"The escape was not my idea." "I mean, escape to what?" "We didn't know there was anything else." "It was Zack who said we had to leave, so I guess he saved my life." "I didn't think we should separate, but he wouldn't listen." "And I never even got a chance to thank him." "I've ordered a full review, top to bottom, and heads will roll." "Find them." "All of them." "What if they make it outside the wire?" "This is Lydecker." "I want you to capture if you can." "But if any of them make it to the perimeter, you are to terminate." "Is that understood?" "Confirming, sir." "You are giving an order at 10:06." "It's my responsibility." "Shoot them." "Max!" "Sir?" "We've got seven so far." "Three wounded, two killed." "You've got a big problem if just one of 'em makes it to the outside." "Realistically, sir, it's ten degrees out here." "How far can these kids get?" "Just find them." "Sometimes it seems like it happened to someone else, like maybe it was a story I heard." "The hardest part is not knowing if any of them made it." "But if I knew for sure I was the only one left it would be worse." "At least I can make up lives for them, like maybe Johnny's a fashion photographer, or an architect." "The truth is, they'd just be like me, living on the run, always looking over my shoulder." "Hope is for losers." "It's a con job people trip behind till they finally get a grip on the cold, hard truth." "Still, I hope that they're out there somewhere, and that they're OK." " It sucks." " What sucks?" "I come home, it's 3am, you're still out." "I feel like I got hit by a cement truck, and you've been up for an hour, bouncing around." "That, by definition, sucks." "I made you coffee." "That oughta help cope with the in justice of the world a little." "Thanks." "It's startin' to kick in." "I feel almost human." "Yeah, me too." "Knock, knock." "Hey, guys." "Let's roll, hotshot." "Thanks, babe." "Listen, I'm gonna have to take a personal day." "I'm bitin' it bad." "It's payday." "Need me to pick up your cheque?" "Yeah." "You're the best, Maxie." "Come on, move it." "You're gonna be late for school." " Three more bites." " Two more." "But big ones." "They used to say one nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day." "It was sort of a joke until the morning those terrorist bozos whacked us with an electromagnetic pulse from 80 miles up." "You hear people yapping' on how it was all different before The Pulse." "Land of milk and honey, blah blah blah blah, with plenty of food and jobs, and things actually worked." "I was too young to remember, so whatever." "The thing I don't get is why they call it a depression." "I mean, everybody's broke." "But they aren't really all that depressed." "Life goes on." "Jam Pony messenger." "Have a good one." " So you just left it?" " Nobody there to sign for it, man." "What's a brother supposed to do?" "Ride round all day with the damn package?" "So you decided to return it to the sender." "Or, in this case, sender's wife." "Like the prophet say, only the unrighteous husband send expensive gift-wrapped panties to another woman." "It's none of your business." "None of your business." "Or mine." "Sure." "It concern only Jah." "But, in this case, I was the instrument of the Most High." "Well, around here, I'm the most high." "All right?" "Before you do anything, call for instructions." "Here." "It's a hot run." "Beat it." "Moron." "Ah-ah." "Ah-ah." "Ah-ah." "A little late." " I was on call." " Yes, well, I want you on call here." "What if I'm deployed in the field?" "More like deployed in bed." "Asleep." "I don't sleep." " Theo asked me to pick his up too." " And he can't pick up his cheque because?" " He's sick." " Ah." "For a change." "You tell Theo if he's not in tomorrow, he can start looking for another job." "I don't know how to break this to you, Normal." "We're all looking for another job." "Morning, sunshine." "Caught some son of a bitch stealing my bike." "Used a carjack to break my U lock and bent a bunch of spokes." " Now I gotta get my wheel laced." " At least he didn't swing with your ride." "True." "But I broke a nail giving' him a cranium crack." "And that just wrecks your day." "You know what I'm sayin'?" "Now why can't I find a girlfriend like that?" "Brings him lunch." "Thoughtful." "Sweet." " Legs from here to there." " Straight." "Shame, wasting' a girl like that on a male." "Hey, Sketch." "Homemade." "Natalie baked them for our anniversary." " The big one-oh." " The big one-oh?" "We went on our first date ten months ago tonight." " Congratulations." " ...during the third day of food riots." " Do not attempt to adjust your set." " Check it out." "Eyes Only." "This is a Streaming Freedom video bulletin." "The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds." "It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in the city." "There are certain men who move through the world with impunity." "Their actions, no matter how vile, are immune from consequence." "Edgar Sonrisa is such a man." "You've seen him, smiling at political fundraisers." "On your own time, people, huh?" "Place