NCIS: Los Angeles (2009–…): Season 2, Episode 16 - Empty Quiver - full transcript
G and Sam, undercover as bears on bicycles for the California Highway Patrol (CHP), have infiltrated a group of dirty cops, who provide escort services for criminal activities, believed (but not yet confirmed) to be based among certain corrupt Marines at Camp Pendleton; one morning they find the dying ringleader, on a medical retirement from the CHP; the team check a possible connection within the CHP. Kensi and Deeks find a crime scene; with some effort G and Sam find the point woman, wounded, who gives answers, including a link to Camp Pendleton; G and Sam meet the bad guy and agree to do a job for him; Eric IDs him; while on that job G and Sam encounter a major problem, an 18-wheeler escapes, and they lose their bikes. Hetty receives word of an empty quiver, and Nell receives a video clip from the White House; G, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks visit a pottery factory, secure the empty quiver, and grab the bad guy and a chick physicist. Kensi and Deeks exchange promises.
Outran the cartel.
That's what I'm talking about.
Thought I was done there
for a minute, huh?
California state taxi service
ain't no joke.
Protect, serve and get paid, huh?
It better all be in there.
Of course it's all there.
Are you guys looking
for another gig, huh?
Police escort.
It's my new way to floss, man.
What...
You're a grand short.
Make this right
or I'll skin those tattoos off
and hang 'em on the wall.
Last punch I took
was on the playground in second grade.
And what was the name of this bully?
Stephanie Petersmark.
- Girls punch boys they like.
- I didn't.
"I'll skin those tattoos off you
and hang 'em on my wall"?
You must not recognize Scarface-level
game when you hear it.
Never realized how much easier
the bad guys have it than we do.
All the time.
No rules, no loyalty.
No Hetty.
Mr. Yakuza is tagged and ready
for arrest at a later date.
A mere guppy in the sea of crime
compared to the sharks we're after.
So if you weren't a boy puncher,
what was your strategy?
I ignored them.
Paul, you here?
Paul, we got your cut
of the Yakuza deal.
Hang in there, buddy.
Who did this?
I turned down a new job.
Going too far this time.
You stop 'em.
Stop who?
Stop who, Paul?
He's gone.
2x16
Empty Quiver
.: UnderCovers Team :.
Is that an actual red alert?
Battle stations
that need to be manned?
Text message.
It's a text message.
- What was that look for?
- You're... you're very...
What?
You're very tightly wound.
- That's not true.
- It's true, all right?
Your personal electronics
are filled with intensity.
Is there something on
your mind, Deeks?
Is there?
Didn't think so.
You always need to drive.
You set your clocks 15 minutes fast.
You set my clocks 15 minutes fast.
Everything is a competition.
You have to have separate checks
at Starbucks.
You make fun of guys
that order nonfat lattes.
Do you have any idea
how exhausting it is
being your partner?
Do you have any idea
how exhausting it is
to hear you ramble on about the 2012
apocalypse earlier this morning?
Not the apocalypse, okay?
It's the galactic realignment.
Geomagnetic reversal.
Time wave zero, all right?
It's the Niburu collision.
You may know it as b'ak'tun 13.
I think you mean "bake" tun 13.
"Bake-tun?" Really? "Bake-tun?"
Your Mayan accent is terrible.
That's right.
Because astronomers were talking
about it last night at the bar.
Astronomers were at the bar
that you go to?
The one that sells condoms
at the vending machine?
Why is that so hard
for you to believe?
The bartender changed it
to the Discovery Channel
after the Lakers game,
but it felt very real to me.
Hetty, glad you showed up.
It's very difficult to take anything
that guy says seriously.
Says the most serious person
I've ever met in my entire life.
Deeks is a nice guy.
And Kensi is a nice girl.
- It's not her.
- It's not him.
It's us.
I don't believe it's a problem.
I'm hearing two people
who are beginning
to sound like partners.
Callen and Sam are waiting
for you guys in the ops center.
And it's pronounced...
"ba-aak" tun 13.
Of course it is.
- Nice of you to join us.
- Sorry. Got held up.
Deeks thinks the world ends in 2012.
Let me guess...
Jenkins' theory
on a Sagittarius-A black hole.
As a matter of fact, yes.
- He's mocking you.
- He's not mock...
An MP from Camp Pendleton
suspect that Marines are working
on something with some dirty cops.
It's a CHP crew.
They take bribes from criminals
for armed escorts and smuggling.
The call themselves the
California Gold Taxi Service.
LAPD calls them an urban legend.
LAPD's wrong. They're real.
Six months ago, we opened
an undercover investigation.
Sam and I infiltrated the group,
going in as corrupt cops.
We got inside,
we still have not been able
to make a link
between them and Pendleton.
Then the ringleader turned up
dead this morning.
His name's Paul Beane.
He left the CHP after surviving
a motorcycle accident
while on duty.
Paralyzed from the waist down.
He has a wife, but they maintain
separate residences.
She's not considered a suspect.
Beane turned down a job.
Apparently somebody wanted
to make sure he didn't talk.
Tight grouping, low caliber,
no exit wounds.
- Pros.
- He's a retired cop.
He must have had somebody
in the field... a point man.
Try point woman.
Officer Jennifer Grear.
She was Beane's partner
until his accident.
He'd find the jobs,
she'd pass on the orders
to California Gold Taxi Service cops.
They might have had a falling out.
If Grear didn't shoot Beane,
she might know who did.
So this op just shifted gears.
Something is about to go down.
It may or may not involve
Marines at Pendleton.
But we need to figure out
what it is and fast.
Grear's shift is coming up, so we're
gonna hit CHP headquarters and grab her.
- You two search her house.
- Done.
You're giving me a look.
Us riding these bikes means we don't get
talk like we normally do.
Whereas normally we ride in your car
and spend time talking about nothing.
Calling our banter nothing?
Not nothing, but I wouldn't say
that it qualifies as something.
Banter's the crux
of our partnership.
Without it, we'd be two guys with guns
drifting from one case to the next.
We are two guys with guns
drifting from one case to the next.
- Some people seek a higher meaning.
- Others play the hand they're dealt.
