"I always believed it was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are." "Your city." "Your neighborhood." "Your family." "People here take pride in these things." "Like it was something they'd accomplished." "The bodies around their souls." "The cities wrapped around those." "I lived on this block my whole life." "Most of these people have." "When your job is to find people who are missing, it helps to know where they started." "I find the people who started in the cracks, and then fell through." "This city can be hard." "When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world." "He told me what God said to his children." ""You are sheep among wolves," ""Be wise as serpents," ""Yet innocent as doves. "" "You live just across the street." "Is that right, ma'am?" "That one on the corner, that's our house." "You know, to get Annette in high school, you have..." " I heard they had an opening." " Yeah, me, too." "The thing is, she always had a smile on her face." "That was her." "She was always smiling." "I mean, who would take my little girl?" "She never hurt anybody, never caused..." "Whoever you are, if you have her, you just let her go." "Now, we won't charge you, but if you're out there, just let her come home." "All right?" "Let her come home." "I mean, who would take my little girl?" " You fucking cops." " She never caused no trouble, she never got in any fights, she's a sweetheart." " This is just unbelievable." " She was a good kid." "The whole force standing outside the house, guarding the sidewalk with their arms crossed." "I mean, are the kidnappers coming back?" "Amanda McCready was taken from her home between 8:00 and 8:30 Wednesday night." "She's four years old, has blond hair and green eyes..." " Hey." " Hey." "...weighs 35 pounds and is 40 inches tall." " You know I love you, right?" " Yeah." "I know." "A beleaguered police force and a weary citizenry have been left with so little to cling to." "A blanket, a back door, and a doll named Mirabelle." "The neighborhood's really coming together." "We're gonna have a rally." "Everyone's gonna have a vigil." "We're gonna have a vigil tonight." "You know, the neighborhood's all alert, everybody's alert of what's going on and everything that..." "The surroundings." "We got flyers up, posters up, we have all that stuff up." "So everybody's well aware and everybody's looking for Amanda." "In related news, the Boston police captain responsible for preventing crimes against children spoke a few words a moment ago, words of comfort." "I know the pain of losing a daughter." "We will not fail." "We will pursue every avenue." "Do you know the mother?" "Captain Jack Doyle on details of the missing Dorchester girl..." "Little bit." "I was a freshman, she was a senior." "She was blowing Mike Gulley down the post when he was still 14 and innocent and milking cows up Vermont." "I don't know about innocent." "Her mother says Amanda may be carrying a little girl of her own." "Mirabelle was last seen with Amanda." "It's her favorite doll." "This is horrible." " Not if you're Channel 9." " Turn it off." "Good night." " Hey, Angie." "Get the door?" " I'm in the bathroom." "It's 7:00!" "Seven in the fucking morning!" "What?" "Are you Patrick Kenzie?" " Yeah." " Bea and Lionel McCready." "Our niece was kidnapped three days ago." "Please, come on in." "Come on in." "I have to apologize." "You know, there's been some problems with kids in the neighborhood, kind of ding-dong ditch, ringing the buzzer and running away." "So that's the reason for the language." " Oh." " Well, we can come back later." "No." "Please, please." "Make yourself comfortable." "Here, we're just..." "I'm sorry about the mess." "We've been..." "I had a late case, and a lot of cases." "We've just been..." "We've just been working a lot, we worked on a case last night, you know, so we just..." "Please sit down, though." "Or..." "My associate'll be in in just a minute." "She's in the other room." "How can we help you?" "Do you know people in the neighborhood who don't talk to the police?" "Yeah, one or two." "We wanna hire you to augment the investigation of Amanda." "Is that right?" "You know how in JonBenet Ramsey the family hired investigators?" "So..." "Are the police all right with youse hiring outside help?" "The police need to worry about finding my niece." "Hi." "I'm Angie Gennaro." "I work with Patrick." "Hello." "I'm Bea McCready." "This is my husband, Lionel." " How do you do?" " They wanna hire us to augment the investigation." "You should talk to Precision Investigators." " Who?" "I..." " I don't know, I meant..." "Well, let's hear them out, Ange." "Well, aren't you missing persons detectives?" "Yeah, that's what your ad says in the paper." "Yeah, we are." "We are missing persons detectives." "I'm sorry, she..." "I think that what Angie means to say is, just for the sake of disclosure, up to this point, our experience has been primarily, you know, finding missing persons who've gone missing that they..." "You know, they just stop payments on their Jet Ski and they went to New Hampshire..." "Every police officer in this state is looking for your niece right now." "And I'm not sure how much more help we could be." "Well, you're not gonna do any harm, are you?" "All right, look." "I got a pension coming up with Edison." " So, that's collateral, if..." " No." "It's not that." "Why is this so hard?" "The cops don't want me coming here." " Lionel don't want me coming here." " Don't worry." "Now you don't want the job?" "No, it's not that we don't want the job..." "We consult privately before we make decisions like these." " We do." " Helene puts her to bed." "She goes across to Dottie's." "Maybe gone a half hour, watches TV." "Then she comes home and Amanda is gone." "She was watching Wife Swap." "She remembers, 'cause that's her favorite show." "And do youse two live upstairs?" "Yeah, when our folks died they left us a unit and my sister a unit, so, you know, basically we got no choice." "And with the acoustics in the apartment, you can't get away from it." "Why don't you just come over the house, all right?" " Just talk to Helene, you know." " Lionel, talk to Helene?" "Look, she don't show it, but she's hurting right now." " Please." "Please!" " All right." "Lookit, all right?" "I was no saint." "All right?" "I had my own problems." "I took a hard bust at 22." "Bea straightened me out." "My sister Helene has not had that." "Talking to the mother's the least we could do." " We'll come right over." " Thanks a lot." "Yeah." "Pleasure, Lionel." "Oh, you'll find us in that brown three-decker by the park." " You know where it is." " Be hard to miss today." "Look at this." "Jesus." "Fucking block party here." "Four Cape Verdeans got killed here last year." "No one gave a shit." "We have a good life, right?" "Is that a trick question?" "I don't wanna find their little kid in a dumpster." "Maybe she's not in a dumpster, babe." "I don't wanna find a little kid after they've been abused for three days." "Hon, nobody does." "All right." "Listen, we'll just go up and we'll talk to them, and you don't wanna do it after that, I won't argue with you." "Okay." "Hi." "Please, come on in." "Helene." "This is Patrick Kenzie, Angela Gennaro." " Hi." " I remember you from high school." "I see you're still a ittle conceited, huh?" "Would you excuse us, Dottie?" "Dottie's my best friend, Lionel." "She could be in my house if she wants." "Helene, we don't wanna get in your hair." "We're just gonna ask you a couple questions about your daughter, then we'll be out of here." " Everyone wants their part now." " I know." "I already talked to the cops forty times." " We're sorry to take up your time." " Listen, we're not the cops." "Beatrice asked us to come over here and see if we could help out finding your daughter." "Why don't Bea mind her business?" "It's my kid." "'Cause everyone gotta have their moment, now." " Right?" " Right." "Beatrice hired these people