Man on Fire

(panting)

I... I have the money!

(gunshot, grunting)

(clattering)

Susan, run!

Run, Susan!

Susan: Collin!

Collin!

(groaning)

Go!

Please don't hurt him.

(yelling)

♪ NCIS:New Orleans 3x03 ♪ Man on Fire Original Air Date on October 11, 2016

(screaming)

♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪ ♪ Bang, bang, bang, bang ♪ ♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪ ♪ How, how, how, how ♪ ♪ Hey, hey ♪ ♪ You gotta come on. ♪

How come Brody called you back but not me?

Well, you didn't call.

You texted, that's different.

How so?

Really? Okay.

When you want to see one of your many lady friends, do you call or text?

Well, first off, I don't have many lady friends.

Hmm.

Or any, for that matter.

Second, what's your point?

My point is, calls get return calls, texts return texts.

Welcome to the 21st century, Country Mouse.

Still can't figure out that "Country Mouse" thing.

Not sure I want to.

What are you still doing here?

I'm working.

By the way, I can't find the Java, so if you're gonna make some, I'll take a cup.

Uh, excuse me.

That's Brody's desk.

Didn't she quit?

(gasps)

What's going on?

Made the decision last night.

Wanted to tell you both in person.

Uh, what decision is that?

Talked to Isler.

Borrowing Gregorio from FBI for a bit.

Until we can identify cartel imbeds DC wants out of NOLA.

Is there a pending case?

No.

But we don't know which cases lead to the cartel till we're working on them.

Figured best to join forces for now.

Coffee?

Love some.

Cream?

Well, ain't they chummy.

King, are you sure this is a good idea, bringing her in?

We keep working the same beat in a town this small, Christopher, someone's bound to get caught in the crossfire.

Can't let that happen.

Yeah. I get that.

I also get that once you let the fox in the henhouse, you ain't getting it out.

We have our own way of doing things down here.

All right, we call our own shots.

No bureaucracy, no bull.

That's how we keep this city and service members safe.

How we do things isn't gonna change.

But how we do things is what got us reviewed by DC in the first place.

Look, just because the FBI cleared us, doesn't mean they won't try to indict us again.

I hear ya.

Fastest way to get Gregorio and the FBI back to DC is to root out the cartel.

And the fastest way to do that is to work together.

(phone beeps)

Gregorio: Sorry. I'm still playing catch-up here.

When you guys finish a case, doesn't it get reviewed?

Pride reviews it.

Right.

But who reviews him?

Girl. I give you a week.

Dead sailor.

1501 Dave Dixon Drive.

Hey, isn't that right next to the Superdome?

Lasalle: Yep.

Let's go. I'm driving.

You keep your weapon in a file cabinet?

A locked file cabinet.

Dead sailor.

That means you're with us.

Right.

The victim's Petty Officer Collin Barrett, 41, from Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse.

Now it says here he's done multiple tours of duty, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Recipient of the Bronze Star for bravery, and not a single strike against him on his record.

Officer: King.

Excuse me.

Oh, hey, Alex.

Hey.

How you doing?

Good. Good to see you.

Wish it was under better circumstances.

Yeah.

Your men get anything from surveillance cams?

No. No, they didn't.

It looks like they were all offline.

We're questioning arena security as we speak, though.

All right, thanks.

You find anything, let us know.

All right.

Will do.

See you soon.

Wait. Don't touch that.

Don't you have to wait for the evidence response team?

God. You are not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.

Down in these here parts we're CSI, SWAT, SVU all rolled into one.

Really?

Telling me you specialize in all those fields?

We don't have the divisions and resources FBI has.

We make do.

Of course, I guess how we make do is why DC's so concerned with us.

Sonja: Oh. Maybe.

Just a different way of doing things is all.

We're a one-stop shop.

Get you a hat, if you'd like.

Wade: Two stops if you need my findings.

He has defensive wounds on his hands.

Suggests a definite altercation.

And this oval-shaped tear along his neck, looks like he was grazed by a bullet.

It wasn't a bullet that killed him, though.

No. As a matter of fact...

He fell.

Uh, ya think?

If this is the bullet that grazed him, judging by the depth and angle of entry, the gunman was up there, too.

Must have taken his shot from the catwalk, 11 o'clock-ish.

