NCIS Los Angeles s11e14 Episode Script

1 Previously on NCIS: Los Angeles You'd like to have a relationship with Anna? If I'd acted differently, who knows where that could have gone.
Like I said before, I don't even know where she is now.
Intruder alert! The Chinese were developing technology under the guise - of a Silicon Valley start-up.
- Eric, what can you tell us - about Henrietta Lange? - Hetty? I think you'll come to find that I also know a lot of people in a lot of high places.
This should be more than enough to prove that Logic Wide was a front for Chinese intelligence.
- And you are? - Katherine Casillas.
Sam Hanna.
Enchanté.
I do it.
I declare myself before you.
Naked and exposed, biting my fingernails to the bone.
I'm so terrified of what you will say.
But that's what's funny, the thing about time.
It goes so slow when you're waiting on someone else.
Tick, tock, says the clock.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
Waiting for my answer.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
Waiting for my fate.
That's right, waiting for my fate to happen to me instead of me going out and seizing it like it was my own, like I should have, like I want to, like I will.
When I finally love what I see in the mirror, when I say, "Enough," when I free myself from the shackles of Instagram.
Thank you very much.
Hey, so this is where everybody is.
You guys missed a heck of a show.
She killed it, whoever she was.
I think her name was Janice Eckhart.
That's E-C-K-H-A-R-T.
Sorry, uh, big kombucha, tiny bladder.
Does anyone actually know if somebody's in there? Did we knock? Okay.
Excuse me.
Come on, man.
This is a family establishment.
There's gonna be kids in here tomorrow morning for story time.
Look, uh, not to get too personal, but I really have to go.
So if you could just pick yourself up, muster up Okay.
Hey.
- What are you up to? - Nothing.
Seriously, what are you doing? Oh, you know, just, uh, really, nothing.
You're just at work early doing nothing, putting not-important documents into the incinerator? - Hey, are you on your way to work out? - No.
Are you maybe gonna, like, grab a bite to eat, or? You know, it kind of feels like you're trying to blow me off.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Does it seem like that? - Because I am.
I definitely am.
- Mm-hmm.
But you are clearly not taking the hint, so what, pray tell, what are you doing here so early? I need a favor.
Gosh.
Geez.
I, uh wish I could help you out, but I believe my quota for burning incriminating evidence is all used up for the day.
Yeah, it's not that kind of favor.
I need you to help me find Anna.
Oh.
I just sent you an Interpol report about a triple homicide in Barcelona.
Oh, my goodness.
Anna is not one of the victims.
I don't even know that she's necessarily involved, but I just want to make sure that she's okay.
Yeah, of course.
But, Callen, what if I can't find her? Well, then I'll know I was too late.
Hm.
Hey.
Oh.
Top of the morning to you.
I, uh, was just going to the gym.
It's leg day, so I was gonna do squats and goblet squats and lunges, reverse lunges, anything to wake up those gluteus maximus-es.
Or is it gluteus maximi? Eh, never know with the Latin.
Anyway, um Oh, was something Were you in the middle of something, or - No.
- Eh.
- You were.
- It's okay.
- You were.
- It's okay, Eric.
- Oh, this is awkward.
- Well, it doesn't have to be.
And yet Do you want to check that? Uh Well, I-I do, but I just, I don't want to be rude and look at my watch while the three of us are clearly in the middle of a moment.
- We weren't having a moment.
- No, not at all.
- Nell and I were having a moment.
- Oh, which you clearly murdered, but Oh.
Ah.
I-I get it now.
Oh, w-well, actually, we do have a case.
Social cues are hard.
- Yeah.
- Um, so I'm gon I'm gonna gather the team and just remember it's not all about you, Beale.
So I'll meet you up in Ops.
And Mondays, am I right? Wow.
You're not wrong.
What do we got? Last night at a spoken word poetry reading in Eagle Rock Nice, little spoken word, - I like it.
- Oh, my What if all of our cases started, like, at poetry readings or cello concerts or something, just, like, pleasant? Ooh, wait for it.
