Outran the cartel. That's what I'm talking about.
Thought I was done there for a minute, huh?
California State Taxi Service ain't no joke.
Protect, serve and get paid, huh?
Better all be in there.
Of course it's there.
Are you guys looking for another gig, huh?
Police escort, it's my new way to floss, man.
What do you thi...? Unh!
You're a grand short.
Make this right, or I'll skin those tattoos off and hang them on the wall.
Ouch.
Last punch I took was on the playground in second grade.
And what was the name of this bully?
Stephanie Petersmark.
Hm.
- Girls punch boys they like. - I didn't.
"I'll skin those tattoos off you and hang them on my wall."
You must not recognize Scarface level game when you hear it.
Ever realize how much easier the bad guys have it than we do?
All the time. No rules, no loyalty.
No Hetty.
Okay, Mr. Yakuza is tagged and ready for arrest at a later date.
A mere guppy in the sea of crime compared to the sharks we're after.
So if you weren't a boy puncher, what was your strategy?
I ignored them.
Paul, are you here?
Yo, Paul, we got your cut of the Yakuza deal.
Paul.
Hang in there, buddy. Hang in there.
Paul...
- Who did this? - I turned down a new job.
Going too far this time.
You stop them.
Stop who?
- Stop who, Paul? - Paul.
He's gone.
Is that an actual red alert?
I mean, are there battle stations now that need to be manned?
It's a text message.
What was that look for?
You just... You're very, um...
- Very what? - You're very tightly wound.
- That's not true. - It's true.
Your personal electronics are filled with intensity.
- Something on your mind, Deeks? - No.
- Is there? - No.
- Didn't think so. - You always need to drive.
You set your clocks 15 minutes fast.
You set my clocks 15 minutes fast. Everything is a competition.
You have to have separate checks at Starbucks.
You make fun of guys that order non-fat lattes.
Do you have any idea how exhausting it is being your partner?
Do you have any idea how exhausting it is
to hear you ramble on about the 2012 apocalypse earlier this morning?
Not the apocalypse, okay? It's the galactic realignment.
Geomagnetic reversal.
Timewave Zero, all right? The Nibiru Collision.
You may know it as baktun 13.
I think you mean, "baktun" 13.
"Baktun"? Really? "Baktun"? Your Mayan accent is terrible.
That's right. You know why I know that?
Because astronomers were talking about it last night at the bar.
Astronomers were at the bar that you go to?
Mm-hm.
That sells flavored condoms at the vending machine?
Why is that so hard for you to believe?
Okay, the bartender changed it to the Discovery Channel
after the Lakers game, but it felt very real to me.
Good morning.
Okay, Hetty, glad you showed up.
It's very difficult to take anything that guy says seriously.
Says the most serious person I've ever met in my entire life.
Okay, Deeks is a nice guy.
And Kensi is a nice girl, all right? It's not her.
- It's not him. - It's...
It's us.
Well, I don't believe it's a problem.
I'm hearing two people who are beginning to sound like partners.
Hi. Uh, Callen and Sam are waiting for you guys in the Ops Center.
And it's pronounced "baktun" 13.
Of course it is.
So nice of you to join us.
Sorry, got held up. Deeks thinks the world's gonna end in 2012.
Let me guess. Jenkins' theory on Sagittarius A black hole?
As a matter of fact, yes.
- He's mocking you. - He's not mo...
An MP from Camp Pendleton
suspected Marines of working on something with some dirty cops.
It's a CHP crew.
They take bribes from criminals for armed escorts and smuggling.
They call themselves the California Gold Taxi Service.
L.A.P.D. Calls them an urban legend.
L.A.P.D. Is wrong. They're real.
Six months ago, we opened an undercover investigation.
Sam and I infiltrated the group going in as corrupt cops.
We got inside, but we still have not been able to make a link
between them and Pendleton.
Then the ringleader turned up dead this morning.
His name's Paul Beane.
He left the CHP after surviving a motorcycle accident while on duty.
Left him paralyzed from the waist down.
He has a wife, but they maintain separate residences.
She's not considered a suspect.
Beane turned down a job.
Somebody wanted to make sure he didn't talk.
Tight grouping. Low caliber. No exit wounds. Pros.
He's a retired cop.
