"Yeah, yeah, man." "Yeah." "Has Ryan had any emotional issues, visits to the school psychologist?" " No." " How about grades?" "Any fluctuations lately?" "No, he's pretty much an A-minus student every term." "Excels in science, takes AP Physics, won some awards." "You told the police Ryan disappeared after the lunch period." "He missed three classes." "Is he prone to skipping classes?" "No." "Actually, he's had a perfect attendance record." "Well, why weren't his parents notified, then?" "There are over 3000 students in this school and we do our best with limited resources." "Now, here's his locker." "It's 1252." "Have you seen this before?" "No." " Hey, Martin." "Welcome back." " Thanks." "Hey, look who's back." " Hey." " How you doing?" "Oh, I'm doing great." "How you doing?" "Well, I been back a week already." "People went missing we had to find them, right?" " Yeah, right." " So who do we got on the board?" " Ryan Wallace, 15-year-old." "Last seen HS 402 during lunch yesterday." "His mom's out of town, she's a flight attendant." "I'm heading to his apartment to interview his sister." "Okay." "Look, I'm sure Jack will call you when things get rolling." "Yeah, I'm sure he will." " Welcome back." " Thanks." "Yeah." " When's your mother gonna be back?" " I don't know." "I left word." "She's on her way to Detroit." "She'll turn around as soon as her plane touches down." " How often is she out of town?" " Two to three days a week, depends." " What about your father?" " He was killed six years ago." " How?" " He was mugged." "Well, with your father gone and your mother away, it must be tough on Ryan." "Yeah, he worries." " About what?" " Everything." "And it only got worse after 9l11." " Why's that?" " Because he was there." "He saw the planes hit, saw the people jumping out of the buildings." " That his room?" " Yeah." "I can't imagine his mother being a flight attendant helps." "He's always going on about how she needs anti-missile systems." "He gets kind of crazy about it." "Someone wrote the words "the end" on his school locker." "Do you have any idea what that means?" " No." " Do you know where he hangs out after school?" "Look, I'm sorry, I have two jobs." "I don't know where Ry goes or what he does or anything." "But you were with him before he disappeared." " Yeah." " Did you notice anything unusual?" "I was running in from work, I barely had time to talk, but, yeah." "Yeah, he was acting kind of out of it." " Hey, Ry, how you doing?" " Fine." "Superman marathon?" "Not-so-fat Marlon Brando about to appear in the ice castle, right?" "Fortress of Solitude." "You wanna watch?" "Love to, but us sexy secretaries are having a girls' night." "Whatever." "Hello." "Hey, Charlie, what up, big guy?" "Yeah, hold on." "Maybe he could come over." "Tell him I'm not here right now." " You've seen this like a million times." " I just don't wanna talk." "He'll call you back, okay?" "Okay, bye." "I shouldn't have gone out." "I should have stayed and watched that movie." " Who's Charlie?" " His best friend, Charlie Lane." "They've been inseparable since the third grade." " What can you tell me about him?" " Charlie's big, kind of not so bright." "Ryan skipped the second grade because he's this genius." "And they sort of found each other." "Charlie protects Ryan, Ryan does Charlie's homework." "Perfect pair, huh?" "Do you have any idea why your brother didn't wanna talk to him?" "No." "No, I can't imagine." "Does Ryan have any friends in your class?" "I haven't noticed anyone he hangs around with." " Anyone ever pick on him?" " Well it was just the anniversary of 9l11." "I thought it would be good to debate the issue of putting a new skyscraper at Ground Zero." "Ryan had some pretty strong opinions about it." "It's about pride." "We have to rebuild this for ourselves." "Okay, very good, Marissa." "Anyone else think of any other reasons?" "Any other opinions?" "Ryan?" "I was just gonna say, maybe it's not such a good idea to build there." "Oh, yeah?" "What ideas you got, Tiny?" "A monument would be more appropriate." "Not another billion-dollar target." "So you just wanna let them terrorist dogs win?" "All I'm saying