"All right." "All right, good shot though." "Hey, grab your gear, Billy." "You know, you played great out there today." "That corner kick was a thing of beauty." "Thanks." "I'm really psyched about going camping." "The fishing up in Yosemite is great this time of year." " Can we hike El Capitan?" " lf you think you can handle it." "L.A.P.D." "Dad?" "Russell Wallace, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Jackie Buckner." " Jackie Buckner?" " No!" "Dad!" " Jackie, it's okay." " Leave him alone!" " It's okay, Jackie." " Knock it off!" "My name's Billy Wallace." "There he is." " Jackie?" " My name's Billy Wallace." " Jackie, it's okay." " We're his parents." "Jackie?" "Hi." "Honey." " It's gonna be okay." "It's okay." " No!" " We're right here." "We're gonna help you." " That's my dad." " It's okay." "We're here." " Dad!" "Four years." "That's a long time not to see your kid." "You'd figure he'd find a way to escape." "Child predators are twisted but they're smart." " And manipulative as hell." " Billy!" "Let's see how this bastard does against someone his own size." "L.A.P.D. found Jackie Buckner off an anonymous tip." " How's he doing?" " They're still checking him out." "I'd love to get this freak on the stand to show him what abuse feels like." "Speaking of freaks, I caught the spot that Cutler's running against you." "Wayne Callison hacking up women or the one questioning my late husband's finances?" "This guy doesn't have the stones to be DA." "You are a lock for re-election." "I'm hoping the debate puts me over the top." " I'll rip Cutler's nasty little head off." " Love the democratic process." "When he's not kidnapping kids, Wallace has been working as a sales rep." "Spotless record." "Twice named salesman of the month." "Jackie's an honors student at the local elementary school." "Doesn't anybody check the back of milk cartons?" "Jackie's medical exam's back." " Any signs of abuse?" " Nothing." "Not even a bruise." "Go with kidnapping and wrongful imprisonment." "He's a pedophile." "Needs to go for 25 years." "We nail him for kidnapping." "He'll get 15." "Then we let the pedophile fan club at Lompoc throw him a party." " So, what's the game plan?" " For kidnapping?" "Kid disappears." "We find him living in Wallace's house." "Game over." "Kidnapping requires that an individual be taken against his will by force." "According to the report, we have no witnesses." "Wallace could argue the kid rode his bike to the door, pitched a tent." " No one's gonna buy that." " Who can testify it didn't happen?" " Jackie Buckner." " And he's not talking." " He's gonna have to." " Problem is Jackie loves this guy." " Wallace got to him." " So how do we get to him?" "I'm gonna bring in Connie Vasquez." "Top child shrink in L.A." "If anyone can turn this kid around, she can." "How is it being back with your parents?" "I don't wanna live with them." "I just wanna see my dad." "I understand." "But first, I need to know how did you end up living with Mr. Wallace?" "I can't remember." "You were 7 years old." "You must remember something, Jackie." "My name's Billy." "Billy Wallace." " Didn't you miss your real parents, Billy?" " No." " Why not?" " I don't wanna talk about that." "Okay." "But I need you to be totally honest with me right now." "Did Mr. Wallace ever hurt you?" "Of course not." "Did he ever touch you inappropriately?" " No." "My dad would never do that." " Okay." " Talk to me, Connie." " He knows more than he's saying." "Whether or not there's been abuse, that will take time." "Doesn't seem like he's a big fan of his parents." "It's clear." "There's been intense programming." "Chances are Wallace has been trashing the Buckners to this kid for years." "How long will it take before he opens up about the kidnapping?" "It's tough to tell." "He's firmly embraced his new identity." "Right now, he's Billy." "The longer he stays away from Wallace the easier it'll be to break through and find Jackie." " What are you doing home?" " I forgot my cell phone." "I'm heading over to see the parents of that boy we found." "They must be incredibly happy." " Speaking of which..." " Yeah?" "You know, I thought you might have something to tell me." "Actually, I do." " I won't be home for dinner." " Great." "Anything else?" "Megan and I are working at the food drive." "I'll be back around 8." "See