He must've had somebody in the field, a point man.
Try point woman.
Officer Jennifer Grear.
She was Beane's partner until his accident.
He'd find the jobs.
She'd pass on the orders to the California Gold Taxi Service cops.
They might have had a falling-out.
If Grear didn't shoot Beane, she might know who did.
So this op just shifted gears. Something is about to go down.
It may or may not involve Marines at Pendleton,
but we need to figure out what it is and fast.
Grear's shift is coming up, so Sam and I are gonna hit CHP headquarters.
- You two search her house. - Done.
Got it.
You're giving me a look.
Us riding bikes means we don't get to talk like we normally do.
Whereas, normally, we ride in your car
and spend the whole time talking about nothing?
You calling our banter nothing?
Well, not nothing, but wouldn't say that it qualifies as something.
Banter is the crux of our partnership, G.
Without it, we'd be two guys with guns drifting from one case to the next.
We are guys with guns drifting from one case to the next.
- Some seek a higher meaning. - Others play the hand they're dealt.
When did the glass become half-empty?
Was it ever half-full?
- That's better. - Mm-hm.
But I still want my car back, and these boots are killing me.
- Exley, Powell. - Hey, did you see Grear inside?
Never clocked in. Guess who's stuck pulling a double shift.
Tell her I'm only accepting apologies in the form of bourbon and cigars.
Am I really the most serious person you've ever met?
It's a tie between you and this nun back at school
who used to whack my hand with a ruler.
All right, well, I'll have you know that I can be a very funny individual.
- According to whom? - People.
- Anyone I know? - Nell.
- I'm sorry, what? - Nell thinks I'm hilarious.
Okay.
It's forced entry.
One, two, three.
- Clear. - Clear.
This looks like a shootout at the O.K. Corral.
Your instincts telling you anything?
Multiple shooters. Blood trail.
Come here. Come this way.
Someone got hit about here.
And then they ran.
Impossible to say how far they made it.
If they made it.
So was it Grear?
Or somebody else?
We analyzed spending patterns for both Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear
over the past 24 hours.
And tried to establish a time line.
Turns out Beane frequented a club in Hollywood called Bare Elegance.
Credit-card charges show he was there last night.
Bare Elegance. Must be a strip club.
Bikini bar. Big difference.
What do we know about Grear?
She's got four credit cards all maxed out
and two bank accounts in overdraft status.
Officer Grear's mother is suffering from Alzheimer's.
Put her in a nursing home last year. Wiped out her savings.
No one's seen Grear since Paul Beane's murder.
Well, she's either in hiding or she's dead.
Okay, Kensi and I volunteer to go check out the bikini bar in Hollywood.
Where did Grear's mother live before the nursing home?
House in Van Nuys.
Well, if she's tapped out, it's probably still on the market.
- Correct. - I'll drive, you banter.
Are you aware of the difference between bikini bars and strip clubs?
Yeah, of course. There's...
No.
Is there...? Is there a difference? I...
So let me get this straight.
Strip club, no clothes, no booze. Bikini bar, clothes, booze.
- Correct. - Now, which do you prefer?
- They both possess unique charms. - No, no. The apocalypse is tomorrow.
You got one last night.
That's a dilemma worthy of King Solomon.
Bikini bar. Yeah.
Bikini bar's definitely my pre-apocalyptic choice.
Ha-ha-ha. I don't know whether that makes me respect you more or less.
First date?
Oh, hi. Well, a girl can only do dinner and a movie so many times.
Yeah. She's cute, but her sense of humor needs work.
You have no idea.
So a buddy of mine, he's always talking about this place.
Paul Beane. Yeah? You know him?
Yeah, he's an ex-cop in a wheelchair.
We get CHP guys in here all the time. Half-off drinks if you show your badge.
He kept trying to get us to come meet him last night.
- Do you remember who he was with? - Ask him yourself.
I wish that I could.
Some guy came in here looking for him, and they got into it.
- We tossed the other dude out. - What does he look like?
Forties, gold watch, kind of a frat-boy look with a bully vibe.
We're gonna need access to these cameras.
Oh, those don't work.
I just put those in for show. Deterrence.
What were Beane and this other guy arguing about?
Is Paul okay?
He was found dead this morning.
Oh, man.
You know, I...
