"Since 1970, the federal witness protection program has relocated thousands of witnesses some criminal,some not, to neighborhoods all across the country." "Every one of thoseindividualsshares a unique attribute, distinguishing them from the rest of the general population." "And that is, somebody wants them dead." "Detroit,Mtchigan Ten Years Ago" "Come on." "He's open." "He's open." "That's right!" "Yeah!" "Game point,game point." "Yeah!" "$160... $180..." "Go on, leeches." "Get your asses gone." "Come on, chris." "Quit jerkin' off." "We're shooting free throws." "Boring." "What'd you do that for?" "'Cause that'swhat's gon' happen every time you bringthat weak-ass junk inside if you can't shoot a free throw." "Now get your assto the line." "All right." "Make 20, get $20." "All right?" "Mom and dad used to give me$20 for my allowance." "Yeah, I know they did." "But ain't nobody gonna give usnothing anymore, man." "Now just forgetabout the shot." "Just focuson your routine." "Bounce, bounce." "Knees and release." "All right?" "I know, I know." "Same thing every time." "Just like breathing." "Hold up, player." "I got $100 that says young'un here can't make ten free throws in a row." "Scott, no." "If I miss, we won't eatfor a week." "Yeah, well, now you gotreal pressure to deal with." "This is what it's likewhen the game is on the line." "Just step up and trust your routine." "Here we go." "Yeah." "One more." "That's right." "All right." "Okay, cool." "Good shot." "Nice." "Yeah." "Come on." "Focus." "For the winner, man." "For the winner, baby." "For the winner." "Yeah!" "See, that's whatI'm talkin' about." "I must admit, the boy's got hisselfsome skills." "'Sup, marlon?" "What's up?" "What's up is youtaking action in my house." "That's what's up,junior." "Dawg, you was gone." "Folks need a outlet, man." "Bring it onback here, boys." "Tell you what." "A brother like yougive loan sharking a bad name." "Someday, somebody gonnatake yours, marlon." "Maybe so." "This ain't that day,fat boy." "That there's what you calla object lesson." "Seen you ball." "Got skills." "So from now on,I own you." "I tell you when to playand what to score." "You feel me?" "Yeah." "Just go on and put juniorout your mind, son." "Y'all know what happensto snitches, right?" "Yeah." "WITSEC ID:........" "Albuquerque Present Day" "Go away." "Come on now, is that any wayto greet a customer?" "I'm sorry." "You're right." "Hey, mary." "Great to see you." "Can you please take your piece-of-crap car somewhere else?" "Much better." " Seriously, mary,working on that makes me sad." " Come on." "Say, bro, can't you, like, talk some sense to her?" " She doesn't speak sense." " Fine." "Leave it and I'll do what I can." "But this is the last time." "Rumor has ityour baby brother's having a pretty good year." "Yeah, 22 points a gameas a sophomore." "Are you kidding?" "I don't care if it's division ii." "In fact, we hada division I scout at every game this year, trying to get him to transfer." "Even a coupleof pro scouts." "it's hard to believe that's the same skinny kid I met five years ago." "You ever seenthis guy play?" "It could've been him." "Nah, I was a playground rat." "Chris is the real deal." "Hey, y'all should cometo the game tonight." "Oh, I don't know.I've got some things-  free tickets." " What time?" "man, every timeI walk into a gym, it gets my blood up." "Oh, did you play?" "Badminton." "We playedour tournaments here." "See this scar?" "Shuttlecock injury." "Ended my career." " Yeah, is he kidding?" " I don't know." "Either way,it's pathetic." "Excuse me." "Way to work "shuttlecock"into the conversation, jackass." " It's oneof the funnier words." " Marshall mann?" " Dana collins." " Marshall!" "What are you doing here?" "Oh, I teach here." "It's hard to believe, huh?" "Not at all." "You were great." "I'm mary." "Dana collins." "Dana was oneof my professors at unm." "Actually,I was just a T.A.Marshall tookmy intro to critical thinking, and I gotta tell ya, this one... mind." "it isa conversation piece." "Sounds likethe game's starting." "Hey, it was greatrunning into you." "Yeah." "You too." "You sure she wasn'tyour science teacher?" "'Cause there was definitelya lot of chemistry going on there." "Nice, nice." "All right, chris!" "All right!" "See, that's why coachesare drooling over him." "Lots of kids can play." "But he makes everyone around him better." "All right