you, Dad." "How's it going with Jackie?" "It's been pretty hard." "He barely speaks with us." "He'll be fine." "Only been a couple of days." "He just needs time to adjust." "Can you tell me about the day Jackie disappeared?" "March 14th, 2003." "He had asked if he could ride his bike home through the park after school." "And when he didn't come home the police thought that maybe he had been kidnapped for ransom." "But no one ever contacted us." "And so, for all we knew..." " What's the point of going over this?" " I know this is painful." "But to convict Russell Wallace I have to establish the facts of the kidnapping and Jackie is our only witness." "Are you talking about putting my son on the stand?" "We have no other choice." "No." "Forget it." "There's no way Jackie's testifying." " Stu..." " He's been through enough, Gail." "They found him living with the bastard." "That's kidnapping." " lf you'll let me explain..." " No." "Save it, okay?" "He's my son." "It's my decision." "Well, there's something else." "Russell Wallace has retained Nora March to defend him." " She's tough." "Takes no prisoners." " What does that mean?" "The defense will often demonize the parents." "We're not on trial here." "Isn't fair or pretty." "It's what they'll do." "Is there anything that Nora March can dig up and use against us?" "I'm a real estate developer." "Know what kind of press that attracts?" " We have nothing to hide." " Really?" " Everybody's got something to hide." " I'm getting pretty sick of your tone." "We got our boy back after four years." " We are the victims here." " Right." "Take this attitude in front of the jury, and Russell Wallace is gonna walk." "Don't worry about us, okay?" "Just get the monster who stole our son." "Shrink's working full time with Jackie Buckner." " He'll be ready to take the stand?" " Too soon to tell." "You think March is gonna go after the Buckners?" "Smart move." "Kid ran away." "Parents are monsters." " It's a tough sell." " Maybe." "But this Wallace comes off like the all-American soccer dad." "Search of his place turned up nothing." "Good lawyer." "I'm not taking anything for granted." "I got a call from Manny." "He wants an update on the case." "Stuart Buckner is a major contributor." "Next time you chat with him tell him I'm waiting for the endorsement he promised." "He's waiting for the last minute:" "he can come riding in on his white horse." "It's traditional to rescue the damsel in distress before she's been beheaded." " You want me to make a call?" " No." "I couldn't ask you to do that." " Fine." " I wouldn't impose on you." " Okay." " Can you call him today?" "No problem." "Jackie Buckner was 7 years old when he was stolen off the street in broad daylight." "Torn from his loving parents, ripped from the life he knew." "Russell Wallace kidnapped Jackie Buckner changed the boy's name, and forced him to masquerade as his own son for four long years." "Do you have children?" "I do." "And every parent knows what it's like to lie awake at night praying for their child to come home safe." "Jackie Buckner represents every parent's darkest fear." "And Russell Wallace, he is our worst nightmare." "You have the power to end that nightmare." "What would it take for you to confront impossible odds to save a child's life?" "Russell Wallace saw a helpless child in pain." "And while it would have been far easier to turn a deaf ear my client instead listened to his conscience." "Rather than return Jackie Buckner to an unsafe home a toxic environment we will describe to you in harrowing detail he decided to protect this defenseless child from his abusive parents." "He saved a boy's life." "And that should never be a crime." "Jackie was downstairs watching TV." "The Buckners went to check on him." "He was gone." " Any sign of a break in?" " No." "Looks like he took off on his own." "Why would this kid take off again?" "I don't know." "But I'm sure as hell gonna find out." "Jackie Buckner may also answer to the name, Billy Wallace." "My office is working closely with the L.A.P.D. to locate this boy." "We're counting on the public's help." " Ms. Devlin." " Ms. Devlin." "If someone has taken Jackie or knows where he is I'm begging you, please bring him back to us." "Where's Jackie Buckner?" "I have no idea." "But I'm not surprised he ran away from those people." "No