A dead body was found in the bathroom.
And we're back.
The victim was Michael Carpenter, former active duty naval warfare engineer, now working in the private sector as a software engineer.
So what was he working on? Uh, we're not sure, but his company was called Go, Go, Go.
That's a terrible name.
Yeah, bet the boss was a real Bezos.
And that's what we got.
That's it? That's-that's not a lot to go on, guys.
That's actually the definition of "nada mucho.
" And yet the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has full faith, total blind trust.
Actually, there is this, um, one other thing.
Sorry, uh, what? Nell, you-you, uh, going off script here? 'Cause I don't have anything else.
You could say that.
Um, the company Carpenter was working for is actually funded by the same Chinese shell corporation that was backing the company you were working for up in San Francisco.
- Hmm.
- Huh.
Um But, uh, by-by "same Ch-Chinese shell company," do you mean the people who tried to-to kidnap me and then tried to murder me? - That's the one.
- Cool.
Cool.
- Sorry, are you okay? - Cool.
Yeah, I'm fine.
Are you good? That's just a That's cool.
Coincidence.
All righty, um Callen and Sam are on their way to the tech company now.
To see if this one is just as corrupt and dangerous as the last one.
Yeah, we'll, um, head to the crime scene.
Okay, b-bye.
Hope you find something.
- Bye, Beale.
- Bye.
I'm sorry.
I just found out and I didn't really know how to tell you, so I figured I'd just rip the Band-Aid off.
Well, Miss Penelope Jones, consider the Band-Aid ripped.
Excuse me, everyone.
I'm Agent Callen, NCIS.
This is my partner, Agent Hanna.
This is the part where someone tells us who's in charge here.
You're looking at him.
Well, it's not an office, but, technically, - he is in the corner.
- Okay, folks, why don't you guys give us the room? Get your vitamin D and your 10,000 steps in.
Well, this is a fun way to start a Monday.
Yeah, we're here to talk to you about one of your employees, Michael Carpenter.
Ah, yes, the, uh, the punk who didn't show up for work this morning.
The software engineer who was murdered last night.
Mike's dead? He was strangled at a bookstore in Eagle Rock.
You know of anyone who may have had it out for him? No.
No, no, uh Wait, Mike's dead? We're very sorry.
Look, do you think that what happened to him could've had something to do with what he was working on here? Yeah, no.
No.
What exactly is it you do here? It's, uh, algorithm software.
It's nothing.
No, it's something.
You have offices here in Venice, funding from a Chinese VC.
Guys, I-I-I don't know what Mike was into in his own time, but all we're doing here is building a search engine.
I'm telling you, he didn't die because of us.
Hello.
I'm Special Agent Kensi Blye, NCIS, and, uh, that there is my partner Detective Marty Deeks, - LAPD.
- Hey.
- All right.
Carla, Stories Books.
- Nice to meet you.
Uh, were you here last night? Better believe I was here.
Let me tell you, I suffered through every second of it.
- Mm.
- Yeah, I'm sure it was quite hard.
I'm sorry.
I told my boss it was a terrible idea.
Giving those hacks the stage so that they could vomit noise about their feelings.
Yeah, no, Carla, we were actually talking about the murder.
The murder must've been very hard for you.
- It wasn't great.
- Oh But you got to understand, I was already in a pretty foul mood by then.
Uh-huh.
Right.
Of course.
Um, how would you describe the crowd last night? Pretentious hippies with tattoos in languages they don't speak.
Mm-hmm.
And did anybody stand out to you? In that flock of sheep? No.
Do you think, uh, any of these sheep poets are the ones that killed, uh, Michael Carpenter? A big a-no.
And these guys weren't poets.
Let me put it to you straight, they didn't have an original thought to save them, or the cojones to take someone's life.
- No cojones.
- And, uh, where were you while this poetry reading and the murder were taking place? - Me? - Yeah.
I spent the night working crowd control to keep things at bay.