now, d-up!" "Defense!" "If I'm not backby the end of the game, meet me at the car." "There you go." "Run that back." "All right." "Yeah!" "That's right." "Okay, wow--all right,all right, all right." "Good game, bro." "Really good." "You totally didn't suck." "Hey, look, y'all." "I gotta makea quick pit stop." " So I'm gonnasee y'all outside." " All right,see you outside." " That was great." " Hey, chris." "Hell of a game,buddy." "Yeah, thanks." "So, uh, mary,can I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure." "Ask away." "You think the governmentwould, like, front mea little book money?" "Walk with me." "Three grand for books?" "And a new laptop." "Look, no offense, mary, but it's been a whilesince you've been in school." "Look, chris, you guyshave been in the program for almost ten years." "That well ran drya long time ago." " Have you asked scott?" " No." "Please don't say anything." "He's been going throughreally tough times money-wise." "And I don't wantto worry him." "You know,I hate to ask, but, um, you thinkthat you could spot me?" "It'd only befor a few weeks." "Chris, you knowl can't do that." "Inspectors havestrict codes of conduct governing how we interactwith witnesses." "And eventhe public at large." "That's why,in every public situation, we go to great lengthsto avoid even the slightest hintof impropriety." "that's weird." "You gotta be kidding me." "You were saying?" "Game over?" "we've all had the experience of talking about a long-lost friend with someone, and then out of the blue the phone rings and it's that same long-lost friend." "Famous psychobabble quack carl jung called these occurrences "synchronicity."" "Skeptics regard these synchronicitous events as mere coincidences." "Others posit a pie-in-the-sky cosmic connection linking all things." "Take a guess on which side of the argument I fall." " What was that?" " Nothing." "Leave it alone." "What if you won something?" "Trust me,I didn't win anything." "Mom, what the helldo you think you're doing?" "You don't really think that's good news,do you?" "Well, it doesn't matter." "It's officialfbi correspondence." "Open it." "No, not me." "I know a box of snakeswhen I see one." "Okay, fine." ""Dear ms." "Shannon,on may 7, "the 25th anniversaryof your husband" ""james wiley shannon'sdisappearance," ""the fbi will petitionthe 9th district court "to declare himlegally deceased." ""This action is partof the bureau's ongoing effort" ""to devote resourcesto more pressing matters." ""Should you haveany information that would affect--"blah, blah, blah." "And you thoughtit was gonna be bad news." "Okay, would you characterize dana's kisses as sweet,yearning, or more of the tonguedown your throat, give it to me now,big daddy variety?" "See, you have no capacityfor restraint, and now you get nothing." "Fine." "But eventually,you'll tell me everything." "Not because I make you." "Because you want to." "Who's the s-9 for?" "Chris worley needssome money for school." "Figured I'd give ita shot." "Mary, I'm tryingto convince washington we're understaffed,and yet somehow, you have time to servicewitnesses ten years in." "I don'T.I just-- they were her first." "You know how you never get over that first one." "Forget it, mary." "I'm not gonna submit it." "And quit wasting timewith old witnesses." "Fine." "Marshall's doinghis old professor." "What... thanks." "So we didn't really geta chance to talk last night." "Everything's good with you?" "Work, life?" "Finances?" "Yeah, fine." "Good." "What about chris?" "How's he doing?" " I mean, finance-wise." " Are you kiddin'?" "He's a college kidliving like he's made the pros." "What's up with you?" "Why the survey?" "What?" "Nothing." "I'm just doingmy inspectorly duties, you know." "So what's chrisliving off of?" "It's a good thing my businessis doing so well." "This last week, I gave him three grand for books,and before that, I gave him two grandfor a computer." "Really." "Yeah, well." "Stuff costs a lot more than whenyou were in school." "Oh, chris." "'Sup, mary?" "You hear aboutthat assistance?" "You know what I doall day, chris?" " not really." " I talk to liarsall day long." "One line of B.S.After another." "And as a result,I've developed this finely honedcrap detector." "I don't--I don't want you to think-- what is it?" "Drugs, women?" "Have you joined a cult?" "And before you answer,I know about the three grand your brothergave you last