one knows this kid like you do." "He's confused." "He's scared." "If my client were able to help you find this boy and I'm not saying he can, what are you offering?" "Peace on earth and good will toward men won't cut it?" " Drop the charges." " Dream on." "I'll recommend a capped sentence if there's no evidence of abuse." "Don't you get it?" "I'm not the one who abused Billy." "This little boy is out there on his own." "Now, you say you care about him?" "Prove it." "I love Billy, and I'm worried sick about him." "But even if I did know where he was, I wouldn't tell you." "He ran away because he's scared to death of his parents." "And he should be." "Look, I know you think you're helping him, Mr. Stark but you're putting his life in danger." "Get him out of here." "If he is lying, he's damn good at it." "Allowing the jury to walk through Wallace's home would be prejudicial and irrelevant." " It's completely relevant." "We're claiming my client provided safe haven to the boy." " Safe haven was also prison." "Jackie's living conditions are critical to proving our theory." "The jury has a right to see the home Mr. Wallace provided." "He could have lived in the Taj Mahal." "It has nothing to do with whether or not he was kidnapped." "Mr. Stark has intimated abuse and mistreatment." "We have a right to rebut that argument." "The home provided by the defendant is relevant to his defense." "I'll allow the jury to take a supervised tour of Mr. Wallace's home." "People, right this way to the bus." "Mrs. Buckner." "It's so normal." "I had always imagined a lot of things." "Am I allowed to go inside?" "Judge's order only applies to the jury." "So we won't tell anyone." " He looks happy." " He should have been with you." "For four years, I've dreamed about the day that I would see Jackie again." "And I thought I could just throw my arms around him and everything would be okay." "Then that day finally comes and it's like meeting someone else's son." "It's gonna get better." "Maybe." "But we'll never get back the years we lost." "And no matter what happens there will always be a part of my child that I don't know." "Mr. Lopez, were you hired in 2003 by Gail and Stuart Buckner as an investigator to search for their son?" "That's right." " Were they committed to find their child?" " Totally, never lost hope." "We came up empty on lead after lead but they were always determined to find Jackie." "And did you feel they were traumatized by this event?" "It just tore them apart." "Jackie was their whole life." "No further questions." "Mr. Lopez, did you see this alleged kidnapping take place?" "No." " Were there any witnesses at all?" " No one came forward." "Jackie was seen leaving school on his bike." "But he never made it back home." "Do you have any evidence that proves Jackie didn't run away?" " No." "So in fact, it is possible that Jackie fled his parents voluntarily?" " Yes, but..." " Thank you." "You were Russell Wallace's neighbor." "You must have some opinion of him." "Like I told the police, Russell was a great dad." "He said his wife left when Billy was 2 and never looked back." "We found several pictures of your son with Jackie Buckner." "They were best friends." "They had sleepovers." "Russell drove them to school." "Did you ever see anything inappropriate between Russell and Billy?" "Never." "He was totally devoted to that boy." "Well, can we speak with your son?" "Randy?" "Hey, Randy." "We're trying to find Billy." " Do you know where he is?" " No." "Look." "I know you wanna help your friend." "The best way to do that is to tell us what you know." "Really." "I don't know where he is." " Did you guys talk a lot?" " Every day." "When not on the phone, they were going back and forth on the computer." "Well, have you talked with Billy online since he went away?" "No." "He hasn't been on at all." "We'd like to access your son's web account if that's okay." "If Billy logs on and tries to contact Randy it'd really help us bring him home." "Which home?" "Did you have a good relationship with your son before he was abducted?" "We were so close." "He was everything to us." "And when he disappeared, we were devastated." " Was Jackie your only child?" " Yes." "Stuart and I had a difficult time getting pregnant." "And so when we finally did, it was like a miracle." " I mean, Jackie was our miracle." " No