Black: Day 01 - Chapter 08

Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 - 03:00 AM

Los Angeles Police Department Van Nuys Station

While sitting in the waiting room for Gregory to come back, Adam finally has some time to call Susan. He dials the number and keeps his voice low. He feels bad for not keeping touch with her better the last few hours.

He contemplates whether he should talk about the fact that the suspect he was chasing seems to know something about Megan's whereabouts.

Probably better not alarm Susan just yet, he thinks.

"Hey, it's me. Anything new?"

Adam is surprised to hear Susan's scared, crying voice, clearly telling him something is terribly wrong.

"Adam! Jesus Christ! Where are you?"
"I'm at the Van Nuys police station, what's wrong? Is it Megan?"
"She called me earlier, we're on our way there right now. Something was very wrong, Adam. I don't know what's going on!"
"Okay, honey, relax. Talk to me. What did she say?"
"She said she was in danger, it sounded like she was being chased."
"By whom?"
"She wouldn't say, it was a very short phone call, and I-I just... Oh my God, Adam, what if something's happened to her?"
"Hey, hey, hey... It's gonna be alright. I promise you. Look, it's a long story, I'll explain later, but right now, I'm working on finding out where Megan is."

As Adam is saying this, he's scribbling something on a piece of paper, which he then places in the front pocket of his jacket.

"W-what do you mean? Have the police seen her?"
"A suspect I was chasing. I think he's seen Megan tonight."
"But I don't understand..."
"I don't, either, but I'm going to talk to this guy as soon as I can."
"O-okay..."
"I'm gonna be right there with you after I get some answers."
"We're almost here. I just hope she's still here and okay, and..."
"Me too."

Adam sees Gregory approach the room through the window on the door.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go. I'll call you as soon as I can."
"O-okay..."

Adam hates to leave Susan like this, but he really needs to talk to this man, no matter what it takes.

Gregory enters the room.

"So, what did he say?"

There's a look of defeat in Gregory's face, rarely seen.

"He said he'll talk to nobody except you."
"So can I go in?"

Gregory doesn't give Adam the satisfaction of him actually saying "yes" to him - but does eventually step away from the door.

Adam then goes by him and walks straight into the interrogation room, but Gregory follows right behind him.

"I was told you'll only to speak to me."
"Yeah. Alone."

He is referring to the people he knows are behind the two-way mirror.

Adam gets closer to him with a threatening tone of voice.

"You killed a cop. So it goes like this."

He then leans closer. And the people behind the mirror can't make out what he is saying. Gregory tries to listen in, but also hears nothing.

Suddenly, a fight erupts between the two and they struggle with Adam pushing him hard against the wall, choking him and pressing his other hand against his face.

They are quickly separated.

"I want to talk to my lawyer! I'm fucking pressing charges! I have one phone call! I want my fucking phone call!"

The police officers escort Adam out of the room as the suspect goes into the next room to make his phone call.

Gregory is quick to sarcastically congratulate Adam on a job well done.

"Good job, Black! Terrific! Making the agency proud! What the hell was your game plan, huh?"
"He knows something."
"And you were gonna do what? Just beat it out of him?"
"I'm going for a walk."
"Good. Make it a long one."

Adam leaves the room and finds a place where he can be alone.

The suspect also waits until he is alone, and takes out the piece of paper Adam places in his mouth during the struggle, which has Adam's cell phone number written on it, and dials the number.

"Is this line secure?"
"Yes. Now tell me about my daughter."
"Not until you get me out."
"How do you know where she is?"
"I heard some guys talking. Guys I work with."
"What guys?"
"The only thing you need to know right now is, they have your daughter, and they're gonna call me at 03:30, sharp."

Adam looks at his watch.

"That's in 20 minutes."
"Yeah. They'll call me back where you first saw me."
"Fleetwood Street?"
"Yeah. Now get me out of here. If I'm not there for that call, they'll know something's wrong. And you'll never see your daughter again."
"I'm not sure if I can."
"Well, I'm the one chance you've got, so you better think of something fast."

He hangs up. And Adam calls Mona at ATC.

"Hey, it's me. The suspect is awaiting a call in 20 minutes at 15177 Fleetwood Street. I need you to trace all available public lines."
"Okay, let's see here... there's a payphone half-way down the block... and it's in service."
"Okay, set up the trace."
"There's not enough time for a warrant."
"Forget about a warrant. Just do it."
"Okay, bigger problem. If they're expecting the suspect to answer the phone, they'll hang up the second they hear your voice."
"They're not gonna be hearing my voice. He'll answer the phone."
"Did you get Greg to get him out?"
"No."
"So, what are you gonna do, break him out?"
"Just set up the trace."
"Whatever you say."

Adam hangs up and looks at his watch again. The clock is ticking, so he really needs to figure out what to do, fast.

---

Outside of the City

Susan and Doug park the car near Ron's Auto Body and Shop, which is where Megan said they were when she called. She has also tried to call the number Megan was calling from several times, but hasn't gotten an answer.

They yell out to the girls - also to no answer.

Doug grabs a flashlight from his car and they begin a search. They look through every corner, but there's no sign of the girls.

Doug keeps it together, but Susan is getting increasingly stressed and is freaking out.

"Oh my God, they're not here. Something has happened to them!"
"We'll just keep looking! We have to keep looking."
"I can't believe this is happening."
"Me, neither. But we can't lose hope."

---

Los Angeles Police Department Van Nuys Station

Adam comes across a police officer in the hallway and stops him.

