Black: Day 01 - Chapter 07

Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 7th, 2016 - 02:30 AM

Fleetwood Street

"Drop the gun, or I'll shoot him, now!"

On one knee, Adam has his gun aimed not only at the suspect he was chasing but Tim, the police officer who joined to help, now with the suspect's gun glued at his temple.

Time stands still. Adam can't let the suspect get away, but he also can't sacrifice Tim's life for the sake of the case.

"No one has to die here!"
"Shut up! Drop it!"
"Let him go, tell me what I need to know and you walk! That's the deal! I give you my word!"

The look in Adam's eyes tells the suspect he's serious. He begins to contemplate if it'd be simpler to take the deal.

The confrontation is interrupted by a spotlight from a police helicopter from above.

"This is the police, drop your weapons!"

The suspect panics and pulls the trigger on Tim. Adam yells and launches at him, tackling him against the wall.

"No!"

Adam punches him unconscious and then goes to check on the cop.

"Stay with me, Tim. Come on, stay with me!"

But it's too late. He's gone.

"Son of a bitch."

Adam feels responsible for Tim getting into this mess.

"I'm so sorry."

The grief is cut short by a group of police officers crashing the scene.

"Put your hands where I can see them!"

Adam gets up with his hands behind his head, but doesn't save his breath scolding the police officers.

"I had him! Damn it, I had him! One of your men is dead because of you!"

---

Somewhere in the City

Still in the car with Doug, Susan receives a phone call from a strange number, and while she usually doesn't take calls from strange numbers - let alone at 2 in the morning - considering the circumstances, she wastes no time answering.

"Hello? Susan Black."

She then hears Megan's hysterical and scared voice of Megan on the other end.

"Mom! You need to come pick us up!"
"Megan! Are you still at the party?"
"No, there was no party,t they made us say that!"
"Who made you say that?"
"These guys. You've got to come here and pick us up!"
"Oh my God! Where are you?"

There's a slight pause as Megan looks around her.

"Right now we're next to a 'Ron's Auto Body and Shop', near a construction site."
"I'm in a car right now, we'll be there!"

Susan then tells Doug to start the car and rush to where the girls are.

---

Fleetwood Street

Adam is still with the police at the scene of the crime. One of the officers gets back to Adam and hands him his badge back.

"Everything checked out."
"Yeah. Is the suspect conscious?"
"Yes. We're taking him away right now."
"I need to talk to him."

There is an awkward pause.

"Agent Black. I'm sure you understand. This guy just killed a cop."
"I do understand. But I'm investigating a federal case. And I really need to talk to this man. Just give me a minute."
"Fine. One minute."
"Thank you."

The man is sitting down, leaning on a wall, licking his wounds. Adam comes up to him and violently pulls him up.

"Get up!"
"You're gonna get me out of this if you want me to say anything."

Adam doesn't like cooperating with a dirtbag like him, but is willing to compromise to get his job done.

"First you answer my questions. Then I'll see if I can help you out."
"No. If they keep me, I'm dead."
"The police seem under control."
"It's not the cops I'm afraid of."
"Who are you afraid of?"
"Get me out of this first. Black."

Adam pushes the man against the wall.

"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot more than that. And if you ever want to see your daughter again, you'll get me the fuck out of here."

Adam gets more violent, shoving him against the wall again even harder, grabbing him by the throat.

"What was that about my daughter?!"

Barely able to speak through the choking, the suspect sticks to his guns.

"G-get me out of here, Black!"

The police see Adam getting violent and come to separate the two.

"Okay, that's enough!"

As they are being pulled apart, Adam yells at him louder, but to no avail, as the cops place the suspect in the car.

"What did you say about my daughter?!"

After being released by the cops, Adam runs through the alley to his car and speeds to follow the police escort.

While driving, he dials Susan's number on the phone.

But the signal is too low and the call won't go through.

"Son of a bitch."

Adam decides he has no chance but to try and get a chance to talk with the man being escorted to police custody.

---

ATC Headquarters

The ATC office is at a standstill due to the lockdown, but Gregory steps in front of the staff to give an announcement.

"Alright, Adam Black has been found. And therefore, the lockdown is over. Work will proceed as normal. Get back to work."

Gregory then heads out, but not before making a stop at Kevin's workstation where Kevin and Mona are camping.

"I'm not done with you two yet, by the way."

Kevin and Mona let him leave, and as he has exited the building Kevin continues to work on the keycard.

Mona then dials Adam's number now that the communications aren't being monitored anymore.

But the call doesn't connect.

"Crap."
"What is it?"
"I tried to call Adam, but I guess he bad reception. Wherever he is."
"He'll turn up. I'll try to get what I can out of this card."

Gregory is checking out, but before he has the chance to leave, Amy wants to have a word with him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Myers."
"What is it, Amy?"

Amy is one of the few ATC staff members Gregory has never seemed to have anything against. They have somehow always managed to get along. No one knows her secret.

"Was there a problem with Kevin and Mona?"
"With all due respect, that's confidential. Between me and them. Why?"
"Oh, I was just thinking. If you need a pair of eyes here while you're gone... you know."

Gregory glances at Kevin's workstation, seeing the two working on something.

"You know what, Amy? That's a good idea. Thank you."

Not that Amy really cares. She's just being opportunistic and sees this as an opportunity to kiss Gregory's backside.

She returns to her desk, keeping an eye on Mona and Kevin.

---

Outside of the City

Despite their best efforts to hide, Mark and Johnny manage to locate Megan and Susan.

