- Move, move, move, move!
- (EXCLAIMS)
(GRUNTS)
DEACON: On your knees!
Don't move!
LAPD. Stop!
(GRUNTING)
Hey!
A for effort, at least.
GAMBLE: Hondo, it's not Gracie.
The girl in the room. It's not her.
Who's that little girl?
It's my girlfriend's kid.
I'm looking after her for
the day while my girl at work.
What the hell, man? Did somebody
call 911 and report me?
Yes. Man, it's a sick world.
A Black man can't do nothing
without somebody thinking
- he doing something wrong.
- Why'd you run when you saw us?
It's a natural reaction to the cops.
DEACON: Yeah? Nothing to do
with your two outstanding warrants?
Oh, come on, man.
I can't never catch a damn break!
So, Gracie's still out there.
She's been missing an hour already.
Tan, you said if we don't find her
in the first three, we might never.
Well, then the clock's ticking.
We need to bring that little girl home.
Window of opportunity
for finding Gracie alive
is closing rapidly.
Most child abductions are done
by people who know the victim.
Usually a parent who's lost custody.
Where's Gracie's dad in all this?
Well, definitely wasn't him
who took her.
He died six months ago of a brain tumor.
I also found out
he was a cop up in Oxnard.
One of our own.
Yeah. That why
Deputy Chief Bennett's here?
No. But it's why she's sticking around.
She's on the board of the
Eagle and Shield foundation.
Apparently knows the family.
Gracie's mom managed to
catch the make and model
of the vehicle. It's
a white Honda Civic.
Now, she only got the first
three letters of the plate.
I'll check to see
if there are any more leads.
- HICKS: Okay.
- (DOOR OPENS)
I've gone through a list
of child sex offenders
in the area. There's one living
three streets over from Gracie's house.
Michael Boswell.
His phone's off,
so I called his workplace.
He didn't show up
this morning for his shift.
Tan, grab Hondo and get over there.
Gamble.
A word.
Have you seen your family recently?
Uh, couple nights ago, yeah. Why?
Any particular reason for the visit?
Uh, no, we just, you know,
had a family dinner.
- I owed them.
- Hmm. Your brothers
and your cousins are under investigation
by the LAPD for cargo theft.
- What?
- When you were there, visiting,
that didn't come up in the conversation?
No. I had no idea until now.
So, you didn't tip 'em off that
an LAPD raid was imminent?
I'm sorry, what are you saying?
It sounds like you're accusing
me of being a dirty cop.
I'm not accusing you of anything.
The deputy chief is.
And she's opening an investigation.
Into what? I didn't do anything.
I had no idea my brothers and cousins
were into anything illegal.
Trust me, if I had,
I wouldn't have went anywhere near them.
I'm not the one
you're gonna need to convince.
It's Internal Affairs.
You're the SWAT commander.
If you don't believe I'm innocent,
then what hope do I have
in convincing anyone else?
My husband was a detective.
He used to come home
from work with stories
about all the awful things
he'd seen on the job.
Robberies, murders.
You know, bad things
always happened to other people,
not to us.
I wish he was here.
He'd know what to do.
You've got the entire LAPD
looking for Gracie.
We will do everything we can
to find her.
This is my fault. I shouldn't have
- let her out of my sight.
- No.
This is not your fault.
She forgot her lunch box.
I went back inside to get it.
Every day, I have to make her
peanut butter and banana sandwiches
and cut them into triangles
because that's the way her dad did it.
And she'll only drink strawberry milk.
Because he told her
that's what princesses drink.
Hey. I know it's easy for me to
sit here and say, "Don't fall apart."
Kate, the best thing you can
do for Gracie
right now is to hold it together.
I, uh, gave the detectives some photos
from my phone.
But I remembered
I had this one.
She was wearing that dress today.
(KNOCKING)
Have you found her?
We're still working on leads.
Powell, a word?
Excuse me.
We got hits on three white Hondas
matching the one
that drove off with Gracie.
Now, detectives cleared the first two,
but the owner of the third one
he's got two charges on his record.
Violating a restraining order
and brandishing a weapon.
So we've been asked to do the
honors and go knock on his door.
TAN: Guess if you're on the
sex offender registry you don't
get to be too picky
about where you live.
I don't know about that, Tan.
I've arrested a few sex offenders
living in mansions in
the Hollywood Hills.
You keep a list in your head?
Of the cases that never leave you?
I used to.
But that list got too long.
I had to figure ways
to deal with it instead.
Every single one on my list
involves kids.
Murdered, missing, worse.
Kanesha's the one
that sticks with me most.
I think about her all the time.
What happened to Kanesha?
She was ten.
Went missing on her way home
from choir practice.
Three blocks between
the church and her house.
Broad daylight. Not a single witness.
It was my first week working Vice
and my sergeant assigned me
family liaison.
- That's a tough job.
- Yeah.
Every time I knocked on their door,
her mom would answer
looking so hopeful and
every time, I had to let her down.
Handling another person's
hope ain't easy, man.
Especially when you know that hope's
probably gonna turn to grief.
Her mom was a really nice lady.
I must have sat on her sofa for hours,
drinking iced tea, listening
to her talk about Kanesha,
how she wanted to be Beyoncé
- when she grew up.
- (CHUCKLES)
It was awful.
I-I felt like I was
keeping a secret from her.
You know, some folks just prefer
to stay in the dark
so they don't have to face the fact
that their kid's never coming home.
This is the street.
Well, there's no guessing which
is our suspect's house.
You here about Gracie?
Where is she? She inside?
(SCOFFS) Come on in. See for yourself.
Gracie! Turn around.
- All right, all right.
- TAN: Gracie!
All right.
Soon as I got that Amber Alert,
I knew you'd come knocking.
Place is clear.
Yeah, 'cause she's not here.
Where were you this morning
between 7:00 and 8:00?
I was peeing into a plastic
cup for a random drug test.
Call my parole officer
if you don't believe me.
Here, I I had a
a
(SIGHS)
Yeah, neighbor from hell.
Yeah, I'm sure they'd agree.
I was 21. She was 17.
Maybe you should have checked her ID.
Her parents reported me.
And eight years I got,
for statutory rape.
- You broke the law.
- And I did my time.
(SCOFFS)
I got an engineering degree
and the only job that I can get is
unclogging toilets at the
shelter down the street.
And every time a kid goes missing
you guys come banging on my door,
the neighbors smash my windows,
they threaten to kill me.
Okay, thanks. Alibi holds.
Let's go.
Hey, can y-can you just
Can you please just tell my neighbors
that I didn't take that kid?
Fine.
(KNOCKING)
Guess no one's home.
Let's check the back.
Come on.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Excuse me. We're looking
for your neighbor,
Robert Dunne. Have you seen him today?
He's, uh, he's on vacation.
Ah. Any idea where he went?
Uh, Baja. It's one of those, uh, uh,
adults-only cruises.
(CHUCKLES) It's not
my thing, but, hey
Does he drive a white Honda Civic?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, he-he drove it down to Long Beach,
where he caught the ship from.
Any idea when he might be back, Mr
Oh, uh, Owens. Steven Owens.
Uh, and no. No, I got no idea, sorry.
What's this about?
Well, a car with a similar description
was used in a crime this morning.