week." "Oh, god--well, look, you didn'ttell him that I asked about-- relax.I haven't said anything to him." "Yet." "But if you're in trouble,I need to know about it." "Okay, look." "I made a couple bad betsonline." "One of the rich kidsin the dorm let me put iton his plastic." " And now I gotta pay him back." " A couple bad bets?" "Chris." "It's no big deal." "Everything's fine." "And what about lying to scott?" "That's fine too?" "Scott knowshe gets taken care of as soon as I getto the pros." "Look, I appreciateyour concern and all that you've donefor us." "But everything'sunder control, a'ight?" " All right." " Thanks." "I gotta get to class." "Hey there, socrates." "What brings youto these hallowed halls?" "Boning upon your philosophy?" "Taking an oral exam?" "Having sexwith your old professor?" "Okay, get it outof your system." " Aw, look at you." "All blushy." " I'm not." "Sweetie, there's no needto be embarrassed." "These are confusing,scary times." "Your body's changing." "Is this what you meantby "everything's under control"?" " Ooh, we got a fainter." " Chris." "Chris." "Chris." "Chris, you need to tell methe truth." "All right?" " Okay." " Good." "Now who were those guys?" "The bookie I owesent them." "A bookie." "Jesus, chris." "You realize they willsuspend you for a year?" "I never beton my own team." "I wouldn'T." "Besides, how's anyonegonna find out?" "I don't know, maybe you shouldcall pete rose, ask him." "I need the nameof your bookie." "No no, we got into this programby ratting out a bookie." "Look, chris,aside from the fact that what you didis illegal, you borrowed money to pay offone gambling debt, then turned around and gotinto hock with someone else." "Look, I'm supposedto be, like-- like the man on campus." "And I can't even affordto go out for pizza." "So what am I supposedto do?" "I can't get a job, 'cause college ruleswon't let me." "Scott doesn't make enough moneyto help me out." "That's bull." "When have I ever said no to you?" "Listen to me, chris." "This isn't about money." "You've got a gambling problem." "It's out of control." "And you gotta get help." "I don't have a problem." "I thought it was an easy way to pick upsome spending money." "I see now that it was a stupid mistake, and I won't do it again." "Oh, man." "I promise." "But I still owe $3,000." "This is the last time." "You really thinkthat's a good idea." "You really think that's any of your business?" "Excuse me--your familyis my business, unless you want out of the program." "I got a form right on my desk--you sign it, chris, and we're done,is that what you want?" "Nobody's signing nothing." "Chris I'm surehas learned his lesson." "All right, now I'd just like to put this all behind us and move on." "this is a mistake." "Well, we're family." "That's what we do." "Mom, why aren't you working?" "Called in sick." "Have you beenin your pajamas all day?" "Look." "We've been tripping downtortured memories lane all afternoon." "Look at this one." "I think you were,um, four." "Maybe five here." "I don't remember this." "Your father hit the quinellaat belmont." "Went shopping at bergdorf'S." "$80 for a little girl's dress." "I almost killed him." "The way he fawned." "Is that crazy?" "A mother being jealousof her four-year-old daughter." "Can I ask you something?" "Yeah, ask away." "How'd you dealwith daddy's gambling?" "How'd I deal with it?" "Cried." "Broke thingsall the time." "And I drank." "Did you ever tryto get any help?" "Why would I need any help?" "I wasn't the onewith the problem." "Oh, you know, wait." "There was a neighbor." "Nikki." "After he disappeared,she dragged me to a couple of meetings-- you know, those groups for peoplewho live with gamblers." "Said it would help." "Did it?" "No." "It was just a bunchof whiny losers." "I didn't have time for that nonsense." "I had my two girlsto raise." "Look how beautifulthey turned out." "I don't want him to be dead." "I know." "It is exactly because lifeis a series of confrontations with the mundanethat we observe so little." "And therefore,the artist's role becomes not to illustratethe fantastic, but rather,to illuminate the obvious." "God, you make me wishI smoked." "Excuse me." "Ah, monsieur." "Tu es un operateur smooth." "Momentito, s'il vous plait." "it's me." "Open up." "I think you've made a mistake." ""Garcons" means "men."" "I've made no mistake." "Sacre bleu." "Maybe this wasn'tsuch a good idea." "Me