"I gathered so much evidence, the ATF was finally ready to bring Operation 22 Green to an end, in a series of massive coordinated raids." "My whole life was about to be torn apart." "And I had no idea if I would make it out alive." "My name's Charles Falco, and this is my story." "That's deep enough." "Quick." "You always figured him to be a cop." "Look into my eyes." "You see a real man in there?" "'Cause it's the last thing you're ever gonna see." "Having trouble breathing, Charlie?" "Bernard..." "Thought you could hide out forever, disguised as one of the good guys?" "No..." "Sorry, Charlie." "Please, please..." "Time's up." "Some mornings I wake up, can't believe I'm still here." "Other mornings..." "I wish I wasn't." "How much longer are you gonna keep living like this, Charlie?" "'Til it's over." "Only good thing about this morning..." "At least I didn't get shot in the face." "I'm constantly paranoid." "Suzanna knows my secret, and I know it's just a matter of time before the Vagos or my ex-partner" "Bernard catches up with me." "Question is, can I make it to the finish line?" "Here you go." "A donut?" "Really?" "See what happens?" "Now you don't get that." "So, anything new and exciting?" "Just more of the same." "Okay." "How much longer I gotta do this?" "'Cause I'm telling you, I'm outta time." "I know." "Just gotta hang in there 'til the busts go down." "Then what?" "What's going on with getting me into witness protection?" "I'm workin' on it." "It's a process." "A process." "A process, huh?" "Don't hit my car, Charlie." "If I don't get in, either the Vagos are gonna kill me, or Bernard's guys." "I'm doing everything I can." "You gotta lay low 'til the raids go down." "You tell Schizo that you're, uh..." "I don't know, you're under the weather." "Charlie, look at me." "Keep it simple." "You're almost done." "Koz wants me to lay low, but Schizo's now made me chapter VP." "And he's got Felix, the International President, breathing down his neck to sort out the chapter." "Since half our guys defected to Darko's new chapter," "Schizo's willing to patch in pretty much anyone to get our numbers up." "You boys got five minutes to get those sewn on your cuts." "That doesn't go down so well with the older members." "You got something to say, old man..." "Say it." "I was just thinkin', maybe you could go down to the local mall and patch in some of them kids that hang out there." "That'd be some easy money." "That's a good idea." "Probably be more useful than you." "Quick?" "Chapter VP can't be late for church, man." "I think I'm comin' down with somethin'." "What, are you hung over?" "Again?" "Come on." "You get over it, 'cause I got an errand for you to run." "All right?" "Let's go." "Bank called again, about the mortgage." "I'll pay them when I'm ready." "Hey, Charlie." "Hey." "You okay?" " Sure." " You?" "What's up with you and Suzanna?" "Why?" "She say somethin'?" "Girl talk." "Here." "Buy yourself some shoes." "Come on." "Let's go." "So you in the doghouse with your old lady?" "Oh, you know." "She runs hot and cold." "Heh." "But when she runs hot, she runs really hot, right?" "Have a seat." "You throwing out the background checks?" "You know what your background check was?" "It was me looking you in the eye." "Hm." "So what's goin' on?" "Just club deals." "It's been a show since Darko took half our guys." "If we wanna get back in the black, we need a bigger chapter and everybody's gotta pull their weight." "Starting with... you." "I thought we had money problems." "I borrowed it." "You're gonna invest it." "In what?" "By "invest,"" "Schizo means he wants me to buy a kilo of pure cocaine from a new connection for 30 grand." "The idea of it being that the newly patched members cut it and sell it retail for 200 grand." "So much for laying' low, huh?" "Come on." "Koz, we got a problem." "We need to talk, man." "Open up, it's the police!" "Stash, what do you want?" "I said it's the cops, man!" "I'm savin' your life, man." "'Sup, Kid?" " What do you guys want?" " I thought we were enemies." "You still in touch with that partner of yours?" "Suzanna?" "No, your old meth dealer." "Bernard?" "Yeah, Bernard." "Here." "Why you lookin' for Bernard?" "Well, we've been talking about you two to Felix." " The International President..." " Why?" "Felix has a line on enough base to cook up a ton of crystal." "He wants to start up a lab." "So I figure, you know how to cook it and your friend Bernard can help shift it." "And we all end up in mansions with swimming pools." "Hm." "Look, guys, I got no idea where Bernard is." "And