Episode Five

NEXT SCENE
ANOTHER RESIDENTIAL STREET. CHILDREN PLAY BALL AS CARS DRIVE BY. RAY AND SLOAN WALK BRISKLY DOWN A SIDEWALK.

Ray: Are you sure you’re alright? You wanna call it a day?
Sloan: (smiling) I’d like nothing better but we can’t. They could find the pillar at any time.
Ray: (consulting a paper) Well, this is the next to the last name on Attwood’s list.
Sloan: I’m sure he could come up with more.
Ray: That makes me feel better.

THEY STOP.

Ray: Let’s see, 1489 should be right across the street. There it is.

RAY POINTS AND THE CAMERA PANS OVER TO THE REMAINS OF A BURNT-OUT HOUSE. SLOAN LOOKS AT RAY. THEY WALK OVER TO THE REMAINS.

Ray: Burnt to the ground. We’ve seen this before.
Sloan: They’ve covered their tracks and moved on. Just like the others. At least we know we’re on the right track.
Ray: Right track. One step behind, Dr. Parker. The next address is twelve blocks up.

CUT TO RAY AND SLOAN NEARING THE NEXT ADDRESS. RAY IS SPEAKING ON HIS CELL PHONE AS THEY WALK.

Ray: No.....Yeah. I wasn’t close enough to get a plate number. It was a California white plate, that’s all I could tell.

SLOAN SPOTS SOMETHING AS THEY WALK ALONG. SHE GOES OVER TO INVESTIGATE AND RAY NOTICES HER WALKING OFF.

Ray: I’ll call you back, Jim.

HE SHUTS OFF THE PHONE AND APPROACHES SLOAN, CROUCHED NEXT TO A SMALL GIRL WHO IS DRAWING ON THE SIDEWALK WITH CHALK. SLOAN LOOKS UP AT RAY.

Sloan: These are the same markings that are on the pillar.

NEXT SCENE
RAY AND SLOAN STAND ON A BALCONY OUTSIDE THE DOOR TO A THIRD FLOOR APARTMENT. THE LITTLE GIRL FROM THE SIDEWALK HAS LED THEM HERE.

Sloan: (to Girl) This one?

AT THE LITTLE GIRL’S NOD, RAY KNOCKS ON THE DOOR. A WOMAN OF MEXICAN DESCENT IN HER 50S OPENS THE DOOR.

Woman: Yes?

SHE SEES THE LITTLE GIRL AND CALLS TO HER IN SPANISH, GESTURING HER INSIDE. THE GIRL ENTERS THE APARTMENT AND STANDS WITH THE WOMAN.

Ray: Hello.

HE GETS HIS BADGE OUT AND SHOWS IT TO THE WOMAN.

Ray: I’m Detective Peterson. May I ask your name?
Woman: Blanca Leon. What has my granddaughter done?
Sloan: Oh, no, nothing. Uh, does Daniela live here with you?
Blanca: No, I watch her while her parents work.
Ray: Mrs. Leon, are you originally from the United States?
Blanca: (confused) Why? I haven’t done anything.
Sloan: It’s just that we saw Daniela drawing something on the street.
Daniela: Abuela, (something in Spanish).
Sloan: A pattern. She says she learned it from you.
Blanca: She’s a child. She doesn’t know.
Sloan: She knows enough to make this drawing very detailed.

BLANCA STARTS TO GET VERY AGITATED. SHE PUSHES DANIELA FURTHER INTO THE APARTMENT AND STARTS TO CLOSE THE DOOR.

Blanca: No, no, no! Please, please leave me alone!

BLANCA SLAMS THE DOOR SHUT. SLOAN LOOKS AT RAY.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE WAREHOUSE. THE PILLAR LOOMS IN THE DIM LIGHT. TOM CIRCLES IT AS ED TYPES ON THE COMPUTER. ED SIGHS.

Ed: (frustrated) I tried running the scanned patterns both sequentially and in random pairings. I keep coming up empty here. I can’t match these markings to any language spoken or pictorial.

TOM TOUCHES THE PILLAR AND AGAIN FLASHES ON THE IMAGE OF THE MAN WALKING FORWARD WITH THE STYLUS AND HIS MOTHER, YOUNG, FOLLOWING AFTER THE MAN. SLOAN WALKS AROUND THE DESK AND SITS DOWN NEXT TO ED. TOM’S VISION FINISHES AND HE SITS DOWN ON THE PLATFORM UPON WHICH THE PILLAR RESTS, HIS HAND TO HIS TEMPLE.

