The Shield (2002–2008): Season 6, Episode 2 - Baptism by Fire - full transcript

NARRATOR:
Previously on The Shield:

KAVANAUGH:
He screwed my ex-wife
with the sole purpose

of making this investigation
seem like a personal vendetta.

This guy's just pissing...
He's pissing all over us.

I've made your coffee.
Now, I've been patient.
You need to go.

Okay, stop. Stop. Stop!

I'm gonna take a deal.
I gotta report for processing
tomorrow morning.

We got a way for you to
get to Mexico. We got money
parked in an account for you.

It's all set up.
I'm not going that route.

They're gonna make you
give us up. Why did you
even come back here tonight

if you weren't
planning on leaving?



Shane?

We're gonna find out who did this,

and we're gonna kill him.

It's Guardo. We stepped on
his drug protection play twice.

Killing Lem was a message
to stay away.

You've murdered two
of your own team members.

You're done with Mackey.
You're off.

I have proof
that Vic had Lemansky killed.

I say that Vic used me
as a middleman
to set up the hit on his guy.

I'm just trying to get you
to tell the truth.

It's just somebody else's truth,
that's all.

You got Emolia to lie for you.

You just stepped onto
an entirely new playing field.

I hope you know
the rules of the game.



RONNIE: Sorry. Claudette had us
running down a lead on
the San Marcos house slaughter.

VIC:
I thought that was
Robbery-Homicide.

SHANE:
They get their loafers dirty
knocking on doors.

Who's the bag of bones?
VIC: Jupo Nunez.

Founding father
of the Salvadoran gang.

Granted parole yesterday
after 50 years of a life sentence.

RONNIE: Why the early release?
VIC: He's terminal. Lung cancer.

[COUGHING]

VIC:
Hey.

You think you can
hang on long enough
to answer a few questions?

JUPO: Do I know you?
VIC: Vic Mackey.

You're before my time.

But your male nurse
probably heard of me.

He's the Farmington cop, Grandpa.
Had the run-ins with Guardo.

You're the one raging war against us.
Came to tear down a dying man?

My beef's with Guardo.
He calls the shots now.

I built this gang
from the ground up.

Guardo, all of them,
owe me everything.

Leaving you here
to live in paradise
after a lifetime of service.

It's one hell of a pension plan.

You came here to insult me?

I came to give you a chance
to salvage your life's work.

Now, you give me Guardo.

I turn on one of my own,
I disgrace myself.

The Salvadorans lost their honour
after Guardo killed a cop.

You old-school guys,
you knew never to do that.

In return, we showed you
a level of respect.

Giving him up is a step towards
restoring the glory days.

I don't know he killed one of you.
VIC: We do.

Besides, maybe a new leader
would have a better
sense of history.

How to treat their heroes.

The new generation,
no respect for the rules.

It's disgraceful.

What's worse is
kids like your grandson here

are gonna have to pay the price
for that disrespect.

That gat he's hiding under
his shirt? That's a felony.

Who knows what else
I might find if I decide
to be a hard ass?

Guardo killed an officer?

All I have is a number.

It's where we call him
to give him a message.

Vic, it's Asher.
VIC: What's going on?

I'm at your house
serving a search warrant.

For what?
I don't know.

Well, who's there?
Kavanaugh,

Wagenbach, Captain Wyms.

Is there anything
you need me to do?
Anything to clean up?

No, there's nothing
to find. But thanks
for the heads up, though.

Jesus Christ.
Kavanaugh's at my place.

He's got a search warrant.
Based on Emolia's bullshit story?

Hey, hey. Is there something
that I need to know?

What the hell's
that supposed to mean?

Is there anything there to find?

About Lem or anything else?
No.

DUTCH: Nothing in Vic's closet. You?
Just leftovers.

DUTCH:
Did you look in the trash?

This is a brand-new jacket.
Garbage is what God made unis for.

Thought you were gonna take
a personal day.

It's Thursday. I figured
I'll take it tomorrow,
get the three-day weekend.

Check the bathroom, would you?

Claudette!

Claudette.

Yeah.
Found this balled up in the trash.

The circled area is where
Portillo Auto Body is.