further questions, Your Honor." "That's a very touching story, Mrs. Buckner." " But it's not the whole story, is it?" " I don't understand." "Isn't it true you used to crawl into bed with him?" " No." " Objection." "Foundation." " Overruled." " When Jackie was little I would stay with him if he couldn't sleep..." " Is it true you used to lock him outside?" " Objection." "The witness' relationship with her son speaks directly to our theory." "The witness will answer." "Jackie was accidentally locked out of the house when he was 5." "Did you physically abuse your son when he was 4 years old?" " No!" " Your Honor..." "Jackie Buckner suffered a broken arm when he was 4." "Isn't that right?" " Mrs. Buckner?" " The witness will answer." "Yes." "Was the fractured arm the extent of those injuries?" "No." "There were a few bruises on his face." "Can you tell the court how those injuries occurred?" "He fell." "It was an accident." "I have an affidavit from a nurse, Alex Lowry, stating that David Lopez the very same investigator you and your husband hired to find your son, paid her $500 to destroy your son's file." "Your Honor, we have not had an opportunity to review this affidavit." "I'll allow it." "Did you and your husband pay to have the hospital record of your son's injury destroyed?" "Yes." "I can't help but wonder what you two were so desperate to hide." " It's all right, honey." " Dad!" "I asked you if there was anything March could ambush us with." " I want an explanation." " We don't have to explain to you." " Actually, you do." " I've given you the benefit of the doubt." "And ever since Jackie ran away I've been wondering whether Wallace was telling the truth." "If I find out that you abused your son, I will bury you." "We never abused Jackie." "Then why pay to have the hospital records destroyed?" "A couple years before Jackie disappeared I was up for a post on a governor's council on urban development." "I had to be vetted." "The staffers overseeing my appointment were paranoid about a scandal." "A 4-year-old with a spiral fracture and certain types of bruising..." "The doctors are trained to ask about abuse." "And note it in the file." "Something like that could be twisted to look incriminating." "They told me to get rid of it and rather than tell them to go to hell like I should have I paid Lopez to make the files go away." "How did Jackie break his arm?" "We were playing outside." "It was getting late." "Jackie didn't wanna go inside, so he threw a tantrum." "He was running out towards the street." "A car was coming." "I grabbed him." "Hard." "I pulled him to me and he fell." "I swear to God it was an accident." "Mr. Stark, you have to believe me." "Stuart and I would die before we ever hurt Jackie." "Thanks for meeting me, Principal Saunders." "So, what can I do for you?" "Does the school offer any prep courses for the SATs?" " Oh, yes." "Are you interested?" " Cute." "Julie obviously needs to improve her study habits." "Julie?" "She's one of our hardest-working students." "Well, hard work is fine, but without results you might as well be digging ditches, you know?" "Look." "Julie's hiding her test results from me, which can only mean she bombed." "Your daughter never bombed anything in her life." "She picked a hell of a time to start." "If she were to take this prep course, I would hire a private tutor..." "Julie scored a 2310 out of a possible 2400 points." "That's the mid-99th percentile." " Wow, pretty good." " Yeah, it is." "So if you don't tell Julie I gave you her scores I won't tell her you had her digging ditches." "Please tell us how you met Jackie Buckner." "I had just moved down from Sacramento to work for an accounting firm and I was renting a place in Studio City." "One day, this little boy just showed up in my front yard." "And he was terrified." "Crying hysterically and..." " Did you help him?" " Yeah, of course." "I took him inside, calmed him down." "After about an hour, he started to open up." " What did Jackie say?" " That his parents beat him up." "He was scared to death of them." " Did you believe him?" " I wasn't sure at first." "I mean, in fact, I sent him home." "But then a few days later, he came back and I saw." "He had bruises all over his body." "I mean, he'd been beaten." " Did you alert the authorities?" " No." " Why not?" " Well, at first, Billy..." "Jackie