Without a Trace (2002–2009): Season 2, Episode 1 - The Bus - full transcript

You don't have to wait with me, Mom.

Don't worry. When the bus comes
I'll scoot inside the house.

None of your friends will see me.

What friends?

Come on, now.

This is gonna be your year, Johnny.
I can feel it.

Yeah, well, the bus is coming.

I'll see you later.

Look, it will be great.
It will be all the same kids as last year.

But I don't like all of them.

That's all right, sweetheart.



Just play with the kids you like,
and ignore the other ones.

- Right, Hannah?
- Right.

Now, there's Mrs. Sobel.
She's gonna take you into the classroom.

- Okay?
- You're not coming in with us?

- No, sweetie. I gotta go to work.
- Will you pick us up later?

No, Mommy's gonna do that.
I'll be at dinner tonight, okay?

If Mom lets you.

I'll be there. I'm back, all right?
It's not a day-to-day thing.

Come on, Kate.

- Hey, forgetting something?
- How about lunch money?

I know that your mother
gave you lunch money, you little thief.

- Get in there.
- Bye, Dad.

- Yeah, what's going on?
- Where are you?

Dropping the kids off at school.
What's up?



A school bus went missing in Armonk.

- A bus?
- It was headed to the high school.

- Never made it. Nobody's seen it.
- How many kids?

At least 10. We're headed over there now.

All right. I'm on my way. Bye, sweetie.

Bye, Dad.

Be good.

- Do we have an accurate head count?
- Thirteen kids, age 12 to 16.

- How many of them had cell phones?
- Eight. Two Blackberries.

All the parents tried to make contact.

We're assuming
the kidnappers confiscated them.

- What about the bus driver?
- Bus driver. Bernard Griffin.

42, African-American.
Divorced, no record.

Running a full background check
and then over to the bus barn.

Take Martin with you.

- No, Jack. I can do this on my own.
- Yes, I know.

I want you to take him anyway.

Now, what else?

Local PD and FD
are forming search parties.

We've got roadblocks at every major
artery, and a dozen choppers in the air.

We've also grounded
all the other school buses in the county.

If they're still on the road somewhere,
we want them to stand out.

It's been three hours
since that bus has gone missing.

They could be 200 miles away by now.

I want you to contact
the Defense Department.

See if we can use
their surveillance satellite, okay?

Did you see which way the bus turned
when it got to the corner?

No. I had already gone inside.

According to our head count, Johnny was
the last student to get on the bus.

Meaning what?

That the bus must have made a detour
when it got to Preston Drive.

Otherwise, the kids at the next stop,
they would have seen the bus coming.

God, I can't believe
what we're talking about.

I'm sorry.

No, it's fine.

Mrs. Atkins, you mentioned
that Johnny isn't well-adjusted.

What exactly did you mean by that?

It's nothing serious. He's not
a troublemaker or anything, it's just...

It's high school, and it's very cliquey,
and, you know...

if you don't have the best video games,
or a pool for parties...

or a cool dad to take you and your friends
to the Knicks games, it's just...

not necessarily the easiest place
for a teenage boy to grow up, you know?

I got it.

Agent Johnson.

Excuse me one moment.

Here are all the files you asked for.

Is there anything in there
that I should keep an eye on?

I mean, have you had trouble
with any of the students?

You'll find a file in here
on Doug and Richard Carrol.

They were both suspended for the final
week of school at the end of last year.

What for?

They set off a few smoke bombs
in the halls. The fire alarms went off.

We had to evacuate everyone.

And how did they react
when you suspended them?

Richard doesn't say much,
but Doug was pretty aggravated.

- A week?
- There's only a week left of school, Doug.

You're lucky about that,
or it would be longer.

- It should be longer.
- Excuse me?

Given what we did.

I mean, you should have seen the look
on those girls' faces.

If you don't wanna be at school...

that's something we should talk about
with your father.

Whatever you have to do, Mrs. Suarez.

And you discussed this with their parents?

Their father.
Their mother died four years ago.

And?

Mr. Carrol said
he would handle it at home.

And you left it at that?

There was nothing in their actions
that told me they were violent.