I didn't hear any details.
Just one thing. The overgrown frat boy told Paul
that this was his last chance, and if he said no, that he'd kill him.
Thanks, Kensi.
Last night, Paul Beane's life was threatened.
Bar manager described him as an overgrown frat boy.
- He was wearing a gold watch. - Grear still ran, though.
She pulled the trigger or she's hiding from the people who did.
Could be here at her mom's house.
Nothing.
All right. I'll check...
Pull the trigger, Exley. Isn't that what they're paying you for?
Easy.
Easy, Grear. Easy. Struggling's only gonna make it hurt worse.
Easy.
Don't move.
- You're arresting me? - It's good to see you again, Grear.
Turn around.
You're not really CHP.
Always thought the boots looked funny on you.
Yeah.
Whoever killed Paul Beane came after you next.
You were wounded, but you managed to escape.
I'm not answering questions until I see a lawyer.
We should kick you out on the street. Give them a chance to finish the job.
Or work with us, figure out who killed Paul.
- What makes you think I care? - You were partners.
That doesn't mean anything.
Just a man and a woman with guns drifting from case to case.
That it?
Most partners seek a higher meaning.
It helps them get through each day together.
I don't know who killed Paul.
And I don't know who came after me.
- You get a look at the shooters? - It happened fast.
They wore hockey masks. Black ones.
Why would they want you dead?
Paul turned down a job.
Payoff was too big. It made him nervous.
He said it involved military hardware. Something serious.
So I told the rest of the guys to walk away from it.
Military hardware's gotta be the connection to Camp Pendleton.
Maybe that's where they started in the first place.
How long were you two seeing each other?
How did you know?
Wedding ring.
Sometimes Paul wore it, sometimes he didn't.
I figured he was seeing someone who wasn't his wife.
Paul's marriage was falling apart.
None of the guys I dated got what I did for a living like he did.
- Anyone else know? - No.
After the accident, it changed him.
He went to this dark place.
He used his connections to start the California Gold Taxi Service.
And you helped him.
I couldn't sell the house.
My mom's medical bills were adding up, and...
I wanna help you.
Call your California Gold crew, put out the word.
You got scared into taking the job.
Officers Exley and Powell are gonna handle it.
How are you boys tonight?
As far as I'm concerned, any night off-duty is a good night.
Half-off drinks.
But not tips.
He's buying.
You bummed you're stuck here with me?
No, it's for the best.
I can't go undercover in places like this anymore.
All the dancers know and love me.
Must be your dashing personality.
Well, it's not my money.
- Right. - I have mystique.
By "mystique," I don't mean the brunette dancer inside the bar,
real name Kimberly.
Yay, congratulations. A go-go dancer told you her real name.
Patience, Kensi.
And by "patience," I don't mean the redhead
that goes on at 10:00 tonight, real name Jessica.
Whoa.
- What? - That might be our guy right there,
chatting up the bouncer. Frat-boy looks.
Flashy gold watch.
Sam, Callen, I think we got eyes on our man.
He's on his way in.
Got him, Deeks.
He's got an entourage.
I'm Steve Brenner.
- Exley. - Powell.
California Gold Taxi Service speaks very highly of you two.
Never heard of it.
Heard you were asking about Jennifer Grear
at the CHP motor pool earlier today.
Her old partner was murdered this morning.
- Paul Beane. - Never heard of him.
Sounds like we're running out of things to talk about.
Maybe you should leave before things get awkward.
We're in a bikini bar.
No such thing as awkward.
Hear me out.
You got ten seconds.
Nine, eight, seven, six...
I need a couple of CHP cops to pull off a job.
- Word is you two don't scare easily. - What's the pay?
Fifty grand. Each.
What do we gotta do?
Black Range Rover driving to Los Angeles from Vegas tomorrow.
Fire up some flares. Create a roadblock. Pull the driver out.
Give him a ticket. Take him in for resisting arrest.
Once he's locked up, you get paid.
- What's his name? - Not important.
You want us to arrest the right guy, we're gonna need a name.
Phil Crombie. Ex-con.
Business rival of mine.
I need him off the street so I can complete a deal.
What if we say no?
Ask Paul Beane and Jennifer Grear how that worked out for them.
We're in.
Be in touch, gentlemen.