to help find Amanda with her own money, so you had better show them the goddamn courtesy" " and respect they deserve!" " She's in grieving, prick." "She could grieve how she wants, Dottie." " You don't live here!" " Asshole." "Don't you fucking yell at her, Lionel." "You ain't her father!" "Fuck you, Lionel." "Go fuck yourself." "Cocksucker." "Fuck you." "Get the fuck outta here." "I'm sorry." " I'm sorry." " Maybe we should go." " I understand." "I'm sorry." " It's all right." "Maybe we should go?" "Look." "Can we all just have a few words in the hallway, please?" "Excuse us, Helene." " Helene's got emotional problems." " It's not that, Lionel." " What is it, then?" " She's a cunt!" " Beatrice, don't use that word." " God help me, it's true." "This is a child." "And I don't know where she is." "Well..." "We can't do any harm, right?" "It's all right, Bea." "It's all right, Bea." "Huh?" "Thank you." "Now..." "Well, she's quiet." "She tries very hard to be a good girl." "What about Helene?" "Her friends?" "People she hangs out with?" "She got a lot of people come by the house?" "I don't know." "She's at the Fillmore all the time." "She's at the Fillmore Lounge?" "Yeah, she drinks every day." "She's got the gene, you know?" "The disease." "Our parents had it, too." "She use drugs?" "I think she does a little coke." "How much is a little?" "I don't know." "Few times a week, maybe." "I mean, how much is a lot?" "Few times a week's a lot." "Then she does a lot." "I don't know anything about that." "I put the plug in the jug myself, I got 23 years sobriety, so, I'm good." "Congratulations." "Do you mind if we see her room?" " Kidnapped the furniture, too?" " Patrick." "10-7 investigation." "Solved it yet?" "Captain, Patrick Kenzie." "This is my associate, Angie Gennaro." "Mmm-hmm?" "I see Beatrice went on and hired someone." "I take it that wasn't your recommendation." "It was not." "That woman would mortgage her home to every snake doctor taking credit cards if she thought it would help find her niece." "My job's hard enough without inviting the circus in here." "Captain, this isn't about the money for us." "You ever investigated an abduction before?" "I think Mrs. McCready was hoping we could help with the neighborhood aspect of this investigation, the people, you know." "How old are you?" " I'm 31." " He just looks young." "A four-year-old child is on the street." "It's 76 hours and counting." "And the prospects for where she might be are beginning to look grim, you understand?" "Half of all the children in these cases are killed, flat out." "If we don't catch the abductor by day one, only about 10% are ever solved." "This is day three." "He may look young, but if he wants to work this case, he'd better not act it." "Well, he's been hired by a woman who's the victim of a crime, and by law he's entitled as her representative to be cooperated with by the Boston Police Department." "So he expects to be." "And he will be." "He and his better half will be contacted by two of my senior men, at their convenience, and be permitted to observe." "We're just trying to help, Captain." "Look, I don't care who does it." "I just want it done." "Good afternoon." "Ready to get started?" "All I'm saying is that we heard Helene comes in here." "We're not asking for the combination to the safe." "Listen, I ain't saying a fucking word." "I already talked to the fucking cops." "All right." " Dave, right?" " Big Dave." "Big Dave." "All right." "I'm Medium Patrick." "Nice to meet you." "You're a little fucking light in the ass to be talking shit, ain't ya?" "Jesus, pal, I'm just playing." "Listen, buy a couple of fucking drinks or screw." "Okay, we'll take a couple tonics." "Jesus Christ." "Steve Penteroudakis!" "The Grecian Formula!" "Oh, shit!" "What are you doing here?" "Look at this little motherfucker at the Fillmore, what's up?" "Gyro!" "Beers and keno, 2:00 in the afternoon." " What up?" " Oh, yeah." "Yeah, listen, I been fucking everywhere putting up posters, man, you know?" "Every project hallway, all over City Point, everywhere." "You know?" "I mean, it's a real tragedy." "She used to come in here, sit up at the bar and shit." " You know, she was like our mascot." " Helene brought Amanda in here?" "No, mostly in the afternoons." "I mean, it's no place for a child at night." " Really?" " Oh, yeah." "Hot tempers, lot of drugs, trust me." "So how often Helene come down here?" "Five nights a week." "Come on, guys, please." "She's a fucking coke ho, okay?" "She's in here fucking doing lines just about every night." "Trust me, all right?" "It's not a real shocker, so..." " She's that bad, huh?" " Huh?" "Oh, she's fucking terrible." "Listen, remember that night when the kid got kidnapped?" "You saw her on the news, right?" "She's saying, "Oh, I was at my neighbor's house for a half hour. "" "Bullshit." "She was in here for, like, two hours bumping rails." "Oh, yeah." " What time did she come in?" " 8:00." " Are you sure it was the same night?" " Fucking positive, 'cause she was in the shitter, fucking banging down rails with Ray, and I was banging on the fucking door." " Who, Ray?" "Skinny Ray?" " Yeah." "Ray Likanski." "He's in there ducking me like a fucking faggot." "I was banging on the door." "He thought I didn't know he was in there, but I know he's fucking in there." " Don't lend him any money..." " Hey, Stevie." " What the fuck you doing?" " Nothing." "What's up, Lenny?" "Don't talk about people you don't know." "What do you mean?" "These are my friends." " I know them for years." " What's the problem, guy?" "You said you weren't a cop." "Right, "guy"?" " Yeah, I'm not a cop." " Yeah, then why don't you fuck off?" "Why don't you mind your business?" "He's gonna come in here and be a smartass?" "You're awfully worried about people's asses there, Dave." "Yeah, you probably got a fucking ass like a Skippy jar." "What are you doing here, anyway?" "Dave can't make a martini worth a shit." "Trying to help Helene find her daughter." "Is that all right?" "Listen, don't come in here running your mouth, thinking you're better than me." "I'm not the fucking one." " All right, just cool it." " Cool it." " Listen to this douchebag." " Bet she fucks this asshole in half." "Jesus Christ." "What the fuck is the matter with you guys?" "You, you punk fucking jackass." "We're leaving, all right?" "You know, Dave, I think it's your good looks..." "'Cause there is some fine pussy in here tonight." "Open that door, rummy." " Open the door, Mike." " Now." "You ever wanna get fucked, let me know." "How's that, motherfucker?" "Now you know." "Keep your fucking mouths closed." "What, you wanna say some shit, Fat Dave?" " Fuck you!" " Fuck you!" "Make me a martini, you fucking fat bastard!" " Make it!" " Get the fuck out." "Make me a fucking martini, you fat fucking retard!" "Fucking unbelievable." " Can I help you?" " You Detective Bressant?" " That's right." " Patrick Kenzie." "Did you just call me?" "Oh, sorry." "Sergeant Detective Remy Bressant." "How you doing?" " Should we..." "Sit down?" " Something wrong?" "No!" "I just..." "I think Nick was expecting an older couple, maybe." "Life's full of surprises." "Corwin Earle." "Serial molester, recently work-released." "Went AWOL around the time Amanda disappeared." "Known associates, Leon Trett and his handsome wife, Roberta." "The Tretts were released six and eight months ago, respectively." "They have drug habits." "We don't know where they are, but we think Corwin's with them." "Jailhouse snitch claims that Corwin confided in him and told him when he got out, he was gonna move in with his family." "Apparently the three of them have some kind of Addams Family deal going on." "Corwin's plan is to keep a kid in the house to have sex with." " Well, that sounds promising." " Not for Amanda, it doesn't." "Do you think this is who has Amanda?" "Well, there's a lot of holes in our theory." "I mean, Corwin likes little boys, you know?" "He likes them