Skitz would kill me if he knows I'm talking to you two." "Screw Schizo." "He's a punk." "And just so you understand," "Felix already okayed your move to my chapter." "His people are lookin' for Bernard for you." "I gotta think about it." "Ah, come on, Falco." "Thinking's for idiots." "Just do it." "Two days." "Give me your answer." "Oh, just so you know..." "We already told Felix you'd do it." "Come on, pick up!" "Koz, we need to talk!" "We got a serious problem here, man!" "Nice work, Charlie." "I don't see you for 24 hours, and instead of lying low, you agree to move a kilo of coke for Schizo, and cook meth for Felix, which you plan on selling through your old pal Bernard," "who just happens to want you dead." "Did I miss anything?" "No, that's pretty much it." "It's not like any of this was my idea." "No, it's good." "We could do with more on Schizo, anyway." "All right?" "You good to go?" "Let's do it." "Come on." "Seriously?" "Yeah." "Well, I guess you have to ride." "I guess so." "I'll be on your tail the whole time." "Let's go." "Twenty minutes later, the deal goes off without a hitch." "All recorded, of course." "Now all I have to do is deliver the merchandise to Schizo." "There better be a reason for this." "There better be a damn good reason." "You're impeding a federal investigation." "Told him I got busted with the kilo of coke." "That my ATF handler, Koz, he came and saved the day." "Oh, Charlie, did you just make a joke?" "Let's see if you can get through this interview without promising anything illegal." "I just don't get this, man." "Why interview me at the last minute?" "Witness protection's a big deal." "Okay?" "The US Marshal Service just needs to screen you, just to make sure." "Are you saying they might turn me down?" "It depends on your answers." "Quick?" "Green." "Hey." "Relax." "We're on the same team, buddy." "You're an informant too?" "Trying to cancel out a rap sheet, same as you." "Oh..." "How long?" "A while." "Yeah, saved your ass on that" "Vago-in-Lompoc story you told Darko." "You remember that?" "Yeah, of course." "Hey, thank you." "Hey." "So you got any idea what you're gonna do next?" "I don't even know who I'm gonna be next." "Mr. Falco?" "Weren't you here first?" "Me?" "Oh, I was never here at all." "So you know why you're here?" "Yeah, kinda." "It's our job to assess firstly whether your situation qualifies you for witness protection, and secondly, whether in our judgment you're likely to be able to cope with the psychological demands of being placed in this program." "Okay." "What do you wanna know?" "Why don't we start at the beginning?" "Tell us about the Vay-goes." "All right." "Well before we go any further, let's get one straight, all right?" "It's pronounced Vah-goes, not Vay-goes." "It comes from the Spanish word for vagabond..." "Skitz?" "What?" "You have a visitor." "Can't you see that I'm busy?" "He's in your office." "You put him in my office?" "It's Felix." "All right." "Felix." "Take a seat." "So what brings you here?" "I heard you're getting your numbers back up." "Yeah, we're doin' really good." "Is that right?" "Mm-hm." "What I hear is you're patching' in any rat who's got cash in his pocket." "Anyone I patch in is a Vago." "So you're all one happy family 'til you find out you patched in a snitch." "What the hell are you talkin' about?" "You're careless, Skitz." "I don't like that." "I told you back in Reno that you had a snitch, and still you never done a damn thing about it." "But maybe it's because we don't have a snitch." "Well, I just heard different." "One of our moles in the county police says you definitely got a snitch." "And the Feds have been pulling strings for a while now, so..." "Get out of your comfy house and you find this rat." "Or I take your patch and you're done." "Falco." "Next time answer your damn phone." "You know what this is about." "Oh, so your cell phone works?" "How come you never answer it when I call, huh?" "What do you want, man?" "I'm busy." "That's why I've been trying to call you." "I saw Falco pulled over the other night." "So?" "You ain't ever gonna believe this one." "So that's pretty much it." "Now I'm just hoping to run out the clock before this whole thing blows up in my face." "You get it?" "Thing is... you know, after three years of living a lie, I..." "I can't even see a future." "It's like there's this... there's a wall in front of me, and it just keeps getting bigger... and darker, and..." "Hey, can I ask you a question?" "What's it gonna be like for me in witness protection?" "You'll begin a new life, with