Keeping the-the hippies at bay, were you? Thought that was necessary? You can never trust a hippie.
I feel like I should be offended by that, but I'm not.
So you got someone that can vouch for you, then, Carla? I mean, I wouldn't trust anyone who uses a natural deodorant.
But I've got a security tape that'll prove it.
Can we see it? Mm-hmm.
This is gonna be fun.
- I don't even - I love her.
- What is happening? - So tell us more about this search engine you're building.
Oh, it's honestly, there's not much to tell.
Why don't you humor us? How is what you're building any different from what Google's already doing? Well, it's, uh pretty subtle.
We're subtle kind of guys.
And fairly technical.
We love technical.
Tell him, G.
We love technical.
Pretty much our happy place.
Look, it-it's just kind of hard - to explain in layman's terms.
- What is? DeChamps.
- This is a surprise.
- Sam.
Callen.
Tell me.
What's so hard to explain? What his business does.
- It's too technical.
- Oh.
- Don't forget subtle.
- Right.
Subtle.
Mm.
Let me guess.
He called it a search engine.
Ah, the hubris.
What, you didn't want to tell the federal agents that your little search engine is probably what got Michael Carpenter killed? So, Miguel, do you want to tell them or should I? You're good with me telling them? If you insist.
Just promise you'll let me know if I get anything wrong.
It's good to see you again.
It's good to see you, too, Sam.
You boys ever heard of Project Dragonfly? Yeah, that was the search engine that Google was building for the Chinese government.
"Was" being the operative word.
The software was designed to be compatible with China's censorship laws.
Meaning it was built to share an individual's search data with the government.
Putting Chinese citizens at risk for kidnap and torture.
Just because they looked up the wrong kind of information.
- Yeah, like Tiananmen.
- Or Twitter.
Exactly.
People found out about Dragonfly, and human rights activists staged protests around the world.
And eventually, Google killed the project.
But China doesn't give up that easy.
No, they don't.
Sure they'd love another company to pick up where Google left off.
I'm guessing that's where you come into the picture.
Oh.
Hey, there, Miguel.
How we doing so far? I want to call my lawyer.
- Must be doing pretty damn good.
- Mm-hmm.
Somebody doesn't want to Go, Go, Go to jail.
I had to.
Hold on a second.
This can't be public knowledge, otherwise there would be activists protesting here.
Mm-mm, technically it's not, but through my DoD connections, I was able to trace the money from China to Go, Go, Go terrible name, by the way and I figured it out.
And you think someone else did, too? Well, it could explain why one of the software engineers was murdered last night.
Well, at the least it's a theory.
Right, Miguel? Hmm? It's a theory? Come on.
You got to at least tell us if we're getting warm.
Look, I haven't done anything illegal, and my company hasn't done anything illegal.
Okay? Hi, Kat? Hi, hi, it's-it's Miguel.
Yeah.
Uh-huh.
What do we have here? - I thought it was leg day.
- It was.
Until I found out the same Chinese corporation that tried to kill me has reared its ugly head, and it suddenly became an all-encompassing, everything-must-hurt kind of day.
Thought that might be the case.
Uh, just curious.
About how long have you been, uh oh.
Wow.
You're gonna blow the wheels straight off this thing.
Nell, as far as coping mechanisms are concerned, I feel like exercising is a pretty healthy way of dealing with my stuff right now.
True, true.
I mean, some people in your same position may be driven to drink.
- Cliché.
- Or turn to drugs.
You've seen me on Dramamine.
It ain't pretty.
Some may hole up in Vegas.
Nell, if there isn't a cosplay convention going on, I don't understand the point.
Am I right? I'm right, right? Right.
I'm just not convinced this whole situation you have going on here is the, uh, best option.
I mean, here's an idea.
Maybe you should just get to work.
- Hmm.
- You know, really help the team out.
Nail these guys to the wall.
Oh, totally.
I totally understand what you're saying, Nell.
- Do you? - Uh-huh.