Oh. Well, are-are you sure
it was his car?
Oh, we're just checking on some leads.
Thank you for your time.
Yeah, okay. (CHUCKLES)
Who's watching your neighbor's cat?
Oh, uh, I am.
I'm-I'm I'm watching it.
So, wouldn't you know
when he's coming back?
Uh, yeah, it's-it's next week sometime.
But I-I don't-I don't know
the exact date.
I'd have to look it up, so
Uh, if you'll excuse me.
Let's go.
He's acting really weird.
We'll run a check on him
when we get back to HQ.
If he has a key to the neighbor's house,
who's to say he doesn't
have a key to the car, too?
What if his neighbor
didn't drive to Long Beach?
What if he kept his car here
and Owens used it to abduct Gracie?
We need to bring him in for questioning.
Powell, we can't just
bring him in for questioning
because we think he's weird.
We'd need actual proof
that he borrowed the car.
Gracie's been missing for two hours.
My gut tells me something
is off about that guy, Deac.
Notice how he didn't ask
what crime the car was used for?
Yeah. People usually do want to
know all the lurid details.
(KNOCKING)
Mr. Owens, we were just wondering
if we could ask you a
few more questions.
Uh, about what?
(LOUD WHIMPERING IN DISTANCE)
You live alone?
Yeah.
Hey, what
what-what are you doing?
Y-You can't do that.
Powell
Mr. Owens, we are conducting
a search for a missing child.
Yeah, well, you cannot come into
my house without a search warrant.
I know my rights.
(WHIMPERING NEARBY)
(WHIMPERS)
DEACON: Powell.
Did you find anything?
No. It's just a dog.
What did I tell you?
Now, get the hell out of my house.
- Hey, stop that. Don't do that!
- Hey,
stay back. Don't move.
Peanut butter, bananas.
These are all Gracie's favorites.
Hey Get off me!
Where the hell is Gracie?
What did you do with her?!
The suspect you brought in has no priors
and we got no hard evidence
that he took Gracie.
I know he took her.
A hunch isn't enough to get
a judge to issue a warrant.
Especially after that
unauthorized entry you pulled.
I'm not saying you made a bad call.
Other than violating a man's rights.
We don't have enough to charge him
unless Deacon and Tan get him to crack.
Did we get inside the
neighbor's house yet?
Owens has a key.
He could have stashed Gracie there.
We're trying to get ahold of
the landlord to get us access.
The lawful kind.
In the meantime,
I want you to see what you can
do to dig into Owens' private life.
(DOOR CLOSES)
If you took Gracie,
it's best to own up now.
- Let us help you fix this.
- I-I didn't snatch any child.
This is a wrongful arrest
and I am gonna sue
your asses into the ground.
Once we find evidence, which we will,
we are gonna nail your ass to the wall.
I'm sorry, what was that, Officer Tan?
Annie.
Who is that?
Annie Kay.
Deacon's wife. She's a public defender.
(SCOFFS)
- What are you doing here?
- I read through the charge sheet
on the way over here.
You guys made entry
without probable cause.
We heard what we took to be a child.
A barking labradoodle.
Your client is suspected of
abducting a six-year-old girl.
And your evidence
is peanut butter and bananas.
She's torpedoing them.
Even if you had something
more substantial,
none of this would be
admissible in court.
OWENS: Thank you.
This is what I've been trying to tell
- Be quiet.
- Shut up.
You don't have anything on my client.
You need to let him go.
A word?
Outside.
(DOOR CLOSES)
What in God's name, Annie?
That man abducted a six-year-old child.
- Allegedly.
- A little girl.
And she's out there somewhere.
Those OJ cops
did a better job of collecting evidence.
You want to find her?
Do your job properly.
For God's sakes.
The best chance we have
to find this little girl
is to convince that man to talk,
but you're letting him walk.
I'm not letting him, the law is.
Even if he's guilty,
he's not gonna say anything anyway.
Thanks to you.
I will fight to maintain
my client's innocent
until you prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that he is guilty.
Those are our jobs.
I want to find this little
girl as much as you do.
- You could have fooled me.
- David, we are
- (DOOR OPENS)
- on the same side here.
- (SIGHS)
- Cut Mr. Owens loose.
Your wife is right.
- We can't hang on to him.
- Owens isn't about
to have a "come to Jesus"
moment and start yapping.
We're better off letting him go.
We'll keep him under surveillance.
Maybe he'll lead us to Gracie.
If he knows he's under a microscope,
he's not gonna take any risks.
- You let him walk, we lose our shot.
- Not necessarily.
Powell and Gamble are still
digging into Owens.
There's a chance they'll find something
and we just take another run at him.
I'll update Gracie's mom.
(SIGHS)
Okay. Got it.
That was RHD.
The landlord let them
into the neighbor's house.
No sign of Gracie.
No white Honda in the garage either.
You find anything on Owens?
No. He's more than vanilla. He's tofu.
Degree in accounting. No wife, no kids.
According to his LinkedIn, he volunteers
at a humane society
and counts bird-watching
and growing vegetables as his hobbies.
What if I'm wrong?
What if he is just a normal guy
who's into birds and vegetables?
I mean, a lot of people like
peanut butter banana sandwiches
and-and strawberry milk.
Why what if someone
else snatched Gracie
and we're just wasting our time?
I am not doubting your gut
for a second, Powell.
You shouldn't, either.
A woman's intuition
plus a cop's sixth sense?
Winning combo, if you ask me.
How'd it go with Owens?
He crack? He say anything about Gracie?
No. We're letting him go.
Was it because of the entry I made?
Is that Annie?
DEACON: Yeah.
She drew the short straw.
She's Owens' public defender.
You still doubt your gut?
Not for a second. That bastard took her.
Yeah. And he knows that we know,
and that we can't do anything about it.
Deputy Chief, may I have a word, please?
Officer Gamble. I assume you've spoken
with Commander Hicks?
About these lies going around about me?
Do I at least get
a chance to defend myself?
You'll get a chance to
respond to the allegations
once the investigation is underway.
All due respect, word gets out
that I am being investigated
for corruption
and my career is over.
Look, if you're innocent,
it won't even matter.
I am innocent.
There's no "if."
You associate with known criminals.
That's not exactly a good look
for a police officer.
I was having chicken wings
and some beers with my family.
I was not tipping anyone off
about a police raid.
Is this really about that?
What else would it be about?
Commander Hicks.
I know you don't like him.
But using me to get to him
for some personal vendetta
Officer Gamble, do I need
to remind you of your rank?
No.
Can I remind you that you were
once in my position?
Are you really gonna
throw me under the bus?
Well, I wouldn't disagree
with anyone who thought
Hicks' reign at SWAT had gone past
its expiration date,
but this investigation
is a totally separate issue.
It's about my not tolerating corruption
within the LAPD ranks.
How many times do I need to say it?
I'm clean.
You know, I really,
really hope that's the case.
Do you?
Hey.
You okay?
What if I screwed up our only chance
at finding this little girl?
Powell, you might be the only
reason we have a chance at finding her.
Your hunch led us to the suspect.
Owens knows we'll be watching him.
He's not gonna do anything now.
I can't tell if that's better
for Gracie or worse.
If Gracie is still alive,
that means she's likely safe
for the moment. Locked up somewhere,
terrified and alone.