Where Lemansky was killed.
Yeah.

Mackey said
he'd never been there.

We should keep looking
because if he's this sloppy,

maybe there's more.

You've read the statement?
Swear it's entirely truthful?

Everything about
Detective Mackey?

EMOLIA: Yes.
CLAUDETTE: Okay. Sign and date here.

Finished the search
of Vic's house
and found these.

This is a matchbook
from Tama's Costura.

Where Emolia's
been working.

Vic said he hadn't seen
or spoken to her since
he cut her off as an informant.

Of course, we don't know
when he picked up
the matchbook.

Five hundred dollars cash
tucked inside his yellow pages.

The exact amount that
Emolia said Vic offered
to give Lem up to Guardo.

Vic or the other guys return our calls?
Not yet.

Was the cash loose
in the phone book?

BILLINGS:
No, it was in that envelope.

Send it to the crime lab,
see if you can get Vic's
prints off of it.

Fine, but if you ask me,
this is all bullshit.

There's no way Vic offed
one of his own guys.

DISPATCH:
- 451 Jefferson.
Original call was placed by security...

RONNIE:
Phone number tracks here.
Nydia Hernandez.

I knocked.
No one answered.

So, what now?
We go inside. Wait for Guardo.

Take him someplace private,
find out how he got close to Lem.

Then we're gonna kill him
and anybody else involved.

All units stand by
for crime broadcast.

Wanted for questioning,
Detective Vic Mack ey.

Farmington detectives
requesting any information

on his current location.
All units...

SHANE:
They must have found
something in your house.

There's nothing to find.
Why else would they issue an APB?

Why don't we just go back
to the Barn, see what
the hell they found,

and clean this mess up
right now before we dig
ourselves in any deeper?

Now may be
our last shot at Guardo.

He's right.

We're all clear.

VIC: Looks like she's Guardo's cooch.
What are we gonna do with her?

I don't have too much concern
for Guardo's loved ones.

[###]

All right. Someone's here.
Don't get trigger happy.

I want this guy alive
long enough to
ask him questions.

NYDIA:
Hola. Es Nydia.

Esta Guardo?

[NYDIA SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

Shit, he's not there.
NYDIA: Gracias.

[PHONE BEEPS]

SHANE:
What's she doing now?

She's making lunch.

How's the new foot patrol going?

It's okay, but community
relations is boring.

We're not getting any action.

You know, putting a friendly face
on the department is important.

People need to feel comfortable
bringing their problems to us.

Robbery-Homicide faxed this over.

It's a composite of a man

seen leaving the site of
the San Marcos house murders.

Get copies made. Pass it on.

If you're here to get an update
on Vic, I'm too busy.

I'll try to find someone
to get you up to speed.

I might have to wait a while.
The cupboard down there
looks pretty bare.

Half my men are out looking for Vic,
the other half are helping RHD

with this house slaughter.

Would it make your life
any easier if I could get
you additional personnel?

Cops, I need. A future bill
in my mailbox, I don't.

You've been captain for a week.

Your homicide rate's quadrupled.
What are you talking about?

The San Marcos triangle's
a no-man's land

between Wilshire, Central
and Farmington.

The body count should've been
divided out in equal percentages.

Their captains managed to dump
all 12 on you.

How'd they do that?
Well, you're low on the totem pole.

It just happened.

Crime stats will go down.
All I need is time to make my imprint.

Actually, things are
only gonna get tougher.

The Mexican Police Authority
is consolidating three prisons.

So any inmates with three years
or less left on their sentences
are being released.

Based on gang affiliations,
you can expect a large influx

to cross the border
and end up in Farmington.

Some are probably already here.

Okay. How does this work?

Well, I file the paperwork
for a budget bump.

As far as the Wilshire
and Central captains,
I'll try to persuade them

to even out the percentages
so that our district
doesn't take the entire hit.

It's that easy?
No. But that's how it is.

Now, what can you tell me
about Mackey?

RONNIE:
Jesus, how long does it take
to eat a salad?

SHANE:
Just be glad she didn't
have to take a dump.

All right, she's gone.

[BEEPING]

International prefix.
Guardo's in Mexico. Goddamn it.