too." "all right, folks, let's get started." "Hi, I'm ray,and I live with a compulsive gambler." "hi, ray." "Our father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." "Thy kingdom come,thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." "My name's bonnie." "hi, bonnie." "I guess it really hit me when I found outthe money he borrowed was to pay gambling debts." "Instead of using the money I loaned her to pay the rent, she lost it at the track." "But the worst part was the personality change." "She was alwaysgonna get back to even." "And then quit." "Somehow, it was my fault." "It was always my fault." "It was weird." "It was like I was the parentand he was the kid." "Whenever mom hada big win, I'd ask her for moneyfor a new bike or a dress." "There's some clothes." "And then I'd tuck it away... for that inevitable day... when she couldn't paythe rent." "Or buy groceries." "I used to think that not being able to express my feelings was a guy thing." "All those yearsgrowing up in that house." "It just caused meto shut down emotionally." "I spent my whole lifejust pushing people away." "Oh sure, I could solveother people's problems." "It's like the only timeI feel alive is when I'm in the middle of a crisis." "I just wish I could go back and explain to the kidthat I used to be," ""it's not your fault."" ""You didn't do this."" "You just have to let goof the anger." "Let go of the anger." "Let go of the anger." "Can I get you something?" "No, thanks." "Hello?" "Yeah, that's me." "How much?" "Hold--hold on a second." "That's my bank." "Chris is trying to casha check that I wrote." "He changed the amount from $3,000 to $13,000." "What the hell do I do now?" "Well, you have to tell themnot to cash it." "Yeah, all right." "There must've beena misunderstanding." "Yeah, so go aheadand tear up that check and tell chris we'll get thatstraightened out when I see him." "Thanks for calling." "All right." "Bye." "This is my fault." "He grew up watching mehustle games on the playground." "Then when he got old enough,we hustled them together." "Scott, you were a kidraising a kid." "Cut yourself some slack." "I gotta talk to him." "Talk through the door." "This is where it ends." "scott, let me in." "You said you neededthree grand, man." "Why you change the check?" "$3,000 was my weekly payment." "The real number'smore like $30,000." "$30,000?" "Can we talk about this?" "Chris, you need to get help,and scott needs to stop feeding your habit." "Stay out of this, mary!" "Scott, man, these guysare gonna kill me." "They won'T." "If they kill him,they don't get their money." "Please help me." "Don'T." "Scott, don'T." "I'm sorry." "I can't, chris.You-- you're on your own, man." "Man, you're not sorry!" "You glad this happened!" "You're just jealous 'causeI got the goods and you didn'T." "You happy now?" "Huh?" "You damn loser!" " No, no, no." "Scott." " Let me go, let me go!" "I gotta talk to him." "Listen to me." "I don't care how longyou've been in the program." "You're still my witnesses." "I won't let chris get hurt." "I won'T." "I promise." "Okay?" "Okay." "It's okay." "here we go." "Chris made over 40 phone calls last month to a william donner." "Got an addresson valencia road." "not even a traffic ticket." "so what do you want to do?" "I don't know." "Let's go findmr." "Donner." "Something'll come to me." "Who is this bookie,hansel or gretel?" "Hi, could I help you?" "Depends." "You bill donner?" "Well, that depends." "Who are you?" "The U.S.Marshal service." "You got a minute?" " Can I see some I.D.?" " Yeah, you can." "But--well,here's the deal." "You see, this is kind ofan unofficial visit." "Think of itas a social call." "Exactly--the minutewe pull badges, it becomes-- it becomes official business." "You want to do this?" "Anyway." "We just figured,what with all your illegal bookmakingactivities and such, might be better if we keptthis visit, you know-- unofficial." "What?" "I'm allowed to talk too." "I'm sorry, but I don't knowwhat you're talking about." "Yeah, okay." "But unless you want usto come back here, officially, you know, badges,guns, warrants." "You need to finda new line of work." "Like yesterday, and that meansforgiving your customers' debts, got it?" "Good." "That's it." "We're done, unless youhave something to add." "God forbid." "I know where I've seen you." "You were talking to chris worley after the game the other