Hondo, the world is huge.
She could be anywhere.
You and I both know
how most of these cases end.
You felt something was off
with the suspect.
You followed that hunch
and now we have a real lead.
There is a time to call it quits,
and that time ain't here yet.
Finally got ahold
of Steven Owens' neighbor
the one on the cruise.
Says he didn't take his car
to Long Beach.
He left it at home in the garage.
Yeah, but the car wasn't there
when RHD checked the house.
Owens must have used it
to abduct Gracie,
- just like Powell guessed.
- Mm-hmm.
We find the car, we might find the girl.
We won't find it.
He's covering his tracks.
Powell, you went inside his house.
Was there anything you saw
that could tell us who this guy is
or where he might have taken her?
I was looking for Gracie.
I wasn't checking out the decor.
What about photographs?
Any sense that he has friends
or family come and stay?
Anyone we might talk to?
I wasn't looking for anything like that.
Besides, everything was, like,
weird, creepy landscapes.
He had these black-and-white photographs
all across the wall with, like,
a farmhouse
- or a barn, it
- GAMBLE: Hold up.
Photos like this?
Yes, exactly like that.
How did you find them?
Owens is a tax accountant.
I was going through his list of clients.
One of them is a photographer,
Denton Pryor.
Dude thinks
he's Ansel Adams or something.
Maybe the photos are how Pryor pays
for getting his taxes done.
Click on "other work."
Pryor takes school portraits, too.
Pryor's logo.
He took Gracie's school picture.
So, this guy, Denton Pryor
and our guy Steven Owens
know each other.
Which means they could be accomplices.
Who abducted Gracie together.
Denton Pryor has
a previous arrest in Arizona
for inappropriate contact with a child.
Pleaded guilty to a lesser charge,
did some community service,
then left town.
So, Pryor lives in Venice,
his studio is a few blocks away,
which means Gracie could be at either.
It's circumstantial, but it's got
to be enough to get a warrant.
I'll call a judge.
We will split up, check 'em both.
Let's roll.
LAPD with a search warrant.
Tan.
Right side clear. Left side clear.
Closet clear.
HONDO: Go.
Clear.
Clear.
- She's not here.
- (PHONE VIBRATES)
It's Deacon.
No sign of Pryor or Gracie
at his apartment, either.
(GASPS SOFTLY)
Please don't let this
be what I think it is.
The FBI have ID'd the other four kids.
They were all abducted,
first one back in 2018.
Seems like Steven Owens and Denton Pryor
have been doing this for some time now,
snatching a child every 18 months or so.
Hicks told the cops
sitting on Owens' house
to bring him in for questioning.
Good. The gloves are off.
We're getting answers this round.
Owens is not walking out
of here a second time.
We also have a BOLO out
on Denton Pryor, too.
- We'll get both of them.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
Hopefully before they have a
chance to do anything to Gracie.
It's a message from Hicks.
Patrol unit sitting on Steven
Owens' house just reported in.
Come on. He hopped a back fence.
He's in the wind.
(BLOWS)
What's the secret?
'Cause I wouldn't mind
knowing it. How you dealt
with those cases you couldn't
get out of your head?
It ain't the ones we solve
that stick with us, Tan.
It's the ones we don't.
That's why you can't stop
thinking about Kanesha.
Right. But if you can't solve the case,
how you let it go?
I had a Kanesha story like yours.
Edward Miller.
He was six years old.
He went missing playing in
his front yard with his cousins.
His grandmother thought he went
with his mother to the store.
- Guessing they didn't find him.
- No.
I was a beat cop at the time.
There had a detective
assigned to the case,
but a little Black kid going
missing at that time, it
it didn't cause much of a stir.
Not sure much has changed.
Edward's grandmother and my
grandmother went to same church,
so I found myself
organizing search parties,
talking to every CI
and sex offender in the system.
But nothing.
Tan, I felt so bad
that I couldn't bring that
family peace that
I just avoided 'em.
Hear you on that.
It was my grandmother who
eventually sat me down, and she told me
that my guilt wasn't helping nobody.
His family needed truth.
So I went to Edward's folks
and I looked 'em right in the eye.
And I admitted that I didn't
think their little boy
was ever coming home, and it was hard,
feeling like I had
completely crushed their hopes.
But I saw that it actually
gave them some closure.
And that
it gave me some, too.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
DEACON: Annie.
Trying to get ahold of you.
I was in court. My phone was off.
It's about Steven Owens.
We found more evidence
that he abducted Gracie.
Enough that a judge signed off
on an arrest warrant,
but he's gone AWOL.
Now, we traced his phone
back to his house,
but he must have left it behind.
If we don't catch up to him,
we may never find Gracie.
Annie, did he say anything to you,
anything about where he
might be going when he left HQ?
He said he needed to check in on
his dog,
but he didn't ditch his phone.
- He texted me ten minutes ago.
- What?
"Why are there cops watching my house?
Am I still under investigation?"
He's got a second phone
we didn't know about.
We can trace it.
- All right, I got to go.
- Okay.
I heard the investigation
into Officer Gamble starts tomorrow.
Oh, please, come on in.
Have you decided yet
if you're going to bench her?
(SCOFFS)
I got too many people out sick.
I can't afford to have
an officer counting bullets
while the other ones
are in the firing line.
You can't keep her in the field.
No one will trust her to have your back.
We traced Steven Owens' second phone.
He's at Union Station.
What are you still doing here? Go.
I-I think I might have
found something, it's just a hunch.
Let's hear it.
Both perps are obsessed
with images of this farm.
I think it's because that's
where they're taking the children.
The photo's geotagged.
It's out in Simi Valley.
I can't figure out who the owner is,
but what if this is where Gracie's at?
I know it's just a hunch
The others can go to Union Station.
Take Tan and get out to the farm.
I'll dot your I's and get you a warrant
so you can search the place.
MAN: Remember to tap
your card before boarding.
All right, Hicks alerted
station patrol cops
to be on the lookout for Owens.
No sign so far.
Could have hopped a train already.
His phone triangulated just minutes ago.
He's still within the building.
All right, Gamble, you and Stevens
take the waiting room and the platforms.
We'll check out the main
concourse and ticket office.
♪
♪
♪
This is definitely the place.
That barn was in one of Pryor's photos.
Doesn't seem like
anyone's been here in years.
26-David, no sign of the suspect
in the waiting room.
We'll try the platform.
HONDO: Roger. No luck
on the main concourse either.
We're moving on to the ticket office.
Our white Honda.
Gracie.
She's got to be around here somewhere.
Let's look over there.
Over here. It's loose.
(GRUNTS)
Gracie?
Gracie, you here?
Where the hell is she?
Check out these marks.
This was moved. Help me out.
(GRUNTING)
(WHIMPERING)
Gracie.
Hey. Okay.
Are you okay?
We're police officers.
We're here to help.
You're safe now.
I'm gonna take you home
to your mommy, okay?
(CRYING)
She's shackled to the bed.
There are bolt cutters
in the car, I'll go get 'em.
And I can use the car radio,
let HQ know we found her.
There's no reception out here.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)
Hondo. 12 o'clock.
Owens has a Labradoodle. Steven Owens!
It's him. LAPD!
- Move! Move, move, move!