seven or eight or nine." "So that's it, that's all we got, there's no other leads, three days in?" "No, we got more." "We got six psychics telling us to look in six different states, we got Lionel and Bea with airtight alibis, we've interviewed every neighbor in a mile radius and we got a convicted finger-blaster who just happened to cut off his ankle bracelet." " Take it easy..." " No, no, no, no, no!" "Who the fuck is this guy?" "You're here because Jack Doyle had us extend you a courtesy." "You got something to contribute, you know, be my guest." "Otherwise, hey, you..." "You know, you can go back to your Harry Potter book." "Isn't it usually somebody who knows the victim?" "I think there's plenty of people in Helene McCready's life that are capable of doing this." "So then you probably talked to Ray Likanski." " Who?" " Ray Likanski." ""Skinny Ray," they call him, 6'2", about 160 pounds." "Does blow." "Helene's boyfriend." "No?" " Never heard of him." " Well, with all due respect," "I think we might be able to contribute on that point." " Really?" "How's that?" " The night Amanda went missing," "Skinny Ray was down at the Fillmore Lounge doing coke for two hours, between 8:00 and 10:00." "Fascinating." " With Helene McCready." " You're shitting me." "She did bullshit us." "I'm gonna have to tear her a new asshole." "Meet you down there." "So what kinda name is Bressant?" "It's the kind they give you in Louisiana." "Oh, yeah?" "Thought you were from here." "Well, it all depends on how you look at it." "I mean, you might think that you're more from here than me, for example." "But I been living here longer than you been alive." "So who's right?" "I'll mull it over." " What's up, sucker?" " Bubba." " Good to see you, brother." " Good to see you." " How you been?" "You been good?" " Yeah." "Yeah?" "What's up, Angie?" "How you doing, baby?" "You seen those people?" "Drug addict, drug addict, fucking..." "Pedophile." "What the fuck makes you think I know people like this?" "Bub, I know you don't pay your rent doing people's taxes." "Yeah, I don't pay my rent selling penny rocks to walleyed child molesters, neither." "They're not all three child molesters." "Just..." "Just this one, Corwin Earle." "The other two are just baseheads he hangs out with." "What are the two of yas, crime dogs, now?" "We got hired to find that little girl." "Turns out the mother was down at the Fillmore all night while the kid was taken." " With Skinny Ray." " Skinny Ray is a fucking bitch." " I thought Ray was your boy." " Work for me?" "Skinny Ray, he's a fucking cokehead." "He works for the Haitian." "Ray works for Cheese?" "Yeah, Cheese, Ray, Chris Mullen, whole trash-picker crew." "Did you ever sell to Helene?" "There's reasons why there ain't three inches of Plexiglas between us right now." "That's 'cause I don't fuck with skeezers like Helene." "Or coconuts like Cheese." "You should know better by now." "I'm the king of this motherfucking jungle." "I'll let you know if I hear anything, though." " Thanks, bro." " Peace." "How well do you know "Cheese" Jean Baptiste?" "How well do you know "Cheese" Jean Baptiste?" " Who?" " Come on, sweetheart." ""Cheese" Jean Baptiste?" "Oh, sounds familiar." "No." "No." "It don't "sound familiar," Helene." "He's a violent, sociopathic" "Haitian criminal named "Cheese. "" "Either you know him or you don't." "Who is he?" "He's a drug lord or something, isn't he?" "Helene, who is he?" " He's just a guy, Lionel." " Thank you." "He is, among other things, Mrs. McCready, a drug dealer, yes." " What other things?" " I don't know." "Why don't you answer your brother's questions, Helene?" "Why don't you go suck a nigger's dick, Bea?" "You listen to me!" "You don't disrespect my wife, and you don't make racial remarks in my kitchen." " Who is this man?" " It's my kitchen, Lionel." "You know what I mean!" "Hey, hey, hey." "Take it easy." "Take it easy." "He's a drug dealer, a pimp, a pornographer." "All right?" "Perfect." "You associate with a pimp." "A pornographer?" "Helene." "And we think he rolled up Pokey Jackson in a carpet and shot him in the head on Castlegate, so there's that, too." "What do you do for him?" "I just mule." "Occasionally, not making a habit out of it." "Jesus, Mary and Joseph." "Lionel, what does that mean?" "It means she's a drug runner, Bea." "It means she carries drugs." " Isn't that right, Helene?" " Oh, my God, a few times." " Where?" " Providence..." "Does it fucking matter?" "You think I'm fucking around, here?" "You think I'm playing games, here?" "'Course it matters." "Better answer his question, Helene." " For what?" " Fuck's sake, Lionel." " What do you think?" "Money, taste." " Of what, drugs?" "No, little puffy heart stickers for my locker." " What kind of drugs?" " Cocaine and heroin." " No, I would've seen the track marks." " Not if you snort it." "Right, sugar?" "Yeah, less addictive that way." "Piece of work." "What the fuck is that?" "Where are you going?" "Oh, yeah." "I keep thinking about this thing I heard." " You know where I'm going with this?" " No." "Did you know I used to work DCU?" " I give a fuck." " Okay." "So, I still know some of those guys real well." "Anyway, I heard someone ripped Cheese off on a New Hampshire run." " Did you hear anything about that?" " No." " Care to take a polygraph?" " I already took one." "Different questions this time." "Come on." "It's all right." "We don't care about a couple of hopheads beating each other." "We care about your child." "So come on." "How much?" "You even give a fuck about your kid?" "'Course I do." "And we know you took the money." "So just tell us how much you took." "How much?" "How much?" "How much?" "One thirty." " $ 130,000?" " Yes, Bea." "How'd you do it?" "Me and Ray had to do this run up Nashua, right?" "Yeah." "We dropped four ki's on these bikers." "When we was walking back through the motel with all the money, these cops just swooped right in, went right for the bikers, and Amanda was with us, so we just pretended to be like a family." " And we got in the car, took off." " You took Amanda with you?" "Oh, what am I gonna do?" "Leave her in the car, Bea?" "I don't got no daycare." "It's really hard being a mother." "It's hard raising a family, you know?" "All on my own." "But God made you barren, so you wouldn't fucking know." " So I understand, Bea, okay?" " You are an abomination." " Hey, hey, hey." "Right here." " As God is my witness." "Right here." "What happened next?" "We was driving back, and Ray, fucking Ray was like," ""You know everyone's gonna think the cops got the money. "" "You told Cheese the cops got it." "But you and Ray kept the money." " This whole fucking thing is Ray's fault." " Where's the money now, Helene?" " It's with Ray." " And where's Ray?" " Chelsea." " Let's go." "Come on." "She rides with you." "I don't want her in my car." " Go on." "Move your bike!" " Go fuck your mother." " What the..." " Beat it, sucker!" "Helene, you used to go with Scott Flaherty, didn't you?" " How do you know?" " You know, I went to Saint Mark's." "I was a freshman when you were a senior." "You don't remember me?" "No." "Whatever happened to Scott?" "He stabbed a foreign exchange student in the chest." "He got life in Walpole." "He's a faggot now." "He was kind of a faggot in high school." "Oh, man." "You're terrible." "He was cute." "Well, he kind of wore them tight shorts." "Oh, who's a faggot now?" "You're dating a faggot." "So, how did the..." "How'd the money end up in Chelsea?" "I thought youse and..." "You and Ray went home after." "No, we dropped off Amanda and went back to Ray's." "But fucking retarded Ray left his baby rock at my place." "You know, right then, I'm like, "I'm gonna drop this motherfucker." ""I don't care if he does got a big dick. "" "So we went back to the apartment and Ray was hollering, he was gonna wake up Amanda, she needs her sleep, you know?" "So, we went back to Ray's," " or Ray's mother's." "Whatever." " Yeah?" "I