Épisode Les risques du métier S02E20

220 - Les risques du métier.

En ville.

Une jeune femme qui a l'air désespérée est dans sa chambre, c'est un membre de l'ATF. Des photos sont étalées sur son lit ainsi qu'une arme.

Don s'entraîne au centre de tir ; Robin Brooks arrive et discute avec lui. Ensuite ils vont dans la voiture de Don et s'embrassent. Son portable sonne il répond puis dit qu'il arrive, s'excuse auprès de Robin et lui dit qu'il doit partir. Avant de descendre de la voiture Robin demande si tout va bien, Don lui répond que oui puis il part.

Arrivé sur les lieux du drame, David vient à sa rencontre et lui fait un topo de la situation : Nikki Davis, un agent de l'ATF s'est suicidée d'une balle dans la tête deux heures plus tôt. Don demande qui a appelé et son collègue lui répond que c'est un policier de Los Angeles à la poursuite d'un suspect qui a téléphoné après avoir entendu un bruit ressemblant à un coup de feu.

Les deux agents entrent dans la chambre de la victime. L'agent Turner, qui est membre de l'ATF, se présente à Don. Il demande à être chargé de l'affaire, même s'il sait que, normalement, lorsque l'affaire concerne un agent fédéral, c'est le FBI qui est en chargé. Don demande à ce que le corps de la victime soit recouvert le plus tôt possible, puis sort de la pièce en disant que c'est le FBI qui se charge de l'affaire et qu'il le tiendra au courant.

Générique de début.

Au bureau du FBI.

Don explique à David et Megan que Nikki était peut être un agent de l'ATF mais que le FBI doit élucider tout décès d'officier fédéral. Sa collègue lui demande s'il compte transférer l'affaire à l'ATF mais lui répond que non.
David fait un résumé de la balistique : une seule balle a été tirée, depuis son arme de service, un Sig Sauer 229. Megan enchaîne par celui des toxiques qui révèle la prise d'antalgiques et d'antidépresseurs. Don est surpris pour les antidépresseurs mais Megan lui dit que chez une personne qui se suicide cela n'est pas anormal.

David les informe ensuite que le mari de Nikki était également un membre de l'ATF et qu'il arrive en provenance du Texas au moment où ils parlent. Don leur demande de l'interroger dès qu'il atterrit.

Alors que Don se prépare un café dans la salle de repos, Megan vient lui poser une question, elle ne comprend pas pourquoi ils doivent "sortir le grand jeu" si la victime s'est suicidée. Don lui répond simplement que c'est le troisième agent qui met fin à ses jours en deux ans. Megan conclue en lui disant "donc c'est strictement professionnel", Don acquiesce. Mais l'agent Reeves n'étant pas convaincue de sa réponse lui rappelle que dans son CV il est inscrit qu'elle est comportementaliste et que son comportement laisse dire qu'il connaissait personnellement la victime. Don lui dit enfin qu'il connaissait Nikki et la remercie de lui avoir dit que s'il voulait parler elle était là. Megan sort en l'informant qu'elle va voir les gars de l'ATF pour interroger les membres de l'équipe de Nikki.

En sortant, Megan croise Charlie, lui demande de prendre soin de son frère. Charlie cherche à savoir auprès de Don ce que Megan voulait dire mais il répond juste qu'un agent de l'ATF qu'il connaissait bien s'est suicidé, puis demande à Charlie d'analyser le dossier de cet agent et sort.

Sur le campus.

Dans son bureau à la fac, Charlie et Amita analysent le dossier de Don quand Larry arrive. Il leur demande ce qu'ils font. Charlie répond que 100 personnes se suicident toutes les heures. "300 étoiles s'éteignent chaque seconde" enchaîne Larry. Amita, voyant que Charlie ne le ferait pas, lui explique la situation.

En ville.

Sur les lieux d'entraînements de l'ATF, l'équipe est en plein exercice. Megan et David arrivent, entre les membres des deux équipes les tensions sont fortes. David cherche à savoir si Nikki était différente ces derniers temps (plus stressée, perturbée) et l'un de ses coéquipiers répond que dans ce métier ils le sont forcement, puis ajoute que l'an dernier Nikki s'était blessée lors d'une mission et qu'elle ne s'était pas soignée correctement. David le remercie pour ces informations et s'apprête à partir quand Megan lui demande quelques minutes. Elle va parler avec la collègue de Nikki. Cette dernière lui apprend que l'agent Davis avait quelques problèmes personnels, selon elle, son mari avait fait quelque chose qui l'avait mise sur la touche et qu'elle songeait à mettre fin à son couple.

Au bureau du FBI.

De retour au FBI, Megan fait part de sa conclusion à Don : elle estime qu'il est fortement probable que la victime se soit bien suicidée. Charlie arrive à ce moment là et dit qu'il pense l'inverse, car après l'analyse de son dossier, rien ne laisse penser qu'elle allait aussi mal. Don lui demande des preuves et c'est David qui va les lui fournir.

En effet, le mari de Nikki n'était pas dans l'avion qui devait le ramener à Los Angeles, et, d'après le relevé de ses appels, il n'était pas au Texas mais au Mexique. David poursuit en disant que d'après le relevé téléphonique de Nikki elle n'a pas passé d'appel dans les 48 heures précédant son suicide mais qu'un numéro sort du lot : celui de Don. Avant que ce dernier ait pu poser une question, son collègue lui dit qu'elle n'a pas laissé de message sur sa boite vocale : il a vérifié.

Les relevés bancaires du mari de la victime indiquent qu'il s'est souvent rendu au Mexique et toujours dans la même ville (proche de la frontière), que sa maison avait une seconde hypothèque et que depuis 6 mois il puisait dans les économies de son épouse.

Sur le campus.

Amita et Charlie discutent dans le parc de la fac, ce dernier lui fait part de son inquiétude par rapport à la vie que mène son frère ; elle lui explique que pour Don, son travail c'est toute sa vie et que pour lui c'est la même chose et que c'est même le travail de son frère l'est, d'ailleurs. Elle conclue en lui disant que toutes les personnes sont responsables des choix qu'elles font dans leur existence.

En ville.

Don se rend dans la maison de Nikki, regarde la photo de lui et Nikki, prise au Nouveau Mexique, lorsque le mari de la victime arrive. Après une discussion tendue Don finit par lui demander ce qu'il faisait au Mexique alors que l'agent Turner le pensait au Texas. Il lui répond qu'il y était pour des médicaments : il allait y chercher un traitement expérimental car sa femme avait un cancer.

Au bureau du FBI.

Megan et David parlent de l'affaire. Ce dernier lui donne les éléments fraîchement reçus : ce sont les communications radio du soir du crime. Charlie, qui venait d'arriver, a une idée : il pense pouvoir créer une empreinte acoustique du tir grâce à ces enregistrements.