- (COMMUTERS EXCLAIMING)
- Move! Move, out of the way!
- LAPD! Move! Move!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Deacon.
(TOILET FLUSHES)
Clear.
Hey, you. Out now. Now.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
That's not as easy as it looks, man.
You cut in the wrong place and
that windpipe gets in the way,
you're only gonna pass out
from the pain.
And you will wake up handcuffed
to a hospital bed.
But if you actually know
how to do that correctly,
I will put a bullet
through your shoulder
before you can even try.
And you will still wake up
handcuffed to a hospital bed.
So, you choose.
(WHIMPERS)
Step away.
Step away. Turn around
and face the wall.
- Turn around!
- (WHIMPERING)
(GRUNTING)
(SOBBING)
(MOANING)
Don't worry. He's gonna
be back real soon.
No!
Just hang on.
(WHIMPERS)
(WHIMPERING)
(SOBBING)
All right. Just a second.
(GRUNTS)
There. See?
Do you think you can walk?
(WHIMPERS)
Okay.
(SHOTGUN RACKS)
(WHIMPERS)
Get your hands up.
More police are on their way by now.
Your buddy Owens has been
arrested already, too.
Just let us go. It's over.
- Too late for
- Run!
(GRACIE SHRIEKS)
(GRUNTING)
You okay?
Yeah. Gracie?
(WHIMPERS)
Hey.
You okay?
Okay. Let's get you home.
Gracie?
Mommy!
(BOTH SOBBING)
Thank you.
Hey.
Hey.
You here to see Owens?
I've already seen him.
Left him writing his statement.
Could be a while.
He came clean?
Told him you found Gracie.
He knew she'd be able to identify him.
So, he decided it was probably
in his best interest to start talking.
You know a judge won't show leniency.
Even if he gives up all the info
on the other crimes.
He and Pryor murdered four children.
I think my client's more concerned
about avoiding extradition.
One of the kids they abducted
was taken from her home in Blythe.
I checked the zip code,
it wasn't on
the California side of town.
Arizona.
Death penalty.
Ah, sometimes I hate my job
just having to defend people
- that make me sick to my stomach.
- Hey, I'm sorry.
And I'm sorry about earlier.
You were right.
We are on the same team.
I'm really sorry about that OJ comment.
- That was low.
- (CHUCKLES) Yeah,
it was-it was harsh.
But you doing your job so well
that made us do our job better.
It's how we got Gracie back to her mom.
Oh, that's a win for both of us.
'Cause now I don't have to
prepare a defense, for a child killer.
Mm.
- Shall we go home, see our kids?
- Yeah.
- Yes, please.
- All right.
Commander.
I'm just now finding
out there's gonna be
an investigation into Gamble?
You didn't think to tell me?
It's been a busy day.
These are career-ending accusations.
Where the hell is the evidence?
BENNETT:
Gamble went to visit her family.
The next day, a police raid on
their stash house came up empty.
Sounds like a whole lot
of speculation to me.
She was visiting family.
That doesn't make her a criminal.
I took in Darryl
after he got out of juvie
while his father was in prison.
I went into business
with Darryl and Leroy
after he got out.
Does that make me a criminal?
You gonna investigate me as well?
I know you want to believe Gamble,
but could you 100% vouch for her?
Yes.
It's okay not to be certain.
In fact, I want my officers
to entertain some doubt.
Oh, yeah, that's funny.
Because I don't see you doing
none of that when it comes to Gamble.
HICKS: That's why
it's better to investigate.
If Gamble's innocent,
this will all get worked out.
"If." You too?
And I'm benching Gamble
until the inquiry's done.
Sir, if you pull her from active duty,
people are gonna automatically assume
she's done something wrong.
I'll connect with you tomorrow.
And I expect both of you
to accept the findings
of this investigation.
And if Gamble's guilty
You'll expect me to fall on my sword.
(SHORT CHUCKLE)
I think she'd prefer
to disembowel me herself.
You want to tell Gamble
she's benched or shall I?
You should have had Gamble's back.
Like you just did?
I saw you hesitate when Bennett asked
if you'd stake your reputation
and the team's on Gamble.
When I gave you carte blanche
to pick someone for the team,
that wasn't a go-ahead
to throw a human grenade
into the middle of SWAT!
Now, Bennett's gonna
use this as an excuse
to come in here with her witch's broom
and do a clean sweep through SWAT.
So what? We ain't got nothing to hide.
All these years.
Are you telling me
you're still that naive
about the way the world works?
You're dismissed.
(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
Hey, Mrs. Marks.
Officer Tan.
You got news on my Kanesha?
I'm sorry. I wish I did.
I was just thinking about her today,
and wondering how you were getting on.
Well Want to come in?
I got some iced tea in the fridge.
That'd be great.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Previously on SWAT
You didn't have to do anything
special for today.
Top of your class in law school
to the public defender's office.
I'm proud of you.
Does Hondo know you're still
in touch with your family?
It's been ten years since
I've seen my mom in person.
I actually got to hug
her on her birthday.
I do not regret that.
But if you're still associating
with criminals
They're still my family, Tan.
HICKS: Deputy Chief Bennett's
coming by SWAT today.
You think she's coming here
to influence what you say?
I might buy there's no ulterior motive
if she wasn't married
to Warden Bennett
from the prison where we put
that riot down a couple weeks back.
And let's get this on the
record, too, while we're at it.
You're an incompetent moron.
You got no business
running this or any prison.
When my wife hears
how you handled things today
SWAT handled what you couldn't.
I will tell the truth at
the inquiry into your husband.
I don't care what firestorm you cook up.
I stand by my officers.
Okay, your hat and your water bottle
are in your bag.
Where's your lunch box?
- Did we forget it again?
- Yeah.
Wait here. I'll go grab it.
(SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
Gracie?
Gracie, where are you?
(SCREAMING): Mommy!
Gracie!
Stop!
- Mommy! Mommy!
- Gracie! Stop!
- Mommy!
- Please, not my daughter!
Don't take my daughter away!
Oh, my God.
MAN: 911. What's your emergency?
You forget your shovel?
I assume you're back to try again
to dig up some more dirt on me.
When you read the book How to
Win Friends & Influence People,
I think you skipped
the chapter on charm.
Well, I shoot from the hip
and I tell it straight.
Must be nice to have that luxury.
Mm, well Uh, I'm sorry
your husband lost his job.
But the prison board did
a thorough investigation
and put the blame for the riot squarely
on his shoulders, not SWAT's.
Well, while I disagree
with the board's findings,
I will accept their decision.
And my husband did the right
thing and fell on his sword.
- Ah.
- But I'm not here to talk about that.
I'm here to talk about Officer Gamble.
Are you aware she's
associating with known criminals?
Are you talking about her family?
Her brothers Leon and Judd,
as well as two cousins,
are suspected of carrying out
several train cargo heists.
They've been under surveillance
for the last three weeks.
Early yesterday morning,
LAPD's Cargo Theft Unit
raided their suspected stash house
and came up empty. I wonder why that is.
Maybe they got bad intel.
Maybe somebody tipped them off
that the raid was happening.
Are you implying my officer is dirty?
Surveillance caught Gamble
leaving her cousins' house
the night before the raid went down.
How would she have even known
about the raid?
