"Ronnie." "Ronnie." "Ronnie?" "Armadillo?" " Armadillo, right?" " Uh-huh." "No, no, no." "Don't move, Ronnie." "They're comin'" "All right, here you go." "You're gonna be okay, Ronnie." "Right." "Don't move, buddy." " Take care of him, will ya?" " Yeah." "Yeah." " We're gonna fix this, brother." " Hang in, man." "I'm sorry about your guy." "This was Armadillo, wasn't it?" "Are you staying at the hotel?" "No." "Vic and I were discussing a domestic abuse case." "She's only been here a few minutes." "There's nothing she can tell you that I can't." " Give me a call if you need anything." " I will." "Jesus." "What is it with this guy and burning?" "First, traces of flesh on the stove burners at his house." "Now this." "Armadillo was looking for you." "I know." "Trust me." "One of ours?" "I'm gonna help you take care of it." "Claudette, don't take this the wrong way... but I don't need your help." "We gotta find Armadillo before somebody matches his face up to Ronnie's." "How you wanna handle this?" "The way we should've weeks ago..." "flush out every shithole in the barrio until we find this prick." " Sounds like a plan." " Then we end it." "Once and for all." " Vic." " Hey, no speeches." "Armadillo burned my guy." "I'm gettin' him." "I just talked to the hospital." "Looks like they're gonna be able to graft most of Ronnie's face." "Thanks." "I'm gonna contact Justice, bring in a surveillance team to watch your back." " You wanna baby-sit us?" " No, I just wanna keep you alive." "We can take care of ourselves." "The last thing either one of us needs is the feds thinking that we can't." "Just let us do what we do... sir." "Hey, you didn't see Ronnie." "I can imagine." "Okay." "All right, pull 15, 20 grand from the retirement fund." "We're gonna need to grease some greasers to get to Armadillo." "Does this mean you're giving us back our keys?" "We won't let you down." "I went to see Ronnie." "He made a preliminary statement." " It's enough to put an all-points out for Armadillo." " Good." " Where's Mackey?" " He's trying to flush out Armadillo." "You turned him loose on this guy?" "One of his guys was maimed last night." "He wants to be involved." "I know he's involved." "How involved are you?" " Excuse me?" " With Mackey." "I see what's in it for him." "What's in it for you?" "Stop looking for conspiracies that don't exist." "Just investigate Ronnie's attack." "You're taking T A to a whole new level, Van Bro." "Inner-city realism wasn't selling'." "People like to be titillated." " Ain't that the truth." " What you need, Mackey?" " One of my guys got hurt last night." " Damn." "Dangerous times, man." " Who did it?" " Armadillo." "I been hearin' some impressive things about that Mexican." "Impressive how?" "Word is he don't trust L.A. talent." "He's shipping his own folks from Mexico City to run the consolidation." "Some smart-ass C.E.O." "Here." "I want you to spread this around and spread the word." "I'm willing to pay for info on Armadillo." "All I need's a location." "I'll do my thing, baby." "You do that." "Ready for the big day?" "Oh, yes." "I picked up the rings this morning." "I'm glad you're coming." "Wouldn't miss it." "Julien." "I just wanted to tell you in front of your training officer... that, based on your six-month review and your performance lately..." "I've put your name in for a P-2 promotion." "Really?" " Thank you." " Good work." "Keep it up." " Congratulations." " Thank you." "Wow." "I'm just feeling so blessed right now." "I got a great job, a wonderful wife, a new son." "I just feel like God is really looking out for me now." "If you ever meet someone, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about." " This way." "Hurry." " What is it, sir?" "Oh, Christ." "No, no, no." "Don't touch him." "One-Tango-13 requesting paramedics, code three." "Copy, One-Tango-13." " One-Tango-13, additional units requested." " Copy that." "Hey, what do you got?" "Little Pop, Los Mags O.G." "Just got out of Pelican Bay last week... and he is not happy about Armadillo's power restructuring neither." "You got the bone." "He's got the pick." "Yo!" "Welcome home, Little Pop." "I hear you're having