Black: Day 01 - Chapter 16

Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 - 08:40 AM

Noah's Hideout

Noah is attempting to reach Amy on his phone, but there is no answer. He begins to get agitated. The whole plan is falling apart; what was going to be a clear, easy, simple plan is completely coming off its hinges, and Noah is having a hard time keeping it together.

There is still no answer.

Until.

"Noah."

One of his men interrupts him from behind, wanting to know what's going on, and Noah erupts, taking his frustrations out on him, shutting the phone off in the process.

"What! What is it?"
"I just wanted to know what the plan was moving forward? How long do you want to keep the wife and daughter alive?"
"Until I say otherwise! Is there something unclear about this to you? Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, no problem. But I've done my job here, I'm expecting to get out of here, and get paid."

Noah pulls out his gun, and presses it against the man's forehead.

"You'll leave here when I say so, you got that? Hm? You got that?"

The man nods.

"Good."

Noah puts down his gun.

"We're gonna be here for a little longer, alright? And as things change, I'll let you know. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have work to do."

The man leaves and Noah gets back behind his desk.

This scene was observed behind the corner by Mark who is increasingly convinced that he needs to get out of here - no matter what Noah was promising to pay him. It's obvious by now that he won't even be seeing that money - and even if he was, he is starting to realize the mistake he has made.

He needs to find a way to get out - and somehow take Megan and Susan with him.

---

ATC Headquarters

Amy's phone stops ringing, while Mona and Kevin make room for the EMTs to attend to the lifeless Amy.

She's still alive, but barely.

Mona makes note of the phone stopping ringing.

"Well, if that was that man, O'Connor, he stopped. I wonder if that's a bad sign."

Kevin goes to grab the phone.

"I don't know, but we should try to get a trace off that call."
"I'd like to think that's been accounted for."
"Maybe. But if he assumed the phone would be with Amy, maybe he got careless."
"Yeah, well. It's worth a shot for sure."

The EMTs lift the pale Amy on a stretcher. Kevin makes note of how it doesn't look good for her.

"What do you think?"
"Well, let's hope she makes it. She may be the only person who can tell us where Susan and Megan are being held."

They leave the room and head to Kevin's work station to trace the calls made from Amy's phone when Mona's own phone rings.

---

Somewhere in LA Traffic

Adam managed to free himself from the handcuffs by using the tools stored in the ATC vehicle that was sent for him. And now he's calling to check on the situation over at ATC.

"Hey, it's me. I got the car."
"Yeah, that's good. Did you make it out of there okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get anything out of Amy?"
"She tried to kill herself, Adam."
"What?"
"Slit her wrist."
"You said she tried?"
"Yeah, she was still alive when the medical team picked her up, but it doesn't look good."
"Did she say anything before- son of a bitch."
"What is it?"

In the nick of time, Adam noticed a police roadblock set up on his path, and turns the car around.

"I'm gonna need your help directing me through traffic. The police have set up roadblocks here."

Mona boots up a computer.

"Yeah, just gimme a sec."
"Just hurry and scan the area, I need to get out of here."
"Well, it's not gonna be easy. LA traffic a 9am is bad enough."

Mona scans the area and tries to look for an optimal path for Adam to drive through.

"Alright, I got something for you. I'll send the route to your phone."
"Thank you. So did Amy say anything else before she tried to commit suicide?"
"No. But Kevin's working on her phone. Someone tried to call Amy's phone a few minutes ago. It's an unknown number, but Kev's trying to run a search on calls contacting that SIM card for the past 24 hours. Maybe that can lead to something."

Adam is doing what he can to stay calm, but the fact that the only lead they had just attempted to commit suicide is making him anxious, considering Susan and Megan can't have too much time left now that Adam is free.

"Okay, keep me posted. Now I need to focus on avoiding the roadblocks."
"How about just turning yourself in? Tell your side of the story, and maybe you'd get the full resources of the law enforcement working with finding Susan and Megan."
"Negative. O'Connor will keep them alive if they're useful to him - if I'm taken into custody, they won't be. The only way to keep them alive for as long as possible is for me to avoid getting caught."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll let you know if Kevin finds anything."
"Thanks, Mona."

Adam hangs up the phone and starts to follow the path sent to him to make it to somewhere he can lay low.

---

Unknown Location Outside of Town

Mia Evans steps out of the shower in a remote apartment away from everything.

It's not quite the living space fit for a person who just made a couple of million dollars for some dirty work well done - but Mia's never been so much about the glitz and glamour.

And it's only a temporary hideout anyway.

She makes room on her bed by pushing her clothing, a briefcase, firearms, and a bunch of documents out of the way, and turns on the TV for the 9 o'clock news.

"...as the top story today is the attempted assassination of Senator Bruce Miller. The authorities have given no other information except that the attempt on the Senator's life was failed, and apparently the man responsible is being looked for. The Senator survived the attempted attack, and is currently..."