He didn't mention military hardware or Pendleton.
What's this really about?
Sounds like we're about to find out.
Took these at the club last night. Recognize them?
- None of these guys are CHP. - They the ones that came after you?
They wore hockey masks. Could be them.
Could be someone else.
You regret getting involved now?
The State's running out of money. CHP's broke.
You got good cops being forced into early retirement.
There's no such thing as overtime anymore.
- We didn't think it would come to this. - But it did.
Look, I'm not proud of the California Gold Taxi Service,
but guys were losing their houses.
Yeah.
I regret it.
I think Paul regretted it too.
Tell us more about the guys that tried to kill you.
They're good. Trained.
- Like cops? - Like military.
So "Steve Brenner" is an alias. His real name is Justin Marchetti.
Did nine years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme.
Some people thought he was Wall Street's savant
until $20 million of his clients' money disappeared.
Mostly retirement funds and life savings.
His buddies are all former French military.
- GIGN. - It's an elite counter-terrorist unit.
Their services don't come cheap.
What do we have on Phil Crombie, the guy Marchetti wants us to stop?
He did a dime in Folsom for drug trafficking.
Released last year.
Currently employed by a restaurant in Santa Monica.
What, he graduated from narcotics to military hardware?
It's gotta be Marchetti.
Ready to start the trace.
Peter Exley.
The Range Rover will be passing Marker 447
on Route 138 at exactly 4 p.m.
- You sure Crombie's onboard? - He's driving. Don't screw it up.
No. He's using an encrypted satphone. Not even close.
We need to figure out if we're dealing with narcotics or military hardware.
Go back to Paul's garage, see if anything turns up.
- We're on it. - I queried officials at Camp Pendleton
and numerous agencies.
There is no other operation in play at this time.
Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna.
We still don't know what we're getting ourselves into here.
Please be careful.
Hopefully this guy Crombie can fill in some of the blanks.
Black Range Rover. Here we go.
License and registration.
Got off the phone with Phil Crombie's boss.
He showed up at the restaurant.
Callen, Sam, Crombie is not the one in that Range Rover.
- Sam. - What's the problem, officer?
Nothing personal.
They're wearing body armor.
- You okay? - Vest took the hit.
They're Marchetti's guys.
- Don't you say it. - You're welcome.
Go, go, go!
Let's go, let's go!
- Move it! - Go!
ID card from the Department of Energy.
Shooters used plastic explosives to level your bikes.
Probably think the blast finished you guys off.
- Where's the trailer? - Tracked it with satellite imagery.
Range Rover and trailer were dumped a half-mile away.
Found three more bodies.
Department of Energy security detail riding in back with the cargo.
Department of Energy?
Took all of ten minutes for these guys to become ghosts.
Found these scattered on the floor of the Range Rover they left behind.
Some kind of fruit.
Candy-coated figs from the Middle East.
Doesn't track. Marchetti's guys are French. They're not Arab.
Counter-terrorist operatives don't become Jihadists overnight.
Hey. Uh, so Beane's garage was a dead end.
- You guys okay? - Yeah.
- Could you repeat that? - Empty Quiver.
Empty Quiver.
- That's correct. - Indeed.
Empty Quiver, ladies and gentlemen.
- What does "Empty Quiver" mean? - "Empty Quiver" is a Pentagon term.
It refers to the loss or theft of a functioning nuclear weapon.
They stole a nuke?
What, DOE just decided to take it on a road trip?
They ship trailers like this across the highways every day.
The idea is to be low profile.
They're unmarked and manned by former Special Forces operators.
No one's been any the wiser until today.
The trailer contains a warhead en route to refurbishment.
We were not informed
because of the sensitive nature of the cargo.
- What's the yield? - A hundred kilotons.
Five times the power of the one that leveled Hiroshima.
And how is the Department of Energy handling this?
Discretely.
If the media discovered, it would be panic.
Nuclear Emergency Support Teams have been deployed
to scour the area for its radioactive signature.
If these guys wanted to set off a nuke, why haven't they done it?
You need a nuclear physicist to arm it and trigger the detonation.
Mr. Callen, Mr. Hanna, a word.
The blame game has begun.
High-level officials interested in covering their own asses.
They're demanding to know why the two NCIS agents on the scene
weren't able to prevent the incident.