Because I'm pretty sure you just turned up the resistance on the bike.
Nell, if I'm able to have a conversation with you for this long and not be winded, I'm not working hard enough.
Right.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
This is totally super healthy.
- See you.
- See you in the ER.
So how are you two doing? Good.
Good.
Seriously? I haven't seen you guys for months.
Not much to tell.
You two are a lot more layered and nuanced than you give yourselves credit.
Well, there's nothing layered about me.
Or him.
All right.
Well, I didn't want it to come to this, but what's going on with him? Oh, him? He's, uh, trying to commit to something for once.
Hey, guy? Are we talking sports team or, like, a tattoo? Sports team.
Meaning a girl.
Oh, intéressant.
You're good.
She's good.
- Oh, she's the best.
- Uh-uh.
Flattery will get you nowhere.
Your turn.
What's up with him? Uh, what's up with me - is we need to get back to this case.
- Mm-hmm.
If you're right about what this company is building, who do you think killed Michael Carpenter? All right, that's a rain check.
And honestly, I hadn't gotten very far.
I just connected the Chinese money to the tech company when I heard that you guys were working the murder case.
Hopped in the car and drove up here from San Diego.
So a human rights activist group was able to shut down Project Dragonfly at Google.
That is no small feat.
Mm.
They were organized and they were vocal.
It worked.
How do you think they're gonna feel when they find out another company picked up where Google left off? Like maybe another protest march won't cut it.
You think they'd take it as far as killing somebody - who's working on the project? - No.
But it only takes one bad apple.
Carpenter could have told someone what he was working on.
Yeah, someone he thought he could trust.
He's right, you know.
Miguel.
His search engine may be illegal here in the U.
S.
, but if Go, Go, Go has a license, which it does, it's not technically a crime to build it for China.
That's a pretty thin needle to thread.
Ah.
The things people do for money, huh? So, Carla, just out of curiosity, how many books do you think you read a week? I thought this was a criminal investigation.
I can't answer a personal question like that.
Oh, come on, yes, you can.
Just give me a rough estimate.
Give me a guesstimate.
Well, buddy, it depends.
Hmm, tell me.
Four or five a week and I'm feeling pretty good.
- Okay.
- Allergies are in check, and there's a new John Oliver waiting for me back home.
Six or seven, I'm flying.
Maybe the Dodgers are on a streak.
Maybe the McRib is back.
Maybe my estranged daughter has decided to, uh, get back in touch.
Hmm.
Three or less, and you know my mother-in-law's in town.
Wow.
You were right.
That got very personal very quickly.
Yes, it did.
There.
There I am.
Holding down the fort.
Just like I said.
You weren't wrong about the crowd, either.
Yeah.
It was a hotbed of stoners, hippies and CBD enthusiasts.
Disgusting.
Super lucky that you were there to hold them at bay.
Wait.
What's that? Wait, go back right there.
Go back right there.
Right there.
That's him.
That's Michael Carpenter.
Guy didn't fit the profile.
All right, Carla.
That's enough out of you.
Although in this very specific and limited circumstance, you are right.
Mr.
Carpenter does not fit in.
What is he doing there? And who's that girl he's with? What? I read a lot of crime novels.
- Mm-hmm.
- All right.
Mm-hmm.
- Where's Eric? - Oh, feeling big feelings.
He's in the gym.
Same people who funded Miguel's start-up tried to have Eric killed last month.
- Wow.
What a small world.
- Mm.
Well, you know, working out's a healthy way of processing all that.
Yeah.
Just don't tell him you told me that.
Pinky swear.
It's good to see you, Nell.
Good to see you, girl.
So what do we have? Right.
So, Michael Carpenter showed up to the spoken word event last night with a woman named Daisy Patel.
Now, Daisy is a dental hygienist by day and an environmental activist by night.
What does that mean? Yeah.
That was unnecessarily confusing.
I think I got caught up in, like, the poetry of it all.
Anyway, she's an environmental activist.