Sloan: (to Ed) Progress?
Ed: I think we’re bonding.
Sloan (delighted) You and Tom?
Ed: Me and the pillar. I’m in love with her and she’s playing hard to get. Story of my life.

Sloan: So you mean you haven’t even gotten to first base?
Ed: (giving Sloan a look) Very cute.
Sloan: We found a woman who probably saw the pillar.

TOM LOOKS UP AT THIS.

Ed: That’s great.
Sloan: Except she won’t talk about it. She slammed the door in our face.
Tom: She’s scared.

SLOAN LOOKS OVER HER SHOULDER AT TOM WHERE HE STILL SITS BEFORE THE PILLAR.

Sloan: Of the past. I know. I couldn’t get through to her.
Tom: No. She’s scared of what might happen now.

SLOAN AND ED LOOK AT EACH OTHER, THEN AT THE SCANNED IMAGE OF THE PILLAR ON THE COMPUTER SCREEN.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE POLICE STATION. RAY TAKES HIS SPORT COAT OFF AND ENTERS HIS OFFICE. THE DETECTIVE THAT WAS WATCHING HIM BEFORE (LT. QUINN) FOLLOWS HIM IN.

Lt. Quinn: Peterson. So good of you to drop by.

RAY TURNS AT THE MAN’S VOICE.

Lt. Quinn: Looked for ya this afternoon.
Ray: Canvassing in East L.A.
Lt. Quinn: Oh really? On which case?
Ray: An open one.
Lt. Quinn: Ah.

THE LIEUTENANT LOOKS DOWN. HE’S CARRYING THE PHOTOS OF RAY AND SLOAN THAT WERE TAKEN EARLIER. HE SHOWS THEM TO RAY, DROPPING THEM ON RAY’S DESK.

Lt. Quinn: You wanna try again?
Ray: Okay. The Lynch case.
Lt. Quinn: The Lynch case? The same Lynch you think was involved in the murder of that anthropologist? Come on, Ray, that case closed when he set himself on fire.
Ray: But--
Lt. Quinn: But nothing. You’re dropping the ball here. Your caseload is backing up and you’re never around.

RAY LOOKS DOWN.

Lt. Quinn: And as you can see, I am not the only one who has been wondering what you’ve been up to. You’ve become I.A.’s pet project.
Ray: Huh, I.A.? There’s nothing for them to be sticking their noses into.
Lt. Quinn: Well they’re sticking them in anyway. Look Ray, you’ve always been a good cop, I know that. I’ll try to protect, but you’ve gotta forget about this.
Ray: There’s reasons for doing what I’m doing.
Lt. Quinn: (testily) I hope they’re good ones. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off and think it over.

THE LIEUTENANT STALKS OUT OF THE OFFICE.

NEXT SCENE
AT RAY’S HOME. HIS WIFE, GRACE, WALKS ACROSS THE KITCHEN, CARRYING TWO PLATES TO THE KITCHEN TABLE. RAY SITS IN A CHAIR IN THE LIVING ROOM, DRINKING SOME SCOTCH. HIS YOUNG SON BOUNDS DOWN THE STAIRS AND RUSHES THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM.

Ray: Slow down!
Grace: (looking at her son as she enters the living room) Lucky you. Got off early today.
Ray: Yeah.

THE BOY RACES AROUND THE SOFA. RAY GRABS HIM AS HE PASSES THE CHAIR WHERE RAY SITS.

Ray: I said slow it down! That’s enough Matt!
Matt: Sorry Daddy.
Ray: Is your homework finished?
Matt: No.
Ray: Well then go upstairs and do it.

THE BOY LEAVES. GRACE APPROACHES, TICKED OFF.

Grace: He was only playing.
Ray: He wasn’t listening. I just have a headache, that’s all.
Grace: Then take two aspirin and leave Matt alone!
Ray: Fine.
Grace: No, it’s not ‘fine’, Ray. Every evening you plunk yourself down, you put scotch in that glass and you throw this wall around yourself!
Ray: I just ....need to think some things through, some cases.
Grace: I can handle whatever it is, Ray. Anything is better than this.
Ray: You don’t know that.
Grace: Yes, I do.
Ray: I’ll work it out.
Grace: You’d better make it soon.
Ray: Meaning.
Grace: You and Matt. He’s slipping away from you Ray. Can’t you feel it?

GRACE WALKS AWAY FROM HIM. RAY SIGHS.

NEXT SCENE
RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. RAY AND SLOAN WALK DOWN AN OUTDOOR ENTRANCEWAY TO AN APARTMENT COMPLEX.