wouldn't tell me who his parents were." "And when he did, I looked his father up on the Internet." "And Stuart Buckner is a powerful man." "People like him can get away with anything." "They hire fancy lawyers." "They make a few phone calls." "I just..." "I couldn't let that poor boy go back to that situation." "I was afraid they'd kill him." " So, what did you do?" " I helped him." "The only way I could." "We moved up to Simi Valley, started fresh." "I raised him as my own son." "But you had to know you could be accused of kidnapping." " I was willing to take that risk." " Even if it meant going to jail?" "If I had to do it over again, I would do exactly the same thing." "Jackie Buckner showed up, claiming he'd been abused by his parents?" " Yes." " You failed to alert authorities?" " Yes." " How about child services?" "Or any of the 58 non-profit organizations that exist in Southern California solely to help endangered youth?" " No." " So you didn't seek help or support." "Yet you, a single man, never married, no children of your own formed an intimate bond with a young boy." " No." "He needed me." " Sounds like you needed him too." " Objection." "Argumentative." " Withdrawn." " You a pedophile, Mr. Wallace?" " Of course not." "And yet you bring someone else's child into your home." "Give him a new identity." "Assume control of his life." " Yes, but..." " Mrs. Wallace tucked away somewhere?" " You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" " Not right now." "How long has it been since you dated?" "It's been a while." "Because you've spent all your time with the boy?" " Yes." " So you build your entire life around a young boy who is not yours." "You spend every waking minute with him." "And you expect us to believe that you're doing all of this for him?" " Your Honor?" " Withdrawn." "Thanks for your candor, Mr. Wallace." "Lewis logged onto Randy Castro's MySpace account." "Tons of hits." "Jackie hasn't signed on." "But Isaac said that Randy wasn't exactly cooperative." "Sure he gave Jackie's real screen name?" "Who knows?" "A lot of kids have multiple IDs." "Jackie knows we're looking for him so he'll be careful." "There could be a reason why Randy didn't wanna help us." " Such as?" " Wallace is telling the truth?" " We're on the wrong side." " No, I went at the Buckners hard." "I believe they're telling the truth." "What if you're wrong?" "We have an obligation not to endanger this boy if his parents are abusive." " Et tu, Blondie?" " Look at the whole picture." "I'll paint the picture for you." "There is zero evidence the Buckners abused their son." "Wallace admitted to stealing their kid." "End of story." "You look a little haggard, pal." "Yeah?" "How about I run around shaking hands?" "You bust the bad guys." "Where are you on the Buckner case?" "I have an interview with the Times." "No witnesses." "No evidence of abuse." "No victim to testify..." "Sorry I asked." "Wallace's counsel made the Buckners look like the Manson family." "I know Stuart." "He's a good man." "He's a pillar of his community." "In the community that writes the big, fat campaign checks?" "Just keep me posted." "Don't do it, Manny." " Do what?" " Jessica." "Don't hang her out to dry." " I don't know what you mean." " Cut the crap." "You said you'd endorse her." " Did I?" " Three months ago." "That's a tough one." "Cutler's made a serious run." "Cutler is a knock-knock joke, and you know it." "A lot of people disagree." "Not sure it's right for me to decide this thing." "Jessica's been good for this city, Manny." "She's been good for you." "And you gave her your word." "Have we met?" "Eight months ago, you could barely stand her." "Yeah?" "Well, she's the best person for the job." "Besides, what's it gonna cost you?" "Tell Jessica she has nothing to worry about." "So are you and Madeleine...?" "Together?" "No." " So do you think she and I...?" " Yeah." " Really?" " No." "Hang on." "There." "That's him." "That's Jackie." " "BeckhamBoy"?" " The kid's way into soccer." " Answer him." " What should I say?" "Just keep him talking." "All right." "Ask him where he is." " Do you think he knows it's not Randy?" " Wait for it." ""Need your help." "Can you get money?"" "Ask him how much." "We got him." " Where is he?" " He said he'd be here at 8." "Over there." " Who the hell is that?" " I have no