Lots of social media posts, lots of protests.
A naval officer turned software engineer is dating an activist protester? Mm-hmm.
She's the wrong kind of activist.
But she could've branched out.
Or Daisy could have friends.
All right, so he tells his girlfriend what he's working on, and then she turns around and tells people she knows will take issue with it.
And the next thing you know, you're dead on the floor of the bookstore bathroom.
Hmm.
I guess that's better than being dead on the floor of the Burger King bathroom, right? No? Okay.
Do we know where Daisy is now? Yes.
Uh, Kensi and Deeks are just about to question her in the boatshed.
All right.
- Keep us posted.
- Will do.
Daisy Patel.
My partner and I have been reading up on your Facebook posts, and it's clear you care very deeply about the fate of our planet.
We all should.
This is our home.
And from L.
A.
to the Amazon, it's going up in flames.
Yeah, but you're really doing it.
We got you participating in a climate march in D.
C.
You organized a global climate strike in downtown L.
A.
- It looks like you, uh - Hold on.
Is that why I'm here? I thought I was helping you figure out who killed Michael.
No, you are.
And-and we're so sorry for your loss.
But But now I'm somehow a suspect - because I care about the environment? - But we have to ask you a few questions.
Unbelievable.
Daisy, I'm sorry, but did Michael ever discuss his work with you? - No.
- He never talked about what he was working on? No.
It was all super confidential.
Nondisclosure agreements and all that.
I just know he was really proud of the work he was doing.
Michael kept really long hours, but never complained about it because he really believed in what they were building.
He believed in it.
Why? What was he working on? We're still trying to figure that out.
- Thank you, Daisy.
- We'll be back.
There is no way Daisy knew what Michael was up to.
Agreed.
If you're that in touch with the climate crisis, there's no way you're dating somebody that gets off on denying basic human rights to Chinese citizens.
Yeah, Michael's a real catch.
But if Daisy had nothing to do with his murder, then Who the hell did? Hey, any luck? Uh, it doesn't look like the girlfriend had anything to do with it.
But she did say that Michael Carpenter was very, very proud to work on a search engine for the Chinese government to spy on its own people.
So there's always that.
I don't think the boss was involved.
He seemed pretty upset when he found out Michael was dead.
And nobody else knew about it because they kept the project top secret.
So, who else does that leave us with as a suspect? Carla.
Super-salty bookstore lady.
She's got to be guilty of something.
I feel like you guys usually have more by now.
- Oh, thanks.
- Anytime.
- You got something? - Oh, I definitely have something.
So, you know how all these start-ups have advisory boards and whatnot? Turns out we know one of the people advising Miguel at Go, Go, Go.
Well, well, well.
Did you guys just join, or are you taking this place for a test-drive? Katherine, you know I'd never join a social club.
Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it.
- The perks are insane.
- It's pretentious.
Waste of money and a complete waste of time.
Well, how do you really feel about it? I'm sorry, how do you two know each other? NCIS Agent Nicole DeChamps, this is insurance magnate and apparently the most connected person in the world Katherine Casillas.
I take it this is not a social call.
- What gave it away? - You know, it's strange how our cases keep coming back to you.
It's a small world.
You sit on the board of Go, Go, Go? That's right.
You know what kind of software they're building for China? I'd be a pretty bad board member if I didn't.
Then you know that one of their engineers was murdered - last night.
- Yes.
I got a call from Miguel this morning.
It's terrible.
Yes, it is.
And the two are probably related.
Not necessarily.
Really? You don't think Michael Carpenter's death is connected to the Big Brother search engine his company's building for China? Would you please keep your voice down? I'm sorry, why would I keep my voice down if there's nothing to hide? Don't look at me.
We have the same questions she does.
It's a tragedy that man lost his life so young.
Full stop.
But I stand by what the company is building 100%.
- Wow.
- 100%? Really? Not even not even 90? You know, Katherine, I thought I had a read on you.
Sam You're just full of surprises.