night." "Well, that's interesting." "Um, I really appreciatethe unofficial visit, marshals." "But, uh, as far as anyunpaid debt goes, you can relax." "Chris and I cameto an understanding." "Whatever hypothetical debthe might have owed me has been forgiven." "All right, good." "But just so we're clear, the second someone comes and slaps cuffs on me," "I tell the world about chris worley'sdegenerate gambling addiction." "So you might think twice,should you decide to come back with warrants." "one way or another,I am gonna nail that guy." "I mean literally flay him,nail his head to a tree, spread it with jam, then watch the squirrelsgo to town." "Working through some stuff,are we?" "I mean, the good news is,with chris off the hook, maybe nowhe'll get some help." "You meanif he's off the hook." "Why?" "Remember back to the future?" "Holy crap, I hate you." "If you haven't seen itin a while, do yourself a favor." "'Cause it really holds up." "Anyway, there's this guy,biff tannen, who gets rich by taking racing forms back in time." "I'd like to go back in time before this conversationstarted." "Biff gets rich because he knowsthe outcome of the races before they happen-- it's every gambler's fantasy." "Why are you doing this?" "You know I hate moviesabout time travel." "They never make sense, okay?" "So stop talking about back to the mother" "There it is." "If chris can influencethe outcome of games, then bill donner knowsthe results before they happen." "Much like biff tannen." "I don't know." "I gotta tell ya,I don't care how much he owes." "I don't see chrisintentionally throwing a game." "He doesn't have to." "All he has to do is keepthe points within the spread." "It's called point shaving." "And it's a federal offense." "What's the spreadon tonight's game?" "Let's see." "The tigers are favoredby 1/2 points." "So in order for christo keep it inside the spread, the tigerswould have to lose." "See?" "And everybody thinksyou're just a pretty face." "Really?" "I fear I may swoon, in which case promise you'll doabsolutely nothing to assist me." "You have my word." "Excuse me." "Could you tell mewhere chris worley is?" "Yes, ma'am." "He's in the training room." "Thanks." "He called me ma'am." "Yeah, but he was lookingdown your shirt when he said it." "Why are you beingso nice to me?" "Hey, what are you doing?" "Get out of here." "Do me a favor." "Watch the door." "Okay, but you better not beall wet when I get back." "I hope you're happy." " You got scottto turn his back on me." " What?" "Nothing about todayhas made me happy." "Except for meetingyour teammates a moment ago." "That wassurprisingly uplifting." "And scott hasn't turnedhis back on you." "He's just not gonna feedyour habit anymore." "I don't have a habit." "Okay." "Well, you triedto rip your brother off for 10,000 bucks, and you're on the verge of throwing awayyour entire future." "So whatever you've got,it isn't good." "Whatever." "Can't you justleave us alone before you destroyour relationship?" "You and scott have one ofthe most amazing relationships I've ever seen, and nobody but yourselves could ever destroy it." "So you came here to tell me what a great relationshipme and scott have?" "No." "I came here to tell you that in the entire span of your life, whatever immediate problemyou're facing, it's just a blipon the radar." "Unless you dosomething stupid that turns itinto a defining moment." "Well..." "I gotta get ready." "So, uh... you're not alone in this,chris." "There are peoplein this world who care about you,and there are people who only careabout themselves." "You need to decide whoyou're gonna turn to for help." "we're set for the opening tip-off." "Tucson tech taking on los lunas." "The tigers are seven and one, and being led by chris worley, averaging 22 points a game on the season." "And check out the crowd." "They are pumped for this one." "Tucson tech controls the opening tip-off." " Maybe he's not coming." " He'll be here." "I don't care how madthey get at each other, scott wouldn't miss a game." "basket by denom." "Chris worleywith a field goal." " Oh, my." " What?" "It's dana." "She... texted." "Let me see." "Come on." "She writes well." "She's kindaadventurous, huh?" "Lewis and clarkwere adventurous." "Dana is evil knievel, rockets over the snake rivernuts." "She scares me." "Yeah, this was a mistake." "Thompson takes down the miss and clears it to worley." "Really,you're that