don't know where that mother went, but she left all her fucking cats in there, and it smells like cock." "And Cheese never contacted you, never left you a note?" "No." "We didn't hear nothing from Cheese." "That's why Ray said, "Don't say shit. "" "You didn't think it was worth it for your daughter's sake to tell people what happened?" "Cheese has your kid." "God fucking knows what he's doing to her." "What am I gonna do?" "Call Cheese and be like, "You got my daughter?" ""'Cause I just ripped you off, and I'm just checking. "" "Yeah!" " Helene, sit back." " Oh, my God!" "Oh, I'm gonna call the cops, too, and be like, "You know," ""just so you know, wanna know I run coke and heroin" ""in case that's irrelevant. "" "All right, calm down." "Calm down." "You make me sick." "What makes you think Ray hasn't spent all the money, Helene?" "Nigger, please." "I hid it." "Pull over." "Looks like somebody had a little talk with Ray before they shot him." " Looks like he held out pretty good." " He didn't have it." "He couldn't tell them where the money was, because he didn't know." "Helene hid it." "Ray made poor relationship choices." "Guess they didn't believe him." "Poor prick." "I'm not waiting in a fucking car." " Where's the money, Helene?" " I give a fuck about the money." " Helene..." " I just want my daughter home with me." "I know it." "I know, I'm..." "I'm sorry." "It's very upsetting about Ray." "But..." " Where's the money?" " It's right there." " Where?" " Buried it when Ray was passed out." "What was that book about," "Everything You Need Is in Your Own Backyard?" " I think it was a French book." " Yeah, that wasn't a book." " That was a book." " No, it was a cartoon." " The fuck out of here." " No, it was a cartoon." " Right, Helene?" " Fuck youse both." "Should we bring in the FBI at this point?" " That's the worst thing we could do." " Why is that?" "'Cause I don't wanna see Cheese kill Amanda after he opens a bag full of newspapers." "It's kidnapping." " I don't see a note." "You see a note?" " Nope." "No note." "We're investigating a missing children's case, here." "Kidnapping has nothing to do with it." "Fastest way to get Amanda home is go to Cheese, swap the money for her and walk away." " Plain and simple." " Do you know Cheese?" "Knew his brother better, Jude." "He was a sweet kid." "Cheese went another way." " He wouldn't hurt her, right?" "Ask Ray." "All right, listen." "All he cares about is his money." "If he gets it back..." "He's not gonna hurt Amanda." "Just keep your mouth shut, okay?" "We'll get her back." "It'll be fine." " Oh, you're gonna talk to him?" " Yeah, that's the idea." "Okay." "Well, tell him I'm sorry, all right?" "I mean, he knows me, just tell him I apologize." "Yeah, I'm sure that'll fix everything." "Just take her home." " We'll take care of this, all right?" " We'll meet you over there." "I'm hungry." "All right." "I'll get you something, Helene." "No, her." "That's what she said to me right before I put her to bed." "She said, "I'm hungry. " I mean, they fed her, right?" "She's not still hungry?" "I don't know." "I know I fucked up." "I just want my daughter back." "I swear to God, I won't use no drugs no more." "I won't even go out, I'll be fucking straight." "Cross my heart." "It's all right." "We're gonna find her, Helene." "You have to." "You promise?" "Yeah." "I'm gonna try." "I will." "Promise." "You have to promise me." "I promise." "All right." "Where do you think you're going?" "Talk to Cheese." "No, you're not." "No, get back in the car." "No, that's a mistake." "He's never gonna talk to a badge." "No." "No way." "It's too important." "You wanna get the girl back, or not?" "I know him." "If there's a deal to be brokered," " we're the ones who can do it." " No, me and Nick are handling this." "Get back in the car." "Guys, you two go in there and negotiate a ransom for a little girl, then it is the FBI." "'Cause it's kidnapping." "All you're gonna do is scare him." "The more you scare him, the worse it is for her." "All right." "Go ahead." "Just fucking relax, sit tight." "I know him." "I'm gonna take care of it." "Good luck." "It's been a long time." "No." "I quit." "I'm gonna talk some private shit." " Don't wait, but don't get too far." " You know I'll be right here." "Bitches love the cheddar." " How you been, Chris?" " Better than you." "Yeah." "Good to hear it." " Fuck you." " Man, be cool." "It's been too long not to see a fool." "I grant you audience." "Go." "We found what you were looking for in Chelsea." "What I care about Chelsea?" "'Cause one of the idiots that robbed you lived there." "What idiot?" "The one that you and Chris beat with a pipe and shot in the chest." "I don't know about nobody getting kill." "But if somebody rob me and end up dead..." "Well, you know, life is a motherfucker." "Cheese, we got your money." "It was buried in Ray's backyard." "We wanna give it back to you in exchange for Amanda McCready." "The two police outside are the only other people who know." "No one gives a fuck about what you did." "I mean, I didn't even like Ray that much." "You're gonna get your money, the mother gets her daughter back, and we'll say we found the kid in the bushes, or whatever." "It's either this, real quiet, or it's a thousand fucking cops kicking your door in, putting their fat knees in your neck." "Hold up." "Whoa." "Whoa." "What the fuck is this?" "Lift up your shirt." " Come on, man." " Motherfucker, you heard me." "Lift up your shirt." " It ain't like that, Cheese." " My CC, I ain't down with you." "Lift up your shirt." "You, too, baby." "Ain't no gender immunity." "Let me see some tit." "Don't ever come in my spot like that." "You got my money, you leave that shit in the mailbox on your ass way out, you feel me?" "Some other motherfuckers let fool rob on them." "I don't play scrimmage." "But I don't fuck with no kids." "And if that girl only hope is you, well, I pray for her, 'cause she's gone, baby." "Gone." "Cheese, if you ever disrespect her again like that," "I'm gonna pull your fucking card." "Okay?" "So you're saying you didn't do it, fine." "We'll take your money, and we'll be on our way." "But if it turns out you're lying," "I'm going to spend every nickel of that money to fuck you up." "I'm gonna bribe cops to go after you," "I'm gonna pay guys to go after your weak fucking crew, and I'm gonna tell everyone I know that you're a CI and a rat." "And I know a lot of people." "And after that, you're gonna wish you had listened to me, 'cause your shitty, pool-hall, crime-syndicate headquarters is gonna get raided." "And your doped-up bitches are gonna get sent back to Laos, and this fucking retard right here is gonna be testifying against you for a reduced sentence while you're getting cornholed in your cell by a gang of crackers." "'Cause from what I heard, you guys that get sent up Concord for killing kids, life a motherfucker." "If I see you again, I'm gonna get discourteous on you." "And get that sausage off my lawn." " Well, what happened?" " He said he didn't know anything, but if you had his money, you could put it in his mailbox." " That's what he told you?" " That's it." "Nothing else?" "Yeah." "He said that he wanted you two off his lawn." "I thought you said you knew this fucking guy." "Half the guys he knows are degenerates." "Yeah, you know what the other half are?" " What?" " Cops." "Don't hold it against me." "No, no." "I won't hold it against you." "You know what I'll hold against you?" "We had one chance to make this deal." "You said you knew him." "You said you could do it and you fucked it up." "Now I gotta get a warrant for a tap, start surveillance, hope to Christ we get lucky." "You know, if Amanda dies because of this," "I won't have to hold it against you." "You'll hold it against yourself for a long, long time." "Hope we didn't fuck this up." " Yeah." " Cheese called in." "Says he'll take the deal with Amanda, but he wants to go tonight." " Great." " Well, it