What she said.

Follow me.

Bullet markings.

Four of them.

One, two...

Three... four.

This one indicates the shot was fired from behind Barrett.

Had to be close range, too.

The killer must have surprised him.

Sonja: And then they scuffled.

Then, Barrett fell over the ledge.

Tried grabbing the railing before he took the plunge.

Question is, what was he doing here to begin with?

Well, the question also is, who else was up here with him and why?

It could be that rifle will give us some clues.

Just saying.

Right.

All right, Gregorio.

Get that rifle to Sebastian.

See if he can get us any leads, find out who it belongs to.

Christopher, Sonja, deep-dive Barrett.

Get Patton to look into his digital footprint, too.

Find out what brought him here, go a long way in helping us figure out who killed him and why.

The rifle is no ordinary rifle.

It's a IM .50-caliber tranquilizer gun.

Tranquilizer?

Yeah, it's usually used to hunt big...

(clattering)

Sorry. It's okay.

Uh, it's usually used to hunt big game.

It's, uh, meant to knock a lion out from distance in seconds.

Of course, that-that doesn't necessarily guarantee that you're not gonna get eaten.

You know who it's registered to?

I do. Yeah.

It was registered to...

Petty Officer Barrett.

Huh.

Middle of the night, Barrett goes to the arena... climbs to the rafters with a tranq gun... Why?

He's looking to take somebody out from far away, I guess.

Killer?

Gregorio: Or maybe somebody else.

Oh, Agent Gregorio... Hello.

Hi.

Is this a cartel case?

'Cause I thought you were actually...

No. It's actually...

Oops. Sorry.

I just hit the wrong button.

He's used to it.

Okay.

What's this?

So I just got off the phone with NOPD.

Arena security says two of the emergency alarm exits were tripped right after Barrett's TOD.

One in the upper decks and one on the court.

Ten stories apart.

No way the killer could have set them both off.

That means there had to be somebody else.

A third person on the court.

Third person.

Third person doing what?

Well, if we had a little more manpower, we'd be able to find out.

FBI's right across town.

Too many cooks slows the investigation.

We got everybody we need right here in house.

Okay.

Patton: Your sailor got an e-mail last night from someone I think wanted to do him harm.

"Barrett. You try going through with this, and I promise you, you will regret it."

Them sound like fighting words.

Can you trace the ID of the sender?

It'll be faster if you give me the Intel.

I'll send it to FBI Cyber Crimes to run it.

Oh, I know you didn't just say that.

Triple P crack-a-hacks twice as fast as your cyber agents.

Watch and learn, newbie.

(typing) All right.

Pulling up the header.

Copying the routing information and the IP address.

And bam!

Read 'em and weep.

Hank Clarkson, 36 Forshey Street, New Orleans.

Retired Army Ranger.

Had a string of run-ins with the law after his service.

Done time for armed robbery and grand theft.

So a trained killer with a record sends a threat to our sailor the night he's murdered.

Sounds like probable cause to me.

Let's pick him up before he hurts anybody else.

You realize, of course, what you just did there is illegal, right?

Don't ask, don't tell.

Man: Don't call the police.

(glass shattering)

I got the door.

Copy that.

(arguing continues)

NCIS!

(shouting)

Federal agents!

Freeze!

What the hell are you doing in my house?

Don't move or I'll shoot!

Hey! No, no!

Ma'am, ma'am, you need to step away from him.

Step away from him right now.

You don't understand.

He's a suspect in a murder case.

He is my husband.

And we are just trying to save our son!

Put your hands behind your back.

Hey. Please, look, it's not what it looks like.

Oh, no? It looks like you were threatening your wife!

He wasn't trying to hurt me!

He was trying to console me!

Gregorio, I think we should hear 'em out.

It's FBI protocol to do this...

Not an FBI case.

Sailor's NCIS, I'm in charge.

Put your cuffs away.

Our son, Drew.

He's a petty officer stationed out of San Diego.

Three days ago, he went down to Mexico for a little R & R.

And that's the last that we've heard from him.

Until we got the ransom demand.

Hostage takers wanted a million dollars to let him go.

But we don't have that kind of money.

Did you report it to the authorities?

There are procedures in place...

Of course we reported it.