I think we're done here.
We'll be in touch.
How you doing there, buddy? Uh, glycemic levels are a little bit low.
That's probably 'cause you've been here for a few hours.
Other than that, I'm, uh - I'm doing A-okay.
- Great.
Maybe you can help us out with a case.
It's becoming a real whodunit.
As in the hour is late, it's getting later, - and we still have no idea who done it.
- Mm-hmm.
So why don't you get up and get yourself cleaned up and meet us up in Ops.
Starting now.
Starting right now.
I'm just, like, not really in the headspace for it.
All right, you know what? I've had enough of this.
You stink.
You are being a narcissist and you are neglecting your job.
Go.
You're right.
I have been neglecting my job.
I have only been thinking of myself.
I do smell.
Get! Going.
I see what you did right there.
You like that? Shamelessly cutting a grown man down to size with your brutal and untamed honesty? - Uh-huh.
- Girl.
Yes.
I don't like it.
No? Doesn't do anything for you? Tell me to cut my hair and shave.
You cut your hair and go shave.
I freakin' love it.
Well, you definitely meet all kinds of people in this job.
Amen.
Sam? What? Yeah.
Definitely.
What's your deal with her, anyway? - What, me and Katherine? - Yeah.
There's no deal, uh, you know She knows a lot of people, helped us with some cases.
- That's it.
- So you say.
What are you talking about? What is she talking about? - Cash in that rain check.
- I'm gonna get the car from valet.
But we We didn't valet.
- No kidding.
- I'm just saying, in our line of work, people surprise and disappoint us every day.
- Yeah, it's part of the deal.
- Exactly.
So why are you taking this one on the chin? I'm not gonna walk away and check on some fake valet.
Look, she's just not who I thought she was, all right? End of story.
See? There are layers behind all that muscle.
All right.
Whatever you say.
Can we go get the car now? - Sure.
- Okay.
Or do you want to go back upstairs and - Please.
- Okay.
Well, well, well.
I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay.
Talk about what? Bring me up to speed.
What do we got? Intense drama.
So, Katherine Casillas sits on the board of Go, Go, Go, which apparently is building a search engine for China, which picks up where Project Dragonfly left off.
- No.
- Yes.
No.
Yes.
Nell, we've got to trace this company's seed money back to China and figure out who's pulling the strings.
We have to search Kaleidoscope to find anyone and everyone who was in that bookstore last night.
And we've got to do this before more innocent lives get lost.
Looking good, Billy Ray.
Feeling good, Louis.
Ooh.
LAPD just got a 911 call from Go, Go, Go? Looks like something is go-go-going down.
I'll let the team know now.
Whoa.
Excuse me.
Officer Cole.
What do you got? Apparently a masked, armed man and woman raided the offices about 20 minutes ago.
Those guys weren't afraid to throw their weight around, either.
Some of the people that worked here got pretty banged up.
What did they want? Hard drives.
Guess they were after whatever these people were working on.
Anything else? The CEO, a guy named Miguel Vela.
What about him? They took him.
Threw a hood over his head and dragged him out of here.
They say Vela put up a good fight, but I don't know.
Okay.
Thank you.
No problem.
Carpenter's death is just the beginning.
I got a feeling whoever did this isn't finished.
On the bright side, I can't wait to hear what Katherine has to say about this.
No? Too soon? You sure you're up for this? Absolutely.
I mean it.
You want to do this? It is what it is.
Hey.
Are you guys gonna take this one? Because if you're not, it would be my absolute pleasure to have a go at it.
That's exactly why we can't let you go in there.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
We can't let you have all the fun.
You'd never leave.
Well, he does have a point.
Oh, please.
I would never give up San Diego for you two.
Well, that's a little harsh, right? A little? Gentlemen.
Quit stalling.
Now is it enough? You're gonna have to be more specific, Agent Hanna.
Young man already died because of that technology.
Is it enough his coworkers were roughed up, or maybe now that his boss has been kidnapped? Gentlemen, the problem is you have to see the whole picture.