Chez les Eppes.

Don est chez son frère, il regarde la même photo que dans l'appartement de la victime. Alan arrive juste de derrière lui et demande de quand date ce cliché. Son fils lui répond que la jeune femme est morte. Il lui explique ensuite qu'avant de se suicider Nikki l'avait appelé et qu'il n'a aucune idée de la raison, qu'il sait juste qu'elle avait un cancer.

En ville.

David, Charlie et Larry sont dans la chambre de l'agent Davis, ils essayent de reproduire le coup de feu mais n'y arrivent pas. Après plusieurs tentatives Charlie réfléchit sur la raison de leur échec. Il regarde une photo accrochée au mur et comprend ce qui manque pour pouvoir reproduire exactement la même empreinte acoustique du tir. Il va donc jusqu'au bureau du FBI pour faire part de sa découverte à son frère.

Il lui explique que s'ils n'arrivaient pas à reproduire le tir c'est parce qu'il manquait quelque chose dans la pièce. Il termine en disant que lors du suicide de l'agent Davis une autre personne était présente dans la pièce.

Au bureau du FBI.

Après cette découverte, Don demande à ce que l'affaire soit reprise depuis le début. Lui et son équipe s'apprêtait à reprendre tous les dossiers des agents Davis quand son frère pense pouvoir donner une sorte d'image des personnes ayant été dans la chambre grâce aux empreintes ADN prélevées dans celle-ci. Don lui donne l'autorisation de le faire.

Megan et David reprennent quand même l'analyse des dossiers de l'agent Davis ; elle enquêtait sur une série de vols à main armée (5 mois ; 5 attaques ; 1,5 millions de dollars), l'ATF était sur cette affaire car les armes utilisées pour les braquages étaient des armes militaires. Après une discussion ils se demandent si l'informateur de Nikki ne jouait pas un double jeu, ce qui expliquerait pourquoi le gang des Renégats n'était pas entré dans la banque, et donc pourquoi l'ATF n'avait pas pu les arrêter. Ils avaient forcément été prévenus que l'ATF les surveillait.

En ville.

Don et son équipe se rendent chez l'indic, Darryl Clark, ils entrent dans sa maison et y découvrent 2 corps : l'un dans la cuisine, c'est celui de l'indic ; l'autre dehors derrière la maison, celui du mari de Nikki, tué de 2 balles dans la tête. Pour l'agent Davis cela ressemble à une exécution. De retour au FBI, ils se focalisent sur les membres du gang.

Chez les Eppes.

Dans le salon de la maison de Charlie, Alan et Don discutent. Ce dernier met en parallèle son histoire avec celle de Nikki il pense que leurs deux histoires sont quasiment identiques, tout deux avaient une vie privée plus que moyenne. Son père tente de lui faire comprendre qu'il ne cherche pas à être heureux dans sa vie, qu'il pense déjà dès le départ que tout est perdu d'avance. Il lui demande donc de laisser une chance à sa prochaine petite amie et de ne pas se lancer dans l'histoire en disant qu'elle sera vaine.

En ville.

Après avoir répondu au téléphone Don, rejoint son équipe ainsi que les autres agents du FBI chez Roy Mitchell, le chef du gang des Renégats. Ils lancent l'attaque contre sa maison et 3 personnes sont arrêtées.

Au bureau du FBI.

Don et Robin Brooks se chargent de l'interrogatoire du chef du gang qui nie toutes implications de sa part dans la mort des 2 agents de l'ATF et de l'indic de Nikki. Comme ils ne peuvent le garder ils doivent le relâcher mais Don ne veut pas, Megan propose de le placer sous surveillance en espérant qu'il fasse une bêtise, ce qui n'est pas suffisant pour son chef.

Charlie arrive à ce moment là. Grâce aux prélèvements d'ADN trouvé dans l'appartement il a réussi à constituer 8 portraits les plus proches possibles des personnes ayant été dans la chambre de l'agent Davis. Pour trouver lequel est le tueur il en retire 5 dont les empreintes ADN proviennent des mains. Aucune empreinte n'ayant été retrouvée sur l'arme du crime le tueur devait porter des gants et donc les empreintes de mains ne sont pas celle du tueur. Sur les trois portraits restants l'un ressemble à l'agent Rho de l'ATF.

Grâce à cela l'équipe remet les pièces du puzzle dans l'ordre : en effet, selon les rapports, les braqueurs opéraient avec une précision militaire, or l'agent Rho avait fait parti des Marines ; ils en concluent donc que le leader était Rho et non Mitchell. Don demande le placement de l'agent de l'ATF sous surveillance.

Selon l'ATF, Rho est en mission d'entraînement dans un lieu qui ne peut pas être révélé mais en réalité il surveille le chargement d'un camion de fonds.

En ville.

Quelques minutes plus tard, le chargement terminé, le camion est attaqué. Le FBI arrive sur les lieux de l'attaque et une fusillade éclate. Tous les braqueurs sont arrêtés.

Chez les Eppes.

Alan et son fils cadet vont passer à table, Charlie explique à son père qu'il a appliqué la même formule que celle qu'il a appliqué à l'agent Davis à la vie de Don. Il conclue en disant que pour son frère sa ira car il a des liens forts avec sa famille.

Chez Robin.

Don se rend chez Robin Brooks, cette dernière lui ouvre et il entre.

Générique de fin.

[Cut to: Nikki Davis’ bedroom, close up on the nightstand. As the camera pans across, we see various prescription medicine bottles, then her ATF badge resting atop a pile of books. Close up of Nikki’s face. She reaches over, grabs a bottle, and pours about seven pills into her hand. She puts them all in her mouth and swallows them with a drink of water. Close up on the ‘ATF’ printed on her uniform. Camera pans up and we see Nikki flipping through various pink papers, stamped with ‘PAST DUE’. We see various photographs strew across the bed, most prominent being her wedding photo. We see a gun lying next to the pictures. Nikki sniffles as she looks at a photo. Close up of her left hand, wedding ring visible. She picks up the guns and loads it. Another close up of her ATF badge. Nikki shuts her eyes.]

[Cut to: Gun range. Don fires off three shots. All three hit the target’s center. He shoots three more, again all hitting the ‘10’ area. He pushes a button and the target sweeps forward. Robin approaches him from behind.]

ROBIN: Nice shooting.

DON: Hey. Robin Brooks, look at you.

[He kisses her on the cheek.]

DON: What’s going on? I didn’t think U.S. Attorneys were allowed to get their hands dirty.

ROBIN: Well, you can’t prosecute what you don’t understand, right?

DON: Wow, look at that. That’s a lot of gun, huh?

ROBIN: Yeah, well, it gives me a chance to actually hit something.

[She chuckles.]

ROBIN: Look, uh, I didn’t get a chance to thank you after the John Owens case.