SHANE:
We're just gonna
have to wait, then.

VIC:
Not necessarily.

We can't rush this.
We gotta handle it right.

There's an APB out for me.
This doesn't wait.

Look, neither one of you
can be seen with me.

Means I gotta do this
on my own.

Why don't you go
back to the Barn,
be my eyes and ears?

Gather as much intel
as you can.

MAN:
Hang on, let me check.

[MUSIC PLAYS ON CAR STEREO]

You lied to me, Aldo.
You told me you didn't know
where Guardo was.

You keep coming around here
asking questions,

the Salvadorans are gonna
sniff it out. You want me killed?

You lie to me again,
I'll do it for them.

Guardo's in San Miguel. Why?

Last favour I have to do for you.
Fine.

He's bringing a load of
scrips up next week.

Mexi gangs are making
a big play
into the game.

How long's he been in Mexico?

Far as I know,
just a couple days.

Where's your cell phone?

Now leave the keys and
get out. Now get out.

I'll return it with a full tank.

CLAUDETTE:
Where have you two been?

Running that lead for
Robbery-Homicide.
What's going on?

We've been calling
your phones all morning.
Why didn't you pick up?

We turned them off. We were
in the field. We didn't
wanna blow our cover.

RONNIE:
The only reason we're here
is we heard the APB out on Vic.

You got a search warrant
for his house?

I can't discuss the details.

When was the last time
you saw Vic?

He called this morning to say
he was taking a personal day.

Wagenbach and I
need to speak with you two.

Yeah. Yeah, let's get
this cleared up.

KAVANAUGH:
Your official statement taken
the night Lemansky died

says neither you, Vic
or Gardocki had ever been
to Portillo Auto Body.

Yeah, that sounds right.

So why did Vic have a map
of the Portillo Auto Body
in his house?

DUTCH:
Emolia told us that Vic
was gonna give her $500

to deliver Lem
to the Salvadorans.

We found that exact amount
in an envelope with Vic's prints on it.

You think Vic set Lem up?

You're crazier
than that ex-wife of his.

Emolia made numerous calls
to her Salvadoran contacts

prior to Lemansky's death.

Emolia was outed as a snitch.
She was probably calling

to beg for her life.
That doesn't prove anything.

So how do you explain
all this other evidence here?

I don't know. Maybe...
Maybe Emolia planted it.
Or you did.

That's... That's gold. Please, go on.
I really wanna hear this one.

Well, you investigated Vic for
six months, you had every resource

the department had
available to you,
you came up with nothing.

Now in the few days
after Lem dies,

you produce a CI willing
to testify against him,

and the evidence
to prove it? Come on, man.

Sounds like you know
a lot about telling tall tales
and planting evidence.

Practise makes perfect, right?

Vic didn't kill Lem.
He's being set up.

Look, it's no secret
things ended ugly
between Vic and Emolia.

Maybe this is just
bitch's revenge.

KAVANAUGH:
So why'd Vic run?

Why isn't he here defending himself?
Answering our questions
instead of you?

He probably doesn't even know
you're looking for him!

Dutchboy, come on, man.
Are you really buying
this bullshit?

KAVANAUGH:
The evidence is right here.
It's right here.

The only question is
what your involvement is.

Vic? It's too late for him.

You tell us where he's hiding,
maybe you can save yourself.

[BOTH SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

An old amigo of mine
bunking down in San Miguel.

His name's Guardo Lima. I need you
to repatriate him to the States.

I'm looking for an amigo too.
Byz Lat soldier.

Rumour is he's in East L.A.

Rocha Garrenzi.

Wanted for three
murder-for-hires
in Mexico City.

Got his address, aliases.
Why couldn't you
bust him down there?

He was protected.
Married a bigshot
cattle rancher's daughter.

Rocha got tired of milking
the same heifer.

Took off with her two ni?os.

VIC: I know about
some Mexican drugs
coming into town.

Might have some leverage.
If Rocha's arrested in L.A.

the case could get caught up
in international courts.

The mother and the rich grandparents
are looking for a quicker solution.

They're willing to pay.
I'll cut you in.