is and it isn't." "They record calls at the station now." " Jack got a hold of the transcript." " What does that mean?" "It means our badges are basically fucking forfeit at this point." "He wants you both down here, now." "Oh, and, hey, Cheese said he left something in a mailbox to prove that he's got Amanda." "This is a transcript of a recorded call that came in this morning." "Care to read the highlighted portion?" "Aloud?" "Uh." ""Caller:" "Bitch, you better have my money." ""Detective Bressant:" "Who is this?" ""The caller:" "You know who the fuck this is, fool..." ""Creole curse words." "If you want that girl back," ""you need to meet me up Quincy tonight." ""Fuck around for a minute and I'll throw that girl in the lake. "" "The lake he refers to is the water in the abandoned quarry." "Detective Bressant goes on to make an unauthorized ransom arrangement to exchange Amanda McCready for $ 130,000 tonight in just that location." "After some discussion, Detective Bressant was kind enough to produce this." "Recognize it?" "The four of you have involved me in an illegal activity without my knowledge or consent, and I don't fucking appreciate it." " You don't have to be a part of it, sir." " The hell I don't." "If I delay this now, after this agreement," "I just further endanger the life of that child." "Does that sound like something you expect me to do?" "No, sir." "I went in there." "I'll accept responsibility." "You'll accept nothing!" "Don't come in here trying to get noble, boy." "Let me see that note." "My God." "He wants to separate us." "The note instructs you guys to be on the east side and wait for Amanda, me and Nick to be at the clearing by the edge with the money." "Once Amanda's turned over to you, you give us a call on the radio, we turn over the cash." " Who's he likely to bring with him?" " Chris Mullen." "He was at the club when we made the offer." "What do you know about him?" "It was probably him who killed Ray for Cheese." "If I had to guess." "All right." "Nobody else knows about this, right?" " I don't know." " Yes?" "I'm asking if keeping it quiet is better for Amanda or is it better for us?" "Do you have any children, Miss Gennaro?" "No, sir." "My only child was murdered." "She was 12." "Did you hear about it?" "What you probably didn't hear, and what I hope you never have to deal with," "Miss Gennaro, is what that feels like." "What I have to deal with." "Knowing that my little girl likely died crying out for me to come and save her." "And I never did." "My little girl died afraid and alone in a shallow ditch bank by the side of the road not 10 minutes from my house." "I know what it feels like to lose a child." "Now, damn it, you force my hand and then you question the way I handle it." "No one's questioning you, sir." "I honor my child with this division." "So that no parent has to go through what I've known." "This child." "That's all I care about." "I'm gonna bring her home." "Why'd he bring us all the way up here?" "I don't know." "It's big." "It's dark." "It's easy to get away." "No." "They're gonna kill her." "This asshole could've found some level fucking ground somewhere." "This is where we part ways." "You guys'll be on top of that cliff." "We'll be right across from you." "Give us a call on the radio when you have her." " We will." " Well, good luck." "Let's go." "How are they gonna get Amanda up here?" "Ambush!" "Ambush!" "Hey, Remy!" "Fucking Cheese!" "Where is she?" "There she is." "I can see her." "It ain't the way it is!" "Someone hit Cheese!" " You sure you heard something?" " Yes!" " Over there!" " What happened?" "I don't know." "I heard a splash." "Down there!" "Somebody took Cheese out," " and then all hell broke loose." " Where's Amanda?" " Shots were fired from over there." " I don't know!" "Something went in the water!" " What?" " You sure you heard something?" " Yeah, something went in, but I..." " Where did it go?" "There!" "Right there!" "Oh, my God." "Oh, no." "Jesus Christ!" "Paging Dr. Goldsburn." "Dr. Goldsburn to ICU." " Hi." " Hi." " How's the leg?" " It'll be fine." "They find anything?" " They got divers in there now." " She could still be alive." "Maybe she's hiding." "She could be stuck." "Right?" "I don't think so." "Hey..." "He's ever seen in all his years, on a little girl called Amanda and a doll named Mirabelle." "This quarry is extremely deep and treacherous." "All too often, she keeps that which she takes in." "A sad end to that story, Suzanne." "It sure is, Phil." "And Ron is next with sports." "The Bruins in action tonight?" "Yes, they are, Phil." "The B's took a crack at the Flyers tonight, and the rough stuff started in the first period." "And like that, she was gone." "We gave our statements." "Nick and Remy the same." "All of us spared any blame for Amanda's death." "Jack Doyle resigned on the condition that he and he alone be held accountable." "The legendary captain of a unit dedicated to children stepped down today in the aftermath of controversy." "He was granted the dignity of early retirement." "But the humiliation of half a pension." "It was an ignominious end to an illustrious career." "Chris' run lasted a day and a half until, from what they could tell, he ran into someone who wanted the money more than he did." "Twenty-nine-year-old Chris Mullen was gunned down last night in an apparent robbery." "The police commissioner defended the rising tide of crime as a statistical aberration tied to growing unemployment and the humidity of..." "Enough time went by and they called off the search." "They issued Helene a death certificate." "The frame and the casket were donated by the funeral home, but had to be returned at the end of the afternoon." "You know I love you, right?" "Yeah." "I just wanna be alone for a while." "I don't know if she blamed me or if she blamed herself." "But when she didn't think I was home, or if she thought I couldn't hear," "she would cry." "I couldn't stop running it over and over and over in my mind, the vague and distant suspicion that we never understood what happened that night, what our role was." "Or maybe it was just that, like the hundreds of other children who disappear each year and never return..." "Amanda was even more haunting for never being found." "What they did find was another big story, and I couldn't help but find it strange." "Not two months later and not far away, another child went missing." "...and community watch patrols are being formed." "A bicycle left roadside." "A tire left spinning." "Late-breaking news on that story." "Little Johnny Pietro is also wearing what this reporter believes might be a sign." "Johnny Pietro was wearing the medallion of St. Christopher, patron saint of..." "Johnny Pietro and his medallion." "What I didn't find strange was this time, no relatives came knocking on our door." " Hey, Patrick." " Hi." " I need you to come on a ride with me." " Where?" "To Everett." " What, no parties in Lynn?" " Funny." " You got your toast with you, right?" " My what?" "Your gun, dummy." "Yeah." "This ain't no strip-clubbing in Lynn, Patrick." "I got something better for you, buddy." "You asked me to find some people for you." "I think I found them." "What you getting me into?" "You don't give a fuck about this Corwin Earle dude no more?" "Yo, 'cause the fat bitch and the old dude are in there." "My man didn't know about the diddler." "Come in with me." "Watch my side." "We'll find out if this motherfucker's in there." "You know what, Patrick?" "If you don't wanna come in, you don't have to come in." "If you don't wanna come in, fuck it." "Let's go." "Guess who?" " Jerome Miller?" " No, it's the coke fairy." " Open up." " I got the money right here." "Marmaduke, you think you're gonna hand me money on a fucking porch?" "Open the door." "Who's he?" "He's your father." "Open the fucking door!" " Look out." " Okay, man!" "Chill!" "Chill!" "What are you guys, starting a band?" "No one's starting a band." "It's