The Navy did all that they could. But then... the Feds and the State Department got involved, saying that paying a ransom was against policy or some crap like that.

Unfortunately, it's the truth, Mr. Clarkson. If the government paid every ransom demand, we'd have more people like your son taken hostage.

So, what, they're just gonna pretend like it didn't happen?

They're gonna let Drew die?

What if it was your son, lady, hmm?

Assume you didn't let it go at that, tried to take matters into your own hands?

I got in touch with a military contractor that had experience in Mexico, Logan Black.

I paid him so that he could negotiate with the kidnappers, but they wouldn't budge.

Susan: That's when I called Collin.

Petty Officer Barrett.

We grew up together.

I asked him for help.

He told us we should go through with the kidnapper's plan and pretend we had the money.

Thought if he could... catch the contact at the drop, we might be able to exchange him for our son.

Contact got the jump on Barrett instead, turned the tables.

I knew it was risky.

That's why I e-mailed him and tried to scare him off.

And if Collin would've listened, he might still be alive.

Whoa, wait.

You were the other person at the arena, on the court?

She was just trying to get our son back, any way that we could.

When's the last time you heard from the hostage takers?

(static)

Don't follow orders, I'll be executed.

Go to the police, I'll be executed.

Don't pay the money, I'll be executed.

This is your last chance to save my life.

8:00 p.m., answer the phone.

Mom, Dad, don't do it! Don't give these pricks anything!

(shouting, static)

Whoa.

Clarksons were sent this video just this morning, so clock's ticking.

We got less than five hours to find him.

Need to figure out who took him first.

Means we need to find the only person who's had direct contact with the hostage takers and fast.

The Clarksons' negotiator, Logan Black.

Unfortunately, he's MIA.

Sent NOPD to pick him up for questioning like you said-- he's nowhere to be found.

We got a BOLO out on him.

Not good enough.

Running out of time to find him.

Let's hope Gregorio's doing better.

(sighs)

Pulled a few favors from my friends at State Department.

Think I know where Drew Clarkson was taken hostage.

Cayucas Nightclub, Mazatlan. Apparently, he was throwing around a lot of cash, even got a table in the VIP lounge.

So a 19-year-old, fresh off the base, cash in his pocket, goes to a club to let off some steam?

Wanted to live like a big shot for a night.

There's no crime in that.

No, but his spending made him look like a high roller to H&E crews casing the place.

Any idea which crew took him?

No, this is the first time they set up a direct call to the Clarksons. FBI's setting up a tap and trace.

Should be able to locate and identify who's behind this.

Well, if a call came in over the Internet, you can't trace that unless you get a warrant.

Warrant and tap it to the cable provider's main terminal.

Done and done.

Not bad.

All right. So we find out where they're holding Drew and we go in there and find him, right?

In Mexico? I don't think so.

NCIS isn't sanctioned to carry out an international rescue mission.

Okay, then what are we supposed to do?

What NCIS is allowed to do, find the sailor's killer.

He's probably still stateside.

Call might give us a lead. But as for Drew, that's up to State.

So you're saying they'll rescue him.

They'll determine a plan that ensures the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Lasalle: What is that?

Is that something that comes straight out of the damn FBI manual?

Don't you care about this kid?

Of course I care about him.

Who wouldn't?

But I know better than to let my emotions dictate my job.

Otherwise I wouldn't be able to do my job.

Yeah, well, that's not how we do things down here.

All right, when they find the kid, we go down there and rescue him. You got it?

Ain't that right, King?

We're gonna take this one step at a time, Christopher.

Gregorio's right.

For now, we're only sanctioned to find Barrett's killer.

Let's just see how it all plays out.

Sonya: NOPD just found our negotiator, Logan Black, hanging from a streetlight in Central City.

His body is landing on Wade's table as we speak.

At least you know your killer's still stateside.

Go. See if Loretta gets any clues off the body that'll help us find the killer.

Then meet us at FBI HQ for the call.

Lasalle: It's not that I don't trust Pride. You know I do.

But if we start letting FBI call the shots, next thing you know, it's gonna be their letters hanging outside our squad room.

Uh, the FBI is expediting the tap and trace.

We should be grateful, especially if we don't get any leads here.