of business!" "He owns shopping centres, and the largest medical supply company in the Northwest." "He also runs drugs and guns up and down the West Coast." " The man is deep." " He's very publicly, very obviously, dirty." " No, you're easy." " He ever been wrong about anything?" " He's on the hustle, same as everyone else." " It doesn't mean he's not tellin' the truth." "Journalists who have attempted to expose him have been gunned down." "Their blood is the ink of our modern news." "Those who've opposed him have vanished." "All of that is about to change." "Watch it." " Later." " It's your turn to buy lunch." "This was supposed to be the financial district back in the day." "America really thought they had it dialled in, money hanging' out the butt." "But it was just a bunch of ones and zeros on a computer someplace." "So when that bomb went ka-blooey and the electromagnetic pulse turned all the ones and zeros into plain old zeros, everyone's like "No way"." "America's just another broke ex-superpower, lookin'for a handout and wonderin' why." "I need a signature." "Hold on a moment." "You're not gonna believe this, Nattie." "I got a late run." "So I'm not gonna be able to make dinner." "I know it's the big one-oh." "No." "Hon, I begged." "I pleaded, I pissed, I moaned." "But I gotta do what I gotta do." "We'll do somethin' special." "I promise." "I love you too, mousetrap." "Kisses." "Sorry I'm late." "If you wanna be rich, listen to the bitch." "Give Mommy the cheddar." "I'll make your life better." "Touch the boot, get dropped wet." "Original Cindy don't feature that." "You in?" " Who else?" " What's the action?" "Homegirl can repeat a 14-digit number by listening' to the beep tone." " So?" " On speed dial." "The buy-in's ten." "Last chance." "OK." "Let's do this." "2-0-6-5-5-5-0-1-3-5-7-6-3-3." "That's it." "How did you do that?" "I'll have a beer, since you're buyin'." "I wasn't." " How ya doin', Max?" " You mean until you showed up?" " You're not still pissed off?" " Cos you nailed her girlfriend." " Now who would be pissed off about that?" " You know why I went after Justine?" " She was there?" " Tryin' to have a relationship with you is like bein' in a fog bank." "You're in the middle of somethin', except you have absolutely no idea where you are." "And when the fog lifted, there was Darren, with his head under Justine's skirt." "Could we have a moment?" "I was crazy about you, but you keep everyone at arm's length like you got some great big dark somethin' goin' on, and..." "It's just the more I tried to get close to you, the more you pulled away." "I'm really glad we're having this conversation." "You're right." "I was angry at you." "But talking about it, the scales have fallen from my eyes." "And I realise now that... it was all my fault." "Could you ever forgive me?" "I see the perimeter defence system is still fully intact." "At least I tried." "He craps all over everything and everyone, then wants Mommy to forgive him." "Tell me the truth." "Am I a female fog bank?" "He's just tryin' to blame you because he's a slut." " Yeah." " Hell, yeah." "There is not the slightest grain of truth in anything that that idiot was sayin'." "You are a totally down-ass female, and a straight-up friend." " Just cos you're a little..." " Foggy." "More like a mystery." "Which isn't bad." "It's just mysterious." " I gotta go." " Where?" "It's a secret." "How many times did I tell ya?" "You drive away business, roaring' in here like that." " It does kinda break the elegant atmosphere." " You got a punk-ass mouth on you, kid." "My name's not kid, it's client - as in the person who pays for your opulent lifestyle." "Now you got somethin' for me or not?" "Yeah." "Right here someplace." "Now, let's see." "Mm." "I got a hit on that car." "I got an '03 Tahoe, blue," "Wyoming tags, AGT349." "It wasn't easy." "You were off on one of the numbers." "Sorry." "I was nine at the time." "Who's this guy?" "This isn't who we're lookin' for." "Her name was Hannah." "He got the car in trade for an old pickup and some food." "Got no bill of sale or nothin'." "It was right after The Pulse, so the DMV records were wiped out." "But managed to find the guy." "Six hours on the phone." "Say thank you." " Thank you." " He didn't remember her name, but she fits the description that you gave like a glove." "Get in." "Hurry." "Come on." "He made the trade in Gillette, Wyoming, in the fall of '09." " But nothing on Hannah?" " A nuclear airburst wipes out all computer records east of the Rockies, and you want me to find a woman that you met when you were nine." "Maybe you could give me something more on her, some detail." "Anything." "She was nice." " OK." "That's big." " I think she was a nurse." "There must be some kind of registry of nurses or medical technicians for Wyoming." "A last name would help." "What about the other kids?" "They don't exactly have a search engine for kids with bar codes on their necks." "You were gonna run through the law enforcement databases for identifying marks." "Nothing so far from arrests, hospital