a new identity in a new location." "You'll have no contact with anyone from your past." "You literally start at zero and begin again." "That is, if you're approved." "If?" "Can't you tell me now?" "We need to assess the information you've given us first, to be sure you're suitable." "You wanna tell me what that means?" "Not everyone finds it easy to let go of the past." "So I just spent six hours answering your questions, and you don't know whether I can let go of my past?" "You see this?" "This biker, this look?" "This is not me." "I got nothing to give up, because I gave away every bit of me a long time ago!" "I'll tell you what." "If you figure out who I am while you're busy deliberating, you let me know." "Aah!" "Hey, Quick." "You two know each other?" "Uh-oh." "Hey Charlie, I never said we were exclusive." "How'd it go in there?" "Not good, man." "Well, they better not keep us hangin'." "You heard the news, right?" "The raids are going down Thursday night." "Friday morning, technically." "But yeah, don't worry, we'll get you out either way." "Pssht." "Then it's over, right?" "I never see the Vagos again?" "Unless you do, and then that'd probably be the last time." "It's Darko again." "What's the matter, you don't wanna talk to him?" "Charlie agreed to cook meth for Darko and Felix." "I did not agree." "Keepin' it fun right to the end, eh, Koz?" "Good to see ya." "Thanks, buddy." "Take care." "Hey..." "Happy trails, Quick." "So you gonna tell me how big these raids are gonna be?" "Five counties, 800 law enforcement officers state-wide." "Eight hundred?" "Yeah, it's pretty much the biggest coordinated police operation in the history of the state." " Cheer up, Charlie." " You played a big part." "What's goin' on?" "Don't... don't make this harder for me, please." "What, you don't even wanna say goodbye to me?" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Can we just talk about it?" "Talk about what?" "The fake new life you're getting that I can't be a part of?" "You could be, okay?" "You could be." "Only if I give up everything about mine." "Don't leave me." "Okay?" "Charlie, I can't wait for them to come take you away from me." "I have to go." "Baby, come on." "Aah!" "Yeah?" "It's Koz." "It's bad news, Charlie." "They, uh... they were out of my favorite bourbon, so we have to settle for this." "On the bright side, witness protection approved you." "You're in." "Yeah?" "Any idea where they're sending me?" "No, all I know is they want you packed and ready within 48 hours." "No more than one bag." "They're gonna pick you up here Thursday night, take you to a hotel up the coast." "And what about the whole new identification, all that stuff?" "Well, you wanna hear the rest of it," "I think we're gonna need some glasses, don't you?" "Expecting someone?" "I got it." "All right, all right, all right." "Can I help you?" "Charlie in?" "Yeah." "You are?" "Lookin' for him." "Well, come on in." "Left you messages." "I didn't hear back." "I never got any messages." "So you guys ride together, huh?" "Oh, man, I envy you." "Who is this guy?" "I'm a business associate." "Is this a social call?" "'Cause we're kind of in the middle of something here." "Is this Bernard?" "No... i-it's..." "The name's Koz." "Okay..." "Well, good to meet you too." "You have a safe ride back wherever you came from." "Came to give you this." "It's directions to Felix's." "Thursday night, 10 o'clock." "Thursday?" " Yeah." " Don't be late." "You girls have a nice date." "All right, thank you." "Hah, well!" "That makes things interesting." "So these are surveillance photos of Felix's compound." "The main house is here." "Security fence." "Cameras here, here." "And the electronic main gate is here." "Until now the problem has been how to get in there without him knowing that we're coming." "But with you inside..." "I open the gate." " You see that?" " Now you are finally starting to get the hang of this infiltration thing, aren't you?" "Yeah, I got it." "We're gonna hit 'em right across the state at exactly the same moment, so I need to get that gate open exactly 3 am." "3 am?" "So if I get there at 10... that means I'll be there for five hours." "Charlie, like I said before, if you don't feel safe, we'll pull you out right now, and find another way..." "No way, man." "I wanna do this." "Okay, then." "Any idea what kind of time these guys are facing?" "Off the evidence you've collected..." "Stash will probably get 20 to life for that murder." "Darko, maybe five to ten." "Lizard... well, depends what we find him with." "And, uh, Schizo?" "I