The Cargo Theft Unit
requested armed backup.
Details were posted
to SWAT's bulletin board.
Gamble could have seen the alert
and tipped them off.
Or are you putting one of
my officers under the microscope
in an attempt to discredit me?
As my daughter likes to say, you
have real main-character energy,
but and this might come
as a surprise
not everything is about you.
And you say
I skipped the chapter on charm.
There is gonna be an
investigation into Gamble
and her links to this crew
and whether or not she's working
for them as an informant.
- Oh
- While it's ongoing,
you need to bench her.
IA moves at glacial speed.
She'll end up sitting
in the armory for a year,
twiddling her thumbs,
only to be found innocent.
It is up to your discretion.
But if I were you,
I would consider how it looks
if she ends up being guilty.
(BEEPING)
Oh. You'll have to excuse me.
As much as I love our little chats,
I got better things to do.
All right, at 7:20 this morning,
six-year-old Gracie Walz was
abducted from her front yard.
Fifteen minutes ago, a manager
of a motel responded to the Amber Alert,
saying he saw Gracie
being dragged, screaming,
into a room by this guy.
Jerod Whitlock.
He's got a long list
of felony convictions.
Any of those felonies child-related?
Assault with a deadly weapon,
forcible coercion.
It's not clear from this if any
of the charges involved minors.
Detectives are already at the hotel.
I told them to set a perimeter,
warned them to stay back
and out of sight.
Does the suspect have
any connection to Gracie?
No, it doesn't seem like it.
Looks like a stranger abduction.
With most stranger abductions,
the victim winds up dead.
74% are killed within
the first three hours.
HONDO: We're not giving Whitlock
a chance to use this kid as a hostage
or do anything worse. Y'all copy?
- Roger.
- Copy.
DEACON: Suspect's in room 217.
RHD confirmed with the
receptionist he hasn't left the room.
HONDO: All right, Tan,
Powell, take the rear in case
he makes a break for it.
Deacon, you cover the front.
Me and Gamble will head inside.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN DISTANCE)
Hold. D-team, report in.
What's your status?
25-David. Moving into position.
30-David. I got the one-side covered.
Moving.
Jerod Whitlock, stop right there.
Suspect spotted us.
He's going back in the room.
Suspect's on the balcony.
TAN: Give it up, Whitlock!
Gamble, stay with the kid.
Copy.
HONDO: Hey, stop!
Give it up.
POWELL: He's headed for the roof.
Split. Take the right side.
LAPD!
Hondo, I'm on him.
- Move, move, move, move!
- (EXCLAIMS)
(GRUNTS)
DEACON: On your knees!
Don't move!
LAPD. Stop!
(GRUNTING)
Hey!
A for effort, at least.
GAMBLE: Hondo, it's not Gracie.
The girl in the room. It's not her.
Who's that little girl?
It's my girlfriend's kid.
I'm looking after her for
the day while my girl at work.
What the hell, man? Did somebody
call 911 and report me?
Yes. Man, it's a sick world.
A Black man can't do nothing
without somebody thinking
- he doing something wrong.
- Why'd you run when you saw us?
It's a natural reaction to the cops.
DEACON: Yeah? Nothing to do
with your two outstanding warrants?
Oh, come on, man.
I can't never catch a damn break!
So, Gracie's still out there.
She's been missing an hour already.
Tan, you said if we don't find her
in the first three, we might never.
Well, then the clock's ticking.
We need to bring that little girl home.
Window of opportunity
for finding Gracie alive
is closing rapidly.
Most child abductions are done
by people who know the victim.
Usually a parent who's lost custody.
Where's Gracie's dad in all this?
Well, definitely wasn't him
who took her.
He died six months ago of a brain tumor.
I also found out
he was a cop up in Oxnard.
One of our own.
Yeah. That why
Deputy Chief Bennett's here?
No. But it's why she's sticking around.
She's on the board of the
Eagle and Shield foundation.
Apparently knows the family.
Gracie's mom managed to
catch the make and model
of the vehicle. It's
a white Honda Civic.
Now, she only got the first
three letters of the plate.
I'll check to see
if there are any more leads.
- HICKS: Okay.
- (DOOR OPENS)
I've gone through a list
of child sex offenders
in the area. There's one living
three streets over from Gracie's house.
Michael Boswell.
His phone's off,
so I called his workplace.
He didn't show up
this morning for his shift.
Tan, grab Hondo and get over there.
Gamble.
A word.
Have you seen your family recently?
Uh, couple nights ago, yeah. Why?
Any particular reason for the visit?
Uh, no, we just, you know,
had a family dinner.
- I owed them.
- Hmm. Your brothers
and your cousins are under investigation
by the LAPD for cargo theft.
- What?
- When you were there, visiting,
that didn't come up in the conversation?
No. I had no idea until now.
So, you didn't tip 'em off that
an LAPD raid was imminent?
I'm sorry, what are you saying?
It sounds like you're accusing
me of being a dirty cop.
I'm not accusing you of anything.
The deputy chief is.
And she's opening an investigation.
Into what? I didn't do anything.
I had no idea my brothers and cousins
were into anything illegal.
Trust me, if I had,
I wouldn't have went anywhere near them.
I'm not the one
you're gonna need to convince.
It's Internal Affairs.
You're the SWAT commander.
If you don't believe I'm innocent,
then what hope do I have
in convincing anyone else?
My husband was a detective.
He used to come home
from work with stories
about all the awful things
he'd seen on the job.
Robberies, murders.
You know, bad things
always happened to other people,
not to us.
I wish he was here.
He'd know what to do.
You've got the entire LAPD
looking for Gracie.
We will do everything we can
to find her.
This is my fault. I shouldn't have
- let her out of my sight.
- No.
This is not your fault.
She forgot her lunch box.
I went back inside to get it.
Every day, I have to make her
peanut butter and banana sandwiches
and cut them into triangles
because that's the way her dad did it.
And she'll only drink strawberry milk.
Because he told her
that's what princesses drink.
Hey. I know it's easy for me to
sit here and say, "Don't fall apart."
Kate, the best thing you can
do for Gracie
right now is to hold it together.
I, uh, gave the detectives some photos
from my phone.
But I remembered
I had this one.
She was wearing that dress today.
(KNOCKING)
Have you found her?
We're still working on leads.
Powell, a word?
Excuse me.
We got hits on three white Hondas
matching the one
that drove off with Gracie.
Now, detectives cleared the first two,
but the owner of the third one
he's got two charges on his record.
Violating a restraining order
and brandishing a weapon.
So we've been asked to do the
honors and go knock on his door.
TAN: Guess if you're on the
sex offender registry you don't
get to be too picky
about where you live.
I don't know about that, Tan.
I've arrested a few sex offenders
living in mansions in
the Hollywood Hills.
You keep a list in your head?
Of the cases that never leave you?
I used to.
But that list got too long.
I had to figure ways
to deal with it instead.
Every single one on my list
involves kids.
Murdered, missing, worse.
Kanesha's the one
that sticks with me most.
I think about her all the time.
What happened to Kanesha?
She was ten.
Went missing on her way home
from choir practice.
Three blocks between
the church and her house.
Broad daylight. Not a single witness.
It was my first week working Vice
and my sergeant assigned me
family liaison.
- That's a tough job.