admissions, coroners..." "This kind of search..." "It's heavy spadework." " I'm gonna need..." " More money?" "Like I'm shocked to hear you say that." "Do not attempt to adjust your set." "This is a Streaming Freedom video bulletin." "Eyes Only cannot be bought, or threatened, and through the Eyes Only informant net, a truth speaker has come forward." "Their testimony will soon lead to the indictment of Edgar Sonrisa for multiple counts of murder." "The drug cortodiazapine is expensive, in short supply, and much sought after as a cancer treatment." "It is also the only treatment for the Balkan war syndrome, an otherwise fatal disease." "That doesn't stop Edgar Sonrisa from growing richer, peddling the drug to the few who can afford to pay any price for vanity's sake." "Sonrisa has been replacing shipments with sugar pills, selling the real cortodiazapine on the black market for $2,000 a bottle, while combat vets exposed to bio war agents go untreated." "They are repaid for defending this country by being allowed to waste away and die a slow, agonising death." "I won't hurt you." "Sorry." "Put it down." "Now." "Lauren?" "Are you and Sophy OK?" "Yeah." "We're OK." " Peter!" " If he's the side of beef, he's fine." "But give him a minute." " You're a thief?" " A girl's gotta make a living." " Thank God." " First time I ever heard that one." " I was expecting someone else." " I guess it wasn't the pizza delivery guy." "We're just a little tense right now." "You have good taste." "French, 1920s." " Attributed to Chitarus." " Whoever that is." "Oh." "So, what, you liked it cos it was shiny?" "No." "Because it's the Egyptian goddess Bast." "The goddess who comprehends all goddesses, eye of Ra, protector, avenger, destroyer, giver of life, who lives for ever." "Stay back, Peter." "Security's on the way." "I'd love to hang and discuss art, but I gotta jut." "By the way, love your show." "Building security!" "Hold your fire." "Kendra, this is a motorcycle." "Its sole reason for being is to go fast." "Very fast." "Not for you to use as a clothesline." "Make no mistake, I love you as a friend and a roommate." "But I love a motorcycle more." "Stay away from the bike, OK?" " Ladies." " Morning, Walter." "What's the good word?" "Oh, just doin' my part to keep the squatter situation from getting out of hand." "Coffee?" "Read my mind." "You noticed any trespassers around here?" "Gosh." "No." " Seventh floor vacant and secure." " Roger that." "Enjoy your day." "What's with you?" "Every week this scumbag puts the squeeze on us, and every week you roll out the welcome wagon, like he's family." "I just thought he'd like some coffee with the saliva." " You didn't?" " Every week." "It's cool." "Before I forget, Theo's pay." "I came in real late last night." " Didn't wanna bother you guys." " Thanks." " How's he feeling'?" " I took him to the hospital again." "And I gave him some more medicine." " He says it's not helping." " You know how it is." "You and me get sick, life goes on." "A guy gets the sniffles, the world's comin' to an end." "That you, Max?" "Playin' hooky again?" "Hey, Omar." "Go see your mom." " Hi." " Hey." "Come on, move it." "I know what I got, Max." "They put me back on that drug they're giving the other vets, only the guy that does those cable hacks says this stuff's no good." " Don't believe everything' on TV." " What if he's on the level?" "The dealio on Eyes Only, he's probably some wack rich dude sittin' in a trick apartment, bored stupid." "So he gets off scaring' the crap out of folks like you and me." " I gotta go." " Well, tell everybody hey." "You tell them yourself tomorrow when you're back at work." "Like I said, guys are the weaker sex." " Bingo." " What have you got?" "Surveillance video from the building next door." "This is how our visitor last night got in." "We tryin' to ID the perp, or your new girlfriend?" "If I'd got my ass handed to me by a size three, I'd be inclined to mind my own business." " Hey, Sketch." " We gotta talk." "About?" "Nothin'." " What?" " I need your help, Max." "See, I've more or less been seeing this other person." " You cheating on Natalie doesn't involve me." " I know what you're thinking." "The truth is, this other person's not somebody I'm in love with." "As a matter of fact, after what she just did, she's not even somebody I like much." "So, in a technical sense, I'm not sure you could really call it cheating." "Do guys believe these lame, self-serving excuses?" "Yes." "Or do they think we're just so grateful to have one of you idiots, we'll look the other way?" "Which is condescending and arrogant." "Lame?" "Self-serving?" "Condescending?" " Guilty as charged." " You left out arrogant." " But there is another side." " Oh, here it comes." " The part where the guy turns it around." " I am a victim here." " Really?" " Hear me out." "This other person is a Jam Pony client who happens to be trapped in a loveless marriage." " And you are a sympathetic ear." " Exactly." "And then a sympathetic mouth, and then a sympathetic..." "She's demanding that I blow off Nat, or she'll do it by telling her