DON: Aw, that’s all right.

ROBIN: No, your team handled it all really low-key and because of that I was able to go forward with my gang case.

DON: Good. I’m glad it worked out.

ROBIN: Yeah.

[Pause.]

ROBIN: So, do you always hang out at the gun range alone on a Friday night?

DON: Well, clearly it’s where all the pretty girls show up.

ROBIN: Agent Eppes, I don’t think I’ve been hit on at a gun range before.

[He smiles, and she smiles back.]

[Cut to: Don’s vehicle. A shot of Robin and Don in the rearview mirror. The camera pans over and we see them in the passenger and driver’s seats, respectively, kissing. Don’s cell phone rings and he pulls away to answer it.]

DON: Eppes… What?

[He checks his watch.]

DON: Yeah. I’m on my way. Right.

ROBIN: What’s wrong?

DON: I gotta go.

ROBIN: Are you okay?

DON: Yeah, I gotta get out of here.

ROBIN: Okay.

[She climbs out of the car.]

DON: I’ll talk to you later.

ROBIN: Bye.

[She shuts the door.]

[Cut to: Street in front of Nikki Davis’ house. Don walks towards it, David approaches him.]

DAVID: ATF Agent Nikki Davis. Killed herself two hours ago. Gunshot to the head.

DON: 9-1-1 call?

DAVID: LAPD uniform involved in an unrelated foot pursuit. Heard what sounded like a gunshot.

[They enter the bedroom.]

AGENT TURNER (muffled): Agent Turner, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms.

DON: Yeah. Eppes, FBI.

DAVID: Sinclair.

TURNER: Look, I know any death involving a federal officer is technically FBI’s, but she was one of ours.

[Close up of Nikki’s body. We see Don’s face, apparently very affected by the sight.]

TURNER (muffled): So I’d like the handle on this. Agent Eppes?

DON: Look, just… I want her covered as soon as possible. You got it?

TURNER: I said, ATF wants the investigation.

DON: Well, we’re taking it. I’ll keep you in the loop.

[Don leaves. Close up of the photo of Nikki and Don on the bed.]

[Fade out.]

[TITLE CREDITS.]

[Fade in: FBI office.]

DON: Nikki may have been ATF, but I want her treated like one of our own. Our responsibility is to clear the death of any federal officer, right?

MEGAN: You’re not handing this over?

DON: No. How’re we doing on ballistics?

DAVID: Single round, matches her duty weapon, Sig Sauer 229.

DON: Tox screen?

MEGAN: Uh, Oxycontin and Prozac.

DON: Prozac?

MEGAN: Yeah, it’s not that unusual for a suicide victim.

DON: Any word on the husband?

DAVID: He’s an ATF agent.

DON: What?

DAVID: Words fugitive gun runners. On his way back from Texas as we speak.

DON: Well, I want him interviewed as soon as he lands, all right?

[Don walks away. Megan looks over at David, who shakes his head.]

[Cut to: Break room. Don begins preparing coffee. Megan enters.]

MEGAN: So, I’m just wondering, if this woman’s death is a suicide, why all the intensity?

DON: She’s the third agent in two years who killed themselves.

MEGAN: So, it’s strictly professional?

[Don doesn’t answer.]

MEGAN: You knew her, didn’t you? It does say behaviorist on my job description.

DON: Yes, I knew her.

MEGAN: Well, if you ever want to talk, I’m number two on your Nextel.

DON: Thanks.

MEGAN: I’m gonna head over to the ATF and interview her whole team now.

[She leaves, Charlie enters.]

MEGAN: Hey, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Hey.

MEGAN: Take care of your brother in there.

[Don sighs.]

CHARLIE: What’d she mean by that?

DON: Nothing. Looks like an ATF agent who I knew pretty well killed herself, that’s all.

CHARLIE: Oh… I’m sorry.

DON: Yeah. You remember that kid who jumped off the bridge last year?

CHARLIE: Yeah. Finn Montgomery.

DON: It looked like a suicide, but you didn’t think so, right?

CHARLIE: Right. I didn’t think he was capable of it.

DON: And why?

CHARLIE: His potential was unlimited. Good more than outweighed the bad. But… I was wrong.

DON: Well, do me a favor; take a look at this file.

[He hands a folder to Charlie.]

DON: Tell me if there’s something that doesn’t add up, would you?

CHARLIE: Sure.

[Don leaves. Charlie opens the file and looks at it. He seems to recognize something.]

[Cut to: Charlie’s office. He and Amita are working on the blackboard. Larry enters.]

LARRY: Nothing like taking stock of one’s life. Bit safer from a numerical standpoint…

AMITA: It isn’t his life Charlie’s taking stock of.

LARRY: Okay, well, even easier still.

CHARLIE: A hundred people commit suicide every hour.

LARRY: And three hundred stars die every second.

AMITA: Yeah, this was a person. Nikki Davis: she was an ATF agent.

LARRY: So, what, you’re weighing events in her life to determine the likelihood of her suicide?

CHARLIE: I’m applying a modified Holmes-Rahe stress test as a starting point.

AMITA: We’re applying numerical values to certain events in her life.

LARRY: Huh. Yeah, but how do you rank such things? I mean, Christmas alone, dinner with your in-laws, could equal a death in the family. I mean, depending on your in-laws.

AMITA: Oh, she was a par golfer. Ran sub-three hour marathon times, and even worked at the local Boys and Girls Club. All positive things.

LARRY: Yeah, and she was also on antidepressants. What, they’re handing out guns to the clinically depressed?

CHARLIE: Depression is a definite negative. But my cognitive emergence studies have taught me that it’s difficult, but not entirely impossible, to quantify the variables that describe existing human consciousness.

LARRY: What, and Don has asked you to work on this? Why?

AMITA: He knew her?

CHARLIE: Yeah, he knew her. A long time ago. They hadn’t spoken in years, but I think he’s really bothered by this.

LARRY: Yeah, well, like I said, it leads me back to those stars. One dies and disappears, and the whole cluster feels the loss.

[Cut to: ATF training facility. A small explosion renders the lock ineffective, and the team enters.]

AGENT WILSON (yelling): ATF! Search warrant!

[They enter and find a man holding another person hostage, a gun to his head.]

WILSON: Drop the gun. Drop it!

[The agent playing the criminal stands.]

AGENT: Took a little time there, didn’t you?

[Turner enters.]

TURNER: Nice, guys. Hey, this is Agent Reeves and Sinclair; they’re clearing the inquiry on Nikki’s death.

[They shake hands with the ATF agents.]

MEGAN: Sorry for your loss.

AGENT RHO: Fingernails so clean he’s gotta be FBI.

TURNER: They’re here to help, Agent Rho. So are you.

WILSON: Nikki was our leader. We lost her. What else do you need to know?