- Yeah.
Every time I knocked on their door,
her mom would answer
looking so hopeful and
every time, I had to let her down.
Handling another person's
hope ain't easy, man.
Especially when you know that hope's
probably gonna turn to grief.
Her mom was a really nice lady.
I must have sat on her sofa for hours,
drinking iced tea, listening
to her talk about Kanesha,
how she wanted to be Beyoncé
- when she grew up.
- (CHUCKLES)
It was awful.
I-I felt like I was
keeping a secret from her.
You know, some folks just prefer
to stay in the dark
so they don't have to face the fact
that their kid's never coming home.
This is the street.
Well, there's no guessing which
is our suspect's house.
You here about Gracie?
Where is she? She inside?
(SCOFFS) Come on in. See for yourself.
Gracie! Turn around.
- All right, all right.
- TAN: Gracie!
All right.
Soon as I got that Amber Alert,
I knew you'd come knocking.
Place is clear.
Yeah, 'cause she's not here.
Where were you this morning
between 7:00 and 8:00?
I was peeing into a plastic
cup for a random drug test.
Call my parole officer
if you don't believe me.
Here, I I had a
a
(SIGHS)
Yeah, neighbor from hell.
Yeah, I'm sure they'd agree.
I was 21. She was 17.
Maybe you should have checked her ID.
Her parents reported me.
And eight years I got,
for statutory rape.
- You broke the law.
- And I did my time.
(SCOFFS)
I got an engineering degree
and the only job that I can get is
unclogging toilets at the
shelter down the street.
And every time a kid goes missing
you guys come banging on my door,
the neighbors smash my windows,
they threaten to kill me.
Okay, thanks. Alibi holds.
Let's go.
Hey, can y-can you just
Can you please just tell my neighbors
that I didn't take that kid?
Fine.
(KNOCKING)
Guess no one's home.
Let's check the back.
Come on.
(DOOR CLOSES)
Excuse me. We're looking
for your neighbor,
Robert Dunne. Have you seen him today?
He's, uh, he's on vacation.
Ah. Any idea where he went?
Uh, Baja. It's one of those, uh, uh,
adults-only cruises.
(CHUCKLES) It's not
my thing, but, hey
Does he drive a white Honda Civic?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, he-he drove it down to Long Beach,
where he caught the ship from.
Any idea when he might be back, Mr
Oh, uh, Owens. Steven Owens.
Uh, and no. No, I got no idea, sorry.
What's this about?
Well, a car with a similar description
was used in a crime this morning.
Oh. Well, are-are you sure
it was his car?
Oh, we're just checking on some leads.
Thank you for your time.
Yeah, okay. (CHUCKLES)
Who's watching your neighbor's cat?
Oh, uh, I am.
I'm-I'm I'm watching it.
So, wouldn't you know
when he's coming back?
Uh, yeah, it's-it's next week sometime.
But I-I don't-I don't know
the exact date.
I'd have to look it up, so
Uh, if you'll excuse me.
Let's go.
He's acting really weird.
We'll run a check on him
when we get back to HQ.
If he has a key to the neighbor's house,
who's to say he doesn't
have a key to the car, too?
What if his neighbor
didn't drive to Long Beach?
What if he kept his car here
and Owens used it to abduct Gracie?
We need to bring him in for questioning.
Powell, we can't just
bring him in for questioning
because we think he's weird.
We'd need actual proof
that he borrowed the car.
Gracie's been missing for two hours.
My gut tells me something
is off about that guy, Deac.
Notice how he didn't ask
what crime the car was used for?
Yeah. People usually do want to
know all the lurid details.
(KNOCKING)
Mr. Owens, we were just wondering
if we could ask you a
few more questions.
Uh, about what?
(LOUD WHIMPERING IN DISTANCE)
You live alone?
Yeah.
Hey, what
what-what are you doing?
Y-You can't do that.
Powell
Mr. Owens, we are conducting
a search for a missing child.
Yeah, well, you cannot come into
my house without a search warrant.
I know my rights.
(WHIMPERING NEARBY)
(WHIMPERS)
DEACON: Powell.
Did you find anything?
No. It's just a dog.
What did I tell you?
Now, get the hell out of my house.
- Hey, stop that. Don't do that!
- Hey,
stay back. Don't move.
Peanut butter, bananas.
These are all Gracie's favorites.
Hey Get off me!
Where the hell is Gracie?
What did you do with her?!
The suspect you brought in has no priors
and we got no hard evidence
that he took Gracie.
I know he took her.
A hunch isn't enough to get
a judge to issue a warrant.
Especially after that
unauthorized entry you pulled.
I'm not saying you made a bad call.
Other than violating a man's rights.
We don't have enough to charge him
unless Deacon and Tan get him to crack.
Did we get inside the
neighbor's house yet?
Owens has a key.
He could have stashed Gracie there.
We're trying to get ahold of
the landlord to get us access.
The lawful kind.
In the meantime,
I want you to see what you can
do to dig into Owens' private life.
(DOOR CLOSES)
If you took Gracie,
it's best to own up now.
- Let us help you fix this.
- I-I didn't snatch any child.
This is a wrongful arrest
and I am gonna sue
your asses into the ground.
Once we find evidence, which we will,
we are gonna nail your ass to the wall.
I'm sorry, what was that, Officer Tan?
Annie.
Who is that?
Annie Kay.
Deacon's wife. She's a public defender.
(SCOFFS)
- What are you doing here?
- I read through the charge sheet
on the way over here.
You guys made entry
without probable cause.
We heard what we took to be a child.
A barking labradoodle.
Your client is suspected of
abducting a six-year-old girl.
And your evidence
is peanut butter and bananas.
She's torpedoing them.
Even if you had something
more substantial,
none of this would be
admissible in court.
OWENS: Thank you.
This is what I've been trying to tell
- Be quiet.
- Shut up.
You don't have anything on my client.
You need to let him go.
A word?
Outside.
(DOOR CLOSES)
What in God's name, Annie?
That man abducted a six-year-old child.
- Allegedly.
- A little girl.
And she's out there somewhere.
Those OJ cops
did a better job of collecting evidence.
You want to find her?
Do your job properly.
For God's sakes.
The best chance we have
to find this little girl
is to convince that man to talk,
but you're letting him walk.
I'm not letting him, the law is.
Even if he's guilty,
he's not gonna say anything anyway.
Thanks to you.
I will fight to maintain
my client's innocent
until you prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that he is guilty.
Those are our jobs.
I want to find this little
girl as much as you do.
- You could have fooled me.
- David, we are
- (DOOR OPENS)
- on the same side here.
- (SIGHS)
- Cut Mr. Owens loose.
Your wife is right.
- We can't hang on to him.
- Owens isn't about
to have a "come to Jesus"
moment and start yapping.
We're better off letting him go.
We'll keep him under surveillance.
Maybe he'll lead us to Gracie.
If he knows he's under a microscope,
he's not gonna take any risks.
- You let him walk, we lose our shot.
- Not necessarily.
Powell and Gamble are still
digging into Owens.
There's a chance they'll find something
and we just take another run at him.
I'll update Gracie's mom.
(SIGHS)
Okay. Got it.
That was RHD.
The landlord let them
into the neighbor's house.
No sign of Gracie.
No white Honda in the garage either.