- When did the glass become half empty?
- Was it ever half full?
That's better.
But I still want my car back,
and these boots are killing me.
Exley, Powell.
- You see Grear?
- Never clocked in.
Guess who's stuck
pulling a double shift.
Tell her I only accept apologies
in the form of bourbon and cigars.
Am I really the most serious person
you've ever met?
It's a tie between you and this nun
who used to whack my hand with a ruler.
I'll have you know that I can be
a very funny individual.
- According to whom?
- People.
- Anyone I know?
- Nell.
- Sorry?
- Nell thinks I'm hilarious.
It's forced entry.
One, two, three.
- Clear.
- Clear.
This looks like a shootout
at the OK Corral.
Your instincts telling you anything?
Multiple shooters.
Blood trail.
Come this way.
Someone got hit about here.
And then they ran...
Impossible to say
how far they made it.
If they made it.
So was it Grear?
Or somebody else?
We analyzed spending patterns
for both Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear
over the past 24 hours.
And tried to establish a time line.
Turns out Beane frequented
a club in Hollywood
called Bare Elegance.
Credit card show
he was there last night.
Bare Elegance?A strip club.
Bikini bar. Big difference.
And about Grear?
She's got four credit cards
all maxed out,
and two bank accounts
in overdraft status.
Officer Grear's mother
is suffering from Alzheimer's.
Put her in a nursing home last year.
Wiped out her savings.
No one's seen Grear
since Paul Beane's murder.
She's either in hiding
or she's dead.
Kensi and I volunteer to go check out
the bikini bar in Hollywood.
Where did Grear's mother live
before the nursing home?
- A house in Van Nuys.
- If she's tapped out,
- it's probably still on the market.
- Correct.
I'll drive, you banter.
Are you aware of the difference
between bikini bars
- and strip clubs?
- Yeah, of course. There's...
Is there a difference? I've...
So let me get this straight:
strip club, no clothes, no booze.
Bikini bar, clothes, booze.
- Correct.
- And which do you prefer?
They both possess unique charms.
The apocalypse is tomorrow.
You got one last night.
That's a dilemma worthy
of King Solomon.
Bikini bar.
Bikini bar's definitely
my pre-apocalyptic choice.
I don't know whether that makes me
respect you more or less.
First date?
A girl can only do dinner
and a movie so many times.
She's cute, but her sense of humor
needs work.
You have no idea.
A buddy of mine,
he's always talking about this place.
Paul Beane.
You know him?
Yeah. He's an ex-cop in
a wheelchair.
We get CHP guys in here
all the time.
Half-off drinks with a badge.
He kept trying to get us
meet him here last night.
- Do you remember who he was with?
- Ask him yourself.
I wish that I could.
Some guy came in here looking for him,
and they got into it.
- We tossed the other dude out.
- What does he look like?
Forties.
Gold watch.
Thea frat boy look
with a bully vibe.
We need access
to the security cameras.
Those don't work.
I just put those in
for show... deterrence.
What were they arguing about?
Is Paul okay?
He was found dead this morning.
Oh, man...
I didn't hear any details.
Just one thing.
Overgrown frat boy told Paul
this was his last chance,
and if he said no,
that he'd kill him.
Last night, Paul Beane's
life was threatened.
Bar manager described him
as an "overgrown frat boy."
- He was wearing a gold watch.
- Grear still ran, though.
She pulled the trigger
or she's hiding from the killer.
Could be at her mom's house.
Nothing.
All right. I'll check...
Pull the trigger, Exley. Isn't that
what they're paying you for?
Easy!
Easy, Grear, easy! Struggling's only
gonna make it hurt worse.
Easy!
Don't move!
You're arresting me?
It's good to see you again, Grear.
Turn around.
You're not really CHP.
The boots looked funny on you.
Whoever killed Paul Beane
came after you next.
You were wounded, but escaped.
I'm not answering
until I see a lawyer.
We should kick you out on the street.
Give 'em a chance to finish the job.
Or find with us who killed Paul.
- Why would I care who killed Paul?
- You were partners.
That doesn't mean anything.
Just a man and a woman with guns,
drifting from case to case.
That it?
Most partners seek a higher meaning.
It helps them get through each day.
I don't know who killed Paul.
And I don't know who came after me.
- Did you get a look at the shooters?
- It happened fast.
- They wore hockey masks. Black ones.
- Why they want you dead?
Paul turned down the job.
The payoff was too big.
It made him nervous.
He said it involved military hardware.
Something serious.
So I told the rest of the
guys to walk away from it.
Military hardware's got to be
the connection to Camp Pendleton.
Maybe that's where
it started in the first place.
How long were
you two seeing each other?
How'd you know?
Wedding ring.
Sometimes Paul wore it,
sometimes he didn't.
I figured he was seeing someone
who wasn't his wife.
Paul's marriage was falling apart.
None of the guys I dated got
what I did for a living like he did.
- Anyone else know?
- No.
After the accident,
it changed him.
He went to this dark place.
You used his connections to start
the California Gold Taxi Service.
And you helped him.
I couldn't sell the house.
My mom's medical bills
were adding up and...
I want to help you.
Call your California Gold crew,
put out the word.
You got scared into taking the job.
Officers Exley and Powell
are gonna handle it.
How are you boys tonight?
As far as I'm concerned,
any night off duty is a good night.
Half-off drinks...
but not tips.
He's buying.
You bummed you're stuck
here with me?
Nah, it's for the best.
I can't go undercover in places
like this anymore.
All the dancers know and love me.
Must be your dashing personality.
It's not my money.
Right.
I have mystique.
And by "mystique" I don't mean
the brunette dancer inside the bar,
real name Kimberly.
Yay. Congratulations.
A go-go dancer told you her real name.
Patience, Kensi.
And by "Patience" I don't mean
the redhead that goes on
at 10:00 tonight, real name Jessica.
What?
That might be our guy right there,
chatting up the bouncer.
Frat-boy looks,
flashy gold watch.
Sam, Callen,
I think we got eyes on our man.
He's on his way in now.
Got him, Deeks.
He's got an entourage.
I'm Steve Brenner.
California Gold Taxi Service
speaks very highly of you two.
