Black: Day 01 - Chapter 19
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 - 10:30 AM
Sepulveda Dam
Inside the limo of the now-dead Tom Novak, Adam is on the phone with Mona, scrambling, desperately trying to piece together anything he can, attempting to rescue his family before it's too late.
He doesn't even know for sure if it isn't too late. Adam has looked death in the eye on the field many times, more than he can count, but just like he told Olivia hours earlier; never before has felt such fear in his life.
It's different because he fears for someone else than himself.
Adam knows he can take care of himself, but he is beginning to doubt if he can take of other people.
"This doesn't make any sense, Mona. Before he died, Novak told me I deserve what's happening to me. This isn't just about Bruce Miller, this is personal, they're after me."
"Then who are they? Who could they be? What kind of a connection do you and Senator Miller share?"
"I don't know, Mona. I don't know. I've never even met him. I only know him through my father."
"Didn't you find anything in Novak's stuff?"
"No, nothing. But this is what I want you to do. Dig deeper into Novak's files. Search through his extended family. Cross-check everything you find with my past case files."
"That's classified data, I can't access all of it."
"My code is 7752. Please, Mona. Anything you can find."
"Sure, you got it. What are you going to do?"
Adam doesn't know. He feels helpless. Lost. The desperation is beginning to affect his mental fortitude, and probably for the first time in his life, he is beginning to lose control of the situation.
"I don't know, Mona. I just- I don't know."
But before giving in to the despair, Adam stops at the sight of his wedding ring on his finger.
He can't stop now. He's the only hope Susan and Megan have. "Okay, Adam, pull yourself together", he thinks to himself.
He stares at Novak's dead body, and decides to grab on to the last straw he has.
"Novak was on his way to meeting an associate at the corner of Nordhoff and Willingham. That's what he said. I'll call you back. I'm gonna go meet his friend Patrick Farrell."
"Okay, Adam. Call if you need me."
"You got it."
Adam hangs up, then lifts Novak's dead body up on the set of the car, tidying him up, before moving back to the driver's seat, heading to the location of the meeting.
ATC Headquarters
Kevin drops a pile of folders on Mona's desk.
"So, what's this?"
Kevin glances at Larry who is keeping his watchful eye on both Kevin and Mona. Then leans in closer to talk privately.
"Nothing, just act like you're interested. Look, Green suspects we're working with Adam, right?"
"Yes. But he can't prove it."
"Why not just come clean? With more resources, we could help Adam out more."
"No, we can't. We still don't know who we can trust. This is Adam's family we're talking about."
"Yeah. But even though Green can be a hard ass, I don't think he's dirty."
"He probably isn't, but he does things by the book, and you know what's gonna happen: we tell Green, and all of a sudden there's 30 people in the loop. And if one of those 30 people turns out to be another Amy..."
Kevin realizes Mona is right, pretends to grab some papers from Mona, and heads back to his desk.
He desperately wants to come up with a way to help his best friend, but his hands are tied.
Larry did notice the interaction as he observed them through the office window.
He also doesn't think they were simply exchanging work-related chit chat.
Noah's Base
Susan is pacing around the room, nervously awaiting what might happen next, as she notices Megan once again struggling to stay awake; she lies down on the floor, wanting nothing more than to close her eyes for just one minute.
"Megan, no! You need to stay awake!"
Susan lifts Megan up to a sitting position, but Megan is all out of energy.
"I can't take it anymore, mom."
"I know, sweetie. I know. But we promised your father we'd stay strong, remember?"
"Is he even going to be here?"
"Yes."
"You don't know that, mom."
"I do. Your father and I have had our problems, but there's something Adam has never, ever done to me, and that's let me down; if your father gives his word, he means it. He will be here. We just need to stay strong for a little while longer."
Mark then enters the room. He's bloody and bruised from the interrogation earlier. This shocks Megan.
"Mark? Oh my God, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
Mark then pulls up a gun, which frightens Susan and Megan, but Mark ensures he's not there to hurt them, and hands it over to Susan.
"Take it. It's Johnny's. It's loaded. You, uhh. You may need it."
Susan wants to know more.
"What do you mean?"
"I gotta go."
"Mark?"