some problems with your Torruco brothers." "I had it good inside." "I was movin' drugs, smokes, a little gambling." "I made enough to keep my mom straight out here." "Armadillo moves into Pelican Bay." "I take his ink, kick him back his cut... and then he promises me a piece out here." "So I took my parole... come on home." "Armadillo had a change of heart." "That choco." "He brings up these real Mexicans from M.C. to run things." "Suddenly I'm a goddamn wetback in my own country." "Errand boy, getting beers for these pendejos." "No money, no respect." "I ain't got nothin' out here... and I'm too old to start over." "I gotta get me back inside." "It's gonna take me months to get back the respect and the juice that I had." "I sympathize with your situation." "What can you tell me?" "There's this wiry vato named Quazi, works out of the back of his garage." "He's Armadillo's personal paper boy from down south." "Prints his visas, his green cards." "You get him." "You get Armadillo." "Thanks." "Hey." "Jail's too good for him." "You filling' out back orders for Ellis Island, Quazi?" "Where's Armadillo?" " Put your hand in here." " Que?" "Do it." "No, no, no!" "No, no, no!" "Aaah!" "Armadillo, ¿dónde está?" "¿Dónde?" "¿Dónde?" "Well?" "He says he's in some house in the Little Jewel." "We need an address, amigo." "This was a message, not a mugging." "Tell me about it." "They left the wallet, a watch, 50 bucks." "Witnesses?" "That guy saw an Asian teenaged male running down the alleyway... into the back parking lot." "Red hooded sweatshirt, black pants, tennis shoes." " What about the victim?" " His name's Lee Kusa." "He's Thai national." "He's legal." "Doesn't sound like a gang thing." "Wasn't a robbery." "It's weird." "Cameras." "Find out who they belong to, whether or not they're working." "You'd better hurry." "The cheap places only have them on a one or two-hour loop." "Hey!" "¡Vámonos!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Get your ass down." "Down!" " It's okay." " On the ground!" "Aaah!" "Shit!" "Holy shit!" "Aaah!" "Holy shit!" " You all right, man?" " Crazy bitch!" " Jesus, man!" " What?" "Jesus God!" "Forget the dog." "Let's go talk to the soldiers." "Let's go." "Caught the guy on camera getting into his car." "Ran the D.M.V." "Got a 19-year-old Asian." "Lives here." " Great." " Everybody be careful." "Trust me, it's not always this easy." "Yes?" "Uh, Detective Wagenbach." "We're looking for a Malcolm Rama." "He in shower, cleaning up." " Where's Armadillo?" " No sé nada." " ¿No sé nada?" "Go." " All right." "Aah!" "Same thing for you, Juanita." "Get up." "Get up!" "Where's your boss?" " No sé nada." "No sé nada." " Same wrong answer." " All right, that's it." "You ready?" " Hey, hey, hey!" " He doesn't know anything." " We're just trying to jar his memory." "Bring 'em back to the barn." "You're lucky." "I'm looking for Vic." "Uh, Foster." "He's not here." "I tried calling him." "He's not answering his cell." "He's out making some arrests." "Probably turned it off." "Is there something I can help you with?" " Someone broke into our house." " When?" "This morning." "I was dropping Matthew off at the occupational therapist's... and when I came home, um, the police were there." "They broke the window, and they set off the alarm." "Um, come on." "Let's talk in private." "Uh, Paula." "You ever do any baby-sitting?" "I work here, don't I?" "What's going on?" " Someone burned off half of Ronnie Gardocki's face." " What?" " Ronnie?" " In your husband's motel room." "We think they were targeting him." " Why would somebody want to..." " Didn't Vic tell you?" "That Armadillo was greenlighting his team?" "Who's Armadillo?" "Uh... you know, maybe it'd be easier... if you answered some of my questions first." "Okay." "Hey, I talked to Aceveda." "He said I can snag you for a few hours to help with my case, if you're interested." " Yeah." " Great." "Heard about your promotion snafu." " Sorry." " Thanks." "Maybe I can steer you toward detective work." "You seem to have a knack for it." "Where were you this morning at 10:40, Malcolm?" "Russell Park." "I run there." "You happen to step into a