You find anything on Owens?
No. He's more than vanilla. He's tofu.
Degree in accounting. No wife, no kids.
According to his LinkedIn, he volunteers
at a humane society
and counts bird-watching
and growing vegetables as his hobbies.
What if I'm wrong?
What if he is just a normal guy
who's into birds and vegetables?
I mean, a lot of people like
peanut butter banana sandwiches
and-and strawberry milk.
Why what if someone
else snatched Gracie
and we're just wasting our time?
I am not doubting your gut
for a second, Powell.
You shouldn't, either.
A woman's intuition
plus a cop's sixth sense?
Winning combo, if you ask me.
How'd it go with Owens?
He crack? He say anything about Gracie?
No. We're letting him go.
Was it because of the entry I made?
Is that Annie?
DEACON: Yeah.
She drew the short straw.
She's Owens' public defender.
You still doubt your gut?
Not for a second. That bastard took her.
Yeah. And he knows that we know,
and that we can't do anything about it.
Deputy Chief, may I have a word, please?
Officer Gamble. I assume you've spoken
with Commander Hicks?
About these lies going around about me?
Do I at least get
a chance to defend myself?
You'll get a chance to
respond to the allegations
once the investigation is underway.
All due respect, word gets out
that I am being investigated
for corruption
and my career is over.
Look, if you're innocent,
it won't even matter.
I am innocent.
There's no "if."
You associate with known criminals.
That's not exactly a good look
for a police officer.
I was having chicken wings
and some beers with my family.
I was not tipping anyone off
about a police raid.
Is this really about that?
What else would it be about?
Commander Hicks.
I know you don't like him.
But using me to get to him
for some personal vendetta
Officer Gamble, do I need
to remind you of your rank?
No.
Can I remind you that you were
once in my position?
Are you really gonna
throw me under the bus?
Well, I wouldn't disagree
with anyone who thought
Hicks' reign at SWAT had gone past
its expiration date,
but this investigation
is a totally separate issue.
It's about my not tolerating corruption
within the LAPD ranks.
How many times do I need to say it?
I'm clean.
You know, I really,
really hope that's the case.
Do you?
Hey.
You okay?
What if I screwed up our only chance
at finding this little girl?
Powell, you might be the only
reason we have a chance at finding her.
Your hunch led us to the suspect.
Owens knows we'll be watching him.
He's not gonna do anything now.
I can't tell if that's better
for Gracie or worse.
If Gracie is still alive,
that means she's likely safe
for the moment. Locked up somewhere,
terrified and alone.
Hondo, the world is huge.
She could be anywhere.
You and I both know
how most of these cases end.
You felt something was off
with the suspect.
You followed that hunch
and now we have a real lead.
There is a time to call it quits,
and that time ain't here yet.
Finally got ahold
of Steven Owens' neighbor
the one on the cruise.
Says he didn't take his car
to Long Beach.
He left it at home in the garage.
Yeah, but the car wasn't there
when RHD checked the house.
Owens must have used it
to abduct Gracie,
- just like Powell guessed.
- Mm-hmm.
We find the car, we might find the girl.
We won't find it.
He's covering his tracks.
Powell, you went inside his house.
Was there anything you saw
that could tell us who this guy is
or where he might have taken her?
I was looking for Gracie.
I wasn't checking out the decor.
What about photographs?
Any sense that he has friends
or family come and stay?
Anyone we might talk to?
I wasn't looking for anything like that.
Besides, everything was, like,
weird, creepy landscapes.
He had these black-and-white photographs
all across the wall with, like,
a farmhouse
- or a barn, it
- GAMBLE: Hold up.
Photos like this?
Yes, exactly like that.
How did you find them?
Owens is a tax accountant.
I was going through his list of clients.
One of them is a photographer,
Denton Pryor.
Dude thinks
he's Ansel Adams or something.
Maybe the photos are how Pryor pays
for getting his taxes done.
Click on "other work."
Pryor takes school portraits, too.
Pryor's logo.
He took Gracie's school picture.
So, this guy, Denton Pryor
and our guy Steven Owens
know each other.
Which means they could be accomplices.
Who abducted Gracie together.
Denton Pryor has
a previous arrest in Arizona
for inappropriate contact with a child.
Pleaded guilty to a lesser charge,
did some community service,
then left town.
So, Pryor lives in Venice,
his studio is a few blocks away,
which means Gracie could be at either.
It's circumstantial, but it's got
to be enough to get a warrant.
I'll call a judge.
We will split up, check 'em both.
Let's roll.
LAPD with a search warrant.
Tan.
Right side clear. Left side clear.
Closet clear.
HONDO: Go.
Clear.
Clear.
- She's not here.
- (PHONE VIBRATES)
It's Deacon.
No sign of Pryor or Gracie
at his apartment, either.
(GASPS SOFTLY)
Please don't let this
be what I think it is.
The FBI have ID'd the other four kids.
They were all abducted,
first one back in 2018.
Seems like Steven Owens and Denton Pryor
have been doing this for some time now,
snatching a child every 18 months or so.
Hicks told the cops
sitting on Owens' house
to bring him in for questioning.
Good. The gloves are off.
We're getting answers this round.
Owens is not walking out
of here a second time.
We also have a BOLO out
on Denton Pryor, too.
- We'll get both of them.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
Hopefully before they have a
chance to do anything to Gracie.
It's a message from Hicks.
Patrol unit sitting on Steven
Owens' house just reported in.
Come on. He hopped a back fence.
He's in the wind.
(BLOWS)
What's the secret?
'Cause I wouldn't mind
knowing it. How you dealt
with those cases you couldn't
get out of your head?
It ain't the ones we solve
that stick with us, Tan.
It's the ones we don't.
That's why you can't stop
thinking about Kanesha.
Right. But if you can't solve the case,
how you let it go?
I had a Kanesha story like yours.
Edward Miller.
He was six years old.
He went missing playing in
his front yard with his cousins.
His grandmother thought he went
with his mother to the store.
- Guessing they didn't find him.
- No.
I was a beat cop at the time.
There had a detective
assigned to the case,
but a little Black kid going
missing at that time, it
it didn't cause much of a stir.
Not sure much has changed.
Edward's grandmother and my
grandmother went to same church,
so I found myself
organizing search parties,
talking to every CI
and sex offender in the system.
But nothing.
Tan, I felt so bad
that I couldn't bring that
family peace that
I just avoided 'em.
Hear you on that.
It was my grandmother who
eventually sat me down, and she told me
that my guilt wasn't helping nobody.
His family needed truth.
So I went to Edward's folks
and I looked 'em right in the eye.
And I admitted that I didn't
think their little boy
was ever coming home, and it was hard,
feeling like I had
completely crushed their hopes.
But I saw that it actually
gave them some closure.
And that
it gave me some, too.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
DEACON: Annie.
Trying to get ahold of you.
I was in court. My phone was off.
It's about Steven Owens.
We found more evidence
that he abducted Gracie.
Enough that a judge signed off
on an arrest warrant,
but he's gone AWOL.
Now, we traced his phone
back to his house,
but he must have left it behind.
If we don't catch up to him,
we may never find Gracie.
Annie, did he say anything to you,
anything about where he
might be going when he left HQ?