DAVID: We’d like to know whether she seemed depressed at all. Was something bothering her more than usual?

RHO: Nikki always had a lot on her mind. Goes with the territory.

MEGAN: We found some medications on her bureau. Painkillers, antidepressants.

WILSON: Is that what this is about? Some kind of FBI thing to try and drag her name through the mud?

DAVID: We’re just trying to investigate.

WILSON: Yeah, well, I know all about these kinds of investigations, and you can count me out.

[She leaves, and Turner calls after her.]

OS: TURNER: Agent Wilson!

RHO: Look, she’s upset, all right? We all are.

MEGAN: We understand that. We’re just trying to sort some things out.

RHO: Nikki hurt herself pretty bad last year.

DAVID: On the job?

[Rho nods and takes a drink from his water bottle.]

RHO: Executing a warrant. Messed up her knee real bad. Never took the time to heal right. “No rest for the wicked,” she used to say.

DAVID: Agent Rho… you think of something, you let us know.

RHO: All right.

TURNER: You need anything else?

MEGAN: We’ll be in touch.

[She turns to David.]

MEGAN: Just give me a second.

[She walks over to Agent Wilson, who’s punching a punching bag.]

MEGAN: You know, you’ll get more power in your punch if you turn your foot into it.

[She demonstrates.]

MEGAN: You know? A lot of people think we should still be sitting behind a desk. Must’ve been nice having a female boss.

[Wilson doesn’t respond.]

MEGAN: Did you know she was self-medicating?

WILSON: We were working a pretty heavy bank robbery crew. Maybe she was a little off, maybe the stress was getting to her, I don’t know.

MEGAN: Wouldn’t you say taking your own life is more than just a little off? I got a job to do here. I’ve gotta ask somebody these questions.

WOLSON: She was having problems at home.

MEGAN: With her husband?

WILSON: Two ATF agents maintaining a relationship isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do in our business.

MEGAN: Got it. How serious were the problems?

WILSON: Pretty serious, I think. Something he did backed her into a corner. I don’t know what it was, but she said she was thinking of calling it quits with him… They don’t call it eating your gun for nothing, do they?

[Cut to: FBI office.]

MEGAN: I don’t know if you’re gonna want to hear this, but after talking to Nikki Davis’ team, I do believe that she killed herself.

[Charlie enters.]

CHARLIE: I’m not as convinced. I’ve been looking through her file. Agent Davis was a leader in her community. She was an outstanding agent.

MEGAN: Who was suffering from a bad depression.

CHARLIE: True, but look. Commendation after commendation, she just made supervisor, strong parental support and siblings. All this should have outweighed any transitory depression. Here, look. Figure skaters.

[We see footage of a pair of figure skaters performing.]

VO: CHARLIE: When they perform a routine, the judges multiply the scores on the jumps by a difficulty factor. If that difficulty factor’s large enough, then even with mistakes and all subsequent deductions, skaters can still win the competition.

[End footage.]

CHARLIE: All the positive aspects of Nikki Davis’ life should have multiplied her natural coping ability, and so I think we should look at this further.

DON: Charlie, look. If I’m gonna rule her death a homicide, I need more than skating metaphors, you know? I need evidence.

[David enters.]

DAVID: We might have it. Nikki’s husband’s flight from Texas arrived, only he wasn’t on it.

DON: What do you mean?

DAVID: I check the manifest. He never got on the plane.

MEGAN: Found out his wife’s dead and he didn’t come home?

DAVID: Ran a trace on his cell.

DON: What’s five-two? Mexico?

DAVID: Night of her death he was in Mexico City, not in Texas like he was supposed to be. Also, I ran a trace on her cell. All calls in the last 48 hours.

DON: Yeah, and?

DAVID: One number pops out. It’s on page two.

[Don turns the page, reads, and sits down, shocked.]

DAVID: Last person she called was you, Don.

[Shot of the photo of David and Nikki. Fade out.]

[Fade in: FBI office.]

DAVID: I rechecked everyone’s voicemail. She didn’t leave a message.

DON: I mean, I don’t hear from her for years, and then she calls me a few hours before she kills herself?

MEGAN: Well, maybe the kind of message she was leaving she didn’t want to put on a machine.

DON: And what’s her husband doing in Mexico?

DAVID: Credit card shows he made a bunch of trips down there, all to the same town, just south of the border.

MEGAN: He’s working gun runners. Maybe it’s an undercover assignment.

DON: No, not according to Turner. I mean, they thought he was working a case in Texas.

DAVID: And if he is on the job, why is he putting it on his own dime? I mean, especially with his financial situation.

DON: What? What’s that?

DAVID: Credit report shows he took a second mortgage out on his house. Yeah, and six months ago he started borrowing against his pension.

DON: For what?

DAVID: I don’t know, but whatever he’s buying down there, no, he’s not using the credit card for it.

MEGAN: Well, I’ll say this for him: the man gets results. One bust alone last year netted two crates of M-16s.

[David sighs.]

DON: Look, just keep digging, all right? I mean, I want to know what the guy was doing in Mexico, okay?

DAVID: All right.

[David leaves, and Don sighs.]

[Cut to: College courtyard. Charlie is sitting on a bench. Amita approaches.]

AMITA: Hey.

CHARLIE: Hey.

AMITA: Wow. I can’t remember the last time I saw you just taking a break.

CHARLIE: Oh, it’s a beautiful day.

[Amita sits beside him.]

CHARLIE: I needed to get outside.

AMITA: Yeah. Larry says that you’ve been distracted. It’s the ATF agent?

CHARLIE: Well, my research has revealed that law enforcement officers are more likely to commit suicide than civilians.

AMITA: Well, it’s not really surprising, is it? I mean, they’re around violence every day. They see things most of us don’t even know exist.

CHARLIE: They also have a terrible track record at maintaining relationships.

AMITA: My parents had a friend. He was a detective, and, um, last time I checked, he was on his third wife.

CHARLIE: Really?

AMITA: He was always getting called off in the middle of the night. He missed her science fair, her school play… Everything, really.

CHARLIE: I worry about Don. Where his work takes him, how’s he ever gonna have a relationship?

[Amita smirks.]

CHARLIE: What?

AMITA: Nothing. It’s just, I mean, we both know that you’re not exactly the most successful man in the world when it comes to maintaining a personal relationship.

CHARLIE: Different.

AMITA: How? Don has made his work his life. So have you. What’s even worse is you’ve made his work your life.

CHARLIE: Look who’s talking.

AMITA: Look, we all have professional commitments. But that doesn’t mean we’re not responsible for the choices we make. Nothing is written in stone, Charlie. Don can find somebody. I mean, he just has to be willing to.

[Cut to: Nikki Davis’ house. Don walks into the bedroom and looks around. He spots the picture of him and Nikki on the bed and picks it up. He sits down on the bed, examining the photo. Nikki’s husband enters the room.]