Mia isn't surprised, actually. Noah never gave her the impression that he would be able to get the job done as planned. Not in one go anyway.

She then grabs her phone to text someone.

---

Noah's Hideout

Both tired and exhausted, Susan is holding Megan in her lap, as Megan feels like this is as good a time as any to have a heart to heart with her mother.

Who knows if there is ever going to be another opportunity anyway.

"Mom"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"Why did... I mean. Why did it not work for the three of us? You, me, and daddy."

Susan takes a deep breath.

"Look, honey. I truly believe your father is the greatest man I've ever known. I love him with all my heart. But sometimes he can be- difficult. Difficult to be with, difficult to reach. Just difficult. When I was going through my problems, the drinking, everything... I just needed someone to be there for me. But your father was always working. He could never talk to me about his work. Work always came first. And I felt like- I felt like I had nobody, and-"

Megan sits up upon hearing this.

"But mom? You had me."

Susan reacts by tearing up.

"I know. I know, sweetheart. And I should have trusted you, I know that. Maybe, deep down, I wanted to be alone. And drink. Especially after-"

The door opens. One of the men working for Noah steps in. With lust, he eyes both Susan and Megan before locking on Megan.

"You. Come with me."

They both realize the implications of this, and Susan immediately stands up to defend her daughter, but is overpowered by the much stronger man.

Mark enters the room to break it off, shoving the man to the wall.

"What the hell are you doing, man? Nothing like this was discussed."
"Stay the fuck out of this, you loser."
"Noah's gonna have you shot if he hears about this. We're not supposed to be messing with them. Get the hell out of here now, or I'll call him myself."

After a brief staredown, the man leaves. Mark then attends to Megan and Susan.

"You two alright?"

Mark still doesn't have their trust, so they avoid much contact with him, but Megan and Mark then notice Susan holding something.

She managed to grab the man's phone during the tussle.

Megan is excited.

"Oh my God, mom! You gotta call dad right now!"

---

ATC Headquarters

Mona answers the call.

"ATC Mona Young, can I help you?"
"Mona? It's Susan, is Adam there?"

Kevin hears this and listens in, as well.

"Susan? Oh my God, are you alright? Where are you?"
"I don' know. I was able to get a hold of a phone. I don't know where we're being kept."
"Are you okay? Is Megan there?"
"Yeah, we're both fine. Do you know where Adam is?"
"He's out looking for you. Give me a second, I can connect you to him. Just give me a second, this won't take long."

Mona puts Susan on hold for a second to dial Adam's number.

"Adam? It's me. Susan called."
"What? Is she alright?"
"She sounded fine."
"Is she on the line now? Patch her through."
"Yeah."

Mona connects the calls.

"Susan? Honey?"
"Yeah, I'm here."

A rush of emotions overwhelms Adam upon hearing his wife's voice. He tries to keep himself together, however, for the sake of finding them.

"Can you tell us where you are right now?"
"No, they blindfolded me when I got here."
"Can you tell me anything, anything at all about where you're being held? Any little thing helps. Can you hear cars? Trains? Anything?"
"No, it seems really remote. I can't hear much of anything, honestly."
"How long did it take for you to get there from where you were captured?"
"About 20 minutes, maybe half an hour. It was something like that. From where I was picked up."
"And where was that?"
"Around Mulholland."

Kevin cuts in and starts a scan on his computer.

"That helps. I'm setting up a scan."

Adam continues.

"Honey, we're gonna need you to keep the line open. Kev's attempting to triangulate the call. Whatever you do, keep the line open. Even if you can't talk, don't hang up the phone. It's gonna take a while."
"Okay."
"Susan?"
"Yeah"

Despite attempting to focus on the mission and staying in work mode, which he needs to get the job done, he begins to get emotional talking to his wife.

"I'm gonna get you out of there. Both of you. I promise."
"I know you will. I know that."
"You gotta promise to stay strong for me, okay?"
"I promise."

Adam then sees a police car behind him signaling for him to stop.

"Son of a bitch."
"Adam, what is it?"
"Give me a second. Keep the line open."

Adam pulls over.

The police car stops, and two officers step outside. They begin to walk towards Adam's car.

Adam watches them through the rear-view mirror, and just as they get close enough to his car, he steps on the gas and speeds away.

The cops then run back to their car and begin the chase.

Kevin, Mona, and Susan can all hear something going on through the phone, but can't make it out.

Adam drives to a nearby parking lot, filled with cars, parks the car, and steps out, grabbing the phone with him and using the parked cars for hiding.

The cops arrive to patrol through the area, Adam gets underneath one of the cars for hiding.

He can hear Susan's voice on the phone.

"Adam? Is everything all right? Are you still there?"

Adam puts the phone on his ear, and whispers.

"Yeah, I'm still here. I'm fine."

Knowing Kevin is listening in, he asks if he's gotten anywhere with the trace.

"Kev, have you made any progress triangulating the call?"
"Not yet, but I'm getting there. I need a few more minutes."