Yeah, still, if we find the kid, he'll give us all the leads we need into finding Barrett's killer, too.

Yeah, but Gregorio's right.

Rescuing Drew is up to State, not us.

The problem is, if we leave it up to State, by the time they're finished passing memos and approvals around, the kid might be dead.

Whoa!

Not a pretty sight.

(groans)

Judging from the multiple compound fractures, blunt force trauma, petechial hemorrhaging, lacerations, it's safe to say this poor man was tortured before they killed him.

Cut out his tongue for good measure.

(groans)

Sonja: MS-13, Norteños.

Cutting out the tongue is a trademark of all major South American crews.

Meant to warn people: you rat, you die.

Well, they must've known we were looking for Clarkson's negotiator.

Hung his body on that streetlight to scare anyone else from telling us who they are.

Were you or Sebastian able to get anything off the body to help us I.D. the killer?

He cleaned up after himself, he wiped down the corpse.

Sebastian's trying to pull prints, but it'll take time.

That's time we don't have.

Call's in 30 minutes.

Which means we'd better hope FBI gets us some leads, 'cause we just struck out.

Gregorio: Patch me into the Clarksons' home.

Okay, everyone, be ready.

Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson, one minute until call.

What-what if they catch on?

Just take deep breaths, stick to the script.

You do that, you'll be fine.

All right, look, if FBI can pinpoint the location of our hostage takers, tell us who we're dealing with, should help us I.D. the stateside killer.

Still, I'm worried about the kid, King.

So am I, Chris.

(line ringing)

Technician: Direct connection.

Incoming call to the Clarksons' IP.

Okay, here we go. Remember, I need him on the phone for one minute to get the trace.

Whenever you're ready.

Comandante (distorted): Do you have the ransom?

Yes. We do.

Then listen carefully.

I will say this only once.

Agent Gregorio, we are locked on. Commencing trace now.

One half hour, Jackson Square.

Come alone, or we will kill your son.

No more games, do you understand?

Gregorio: The script, Susan.

Read it now.

We want to speak to Drew first.

No.

Susan: Please, we just need to know that he's alive.

He is.

Need another 30 seconds.

You will have to take my word.

Listen to me, Susan, I know you're scared, but you got to try and keep him on the line, all right?

Try again.

Please, I'm his mother, and I-I need to hear him.

Otherwise, no deal.

Very well.

(beeping)

(creaking)

(groans)

Say something.

Go to hell!

Drew!

Mom, Mom!

Susan: Baby, are you all right?

(beeping)

I said no more games!

No, no!

Wait, wait!

Susan, tell him he's wrong.

Drew!

Wait!

Dad, Dad, Dad!

(gunshot)

Gregorio: Oh, my God.

(sobbing): Oh, no! No!

Oh, my God.

Hey. Anything?

Keep trying to find something FBI got from this call, but... it's a whole lot of nothing.

No location, no kidnapper identity.

Just another dead sailor and a devastated family.

Well, where's everybody else?

Well, Pride's with Patton, and Gregorio, she hasn't shown up yet.

Ooh. Can you blame her?

Well, as a matter of fact, yeah, I can.

Christopher.

Look, I know she meant well and everything, but thanks to her and the FBI, things went bust in a big way.

And if we would've got to do it our way...

Nothing would've changed.

We had less than they had.

We didn't even have a lead.

The FBI was our only option.

And Drew's.

We just... we just got into this whole thing too late.

And as much as I hate to say it, so did Gregorio.

In here.

Comandante: No more games.

Susan: No, no! Wait, wait!

Gregorio: Susan, tell him he's wrong.

Wasn't listening to it once bad enough?

(gunshot on recording)

Moment of impact, when the bullet hit Drew... or so the kidnappers wanted us to think.

I ran it through an exclusive piece of Triple P software, (gunshot) analyzing the impact's sine wave, amplitude and frequency to try to find an acoustic match in my sound library.

Like an audio fingerprint.

Bingo.

(beeping)

And the results:

(distorted gunshot)

The bullet didn't hit flesh.

It hit a brick wall.

Meaning what?

Meaning Drew Clarkson could still very well be alive.

I was up all night thinking, remembered how H&E crews typically find other ways to profit from a hostage, even after the ransom demand fails.