puddle of human blood at the park, Malcolm?" "You're making a mistake." "Maybe you didn't set out to hurt the guy, but he's in a coma." "Did he disrespect you?" "You dating his daughter?" "What?" "You're going to jail for this... whether you confess or not... so for our own, uh, morbid curiosity, you know, why'd you do it?" "I didn't." " We've got a problem." " What?" " He could walk." " Come on." "The bloody clothes?" "The videotape?" "You know how many hours the average juror spends watching soap operas every week?" "I don't know." "Four?" "17.8." "Per week." "Jurors like simple stories they can understand." " He did it." "We caught him." "Doesn't get simpler than that." " But why did he do it?" "Unless he confesses, at trial we'll be expected to know." "The victim's blood runs straight out of that kid's car right up to the front door." "Maybe the jury figures we planted it, sets this guy free to caddy for O.J." " But he did it." " Until you know why, a detective's job isn't done." " How long has Vic been in the motel?" " A few weeks." "Uh, we're spending some time apart." "Oh." "I thought maybe he was trying to make it safer for you and the kids." "Does he have a post office box?" "What?" "A place where he might get mail other than his home address." "I don't think so." "You ever seen any statements from bank accounts... that you never knew existed... maybe in a family member's name?" "No." "Any big purchases this year?" " Cars?" "Jewelry?" " No." "After Matthew's tuition, it's all we can do just to scrape by." " Matthew?" " Our son." "He's autistic." "We, um..." "We send him to a special needs school." "How much does that cost?" "A lot." "On a cop's salary?" "Yeah, uh..." " Vic works a ton of overtime." " Is that what he tells you?" "Why are you asking me about bank accounts... and P.O. boxes?" "I just want to find out... why Armadillo's targeting Vic's team... and I wanna make sure nobody else gets hurt." "Has Vic done something?" "In you go." " Step back, asshole." " Hey." "Hey, is everything cool with you?" "Yeah." "You seem like you're holdin' back a little bit." "We got a thousand eyes on us right now." "Calling more attention by cracking skulls doesn't help." " You wanna change the page?" " Cassie?" "What are you doing here, honey?" " Mommy brought us." " Why?" "Someone smashed our window." "Where's Mommy now?" "Someone broke into the house?" "Are you okay?" "All right." " Talk to me." " Why don't you talk?" "Somebody's trying to kill you." "They came to our house." "I had a security system put in to protect you." "It worked." "What if I'd been picking one of them up from school?" "I had a P.I. watching you and the children." " What?" " To be safe." " Without telling me?" " I didn't want to scare you." "You just didn't want to admit to what you've been doing." "What did Claudette tell you?" "Were you involved with some drug dealer who died?" " Jesus Christ..." " Were you?" "Sometimes out on the street... you gotta make deals to make bigger arrests." "Now, Claudette got you all worked up over nothin'" "I got more truth from her in ten minutes... than I've gotten from you in a year." "How are we paying for Matthew's school?" "You want me to go find out from her?" "I love my kids... and I want a future for them." "So right now I really need you to step up and be on my side." "Mom, did you see Daddy?" "Yeah." "You know what?" "Dad's busy with work right now." "Okay?" "Um..." "Maybe we'll see him later." "All right?" "I've got a team member in the burn unit, the guy who did it out on the street... and you think now is a good time to screw with my family?" "I think Armadillo went to your house looking for you, Vic." "Lucky your wife and kids didn't end up in the burn ward." " My family's off limits." " You tell that to Armadillo." "I'm telling you!" "I recommended, weeks ago... that the Justice Department provide protective surveillance for the Strike Team." "They didn't want it." "It's a pride thing." "My report to the city council is due next month." "And I'm sure you'll be fair and accurate." "You wanted to see me?" "I contacted Justice." "Starting tomorrow, they're assigned to your