Ray: You think Blanca will be here?
Sloan: She seemed a little nervous before when she saw your badge.
Ray: Well maybe she’s an illegal.

A YOUNG GIRL SCREAMS FROM ABOVE.

Girl: Abuela! Abuela!
Sloan: Daniela!

SLOAN AND RAY RUSH UP THE STAIRS AS DANIELA RUSHES DOWN TO MEET THEM.

Sloan: Where’s your grandmother, honey?
Daniela: (pointing up the stairs) The men, they take her!

RAY RUSHES FORWARD, GUN DRAWN. HE EXITS THE STAIRWELL AND WALKS OUT ONTO THE THIRD FLOOR BALCONY.

Ray: Police! Freeze!

WE SEE A MAN WITH HIS ARM AROUND BLANCA’S NECK, DRAGGING HER DOWN THE BALCONY WITH HIM. HE’S POINTING HIS GUN AT RAY.

Ray: I said freeze!

RAY ADVANCES ON THE MAN. BLANCA SAYS SOMETHING HYSTERICALLY IN SPANISH. THE MAN TURNS TO FACE RAY.

Ray: Drop the gun!

A DOOR OPENS BEHIND THE MAN AND HE TURNS TO LOOK. RAY SHOOTS AND HITS THE GUY IN THE BACK. BLANCA USES THE MAN’S DISTRACTION TO PUSH OFF HIS ARM, THEN SCREAMS AND PUSHES THE MAN OVER THE BALCONY. HE FALLS, LANDING WITH A GROAN BY THE POOL. RAY LOOKS DOWN AT HIM. THE MAN WRITHES ON THE CONCRETE. SUDDENLY WE HEAR ANOTHER SCREAM. RAY TURNS TO LOOK. ANOTHER MAN HAS COME UP BEHIND SLOAN AND DANIELA, AND IS HOLDING THEM CAPTIVE, AN ARM AROUND EACH OF THEIR NECKS. THE FALLEN MAN GETS UP AND RUNS OFF. RAY AND BLANCA STEP TOWARDS SLOAN AND DANIELA.

Ray: It’s gonna be alright, Sloan. Back-up’s on its way.

HE STARES AT THE SECOND MAN.

Ray: You let them go, you walk out of here.
Sloan: It’s true. We don’t want you.
Ray: At least, let the little girl go. She can’t hurt you.

THE SECOND MAN LOOKS DOWN AT DANIELA, THEN PUSHES HER AWAY. DANIELA RUNS TO HER GRANDMA. THE SECOND MAN TIGHTENS HIS HOLD ON SLOAN AND STARTS BACKING TOWARDS THE STAIRWELL.

Ray: NO! See, I can’t let you walk out of here with her.
Second Man: (with an evil smile) That’s alright. I’ll leave her here.

THE SECOND MAN POSITIONS HIS HANDS AROUND SLOAN’S NECK, PREPARING TO SNAP IT. BELOW WE SEE A NUMBER OF UNIFORMED POLICE OFFICERS RUSH UP, GUNS DRAWN.

First Ofc.: Police! Freeze!

THE SECOND MAN THROWS SLOAN TO THE SIDE AND GRABS A GUN FROM HIS WAISTBAND. RAY SHOOTS HIM TWICE. SLOAN IS STRICKEN. RAY BENDS OVER THE FALLEN MAN AND CHECKS HIS PULSE. HE’S DEAD.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE BIO LAB. SLOAN AND RAY ENTER THE LAB WITH BLANCA.

Blanca: What is this place? Why am I here?
Sloan: We want to talk to you about the pillar.
Blanca: No, I told you. I’m not going to talk about that! Where’s Daniela?
Sloan: She someplace safe.
Blanca: (crying) You led them to me, after thirty years!
Ray: We’ll guarantee your safety, and the safety of your family.
Blanca: That’s not possible.
Sloan: I’m sorry, Mrs. Leon. We never meant to endanger you.
Blanca: Then why did you? You know what they are.
Sloan: Yes. And I know that they’re multiplying at an incredible rate. There are thousands of them out there and if we don’t stop them here, we may not be able to stop them at all.
Blanca: (she sighs) What do you want to know?
Sloan: First, I need to take some blood. For a test.
Blanca: You said questions.
Sloan: First the test. Then we can talk.

CUT TO THE BIO LAB, LATER AFTER THE TEST. RAY LEANS AGAINST A COUNTER LISTENING AS THE SEATED BLANCA BEGINS HER TALE.