about us." "Does this other person have a name?" " Lydia." " And Lydia telling Natalie the truth makes you a victim in what way?" "I'm a toy to her." "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the kind of guy who gets to be a toy very often." "How about never?" "I guess it kinda went to my head." "Has it occurred to you to tell Natalie the truth?" "Are you kidding?" "Even if she doesn't dump me, she'd never be able to trust me again." "And why should she?" "Look, Max." "I made a terrible mistake, one that I will never, ever make again." "Natalie and I are soul mates." "The thought of losing her has made me understand that." "What is it you want me to do?" "Pickup: 411 Montgomery goin' to 85 Mather." "All right, man." "I'm looking for a young lady who works here." "Ladies would be elsewhere." "Look, pal, she may be easy on the eyes, but she's trouble." " Trust me." " Yo, Normal!" "Hot run!" "1298 Chapel." " I need to talk to her." " I can't help you." "How about her name and address?" "Friends don't help other friends cheat." "I actually feel sorry for guys sometimes." " Please." " They're prisoners of their genes." "So are dogs." "I say hang Sketchy out to dry." "Let Natalie see him for the heel he is." "Then maybe she'll step to the all-girl team." "Of course there's nothing self-serving in that scenario." "So this guy walks into the bar and says..." "We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation the other night." " Original Cindy, say hi to my good friend." " Logan Cale." "Hi." " Sorry about your window." " Can we go somewhere and talk?" "Xena's on." " Let me get my coat." " The one you're wearing?" "Right." " How'd you find me?" " It wasn't hard." " The question is why." " You know who I am, where I live." "I figured I'd better find out who I'm dealing with, in case you were looking to hurt me." "So you tracked me down." "What do you think?" "Too early to tell." "How does Mrs Eyes Only like being married to a guy on everybody's hit list?" " Lauren's not my wife." " Girlfriend?" "One of my sources." "Her husband was murdered by a man named Edgar Sonrisa." "I caught your hack." "He's Satan's lapdog or something." "But what's your shot in all this?" "Being a famous underground pirate cyber journalist can't be much of a payday." "My folks were loaded." "So, what?" "You like the sound of your own voice?" "Look around at all this." "Built by people who got up every morning, worked hard trying to make a better life." "Then The Pulse happened." "They blinked, and before they knew it, they'd turned over the store to a bunch of thugs who were happy to have it." "Overnight, everything intended to protect the people had been turned against them." "So you miss the good old days, even though poor people died when they didn't need to, and rich people spent obscene amounts of money decorating the house to match the cat." " Those good old days?" " They still had a choice." "Now they don't." " So what are you gonna do about it?" " Something." "Personally, I'm more interested in going fast on my motorcycle than getting a headache over stuff I can't do anything about." "Then you're an active participant in making things worse." "Is the social studies class over for today?" "That was an extraordinary display of athleticism the other night." "You wanna tell me how you?" "So we're straight on how this is goin' down?" "You set up on Lydia when she's on her way to your apartment, and I pretend to be Natalie." " Who is where, by the way?" " Visiting her mother." "Who is it?" " A friend of your fiancé's." " What do you want?" "To set the record straight about where Calvin was the other night." " Who are you?" " My name's Lydia." "Seems you and I have something in common." "You said you knew where my fiancé was the other night." "Yeah." "With me." "Where he's been after work, two, sometimes three nights a week." "We have what you might call an... intimate relationship." " And I'm s'posed to believe you because?" " He been sleeping in a T-shirt lately?" "So you won't see the fingernail marks on his back." "Bet you didn't know your boyfriend found a little pain exciting." "Well, he didn't either." "At first." "Calvin told me I could expect a visit from you." "I know how you threatened him that if he didn't break it off with me, you'd do it for him." "Well, it's over between you and him, and we're getting married next month." "You're a very understanding person." " You're also a fool." " I think you should go now." "Let's get something straight, you prissy little bitch." "I decide when I'm done with your boyfriend." "Not him, and certainly not you." "Unless maybe you wanna find out how sharp these nails really are." "I'm working very hard to respect my elders, but don't push your luck." "Let go of my hand." "Help!" "Let me go!" "No, no." "No, no, don't let me go." "This is how it's gonna be, Lydia." "Take your threats and your cheesy acrylic nails and go figure out your marriage, instead of tryin' to make other people feel as miserable as you do." " Understand?" " OK." "OK." "OK, OK!" "Say "I understand"." "I understand." "You