dunno, maybe..." "Maybe a couple years." "A couple years?" "Are you kiddin' me?" "A couple years for that guy?" "It all depends what we can make stick." "Where are you going?" "Out." "Where you goin'?" "Out." " Hey." " Hey, Charlie." "You just missed him." "You know, I think I left my cell phone charger up in his office." "All right, you know the way, go ahead." "See you in court." "Find what you came for?" "Oh yeah, I got it right here." "You know, I was thinking, maybe I got the big house, but Suzanna really is the lucky one." "See you around." "Anything you want me to tell Suzanna?" "I'm meeting her for drinks." "Hey, you tell her that I was the lucky one." "Ah..." "Hey!" "What brings you here this time of night, Prez?" "Do I need a reason to see an old friend?" "Oh come on, you know you're welcome here any time." "I was thinkin'..." "It's time you and me..." "It's time we cleared the air." "You got it." "Ah..." "You know how important you are to this chapter." "There ain't no other place I'd rather be." "See, I admire that." "A man who knows where he belongs, and he's happy there." "Yeah." "Lizard." "Prez." "It's a good part of Riverside, two bedrooms." "If you ever need a place to stay..." "Okay?" "What's with the brave face act?" "You're crazy about Charlie." "You're not gonna tell me what happened?" "Wasn't meant to be." "That's it?" "That's it." "Did he screw around on you?" "I don't think so." "Did he hit you or something?" "No, God, nothing like that." "Well, either it's something he did or something you did." "Did you... cheat on him?" "Oh my god." "Oh my god." "So you're the one with the problem." "Yeah, I'm the one with the problem, all right?" "I'm the one who was living with..." "He's just not who I thought he was." "Okay?" "Do you want to explain that?" "You know what my problem's always been, Lizard?" "I'm always looking to the horizon, 'cause I figure there's something bigger and better out there." "Mm." "Now, the problem with that is a lot of times you miss everything that's right under your nose." "I don't know, it seemed to me you're always good with the details." "No, no, no." "You were right... about me patching in those new prospects." "The problem was I wasn't paying attention to the details." "And that... is how you get a snitch in your ranks." "Felix says there's a snitch." "And he says he's got proof." "The problem is, he doesn't know who it is." "So it's my job to find out." "So I start thinkin'... who could it be?" "Darko?" "Always busting my balls." "But no..." "Snitches don't get involved with murders." "Then I thought Stash..." " He's too stupid." " Little runt." "Huh." "So I got to thinking about Falco." "Is it possible that I made a snitch my VP?" "Did I miss something?" "Some kind of detail?" "So I started thinkin' about it, goin' over everything again in my head." "What did I miss?" "And then I realized, yeah," "I did miss something." "Hm." "There's someone else who was always working against me." "Who?" "What were you thinking?" "I shouldn't have said anything." "Stella, don't tell Schizo, okay?" "Hey, don't worry, it's just between you and me." "Thank you." "Okay." "What's up?" "I'm just comin' to have a drink with the only man" "I can still trust." "Yeah, well, I'm just headin' out." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Where you off to?" "Suzanna moved out." "I'm just gonna drop off a couple of her things." "Hey, you know she's having a drink with Stella, huh?" "Heh, two of them probably bad-mouthing both of us right now." "Hey, what do you say the two of us, we go join 'em?" "We'll go back to my place, you know, we'll swap things up a bit." "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." "No thanks, man." "All right." "You know, I was thinkin', if you're done with Suzanna," "I think I might take another shot at that, you know?" "If you don't mind." "I mean..." "I know she won't." "That girl's a banshee." "She loved it out loud the first time." "That makes us even, right?" "Hey!" "I finally found our snitch." "It's good times ahead for you and me, Quick." "Real good, Skitz." "Hey, Lizard?" "Lizard..." "What happened?" "I've been called a lot of things, but tonight is the first time anyone called me a snitch." "Schizo did this to you?" "It's tonight, huh?" "I figured it was soon." "Your cop buddies are comin' by and you're bailin' me out, right?" "How'd you find out?" "Your bike." "My bike?" "Mm-hm." "You see, when an amateur wants to check a Harley's ownership history, he just checks the serial number on the motor casing." "Your bike?" "It's registered