Profit how?

Prisoner exchange.

Mm-hmm.

Drug mule.

Organ donor.

Yes, but... assuming that Patton's right about the bullet, okay, and Drew's still alive, we know that they won't keep him in the same place for long.

Still, without a location and no way of contacting the hostage takers, finding Drew's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

And without knowing who took Drew, we can't figure out who killed Petty Officer Barrett.

Well, maybe we flip it-- find Barrett's killer, and use that (phone beeps) to find out who took Drew.

Sebastian...

Ah. He thinks he might've found a way to get a fingerprint off the negotiator's body.

That could get us to the killer.

Which also may help us rescue Drew.

Yeah, all right, look, Patton, keep listening, all right?

See if you can hear anything else that'll help us find him.

Hey, where you going?

Let someone off the hook.

(car alarm chirps, car door opens)

♪ ♪

Doesn't get much better than this.

Picked a great place to stay, Gregorio.

Quarter'll win you over if you're not careful.

Spare me the folksy charm.

I don't belong here, Pride.

You know that as well as I do.

Last night proves that.

Last night had nothing to do with you.

(sighs heavily)

I don't know.

I was trained to profile ISIS rebels, Hezbollah, Boko Haram-- bad guys I don't mind seen taken out.

But getting to know the victims and their families?

That's not something I'm used to.

Maybe not up in DC, but, uh, down here, that's just... part of the way we do things.

Yeah, well, it's bad policy.

Emotions cloud judgment, get in the way.

I mean, look at me, I'm a wreck.

Just means you care, is all.

How's that bad?

Can't connect with the victims, can't connect with yourself, that's worse.

You get that out of a Nola fortune cookie?

Yes, I did.

Could still use your help... finding Drew.

No offense, but, uh... we didn't trust the FBI with the final word, so we ran our own analysis, pretty sure he's still alive.

What?

Yeah.

Let's work together, Gregorio, we can do this.

If I get you Barrett's killer, you think you could get your fancy suits to ID the crew that kidnapped Drew?

♪ ♪

Sebastian: Hi.

Uh, see, relative humidity of at least 75% is ideal for activating fingerprint residue.

Which means once the killer's prints rise to the surface, all I need to do is capture them with my trusty vapor glue wand and I dust 'em with some contrast powder, and... boom.

All right.

You got yourself a finger...

Man, I can't see.

Someone take...

Who is that?

It's me.

Okay.

You think it's enough to ID our killer?

Well, it's only a partial, but it should be enough to narrow down who we're looking for, at least.

That's more matches than I would've hoped for.

24 potential suspects.

Yeah, clock's ticking, we don't have time to go around questioning a couple of dozen suspects.

Need to narrow it down.

Wait, wait, wait.

Cross-check it with arena employees.

That might explain how the killer was able to bypass security cams before he killed Barrett.

I'm on it.

(computer beeps)

Sonja: Diego Martinez, former employee of ShieldNet, a private security company that worked the arena.

Yeah, former Mexican special forces.

Been using his skills to do more harm than good.

The guy's got a serious record.

Notify the Marshals Service?

We did, but we were too late.

Martinez cleared customs at Mazatlán International Airport two hours ago.

Which means not only have we lost our best chance at Barrett's killer, we've also lost our chance at finding Drew.

I might be able to help.

Pulled a few strings when Martinez's name came across the wire, got actionable Intel on where he might be in Mazatlán.

Good work, Gregorio.

Talk to me.

You have to understand, I'm pretty sure Director Isler's only going to approve of us going after Martinez.

Yeah, but what about Drew?

He won't authorize that.

Neither will State.

You are not allowed to rescue the hostage.

I'm sorry.

No, I'm clear about how you obtained Intel on Barrett's killer, what I'm not clear about is who gave you permission to reach out to International Ops to get it?

Agent Gregorio was assisting us...

I wasn't talking to you.

I was talking to her.

Sir, you assigned me to help NCIS, and that's all I was trying to do.

Martinez fled the country before Pride and his team could grab him.

Time was of the essence.

Is of the essence.

All right.

Show me what you got.

Diego Martinez goes by several aliases, one of which the DEA UC spotted heading into a remote, heavily guarded village on the outskirts of Mazatlán.