Blanca: Lijas, my village, was tiny. Over the mountain was the ‘Pueblo acounto’. The secret village.
Sloan: Did you have any contact with them?
Blanca: Almost never.
Sloan: Almost.
Blanca: Lupe was my friend. When we were little, uh, eleven, twelve years old, we would sneak over the mountain to watch the village.
Sloan: And that’s when you saw the pillar?
Blanca: Yes.
Sloan: Did you ever get close enough to hear them talk about the pillar?
Blanca: Yes. But that last time, the men in the village, they saw us. And they, they caught us and they took us into a cave. It was so cold.
Ray: What happened in that cave, Mrs. Leon?
Blanca: To me, nothing. I was knocked unconscious. Oh, they thought I was dead.
Sloan: And Lupe?
Blanca: (crying) I just lay there listening to her scream. I don’t know what they do to her, but I still hear her scream in the night. I never saw Lupe again.
Sloan: And the pillar?
Blanca: (pulling herself together) Yes, yes. It was in the village that night.
Sloan: At night?
Blanca: They only did the work at night. Uh, always looking towards the mountains.
Ray: If it was naturally secluded, why work on it only at night?
Sloan: The stars.

NEXT SCENE
AT THE WAREHOUSE. THE COMPUTER SCREENS ARE FILLED WITH SCANS OF THE PILLAR. ED IS TYPING ON THE KEYBOARD. HE’S WEARING SOME SORT OF SHINY SAGE GREEN VELVET SHIRT OVER WHAT LOOKS TO BE A BROWN SWEATER. (WHO DRESSES THESE PEOPLE?) TOM SITS AT THE DESK NEXT TO HIM, STARING AT THE SCREEN.

Ed: Man, I’m just spinning my wheels here. You got any ideas?
Tom: (pointing at the screen) You notice that different patterns repeat. Similar ones must be related.
Ed: Oh, you mean like uh, different parts of a jigsaw puzzle?
Tom: (softly with a nod) Yeah.
Ed: Let’s see what the computer can make of this. I’ll put uh, I’ll put each group in its own window.

ED TYPES SOME MORE ON THE KEYBOARD. HE SITS BACK, THEN LOOKS AT TOM, WHO HAS JUST SIGHED AND LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM.

Ed: This uh, this is gonna take a while. You got any other ideas?

TOM LOOKS AT ED.

Tom: Dinner.

CUT TO TOM AND ED SEATED ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER AT THE END OF THE TABLES CONTAINING THE COMPUTER EQUIPMENT. THEY ARE EATING WITH CHOPSTICKS OUT OF CHINESE TAKEOUT BOXES. ED IS LEANING FORWARD, ELBOWS ON THE TABLE. TOM IS SEATED ON A STOOL, ONE LEG CROSSED OVER THE OTHER, LOOKING RATHER DEBONAIR. ED LOOKS UP AT TOM.

Ed: So Sloan said you risked, that uh, you risked your life by going home.
Tom: (tilting his head a bit) What else did she say?
Ed: Now, we don’t have many secrets. Except about you.

THE CAMERA CLOSES IN ON TOM. (THIS IS A REALLY NICE SHOT. THE LIGHTING IN THIS SCENE IS JUST WONDERFUL. SIGH. PAUSE THIS IF YOU CAN.) TOM SWALLOWS, THEN FIXES HIS GAZE ON ED.

Tom: I never intended to come between you and Sloan.
Ed: What are your intentions?

Tom: What do you mean?
Ed: With Sloan. I mean, you know, it’s not that uh, she and I are an item. We’re....not. But you know, I can definitely see there’s something happening between you two. And, she’s the best friend I have.
Tom: (nodding at his words) She’s lucky to have a friend like you.
Ed: Yeah, uh. But is she lucky to have a friend like you?

(OOO! THAT PIERCING GAZE!)

Tom: I would never hurt Sloan.
Ed: (nodding) Yeah, I guess you proved that.
Tom: (pointedly with a small smile) So have you.

ED LOOKS DOWN, THEN POINTS TO TOM’S FOOD CARTON.

Ed: You gonna finish that?
Tom: Ab-solutely not.

TOM'S EXPRESSION CHANGES (IS IT A SMILE? IS IT A SMIRK? YOU MAKE THE CALL!) AND GIVES A SMALL LAUGH AS ED GREEDILY PICKS UP HIS FOOD CARTON. TOM PICKS UP HIS COFFEE CUP AND DRINKS. (NOW LADIES, REWIND THIS SCENE AND WATCH ALL OF TOM’S SHOTS AGAIN! TRUST ME, YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID.)

Part One

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