There are two ways
to be a school principal now.

You can be an alarmist, or you can
try to deal specifically with each child.

I choose the latter.

Is Mr. Carrol in there now?

No. I haven't seen him.

You wanna search my home?

If your sons are involved,
we wanna know what they were doing.

My sons are not involved.

Then there's no harm
in us searching their rooms.

No.

I think you should spend your time
and resources in a more effective way.

Everybody's an expert.

I bet he's searching their rooms
as we speak.

Yeah, I bet.

- You coming?
- Hold your horses.

Physical therapy's going pretty well.

Do yourself a favor. Don't get shot.

- It's not all it's cracked up to be.
- I'll do my best.

How long has Mr. Griffin
been driving for you?

About two years.

- Any behavioral problems?
- Nope.

- Temper?
- Not that I ever saw.

Financial troubles?
Problems with a girlfriend?

We never talked about it.

And this morning?

Nothing much unusual.
He came in about 6:30.

We went through our usual routine.

Hey. Another day, another dollar, Bernard?

Another day, another $1,000,
with these kids.

- See you at 5:00.
- God willing.

So that comment he made
about the kids having money...

you think he's resentful about that?

Sure, he's resentful. I'm resentful, too.

That doesn't mean
I'm gonna kidnap a bus full of them.

He said, God willing,
he'd see you back here at 5:00.

Why would he say that?

It's called an expression.

I gotta tell you,
you guys are barking up the wrong tree.

You ought to be looking at those kids.

Oh, my God!

It's her. It's my daughter.
She's sending me a message.

Can't get much off it.

That's my daughter's shoe.

- Are you sure?
- Yes.

And here's the only voice.

One more word out of any of you,
she buys it. Do you hear me?

- Voice is too far away to isolate it.
- Can we get rid of some of that echo?

- Not with the way it was transmitted.
- Can't we send her a message?

Not without risking the phone ringing
and giving her away.

Is your daughter a fighter?

Since the day she was born.

Then the chances are
she'll call us again when she can.

Can I wait here, then?

- Sure, but you'll have to wait in reception.
- Of course.

There are no bus seats.

I don't think they're on the bus anymore.

Way they're all huddled together like that,
they're in some kind of enclosed space.

I just got an anonymous
phone call from someone...

- who claims to know where the bus is.
- Thank you, Mrs. Suarez.

We have a positive on the bus.

Hello? Is there anybody in here?

I got one!

- Hey. Are you all right?
- Help, please!

Are you all right?

It's okay. It'll be okay.
I'm with the FBI. You're gonna be okay.

- Okay.
- What's your name?

Johnny.

- Where are the others?
- I don't know.

- How long ago did they leave you here?
- I don't know.

- Maybe like an hour.
- Okay.

They said they wanted $5 million.

- Good. $5 million.
- In cash.

Good. Did they tell you
how we could get it to them?

- They said Monroe Park, by the fountain.
- When?

- Tomorrow morning at 10:00.
- Good. Now, are you sure?

I'm positive, 'cause they said,
that or they were gonna kill everybody.

When you say "they,"
could you give me a description?

- Doug and Richard Carrol.
- Are you sure?

- I'm positive!
- Good.

Johnny? God.

- Are you all right?
- Yeah.

Thank God.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome, Mrs. Atkins.
Listen, before I can release him...

I'd like to ask him
a couple more questions.

You're more than welcome to sit in.

Okay, now, can you tell me
how all of this started?

From the beginning.

Okay, everybody. Listen up!
We're going on a bit of a field trip today.

Do what I say, man. Just sit still.

Everybody does what they're told,
and nobody's gonna get hurt!

Come on, Polly. No crying!

We all know
we didn't wanna go to school today.

Now, we are gonna have
the adventure of our lives!

First they made the bus driver
get off from the normal route...

and then they collected
all the cell phones and pagers...

and then they took us here.

$5 million.
10:00 tomorrow morning, Monroe Park.

You got it?
Hey, you're the lucky one, man.

The other ones, they're the ones in for it.

You didn't see where they took the others
or what they did with the driver?

No.