idea." " You know what?" "Pick him up." " Grab the boy." "Police!" "Freeze!" " Get over here!" " Hey, I didn't do anything." " What's your name?" " Frank Coolie." "I'm looking for a boy who's supposed to be here instead of you." " What are you talking about?" " Not the time for screwing around." " Where is Jackie Buckner?" " Tell us where he is." " You don't understand." " No, you don't!" " You do not wanna be in the middle!" " No!" "I'm already in the middle!" "Jackie's my brother." "I happen to know for a fact the Buckners have no other children." "I'm not their son." "I'm Russell's." "Russell Wallace?" "He took me too." "You need to tell us where Jackie is." "Trust me, he's safe." "But I can't." "I promised him." "How did you end up with Russell Wallace?" "I grew up outside Spokane." "My mother used to drink a lot." "It was a bad scene." "I took off when I was 12." "Headed down to Sacramento." "Where you met Russell?" "He gave me a place to stay." "Pretty soon, I was calling him "Dad."" "It was better than what I left behind." "At least for a while." "What happened, Frank?" "About a year later, Russell took me on a camping trip to Yosemite." "That's when it started." "He started, you know... touching me." "It was..." "I knew it was wrong, but Russell said he needed it." "He'd done so much for me." "When Russell moved to L.A., did you go with him?" "Yeah." "A few months later, he brought Jackie home." "Did Jackie ever talk about his parents?" "We didn't talk about that stuff." "He was too freaked out." "Later, when he started to trust me, he told me things about his parents." "Good things that didn't match up with what Russell said." "By then, Russell started the whole father/son thing." "I knew what was gonna happen, but I couldn't take it anymore." "I needed to get out of there." "You left?" "I wanted to take Jackie, but I knew Russell would come after us." "Alone, I had a chance to get away." "I never forgot about Jackie." "We kept in touch by e-mail." "I was trying to get set up somewhere, get us a place." "I thought I had more time but when he told me Russell was taking him to Yosemite I knew I had to do something." "I had to stop it." "It was you." "You placed the anonymous call to the police." " You told them where to find Jackie." " I couldn't let Russell hurt him." "Did Jackie e-mail you from the Buckners?" "Yeah." "And he was confused and scared." " Were they abusing him?" " No." "Jackie told me they were good people." "He just got freaked out." "He needed to see someone he could talk to." "You did the right thing, Frank." "You protected your brother." "But we still need your help, son." "It's okay." "He's here to help you." "I promise it's gonna be okay." "Jackie Buckner has every right to testify, but anything Frank Coolie says about his relationship with Mr. Wallace is irrelevant." "Wallace kept Frank Coolie prisoner for years subjecting him to constant physical abuse." "Frank Coolie lived with my client voluntarily." "My point exactly." "He lived with the accused and Jackie Buckner." "Did Mr. Coolie witness the kidnapping with which the defendant is charged?" "No." "He didn't witness the actual abduction." "I'm sorry." "The defendant is on trial solely for the kidnapping of Jackie Buckner." "Frank Coolie's experiences, while painful, are not relevant." " Back to square one." " We have Jackie Buckner." "An emotionally damaged 11 -year-old who won't tell what happened." "He's gonna have to or Russell Wallace is gonna walk." "See you at the office." " I talked to Delgado." " Excuse me." "Wild guess." "He denied ever promising an endorsement." " Let's just say his memory is spotty." " Classic." "I leaned on him." "He came around." " Seriously?" " You're in." "So now I guess the only bad news is that I owe you big time." "I was thinking a cozy little bungalow up in Santa Barbara..." "Yeah." "Maybe when I run for governor." "Sebastian, thanks." "Jackie?" "It's not my name." "I'm Sebastian." "I'm here because I need your help." "It's my job to make sure that Russell doesn't take any more kids away from their families." "I've already told everyone." "He didn't do anything to me." "I believe you." " But what about your brother Frank?" " What about him?" "Did Russell ever hurt Frank?" "No." "I don't know." "I don't wanna talk anymore." "Fine." "Frank told me that he was looking