He said he needed to check in on
his dog,
but he didn't ditch his phone.
- He texted me ten minutes ago.
- What?
"Why are there cops watching my house?
Am I still under investigation?"
He's got a second phone
we didn't know about.
We can trace it.
- All right, I got to go.
- Okay.
I heard the investigation
into Officer Gamble starts tomorrow.
Oh, please, come on in.
Have you decided yet
if you're going to bench her?
(SCOFFS)
I got too many people out sick.
I can't afford to have
an officer counting bullets
while the other ones
are in the firing line.
You can't keep her in the field.
No one will trust her to have your back.
We traced Steven Owens' second phone.
He's at Union Station.
What are you still doing here? Go.
I-I think I might have
found something, it's just a hunch.
Let's hear it.
Both perps are obsessed
with images of this farm.
I think it's because that's
where they're taking the children.
The photo's geotagged.
It's out in Simi Valley.
I can't figure out who the owner is,
but what if this is where Gracie's at?
I know it's just a hunch
The others can go to Union Station.
Take Tan and get out to the farm.
I'll dot your I's and get you a warrant
so you can search the place.
MAN: Remember to tap
your card before boarding.
All right, Hicks alerted
station patrol cops
to be on the lookout for Owens.
No sign so far.
Could have hopped a train already.
His phone triangulated just minutes ago.
He's still within the building.
All right, Gamble, you and Stevens
take the waiting room and the platforms.
We'll check out the main
concourse and ticket office.
♪
♪
♪
This is definitely the place.
That barn was in one of Pryor's photos.
Doesn't seem like
anyone's been here in years.
26-David, no sign of the suspect
in the waiting room.
We'll try the platform.
HONDO: Roger. No luck
on the main concourse either.
We're moving on to the ticket office.
Our white Honda.
Gracie.
She's got to be around here somewhere.
Let's look over there.
Over here. It's loose.
(GRUNTS)
Gracie?
Gracie, you here?
Where the hell is she?
Check out these marks.
This was moved. Help me out.
(GRUNTING)
(WHIMPERING)
Gracie.
Hey. Okay.
Are you okay?
We're police officers.
We're here to help.
You're safe now.
I'm gonna take you home
to your mommy, okay?
(CRYING)
She's shackled to the bed.
There are bolt cutters
in the car, I'll go get 'em.
And I can use the car radio,
let HQ know we found her.
There's no reception out here.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)
Hondo. 12 o'clock.
Owens has a Labradoodle. Steven Owens!
It's him. LAPD!
- Move! Move, move, move!
- (COMMUTERS EXCLAIMING)
- Move! Move, out of the way!
- LAPD! Move! Move!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Deacon.
(TOILET FLUSHES)
Clear.
Hey, you. Out now. Now.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
That's not as easy as it looks, man.
You cut in the wrong place and
that windpipe gets in the way,
you're only gonna pass out
from the pain.
And you will wake up handcuffed
to a hospital bed.
But if you actually know
how to do that correctly,
I will put a bullet
through your shoulder
before you can even try.
And you will still wake up
handcuffed to a hospital bed.
So, you choose.
(WHIMPERS)
Step away.
Step away. Turn around
and face the wall.
- Turn around!
- (WHIMPERING)
(GRUNTING)
(SOBBING)
(MOANING)
Don't worry. He's gonna
be back real soon.
No!
Just hang on.
(WHIMPERS)
(WHIMPERING)
(SOBBING)
All right. Just a second.
(GRUNTS)
There. See?
Do you think you can walk?
(WHIMPERS)
Okay.
(SHOTGUN RACKS)
(WHIMPERS)
Get your hands up.
More police are on their way by now.
Your buddy Owens has been
arrested already, too.
Just let us go. It's over.
- Too late for
- Run!
(GRACIE SHRIEKS)
(GRUNTING)
You okay?
Yeah. Gracie?
(WHIMPERS)
Hey.
You okay?
Okay. Let's get you home.
Gracie?
Mommy!
(BOTH SOBBING)
Thank you.
Hey.
Hey.
You here to see Owens?
I've already seen him.
Left him writing his statement.
Could be a while.
He came clean?
Told him you found Gracie.
He knew she'd be able to identify him.
So, he decided it was probably
in his best interest to start talking.
You know a judge won't show leniency.
Even if he gives up all the info
on the other crimes.
He and Pryor murdered four children.
I think my client's more concerned
about avoiding extradition.
One of the kids they abducted
was taken from her home in Blythe.
I checked the zip code,
it wasn't on
the California side of town.
Arizona.
Death penalty.
Ah, sometimes I hate my job
just having to defend people
- that make me sick to my stomach.
- Hey, I'm sorry.
And I'm sorry about earlier.
You were right.
We are on the same team.
I'm really sorry about that OJ comment.
- That was low.
- (CHUCKLES) Yeah,
it was-it was harsh.
But you doing your job so well
that made us do our job better.
It's how we got Gracie back to her mom.
Oh, that's a win for both of us.
'Cause now I don't have to
prepare a defense, for a child killer.
Mm.
- Shall we go home, see our kids?
- Yeah.
- Yes, please.
- All right.
Commander.
I'm just now finding
out there's gonna be
an investigation into Gamble?
You didn't think to tell me?
It's been a busy day.
These are career-ending accusations.
Where the hell is the evidence?
BENNETT:
Gamble went to visit her family.
The next day, a police raid on
their stash house came up empty.
Sounds like a whole lot
of speculation to me.
She was visiting family.
That doesn't make her a criminal.
I took in Darryl
after he got out of juvie
while his father was in prison.
I went into business
with Darryl and Leroy
after he got out.
Does that make me a criminal?
You gonna investigate me as well?
I know you want to believe Gamble,
but could you 100% vouch for her?
Yes.
It's okay not to be certain.
In fact, I want my officers
to entertain some doubt.
Oh, yeah, that's funny.
Because I don't see you doing
none of that when it comes to Gamble.
HICKS: That's why
it's better to investigate.
If Gamble's innocent,
this will all get worked out.
"If." You too?
And I'm benching Gamble
until the inquiry's done.
Sir, if you pull her from active duty,
people are gonna automatically assume
she's done something wrong.
I'll connect with you tomorrow.
And I expect both of you
to accept the findings
of this investigation.
And if Gamble's guilty
You'll expect me to fall on my sword.
(SHORT CHUCKLE)
I think she'd prefer
to disembowel me herself.
You want to tell Gamble
she's benched or shall I?
You should have had Gamble's back.
Like you just did?
I saw you hesitate when Bennett asked
if you'd stake your reputation
and the team's on Gamble.
When I gave you carte blanche
to pick someone for the team,
that wasn't a go-ahead
to throw a human grenade
into the middle of SWAT!
Now, Bennett's gonna
use this as an excuse
to come in here with her witch's broom
and do a clean sweep through SWAT.
So what? We ain't got nothing to hide.
All these years.
Are you telling me
you're still that naive
about the way the world works?
You're dismissed.
(DOOR OPENS, CLOSES)
Hey, Mrs. Marks.
Officer Tan.
You got news on my Kanesha?
I'm sorry. I wish I did.
I was just thinking about her today,
and wondering how you were getting on.
Well Want to come in?
I got some iced tea in the fridge.
That'd be great.
(DOOR CLOSES)