Well, by all means, Katherine.
Why don't you tell us what we're missing? Nice try.
I'm not gonna do your work for you.
Someone has been killed, so if you're withholding information from us, obstruction of justice is gonna be the least of your problems.
It's not that hard, Agent Callen.
All you guys have to do is ask the right questions.
Katherine, enough.
You know, I haven't seen this side of you before, Sam.
- Stop playing games.
- I don't play games.
You know something.
You can help us solve this case.
You're giving me too much credit.
And I'm not a modest person.
Yeah, we're beginning to see that.
This case is so much bigger than the three people in this room.
You still stand by your search engine, don't you? Forest for the trees, Agent Callen.
Forest for the trees.
Okay, well, I don't get it.
I did a deep dive into Katherine, Miguel, everyone at the software company.
No one seems to have any connection to or sympathies for the Chinese government.
Okay.
So they're building this search engine out of pure greed.
- They're hoping to cash in.
- Yeah, but that doesn't make sense, either.
See, we still haven't figured out who's paying for all this back in China, but whoever it is, the money they're putting up is essentially child's play.
Especially when compared to what Miguel and all the other engineers were making at their previous jobs.
Wait, so they all took a pay cut to work on this? Yes.
And it doesn't seem like they received any equity in exchange, either.
Okay, that's not good.
It means that something else - is motivating them to work on it.
- Yeah.
Any of these guys know each other before they started working at Go, Go, Go? - Actually, yes.
- Oh.
So, everyone is connected to at least one other person at the company, through either a previous job or grad school.
So it's as if they recruited each other.
What the hell are these guys up to? I don't know.
But there has to be something we're missing.
Yeah, well, that's what Katherine keeps telling us.
- Hey.
- Hey.
We got something.
Uh, security footage outside the office building shows two people shoving Miguel into a Lexus SUV.
We got a hit on that vehicle getting off the 101 in Hollywood.
Okay.
Car is registered to a "Abdul Khan.
" Saudi national.
Does he have a criminal history? Uh, not that I can tell.
All right.
On it.
Good work.
Oh, wow, look at that.
I get all three of you.
Lucky me.
Nice to see you, too.
Saudi Arabia.
A little hot and socially oppressive for my taste.
What about it? We believe the men that kidnapped Miguel Vela today and murdered Michael Carpenter last night are from Saudi Arabia.
Why is that? Thank you, but we're asking the questions.
What do you know about it? Katherine, work with us.
You're holding something back.
The company has done nothing wrong.
I want to make that very clear.
Whatever you say.
What do the Saudis want? The Chinese who are backing the project - Do you know who they are? - No.
But the Chinese who are backing the project told the Saudis about what we were building for them.
And they want in.
They wanted to use that technology to censor their people, and they didn't like it when we turned them down.
When was that? Miguel said he was approached about two weeks ago.
It started with a lunch, then devolved into phone calls, late-night phone calls, menacing e-mails.
Katherine, why didn't you tell us this before? I have my reasons, Sam.
And you're just gonna have to trust me that they're legit.
You believe her? I don't know.
It's the first concrete thing Katherine's given us.
It tracks with the Saudis killing one of the engineers.
They were trying to convince the company to turn the software over.
Yeah.
When that didn't work, they raided the office, stole the hard drives themselves.
And kidnapped the CEO to make sure they knew how the software operated.
Once Miguel shows them how the algorithm works He no longer serves a purpose.
Okay, guys.
Take the next right.
You should see the Lexus SUV.
Well, hello there.
Kens? Where'd they go? Where'd they go, guys? Beale, I think we lost them.
Don't worry, we haven't.
Uh, keep going, take the next left.
I should've driven.
I should've driven.
Well, hello again.
Yeah, hey.
What up? Guys, don't follow them.
Take the street after theirs instead.
Right, give them a false sense of hope, and cut them off when they think they're in the clear? You know it.
God bless you, Nell.
Okay, take this right.