RICHARD: Looking for evidence, or a keepsake?

[Don stands.]

DON: We’ve been looking all over for you.

RICHARD: My boss told me. Said you were handling the investigation.

DON: Yeah, well, that’s right.

[Richard picks up the picture of Nikki and Don.]

RICHARD: Looks like, uh… you and Nikki had a lot of fun in New Mexico.

DON: Yeah, well, you know, it was a long time ago.

RICHARD: And you decided to handle her suicide, what, for old time’s sake?

DON: She called me a few hours before she died.

RICHARD: She called you? About what?

DON: I don’t know, Richard. Why’s your boss think you were in Texas?

RICHARD: Well, I don’t think that’s really any of your concern.

DON: Well, you’re wrong about that.

RICHARD: Hmm.

DON: I mean, you’re in debt up to your eyeballs. What’re you doing running around
Mexico?

RICHARD: What’re you doing, Eppes?

DON: I’m just doing my job here, man. That’s all I’m doing.

RICHARD: No, you’re not. You’re trying to clear your conscience. You left Nikki.

DON: Yeah, so?

RICHARD: Well, it took her a long time to get over that, you know? It hurt her pretty bad.

DON: L-Look, let’s just talk about Mexico.

[Richard sighs.]

RICHARD: They sell drugs there.

DON: Uh-huh. So, what, you got a drug problem?

RICHARD: The drugs weren’t for me.

DON: I saw her tox screen. The only thing in her system were prescription drugs, so…

RICAHRD: Well, they were experimental. Non-FDA approved.

DON: What does that mean?

[Richard shakes his head, looking at the photo of Don and Nikki.]

RICHARD: Nikki had cancer.

DON: What?

RICHARD: She was diagnosed about a year ago.

[Don sighs.]

DON: Hey, look, you know, uh, I didn’t know. I mean, it’s not in her file, so…

RICAHRD: That’s because we didn’t tell anybody. ATF – they, uh, they would’ve put her on leave for sure, and Nikki… wanted to keep working. If you don’t believe me, wait for the autopsy.

DON: Just, no more trips to Mexico, okay? Until this is over, all right?

RICHARD: No more trips? No more trips? How bout just, uh… How bout just a simple “I’m sorry for your loss and I think I’ll be on my way.”?

[He presses the photo into Don’s chest and leaves.]

[Cut to: FBI break room.]

DAVID: Like this whole thing isn’t weird enough, he runs into the husband in her bedroom.

MEAGN: What was he doing at a crime scene alone?

[They begin to leave.]

DAVID: Here’s the other info from the scene.

MEGAN: Thank you. Hey, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Hey. I thought I’d stop by, check up on my brother.

MEGAN: Oh, well, he’ll be back in a few minutes. Is this the radio communication from that night?

DAVID: Yeah.

CHARLIE: Radio communication?

MEGAN: Yeah, some uniforms were chasing a dealer. They called in for back up and think they heard a gunshot.

CHARLIE: Are you saying that this is a recording of the gunshot that killed Nikki Davis?

DAVID: Maybe. It’s pretty distorted. There’s a whole lot of other noises on there.

CHARLIE: How does this help?

MEGAN: Well, if it is the actual gunshot, it’ll tell us the exact time of death.

CHARLIE: Well, then… I can create an acoustic fingerprint for this shooting.

MEGAN: From the CD?

CHARLIE: Yeah, yeah. We, look, we know where the shot was fired, right? And assuming that the sound was picked up by more than one radio, and that I can have access to that same firearm… Well then, well then, yeah. I can… I can recreate the same variables.

[He starts to walk away with the disc, but David snatches it from him.]

DAVID: I’ll make you a copy.

[Cut to: Eppe’s house. Don is sitting at the table, looking at the picture of him and Nikki. Alan enters.]

ALAN: Well, she’s cute. Where was this taken?

DON: New Mexico.

ALAN: Why is it whenever I see an old photo of myself I look totally different and you look absolutely the same? I mean, we – we have the same genes, don’t we? I don’t understand it.

DON: Yeah, well, she’s dead.

ALAN: She’s dead?

DON: Apparently a suicide.

ALAN: Oh. I’m sorry.

DON: You know, she called me a few hours before.

ALAN: Why would she call you?

[Don sighs.]

DON: I don’t know.

ALAN: Is there anything I can do?

DON (quietly): She had cancer.

ALAN: Cancer? I see.

DON: You know, I just, I have a hard time getting my head around the fact that she couldn’t find some other way to…

ALAN: Yeah, I know.

DON: Yeah, I guess you would, right? Did you and mom ever talk about what would happen…?

ALAN: I never wanted to. I guess we were just lucky it never came to that, but… I mean, if she had chosen to, I would’ve understood. And I never would’ve blamed myself. You understand what I just said?

[Don nods.]

ALAN: Do you?

DON: Yeah.

[He checks his watch.]

DON: I gotta go, Dad.

[He picks up his stuff and begins to leave.]

DON: See you later, Pop.

ALAN: Yeah, all right.

[Cut to: Nikki Davis’ bedroom. David lies back onto the bed and fires the gun. The bathroom door opens, revealing Larry and Charlie in the adjoining room, monitoring the gunshot.]

LARRY: No, no. No, it still doesn’t match. Are we sure we set up these outside microphones correctly?

CHARLIE: Double-checked them.

LARRY: Because nothing can be discounted here. You know, an experiment like this, there’s such an extremely high level of difficulty.

DAVID: Why is that?

CHARLIE: Because there was an open widow, the sound envelope, and how the waves reached the microphones – they require truly complex calculations.

LARRY: In an auditory sense, a gunshot is fairly unique in that it produces a short, intense sound impulse.

DAVID: And how exactly does this help me with a timeline?

CHARLIE: Well, if we can recreate the original acoustic fingerprint, then we can match it to the sound recorded by three separate LAPD officers. You know, forensic acoustic experts did this exact same thing in the JFK assassination inquire to determine whether or not there really was a gunman on that grassy knoll. Now are we sure everything’s exactly the same as it was?

DAVID: Yeah.

LARRY: Hey, it just occurred to me; that shade: was it open or shut?

DAVID: Does it matter?

CHARLIE: Cloth doesn’t reflect as much sound as glass.

LARRY: Look, as we fire our test shots, this program will measure muzzle blast and echo pattern, so it is essential to get an acoustic match, that nothing in this room be changed, added to, or eliminated.

CHARLIE: Tell you what. Let’s – let’s try it again.

DAVID: Okay.

[He lies back on the bed as Larry and Charlie retreat into the bathroom.]

DAVID: Ready?

[Cut to: Inside bathroom.]

CHARLIE: Yeah, go for it.

[He fires and we see the measure of the shot’s sound on the computer screen. Charlie and Larry reenter the bedroom.]