What about Rocha?

I don't care what you do with him.
I just need the kids.

I'll meet you back here.

Oh, yeah. What did this Guardo do?
Why do you want him?

He killed my friend.

[PHONE RINGING]

Yeah?
Hey, it's me.

I tried to reach Shane,
but he wouldn't answer.

Well, he's up in interrogation
with Kavanaugh and Dutch.

What? What's going on?
RONNIE: It's not good.

Asher said they found a map

of Portillo's Auto Body
in your garbage.

Also a matchbook from
the shop Emolia's
been working at.

Someone must have
put them there.

They're building a case.
You gotta get back here
and fight it.

They can't prove anything.
I didn't do anything.

It's one thing to have
Emolia's statement.

Now they got
corroborating evidence.

Just stay put
and k eep your ears open.

Call Reyes' gang task force.

Find out which Byz Lat is the current
king shithead over in East L.A.

I'll call back in five.

I hear they found evidence on Vic.
Yeah.

Maybe a little too much.
What do you mean?

You ever hear
of Ockham's razor?

The simplest answer
is usually the right one?

Good. Now apply that
to the Lemansky case.

All this evidence is pointing to Vic.

Ockham's razor
would suggest he's guilty.

Walter of Chatton was
a contemporary of Ockham's.
Disputed the razor.

Coined his own anti-razor.
What's that?

Chatton believed that
the world was too complex,

with too many variables
to assume that the simplest answer

was always the correct one.

Okay.

What do you think's going on?

The Salvadorans had
a contract out on your life,
yet you never left town.

Why not just hightail it out of here?
I won't talk to anyone but Jon.

DUTCH: Kavanaugh's
not here, and you need
to answer my questions.

Only reason I'm in this mess
is because of you assholes.

What's this?

I'm exploring another angle.
I'll catch you up later.

Catch me up now.

Okay. We know Emolia was greenlit.

What if she was trying
to gain favour with Guardo
to save her life?

Cut a deal with him?
They kill Lemansky,
she pins it on Vic.

Mackey's out there right now
and you're wasting time
talking to her?

This interrogation is over.

No, it's not.
I'm not finished yet.

We need every cop we have
out looking for Vic.

Private tutoring might buy you
favour with your hot unis,

but it doesn't get us any closer
to scooping up Mackey.

If you weren't spending your time
exploring potshot theories

and doing your job
like you were supposed to,
we'd have Vic here right now

and not some innocent witness.
Come on, Emolia.

[KNOCKING]

What's up?

I have some concerns about keeping
Wagenbach on the Lemansky case.

Why?
KAVANAUGH: I know he's your guy,

but we may have
a perception problem should
this case ever go to trial.

How?

A good defence lawyer
could argue

that Dutch's past relationship with
Corrine has strained his objectivity.

Dutch is protecting Vic
for his ex-wife's sake?

Their relationship is no secret.

They could argue that
he has a personal stake in this.

Well, what about
the personal nature
of the case with you?

I'm still an outsider.

IAD's always gonna have
an adversarial relationship

with the people
that we investigate.

But with the way
this case is breaking,

with the evidence that we have
to back it up,

this could be a big win for you.

Finally getting Mackey
off the street.

They're building a murder case
against him.

And it might actually stick.

We can't let him take this hit.

You know, what if...

What if I said
that I was with Lem
or something?

You know, I mean,
I had a grenade from the bust.

It just went off by accident.

Making up some bullshit story's
not gonna help.

Plus you'd be admitting
to aiding and abetting.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

We gotta do something for Vic.

The longer he's in the wind,
the guiltier he looks.

[MUSIC PLAYS ON STEREO]

PETRO:
Hey, slow your roll, homes.

What's your business?

I'm here to see Santi.

PETRO:
Nobody sees jefe without
an appointment or a warrant.

Besides, I know the local swines,
and I don't recognise your face.

I work Farmington.

Same place your shipment of Mexican
scrips is headed to next week.

I don't get to break bread
with Santi,

those scrips are gonna end up
in my evidence locker.

[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

All right, let's go.

All right, I need your gun.

City issue. I can't do that.

Well, then you can't see Santi.