Never heard of it.
Heard you were asking
about Jennifer Grear
at the CHP motor pool earlier today.
Her old partner was murdered
this morning.
Paul Beane.
Never heard of him.
Sounds like we're running out
of things to talk about.
Maybe you should leave
before things get awkward.
We're in a bikini bar.
No such thing as awkward.
Hear me out.
You got 10 seconds.
I need a couple CHP cops
to pull off a job.
Word on the street is
you two don't scare easy.
What's the pay?
50 grand. Each.
What do we gotta do?
Black Range Rover driving
to Los Angeles from Vegas tomorrow.
Fire up some flares.
Create a roadblock.
Pull the driver out, give him a ticket.
Take him in for resisting arrest.
Once he's locked up, you get paid.
What's his name?
It's not important.
You want us to arrest the right guy,
we're gonna need a name.
Phil Crombie.
Ex-con.
Business rival of mine.
I need him off the street
so I can complete a deal.
What if we say no?
Ask Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear
how that worked out for them.
We're in.
I'll be in touch, gentlemen.
He didn't mention military
hardware or Pendleton.
What is this really about?
Sounds like we're about to find out.
Took these at the club last night.
Recognize them?
- None of these guys are CHP.
- They the ones that came after you?
They wore hockey masks. Could be them.
Could be someone else.
You regret getting involved now?
State's running out of money.
CHP's broke.
You got good cops being forced
into early retirement.
There's no such thing
as overtime anymore.
- We didn't think it'd come to this.
- It did.
Look, I'm not proud of
the California Gold Taxi Service,
but guys were losing their houses.
I regret it.
I think Paul regretted it, too.
Tell us more about the guys
who tried to kill you.
They're good. Trained.
- Like cops?
- Like military.
So "Steve Brenner" is an alias.
His real name's Justin Marchetti.
Did nine years in federal prison
for running a Ponzi scheme.
Some people thought he was
a Wall Street savant
until $20 million
of his clients' money disappeared.
Mostly retirement funds
and life savings.
His buddies are
all former French military, GIGN.
That's an elite
counterterrorist unit.
Their services don't come cheap.
And what do we have on Phil Crombie,
the guy Marchetti wants us to stop?
He did a dime in Folsom
for drugrafficking.
Released last year.
Currently employed by
a restaurant in Santa Monica.
What, did he graduate
from narcotics to military hardware?
It's got to be Marchetti.
All right.
Ready to start the trace.
The Range Rover
will be passing Marker 447
on Route 138 at exactly 4:00 p.m.
You sure Crombie's on board?
He's driving.
Don't screw it up.
He's using an encrypted sat phone.
Not even close.
We need to figure out if we're dealing
with narcotics or military hardware.
Go back to Paul Beane's garage.
See if anything turns up.
I've queried officials at Camp Pendleton
and numerous agencies.
There is no other operation
in play at this time.
Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna,
we still don't know
what we're getting ourselves into here.
Please, be careful.
Hopefully, this guy Crombie
can fill in some of the blanks.
Black Range Rover. Here we go.
License and registration.
Got off the phone
with Phil Crombie's boss.
He showed up for work
at the restaurant.
Callen, Sam, Crombie is not the one
in that Range Rover.
What's the problem, Officer?
Nothing personal.
They're wearing body armor!
- You okay?
- Vest took the hit.
They're Marchetti's guys.
- Don't you say it.
- You're welcome.
I.D. card
from the Department of Energy.
Shooters used plastic
explosives to level your bikes.
Probably think the blast
finished you guys off.
Where's the trailer?
Tracked it with satellite imagery.
Range Rover and trailer
were dumped a half mile away.
Found three more bodies.
Department of Energy security detail
riding in back with the cargo.
Department of Energy?
Took all of ten minutes
for these guys to become ghosts.
Found these scattered on the floor
of the Range Rover they left behind.
- Some kind of fruit.
- Teen bil kater.
Candy-coated figs
from the Middle East.
Doesn't track.
Marchetti's guys are French;
they're not Arab.
Counterterrorist operatives
don't become jihadists overnight.
So Beane's garage was a dead end.
You guys okay?
Could you repeat that?
Empty Quiver.
Indeed.
Empty Quiver, ladies and gentlemen.
What does Empty Quiver mean?
Empty Quiver is a Pentagon term.
It refers to the loss or theft
of a functioning nuclear weapon.
They stole a nuke?
What, and D.O.E. just decided
to take it on a road trip?
They ship trailers like this
across the highways every day.
The idea is to be low-profile.
They're unmarked and manned
by former Special Forces operators.
No one's been
any the wiser... until today.
The trailer contains
a warhead en route to refurbishment.
We were not informed
because of the sensitive nature
of the cargo.
- What's the yield?
- 100 kilotons.
Five times the power of the one
that leveled Hiroshima.
And how is the Department of Energy
handling this?
Discreetly.
If the media discovered,
it would be panic.
Nuclear Emergency Support Teams
have been deployed to scour the area
for its radioactive signature.
If these guys wanted to set off a nuke,
why haven't they done it already?
You need a nuclear physicist to arm it
and trigger the detonation.
A word.
The blame game has begun.
High-level officials
interested in covering
their own asses.
They're demanding to know
why the two NCIS agents on the scene
weren't able
to prevent the incident.
The word "investigation"
has already been bandied about.
It's pretty meaningless,
given what's at stake.
And politicking isn't our job.
It's mine!
- You don't have to protect us.
- Yes, I do.
And I've feared for years
that a day would come
when I wouldn't be able to.
I hope this isn't it.
There is only one solution.
Recover the warhead
before it can be used.
We just received a video.
White House just received this.
They're keeping it under wraps.
Don't want to create panic.
There's the warhead.
Says "Pan-Islamic Brotherhood"
in Arabic.
- Never heard of them.
- Neither have I.
I'm Dr. Delia Richards.
I'm a nuclear physicist.
These men have a nuclear warhead
in their possession.
They're forcing me to arm it.
"Judgment Day has arrived.
"In three hours,
"the American people
"will feel the fear of not knowing
who will die
"or when."
Three hours from now is 6:30 a.m.