to Charlie Falco." "But if you want to know the true history, then you'll find that serial number hidden on the bottom of the frame." "You wanna know who that's registered to?" "It ain't a private citizen." "Why didn't you rat me out?" "Ah..." "I guess I liked you." "Come on, man, that doesn't make any sense." "You knew." "You know, in this whole damn chapter, only Kid was ever a real soul brother." "Hey Charlie, you remember that ride?" "Hm?" "Out in the desert?" "You, me, the Kid?" "Yeah, of course I do." "That's when you got it, huh?" "I saw it on your face." "That's when you got what being an outlaw biker is really about." "That feeling of freedom." "Freedom from all the bull, and a chance to be a part of something that really means something." "I mean, otherwise freedom's just another way of being alone." "Schizo and the others, they think it's just a living." "So when you came on the scene, I said," ""Hey, this is a chance to wash all that bull away."" "The Vagos will go on." "Cops will bust the gang." "But they can't take away what we believe." "Anyone you'd want me to warn before it all goes down, Lizard?" "Oh, Charles, you're the only one I want to warn." "Thanks, man." "You mind leaving me a couple of buds?" "I don't know if I'm in the mood to face the man straight." "Oh, one last thing." "Do you get to keep the bike?" "No, man, I don't get to keep anything." "Where the hell you been?" "I got tied up." "I told you not to be late!" "Yeah, I know." "Charlie Falco." "Come shake my hand." "Pleasure to meet you." "We'll see about that." "Stash." "Before we go any further," "I wanna deal with some stories I hear about you." "Stories?" "What stories?" "The boys here tell me that you're a chef that doesn't taste his own creations." "Yeah, I quit years ago." "That's not gonna work around here." "I can't cook for you and smoke too, man." "Don't get ahead of yourself." "I'm not asking you to smoke." "I'm telling you." "Spark up." "There we go." "Ha, ha!" "There you go!" "We have to talk." "Falco?" "Yeah, I'm here, I'm here." "Time you and I had a little conversation." "Just let me use your bathroom first." "It's down the hall to your right." "Then get back here." "I need you to get that gate open at exactly 3 am." "3 am." "Okay." "Shit." "Hey, Skitz." "What's up?" "You're dead." "Guess we'll have to just see about that, won't we?" "Come on, come on, come on..." "What the hell you doing?" "Hey." "Just really wasted, man." "I just needed some air." "Well, Felix wants to talk to you." "All right." "Let's go." "Take a seat, Quick." "I want you to concentrate real hard about what I'm going to ask you." "Stash here wants you to explain something he saw." "What, you've never been pulled over in your cuts before?" "You were nailed, man." "'Til that guy walks up to the cop, starts talking to him and then all of a sudden, the cop disappears." "And you and the guy start talking like you're buddies." "And then you just..." "rode away, all in the clear." "You want to explain who that was?" "That was Koz." "Darko, help me out here." "The guy in the apartment." "You met this guy?" "Thought he was a drug dealer." "Wow, he was good." "What makes you think Schizo's the only one with county cops in his pockets, huh?" "Schizo." "Prick's ears must be burning." "You're not gonna answer that?" "He knows all about the cop." "I don't need his opinion." "What do you need, huh?" "Are we done with Stash's bull?" "I know what I saw." "Well, well..." "Schizo's now saying he found that snitch." "Haven't you heard?" "It was Lizard." "Well, he's busting to talk about it." "Huh?" "Take it easy, man." "Get on the ground!" "Get on the ground!" "Hands on your head!" " Hands on your head!" " Do not move!" "Don't move!" "That's my guy." " Get in there." " Get in." "You all right?" "Yeah." "Car's waiting for you if you're ready to go." "Got your stuff?" "Yeah." "Got something else for you." "What's that?" "It's a couple more years on Schizo." "Nice." "You know, there's something else you can give me too." "What's that?" "Keys to my bike." "Your bike?" "Yeah." "No, no, that's my bike." "And you are welcome to borrow it any time you like." "You should get a bike of your own." "Then we'll go for a ride sometime." "Thank you." "All right." "What is it?" "All these arrests and convictions, and then... then what?" "They just get new guys, and it's the same problem, right?" "You really think that we made a fference?" "You made a difference, Charlie." "How come I don't feel like we won?" "Didn't I tell you?" "There's no checkmate in this game." "Only check."