a taste." "Cocaine for the old man." "Fucking Christ." "Want me to change a roll of quarters for you, too?" "I told you to tell me when they got here!" "They just got here." " You already did some!" " It was a taste bag." "Sorry, love." "Here, count this fucking mess." "Where's the rest, man?" "As soon as he's finished counting that fucking mess you gave me." " Mr. Miller, do you mind?" " No, I don't mind." " Excuse me!" " You're excused." " Hey, please don't snoop around, sir." "Hey, relax, handsome." "Excuse me!" "Where the fuck you think you're going?" "Mr. Miller, I'm warning you!" "Stop!" "Patrick, shoot this bitch." "You fat busted cunt." "You put a gun on me, you better use it." "Just give us the fucking wizza!" "You don't wanna shoot her, Patrick?" "Who's this guy?" "Corwin!" "Go back to your room!" "It's not a party?" "No, it's not a party." "How much money's there, Patrick?" "Enough." "Want this?" "What are you doing?" "Pick up the fucking money." "At least two guns in the house." "Roberta's carrying hers." "What else?" " Well, they're definitely high." " On what?" " Cocaine." "Your friend tell you that, too?" "SWAT'll be here in five minutes." "You're not gonna wait for them?" "Did you or did you not tell me you saw Corwin Earle with the medallion of St. Christopher around his fucking wrist?" "I definitely saw Corwin Earle." "We're not waiting." "Stay here." "And don't fuck around, all right?" "Good job." "Fuck." "An..." "An officer..." "Shots are fired!" "An officer down..." "Shots..." "Listen to me!" "A police officer has been shot at 33 German Road!" "Get away from him!" "It was an accident." "It was an accident." "Wait!" "Hey." "You okay?" "They told me what happened." "I'm proud of you." "That man killed a child." "He had no right to live." " You're proud of me?" " Of course I am." "You did what you had to do." "Let's go home." "I gotta stay here awhile." " See you at home." " Yeah." "Thanks." "It was fucked up, right?" "They tell you anything about Nick?" "They said he could be okay." "I don't know." "They say how old that little boy was?" "Seven." "Second grade." "Should be proud of yourself." "Most guys would've stayed outside." "I don't know." "What don't you know?" "My priest says shame is God telling you what you did was wrong." "Fuck him." "Murder's a sin." "Depends on who you do it to." "That's not how it works." "It is what it is." "I planted evidence on a guy once, back in '95." "We were paying $ 100 an eight-ball to snitches." "We got a call from our pal, Ray Likanski." "He couldn't find enough guys to rat out." "Anyway, he tells us there's a guy pumping up in an apartment up in Columbia Point." "We go in, me and Nicky." "Fifteen years ago, when Nicky went in, it was no joke." "So, it's a..." "It's a stash house, right?" "The old lady's beat to shit, the husband's mean, cracked out, tries to give us trouble, Nicky lays him down." "We're doing an inventory, but it looks like we messed up because there's no dope in the house, and I go in the back room..." "Now, this place was a shithole, mind you." "Rats, roaches all over the place." "But the kid's room, in the back, was spotless." "No, I mean, he swept it, mopped it, it was immaculate." "The little boy's sitting on the bed holding onto his PlayStation for dear life." "There's no expression on his face, tears streaming down." "He wants to tell me he just learned his multiplication tables." "Christ." "I mean, the father's got him in this crack den, subsisting on Twinkies and ass-whippings, and this little boy just wants someone to tell him that he's doing a good job." "You're worried what's Catholic?" "I mean, kids forgive." "Kids don't judge." "Kids turn the other cheek." "What do they get for it?" "So I went back out there," "I put an ounce of heroin on the living room floor, and I sent the father on a ride, seven to nine." " That was the right thing?" " Fucking A!" "You gotta take a side." "You molest a child, you beat a child, you're not on my side." "If you see me coming, you better run, because I am gonna lay you the fuck down!" "Easy." "Don't feel easy." "Is the kid better off without his father?" "Yeah." "But okay, I mean, could be out there right now, pumping with a gun in his waistband." "It's a war, man." "Are we winning?" "No." "Would you do it again?" "Clip Corwin Earle?" "No." "Does that make you right?" "Hmm?" "I don't know." "Doesn't make it wrong, though, does it?" " Hey." " Hi." "How's Remy?" "He lied to me." "What did Remy say about Ray back in Roxbury?" " Never heard of him." " Never heard of him." "Now he says Ray's been snitching for him for 15 years." "He called him his "old pal. "" "Said he couldn't find enough people to snitch out." "Patrick..." "And Ray Likanski is the reason" "Amanda got taken in the first place, and Remy lies about knowing him." "Let it go." "Why would he lie?" "What's he have to hide?" "Amanda's dead." "Let it go." "Babe." "Nick died." "Left." "Left." "Mr. Kenzie." "Nice fucking job on Corwin Earle." "Amen." " Sorry about Nick." " Yeah, thanks." "I was thinking about our conversation the other night." "Well, I said some things I shouldn't have." "You know, too much rum." "Yeah, like what?" "Don't fuck with me, Patrick." "Not today." "Oh, I wouldn't fuck with you." "Oh, you wanna play it like that, huh?" "Okay." "Forget about the other night, and we'll be friends." "What if I don't?" "That's not an "if" you wanna bring into your life." "Had lunch with him last week." "Dana had lunch with him last week?" "Excuse me." "Hey, Dev." " Hey, how you doing?" " All right, how you been?" "I can't complain." " Can I talk to you?" " Yeah." "Not here." "If it's like that, then you're gonna have to buy me lunch." " How's the Chart House, half hour?" " Sounds about right." "Hey, Remy used to work Narcotics with you, right?" "DCU, yeah." "What's up?" "Why'd he leave?" "Had a habit of just rubbing people the wrong way." "Like what?" "What'd he do?" "Like marry a prostitute, for one." "Come on." "Might not wanna do that if you're a cop, right?" "Might not wanna do that if you're a plumber." "So, what happened?" "He says he loves her, tells Mike Snell to go fuck himself, and puts in for a transfer." "What, to Doyle?" "Doyle brought Remy from Louisiana, back in '72." "You don't think that Remy's dirty, though, do you?" "What's "dirty"?" " I know he planted evidence once." " Oh, you do?" "Yeah." "Why?" "Look, man." "CSI is killing us out here." "Every other juror, all they wanna know is where the microfibers are." "Certain people are workers." "Don't wanna plant it, but you know how it is." "So they don't mind it." "So tell me something, what you fucking with him for?" "He lied to me." "I can't think of one reason big enough for him to lie that's small enough not to matter." "All right, look." "I know one thing, but it's third party, so you gotta play it like that." "Helene and Ray took Cheese's money back in June, right?" "Yeah." "One week later, Remy goes to a cop in DCU asking if anybody knew who robbed Cheese." "So what?" "So my informant tells me," "Cheese didn't even know he got robbed until two weeks later." "So Remy knew Cheese got robbed before Cheese did?" "How'd he know that?" "Let me tell you something." "You better think long and hard before you start running around here investigating the police." "You try and take food out their mouths, and they will fuck you up." "Thanks for the steak." "All right." "Hey." "I got it." "We need to talk to you, Lionel." "About what?" "About the acoustics in your apartment." "What?" "Oh, we live in a three-decker, too, Lionel." "I got nothing to talk about." "Well, that's fine." "We can talk to the state police." "Meet me at Murphy's Law." "I don't meet him down Murphy's, he's gonna call the staties." "He's putting a move on you." "Don't go down there." "I can handle Patrick Kenzie." " This is an oath we took." " I started this." " This has to be protected." " I got things to protect, too." " Listen to me!" " All