rock, Max." "You rock." " Easy, Sketchy." " No, I'm serious." "That psycho got exactly what she deserved." "Yes!" "Lydia may not have been one of humanity's finer specimens." "Oh, she's toxic." "A monster in bed, but toxic." "You would be making a mistake thinking she's the villain in the piece." " You are." " She's the one who was tryin' to ruin my life." "None of this would have happened if you exercised even a smidgen of self-restraint." "That's true, but..." "You were tryin' to have it both ways, and you were being completely selfish." "And if I ever find out you're foolin' around again, you'll be hangin' by your ankles three storeys up." " Understand, Calvin?" " OK." "OK." "Say "I understand"." "I understand." "Oh, man!" "Kendra?" "You home?" "You ever notice how cats always seem to turn up around dinnertime?" " I won't be staying." " I'm not a half-bad cook." "Like following me around and pestering people I work with wasn't bad enough." "But breaking into my apartment?" " It was open." " You got a lot of nerve." "Me?" "You're the one who tried to rip off this place." "I steal things in order to sell them for money." "It's called commerce." "But some stranger sneaking into a girl's apartment is bent." " Bent?" " Bent." " I left you a present." " Am I supposed to be grateful?" " That would not be inappropriate." " How am I supposed to sleep there again, knowing some stranger's probably touched everything I own?" "Well, if you're that nervous, you're welcome to stay here." " Whoa, Tex." "We've been through this." " It's OK, Peter." "This is a tactical exposure, which I go on record as not liking." "Noted." "Peter, do me a favour and look in on Lauren and Sophy." "Send me the bill for this, by the way." "Look, if I made you nervous, or uncomfortable, or creeped you out..." "Yes, on all counts." "Well, I'm sorry." "It wasn't my intention." "I had to see you." "You'd think a guy whose job was saving the world would have more important things to do than to traipse around after some girl." " I haven't been able to get you off my mind." " You need to get out more." "Come here." "I want to show you something." "American, Neoclassic." "Gold-leaf detail, late 1800s." "I could probably fence it for two or three grand." "No." "I meant this." "Probably the most singularly beautiful face I've ever seen." "Expensive gifts, surprise late-night visits." "Over-the-top flattery." "Do you always come on that strong?" "Only when I meet someone I have to know everything about." "Now I think I know pretty much everything." "Suppose I could help you locate the other ones." "The other ones?" "The other ones like you." " You lost me." " Now, come on, Max." "First I watch you take out a 250lb ex-cop bodyguard without breakin' a sweat." "Girls kick ass." "Says so on a T-shirt." "Then I watch you dive headfirst out a window, like you're Rocky the flying' squirrel." " Then I found these in your apartment." " You went through my stuff?" "Used to sell this stuff as an energy boost." "It's also a neurotransmitter, sometimes used in homeopathy to control seizures." "Then the light bulb went on." "I got an anonymous report a few years ago about a covert genetics lab in Wyoming." "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm out." "You're a wackjob." "I located a guy claiming to be a med tech on something called Project Manticore, using recombinant DNA to produce a superior human." "A warrior." "An advanced infantry soldier." "Not that I don't enjoy a good urban legend, but what does this have to do with me?" "The bar code on your neck, Max." "I know who you are, and who you're running from." "There were a couple of dozen transgenic kids, and in '09, before The Pulse, 12 escaped." " 12?" " I know you're one of those kids, Max." "We got separated right away." " I never knew how many made it." " How well do you remember the lab?" "I remember fine." "I just didn't understand what was going on." "It took me a long time afterwards to figure things out." "How much do you know?" "I know they made me." "Even got the designer label on the back of my neck to prove it." "The technical term for you is "chimera"." "Yeah." "Made-up creature, like in mythology." "Head of a lion, body of a goat." "Your basic hotchpotch." "Hardly." "You said you could help." "They would have used surrogate mothers to carry you to term after the in vitro work." "If I can track one of them down..." " What's in it for you?" " Your help." " I already don't like the sound of this." " The woman you met?" "Lauren?" "She supervised workers removing cortodiazapine from gel caps by hand and replacing it with sugar." "The real drug was shipped out of the country." "The placebos went to the county VA hospital and veterans clinics." "My pal Theo's on that stuff." "You got him scared silly he's gonna die." "He has reason to worry." "Lauren will testify she worked for one of Sonrisa's managers." "I'm sure you know the lengths he'll go to keep her quiet." " Which affects me how?" " I got Lauren into Witness Protection." " If you were to go with her..." " I didn't get this far by