Black: Day 01 - Chapter 12

Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 - 06:00 AM

Off the Road, Outside of Town

Mona is still coming to her senses after Adam faking taking a shot at her. The flak jacket he gave her took the bullet, but it's clear Adam is being used by someone, and Mona assumes it's the people behind the planned hit on Senator Miller.

Question is, what will she do now.

People inside ATC can't be trusted, and Mona judges from Adam's strange behaviour inside the office that he was being watched.

Mona takes a chance and phones Kevin, hoping it won't make things worse.

"Mona? Where the hell are you? I saw you and Adam leave the office, what the hell is going on?"
"Hey, Kev, is this line secure?"

Kevin takes a while to set it up so that it is.

"It is now. What's happening?"
"I'll explain later, but what I want you to know right now is that no one inside the office can now I'm alive."
"What?"
"Just trust me. Please. I need you to pick me up. And don't tell anybody."
"Okay? Where are you?"

---

On the Road to Santa Clarita

Adam is doing his best to keep his focus and eyes on the road after what just happened.

Noah doesn't know he gave Mona a flak jacket, but he still had no time to make sure Mona survived the shot. He can only hope. And despite the flak jacket, he was still made to shoot a friend. More than a friend.

He wants to resist; a big part of him wants to stop doing these people's biddings.

But he can't.

As he stops the car on red traffic lights, a police car stops right next to him. Adam looks at them from the corner of his eye.

He contemplates it.

However, Noah's voice on his ear reminds him of the predicament he's in.

"Let them pass, Adam. You don't want to take any risks with your family."
"For your sake, I hope my family gets through this unharmed."
"That's in your control, Adam. Just focus on what you're doing."

It's now been over 24 hours since Adam last slept. The day is beginning to wear him out. It has already. His eyes get heavier by the second. It gets more and more exhausting just to stay coherent.

Heavy eyelids, the headache, his eyes watering every time he yawns - he's feeling the effects of the past 7 hours.

"So, once I get to the power plant, what is it that you want me to do?"
"In time, Adam. In time. Just get there. But first, you'll take a right here. Good, see that bus stop on your left?"
"Yeah."
"Pull over to it."

Adam parks the car at the bus stop, and as he does so, a man approaches the car, carrying a briefcase.

Adam opens the passenger side window.

"Hello, Adam."

The man places the briefcase on the passenger's seat. Adam goes to check it out, but Noah stops him.

"Don't touch it until I tell you to. Now, get to the power station."

---

Noah's Hideout

Noah puts down his headset for a second while Adam is heading towards the power station.

He walks into one of the rooms in the house where a man is patiently waiting to be given the green light to proceed.

"Black's on his way to the power station. You should head there now."

Noah hands him the ID card Mia got him earlier.

"Here's the card. This is gonna get you through security. You'll meet Miller at the breakfast. His speech starts at 7, so be ready before then."

The man gathers his stuff and gets on his way.

On the other side of the house, Megan and Susan are waiting for their fate in their room.

Susan is doing her part as a mother, trying to keep Megan calm. Although, in reality, she is more stressed than Megan is.

"It's only a matter of time until Adam finds us, I promise."
"Well, they must be using us as leverage to get daddy to work for them. They won't harm us until dad's done doing whatever they want him to do. What do you think it is?"
"I have no idea. All I know is these people are attempting to assassinate Senator Miller."
"Any idea why?"
"No, no idea. I just know what Adam told me earlier."

The lock on the door turns. And as it does, Megan and Susan feel their hearts jump out of their chests.

But it's Mark.

"Hey, I-uhh..."

Susan takes notice of the fact that the young Mark stands out from the rest of the group here.

"Who are you?"
"Mark."

Upon hearing the name, Susan jumps up and goes to slap Mark across the face.

"You're the one who kidnapped my daughter!"

Mark's head snaps back and he holds his face. Susan can pack a punch.

"I deserved that."
"You damn right you did."

Megan then intervenes.

"What is it, Mark?"
"I just wanted to check if you two are all right."
"Oh, so you care about us?"
"Look, I didn't think it was gonna be like this."

Susan isn't buying it.

"So, in your mind, what was it going to be like to kidnap a person? Hm?"
"I don't think Noah's gonna let me go. I'm in the same situation as you two."
"No. No, you are not in the same situation as we are. My daughter is innocent, you brought this out on yourself."
"I want to help you get out of here."

Megan sides with her mother. She wants nothing to do with Mark.

"Maybe you could have thought of that before you dragged me in here?"
"What I did was wrong, I know it! But let me help. I kept an eye on the guards, I know their patrol routes. I can get us out of here. And after I do, I turn myself in to the authorities."

Susan feels that if Mark does that, he actually gets off easy.

"Believe me, you will want to do that, instead of waiting for my husband to find you after what you've done."

---

Santa Clarita Power Station

Bruce Miller's limo has arrived at the power station. Before he steps out for the pre-speech breakfast, his chief of staff Owen Ross and Maria are having a word with him.

Owen feels like Bruce should not be taking the risk of having the speech with the threat to his life still in play.

"I'm just saying you're making a mistake. You're a strong man, I know that. And I know you don't want to give in to these people. But I urge you to reconsider."
"Owen, we go way back. Your concern does not go unappreciated. But I have the best people working in security. I can assure you, nothing will go unnoticed. Nothing will get past these fine men and women. I will be fine."

Maria knows there's no talking his father out of it, so she's not going to attempt to. Not anymore.

"I just really hope you're right, dad."
"I know I am. Now let's go and enjoy the breakfast."