is, they hit us in '93 and we still didn't protect it." "People just went right back to work there." "What did they expect?" "Are you saying the people who died were stupid?" "No." "The government should have done a better job..." "My uncle was a janitor in Building 1." "Was he stupid?" " Take it easy, Laquan." " They're not looking out for us." "Do you really feel safer today than before?" "Laquan, sit down." "Laquan." " Are you okay, Ryan?" " Yeah." "I shouldn't have let it go that far." "But I wanted to give them the chance to open up about it." " Are any of these kids violent?" " They've had hard lives." " Some of them can be, sure." " Can Laquan be violent?" "Well, yes." "But he's on a student-government trip." "He's been in D.C. Since yesterday morning." "Really?" "Okay." "Okay, if that's the case, let's expand it five blocks in every direction." "Canvass." "Right, Delancey to the north." "Okay, look, I gotta run." "Yeah, thanks." " Hey." " Hey." " You look good." " Thanks." "I feel good." " How's the physical therapy?" " You know, it's coming along." "Good." "That's great." "We have stuff coming in from Ryan's apartment." "Look through it, see what you can dig up." "All right." "I can do that." "It's good to see you back." " Jack, you got a sec?" " Sure." "I was wondering when you were gonna take off the training wheels." " What's that supposed to mean?" " You're barely letting me do interviews." "You're limiting my time in the field." "I should be out there at the school helping Danny and Sam." "You just had surgery." "And my doctors say that my heart is stronger than ever." "Look, I'm just not comfortable putting you back out in the field yet." "So, what would you like me to do besides check my e-mail?" "The kid's computer's in the tech room." "I mean, you..." "Check that if you want." " Yo, Charlie." " What's up, coach?" "Keep playing, fellas." "Come here." "This is Agent Spade from the FBI." "She wants to talk to you about Ryan Wallace." " Right." " How you doing?" " Is Ryan still gone?" " Yeah." "Let's take a seat." "Do you have any idea where he might be?" " No, sorry." " You're his best friend, right?" " We don't really hang anymore." " Since when?" " Couple months." " What happened?" "I failed algebra and hooked up with some guys at summer school." "Seven years of friendship over, just like that." "We were little when we started hanging out." "Things change." "I got a girlfriend now." " We grew apart." "It happens, no big deal." " Why'd you call his house?" " What do you mean?" " Well, Ryan's sister said you called." "I felt bad about something that happened that day at lunch." " You probably already know all about it." " No, I don't." " Why don't you tell me?" " Well we were all kind of hard on him." "Check it out y'all, 9l11 boy reads comic books." "You sure that's okay with Osama, Stubby?" "What?" "Are we too stupid for you?" "You ain't gonna talk to us?" "Techno Riot." "That sounds scary, buddy." " Yo, I said, are we too stupid for you?" " Is that it?" "Or are you just a scared little bitch?" "He's gonna cry." "Are you gonna cry now?" "Get the hell away from me, you morons:" "Charlie, dude." " What the hell, man?" " You better do something about that." " Oh, my..." " Dude." " That's what I'm talking about." " Yeah." "Bitch." "I guess he is just a scared little bitch." "That's right, man." "It was a stupid thing to do." "I know it was." "That's why I was calling him to apologize." "These friends of yours." "Were they done, or did they have plans to go at him again?" "No, that was it." "They wouldn't do much more than that." "Do you know where Ryan hangs out when he's not in school?" "No, not anymore." "Did you see his locker today?" "Yeah, I saw that." "But I didn't do it." "I didn't ask you if you did it." "Do you know what it means?" "I don't know, no clue." " Any luck with the hard drive?" " Just homework papers so far." "Up to our asses in Marie Antoinette letting everybody eat cake." "Martin Fitzgerald, meet James Mackeroy." " Oh, hey, you can call me Mac." " All right, Mac." " Lot of things changing around here." " For the better, I hope." " How are we doing on the