looking for trouble." " She's put her faith in me." " Her first mistake." "But if she was with someone like you, the risk goes way down." "Are you high?" "I've got people looking to either put me in a cage, turn me into a science project, or kill me." "Probably all three." "Now I've managed to drop off the radar screen, and I plan to keep it that way." " Max, hear me out." " I've heard enough." "What happened?" "Walked in on some hump ransackin' the place." "Disgruntled former client?" "Who knows?" "As long as you're all right." "Yeah, I'll live." "Regarding your case," "I'm afraid I've come up with some bad news about your fiancé." "Let me get the file." "Would you like to use the rest room?" "Please." "I don't know what your story is, and I really don't want to." " Here's your money." " No, no, no." "Somebody wants you." "Whoever tossed this place was trying to make it look like a robbery." " How's this about me?" " Because somebody is looking for you, and I wanna stay out of the line of fire." "They got a bug on my computer keyboard." "There's a tap on my phone." " A mike in the light fixture." " So..." "Somebody's tracking one of your investigations." "The hardware is way too sophisticated for my clientele." "99.9% of them, they got me lookin' for lost dogs, extracurricular tail." " Whoever it is is on top of the food chain." " You're crazy." "Yeah, maybe." "But if I were you, I'd take the money, get out of town while I can." " Bang, bang!" "You're dead!" " Ooh!" "You got me." "Come on, Omar." "You OK?" "I took Theo to the hospital tonight." "He couldn't walk, so I borrowed some money and we took a cab." "But he didn't make it." "He's dead." "Oh, my God." "Oh, Theo." "Oh, God." "Oh." "Oh!" "Lovely of you to join us!" "Lovely of you to join us." "Here." "I have a hot run to 8-4-2 Beulah." "Tell your pal Theo he just got himself fired, all right?" "Not that he cares but, you know, his wife and kid might." "Theo's dead." "Two men are dead and another wounded after a shootout near the Superior Court building." "This dramatic footage was captured by police hoverdrones." " Did you see that one guy..." " Shut up." "We've been set up on Vogelsang 36 hours and, so far, nothing." "A few customer complaints, dryer ate my money, rinse cycle's not long enough..." "And three or four PI clients, run-of-the-mill." "I don't think this guy can help us." "23 computer hits from one detective browsing Wyoming DMV records from ten years ago." "Employment files on healthcare personnel working in the Gillette area at the time." "Prison records for unidentified males and females approximately 18 to 20 years old." "And you want me to believe it's happenstance." "Since The Pulse, there's been how many thousand missing-person searches?" "And nothing in our surveillance connects him with Manticore." "No." "He's trying to track down these kids." "And we're not going to do anything to get in his way." "Nurses beat me to it." "Take a header into the deep end when the pool's empty, you're gonna go splat." "Law of gravity." "And even Jesus Christ himself had to obey the law of gravity." "For a while anyway." "The one I feel sorry for is the poor woman with the kid." "She shoulda told you to stick it, like I did, but she bought your crap about doing right." "And just so you know," "I don't feel the slightest guilt about not watchin' her back." "That's on you, hotshot, 100%." "I probably oughta let him just finish the job." "Then more innocent people won't get cacked on account of you being a bored rich kid." "On the other hand, you did lay that statue on me, which I was able to fence for a couple of bucks." "I've been wantin' to buy myself a new motorcycle." "I'm thinking about stepping' up to a 1200." "Bingo." "Damn." "Are you all right?" "They took my daughter." "They won't hurt her." "Your daughter's the only leverage they have to keep you quiet." "Can you help me get her back?" "I'd really like to." "So I will." "The shooter who tried to finish off Logan works for Sonrisa." "Surprise, surprise." "Bruno Anselmo, born in 1990, served in Iraq, dishonourable discharge." "Convicted of armed robbery, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, arson, attempted rape." "Your basic Renaissance dirtbag." " What can we do?" " This isn't my regular line of work." "I'm making it up as I go." "Mayor Steckler to see Mr Sonrisa." "Open the trunk." "It's not what it looks like." "I'm diabetic." " Who are you?" " Bruno's girlfriend." " Oh, yeah?" " Yeah." "But see, tonight wives and girlfriends aren't invited." " No?" " No." "Cos tonight the girls are here in a more or less professional capacity." "They all work for me." "And you don't." "Let's go." "OK, OK." "Do you ever have to do something you really don't wanna do?" "How I make my living." "What's your point?" "Girl, you work that dress." "Mr Sonrisa saw you on the cameras." "He wants you to come see him." "I'm on a break." "Guess again." "The only thing better than four queens... is five." "Come over here next to me." "For luck." "I can see to it your winning streak continues." "I'll bet you