right, Remy." "You leave that house, you're an enemy to me." " Just trust me, all right?" " No!" "Trust me!" "Where I come from, you die with your secrets!" "How long have you known Remy?" "Detective Bressant?" "Just in..." "Met him through the investigation of Amanda." " That's it?" " Yeah." "How long you known Remy?" "What is this?" "They got the Internet, now, Lionel." "You know how it is in town." "Everybody knows everybody." "No." "Everybody don't know everybody." " What're you talking about?" " Why you lying?" "I'm not." "You bragged about taking a hard bust on the first day we met you." " No, I didn't." " Bullshit." "You're hiding something, Lionel, and you better fucking tell it, 'cause you came to our house and you asked us for help." "And we killed ourselves trying to save Amanda." "And I know you ain't being 100% with me right now, and it's really fucking pissing me off that you're lying, so you better interrupt me at any time, 'cause I'm about to lose..." "Okay." "Fine, fine." "All right?" "Don't have a heart attack." "I haven't been honest with you." "It's just not something I'm proud of." "You know?" "I got in a bar fight back in the day." "The other guy cracked his skull." "At some point, I must've said, "I'll kill you. "" "So they had me up for attempted." "It's my word against this other guy's." "Witness testified to my version and the jury believed him." " 'Cause he was a cop." " Yeah, he testified for me." "So you knew Detective Bressant." " It's not like we were best friends." " But you lied." " Why did you call Remy?" " He's a cop." " That's not why you called him, Lionel." " Come on." "It's a small place." "You heard them arguing." " They were being loud." " Who?" "Who..." "Who..." "So you called Remy, and you and him took Amanda to blackmail your sister." "Why would I do that?" "I don't know, Lionel." "I really don't know." "Maybe because after all the "I put the fucking plug in the jug,"" "and the "count your blessings" and the "watch your language,"" "you're just like everybody else." "You saw a bag of money and you wanted it." "And you thought you could get away with it." "But Bea called the media and made a big thing of it." "And then she called us, and then you were fucked." "The case is closed, Patrick." "The case is closed." "Coke-dealing Haitian's a pretty easy target for a frame." " Lionel?" " Excuse me." " Look at me." " Okay." "Excuse me." "You took your niece, and you laid it off on a black guy." " Pardon me." " Lionel, tell me what happened." "Can I get some service?" "Yeah." "What?" " Three shots of Cutty and a tallboy." " Yeah." "Thank you." "Just give me a second." "Twenty-three years is something, right?" "Go." "I come up to check on Amanda." "She was alone as usual." "I was reading her a story when Helene and Ray come home." "They didn't know I was there." "Stop fucking yelling, my daughter's sleeping in there." "They started talking about how they'd robbed this drug dealer." "You know what he's fucking gonna do if he finds out?" "What's the monkey gonna do?" " Oh, you know..." " I'm not..." "And they were talking about leaving the state." "So I called Remy and told him." "There's another drug run up to Nashua." "Taking cocaine..." "And then what?" "We took her." "Remy laid out this plan." "It seemed easy." "We take her, force Helene and Ray to cough up the cash, then we put her back." "You know?" "Amanda gets to spend a weekend in the country." "My sister learns a lesson." "And fuck it, everybody gets paid on top of it." "I got no problem taking money from a guy like Cheese." "They were gonna handle the cops." "But Bea, she went nuts." "Started calling the papers." "Hired you." "Lionel don't want me coming here, now you don't want the job?" "But once you found the money, they had Amanda and the money." "So they decided to set up a fake exchange for you to witness." "They got Chris Mullen to set up Cheese at the quarry." "15K and a chance to be the boss." "Cheese figured out what was happening." "Even though it was too late, he started shooting." "Panicking." "And she just fell." "I mean, she just..." "She fell in." "She's gone." "It was an accident." "It was just an accident." "She was your sister's kid, Lionel." " Your sister's child." " You think I don't miss her?" "She was more my kid than Helene's." "Last summer, Helene and Dottie took Amanda to the beach." "It was a real hot day." "Amanda fell asleep." "They left her in the car while they go off into the dunes, smoke a doobie with some guys." "Two hours." "Amanda literally roasted." "She was three." "Later on, I was holding her, trying to help her get to sleep." "My little Amanda, she was so hot." "She felt like something just come out of the oven." "Like a fucking pot roast." "So don't feel too sorry for my sister." "Because she never gave a shit about anyone but herself." "Bartender." "Open the safe." "Now." "Everybody needs to shut up and stay calm." "On the floor." "On the floor!" " Hands on your head." "Do it." "Oh, my God." "Everybody stays calm, this'll be over in a minute." "Hey, do you know whose bar this is, shithead?" "Or you can get wise, it's up to you." "What did you say?" "You're a talker, huh?" "Just keep revving, motherfucker." "Don't antagonize him." "He's got a gun." " Oh, just keep yapping away." " I didn't say nothing." "You should learn to keep your mouth shut." "Shut the fuck up, for Christ's sake." " Just keep talking, pal." " I didn't say nothing." "Close your eyes." " Fuck!" " Remy Bressant." "Amanda McCready was taken by Remy Bressant." "Oh, fuck, God." "Amanda McCready was taken by Remy Bressant!" " Wait." "Wait." "Jesus." "Remy Bressant." "God damn it." "Remy Bressant!" "Amanda McCready was taken" " by Remy Bressant." " Jesus." "I told him." "I told him we took her for ransom." "I told him." "I told him, Remy." "Please, I told him we took her for ransom." "I did it." "Remy, please." "Please." "Are you all right?" "Stay with him." "Drop your gun." "Put it down!" "That bartender wasn't fucking around." "What did you do?" "Did you get her killed?" "Say yes." "Say yes." "Say yes!" "What're you gonna do?" "Shoot me?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "She was a child." "I love children." "Why would I expose a conspiracy that I was a part of?" "I mean, did Lionel contradict anything I've said?" "Did any of the witnesses at the bar contradict anything I've said?" "A police officer was killed today." "That's not looked on lightly." "Is corruption looked on lightly?" "Is a little girl getting killed looked on lightly?" "Whoa, hold on." "You charge people money as a detective." "Now, you're at the quarry the other night, right?" "And you have no idea that this is a setup?" "You're baffled." "Right?" "No, because, strange as it might seem," "I believe the police when they tell me something." "You're a fresh prick." "You know that?" "And because I had a ransom note and Amanda McCready's blanket put in my mailbox." "And because I read a transcript of a call that Cheese put into the station." "A 911 call?" "No, it was a call Cheese made to the station." "To Remy Bressant at the station." "Or that Chris Mullen made, pretending to be Cheese." "Or whatever the fuck it was, but it was recorded, and there was a call." "We don't record calls coming into the station, and we don't do transcripts, smart guy." "So, did you hear a tape?" " No, I didn't hear a tape." " Okay." "Did you see a transcript?" "No, I must've remembered it wrong." "Kids forgive." "What do they get for it?" "Amanda literally roasted." "You think I don't miss her." "She was more my kid than Helene's." "I love children." "This is the kind of thing that if you do," "Patrick, you wanna be sure." "Are you sure?" "No." "Are you coming?" "No." "Doyle brought Remy from Louisiana back in '72." "Care to read the highlighted portion?" "Taking a trip?" "Patrick Kenzie." "To what do I owe the pleasure?" "Remy Bressant died last night." "I was told." "It's a shame." "Yeah, it's hard