There. No bullets work for you?

Take a hit. Relax, ?se.

No, thanks.
I'm good with the contact high.

SANTl:
So, what brings you
to the East Side?

I need a location on a Byz Lat
still drying the Rio off his back.

Name's Rocha.

So let me guess.

I hand him over,
and my scrips
make it into town.

Great minds think alike.

Rocha's valuable to the bosses.
More valuable than your scrips?

You don't wanna bust
that shipment, friend.

You're not giving me
any other choice.

You bust it, you're declaring war.

Not only on the Byz Lats,
on all the Mexi gangs.

VIC:
I didn't know there was a peace.

I'm gonna give you
some money for your time.

You forget my face
and the scrips.

I don't need your money.
I need Rocha.

I'm offering you an olive branch.

If you prefer shock and awe,
I can arrange that too.

Back off, pendejo.

TITO:
Watch it, homes.
Little homey's shitfaced.

Junior missed the short bus
to school today.

Tell him to lower that weapon.

[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

I ain't afraid of no cops. I'll do it.

MACEO:
You got no bullets, cerdo.

Or all that smoke
make you forget?

I got one in the chamber, dickhead.

Your homeys were
too stoned to notice.

One of you shoots me,

my muscle twitch
takes out your bad boy here.

So either you and I are gonna leave
this basement together

or we're gonna leave this life
together.

You decide.

[MAN WHISTLES]

Make it alright.

[SANTI SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

VIC:
Stay back.

Back off.

You got until the next red
to tell me where Rocha is.

He's putting a hit on a One-Niner,
jumped my lieutenant.

Which One-Niner? Which one?

Which one? It's going yellow.

Name's Big G. He deals
on Eighth and Alameda.

By Colvin High?
When's this going down?

Later today.
All right. Rocha doesn't show up,

or you warn him, and I'm gonna
show up with a hell of a lot more
than one in the chamber.

Now get the hell out.

Well, shit, man,
at least slow down, ?se.

Get out!
Slow down, man.

[GRUNTING]

Big G.

Check y'all niggas later,
all right? Yeah, so?

Your lucky day. Someone's
planning on killing you.
I actually give a shit.

Then I guess I best
be going, then, right?

You're not going anywhere.
The killer can't find you,
then he can't kill you.

And that's gonna be
a problem for me.

What if this vato does
a drive-by, gets some shots off
before you get to him?

This guy's a pro.
He's gonna step right up to you,

put two in your chest,
and one in your head.

Oh, and that's supposed to
make me feel better, right?

Get back to your spot.

Hey, thanks for coming in.

Two unmarked police sedans
have been parked outside
my house all day long.

I was a cop's wife long enough
to know that there's trouble.

When was the last time
you saw or spoke to Vic?

Last night. He said someone was
trying to pin Lem's murder on him.

A warrant was filed
for his arrest this morning.

For what? For Lem's murder?

He would never in a million years.

The evidence is pointing
in that direction.

What evidence? Oh, my God.
You don't believe this, do you?

I mean, there's no way that
he would ever do anything.

Kavanaugh's generated some proof.

Listen, you need to
prepare yourself for this
to go either way.

You need to start
preparing the kids, okay?

Corrine, wait...
What are you doing to my husband?

Ex-husband.
I know that you hate Vic.

But that doesn't give you
the right to destroy my family.

Vic had Lemansky killed
because he was a threat.

The evidence proves it.
CORRINE: I don't believe you.

I don't believe any of this.

Let's go somewhere else,
so we can talk in private.

Get off of me. Where do you
wanna go, to my house? Huh?

You wanna put your hands
all over me again?
Pin me up against the door?

Try to screw me
to get back at Vic

in some demented, twisted way?

I only asked you questions.

Yeah, right.
You used your badge
to get into my house

and then you tried to touch me.

I didn't feel safe.

Um, Corrine...
No, listen to me. He...

He entered my house
under false pretences.

And then he tried
to sexually assault me.

I wanna file charges.

Are you sure about this?

Either take my statement
or I'm gonna file charges
somewhere else.

VIC:
Just stay there.

[GRUNTS]

[GUNSHOTS]

Drop it!