can." " Sit." " Not right now." "Not right now?" "OK." "When?" "After you get a new personality and lose about 20 years." "Quite a mouth on a girl so young." "My guess is, talking isn't what it does best." "Only way you're ever gonna find out is reincarnation." "The fact is, I am gonna provide a service, and you are gonna pay me." "You're gonna pay me $50,000." "And I'm gonna give you Lauren Braganza." "Give us a minute." "Now." "Check her." "Who are you?" "Gonna put me on your Christmas card list?" "No wire." "Now that the pelvic exam's out of the way..." "You want the woman, here's how it works." "You pull 50 large outta your mattress, and I make a call to bring her over." "Yeah?" "Or I work your face with a pair of pliers for a coupla hours till you tell us where she is." "Bruno." "The plan is I call her cell to OK a meet at a certain location." "You're a player." "I'm bringing you this on a plate." "My fee is just the normal cost of doin' business." "Pull the cash." "So..." "How do you get this woman to come to me?" "I told her that it's just business to you, that all you want is a reasonable solution to this." "You give her back her daughter, she agrees to leave the country." " I put her on a train to Spain or wherever." " And she bought that?" "I have sincere eyes." "Make the call." "She's gonna wanna know her little girl's all right." " She's got my word." " She's gonna wanna hear for herself." "We gotta keep the momentum up, not give her a chance to overthink things." "If she hears her kid's voice..." " Hello?" " Hang on, Lauren." "We're conferencing in Sophy." " Yeah." " Put the kid on." " Hello?" " Sophy?" "Are you OK?" "Mommy, where are you?" " Don't worry." "I'm coming to get you." " When?" "Soon, baby." "Mommy, I'm scared." "There's nothing to be afraid of." "Everything's gonna be OK." "I love y..." " Can you put that in a bag or something?" " No, no, no." "You get this... when I get her." "Not good enough." "Compromise." "Bruno comes with me." "He holds the money till Mommy shows up, then we close escrow." "What you do with her after I blaze doesn't keep me awake at night." "You'd better hope you're as smart as you think you are." "You know, that whole thing about the pliers." "I... never would have done it." "Probably." "Actually, I..." "I don't know, I think you're..." " I think you're pretty cool." " Yeah?" "Yeah." "You're smart, you're hot, you stand on your own two feet." "You got a wicked sense of humour." "Jeez, seein' the boss there a couple of times, it was all I could do..." "So what do you think?" "Maybe after I betray the woman who trusts me, and you grease her and her daughter, we could... go on a date?" "Yeah." "You got a bad attitude." " I like to keep it professional is all." " So call her." "Get her over here." " That's not gonna be necessary." " What?" "That's not why we're here." "What the hell are you talkin' about?" "You call her." "Jeez, you are so stupid, the word "special" comes to mind." " Sonrisa recruit you off the short bus?" " Call the skank now!" "You haven't figured this out yet, have you?" "You think you're gonna cap her, then cap me, and take the money back to your boss." "But it's really the other way around." "You think I'm the whack?" "The fact is, you're the whack." "See, you're already in the last two minutes of your life." "You got two seconds if you don't cut the crap!" "Sonrisa had to call me in because you lack that professional edge, Bruno." "A pro would have popped me once he saw this going sideways." "But you're still standin' there with your thumb up your butt." "It's pathetic." "Pathetic." "Come on." "You're not even trying." "Is that all you've got?" "The man was right." "You are a liability." "You can't blame him, the way you're taking care of business." " Or should I say not taking care of it?" " What the hell are you talkin' about?" "I'm hired to do a piece of work." "My mark goes down and stays down." "Yours makes it to the hospital." "You gotta finish the job, only you don't, and the cops get it all on videotape." "That's a lotta crap!" "You were caught on a hoverdrone, shooting from a roof across the street." "I hate those things." "It's embarrassing to the professional community." "No." "No, no, no." "No, the boss knows I've always been loyal." "He's got exposure." "The man's figured the odds." "He can't take the chance." "Hey." "What the hell are you doin'?" "Ow." "Don't touch my ass, man." "This won't hurt." "A triple dose of insulin." "You'll go into a coma, in a couple of minutes you'll stop breathing, and on a busy night the coroner will probably mistake it for an OD." "Plus it's way classier than blowing' your brains out." "Double-crossin' son of a bitch thinks I'm gonna roll on him?" "I'm gonna do a helluva lot more than that." " Yeah?" " This is your punk-ass client." "I need you to trace a number for me." "Are you sure you want to do this on the phone?" "Just do it." "2-0-6-5-55-0-18-7-2-8..." "Hold on a minute." "I can't..." "7-2..." "What was it?" "7-2-8-9-2." " Come on." "I don't have all day." " You got a pencil?" "Just give it to me." "I'll