How many airbags do we have in here? Are there one on this side? Because I'm gonna die.
There they are.
Okay.
Hold on.
Go, go.
Well, he didn't make it.
Oh, my God.
She didn't, either.
Any sign of Miguel in there? No.
Damn it.
They must have ditched him somewhere between the office and here.
Son of a bitch.
So, the Saudis are dead, but Miguel wasn't with them.
He could have escaped.
They could have killed him already.
Ooh, guys.
There is a home in Hancock Park that belongs to Abdul Khan.
And the Lexus that took Miguel Vela is registered to that same address.
They could be keeping him there, trying to coerce him into sharing his company's technology.
It's worth a shot.
Nell, have Kensi and Deeks meet us there.
Will do.
All right.
According to satellite heat sensors, there's no one inside that house.
Time is running out.
Yeah, there's definitely something going on in the backyard.
- Tell us.
Ticktock.
- Got it.
Go.
Meet you around back.
You're going to talk.
You hear me? Tell us! We need the software.
We're gonna kill you.
On my call.
Three, two, one.
Federal agents! Federal agents! Hands up.
Weapon down.
Weapon down.
Down.
Turn around! Turn around.
I don't think so.
Hands up.
On your knees.
Don't move.
Get your hands behind your back.
Kensi! You okay there, Kens? Oh, yeah.
All part of the plan.
Uh-huh.
Yes, we're working for the Chinese government.
And yes, we're taking what is most likely dirty money.
And yes, I know that it looks bad.
And no, it looks very, very bad.
Well, we aren't doing anything illegal.
That's what Katherine keeps telling us.
Katherine should know all about it.
Including the fact that we're giving China technology that doesn't even work.
What does that mean? Project Dragonfly may have gone away, but China wasn't gonna stop until they got what they wanted.
So I put together a team full of people I knew I could trust.
We asked for less than scale, so we knew that we'd win the contract.
And we've been botching the code ever since.
The search engine doesn't work? Not in the way China wants it to.
Not unless you're searching from a government IP address, which, in that case, it works perfectly.
Look, we didn't tell you anything because we haven't delivered the software to China yet, and we need to keep up the facade until we do.
So, what, you're actually the good guys? Well, um, sort of.
Michael Carpenter died a hero.
Yeah.
That's for sure.
And when did Katherine get involved? She'd probably kill me if she knew I told you this, but the whole thing was actually her idea.
Congratulations.
- I know, right? - Hey.
- Oh! - You guys made it.
- In the flesh.
- Hard drives are recovered and back where they belong.
Well, now that everybody's here, I think it calls for a toast.
To - Us.
- Old friends.
How about using technology for good? Closing in on dark money in China.
To the best team in town.
Exactly what I was gonna say.
- Cheers.
- Cheers.
Yes.
Yes, mama.
Hey, uh, you want to grab a bite before I drive back to San Diego? Nicole, I'd love to, but I'm kidding.
Go.
Get out of here.
Before it's too late.
Okay.
- You got a minute? - Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't mean to, uh, spoil the mood here, but I took another look at that Interpol report you sent me.
And, yes, the investigations are still ongoing, but the triple homicide out of Barcelona is now being linked to several other attacks across Europe.
The thing is, I'm not even certain that it's Anna in that surveillance video.
It's her.
How do you know? I know Anna.
It's her.
- Thanks, Mo.
- You bet.
Hey.
Hi.
- I apologize.
- I'm sorry about hiding the ball there before.
I'm just glad you didn't show me any special treatment there today.
Special treatment.
And why would I go and do that? Oh, because you like me.
Do I? - A lot.
- Hmm.
Oh, really? Definitely.
I can see it all over your face.
Oh.
Is that so? Like, all over it.
Hmm.
And you want to know if I'm free for dinner.
For dinner.
When is that? Tonight.
Mmm.
Turns out that I am.
Wow.
It's my lucky day.
Hmm.
- Yeah, we'll see about that.
- Yeah.