CHARLIE: Not even close.

DAVID: All right, now, just throwing it out there: Maybe it wasn’t a gunshot.

CHARLIE: No, it was a gunshot.

LARRY: Listen, the recorded waveform was bouncing around much more. Something is missing here.

CHARLIE: Are you sure that there wasn’t some evidence removed from this bedroom?

DAVID: A shell casing, maybe… And the bed sheet. That’s it.

LARRY: No, that’s just fabric to fabric. According to my variations, we’re looking for something much larger.

CHARLIE: Wait, David, where’s Don?

DAVID: At the office.

[Charlie leaves quickly.]

[Cut to: FBI office.]

CHARLIE: Sound waves. A gunshot produces a sound wave that travels, okay? If the sound wave hits a reflective substance, let’s say, like a rock, the air pressure energy of the wave moves back in the opposite direction, towards you.

DON: An echo?

CHARLIE: Exactly, but those returning sound waves don’t just allow us to hear the gunshot. They tell us what we can’t see. Like bats, for example.

[We see footage of a bat that correlates with Charlie’s explanation.]

VO: CHARLIE: A bat emits a sound wave and then listens carefully to the echo it produces. Now, by hearing how long it takes for the echo to return, the bat’s brain automatically knows how far away an animal is. The larger the animal, the louder the echo. If an animal is moving toward or away from the bat, the pitch of the echo will be raised or lowered accordingly. It’s the Doppler Effect.

[End footage.]

DON: All right, yeah, so, and?

CHARLIE: And we recreated the acoustics of Nikki Davis’ room using the same communication system the officers used, and we found that there was something missing.

MEGAN: Missing?

CHARLIE: Actually, someone. I think… that there was someone else in that room when Nikki Davis died.

[Fade out.]

[Fade in: FBI office.]

DON: All right, wait, wait. Are you sure about this?

CHARLIE: The acoustic pattern clearly shows extra movement and mass. Don, I’m telling you, there was someone else in that room.

DAVID: It can’t be Nikki’s husband; we know he was in Mexico. It doesn’t mean he couldn’t have helped plan his wife’s murder, though.

DON: All right, here we go. I want to start over, all right? We’re gonna comb his file, hers. I want a=to find anyone with potential for this.

DAVID: People with a grudge against Nikki’s gonna be a long list, Don.

DON: That’s all right.

DAVID: We’ve got informants, people she’s put behind bars…

DON: Just tell me; is his file on this table?

DAVID: Right here.

DON: This his?

DAVID: Yeah.

CHARLIE: Uh, wait a second. Based on what I see here, I can help narrow that list down a little.

DON: Why, what do you mean? What’s this?

CHARLIE: The forensics report.

DAVID: We’ve already been through that, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Right, well, DNA samples were taken from Nikki Davis’ house.

DAVID: A few dozen, actually. It’s a house, Charlie. Anybody going in could’ve left a trace. We have hair, fibers, skin, fingerprints.

CHARLIE: That’s exactly my point.

DON: Charlie, we ran the samples. There was no matches.

DAVID: Yeah, and without a suspect it doesn’t even help us.

CHARLIE: You guys are talking biology, I’m talking probability. Look, 99.9 percent of our DNA is the same, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find markers that differentiate one individual from another.

DAVID: Like genes associated with a particular trait.

CHARLIE: That’s exactly right. For example, we can, with high accuracy, determine an individual’s origin: European, East African, Sub-Saharan African.

DON: Fine. How does this help us?

CHARLIE: Cal-Sci has a DNA database. 50,000 DNA samples and photos of the people who donated them. I can run a statistical matrix to find similarities between the samples found at Nikki’s house to and the samples at Cal-Sci.

DAVID: Wait a minute, are you saying you can tell us what these DNA samples would actually look like?

CHARLIE: To a reasonable probability.

DON: Well, go for it, run it.

[Charlie rushes out of the room.]

[Cut to: Layout area. Photographs from Nikki’s case are tacked up on a corkboard.]

MEGAN: Alright. So the last six months, Nikki’s primary focus is investigating a series of armed robberies. Five months, five jobs, 1.5 million dollars.

DAVID: These guys move with tactical precision. What was ATF doing on that case?

MEGAN: Agent Rho said the crew used military-quality weapons. Maybe ATF’s handling the trace.

DAVID: Was she having any luck?

MEGAN: She had an informant who linked these guys to an Aryan motorcycle gang: The Outlaw Renegades. It’s run by a guy named Roy Mitchell. Looks like she put surveillance on the gang based on the information from the informant.

DAVID: Anything come of it?

MEGAN: Her team spotted The Outlaw Renegades outside a bank, then ATF waited on these guys.

DAVID: How come there were no arrests made?

MEGAN: They never went inside the bank… Someone tipped these guys off.

DAVID: Right, they knew they were being watched, that’s why they didn’t go inside.

MEGAN: Maybe the informant was playing both sides.

[Cut to: Charlie’s office. He enters first, carrying a large model of a DNA strand. Larry follows behind.]

LARRY: Isolating a person from DNA linked to a government database? I can’t help but wonder: is this even ethical?

[Charlie sets down the model.]

CHARLIE: Oh, it’s no different than fingerprints or driver’s licenses.

LARRY: I see a very real distinction. Driver’s license provides a person’s identity. But DNA, that contains the essence of our history, glimpses into our genetic future.

CHARLIE: I’m merely using DNA information that’s already been collected to approximate the description of an ATF agent’s killer.

LARRY: Oh, I agree. In this case, you know, the intention is pure. It’s admirable, even. But, you know, DNA can be used for much less noble pursuits. I mean, predetermination, Charles. Think about it. Once we’re trapped within these databases, our employers, our insurance companies, you know, they can use our genetic codes, and not just to glimpse our futures, but to limit them.

[Charlie gives Larry a weird look before tossing the chalk at him. Larry grabs it and throws it back.]

[Cut to: Robin’s office. Don knocks on the open door and Robin looks up from her computer.]

ROBIN: Agent Eppes. Nice to see you.

DON: Robin, I need a favor.

ROBIN: Really? Oh, you could’ve just called. Oh, right, but I forgot, apparently you don’t know how to do that.

DON: No, no, no. Listen to me. It was a friend of mine, okay? An agent, an ATF agent was killed, and uh… I mean, that’s the only reason I took off.

ROBIN: Wow. I feel really silly.

DON: No, don’t, please.

ROBIN: How can I help?

DON: Well, she was working with an informant who was giving her intel about The Outlaw Renegades.

ROBIN: Yeah, I know them. Our office has wire taps on them.

DON: Well, I figure warrants are based on those tips. I need to know who it is.

ROBIN: Those wire tap applications are sealed by court order.

DON: Look, the ATF isn’t gonna help me because I took the investigation away from them, so-

ROBIN: Well, it’s not my case.