remember." "All right." "Hold on." "1-7-4-9-5 Euclid." "I'm on my way." "This is Tac 1." "The subject's inside, sir." "Standing by for your orders." "I want a full perimeter seal." "Nobody goes in until I say so." "Why don't we just take her when she walks out the door?" "Listen, when you have the roads locked off front and back, and the alleys on both sides, a man by every door, window, air vent, mail slot and rathole around this building, then you come back to me and you tell me that you're ready." "Okey-dokey?" "Yes, sir." "Seven, eight..." "Wanna continue?" "OK." "He says "Do you wanna continue?" and he says "Yeah."" "Oh, yeah." "That's a fighter for you." "Come on!" "He's got him on the ropes." " Eyes him up again..." " Get in there, you mutt!" "Hit him again!" "He's in trouble." "Down he goes!" "That boy's a wuss." "Come on!" "Wuss, wuss, wuss." "Go!" "Go!" "Ah, jeez!" "He's a wuss." "A waste of pantyhose." "Stand by." "Full breach on my count." "Three, two, one." "Federal officers!" "On the floor now!" "Drop your weapons now!" " No!" "You drop yours!" " I said on the floor!" "Face down!" "Drop your weapons!" " All right." " Go!" "Go!" "You." "Stop." "Put the girl in my car." "Tac 1, what is your status?" " Do you have her or not?" " Negative." "We do not have the subject." "Repeat: we do not have the subject." "Sophy!" "Mommy!" "Businessman philanthropist Edgar Sonrisa was cut down in a hail of gunfire last night." "Authorities named the assailant as 32-year-old Bruno Anselmo..." "Delivery!" "I need a signature." "Police are investigating." " There you go." " All right." "That's $127." " For what?" " C-O-D from Nutman's Mortuary." " No, there must be some mistake." " No." "Thelonius Argentary at this address." " That's Theo in there?" " Not till I get my money." "I'm not his next of kin." "Anyway, I don't have that kind of cash laying around." "Theo rode for this place a long time, man." "He showed most of us the ropes." "Keep your money, man." "We can take care of our own." "I'll make sure his family gets this." "47 people paying 20,000 each to be smuggled into Canada so they could earn enough money to eat... are dead." "They were marched overboard by their handlers, who operate with the knowledge and active collaboration of government officials only too happy to look the other way for a piece of the action." "This must never happen again." "Those responsible are on notice." "Their power and privilege will not protect them." "They will be held accountable." "This has been a Streaming Freedom video bulletin, via the Eyes Only informant net." "Peace." "Out." "I see you're back at it." "Rockin' the boat." "Somebody's got to." "I would have come sooner but..." "I didn't." " How you doin'?" " I'm not in any pain." "Good and bad news of a blown-out spinal cord." "I'm sorry." "My mother used to say everything happens the way it's supposed to." "You believe that?" "I've never been much for trying to figure out why bad things happen." "I just know they do." "So the job's trying to figure out how to deal with the consequences." "Which you did." " You took that son of a bitch out." " Not me personally." "Well, on account of you, Sonrisa didn't get to kill the judge or buy the jury." "He's gone, once and for all." "It was war, Max, and you won." "He had it coming." "A friend of mine died on account of him." "I'm sorry." "This is for you." "Open it." "Turned up on the black market, somehow." " Thanks." " I need a favour." "You can keep this." "I really don't have any place to put it." "I need you to do a little legwork for me." "Joel Solinski." "This guy's got a wife with three kids, an ex-wife with two kids, a mistress and two girlfriends." "The wives get houses, the mistress a condo, and everybody gets a car." " All on a harbourmaster's salary." " I caught the tail end of your hack." "He looks the other way while the smugglers deep-six their cargo." "He's made a fortune as an accessory to murder." "So he's a beast." "Doesn't mean I gotta get involved." "You are involved." "By being alive you're involved." " I got my own problems." " Look." "Maybe we got screwed out of living in a time when we could hang out for the afternoon, planning our next vacation." "But the world got a whole lot meaner." "It wasn't supposed to, but it did." "So now it's back to the law of the jungle." "And there are predators, and victims." " And you still think you can change that?" " With your help." "One thing I'm not is a chump." "You wanna get the rest of your ass shot off, be my guest." "I kinda like being able to walk." "On another matter..." "Federal Corrections used to keep records on distinguishing marks." "Scars, tattoos." "I did a search and came up with this." "Michael Hanover, booked for armed robbery nine years ago." "He escaped custody after four hours." "Hasn't been seen or heard from since." "It's Zack." "I knew it." "I always knew Zack was out there somewhere." "But, you know, just my luck." "This guy Logan had to be the one to find him." "Now he figures I'm gonna go and do the right thing, because I owe him." "Like I even care."