All right, where are you
keeping your kids?

Who the hell are you?

Your father-in-law hired me.

All he wants are the kids.

You tell me where they're at,
and I'll let you go.

The cavalry's gonna
show up any minute.

The Moreland Motel, Room 8.
All right. Good.

ROCHA:
What about letting me go, man?

Yeah, I feel like shit about that.

How's Corrine?
She's filing charges.

Sticking to her guns.
Attempted sexual ag.

You believe her?
I believe she believes it.

I wouldn't have thought
Kavanaugh was capable of
something like that.

CLAUDETTE:
Makes you wonder what else
he's capable of.

Yesterday, you insinuated
Emolia might've been lying.

Setting Vic up.
Today, not a peep. Why?

Maybe considering everything
we suspect Vic's done,

you see him going down for this
as some sort of

karmic justice,
whether he did or not.

I know he's a bad guy.

The evidence is the evidence.

It's tempting to let
sleeping dogs lie,

especially when the dog's
as rabid as Vic.

But I've got one chance

to right this ship, Dutch.

To do it, I have to put an end
to a pattern

of silent deals and
moral exchanges that have
steered this place off course.

That means to pursue the truth,

and the truth only.

Yesterday I thought Emolia
was lying to me.

I still do.

I can't prove it, but I'm starting
to think that Kavanaugh's
the one that fed her the lie.

It's one thing believing Vic's innocent.

But to accuse Kavanaugh
of setting Vic up,

that's a whole other can of worms.
He's already lied to me once.

He said he met Emolia
yesterday at Sid's Coffee.

I pulled footage from the
101 freeway cam. Sid's is clear.

No Kavanaugh. No Emolia.

The truth may not always lead us
down the path we want,

but it's the only way
to fix this place.

Get Emolia, bring her
back down here.

GIRL:
Mommy! Mommy!

You brought their mother?
She insisted on coming.

Where's Guardo?

I'm really sorry, I couldn't get to him.
That's bullshit.

You didn't tell me
how connected he is.

Couldn't get close enough
to talk to him, let alone
shanghai him.

I don't give a shit how connected
he is. I kept my part of the deal.
I expect you to keep yours.

He's got too many
people on his payroll.
It's impossible, I'm sorry.

Maybe he's got you on his payroll.
Look, I'll make it up to you.

These people are paying me well
for delivering these kids.

I'll increase your cut. Plus,

ask any other favour.

I don't want your goddamn
money, I want Guardo.

I'm sorry, but there's
nothing I can do.

Goddamn it.

All right,

can you get close enough to him
to give him a message?

I might be able to do that.
Then you meet me here in two hours.

Oh, no. No, I understand. It's just...

I'll call you back.

Uh, Captain, why is Emolia here?
I need to ask her some questions.

Great, I'll come with you.

I'd prefer some
alone time with her.

But you can't question her
without me being there.

The last time I checked
I was captain of this house, not you.

You wanna watch,
there's a front-row seat for you
in the observation room.

KAVANAUGH:
It's part of her deal.

She's been burned
by the people here before.

And I promised her
I wouldn't leave her alone.

Fine. But you're just listening.

Emolia, I'm the one
who said those things
about Sebastio, it wasn't Vic.

He always took care of you two,
you know that.

SHANE:
Come on, Emolia, please,
don't do this to him.

Emolia.

CLAUDETTE:
I love this room.
It's my fav ourite one here.

EMOLIA:
It's kind of ugly.

Cold.

It's not much to look at,

but it brings the truth out
in people.

I've fixed a lot of wrongs
inside these walls.

That's what we do in here, Emolia:

Find the truth.
I already told you the truth.

That bullshit story you've been
spinning about Vic?
I don't buy it.

EMOLIA: That's your problem, then.
Guardo wanted to have you killed.

You made up a story
about Vic so that you could
get witness protection.

Now, does that sound about right?

You can answer her,
it's all right, it's okay.

Vic wanted Lem dead.
Gave me his location
to give to Guardo, that's it.

Officer Lowe.
Officer Asher, I need you.

I want you out of this room.

That's not gonna happen.
The assistant chief himself...