As Miller and his entourage head inside the station, Adam pulls his car to the parking lot.

Noah then gives more instructions.

"You'll wait for a few minutes. When I say go, you will head inside and take the briefcase with you. After that, all you need to do is get through security."
"Understood."
"This will all be over soon."

So he waits. Anxiously.

---

Outside of Town

Kevin arrives at Mona's location. Mona gets inside the car, and Kevin finally wants some answers.

"Okay, Mona, what the hell is going on? What happened? You look like hell."
"It's Adam."
"Adam?"
"They've got Susan and Megan."
"Who?"
"The people behind the Miller hit. They're using them as leverage to get Adam to help them."
"Well, we gotta call this in."

Mona panics, knowing it's not just Miller's life that is in danger.

"No! No one can know I'm alive. They still have someone on the inside. I'm sure of it now."
"What makes you so sure?"
"When we were at ATC, before we left, Adam was acting really strange. I think he was being watched, and he knew it. If their person inside learns that I'm alive, they'll know Adam tricked them, and they may hurt Susan and Megan. We can't risk that."
"Okay, well... I still gotta call secret service?"
"Why?"
"Protecting Miller is our mandate right now. If Adam's been compromised, secret service needs to be notified."
"We can't risk Megan and Susan's lives, Kev. We just can't."
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I don't know. But we've gotta think of something."

---

Santa Clarita Power Station

Adam's been given the go-ahead to enter the building. He picks up the briefcase and nervously walks inside the building, towards security.

Lead by Andrew, secret service members are conducting a security check.

It's Adam's turn.

"Identification, please."
"Adam Black, ATC. I'm working on the Miller case."

Andrew takes a look at the badge, carefully examining it. Everything checks out.

"Open up the briefcase, please."

Adam doesn't even know what's in it, he's scared to open it up. Could it be a bomb? A drop of nervous sweat runs down his brow.

Inside, there's a laptop.

"Boot it up."

Noah is in Adam's ear.

"Press any two buttons."

Adam presses two buttons and the laptop boots.

"What do you need a laptop for?"
"Everything we've gathered on the Miller case since midnight is in here."
"Alright."

Andrew lets him pass.

"You may pass."
"Thank you."

He's inside. There's a crowd of people waiting for Bruce to step on the podium to give his speech.

"Now what do you want me to do?"
"You see the table to the right of you? Go stand next to it."

Adam walks to the table. He pretends to be minding his own business and pours himself a cup of coffee served on the table.

Unexpectedly, he hears a familiar female voice from behind him.

"Adam Black?"

He turns around to see the face of an old friend from school years.

"Sarah Douglas? Uhh, hey, umm."
"It really is you! Gosh, I haven't seen you since... well, it must have been a few years, honestly."
"Yeah, yeah, I think so. Look, uhh..."
"So how are things with you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm, uhh, I'm working security."
"Well, look at you. You've made it to the top, huh?"
"Yea, I guess you could say that."
"So I heard from Annie you and Susan got divorced. How's your daughter?"
"We were separated. And Megan is... Megan's fine."

Noah wants Adam to get rid of her.

"Adam, take care of this now."
"Look, I'd love to catch up, but I have a lot of work to do, so..."
"Oh, sure, sure. Don't let me bother you. But we totally should catch up soon. You, me, Susan, and Megan. The whole family."
"Yeah. Yeah... we should do that."

As Adam gets some privacy, Noah wants him to proceed.

"To your left, there's a photographer. Tall man, wearing black."
"I see him."
"Follow him."

Adam follows the photographer to the back, away from the crowd. They enter a lone room where the photographer tells Adam to open up the briefcase again. And as he does so, the photographer removes the false bottom underneath the laptop, revealing an assemblable rifle.

"Assemble it."

Adam begins to assemble the rifle. The shooter then covers his fingers with some sort of paste that Adam realizes is meant to hide his fingerprints.

"You want my prints on this weapon? Do you really think anyone is going to believe that I shot Bruce Miller?"
"Just do as you're told, Black."

Adam finally has enough of it.

He pulls out his own gun and points it straight the shooter.

"You listen to me, you-"
"You better put that away. Someone may get hurt. Namely, your family."

Adam doesn't want to give in. He doesn't want to be these people's puppet.

But he has no choice. He puts down the gun and continues to assemble the rifle.

---

Out of Town

In the car, Kevin and Mona are continuing their debate over whether or not they should notify secret service.

Kevin is trying to reason with Mona.

"Okay, look. Megan and Susan are my friends, too. And Adam is my best friend. But the thing is, technically, he's been breaking protocol all day since midnight. You know Greg's probably gonna call him in anyway since he can't reach him, so it's better if we do it."

Moan does feel like Kevin is making sense.

"I guess you're right."
"Yeah."

Kevin dials a number on his phone.

"Kevin Reese, ATC. 119-464. Can I get agent Andrew Cole's number, please?"

---

Santa Clarita Power Station

Adam finishes up assembling the rifle. The shooter then picks it up, opens the door and tells Adam to follow him.

They walk to a corner behind the podium where there's a clear view to where Miller will give his speech.

Noah gives Adam his final set of instructions.

"When Senator Miller begins his speech, our man will shoot him. He will then hand you his weapon and you will take it from him."

Adam is in disbelief this is happening.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"I know you will be tempted to intervene, but you must believe me: if you do, your family will die. Do you understand me?"

Adam doesn't say anything.

"Do you understand me?"

He is still at a loss for words.

Until.

"I understand."
"Good. This will all be over soon."