canvassing?" " It's been expanded, but nothing so far." " Johnson." " So I..." "I heard what happened to you." "Six weeks and you're back on the job." "That's pretty impressive." " I had good nurses." " Right." "Handwriting expert says that it was Ryan who wrote "the end" on his locker." "So do we have any files with "the end" in them?" "We'll check." "Here's one from a couple of days ago." "Is that what I think it is?" "That's the school." "Let's go." "Let's go, kids." "Move away from the school." "Hey." "All right, bomb squad's in, nothing yet." "N.Y.P.D.'s doing a room-to-room to make sure all the kids are out." " Where are you going?" " To help with the room-to-room." " P.D.'s got it covered." "I don't want you going back in that building." "Yeah, I understand." " We got a problem here?" " No." "No problem at all, sir." "Great." "Go talk to school security." "Press them on the last 48 hours." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "Are you with the police?" "Yes, FBI, and would you please get behind the barricade?" "I'm Ben Harrison, I was Ryan's Social Studies teacher last year." "Tell me what you know, Mr. Harrison." "Well, when I heard Ryan was missing, I didn't put it together." " Now with this..." " Put what together?" "Near the end of the year, we were getting ready for final projects." "That's what I do instead of a final exam because it encourages them..." "Please, Mr. Harrison, spare me the teaching philosophy." " Just cut to the chase." " Right, well Ryan pitched me a project idea on school safety." "And at first, it sounded like an interesting concept." "But then he really blindsided me." "You wanna create a plan to bomb the school?" "I'll expose the holes in security and the administration will be forced to implement safety measures." "It's very clever, but it's just too inflammatory." "Exactly." "That's the only way to get anyone's attention." "They'll only react when something happens, but then it'll be too late." "Ryan, are you afraid something's gonna happen to you?" "I'm afraid for everyone." "Last month, I saw a kid with a gun in his locker." "How'd it get through the metal detectors?" "Can you tell me?" " Who was it?" " I don't know." " Did you report it?" " You don't get it." "Anyone could do anything any time." "We're no safer than the people in those towers." " And no one's paying any attention." " Look, I respect your passion but you know I can't let you move forward with it." "And I got him to calm down, and he apologized." "He promised he'd stop working on it if I didn't report him." "Oh, well, as long as he promised." "Mr. Harrison, it's a cry for help." "Did you contact his mother?" "I thought it was handled." "Looks like the kid's right." "Nobody is paying attention." "So, what are we dealing with here?" "School bomber or safety adviser?" "I don't know, but this kid is pretty smart." "I mean, these are detailed schedules of when the security guards change shifts." "When the janitor props the doors open." " He's a cunning little kid." " Cunning and wounded." " A dangerous combination." " Yeah." "Talking about me?" " Hey." " Hi." " Here, let me..." " Oh, thanks." "Welcome back." "You..." "Left my top hat in the car." " You look good." " Thanks, you too." "Thanks." "How's it coming with the comic books?" "I looked at them in his room." "There are no receipts, no bags with store imprints on them." "They could have come from anywhere." "The Wart." "Looks like an indie." " Well, does that mean limited release?" " Yeah, it could be." "Let's check out their website." "All right." "Okay, it is limited release." "Only sold at three newsstands in New York." "One on Staten Island, one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan downtown." " Downtown." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "I'm Special Agent Taylor, I'm with the FBI." " To what do I owe this honor?" " The honor's mine." "You recognize this kid?" "Sure, he's always here." "He's a comic-book freak." " When's the last time you saw him?" " Yesterday afternoon." " Why, is he in trouble?" " No, he's missing." " Oh, gosh, I..." " What?" "I don't know, it didn't seem like no big thing but now you say he's missing, maybe it is." "Hope the good guys kick some tush." " Thanks." " Enjoy." "They talked for a minute, then the kid got in and they drove away." "Do you remember what car it was?" "Yeah, it was a mid-'80s Oldsmobile Cutlass." " Maybe yellow, gold or something." " Good memory." " Did it look like he knew the guy?" " I figured it's the kid he comes with." " What kid?" " I don't know no names, but a big guy." " Big as in tall?" " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Thank you." "Terrell Grant?" " I'm Mr. Grant." " Jack Malone, FBI." " You sure it's safe to go back in?" " There's no bomb." "Other than that, you're on your own." "I understand you're Charlie Lane's Study Hall teacher?" " That's right." " You know where he is?" " I haven't seen him." " Was he in Study Hall yesterday?" "No, he said he had a doctor's appointment." " Anybody else absent?" " Just Lance." "Lance Carson." "You wouldn't know what car Lance drives, would you?" "I think I saw him in an old Cutlass." "Okay." "Thank you." "What the hell you want?" "You from the V. A?" " You Todd Carson?" " Yeah." "Special Agent Malone, this is Special Agent Taylor." " We're from the FBI." " Feds." "Gonna give me another medal for outstanding service in the guard?" "Wondering if we could take a look around." " What's this about?" " Is your son Lance around?" "He's probably still in school." "We've been looking for this kid." "Seen him?" "Yeah." "He was with Lance, another boy yesterday." "They were goofing around in the basement." " Do you mind?" " Knock yourself out." "Clear." "What is it?" "Hey." "Okay." "Preliminary forensics confirm it's Ryan's blood and urine." " Abu Ghraib comes to high school." " Yeah." "And Lance's father didn't hear anything." "You buy that?" "I don't know." "He might have been doped up on painkillers." "Hey, Ryan's mother just got in from Detroit." " What about Charlie?" " MIA." "His parents have no idea where he is." "We're gonna monitor their building and their phones." "Why don't you interview Ryan's mother?" " Sam, put out an APB on Charlie." " Okay." " Okay." " Thanks." "Special Agent Malone." " Impressive title." " Oh, you're a funny guy." "These are pretty impressive, don't you think?" " It's my basement, so what?" " You should tidy it up after you finish torturing your classmates." " What?" " You duct taped Ryan to a chair and shocked him with an electrical cord." " No, I didn't." " Yeah, we found his blood on the chair and his urine on the floor." "Do not mess with me." "All right, look, man." "Okay, we shocked him a little." " All right, but we had no choice." " You had no choice?" "Life's full of choices." "You just chose 20-to-life." "Look, he went all Section 8 sicko on us, man:" "Totally schizzed out." " I'm doing it." " What?" "The bomb plan." "And you're gonna go to jail for it." " What the hell are you talking about?" " Give us a minute." "I'm gonna give all the plans to the police." " Your fingerprints are all over them." " We did it for fun." "It was a dumb school project." "You said we would never do it for real." " Well, now we are." " Ry, I'm sorry about lunch today." "Come on, let's just forget about it, okay?" "I never would have done that to you." "Never." "I'm gonna plant the bomb." "But I'm gonna change the location so you'll never find it." " You're full of..." " Tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 your life is over." "Charlie tried calling him that night, but the twerp wouldn't come to the phone." " Why didn't you call the police?" " We couldn't." "Charlie helped make the plan with him." "He had no alibi, there was no time." " What would the police do?" " Get out of my airspace, just sit back." "So you what?" " You got Ryan in your dad's car?" " No, I gave Charlie the car." " We met back at my place." " Where you proceeded to torture him." "We were just gonna scare him." "Rough him up to get the location of the bomb." "But he was being a wiseass." "I mean, wouldn't tell us nothing." "Look, I know what's up in the world, man, okay?" "I know." "Now, sometimes, you gotta get it done." " Where's the bomb, freak?" " In your ass." "With your