Happens to be where the El Cautivo Crew hides out, and we know he's a high-ranking member.

Did you want to tell me that El Cautivo are also believed to be responsible for taking Drew Clarkson hostage?

And that these two cases might be-- probably are-- connected?

I read your report.

Sir, if you're insinuating that...

I'm not insinuating anything.

I just want to understand exactly what you and Agent Pride are asking me to do here.

We're only asking you to get DOJ to request a provincial arrest warrant from the Mexican attorney general for Diego Martinez.

And clearance from the state department for us to go down there to make the arrest.

What about the hostage, Clarkson?

I've briefed Agent Pride on our relevant protocol, and he's assured me that Martinez is his only interest.

Good, then we're clear.

Just curious, though-- what is the protocol if we happen to get Intel on where they're holding Clarkson while we're down there?

You hand that Intel over to State and let them handle it.

What if we find out the boy won't last long enough for State to handle it?

Agent Pride, Mexico is our ally.

And we have strict rules of engagement with their government, ones which we cannot vary from, do you understand?

Mm-hmm.

You cannot and will not break protocol for any reason, otherwise you and your team will face criminal charges.

This is not a rescue mission.

Are we clear?

Crystal.

Gregorio will take lead, coordinate with the federales.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Gregorio, a word.

I need you to keep an eye on him.

Why? He's no longer under review.

You know what I mean, and you know how he operates.

(sighs)

Don't get caught up in his ways, Tammy, I'm warning you.

'Cause if he crosses the line, it'll be your shield, too.

Do you understand?

Yes, sir.

Call the referent agent in Mazatlán, tell him we're on our way.

We're good to go?

To get Barrett's killer, yes.

But what about Drew?

We're only authorized to bring Martinez back.

Let's gear up.

Flight leaves in an hour, with or without us.

Pride, um... Mrs. Clarkson's here.

Now, we didn't know what to say, so she's in the courtyard.

Mrs. Clarkson.

Agent Pride.

I'm sorry to drop in all unexpected like this.

No-no need to apologize.

I-I don't know if you got my...

He was our only child.

I still can't believe he's gone.

I just...

I want you to know that Hank and I know you did everything you could to try and bring Drew back.

We don't blame you for what happened.

Mrs. Clarkson...

No, I mean it.

This is not your cross to bear.

There was nothing more you could do.

Just promise me this: that you will do everything you can to find who did this and bring them to justice... so they can't hurt anybody else.

I promise you I'm gonna do more than that, Mrs. Clarkson.

I can't give you any of the details... but we believe your boy is still alive.

What? Wha...

My team and I-- we're gonna do everything we can to bring him home to you, safe.

Oh...

(crying): Oh.

Entraremos por el norte.

Capturen a Martinez-- lo quiero vivo.

¿Comprende?

Me no comprende.

No?

Well, that was some good Spanish, but you're gonna have to habla inglés the plan so I can understand it, too.

All right.

What about Pride and Percy?

They need to know this, too.

Oh, they're just gearing up over there. Go ahead.

Sonja: Looks like they're ready to roll.

Come on, Patton.

Running out of time here.

You got to narrow it down for me.

(church bell tolls) See a church nearby, or better yet, a church bell?

Uh, yup, see a church tower, about 300 yards away from the compound.

Any music? A lot of acoustics, maybe a guitar or something?

Pride: Street musicians across from the church.

Patton: Then, nearby is where the shots was fired, which means Drew is close.

Pride: Good work, Patton.

Stand by.

Hey. She's coming.

What are you gonna tell her?

Tell her the truth.

You and Percy will ride with assault team 2, Lasalle and I'll take the lead in the convoy.

You got enough manpower for Martinez.

We think we've found Drew.

We're gonna go after him.

Gregorio: The hell you are. You're under my orders down here.

Well, it looks like I'm gonna be disobeying them.

What?

You better hurry.

You don't want to lose Martinez.

What are you talking about?

We're here for you.

Martinez is an NCIS target, remember?

Isler will bury us both.

Then you tell him I didn't give you any choice.

Blame me for everything.

I don't care.

Right now, I'm gonna do the right thing, go rescue that kid.

Pride!