[Pause.]

ROBIN: But I’ll talk to the AUSA that’s handling it and… see what I can find out.

DON: I appreciate that.

ROBIN: This… woman was close to you?

[Don opens his mouth to answer, but Robin cuts him off]

ROBIN: You know what? I’m sorry. That is none of my business.

DON: It’s all right. You know, I-I’ll tell you about it.

ROBIN: All right. Well, you know where I work, right?

DON: Yeah. Thanks.

[Don leaves, and Robin looks after him.]

[Cut to: Outside Darryl Clark’s house.]

DAVID: He’s an Outlaw Renegade, right?

DON: Yeah.

MEGAN: Nikki arrested him last year?

DON: Yeah, she flipped him. He’s been giving intel to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

DAVID: He lives alone, doesn’t he? Two cars in the driveway.

[They approach the front door and Don knocks on the screen.]

DON (yelling): FBI! Looking for Darryl Clark!

[He opens the screen door and begins to enter.]

DON: Darryl Clark? FBI! Darryl Clark?

MEGAN (OS): I’ll take the back.

[Don steps into the living room, looking around.]

DON: Darryl Clark?

DAVID (OS): Don!

[Don follows his voice and enters the kitchen.]

DON: What do you got?

[We see Darryl Clark, facedown on the counter, a plastic bag over his head.]

DAVID: He’s been dead for awhile.

MEGAN (OS): Guys? Out back!

[They exit through the back door and see Megan beside a body in the empty swimming pool.]

MEGAN: It’s Nikki Davis’ husband. Two shots, center mass.

[David and Don begin to climb into the pool.]

MEGAN: He wasn’t just killed, he was executed.

[Fade out on Nikki and Richard’s wedding photo.]

[Fade in: FBI office.]

DON: All right, so we know Nikki’s source was giving her intel on the Renegades, right?

DAVID: Right. They must’ve found out he was a rat and they took him out.

MEGAN: Yeah, but what about the husband? Why kill him?

DON: Yeah, and what’s he even doing there?

DAVID: He was probably following the same trail we were to know if the informant was playing both sides, if he betrayed her.

DON: What, he went to avenge the wife’s death, right?

MEGAN: You know, Annie Wilson, the girl on Nikki’s team, told me their marriage was in trouble. She said something, uh…

[Megan scans the file.]

MEGAN: “Something the husband did backed her into a corner.”

DAVID: You think he could’ve been involved?

MEGAN: Well, the guns the robbery crew uses are military grade.

DON: And Davis definitely has access to those.

DAVID: Now he discovered those assault rifles in that bust last year.

MEGAN: Right, and they were in financial trouble from the wife’s illness. Maybe the though selling the guns would help her.

DAVID: Nikki finds out, she has no one else to turn to… then she calls you.

[David gestures at Don.]

MEGAN: And she gets killed before she has the chance to do it again.

DAVID: Exactly.

DON: Alright, so I want 24/7 surveillance on everyone in this photo. And this guy Mitchell pops out of his hole, I wanna know it.

[Cut to: Charlie’s office. Amita enters.]

AMITA: Hello?

CHARLIE: Oh, hey.

AMITA: Am I interrupting something?

CHARLIE: Just another Fleinhardt doomsday prophecy.

LARRY: Come on, you make me sound like Chicken Little. I was merely advising Charles as to the dangers of unleashing a genie from a bottle.

CHARLIE: He’s thrilled with the idea of cataloguing DNA.

AMITA: Why, Larry? Do you have something to hide?

LARRY: No, my DNA is pure as the driven snow.

AMITA: Then what’s the problem?

LARRY: The problem is once something is out of the bottle it is out of the bottle for all time.

CHARLIE: The bottle?

LARRY: What? The bottle. That’s a useful metaphor.

CHARLIE: Right. Listen up. I’ve identified several groups of genetic markers called haplotypes, and now I need a set of algorithms to compare them against the Bio Department’s photo base.

LARRY: And these algorithms can help you identify the people who left traces of DNA in this agent’s house?

CHARLIE: Like a blueprint for a home…

[We see footage of a blueprint as a model of a house is built atop it.]

VO: CHARLIE: The DNA that builds a person are like blueprints that build tract houses. A majority of the characteristics of each home – roof, dimension, and style – is exactly the same. But there are a small number of things - like-like color, landscaping, and, say, window covering - that make each home like a person: unique.

[End footage.]

CHARLIE: With a little luck, I may be able to put a statistical face on all of Don’s samples.

LARRY: It’s like some bizzaro DNA world.

[Cut to: Eppes’ house.]

DON: When I was at Quantico, I remember all this talk about pride and integrity… I remember holding John Dillinger’s gun.

ALAN: Yeah, but they never seem to tell you about cases like this.

DON: I mean, here’s my friend and…I mean, she’s murdered, you know, and she’s miserable. She’s in yet another bad relationship.

ALAN: Come on, Donny, you’re projecting now, aren’t you?

DON: No, I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know anyone in my game who’s got a really good relationship.

[He begins to walk away, and Alan follows him.]

ALAN: Donny, that can’t be true.

DON: Well, it is. I mean, I tell you stuff, but-but you don’t know the half of it, trust me.

ALAN: How come I don’t find that comforting?

DON: It’s hard. You come home, and someone says “How was your day?” and you’re like “Well, I saw a decapitated kid, how was yours?”

ALAN: Well, I mean, if you can’t talk about it, how are you going to feel any better than you do now? Which is why there is nobody at home waiting for you.

DON: Look, even when I could’ve had good relationships, I screwed them up.

ALAN: What does that mean? Damned if you do and damned if you don’t?

[Don walks past him and sits on the couch.]

ALAN: What if you didn’t sabotage your next relationship.

DON: Yeah? What does that mean?

ALAN: I mean, what if you gave the next woman that you meet a real shot?

DON: Look, Dad, it’s easier said than done.

ALAN: Donny, what’s the worst that can happen?

[Don looks at him.]

ALAN: I’ll tell you. The relationship fails, right?

[Don’s cell phone rings.]

ALAN: So then what? Then you’re back where you are right now. But the only difference is, instead of being afraid, you took a chance.

[Don answers his phone.]

DON: Eppes.

[Cut to: Outside Roy Mitchell’s home. Don exits his car and David approaches him.]

DAVID: LAPD undercover just bought some dope about an hour ago. IDed Roy Mitchell, leader of The Outlaw Renegades, inside on the couch.

DON: How many inside?

DAVID: Two plus Mitchell. We’ll come through the backyard, take them by surprise.

DON: What do you say, boys? Let’s do it.

[Cut to: Backyard. FBI gunmen jump a wall and position themselves near the open back door. One of the men starts to leave, and Don runs out and tackles him to the ground. A man stands up, rifle in hand. One of the gunmen approaches him.]