team... until Armadillo is in custody." " What?" " Why?" "This is for your own good." "We can't see anyone else getting hurt." " Who are you to dictate how I work?" " Excuse me?" "Vic." "If I were you, I'd be careful about the next thing you say." "I can't afford to be handcuffed by some... part-timer... who thinks she knows what's right." "I am a trained litigator... with a master's in criminal justice." "Then stay in the classroom." "The, uh, cripple called." "I mean, the handicapped... guy... called." "Hey, Dutch." "Dutch!" "City workers found this in a storm drain a half a mile from the alley." "Looks like our weapon to me." " Prints?" " No, but there's a lot of hair and blood." "Check out these etchings." "They're Thai." "I checked out the Thai cultural center where he volunteers at." "This was stolen from there a couple of days ago." "Maybe that'll help with motive." "Yeah." "Yeah, maybe." "Damn it!" "What happened?" "I guess the boss must've got my memo." "Armadillo?" "Dude that did this had Mexican prison ink." "Thick dialect." "One of them imports." " Took my goddamn wheelchair." "How wrong is that?" " Did you get a name?" "Better than that." "Got the plate." "Blue Ford pickup truck." "God, Van Bro." "Nice work, Van Bro." "Sit tight." " Help is on the way." " And a new set of wheels." "Somethin' sporty." " Hands on the wheel." "Now." " Don't even twitch, bitch." " Out." " On the head, Jose." "Let's go." "Let's go!" "Get up there." "We're looking for Armadillo." "Any tips?" "Oh, I'm gettin' so tired of playing this game." "Here." " Here." " Okay, okay, okay!" "I know where he is." "Lem, you ride with him." "We'll follow you." "Enjoy the wheelchair, asshole." "Get in." "He was in line." "Guy behind him sprayed something in his face with an aerosol can." "Looked like bug spray." " Was there an argument?" " Well, he always takes forever to order." "So, uh, so aerosol guy wanted him to hurry up." "When he didn't, the dude said, "You're buggin' me."" "Psst... right in the eyes." "Took off that way." " I was just trying to order." " Every day you hold up my goddamn line." " I was reading the menu!" " Hot dogs, hamburgers." "That's it, you idiot!" "Hey!" " Jerk-off!" " Homo!" "Goddamn it!" " You married?" " Yeah." " I'm gettin' ready to take the plunge myself." " Good for you." " You got any kids?" " Yeah, I got a boy." "You don't want him to see you in jail, do you?" " No." " Good." "So, tell me about the guy who sprayed you." "He's on the top floor." "Back unit." "He says Armadillo's got a few guys, and they're probably packing." "Get the collaterals out of here." "Take the truck, cover the back." "¿Qué pasa?" "You, uh, know much about Thai culture, Malcolm?" "I'm not really into my roots." "Yet you volunteer at the Thai cultural center two nights a week." "It's a good place to meet girls." "Yeah." "And to, uh, pick up antique artifacts." "This was stolen from there a couple of days ago... from a room you had access to." "You see these, uh, ornate little symbols?" "They represent, uh..." ""fertility, family, bloodlines."" "Okay." " How come you never asked his name?" " Who?" "The old man you beat up." "You wanna hear it?" "His last name was Kusa." "Came over from Thailand a couple of years ago." "Kusa." "Am I pronouncing that right?" " I guess." " How would you say it?" " I wouldn't." " So you won't even say his name." "We drop smoke, head in the front door." "Armadillo runs out the back, Lem's there waiting." "Let's go." "Go..." "Wait a minute." "What the hell is this?" " What's goin' on?" " I'm unarmed!" "He called, gave himself up!" " Is that so?" " Turn around." "Looks like he saw the writing' on the wall." "Somebody did a job on his face." "Well, it's an ugly world." "More and more." "I was attacked by the bug spray guy." " When?" " Three days ago." "I got your partner's card from the hot dog stand." "About the man who was attacked with bug spray... he got me too." "Serial sprayer?" "That's weird." "It's kind of a dumb case." "He is hurting people, but..." "No, same principle as a killer." "Driven by inadequacy and frustration." "One acts out with insecticide, the other with deadly force." "Why