Mark doesn't listen, but instead heads out of the room. He wishes he had more courage, but he doesn't. Mark is forced to face his humanity, and the fact that he isn't the hero character in a movie.
He is a frightened boy way over his head.
Megan draws conclusions and gets increasingly scared.
"They're gonna kills us. That's why Mark gave us the gun. Oh no..."
Susan grabs Megan and speaks to her, looking right into her eyes.
"We're alive. Remember that: we're alive. And as long as we're alive, we can't give up. We can't stop fighting. We're alive, and Adam is on his way here. One way or another, he'll find us."
They embrace, preparing for the worst to come.
Parking Garage at Nordhoff and Willingham
Adam sits and waits, observing the garage through the rear-view mirror until he sees a black car arrive.
A man steps out, heading towards the backseat of the limo.
He sits next to Novak's dead body.
"Sorry, I'm late. I had a couple of calls to make. I know this is an inopportune time, but things have-"
He then notices he is speaking to a dead corpse.
Adam turns around to see the man he met in the hospital with his face; the man posing as Douglas Harris, the father of Megan's friend Julie.
"Hello, Doug. Or is it Patrick? Where's my family?"
Patrick pulls out his gun and starts firing, but the bullets sink into the bulletproof divider.
The gun is emptied, and Adam steps on the gas, speeding as fast as he can until finally hitting the breaks, sending Patrick crashing headfirst into the divider, knocking him out.
Adam steps out of the limo and drags Patrick into his car and wakes him up.
"Wake up, you son of a bitch."
Patrick finally comes to.
"Where's my wife?"
Still dizzy, but able to communicate, Patrick realizes the situation.
"She's safe."
"And my daughter?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
Patrick replies with a chuckle.
"Adam, you can't expect to..."
Adam wastes no time elbowing him in the face.
"Let's try this again. Where's my family? Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
"I was just gonna say the same thing to you."
"But I'm the man with the gun."
"If you kill me, how are you going to find your family?"
"I never said anything about killing you."
Adam gives Patrick a look. A look that tells Patrick exactly how much and how bad he is willing and able to hurt him.
"I'm pretty good at withstanding pain, Adam."
"And I'm pretty good at dishing it out."
"If you don't get there soon, Adam. It may be too late. So we have to come to an agreement."
Adam is willing to listen. After all, Patrick is just a hired gun. With his family's lives on the line, it's of no use to waste his time on Patrick.
"I'm listening."
"You let me go. And I tell you where they are."
Adam thinks about it.
"As soon as I know they're safe, I'll let you go. I give you my word."
Patrick laughs at the proposal.
"Hah, you word, sure, that works for-"
Adam once again elbows Patrick in the face, this time twice, and then grabs him by the throat, aggressively repeating the agreement in his ear.
"We are talking about my family, you son of a bitch. All I want is to get them back. Nothing else. So! As soon as I know they're safe, I will let you go. That is the agreement. Do you understand?"
Adam lets go of his throat, allowing Patrick to breathe and speak.
"And what if I say no?"
"We'll find out how good you really are at withstanding some pain. And if anything happens to my family, you're no longer of any use to me, now are you?"
Adam gives Patrick another deadly stare. And it's enough to convince Patrick of who Adam is, and what he can do.
"I'll drive the car."
Noah's Base
Mr. Ivanovich is leaning on a wall, staring at his watch. And then finally gives Noah his final orders.
"It's time. You failed to find Adam Black in time. I'm moving on to the contingency plan. Tell your men to kill his wife and daughter; the contingency plan doesn't involve them."
Noah isn't pleased. This means he failed at his assignment, leaving him with nothing. But he knows better than to defy Mr. Ivanovic because if he does, the money won't be the only thing he loses.
He then pulls out his walkie talkie.
"Ian. Kill Black's wife and daughter. And tell the crew to get ready for the final preparations."
Parking Garage at Nordhoff and Willingham
With Adam in the backseat, his gun firmly pointed at the back of Patrick's head, he is driving his car out of the car park.
Adam wants to know where exactly they're going.
"Where are we headed?"
Patrick refuses to respond, so Adam asks again, but with more volume.
"Where are we headed?"
"To your family. I'm taking you to your family, Adam."