"Hey. The guy who killed the police officer earlier. I still need to have a few words with him."
"I heard you went off on him earlier."
"Yea, it got a little heated."
"Listen to me. The cop who got killed today. Tim. He was my partner."
"I'm sorry."
"I want this guy to go down. That means a clean bust. Nothing extra. No extracurricular activities. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Okay, follow me."

They arrive at the door of the interrogation room.

"Okay, the only way you're going in is with me."
"I'm fine with that."

The door opens and they step in. The suspect keeps up the play he and Adam started earlier.

"I'm not talking to this guy without a fucking lawyer!"
"I just need to ask a few more questions."
"No! No more questions! Officer, take him away. I won't say anything without a lawyer."

Adam then grabs him by the arm and twists it.

"There is no lawyer, there's just me!"

But the cop gets in between.

"Hey! I told you-!"

Adam then shoves him, instead.

"Don't touch me!"

Then an all-out brawl breaks out between the three, which is again broken up by other officers.

Adam is thrown out of the station.

"You need to get yourself in control!"

The suspect is left alone as the officers escort Adam out of the building. He waits until he is alone, and uses the keycard that Adam was able to smuggle him during the tussle to open the door.

He gets a clean exit from the station and meets up with Adam outside.

"Okay, we're running out of time, let's go."

They run to Adam's care and take off.

---

Outside of the City

Susan and Doug have looked through everywhere near the Autoshop and a little bit beyond.

Susan then notices the construction site.

"Well, they're not here. We've looked everywhere. Might as well look over there. A site like that would offer places to hide, right?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea."

Doug's flashlight lights the way as they enter the construction site. No signs of life.

Until.

The flashlight perfectly spotlights Julie lying bloody and motionless on the ground.

They both gasp and scream as they rush towards her.

Doug immediately checks her vitals.

"Julie, oh my God! Oh, dear Lord, please!"

She's barely alive.

"Susan, call 911 now! Oh, Jesus Christ! Julie! Talk to me!"

Susan dials the number, but also looks around for Megan who is nowhere to be seen.

---

Noah's Base of Operations, Unknown Location

Noah and Mia arrive back at their base. With the ID. They get out of the car and Mia goes over to her bike.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Noah. Oh, and one more thing. If I'm not where I'm supposed to be in exactly one hour, there are gonna be some really bad people in your neck of the woods. And you may not want those people ruining the stuff you have planned for the day, so... if I were you, I'd tell that sniper of yours to stop waving his thing at me right about now. I mean, if I were you."

Noah did have a shooter ready to Mia out for ripping him off. But he's gotten to know Mia, and realizes Mia is always prepared. So she's probably telling the truth, making it not worth the risk.

He waves his hand as a sign for the sniper to step down.

Mia registers this and puts on her helmet before starting the bike.

"I thought you'd understand. Catch you later."

Mia drives off into the distance. Noah is seething, but he has everything else to worry about. Getting ripped off as he did was just a small obstacle.

One of his henchmen then walks up to him.

"The girl's here."
"Thank you."

Noah goes around the house to find Mark and Johnny's van. The boys are outside.

"Were there any problems?"

Johnny takes the lead.

"No, no problems at all."

Noah opens the door and sees Megan tied up with duct tape over her mouth.

"You're with me now. Here's how this is gonna go. Be good, you'll be back home in a day. Be bad, you won't. Understood?"

Megan reluctantly nods her head.

"Good. Mark, take her inside."

Noah then notices they only brought Megan.

"Where's the other girl?"
"She became a problem. We had to take care of her. The deal was only for Megan, right?"
"Yeah. That's right. Is she dead?"
"Pretty sure."
"Pretty sure?"
"Yea, well. She fell off a scaffolding."
"But you didn't check if she was actually dead?"
"Like I said, pretty sure she was dead. She's not gonna be a problem."

Noah just stares at Johnny.

"I'm gonna let you in on a secret. You're either dead. Or you're not dead. There's no such thing as kinda, sorta dead. Here, I'll show you."

Noah pulls out his gun and shoots Johnny where he stands.

---

Fleetwood Street

Back at Fleetwood Street, where they first met, Adam stops the car and drags the suspect to the payphone.

He checks the time. The call should happen any second now. He phones Mona.

"Okay, it's me, we're here. Do you have the trace ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."

A phone rings.

But it's not the payphone.

Instead, it's a cell phone hidden underneath the payphone itself.

"Shit! It's a cell phone! They're not calling the payphone!"
"Then we're screwed, there's no time for me to set anything up!"

Adam hangs the phone and tells the suspect to pick up the ringing cell phone.

"Pick it up. Put it on speaker."

"It's Noah. There's been a change of plans, but nothing you can't handle. Taped to the back of the payphone there's a set of keys. You'll find a parked car on avenue 26, Nevada license 621-ONO. There's a body in the trunk. Get rid of it."

The call ends and Adam asks about the body, worried that it's Megan.

"Whose body is in the trunk? Whose body is in the trunk!"

Adam then grabs the keys and runs to look for the car. He finds it, and opens the trunk.

Covered in plastic and blood, the badly mutilated body belongs to a male. Whatever happened is tragic, but Adam is relieved that it's not Megan.

"Who the hell is this guy?"
"No idea."
"Who are these people?"
"I don't know. They tell me what to do, I do it, and don't ask questions. That's how you keep a job in this business."

Adam is about to call Mona, as the blue and red lights of police cars surround him.

And in the middle of the police cars is Gregory's car.

He steps out and sees Adam standing next to a car with a dead body in the trunk.

"Okay, Adam. Game's over. What the hell is actually going on here?"