don't you run with it?" " Me?" " We're swamped today." "Be a while before a detective can look into it." " I don't know." " Sure you do." "You've got great instincts." "Really?" "Calling the cultural center about that scepter?" "I think it's gonna be the key to finding motive." "Bug spray guy's yours, right?" "Yeah." "Where would you start?" "Both attacks took place within a couple blocks." " He probably lives within the area." " Good." "I could call the drug stores, hardware places... see if anyone matching our description bought any bug spray lately." "Sounds like detective work to me." "Come on, Claudette." "Let me go inside with you, back you up." "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't need the help." "We both been working this case." " Between what you and I know, we can trip him up." " I'm gonna try this alone." "If you can't make up your mind..." "I'll ask Lanie to make the call." "Give her the facts of the case." "You've got a lot of your plate." "Where'd you find the time?" "Drug trafficking... consolidating a Mexican power base, murder." "Am I leaving anything out?" "Oh, yeah." "Juvenile rape." "So you say." "Let's hope that genius I.Q. means you know how to help yourself." "We've got you on tape making a death threat." "That could be anyone's voice." "I'll challenge it in court." "What about the testimony of a cop with his own grill mark?" "You gonna challenge that too?" "What happened to your face?" "You used to be so pretty." "I'll only give my confession... to Detective Mackey." "You don't make demands." "Not to me." "I speak to Mackey... or my lawyer." "I want to talk alone." "The first few weeks are the worst." "Then the skin gets hard." "The stinging goes away." "It's time for me to leave." "You should have left when I gave you the chance." "My business here is done." "Everything's in place." "Now you're going to help me get home." " Help you?" " You have no choice." "The second you did this to me, you gave me control." "So, unless you and your men want a cell next to mine... you'll do what I say." "Get your man to recant his statement... and get me out of here long enough to cross the border... we'll call it even." "What about the people you burned... and that little girl you raped?" "Sometimes... life isn't fair." "You wanted me to hurt you." "Every scar is a victory." "This is just my biggest." "What'd he say?" "He just wanted to gloat." "Guess it's my turn." "He wants to see his lawyer." "The interrogation's over." "Oh, there he is." "Excuse me." " Mr. Jarvis Stanley?" " Yeah." " Let me see your hands." " Why?" "I said let me see your hands." "Put your hands on top of your head and step away from the car." "Got a pest problem." "It's illegal to carry bug spray?" "It is when you're trying to blind people with it." "They were all buggin' me." "Ahh." "It's not like I killed anyone." "Actually, it's an assault with a deadly weapon." "Bug spray's poison." "That's a felony." "Now you're startin'to bug me." " He's got me." " No." "No way." "This does not end like this." "He's gonna play the brutality card... if I don't get Ronnie to recant and set him loose." " Then that's what we gotta do." " No." "I couldn't look Ronnie in the eye." "I did this." "I'll take all the heat, make sure you guys get a pass." "Come on." "You could be lookin' at jail time." "I barely saw my kids today." "I'm gonna go give 'em a call." "What are we gonna do?" "What are we gonna do, Shane?" "I'm thinkin'." "God!" "Shit!" " Where we goin'?" " To make a deal." "Your family comes from the area in northern Thailand known as the Hilltribe region... known for its tribal wars." "In fact, your family's been feuding with another clan for over 800 years." " Not me." " Rape." "Torture." "Genocide." "That's a pretty gnarly family tree." "The other family's name is Kusa." "And now I know why you beat him into a coma." "And now a jury's gonna know it too." "My dad was pissed." "Your dad." "Old guy comes into the center and signed the guest book..." "Kusa." "So I told my dad, you know, as a joke." "But he went crazy." "Starts talking about killing this guy, like, really killing him." "So I