Are you absolutely sure
it was Doug and Richard Carrol?

Of course I'm sure.
Why wouldn't I be sure?

Okay.

Okay. Thanks.

Hang on a second, all right? Yeah.

Mr. Carrol, we have a warrant
to search your premises.

I'll call you right back.
What the hell is this?

We have an eyewitness
that says your sons hijacked the bus.

What eyewitness? Who?

Who were talking to just now?

A family friend, if that's okay with you.

- Where are your sons' bedrooms?
- Upstairs.

So, the Carrol boys transfer
the other kids into a U-Haul...

or a van or something like that.

They leave the bus in the ravine.

- Now they're on the road again.
- But they can't go too far...

if they gotta be here
to pick up the ransom tomorrow morning.

Unless one of them is driving the van
out of the area...

and the other is gonna go to the park.

Okay, Doug is 16. Richard is 15.

How the hell do they get their hands
on a U-Haul or a van?

They could be working
with somebody older.

Bus driver?

But Johnny said
the bus driver is one of the hostages.

Yeah, I know what Johnny said.
What I'm saying is...

maybe he pretends to be a hostage
to give himself plausible deniability later.

The boys take off with the money,
he hooks up with them in Mexico...

takes his cut.

Fitzgerald. Yeah?

We know which one?

No, thanks. Yeah.

We got a trace on that anonymous
phone call that came in to the principal.

The call was made
from a pay phone at the school.

- One of the students?
- Or teachers.

Or parents.

Tell me everything about the phone call.

I'm sorry, I can't remember
exactly what he said. It was very quick.

- And the voice. It was definitely a man's?
- Yes.

I mean, some of the seniors
have men's voices.

Okay, how about Bob Carrol?
Could it have been him?

I don't know his voice well enough.

Okay. Thanks.

Agent Johnson. Do you think
I should have seen this coming?

No.

Would you mind
giving us a few moments?

- Have you seen this?
- No.

You get bonus points...

for killing teachers and girls.

Do you keep guns in the house?

- No.
- What about your boys?

- No.
- Would you even know?

You ought to have more information
before you judge me.

We're running a trace
on your phone right now.

If you've had any conversations
with your boys, tell me.

- They haven't done anything wrong.
- Answer me.

No. I haven't talked to them.

They were suspended
at the end of last year.

What were they doing during the summer?

I really don't know.
They both went off to summer camp.

Any trouble there?

They went on a couple of panty raids.
Is that a federal offense?

No. Anything this morning?

- I really didn't see them.
- What about last night?

Well, yeah. Briefly.

Hey, guys.

- You have a date tonight?
- Yeah. Kind of.

- More like a trick.
- Hey. Watch your mouth.

What do you call it...

when they come over at 10:00 at night
and leave at 4:00 in the morning.

I don't like anybody staying over
unless it's serious, for your sakes.

Wow. Thanks.

You know what?

I don't know
what the hell you two want from me.

So, that was last night. Sound interesting?

We've looked at your sons' e-mails.

It would appear that
they harbor some resentment toward you.

Yeah. I know it's terrible. Me giving them
everything they've asked for.

What is your point?

That they kidnapped their friends
to get my attention?

They're also asking for $5 million.

You know,
you look around here all you want...

but you're way off base.

What have you got?

I can't really talk
because they're just outside...

but we're jammed into
a cargo truck somewhere. It's really hot.

- Put it away, Trish. He's coming back.
- I'm really scared.

- Please don't...
- What the hell is that? Give me that!

Can you enhance that?

I need to use the restroom.

Down the hall to the right.

Did she say they were in a...

Yeah, she did. They're in a cargo truck.

I rode in one of those,
hitchhiking cross-country.

After a few hours
there's really no air at all.

Got something.

Who the hell is that?

It's not Doug or Richard.

Do you recognize him?

No. Who is he?

Look closely, Johnny.

No. I'm sorry.

Do you, Mrs. Atkins?

No, I...

Could you please tell us
what this is all about?

We think this man may be working
with Doug and Richard.

Agent Taylor, could I
speak with you privately for a moment?

Sure.