Video doesn't specify a target.
Employed by Golden State Tech.
Formerly employed
by Trecdel Electronics.
The weapons manufacturer.
Worked in R&D
at their Maryland plant.
Cutting-edge tech.
She was originally recruited
by the Dpt of Energy out of school,
but went private sector instead.
Specializes in applied physics,
not theoretical. Which means...
- She can arm the warhead.
- Must be why they chose her.
Since when do Wall Street guys
start working with Wahhabi Muslims?
Marchetti's guy don't match
the profile for martyrs.
Something's off.
Tell Golden State Tech security
we need full access
to Dr. Richards's office.
I checked it out.
There's nothing on the NEST sensors.
- Signs of struggle.
- I'll keep looking.
NEST teams are drawing a blank.
A nuke signature has
to be more radioactive
than anything else around it or else
detection equipment can't find it.
LA's filled with things
that throw sensors off.
We're talking buildings,
vehicles, people.
So what's the best way to transport
a nuke without getting caught?
Bananas.
Lots of bananas.
Bananas are high in potassium.
Potassium's radioactive.
If I was hiding a nuke, I'd hide it
in a truck loaded full of them.
Fooling the sensor
by creating a false positive.
One look inside,
they're gonna wave it along.
It's two radiuses.
The first one measures
a blast originating in downtown LA.
The second one measures the effects
of a nuclear fallout.
We need to tell Hetty.
Not yet.
Hetty will have to
inform the Pentagon.
They'll evacuate the city.
What if that's exactly
what Marchetti wants?
Guys who are capable of pulling off
a hijacking operation like that
don't accidentally
forget their maps.
Classic misdirection.
If we're right, the last thing we have
to worry about is an attack in LA...
in two hours and 11 minutes.
What if we're wrong?
Delia Richards?
I don't know that name.
I've seen her.
At a bar... a month ago.
She want to meet to talk
about a potential
California Gold Taxi Service job.
I drove Paul to meet her.
Waited in the car outside.
- You sure it was her?
- Paul and I were sleeping together.
He meets up with a woman
who looks like this. I'd take notice.
He say what the job was about?
But whatever it was,
it shook him up.
He wouldn't give me any details.
He said that the woman
gave him stock tips.
Told him to sell everything
in his portfolio
and put it in gold and silver.
We dug
into Delia Richards' finances.
Over the past five years,
she made a small fortune
in the stock market as a day trader.
Her equities were handled
by an investment firm whose address
is a P.O. Box in the Cayman Islands.
It's rented by a woman
who used to work
for Justin Marchetti's old hedge fund.
What's the connection
between a day-trading physicist,
an ex-con money manager,
and a stolen nuke?
You found a map of Los Angeles
with nuclear blast
radiuses marked off,
and you kept it from me?
I made a judgment call.
If we told you, you'd have
report it to the Pentagon.
I'm the one who decides
whether or not we fulfill
these obligations, Mr. Callen.
I don't need your protection!
I need your trust!
And I need your help.
Marchetti is trying to play us.
And?
That's exactly
what we were just about to ask you.
The video said something
is going to happen at 6:30 a.m.
That's one hour from now.
- What happens at that time in L.A.?
- Start of rush hour.
A better question may be:
what happens on the East Coast,
where it will be 9:30 a.m.?
The New York Stock Exchange
opens for trading.
Terrorist attacks cause panic.
In times of panic,
people sell off their stocks.
The market plummets.
What happened on 9/11?
Everyone dumped
their airline stocks.
But a small group of people
sold their airline shares short
the day before and made a fortune.
Marchetti's got a terrorist
attack at his fingertips.
Doesn't have to detonate the nuke.
The threat would be enough
to crash the market.
If the public even thinks
jihadists stole that warhead,
it'll cause mass hysteria.
The video hasn't gone wide yet.
And the man isn't a jihadist.
He's sitting on inside information
that could make him billions.
All he has to do is
release that video,
sit back, and watch the market
do his bidding.
It'll be like the real estate
crash all over again,
except it'll be every business
all on the same day
at the same time.
We found what we were looking for
on Marchetti.
You need to look at this.
Dug up all real estate holdings
on Steve Brenner,
aka Justin Marchetti.
Last month he acquired
a factory called Festive Ceramics.
They produce dishes and plates.
Paint used on ceramics
contains high amounts of uranium...
Harmless but highly radioactive.
Any factory using it
registers off the charts
in the eyes of the
detection equipment.
Marchetti created a false positive,
the perfect smokescreen
to hide the nuke.
There's not much time
until the New York Stock Exchange opens.
We need to move on that factory now.
The shooters that hijacked it
are gonna be there.
Anything we should know?
They're not the type to stop
when you yell "freeze."
Lethal action has been authorized.
Sentries are down.
Very personal.
You're welcome.
Someone just accessed
the video on this laptop.
Could have been uploaded.
I've got the mirroring app
up and running.
What are you seeing?
Video footage hasn't been streamed
anywhere yet,
but they uploaded a copy
to a flash drive.
Kensi, take him!
Driver and passenger down.
Seven down, one man left.
Using the nuke for cover.
Don't miss.
Empty Quiver is secure.
- Need to stop it.
- Video is already in the cloud.
The autorun script executable
is about to go live.
I am almost there.
Video has been disabled, guys.
What did you just do?
I used a VNC controller
to piggyback the upload with a Trojan
and corrupt the streaming data packets
by initiating the stack buffer overflow.
In English, Mr. Beale.
I broke the Internet.
Help me!
You okay?
Drop it.
Sorry, it ain't over yet.
You're gonna have trouble
shooting me with that safety on.
That's going to leave a mark.
Get over there!
I got a question for you.
Wall Street guys are born losers,
and they get rich to compensate?
That's rhetorical.
You're a loser.
And you...
you looked a lot better
on camera, sweetheart.
What did Eric do with the video?
He shut down the Internet.
What, the whole Internet?
Twitter?
- What happens now?
- CHP has taken over the case.
It's not our call.
But they know you helped us.
Did you get him...
the guy who killed Paul?
We got him.
Turns out Marchetti was paying off
an intelligence officer
at Camp Pendleton.