head." " Where's the bomb?" " It's almost 4:00." "Tell us where it is." " I'll get it out of him." " What are you doing?" "I'm taking care of business." "Oh, I'm wet." "Now I'll tell you everything." " Shut up, Ry." " This is your last chance, Ryan." " Or what?" "You gonna kill me?" " Lance, Lance, just wait." "There's no time, Charlie." "We have to handle this." "Come on, Ry, just tell us where it is." "I made it up." " I made it all up." "There's no bomb." " What?" "I'm sorry." "I was just trying to scare you." " Charlie, please." " Get in there." " Where's the bomb?" " He didn't do it." "Shut up!" "Where is it?" " Come on, you guys." " Where's the bomb, man?" "Where?" "Where?" "Where?" "It's in the boiler." "The boiler room." "You see that?" "So did you find the bomb?" "No." "I figured he lied about where he put it." "Why do you think I wasn't in school?" "So self-preservation trumped the safety of your classmates." "Look, this was Ryan and Charlie's thing." "I had nothing to do with it." " What happened when you got back?" " They were both gone." " You talk to Charlie?" " No, I haven't seen him since." "I don't know what he did with Ryan." "I don't understand." "Apparently, Charlie believed that Ryan was gonna bomb the school." "That they had worked out a plan together." " What?" " Did you know anything about it?" "He wouldn't." "Ryan would never hurt anyone." "Ever since his father died, all he's ever wanted to do was protect people." "You should see the way he worries about me when I go away." "And you've known Charlie Lane for a while, right?" "Yes." "Has he ever acted violently before toward Ryan?" "No, of course not." "They love each other." "I ca..." "I can't imagine what must be going on with Charlie." "L..." "Excuse me." " Hey." " Hey." " How've you been?" " Yeah, I'm okay." "Good." "Tough case to come back to, huh?" " Yeah, sure is." " Look, Martin, I'm..." "I'm sorry that I haven't come to see you." "Come on, man, it's no worries." "I mean, I was kind of out of it anyway, so..." "So it's cool." "Cool." "I'm gonna head back to my desk." "I wanna finish this, all right?" "All right." "Good to see you." " We get any pops on Charlie's cell?" " No, just that he's still in the Big Apple." "We tried from his parents' and grandparents', he's not biting." " Jack's gonna try something with Lance." " What ever happened to wedgies?" "Yeah." " What's the deal, man?" " Sit down." "Charlie have any reason to fear you?" " No." " Pick up your phone and call him." "All right, but..." "Okay, then you gotta do something for me." "Like you know, immunity." " Immunity from what?" " From what we did to Ryan." " What did you do to Ryan?" " I already told you." " I think you killed him." " What?" " I think you killed Charlie." " Why would I kill Charlie?" "Because you were afraid he'd fold." "Hey, no, listen to me." "I told you the truth." "Let me tell you something." "The truth's not gonna matter." "Juries convict sick bastards like you every day." "Later, they get a book deal." " No, I'm telling you..." " You draw the wrong judge we're talking lethal injection." "They can try you as an adult." "But I swear to God I didn't kill anyone." "Then pick up the phone and call your friend and prove to me that he's okay." "All right." "I want you to tell him that everything is okay and you're in the clear." "Lance, what's going on, man?" "Are they after us?" "No, I..." "Everything's cool, bro." "Yeah, we're in the clear." " You sure?" "How do you know?" " Got him." "He's downtown." "I just do." " They're not after us, dude." " Are you sure?" " Tell him you'll pick him up." " Yeah." "Listen, I'll pick you up." "I don't know, man." " I don't know, I'm all messed up, dude." " Ask him why." " Why?" " I feel so bad." "I feel so bad about what we did." "Charlie, I need you to stay calm and stay put." "We're tracking you and coming to pick you up." "What?" "Who are you?" "I'm with the FBI." "We wanna help you." "Oh, God." "Oh, God." "Charlie, I need you to stay calm and start talking to me." "Hi, sweetheart." "Sit down, Charlie." " Where's Ryan?" " I already told her, I don't know." " You were the last one to see him alive." " Lf