figure..." "I'd scare Kusa away first... act like I was protecting the family name or whatever." "Get him to leave the neighborhood." "And the scepter was to..." "drive the point home." "I followed him outside the center, and I told him who I was." "Before I could say anything... the old freak spits in my face." "He starts whaling on me, screaming at me in Thai." "I only hit him back to protect myself." "He was half dead, hanging from a pole." "That's a pretty tough sell for self-defense." "It was, at first." "But something happened to me." "Blood." "I never stood up for my family before." "I know it was wrong... but somehow it made sense." "Yo, what'd he do?" "The guy walked right past us smokin' weed." "We didn't want to haul him in, but we asked him to put it out..." "blew smoke right in our face." "Idiot." " Now we know the "why."" " Yeah." "And I couldn't have done it without you." "Thanks." "You know, up until now I was really focused on getting ahead on the street." "But after seeing the whole detective angle..." "I don't know, it just kinda felt like we were partners." "There was a real connection there." "Good back and forth." " Yeah." " You were great." "Thanks." "What?" "Um, K..." "Uh, Kim's making me dinner tonight." "I've got to, uh..." "I have a lot of..." "Oh, shit." "What's going on?" " Oh, my God." " What?" "I just..." "I almost kissed Dutch." "Oh, my God." "Why?" "I don't know." "It was a momentary lapse." "Was he devastated?" "No." "He's the one that pulled away from me." " Oh, my God." " I know." "Shoot me." "Keys!" "Give me the keys!" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Get away from him!" "Hey, hey!" "Hey, hey!" "Get off of him!" "Hands up!" "Hands up, everybody!" "Watch the knife!" "Call a medic!" "I'm calling!" "On the wall." "Let's search 'em nicely." "Let's go." "Jesus Christ!" "Who searched that guy?" " I did." " How could you miss a knife that size?" "It wasn't on him when I frisked him after the arrest." "Upstairs." "Nope." "What happened?" "Los Mag O.G. with a grudge." "Stabbed him nine times." "Won't say why." "Jesus." "Come on, let's go." "Unbelievable, huh?" "Armadillo Quintero." "I thought maybe you might like that for your personal files." "This case is closed." "File it where it belongs." "You wanna know what I think happened?" "Vic was Tio's drug landlord, gave him protection." "Tio gave him favors and a cut of the business." "When Armadillo killed Tio, Vic fried his face on the grill... and that's why he didn't want me to find him." "Why'd you get in my way?" "I made a mistake." "You just now realizing that?" "Oops, sorry." "I heard about your suspension." "I searched that guy from head to toe." "Call your P.B.A. rep." "Get your side of the story on record." "Is all of this a joke, Vic?" " What?" " Everything." "Everything that's happening to me lately." "You're a good cop, Danny." "I miss you." "I know." "I just can't act on that right now." "Right." "Did you get 'em to sleep?" "I got a guy to replace the window tomorrow." "I've got things to do tomorrow." "I'll have 'em call ahead, make sure you're at home." "Just leave me his number." "I'll take care of it myself." "Okay." "Listen, I..." "I gotta have more time with the kids." "Not just dinners." "I..." "I need some mornings, some weekends." "Hey, they're my kids too." "If I wanna see them more, I'm gonna see them." "You can't even spend three dinners a week, and now you want more time?" "Goddamn it, don't do this." "I'm gonna make more time." "Okay?" "I gotta get back to basics." "Start by bein' a good dad again." " You can't promise them that." " I'm serious." "I gotta make some changes." "Leave the number for the window guy." "Little Pop heads back to Pelican Bay... where he has more respect and business than he ever did before." "We're gonna cover his mom's expenses until after the sentencing." "I'll never forget what you guys did for me." "Don't worry." "We won't let you." "Tell Ronnie I'll see him tomorrow." "Enjoy the painting." "Not a problem." "Take it easy." "Night, boss." "We both know... what happened to Ronnie... that's on you." "It's all on you." " Yeah." " You sure?" "That's him."