It's how he knew the route
the warhead was taking.
Makes sense.
Is it true that you described Kensi
as "hilarious"?
I'm sorry, what?
- You don't remember that time?
- What time?
The time that...
Nell, come on, the time...
Right, that time.
It was funny because...
I just replay it in my head and...
Great.
In the future I will...
I will try to take things
more seriously.
I will try and lighten up.
I'd like that.
I would like that, too.
You do me a favor, though?
Don't ever laugh like that again.
It was terrifying.
That's what I'm talking about.
Thought I was done there
for a minute, huh?
California state taxi service
ain't no joke.
Protect, serve and get paid, huh?
It better all be in there.
Of course it's all there.
Are you guys looking
for another gig, huh?
Police escort.
It's my new way to floss, man.
What...
You're a grand short.
Make this right
or I'll skin those tattoos off
and hang 'em on the wall.
Last punch I took
was on the playground in second grade.
And what was the name of this bully?
Stephanie Petersmark.
- Girls punch boys they like.
- I didn't.
"I'll skin those tattoos off you
and hang 'em on my wall"?
You must not recognize Scarface-level
game when you hear it.
Never realized how much easier
the bad guys have it than we do.
All the time.
No rules, no loyalty.
No Hetty.
Mr. Yakuza is tagged and ready
for arrest at a later date.
A mere guppy in the sea of crime
compared to the sharks we're after.
So if you weren't a boy puncher,
what was your strategy?
I ignored them.
Paul, you here?
Paul, we got your cut
of the Yakuza deal.
Hang in there, buddy.
Who did this?
I turned down a new job.
Going too far this time.
You stop 'em.
Stop who?
Stop who, Paul?
He's gone.
2x16
Empty Quiver
.: UnderCovers Team :.
Is that an actual red alert?
Battle stations
that need to be manned?
Text message.
It's a text message.
- What was that look for?
- You're... you're very...
What?
You're very tightly wound.
- That's not true.
- It's true, all right?
Your personal electronics
are filled with intensity.
Is there something on
your mind, Deeks?
Is there?
Didn't think so.
You always need to drive.
You set your clocks 15 minutes fast.
You set my clocks 15 minutes fast.
Everything is a competition.
You have to have separate checks
at Starbucks.
You make fun of guys
that order nonfat lattes.
Do you have any idea
how exhausting it is
being your partner?
Do you have any idea
how exhausting it is
to hear you ramble on about the 2012
apocalypse earlier this morning?
Not the apocalypse, okay?
It's the galactic realignment.
Geomagnetic reversal.
Time wave zero, all right?
It's the Niburu collision.
You may know it as b'ak'tun 13.
I think you mean "bake" tun 13.
"Bake-tun?" Really? "Bake-tun?"
Your Mayan accent is terrible.
That's right.
Because astronomers were talking
about it last night at the bar.
Astronomers were at the bar
that you go to?
The one that sells condoms
at the vending machine?
Why is that so hard
for you to believe?
The bartender changed it
to the Discovery Channel
after the Lakers game,
but it felt very real to me.
Hetty, glad you showed up.
It's very difficult to take anything
that guy says seriously.
Says the most serious person
I've ever met in my entire life.
Deeks is a nice guy.
And Kensi is a nice girl.
- It's not her.
- It's not him.
It's us.
I don't believe it's a problem.
I'm hearing two people
who are beginning
to sound like partners.
Callen and Sam are waiting
for you guys in the ops center.
And it's pronounced...
"ba-aak" tun 13.
Of course it is.
- Nice of you to join us.
- Sorry. Got held up.
Deeks thinks the world ends in 2012.
Let me guess...
Jenkins' theory
on a Sagittarius-A black hole.
As a matter of fact, yes.
- He's mocking you.
- He's not mock...
An MP from Camp Pendleton
suspect that Marines are working
on something with some dirty cops.
It's a CHP crew.
They take bribes from criminals
for armed escorts and smuggling.
The call themselves the
California Gold Taxi Service.
LAPD calls them an urban legend.
LAPD's wrong. They're real.
Six months ago, we opened
an undercover investigation.
Sam and I infiltrated the group,
going in as corrupt cops.
We got inside,
we still have not been able
to make a link
between them and Pendleton.
Then the ringleader turned up
dead this morning.
His name's Paul Beane.
He left the CHP after surviving
a motorcycle accident
while on duty.
Paralyzed from the waist down.
He has a wife, but they maintain
separate residences.
She's not considered a suspect.
Beane turned down a job.
Apparently somebody wanted
to make sure he didn't talk.
Tight grouping, low caliber,
no exit wounds.
- Pros.
- He's a retired cop.
He must have had somebody
in the field... a point man.
Try point woman.
Officer Jennifer Grear.
She was Beane's partner
until his accident.
He'd find the jobs,
she'd pass on the orders
to California Gold Taxi Service cops.
They might have had a falling out.
If Grear didn't shoot Beane,
she might know who did.
So this op just shifted gears.
Something is about to go down.
It may or may not involve
Marines at Pendleton.
But we need to figure out
what it is and fast.
Grear's shift is coming up, so we're
gonna hit CHP headquarters and grab her.
- You two search her house.
- Done.
You're giving me a look.
Us riding these bikes means we don't get
talk like we normally do.
Whereas normally we ride in your car
and spend time talking about nothing.
Calling our banter nothing?
Not nothing, but I wouldn't say
that it qualifies as something.
Banter's the crux
of our partnership.
Without it, we'd be two guys with guns
drifting from one case to the next.
We are two guys with guns
drifting from one case to the next.
- Some people seek a higher meaning.
- Others play the hand they're dealt.
- When did the glass become half empty?
- Was it ever half full?
That's better.
But I still want my car back,
and these boots are killing me.
Exley, Powell.
- You see Grear?
- Never clocked in.
Guess who's stuck
pulling a double shift.
Tell her I only accept apologies
in the form of bourbon and cigars.
Am I really the most serious person
you've ever met?
It's a tie between you and this nun
who used to whack my hand with a ruler.
I'll have you know that I can be
a very funny individual.
- According to whom?
- People.
- Anyone I know?