GUNMAN: Drop your weapon!

[Mitchell complies.]

DON: Put your hands behind your back, thumbs up.

[A man jumps out a window, and David spots him. David begins to run after him.]

DAVID: Hey! We got a runner!

[More men follow, chasing him further.]

DAVID: FBI! Don’t move!

[As the man tries to jump a wall, David shoots him with a taser. He falls to the ground.]

[Fade out on The Outlaw Renegade photo.]

[Fade in: Interrogation room.]

: You got nothing on me.

DON: Well how about two dead federal agents?

ROBIN: Which qualifies you for special circumstances and a lethal injection.

MITCHELL: Yeah, you have any evidence?

DON: What, you mean like Nikki Davis’ husband supplying you guys with guns? Is that what we’re talking about?

MITCHELL: Who’s Nikki Davis?

ROBIN: She was the ATF agent working Darryl Clark. You know who that is, right?

DON: Yeah, he was cooperating with the ATF. Did you know that?

MITCHELL: Ah, can’t trust anybody nowadays, can you?

DON: You killed him. Just like you killed Richard Davis when he showed up.

MITCHELL: Sorry. Not ringing any bells.

DON: Look, you got one chance, you hear me? One chance to save your life.

MITCHELL: All right, look. You guys got pictures of me killing somebody, feel free to let me know. Other than that, we got nothing to talk about.

[Cut to: Hallway.]

ROBIN: Don, he’s right. What we have isn’t enough to flip him.

DON: Well, he’s involved, all right? There’s no doubt in my mind he’s involved.

ROBIN: I can’t hold him.

DON: Well, you can’t cut him loose.

ROBIN: We don’t have probable cause. Nothing ties him to either crime scene.

DON: Look, I’ll lose his paperwork, all right? I cannot let the guy go, Robin!

ROBIN: Look, Don. I don’t know what this woman meant to you. But I doubt she would want you to compromise yourself.

[Pause.]

ROBIN: Neither do I.

[After a moment of hesitation, Robin leaves the room.]

[Cut to: FBI office.]

MEGAN: We’ll put him under surveillance. Eventually he’s gonna make a mistake.

DON: Well, that’s not good enough, Megan. I’m sorry. It’s not. You know?

CHARLIE: Don! I got your guys. Or your guy. Or whatever. I got ‘em.

DON: What?

CHARLIE: Your DNA samples. I was looking for major continental groups and searching for matches. It’s actually something that Larry said. That I shouldn’t be looking at specific physical characteristics, I should be adjusting my algorithm to identify origins.

DON: Okay.

CHARLIE: So I went back to Cal-Sci’s DNA database and I found samples that most closely resemble the biogeographical ancestry of the eight samples that were pulled from Nikki Davis’ house. And I approximated the genetic probability of the samples’ likeness.

DAVID: Okay, now how do we know which one’s the killer, Charlie?

CHARLIE: We don’t. Well, not for certain. But we can apply probabilities. I mean, look, we know that there were no fingerprints on that gun. So we can assume that the killer wore gloves. So we can eliminate all secretion based DNA samples from hands.

DON: What, we get these three?

DAVID: Wait a minute.

[He begins digging through a file.]

MEGAN: What is it, David?

DAVID: One of these representations.

[He holds a photo beside the third picture.]

DAVID: Does this remind you of someone?

MEGAN: Agent Rho, from Nikki’s team?

DAVID: Yeah, that’s pretty close.

MEGAN: But why would someone on Nikki’s team want her dead?

DON: Bank robbery detail described them as moving with military precision, right?

MEGAN: Yeah, and Rho was a former Navy Seal.

DAVID: Mitchell wasn’t leading this crew. It was Rho’s.

DON: Call Special Ops, I want Rho under tight surveillance ASAP.

[Cut to: Outside First Financial bank. Rho watches through binoculars as security transfers bags in to a truck.]

[Cut to: FBI office.]

MEGAN: ATF has Rho out on a training scenario. The location’s undisclosed.

DON: They’re pulling a job, I know it. They’re pulling a job.

[Cut to: Bank. The guards finish putting the bags into the truck and the truck begins to pull away. A construction person hold a stop sign, and the truck stops.]

WORKER: Stop! That’s good!

[A forklift approaches, piercing the driver’s side window, pinning the driver into place. Another comes and slides beneath the truck. The tires rotate in place, but the truck doesn’t move. A man adjusts the forklift so the truck is lifted. A masked man from the other forklift points a gun at the driver.]

MAN: Get ‘em up! Now!

[The driver raises his hands in the air. Another masked man places a device on the back of the truck, before backing away.]

MAN: Fire in the hole!

[It detonates, blowing open the back doors. Man 2 directs a large blue van to back up to the back of the truck. Rho pulls on a mask and climbs out of the van. The two guards from the back of the truck begin to stand. One of the men from the van pulls a gun.]

GUARD: No! Don’t shoot!

[The man fires, and the guard falls. The man shoots the other guard as well.]

MAN (to the man holding the driver at gunpoint): Shoot him!

[The gunman complies, killing the driver. The men begin using teamwork to remove the bags from the back of the truck and put them in the van. Sirens wail, and the police vehicles enter the lot.]

MAN: They’re onto us! Give me suppression fire!

[They begin to shoot at the cop cars. Don, Megan, and David stay low to avoid the gunfire as they exit their vehicles. Heavy crossfire ensues as the FBIs try to hit the gunmen.]

RHO: Protect our flank!

[Gunfire continues. Don spots Rho.]

DON (to David): Cover me. Watch for crossfire.

[Don begins to move across the lot, shooting a man who comes in his way. He then tries to shoot Rho, who ducks behind a car. Don reloads his weapon before shielding himself behind a car and shooting at Rho, also blocked by a car. Many shots are exchanged as Rho attempts to fight off several opponents. Don squats beside the car to reload his weapon. He then repositions himself to have a shot at Rho’s ankles beneath the car. He fires, and Rho falls to the ground, yelling in pain. As Don approaches, he attempts to reach for his weapon.]

DON: Don’t do it! Don’t even think about it! Get that hand up further. Get it up.

[Cut to: Eppes’ house. Alan shuts the door after having a pizza delivered.]

ALAN: Oh, thank you.

[He walks inside.]

ALAN: Okay, pizza’s here.

CHARLIE: Peppers and onions?

ALAN: Uh, no. Sausage.

CHARLIE: Don’s not coming over?

ALAN: Ah, I called. Immediately goes to voice mail. What? What?

CHARLIE: Three agents cracked, Dad. Nikki Davis, her husband, and Agent Rho. I mean, even his crimes can be traced to the pressure he was under.

ALAN: What do you think, Don’s gonna crack?

CHARLIE: He lives alone, and there are times we don’t see him for days. Who knows what he’s doing?