(church bell tolls)

(crowd chatter, guitar music plays)

(church bell tolls)

(groans softly)

(church bell tolls)

All right, so if we get the kid, and Tammy throws us under the bus, by this time tomorrow, we'll be updating our résumés instead of filing a case report.

It's possible.

And if you want to sit this one out, I'd respect that.

You're a good agent, Sonja.

You do what's right for you.

This is what's right.

(church bell tolls)

(lively chatter, band playing)

(church bell tolls)

That's got to be it.

Upside down flag usually means a stash house.

I used to see it all the time working with ATF.

(church bell tolls)

Pride: All right, look.

You go in the front.

If anybody's inside, you keep 'em occupied.

I'll go around back, see if I can find him.

(music playing, lively chatter)

(door bell rings)

Hola.

Um... yo soy Sonja.

I got separated from my, uh, group.

Um, so what I need is a...

El mapo.

We don't have no maps.

(door squeaks open)

(gunfire)

(groans)

(gun chamber clicks)

Nice try, hombre.

(gunfire)

(man groans)

(rapid gunfire)

(man groans)

Pride, are you okay?

Do you need backup?

(rapid gunfire)

(man grunts)

(distant shouting and excited chatter)

(door creaks open)

(muffled groaning)

Drew?

(panting)

Hey. Hey.

I'm Agent Pride.

NCIS. I'm here to take you home.

Sonja, got him.

How are things out front?

We're coming out.

A lot of gunfire.

Expect some company real soon.

(men shouting, gunfire)

Can you walk?

(distant gunfire)

You knew they were gonna do this, didn't you?

We're a team.

Don't ever forget that.

King, we got Martinez in custody.

Headed to you.

How's it looking?

Well, we got Drew in hand.

We're at the back of the store.

What's your ETA?

One minute.

We don't have one minute.

(men shouting)

(gunfire)

(man groans, tires squealing)

You're late.

You're welcome.

(rapid gunfire)

In here.

(gunfire)

Drive!

(rapid gunfire continues)

(groans)

(gunfire continues)

(siren blaring)

Just got off the phone with the State Department.

They wanted to congratulate us on a job well done.

For the successful apprehension of an international fugitive, and for rescuing a hostage without incident.

That's great.

Mm.

However, since the state never authorized the rescue, and because the press is curious, they ask me, how'd you do it?

It's a good question, don't you think?

What did you tell them?

(laughs) I told them I'd have to get back to them... after I talk to my lead agent.

(distant siren blaring)

Got more details.

They're gonna want to know that we didn't violate international protocol to pull this off, and I'm telling you... you better not have violated protocol to pull this off.

So...

Okay.

Agent Gregorio, (beeps) walk me through the apprehension of Diego Martinez and the rescue of Drew Clarkson from the top, please.

(sighs)

(rapid clicking)

What do you think she's gonna do?

Who?

Shut up. You know who.

Well, whatever Gregorio does or doesn't do doesn't change what we did, and I stand by it.

Look, you got two choices in life.

You either do the right thing, or you don't.

Simple as that.

And I learned that from that man.

Straightened things out for me, made decisions more clear.

Never doubted you for a second, King.

Uh-huh.

What do you think she's gonna do?

I hope the right thing.

What's up?

What's up? You kidding me?

How screwed are we?

As far as I know, not at all.

I told Director Isler what I saw.

While Lasalle and I were getting Martinez, you and Pride were under attack, fought back and, uh, stumbled across the hostage.

Stumbled across?

Like I said, I wasn't there.

You thought the hostage was in harm's way, and you did what you had to do.

Federales seemed all right with it, so who was I to complain?

And Isler bought that?

Give or take.

Didn't hurt that we made him look like a hero to State.

Cream, right?

Please.

So you covered for us.

I don't know what you're talking about.

(laughs)

(laughter)

What are we doing here?

Just thought you might like to see why we do what we do.

Not just about protocol, or catching bad guys.

Am I about to get another speech about how it's a good thing to get to know the victims?

Maybe.

So, what?

The end justifies the means, is that what you're saying?

Depends on the means, and the ends.

(laughter)

Why're you showing me this, Pride?

What does it matter to you?

It matters because it's one thing to review us at arm's distance, DC style, but you're gonna be working with us for a while, it's important you see who we really are.

What it's really all about.