- Nell.
- Sorry?
- Nell thinks I'm hilarious.
It's forced entry.
One, two, three.
- Clear.
- Clear.
This looks like a shootout
at the OK Corral.
Your instincts telling you anything?
Multiple shooters.
Blood trail.
Come this way.
Someone got hit about here.
And then they ran...
Impossible to say
how far they made it.
If they made it.
So was it Grear?
Or somebody else?
We analyzed spending patterns
for both Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear
over the past 24 hours.
And tried to establish a time line.
Turns out Beane frequented
a club in Hollywood
called Bare Elegance.
Credit card show
he was there last night.
Bare Elegance?A strip club.
Bikini bar. Big difference.
And about Grear?
She's got four credit cards
all maxed out,
and two bank accounts
in overdraft status.
Officer Grear's mother
is suffering from Alzheimer's.
Put her in a nursing home last year.
Wiped out her savings.
No one's seen Grear
since Paul Beane's murder.
She's either in hiding
or she's dead.
Kensi and I volunteer to go check out
the bikini bar in Hollywood.
Where did Grear's mother live
before the nursing home?
- A house in Van Nuys.
- If she's tapped out,
- it's probably still on the market.
- Correct.
I'll drive, you banter.
Are you aware of the difference
between bikini bars
- and strip clubs?
- Yeah, of course. There's...
Is there a difference? I've...
So let me get this straight:
strip club, no clothes, no booze.
Bikini bar, clothes, booze.
- Correct.
- And which do you prefer?
They both possess unique charms.
The apocalypse is tomorrow.
You got one last night.
That's a dilemma worthy
of King Solomon.
Bikini bar.
Bikini bar's definitely
my pre-apocalyptic choice.
I don't know whether that makes me
respect you more or less.
First date?
A girl can only do dinner
and a movie so many times.
She's cute, but her sense of humor
needs work.
You have no idea.
A buddy of mine,
he's always talking about this place.
Paul Beane.
You know him?
Yeah. He's an ex-cop in
a wheelchair.
We get CHP guys in here
all the time.
Half-off drinks with a badge.
He kept trying to get us
meet him here last night.
- Do you remember who he was with?
- Ask him yourself.
I wish that I could.
Some guy came in here looking for him,
and they got into it.
- We tossed the other dude out.
- What does he look like?
Forties.
Gold watch.
Thea frat boy look
with a bully vibe.
We need access
to the security cameras.
Those don't work.
I just put those in
for show... deterrence.
What were they arguing about?
Is Paul okay?
He was found dead this morning.
Oh, man...
I didn't hear any details.
Just one thing.
Overgrown frat boy told Paul
this was his last chance,
and if he said no,
that he'd kill him.
Last night, Paul Beane's
life was threatened.
Bar manager described him
as an "overgrown frat boy."
- He was wearing a gold watch.
- Grear still ran, though.
She pulled the trigger
or she's hiding from the killer.
Could be at her mom's house.
Nothing.
All right. I'll check...
Pull the trigger, Exley. Isn't that
what they're paying you for?
Easy!
Easy, Grear, easy! Struggling's only
gonna make it hurt worse.
Easy!
Don't move!
You're arresting me?
It's good to see you again, Grear.
Turn around.
You're not really CHP.
The boots looked funny on you.
Whoever killed Paul Beane
came after you next.
You were wounded, but escaped.
I'm not answering
until I see a lawyer.
We should kick you out on the street.
Give 'em a chance to finish the job.
Or find with us who killed Paul.
- Why would I care who killed Paul?
- You were partners.
That doesn't mean anything.
Just a man and a woman with guns,
drifting from case to case.
That it?
Most partners seek a higher meaning.
It helps them get through each day.
I don't know who killed Paul.
And I don't know who came after me.
- Did you get a look at the shooters?
- It happened fast.
- They wore hockey masks. Black ones.
- Why they want you dead?
Paul turned down the job.
The payoff was too big.
It made him nervous.
He said it involved military hardware.
Something serious.
So I told the rest of the
guys to walk away from it.
Military hardware's got to be
the connection to Camp Pendleton.
Maybe that's where
it started in the first place.
How long were
you two seeing each other?
How'd you know?
Wedding ring.
Sometimes Paul wore it,
sometimes he didn't.
I figured he was seeing someone
who wasn't his wife.
Paul's marriage was falling apart.
None of the guys I dated got
what I did for a living like he did.
- Anyone else know?
- No.
After the accident,
it changed him.
He went to this dark place.
You used his connections to start
the California Gold Taxi Service.
And you helped him.
I couldn't sell the house.
My mom's medical bills
were adding up and...
I want to help you.
Call your California Gold crew,
put out the word.
You got scared into taking the job.
Officers Exley and Powell
are gonna handle it.
How are you boys tonight?
As far as I'm concerned,
any night off duty is a good night.
Half-off drinks...
but not tips.
He's buying.
You bummed you're stuck
here with me?
Nah, it's for the best.
I can't go undercover in places
like this anymore.
All the dancers know and love me.
Must be your dashing personality.
It's not my money.
Right.
I have mystique.
And by "mystique" I don't mean
the brunette dancer inside the bar,
real name Kimberly.
Yay. Congratulations.
A go-go dancer told you her real name.
Patience, Kensi.
And by "Patience" I don't mean
the redhead that goes on
at 10:00 tonight, real name Jessica.
What?
That might be our guy right there,
chatting up the bouncer.
Frat-boy looks,
flashy gold watch.
Sam, Callen,
I think we got eyes on our man.
He's on his way in now.
Got him, Deeks.
He's got an entourage.
I'm Steve Brenner.
California Gold Taxi Service
speaks very highly of you two.
Never heard of it.
Heard you were asking
about Jennifer Grear
at the CHP motor pool earlier today.
Her old partner was murdered
this morning.
Paul Beane.
Never heard of him.
Sounds like we're running out
of things to talk about.
Maybe you should leave
before things get awkward.
We're in a bikini bar.
No such thing as awkward.
Hear me out.
You got 10 seconds.
I need a couple CHP cops
to pull off a job.
Word on the street is
you two don't scare easy.
What's the pay?