This whole thing
has been incredibly traumatic for him...

and I was just wondering,
if I took him away from here...

for a day or two, would that be a problem?

Mrs. Atkins,
I know you wanna protect your boy...

but we need to keep him around here.

If anything comes up,
I'll know exactly where to go.

Yeah, sure.

I am having no luck here.

No? I'm all the way back in the early '80s.

Man, what a good time for fashion.

Yeah, don't look now,
but it's coming back.

None of the parents recognize him.

- So what's going on with the ransom?
- The parents are gonna pay.

The drop is set for tomorrow morning.

I didn't tell them.

I have no idea.
I don't know, maybe they saw it on TV.

You have to make sure that the sitter
keeps an eye on what they're watching.

How... Look, I don't know.

Tell them it will be fine.
Tell them I'll take care of it.

No, I'll stay here and see
if I can catch an hour on the couch.

Yes, I know.

Tell them I love them,
and that I'll be home soon.

Yeah, okay. Bye.

He certainly looks as if
he's old enough to have teenage kids.

He's definitely having
a hard time with that bag.

He says he's been working out.

I guess $5 million weighs a lot.

You really think their father's
in on it with them?

Doesn't look like
he needs any more money.

He's just probably protecting his kids.

Yeah. Remind me not to have any.

They don't all turn out to be
psychopathic kidnappers, you know.

Let me guess.
2.2, white picket fence, golden retriever.

Yeah, maybe. Something like that.

Not for me. Not in this world.

Here we go.

Where's the picture?

No. It's not the same guy.
Here, take a look.

- See?
- Yeah.

What's he doing?

- Let's go.
- Yeah.

Subject approaching
possible match with photo.

Stacy!

Cover the left?

Something's not right.

Is that the money?

Count it.

- There's $500,000.
- We said $1 million.

You give me my boys, you'll get the rest.

Yeah. Right.

Where's the rest of it?

It's nearby. I can have it to you quickly.

Nearby? What do you mean, nearby?

You tell me where it is right now.

Just give me someone. At least one kid.

It doesn't have to be mine.
Just so I know you're good on your word.

No. You don't tell me.
I tell you. I said $1 million.

You'll get it, I swear.

Please don't.

Where's the rest of it?
I'm not fooling around.

FBI, drop your weapon!

Drop the gun!

Tell me where they are.

...ambulance at Armonk State Park.
East end. Two suspects down.

Where are they?

So they called yesterday afternoon.

They said, "Forget about the $5 million."

That was just a ruse to distract you guys.

What they really wanted
was $1 million from me.

Why you?

I don't know.

Maybe they thought I could afford it.

I could get it to them quickly.

They said if I told you,
they'd kill everybody.

Just trying to do the right thing.

So you decided to go there with half
and bargain with them?

Damn the money. I just wanna get
some of those kids out of there.

It was a great plan.

What the hell would you have done?

Considering that there were
12 kids' lives at risk...

I would have consulted the FBI,
who have some experience in this area.

If your agents hadn't shot those men...

maybe we'd have a chance
of finding those kids.

If my agents hadn't shot those two men,
you'd be dead.

- They saved your life.
- My life.

My life isn't worth anything
if you don't find my kids.

Did you get anything out of Bob Carrol?

Not much.
Pretty much back to square one.

Okay, so where do you want me?

You know I'm gonna need
to take your gun.

Yeah, I know.

You want my badge and credentials, too?

You know it's just standard procedure.

How long till we get this
straightened out with OPR?

I'm not sure, but you did the right thing.
You made the right choice.

I know. That's why I wanna get this
straightened out as soon as possible.

When can I get back in the field?

Go home.

- Jack, I'm fine.
- I'm not asking you.

- I'm fine. I'm just...
- I'm not asking you. Go home.

Fine.

Thanks.

You're gonna love this.

Ned Reilly lived at 1888 Oakwood Street
for almost three years.

1888...

- No.
- Yeah.

- Why did you lie to us, Johnny?
- I didn't.

- Do you recognize that guy?
- This is Ned Reilly.

- Used to rent the back room at our house.
- He was on the bus.

- What?
- How about this man?

He was on the bus, too.