you know anything, tell them." "I don't." "I was the one that let him go." "You tortured him, had a chit-chat and said goodbye?" "Hey, we agreed to do this without a lawyer." " Just go easy." " I'm not going easy, Mr. Lane." "You son tortured his friend and doesn't wanna face the consequences." "Charlie." "Something happened in that basement." "Why don't you tell us what it was." "Ryan was so messed up." "I just wanted him to leave." "Why'd you let him do that, Charlie?" "Shut up, dude, just shut up." "I didn't..." "I didn't plant the bomb." "I never even assembled it." " What?" " I was just trying to scare you." "You're crazy, man." "You're totally crazy." "You were my best friend, Charlie." "What happened?" "Nothing, man." "I made new friends." "Why couldn't you just...?" "Why couldn't you accept that?" "Why couldn't you just leave me alone?" "Just go." "Just get out of here." "So just let me clarify this." "There is no bomb?" "That's what he said." " But we had all the materials." " Oh, Charlie." " Oh, my God." " Ryan said it was the only way we could get the school to take us seriously." "To prove we could do it." " What about the components?" " At Ryan's house." " We searched." "We didn't find anything." " It's in a plastic box on the roof." "We searched the roof." "We searched the entire building." "Then he must have it." "But we kept the detonator in Ry's closet for safety." "I don't understand." "I thought you said he didn't do it, it was a prank." "It was, but we think that after what Lance and Charlie did to him he came back here and was gonna do it for real." "Now, I need you to think, Claire." "Is there any possibility he could have come back here when you were at work?" "I don't know." "I'm sorry." "He was here." "Bomb squad's on its way." "If you find him, sit tight." "No cell phones or walkies." "I don't wanna set this thing off." "I shouldn't have been able to get in here." "You're right." "The janitor always leaves the north door open when he's cleaning at night." "Well, we'll talk to school security about that, okay?" "Ryan, my name's Danny Taylor, I'm with the FBI." "I'd like to talk to you if that's okay with you." "I've been trying to decide whether to do it now or wait till everyone comes in tomorrow." "You wouldn't hurt anyone." "You know that." " Why are you even here?" " I wanna help you." " I'm staying with you." " What the hell is he doing?" "He's trying to get himself killed." "Well, Ryan, I know everything that you've gone through." " What do you know?" " I know about your father." "I know that you were downtown on 9l11." "I know that your best friend, Charlie, turned his back on you." "I also know what they did to you in that basement." "I don't want it anymore." " I can't." " Yes, you can." "Ryan, you gotta think about your mom and your sister." "They love you so much." "Ryan, they want you to come home." "Can you do that?" " No." " Ryan, we could get you help." "You could go to another school." "You never have to come back here again." "I can't." "Don't do it." "Don't do it." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Ma'am." "Ma'am, I'm sorry, you can't go in there." "He's under arrest." "Bomb squad said the wire in the detonator separated." " Otherwise..." " Yeah." "Look, I'll see you back at..." "Okay." " Come here." " What are you doing?" "What is the matter with you?" "Are you feeling invincible, is that it?" " The kid opened up to me, that's it." " Shut up." "We had a chance to talk that kid down." "Now he has to live his life knowing that he pressed that button, and so do you." "You keep screwing up and you're gonna be doing brick time." "Do not mess with me." "It's gonna be pretty tough for Ryan." "At least he'll get the attention he needs." "How you doing?" "I..." "Working out the cobwebs, but it's good to be back." "I'm gonna add a new agent to the squad." " Because of me?" " No." "We're spread thin." "It's starting to take its toll." "I thought it was necessary." "Yeah." "Yeah, whatever works." "Just giving you a heads up." "So you're good?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I'm fantastic." "Okay." "Adapted by:" "SDI Media Group"