50 grand. Each.
What do we gotta do?
Black Range Rover driving
to Los Angeles from Vegas tomorrow.
Fire up some flares.
Create a roadblock.
Pull the driver out, give him a ticket.
Take him in for resisting arrest.
Once he's locked up, you get paid.
What's his name?
It's not important.
You want us to arrest the right guy,
we're gonna need a name.
Phil Crombie.
Ex-con.
Business rival of mine.
I need him off the street
so I can complete a deal.
What if we say no?
Ask Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear
how that worked out for them.
We're in.
I'll be in touch, gentlemen.
He didn't mention military
hardware or Pendleton.
What is this really about?
Sounds like we're about to find out.
Took these at the club last night.
Recognize them?
- None of these guys are CHP.
- They the ones that came after you?
They wore hockey masks. Could be them.
Could be someone else.
You regret getting involved now?
State's running out of money.
CHP's broke.
You got good cops being forced
into early retirement.
There's no such thing
as overtime anymore.
- We didn't think it'd come to this.
- It did.
Look, I'm not proud of
the California Gold Taxi Service,
but guys were losing their houses.
I regret it.
I think Paul regretted it, too.
Tell us more about the guys
who tried to kill you.
They're good. Trained.
- Like cops?
- Like military.
So "Steve Brenner" is an alias.
His real name's Justin Marchetti.
Did nine years in federal prison
for running a Ponzi scheme.
Some people thought he was
a Wall Street savant
until $20 million
of his clients' money disappeared.
Mostly retirement funds
and life savings.
His buddies are
all former French military, GIGN.
That's an elite
counterterrorist unit.
Their services don't come cheap.
And what do we have on Phil Crombie,
the guy Marchetti wants us to stop?
He did a dime in Folsom
for drugrafficking.
Released last year.
Currently employed by
a restaurant in Santa Monica.
What, did he graduate
from narcotics to military hardware?
It's got to be Marchetti.
All right.
Ready to start the trace.
The Range Rover
will be passing Marker 447
on Route 138 at exactly 4:00 p.m.
You sure Crombie's on board?
He's driving.
Don't screw it up.
He's using an encrypted sat phone.
Not even close.
We need to figure out if we're dealing
with narcotics or military hardware.
Go back to Paul Beane's garage.
See if anything turns up.
I've queried officials at Camp Pendleton
and numerous agencies.
There is no other operation
in play at this time.
Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna,
we still don't know
what we're getting ourselves into here.
Please, be careful.
Hopefully, this guy Crombie
can fill in some of the blanks.
Black Range Rover. Here we go.
License and registration.
Got off the phone
with Phil Crombie's boss.
He showed up for work
at the restaurant.
Callen, Sam, Crombie is not the one
in that Range Rover.
What's the problem, Officer?
Nothing personal.
They're wearing body armor!
- You okay?
- Vest took the hit.
They're Marchetti's guys.
- Don't you say it.
- You're welcome.
I.D. card
from the Department of Energy.
Shooters used plastic
explosives to level your bikes.
Probably think the blast
finished you guys off.
Where's the trailer?
Tracked it with satellite imagery.
Range Rover and trailer
were dumped a half mile away.
Found three more bodies.
Department of Energy security detail
riding in back with the cargo.
Department of Energy?
Took all of ten minutes
for these guys to become ghosts.
Found these scattered on the floor
of the Range Rover they left behind.
- Some kind of fruit.
- Teen bil kater.
Candy-coated figs
from the Middle East.
Doesn't track.
Marchetti's guys are French;
they're not Arab.
Counterterrorist operatives
don't become jihadists overnight.
So Beane's garage was a dead end.
You guys okay?
Could you repeat that?
Empty Quiver.
Indeed.
Empty Quiver, ladies and gentlemen.
What does Empty Quiver mean?
Empty Quiver is a Pentagon term.
It refers to the loss or theft
of a functioning nuclear weapon.
They stole a nuke?
What, and D.O.E. just decided
to take it on a road trip?
They ship trailers like this
across the highways every day.
The idea is to be low-profile.
They're unmarked and manned
by former Special Forces operators.
No one's been
any the wiser... until today.
The trailer contains
a warhead en route to refurbishment.
We were not informed
because of the sensitive nature
of the cargo.
- What's the yield?
- 100 kilotons.
Five times the power of the one
that leveled Hiroshima.
And how is the Department of Energy
handling this?
Discreetly.
If the media discovered,
it would be panic.
Nuclear Emergency Support Teams
have been deployed to scour the area
for its radioactive signature.
If these guys wanted to set off a nuke,
why haven't they done it already?
You need a nuclear physicist to arm it
and trigger the detonation.
A word.
The blame game has begun.
High-level officials
interested in covering
their own asses.
They're demanding to know
why the two NCIS agents on the scene
weren't able
to prevent the incident.
The word "investigation"
has already been bandied about.
It's pretty meaningless,
given what's at stake.
And politicking isn't our job.
It's mine!
- You don't have to protect us.
- Yes, I do.
And I've feared for years
that a day would come
when I wouldn't be able to.
I hope this isn't it.
There is only one solution.
Recover the warhead
before it can be used.
We just received a video.
White House just received this.
They're keeping it under wraps.
Don't want to create panic.
There's the warhead.
Says "Pan-Islamic Brotherhood"
in Arabic.
- Never heard of them.
- Neither have I.
I'm Dr. Delia Richards.
I'm a nuclear physicist.
These men have a nuclear warhead
in their possession.
They're forcing me to arm it.
"Judgment Day has arrived.
"In three hours,
"the American people
"will feel the fear of not knowing
who will die
"or when."
Three hours from now is 6:30 a.m.
Video doesn't specify a target.
Employed by Golden State Tech.
Formerly employed
by Trecdel Electronics.
The weapons manufacturer.
Worked in R&D
at their Maryland plant.
Cutting-edge tech.
She was originally recruited
by the Dpt of Energy out of school,
but went private sector instead.
Specializes in applied physics,
not theoretical. Which means...
- She can arm the warhead.
- Must be why they chose her.
Since when do Wall Street guys
start working with Wahhabi Muslims?