- Why didn't you tell them this?
- I don't know.

Did you know
they were gonna hijack the bus?

No. I don't know. It just happened so fast.

What's up, John boy?
How was your summer?

- Spend the whole time with Mommy?
- I'd like to spend it with his mommy.

- She's a MILF, isn't she?
- Major MILF.

Johnny boy, where's your mommy?

Okay, everybody. Listen up!

We're going on
a little bit of a field trip today, okay?

Everybody does what they're told,
and nobody gets hurt.

Hey, come on.

Sweetheart, no crying.

All right. Come on, now.

You guys didn't wanna go
to school today anyways.

So now you're going on
the adventure of your lives.

They got everyone else off of the bus,
and then they told me...

to tell you the stuff about the money.

$5 million.

10:00 tomorrow morning, at Monroe Park.

You got it?

We always talked about what you could do
with a little money in your pocket.

You'll have $50,000
under your pillow by tomorrow night.

Get yourself a hot set of wheels.

You never have to worry
about taking the bus again.

All I had to do
was give you a wrong description.

That's what they said.

And you just randomly decided
to blame Doug and Richard, right?

Why?

'Cause they're always
giving me crap, so I thought...

that maybe
I could get them in trouble, and...

- Johnny, where are the other kids?
- I don't know.

- Johnny. We are running out of time.
- I swear I don't know.

Mrs. Atkins.

I think we should have
a private conversation outside.

I'll be right back.

Your son is lying to us.

You've got to convince him
to tell us the truth.

I don't understand.
If you have Ned and that other man...

- can't they tell you where the children are?
- Those two men are dead.

Oh, my God.

There's a bunch of children
trapped in a cargo truck with no air.

They're gonna suffocate and die...

unless you convince your son
to tell us the truth. Please.

It's okay. Everyone all right?

- Okay, let's get out.
- One at a time.

- Get down.
- Watch your head.

Thank you for waiting.

- Is everyone all right?
- Yes.

Would you mind? Follow me, please.

Take a seat, Mrs. Atkins, right here.

All of these rooms have microphones...

that are extremely sensitive.

Extremely sensitive.

Hey, babe. I just want you to know
I'm gonna get you out of this, okay?

You knew Ned was going to do it,
didn't you?

Johnny.
You really think I'm capable of that?

Don't you know me?

Look, you just keep quiet,
and let me take care of this, okay?

Say the words, Johnny. Promise me.

I promise.

I'll be right back. I love you, sweetheart.

He never said where the truck was.

You did.

All right, Mrs. Atkins,
let me string it together for you.

Here's what I think happened.

Ned moves in, seduces you...

convinces you to get involved
in this kidnapping plan.

He gets you to make the anonymous tip
to the high school.

The phone call.

Except it's an audiotape.

Ned's voice.

No.

That was Carl's voice.

Really?

- You just don't get it, do you?
- Get what?

What it's like in that town.

With their cars. Their houses.

Their pools. The way they look at you,
like you're beneath them.

Why shouldn't I have what they have?
Why shouldn't my son?

You did this for your son.

What you did
was put your son through hell.

You've made him lie for you
from the beginning.

He wouldn't have had to lie.

If Ned had worn the mask,
none of this would have happened!

Stay here, please.

So, is my mom coming soon?

Johnny, we still have
a few more questions we need to ask her.

Okay.

What are you doing here?

I forgot something.

The kids are all right?

- That's what Roger Daltrey says.
- Right. Yeah.

Get some sleep, will you?

Yeah. I just gotta
find the thing that I forgot...

- before.
- Right.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- Good night.
- Good night.

Martin.

You know how you said
we should get a drink sometime?

I could really use a drink.

Nothing worse
than a beautiful woman drinking alone.

Okay.

So, where should we go?

- Did you get your lunch money?
- Yeah.

Okay, here we are.
Give me a hug. Come on.

All right, you guys.
Have a good day at school.

We don't wanna go.

Why not?

We're scared.

Of what?

That something will happen.
Something bad.

Like at the other school.

Nothing's gonna happen here, okay?
You're perfectly safe.

How do you know?

Trust me. I know. Go on.