CLAUDETTE:
I don't care what deal you made.

Either you leave this room
on your own

or I'll have these two officers
do it for you.

You gonna be okay?
Yeah.

CLAUDETTE:
I've read your jack et.

You've been in a lot of trouble,

but nothing like this pissing match
between Vic and Kavanaugh.

I'm getting witness protection.
Starting a new life.

I'm doing okay.
You're not doing okay.

You're trapped. You're scared.

You're living in fear.

You're Ping-Ponging
between these two men

who have done nothing
but use and abuse you.

And I'd have more sympathy
for you except you let them
do it for a buck.

EMOLIA: For my son.
CLAUDETTE: Your son?

What are you gonna tell your son
about this time of your life?

That you let Vic and Kavanaugh
steal away your soul?

Or that you were lost and
found the strength to free yourself?

I know you're scared.
I'd be too.

But I can offer you
a way out if you let me.

How?
First, you have to tell me the truth.

You've helped this department
out before,

and I can see about
arranging protection.

I am offering you a way

to be rid of these men forever.
Tak e it.

Because they're leading you
down a path that
is destroying you,

your son...

and everything around you,
and you know it.

Everything will be all right.

It's gonna be okay, I promise.

I need to...

Need to talk to Captain Wyms.

I have to talk to her, please.
It's okay, it's okay.

EMOLIA:
Promise you'll protect me?

CLAUDETTE:
I'll do everything in my power.

But first you gotta
tell me the truth.

I fed her the story.

Coerced her statement.
Planted the evidence
in Mackey's house.

But I framed a guilty man.

VIC:
You guys make sure
you weren't tailed?

Yeah, where's Guardo?
Tonio boned me.

Couldn't bag the whale.

RONNIE:
Well, what do we do now?

Switch bait. Nydia home?
Yeah.

Hey, hey, hey, man.

RONNIE: What's the plan?
Just follow my lead.

[KNOCKING]

VIC: Nydia Hernandez?
NYDIA: Yes.

Detective Mackey.

This is Detective Vendrell
and Gardocki.

NYDIA:
What's going on?

We have information
that someone's planning
on kidnapping you.

NYDIA:
What?

Our department's been investigating
a Mexican drug lord named Salceda.

An informant of ours
has told us that he's...

That he's planning to kill
your boyfriend, Guardo,

to take over his
drug-protection business.

I don't know any Guardo.

You're not his girlfriend?
No, never heard of the guy.

Well, then maybe we're looking
for another Nydia Hernandez.

Well, I'm sorry to disturb you.
If you're not his girlfriend,

you got nothing to worry about.

NYDIA:
Wait.

Guardo told me never
to talk to cops.

Why would someone
want to kidnap me?

It's Guardo Salceda wants,

but he's in Mexico.

Our CI has learned that he

plans on kidnapping you
to use you as bait

to lure Guardo back to L.A.

We were worried we weren't
gonna get to you in time.

We need to get you
into a safe house

while we hunt down Salceda.

I should call Guardo, warn him.

VIC:
No, we don't know who's listening
on his side of the line.

Our intel says it's an inside job.

We have to move you now.

How long is this gonna take?
A day, two at the most.

Ronnie will take you
to the safe house immediately.

We'll pack some clothes
for you and meet you there,
all right?

Come on, we better get going.

Okay.

What the hell are you doing?
What the hell are you doing? Vic?

Just pack, I'll explain later.

Never cheated on anything before.

The first time I do, I get caught

taking the dirtiest man I ever met
off the street.

You set another cop up for murder.

Threw away your career.
I fail to see the humour.

[KAVANAUGH LAUGHS]

I guess I didn't have practise

planting evidence, manipulating
witnesses and covering my tracks.

You sacrificed your integrity
for Vic Mackey.

You were better than that.
You used to be better than him.

I still am.

CLAUDETTE:
Take his gun and badge.

You're under arrest for
interfering in police business
under colour of authority.

I assume other charges
will follow.

JULIEN:
Put him in the cage?

CLAUDETTE:
No, take him straight
to Police One.

Cuff him in front.
Keep it quiet.

At least I have Mackey
out of my life.