Marchetti's guy don't match
the profile for martyrs.
Something's off.
Tell Golden State Tech security
we need full access
to Dr. Richards's office.
I checked it out.
There's nothing on the NEST sensors.
- Signs of struggle.
- I'll keep looking.
NEST teams are drawing a blank.
A nuke signature has
to be more radioactive
than anything else around it or else
detection equipment can't find it.
LA's filled with things
that throw sensors off.
We're talking buildings,
vehicles, people.
So what's the best way to transport
a nuke without getting caught?
Bananas.
Lots of bananas.
Bananas are high in potassium.
Potassium's radioactive.
If I was hiding a nuke, I'd hide it
in a truck loaded full of them.
Fooling the sensor
by creating a false positive.
One look inside,
they're gonna wave it along.
It's two radiuses.
The first one measures
a blast originating in downtown LA.
The second one measures the effects
of a nuclear fallout.
We need to tell Hetty.
Not yet.
Hetty will have to
inform the Pentagon.
They'll evacuate the city.
What if that's exactly
what Marchetti wants?
Guys who are capable of pulling off
a hijacking operation like that
don't accidentally
forget their maps.
Classic misdirection.
If we're right, the last thing we have
to worry about is an attack in LA...
in two hours and 11 minutes.
What if we're wrong?
Delia Richards?
I don't know that name.
I've seen her.
At a bar... a month ago.
She want to meet to talk
about a potential
California Gold Taxi Service job.
I drove Paul to meet her.
Waited in the car outside.
- You sure it was her?
- Paul and I were sleeping together.
He meets up with a woman
who looks like this. I'd take notice.
He say what the job was about?
But whatever it was,
it shook him up.
He wouldn't give me any details.
He said that the woman
gave him stock tips.
Told him to sell everything
in his portfolio
and put it in gold and silver.
We dug
into Delia Richards' finances.
Over the past five years,
she made a small fortune
in the stock market as a day trader.
Her equities were handled
by an investment firm whose address
is a P.O. Box in the Cayman Islands.
It's rented by a woman
who used to work
for Justin Marchetti's old hedge fund.
What's the connection
between a day-trading physicist,
an ex-con money manager,
and a stolen nuke?
You found a map of Los Angeles
with nuclear blast
radiuses marked off,
and you kept it from me?
I made a judgment call.
If we told you, you'd have
report it to the Pentagon.
I'm the one who decides
whether or not we fulfill
these obligations, Mr. Callen.
I don't need your protection!
I need your trust!
And I need your help.
Marchetti is trying to play us.
And?
That's exactly
what we were just about to ask you.
The video said something
is going to happen at 6:30 a.m.
That's one hour from now.
- What happens at that time in L.A.?
- Start of rush hour.
A better question may be:
what happens on the East Coast,
where it will be 9:30 a.m.?
The New York Stock Exchange
opens for trading.
Terrorist attacks cause panic.
In times of panic,
people sell off their stocks.
The market plummets.
What happened on 9/11?
Everyone dumped
their airline stocks.
But a small group of people
sold their airline shares short
the day before and made a fortune.
Marchetti's got a terrorist
attack at his fingertips.
Doesn't have to detonate the nuke.
The threat would be enough
to crash the market.
If the public even thinks
jihadists stole that warhead,
it'll cause mass hysteria.
The video hasn't gone wide yet.
And the man isn't a jihadist.
He's sitting on inside information
that could make him billions.
All he has to do is
release that video,
sit back, and watch the market
do his bidding.
It'll be like the real estate
crash all over again,
except it'll be every business
all on the same day
at the same time.
We found what we were looking for
on Marchetti.
You need to look at this.
Dug up all real estate holdings
on Steve Brenner,
aka Justin Marchetti.
Last month he acquired
a factory called Festive Ceramics.
They produce dishes and plates.
Paint used on ceramics
contains high amounts of uranium...
Harmless but highly radioactive.
Any factory using it
registers off the charts
in the eyes of the
detection equipment.
Marchetti created a false positive,
the perfect smokescreen
to hide the nuke.
There's not much time
until the New York Stock Exchange opens.
We need to move on that factory now.
The shooters that hijacked it
are gonna be there.
Anything we should know?
They're not the type to stop
when you yell "freeze."
Lethal action has been authorized.
Sentries are down.
Very personal.
You're welcome.
Someone just accessed
the video on this laptop.
Could have been uploaded.
I've got the mirroring app
up and running.
What are you seeing?
Video footage hasn't been streamed
anywhere yet,
but they uploaded a copy
to a flash drive.
Kensi, take him!
Driver and passenger down.
Seven down, one man left.
Using the nuke for cover.
Don't miss.
Empty Quiver is secure.
- Need to stop it.
- Video is already in the cloud.
The autorun script executable
is about to go live.
I am almost there.
Video has been disabled, guys.
What did you just do?
I used a VNC controller
to piggyback the upload with a Trojan
and corrupt the streaming data packets
by initiating the stack buffer overflow.
In English, Mr. Beale.
I broke the Internet.
Help me!
You okay?
Drop it.
Sorry, it ain't over yet.
You're gonna have trouble
shooting me with that safety on.
That's going to leave a mark.
Get over there!
I got a question for you.
Wall Street guys are born losers,
and they get rich to compensate?
That's rhetorical.
You're a loser.
And you...
you looked a lot better
on camera, sweetheart.
What did Eric do with the video?
He shut down the Internet.
What, the whole Internet?
Twitter?
- What happens now?
- CHP has taken over the case.
It's not our call.
But they know you helped us.
Did you get him...
the guy who killed Paul?
We got him.
Turns out Marchetti was paying off
an intelligence officer
at Camp Pendleton.
It's how he knew the route
the warhead was taking.
Makes sense.
Is it true that you described Kensi
as "hilarious"?
I'm sorry, what?
- You don't remember that time?
- What time?
The time that...
Nell, come on, the time...
Right, that time.
It was funny because...
I just replay it in my head and...
Great.
In the future I will...
I will try to take things
more seriously.
I will try and lighten up.
I'd like that.
I would like that, too.
You do me a favor, though?
Don't ever laugh like that again.
It was terrifying.