Adam sees the cops still patrolling over the area. He's trapped there until they leave.

"Susan?"
"Yeah?"
"Get Megan on the phone, I want you both to hear this."
"Sure. Megan, come over here."

Megan comes to the phone to hear her father for the first time since midnight.

"Daddy?"
"Yeah, sweetheart, it's me. And I'm coming to get you home, I promise. It's not gonna be long. I want you both to hear this. And know this. I know I haven't always been there for the both of you. I know I haven't always taken the best care of this family. I know that."

Susan doesn't want Adam to have to worry about this now.

"Adam, you don't have to do this..."
"Yes, I do. We're a family. And we're gonna make it through this like a family. I'm so sorry for everything. I just-"

Adam begins to tear up.

"I love you both so much. So very much. And I just - I need you to hang in there. Both of you. Just hang in there for a little longer, okay?"

Megan also begins to cry.

"Daddy, I love you so much and I miss you."
"I miss you, too, sweetie."

Susan then abruptly interrupts them as she hears something.

"Adam, someone's coming!"

Susan hides the phone in her pocket as the man she stole the phone from barges into the room.

"Where is it?"

Adam panics.

"Susan, what's going on?"

Susan tries to act innocent.

"Where's what?"
"My phone. You took my phone, where did you put it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me, you bitch!"

Adam is seething and grins his teeth when he hears some scumbag call his wife a bitch.

But he's helpless; he's miles away and there's nothing he can do.

Mona then chimes in.

"Adam, I've muted our part of the conversation. I'm guessing someone went to the room."
"Where are you on that trace?"
"We need a couple more minutes."

The man grabs Susan, Megan tries to defend her, but gets shoved to the wall.

He then goes through Susan's pockets and finds the phone.

"You called someone? Who the hell did you call? Who is this?"

Adam then unmutes the call to answer him.

"I am the very last thing that you will ever see should anything happen to my wife or my daughter."

The man hangs up the call.

Adam asks if Kevin was able to trace it.

"Kev, did you manage to get the trace?"
"No. No, I didn't."
"Son of a bitch!"

Adam then rolls out from underneath the car.

"I'll call you back."

He uses the several parked cars for cover as he navigates to an older Chevy that he knows he can break into. Using street smarts, he has little issues opening the door and proceeds to hotwire the car, and drives away.

As he's a safe distance away, he calls Mona back.

"It's me again. So, did you manage to get anything useful?"

Kevin replies.

"I only managed to pin down the trace to a 20-mile radius. That's not big enough to work with."
"Son of a bitch. I need something here, I have nothing to work with."
"Well, I may have something else."
"What is it?"
"I was looking into Amy's phone. There's not a lot there, she was very careful. But I found an e-mail address. And I'm looking into it right now. It's a Tom Novak. CEO at an investment banking firm over at Burbank."
"That's it?"
"So far, that's it, but I'm decoding the e-mail right now, I should have more in a few minutes."
"Okay. Let me know as soon as you have something. And Mona, you're gonna help direct me through traffic."
"Sure."

---

Noah's Hideout

Noah is texting Amy for a status report due to still not having heard from her as he gets a call on his phone.

Assuming it's Amy, he immediately answers.

"Amy? Where the hell have you been?"

But it's not Amy. Instead, Noah hears someone else's voice.

"Problems, Mr. O'Connor?"
"Mr. Ivanovic. No, no problems."
"I hope so. I called to check in on the Adam Black and Senator Miller situation, hoping it would be taken care of. I don't see anything on the news."
"I still need a little more time."
"I will be there in one hour. If you don't have Adam Black by then, I will cancel your contract. And I will take over from there. And you will kill Mr. Black's family."

Noah isn't the type of man to take orders from anyone, but Mr. Ivanovic is one of the few that manage to intimidate him.

"I... understood."

---

ATC Headquarters

Kevin manages to decode Amy's e-mails and use the info to dig things up about Tom Novak.

"Adam, I got it."
"Okay, what do you got?"
"I found a wire transfer, made earlier this morning at 3am from a Swiss bank account, one million dollars to Noah O'Connor."
"That's our guy. Patch me through to his office."
"Sure."

Kevin redirects the call to Tom Novak's office. A female voice answers.

"Novak Enterprises, how may I help you?"
"Hey, is Tom there, please?"
"Unfortunately, Mr. Novak is in a meeting right now. Would you like to leave a message?"
"I'm just a friend of his from business school, I was in town today, I was hoping if I could see him."
"Oh, unfortunately, as soon as Mr. Novak is done with his meeting, he's leaving town."
"For how long is he gonna be in his office?"
"He's going to be leaving at 10. Just leave your name and..."

Adam hangs up and calls Mona.

"Give me the address to Tom Novak's office, and hurry, I need to be there before 10."
"It's 25500 Riverside Drive."
"25500 Riverside Drive, got it."

Adam steps on it, and hopes he can make it there before 10.