to understand." "Because he seemed like a good man." "He was a good man." "We don't know why people do what they do." "Everybody looks out his own window." "And everyone's got their reasons." " Hey." " Hi." " How are you?" " Good." "Nick!" "They're firing at me." "Nick, you hear me?" "You okay?" "They're firing at me!" "Remy!" " I heard something go in the water!" " Ambush!" "Ambush!" " Something went in!" " Run." "Remy." "Run!" "Panicking." "Amanda got scared." "She started running." "She just fell." "I mean, she just fell in." "Twenty-nine-year-old Chris Mullen was gunned down last night in an apparent robbery." "You go back inside with Frannie." "Papa will come in soon." "Make you a sandwich, okay?" " All right." " That's my girl." "Don't go down there." "If I think he has the evidence, I'll take the hit." "I got no problem doing the time." "Fuck up, and it's Amanda and her life." "All right." "I got things to protect, too." "You leave that house, you're an enemy to me and you're a danger to Amanda." "Please, I told him we took her for ransom." "I did it." "I told him." "Remy, please." "So now you know." "My sister's not stable." "She's on crack." "She's talking about leaving the state." "I'm scared for my niece." " Who's gonna take care of her?" " We'll do something." "We'll figure it out." "She's an addict." "Bigot." "Drug mule." "The child will be dead or on the street in 10 years." "What about the uncle?" "He can never tell anyone." "Not even his wife." "Or he'll never see her again." "It's worth it to him." "Know she'll have a better life." "Do one last good thing before we hang it up." "How many children have we seen destroyed?" "Enough." "Does it make you feel better?" "Telling yourself you did it for the right reasons?" "That you took her to be saved." "From her own mother?" "We're just trying to give a little girl a life." "Wasn't your life to give." "Helene's her mother." "If you thought she was a bad mother, you should've gone to Social Services." "Short of that, she's her mother, and that's where she belongs." "You turn around." "You go back to your fucking car, and you wait 30 years." "You don't know what the world is made of yet." "I'm calling state police in five minutes." "They'll be here in ten." "Thought you would've done that by now." "You know why you haven't?" "Because you think this might be an irreparable mistake." "Because deep inside you, you know it doesn't matter what the rules say." "When the lights go out and you ask yourself," ""Is she better off here or better off there," you know the answer." "And you always will." "You..." "You could do a right thing here." "A good thing." "Men live their whole lives without getting this chance." "You walk away from it, you may not regret it when you get home." "You may not regret it for a year, but when you get to where I am, I promise you, you will." "I'll be dead, you'll be old." "But she..." "She'll be dragging around a couple of tattered, damaged children of her own, and you'll be the one who has to tell them you're sorry." "You know what?" "Maybe that'll happen." "And if it does, I'll tell them I'm sorry, and I'll live with it." "But what's never gonna happen and what I'm not gonna do is have to apologize to a grown woman who comes to me and says," ""I was kidnapped when I was a little girl," ""and my aunt hired you to find me." ""And you did, you found me with some strange family." ""But you broke your promise and you left me there." ""Why?" "Why didn't you bring me home?" ""Because all the snacks and the outfits and the family trips don't matter." ""They stole me." ""It wasn't my family and you knew about it" ""and you knew better and you did nothing. "" "And maybe that grown woman will forgive me, but I'll never forgive myself." "I did what I did for the sake of the child." "All right." "For me, too." "But now, I'm asking you for the sake of the child." "I'm begging you." "You think about it." "She's happy." "What?" "She's happy here." "I saw her." "Angie, don't do this." "If you call the police, they will send her back." "I'm not sending her anywhere." "Helene is her mother." "She's better off here." "Why?" "Because he's got money, and he makes her sandwiches?" "Because he loves her." " Helene loves her, too." " Helene doesn't treat her that way." "Well, maybe she'll change." "She won't change." "People don't change." "Helene is arsenic." "Angie, I know that this is hard." "Look at me, I know it's hard." "But I need you to stand by me." "I need you to say," ""We're gonna make the right decision," ""and we're gonna make everything okay. "" "Everything will be okay." "Because we're gonna leave her here, and every now and then we're gonna talk about her." "And where she is, and about what grade she's in." "And that'll be okay, because we're gonna know what school she's in, and we're gonna know she's happy, and she's got birthday parties, and she smiles every day, and she has sleepovers." "Baby, I'm sorry." "But you can't ask me to do something that I can't do." "And you can't ask me to live with it." "Patrick, for me." "Please?" "I will hate you for doing this, and I don't want to." "Once an icon of justice and a model for crusaders," "Jack Doyle is behind bars tonight." "Evelyn?" "Social Services, as demanded by law, will take time to examine little Amanda before returning her to home, and the arms of a mother who never gave up hope that she would see her daughter again." " Helene, how do you feel..." " Helene, what does it feel like" " to have your daughter with you now?" "How do you feel?" "Helene, how you feeling right now?" "How you feeling..." "Back up." "Back up." "Back up." "Back up." "Amanda, how do you feel to see your mom?" "Hey, Amanda." "Helene, how you feeling?" " Tell us how it feels." " Tell us what you're thinking right now." "You must be so excited." "Give us your feelings." "Oh, my sweetheart." "Oh, my." "Helene, the whole world wants to know what you're feeling right now." "How are you, sweetheart?" "Oh, my heart is brimming." "And just God bless to everyone and thank you to all..." "To all the policemen and the firemen," "I feel like 9l11 right now." "Oh, I swear to God, I mean, just..." "Do you have any comments for parents out there that might be in a similar situation?" "Oh, just never let your kids out of your sight." "Don't trust them to no one." "And just keep them in your arms, as much as they're in your heart, you keep them in your arms." "How about that?" "A great end to that story." " Good news for everybody." "Yes, it is." " Sorry, I had to get some stuff." " It's all right." "You wanna talk for a minute?" "There's nothing to say." "Sorry for being rude, I gotta be out of here in, like, two minutes." "Do your thing." " Think he'll like me?" " Who?" "My date." "Oh, how could he not?" "You're sweet." "He seen me on my American Victim." "He wrote me letters, I was like, "Whatever. "" "But then he seen my Meredith Vieira, he drove down here from Providence." "I'm like, "That's romantic. " Right?" "How's your girlfriend?" "She's all right, she's at the North Shore with her sister." "Oh, hope she got better family than I do, right?" "Those dirty motherfuckers." "She don't get smart, I'll take you out." " How's Bea?" " Fuck Bea." "I banned her from the apartment." "She sold her unit, moved out fancy-pants Melrose." "Don't think she don't hate you for Lionel going to jail, neither." "Well, that's probably why she never paid my bill." "You should fucking sue." "How about you, Helene?" "You hate me?" "Fuck no." "Brother or not, he took my kid." "Fuck Lionel." "She could have been hurt." " What about Amanda?" " What about Amanda?" " Who's gonna watch her?" " Dottie." "Yeah, does Dottie know that?" " She will in five minutes." " Great." "Fuck, I'm gonna be late, too." "Unless you don't mind sitting for her." " Yeah, sure." " For real?" " Yeah, that's fine." " She likes you." "Bye, sweetheart." "You're a godsend, Patrick." "Bye." "Is that Mirabelle?" "Annabelle."