for a place for you guys to live." "Because he wanted to protect you, Jackie." "That's what brothers do." "They protect each other." "Frank really loves you, Jackie, and I know you love him too." "It's time for you to tell the truth, son." "One night I left my soccer ball in Frank's room." "When I went in to get it, Frank was in bed." "Russell was with him." "They didn't have their clothes on." "I could hear Frank crying." "Did you run away to live with Russell because you wanted to get away from your parents?" "No." "Russell was at the playground where I used to live." "I used to ride my bike down there." "He said he knew my parents." "He said they were going on a long trip and they wanted me to stay with him." "It sounded weird at first, but he was so convincing." "It was like he already knew me." "But didn't you start to wonder about things as you got a little older?" "Yeah." "But Russell always had an explanation." "He told me that my parents came back but they didn't want me anymore." "He even showed me a letter from them that said they never really loved me." "Must have been tough to hear." "Yeah." "He said it was gonna be okay." "That he would be my dad from now on." "The prosecution may call its next witness." "Will the witness please state his name for the record?" "My name..." "My name is Jackie Buckner." "Thank you for giving us back our son." "Well, he's still got a long road ahead." "He's gonna need a lot of help." "He'll get it." "With Frank's help, I'm gonna prosecute Wallace for child molestation." "My husband and I have talked." "We'd really love you to come and live with us, Frank." "I know it'd be great for Jackie." "Thank you." "Let's go home." " Oh, my God." " You like it?" "Are you kidding?" "It's gorgeous." "What's the occasion?" "Well, let's just say that I have 2310 reasons to be very proud of you." " You know?" " I have a confession to make." "I went to your school." "I know, I was out of line." "But I found the empty envelope." "And when you still hadn't told me how you did, I started to panic." " Dad..." " Fine." "I'm compulsive." "But I am also the father of a genius." " I'm so proud of you, honey." " Thank you." "So were you ever gonna tell your old dad?" "I'm sorry." "I promised Mom I'd tell her first." " Did she go nuts?" " Yeah." "My phone has not stopped ringing for two days." "You told her two days ago?" "Yeah, I was waiting for the right time to tell you." "We've been at each other's throats for three months." "Something good happens, and you what, forget my number?" "Look, I didn't want us to go backwards, okay?" "Backwards?" "When I first moved in here, I was your perfect little girl." "Everything was safe and easy." " And what's wrong with that?" " Nothing." "But that's not who I really am." "And with all the bad stuff that happened this year you finally found that out." "It was incredibly hard." "But at least it was real." "Maybe I need to take the SATs, because..." "I'm sorry, you've lost me here." "When we were fighting, we were really angry at each other for the first time, it felt like it does with me and mom." "Like we could say anything to each other and it would still be okay." "I love you, Dad." "But I can't be your perfect little princess." "Not anymore." "In a victory for the people and the City of Los Angeles I want you to join me in a warm welcome for my friend and the new district attorney, Mr. Brian Cutler!" " Hey." " Well, you gave a great speech." "Trust me, my victory speech was better." "I figured Delgado wouldn't endorse me but I never thought he'd actually come out for Cutler." "He looked me right in the eye, Jess, and he lied." "It's what he does." "Oh, he called me." "Said it was nothing personal, but his polling showed I'm the only one who could have given him a race for re-election." "Funny thing is, I never even wanted to be mayor." "I didn't wanna turn into someone like him." "I can't tell you how sorry I am, Jess." "About me leaving the DA's office before you?" "Trust me." "After a week with Cutler, I'll be calling you for a reference." "You know, you're the last person I ever thought would go to bat for me." "I'll never forget it." "Even though we lost?" "Especially because we lost." "What are you gonna do now?" "Well, I always wanted to be a fireman." "Promise you'll send me a picture of you on the pole?" "You got it."