He's not my problem anymore,

he's yours.

What's this?

It's the message I want you
to deliver to Guardo.

TONIO:
A necklace?

You deliver it to him in person.

You tell him that
Nydia's been kidnapped.

If he ever wants
to see her again,

he has 24 hours
to get 50 grand in cash

in person to L.A.

I don't think I want
any part of this.

Let alone what you do to him
after you've got him.

Vic, come on, think about this.
VIC: You're delivering a message.

Your involvement ends there.

And I'll forgo my cut
for the returned kids.

Okay.

You tell Guardo call Nydia's
cell phone when he wants
to set the meet.

Hey. Hey, a ransom?
The last thing we need
is more dirty money.

I could give a shit
about the 50 grand.

Once Guardo finds out
Nydia's been kidnapped,

he'll have to
come to L.A.

Word gets out
he can't protect
his own girlfriend,

who's gonna trust him
to protect their drugs?

Vic, don't do this.
Please. Lem's gone.

Nothing we can do
can bring him back.

You push this too far, man,
we're gonna lose you too.

Guardo has to pay.

[DOOR OPENS]

Where's Nydia?
Bedroom, sleeping.

SHANE:
This just turned
into a kidnapping.

RONNIE: What do you mean?
Vic sent a message to Guardo:

If he doesn't meet us
in 24 hours, she dies.

What do we do if he doesn't show?
Oh, he'll show.

This her cell phone?
RONNIE: Yeah.

If he does show,
what do we do with her?

I don't know
what I'm gonna do yet.

SHANE:
Vic, this is wrong.

You two don't have to be involved
in this. Go back to the Barn.

Keep your distance from me.

How's he doing?
He's beautiful. I'll see you.

How are you?
I'm exhausted.

He's been colicky,
keeping me up all night.

I do have some good news,
I wanted to tell you face-to-face.

Any excuse to get
out of the house.
I need some adult time.

You passed the Sergeant's Exam.

Congratulations.
Oh, God.

[BABY SNEEZES]

Bless you.

So I start wearing these
as soon as my maternity
leave is over, huh?

The slot's available,
effective immediately.

If you don't take it,
your name goes back
to the bottom of the list.

Wait a minute. You mean
I have to come back
to work right away?

Or you pick another slot,
if it opens up.

That's what happens
when men make the rules.

You sleep on it,
let me know in the morning.

Hey, either of you two
seen or heard from Vic?

If you do,
tell him he can go home.

SHANE:
Why's that?

Because the case against him
has been dropped.

So if he's still in the country,

tell him he can sleep
in his own bed tonight.

SHANE:
You're clear.
You can go back to work.

Just let Nydia go.

We got a reprieve.

Dutchboy and Claudette
saved our asses.

Let's just wake her up
and get her out of here.

She's how we're gonna
get to Guardo.

What happened to no more
unilateral decisions?

Shane's right. I want this guy
just as bad as you, but not like this.

This is too risky.
Every second

he gets to breathe
and Lem doesn't
is unacceptable.

I'll do it myself.

What the hell is your problem?

Can't you listen
to anybody
but yourself?

Lem wouldn't listen
about going to Mexico.
He's dead because of it.

Is that what you want, man?
Huh? You wanna die?

You want to go to jail?
You want us to go to jail?

Huh?

Go home, get some shuteye.

I'll guard the fort for the night.

Thanks, Jack.
I'll just be a minute.

You've been a very busy boy.

Planting evidence.
Coercing witnesses.

Assaulting my ex-wife.
I learned from the master.

I told you you weren't ready
to play at this level.

Wouldn't have mattered
even if I was.

The truth is

it isn't your time yet.

But it'll happen.

The universe will take out its trash
when it's ready.

Looks like it already has.

You corrupted everything
around you.

Turned a good man like Lemansky
into a thug and a thief,

and you got him killed for it.

I tried to become you for a minute,

but it wasn't worth it.

I'll take my lumps,
go back to my life.

But I won't be the one
hearing my dead friend's
screams in my head.

You preach all the existential
bullshit you want,

but I'm the one going home
to my bed while you're still here.

I'm at peace.

Are you?

Soon enough.