The girls have a chance to see them from afar and run away, but they are both too tired to keep it up for too long.

They rush towards the construction site nearby, hoping to find somewhere to hide for long enough for their parents to arrive.

Exhausted, they stop behind a set of boxes and construction equipment. Julie is beat. She is simply unable to keep going.

Megan tries to think of something.

Her eyes lock on to a large lead pipe lying on the ground. Julie wonders if Megan is going to do what she thinks she's going to do.

"Are you serious?"

Megan gazes at the pipe in her hands. She thinks of what her father would do. He wouldn't run. He would face the situation head-on.

"It may come in handy."

They hear the boys' voices from nearby.

"Come on, we can smell your perfume! We know you're in here!"

They get closer. And closer. Megan holds on to the pipe with a stronger and stronger grip.

She's nervous. Scared. Sweating. Absolutely terrified.

But as she sees Johnny walk past her, giving her a perfect opening for a shot on the skull, she takes it. With everything she has.

She has never had to use that knowledge before, but for a split second, instinctively, she manages to remember everything Adam once taught her about defending herself and knocking a person out.

Johnny falls down to the ground, but before Megan has the chance to do anything, Mark grabs her from behind. They struggle and Megan bites him on the arm, forcing him to release his hold.

Mark tries to talk to Megan.

"Megan! Just stop it, damn it!"
"One step closer and I swear..."

Megan is holding the pipe, but isn't quite as confident as she makes herself out to be. It's one thing to knock someone out when they're not looking - quite different doing it face to face.

"Why are you doing this, Mark? Huh? Just answer me that!"
"I can't. But it's gonna be okay! Just do as we say, and it's gonna be alright!"

Mark tries to take a step forward, but Megan swings the pipe.

"I swear to God, Mark. Don't come any closer."

Julie then sees Johnny getting up and tries to warn her.

"Megan, look out!"

But the bigger and stronger Johnny overpowers Megan from behind, grabbing the pipe from her hands. Mark then goes to grab Julie, but Megan then tells Julie to get away.

"Julie, run!"

Despite her exhaustion, Julie gets up and runs towards one of the scaffoldings. Johnny gives Mark the pipe before running after Julie.

"Hold her!"

---

Los Angeles Police Department Van Nuys Station

Adam is in the middle of an argument with the sergeant about getting the chance to talk to the man in custody.

"I'm sorry, agent Black, but this guy killed a cop. I'm not going to interfere with the protocol."
"I know what he did. I was there. But I'm telling you, you're gonna get a call from Howard Brady who was our liaison to the PD's office. He'll work through it. Until then, you can have my gun and my badge, and I will promise you, I will not interfere. I just need to talk with the guy, and I need to talk with him now."
"No."
"Fine. Then where's your lieutenant?"
"He checked out. Midnight. And if he were here, he'd tell you the same thing."
"Sergeant. The cop that was killed tonight. Did you know him?"
"Yes, of course I knew him."
"He's dead because he risked his life trying to help me with my investigation. Do you want his death to be for nothing? Forget the damn chain of command. This suspect has information vital to my case. I just need him for a few minutes. Please."

Bringing up Tim's death does it, and the sergeant finally agrees.

"I'll give you five minutes."
"Thank you."
"This way, I'll take you to him."

Unfortunately, there is a voice from behind them that stops Adam in his tracks.

"Agent Black isn't going anywhere."

It's Gregory. Adam mouths curse words to himself as Gregory goes to greet and shake the sergeant's hand.

"Gregory Myers. District Director of ATC Los Angeles. This man is under my authority. I'm going to have a few words with agent Black. Can we have the room?"
"Yes, of course."

They enter the room and Adam lets Gregory hear it.

"Look, we can have this talk later, but right now-"
"But nothing. But nothing, Adam. Until you tell me what you were doing with Richard Williams at the Axxess Plaza at the time he got shot and killed, I'm treating you as a prime suspect."
"Jesus Christ. You really think I had something to do with that? Why would I do that?"
"How should I know?"
"Richard was the only higher up that was my ally in that joint, and you know that. I'm here because Richard sent me here. Behind this wall is a man with information on the Miller hit."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because the reason Richard got shot was because he was in possession of the very evidence that sent me after this guy. So what I'm doing right now comes directly from Richard who, may I remind you, superseded you. And if you don't let me go there right now to talk to that man just because of the personal grudge you have against me, it can be seen as you impeding the investigation of an assassination attempt."

For once, Gregory is speechless. So Adam continues.

"If Miller gets hit, it's not gonna look really good on your resume the next time you try to get out of the office, is it? So why don't we cut the crap, Greg?"

Gregory stares. Stands silent. Stays silent some more. Then speaks.

"I'll go talk to him myself."

Adam rolls his eyes. Gregory realizes Adam is right, but he simply unable to give him that victory.

Adam, of course, didn't mention the ulterior agenda he had, which is to find out what the man knows about Megan's whereabouts.

---

Outside of the City

Johnny chases Julie up the scaffolding until Julie runs out of strength and falls down. At the top of the scaffolding, Johnny grabs her and they struggle until the instability of the scaffolding causes both to trip over.

Johnny manages to stay on the scaffolding, but Julie loses her footing and falls 16 feet to the ground.

Megan, Mark, and Johnny all stand still, staring at Julie's emotionless body.

Megan runs towards her, crying, trying to wake her up, but there's no response.

Mark then grabs her again.

"Why didn't you two listen to us!"

Megan is too shocked to form words, she struggles with Mark until Johnny comes back down to help Mark drag her back to the van as she cries for Julie.