flexible?" "Turnover,chris worley." "Lay-up by lawson." "Still no answer." "Something's not right." "foul on malik hardy." "Chris worley to shoot two." "One shot, guys." "Something's definitelynot right." "Let's go." "And that's the end of the first half, with the tigers trailing by three." "Look what I found." "What's going on, chris?" "Nothing." "I gotta get out of here." "Chris, I saw you talkingto donner before the game." "And on topof your generally crappy play, you just put up two of theugliest bricks I've ever seen." "You gotta trust me." "You really wanna put your faith,your entire future, in the handsof that lying scumbag bookie?" "Oh, god.They've got-- scott worley." "Witsec control numberwc-5042-A." "That's right,he was abducted." "We believe from his homebetween 1600 and 1900 hours." "The suspect's nameis william donner." "that's right, I've got a visual on the suspect now." "Because I want donnerto think all's goingaccording to plan." "We grab him now, we run the risk of setting off some scenario where they kill my guyand disappear." "That's right." "Coordinate through my office." "I'm not going anywhere." "See, this--this is the problem with staying in contactwith old witnesses." "Sooner or later,they're gonna cause problems." "It's their nature." "Why is she evening touch with these people?" "It doesn't make sense." "Sure it does, mary can'tlet go of anything." "I might have something." "Dmv shows scott owns three vehicles." "A classic '58 chevy, a pickup,and a tow truck." "But noneof the police reports indicate seeing the chevyanywhere." "So they grabbed himin his own car?" "Could be,but here's the thing." "He got a discounton his auto insurance by installinga vehicle tracking-- lojack, how can I help you?" "Device." "Yes, I'd liketo report a stolen car." "Are you law enforcement?" "Yes, ma'am, I sure am." "ten minutes remaining." "Tigers trail 56-55." "Chris worley with a chance to take the lead." "Oh, no good, air-ball." "A three-point shot." "Tucson extends their lead." "Chris worleywith the turnover." "Corey mays replacing chris worley." "Seven minutes remaining." "Tigers still trail." "Yeah." "found scott." "He's safe." "Okay, thanks." "******** chris worley checks in at the scorer's table." "If you don't mind,that seat's taken." "I'll just sit heretill the person comes back." "Speaking of coming back, look who's coming backinto the game." "chris worley checks in... come on, chris!" "By the way,I just want to thank you for letting chrisoff the hook the way you did." "Truly a classy gesture." "worley with the assist on the alley-oop." "Tigers trail by just 3 with 2:30 remaining." "Tucson misses an easy lay-up." "Come on, chris!" "chris worley with the field goal." "Looks like chrisgot his shot back." "tigers trail by just 1." "This is very exciting." "steal by worley." "Drives up court." "Foul by edward brown." "Chris worley to shoot two." "Come on, chris!" "So what's the spread again?" "A half point." "So if he makes these,I guess you'd have to say whoever bet against himis a big, stupid loser." "Right?" "Good job, chris!" "and the tigers bring it home with a win by two." "at first glance, one might suppose me walking into the middle of chris's gambling problem and the arrival of the fbi letter about my father, the gambler, to be cosmically connected events." "And who knows, maybe they are." "But in the end, the whole happenstance versus master plan debate-- probably a big waste of time." "All that really matters is that we cross paths at an auspicious time." "Chris was lucky." "He got off with a year suspension, but will still be able to play his senior year." "As for me, well... hi, I'm mary." "hi, mary." "My earliest childhood memory is of my fatherlooking down at me, smiling." "While I crawledbetween his feet beneath a pari-mutuel window, picking up busted ticketsoff the floor." "I don't think I was everas happy as I was then." "I loved my father more thananything in the whole world." "He was a warm, loving, funny, generous man." "And he loved me more thananything in the whole world." "I know that he did." "And he was also a, um... a serious, serious gambler." "And more than anything that's happened to me in the last 30 years, for better and worse, he's the reason I amwho I am today." "My father... dad... daddy... he was my whole world." "And he, um... he, um... walked out of my life two daysbefore my seventh birthday."