The word "investigation" has already been bandied about.
It's pretty meaningless given what's at stake.
And politicking isn't our job.
Oh, no, Mr. Hanna, it's mine.
- You don't have to protect us. - Oh, yes, I do.
And I've feared for years that a day would come
when I wouldn't be able to. I hope this isn't it.
There is only one solution:
Recover the warhead before it can be used.
We just received a video.
White House received this five minutes ago.
They're keeping it under wraps. Don't wanna create panic.
There's the warhead.
Says "Pan-Islamic Brotherhood" in Arabic.
- Never heard of them. - Neither have I.
I'm Dr. Delia Richards.
I'm a nuclear physicist.
These men have a nuclear warhead in their possession.
They're forcing me to arm it.
"Judgment Day has arrived.
In three hours, the American people
will feel the fear of not knowing who will die or when."
Three hours from now is 6:30 a.m.
Video doesn't specify a target.
- Nell. Dr. Delia Richards? - Mm-hm.
Okay.
Employed by Golden State Tech.
Formerly employed by Trecdel Electronics.
The weapons manufacturer.
Worked in R&D at their Maryland plant.
Cutting-edge tech.
She was originally recruited by the Department of Energy out of school,
but went private sector instead.
Specialises in applied physics, not theoretical. Which means...
- She can arm the warhead. - Must be why they chose her.
Since when do Wall Street guys start working with Wahhabi Muslims?
Marchetti's guys don't match the profile for martyrs.
Something's off.
Tell Golden State Tech security
we're gonna need full access to Dr. Richards' office.
I checked it out. Nothing on NEST sensors.
Signs of struggle.
- I'll keep looking. - Thanks, Eric.
NEST teams are drawing a blank.
A nuke signature has to be more radioactive
than everything around it or detection equipment can't find it.
L.A.'s filled with things that would throw sensors off:
Buildings, vehicles, even people.
So, what's the best way to transport a nuke without getting caught?
Bananas.
Lots of bananas.
Bananas are high in potassium. Potassium is radioactive.
If I was hiding a nuke, I'd hide it in a truckload full of them.
Fooling the sensor by creating a false positive.
- One look inside, they'll wave it along. - Sam.
Two radiuses.
The first one measures a blast originating in downtown L.A.
The second one measures the effects of a nuclear fallout.
- We need to tell Hetty. - No.
- Not yet. - What?
Hetty will have to inform the Pentagon.
They'll start to evacuate the city.
What if that's exactly what Marchetti wants?
Guys who are capable of pulling off a hijacking operation like that
don't accidentally forget their maps.
Yeah, classic misdirection.
Okay, so if we're right, the last thing we have to worry about
is an attack in Los Angeles in two hours and 11 minutes.
What if we're wrong?
Delia Richards? I don't know that name.
I've seen her.
At a bar.
A month ago, she wanted to meet to talk about
a potential California Gold Taxi Service job.
I drove Paul to meet her. Waited in the car outside.
- You sure it was her? - Paul and I were sleeping together.
He meets up with a woman that looks like this, I take notice.
- He say what the job was about? - No.
But whatever it was, it shook him up. He wouldn't give me any details.
He said that the woman gave him stock tips.
Told him to sell everything in his portfolio and put it in gold and silver.
We dug into Delia Richards' finances.
Over the past five years, she made a small fortune
in the stock market as a day trader.
Her equities were handled by an investment firm
whose address is a P.O. Box in the Cayman Islands.
Now, it's rented by a woman
who used to work for Justin Marchetti's old hedge fund.
What's the connection between a day-trading physicist,
an ex-con money manager, and a stolen nuke?
You found a map of Los Angeles with nuclear-blast radiuses marked off,
and you kept it from me?
I made a judgment call. If we told you, you would've been bound to report it
- to the Pentagon. - I'm the one who decides
whether or not we fulfill these obligations, Mr. Callen.
I don't need your protection.
- I need your trust. - And I need your help.
- Marchetti is trying to play us. - To what end?
That's exactly what we were just about to ask you.
Video said something's gonna happen at 6:30 a.m.
That's one hour from now.
- What happens at that time in L. A? - Start of rush hour.
A better question may be, what happens on the East Coast,
where it'll be 9:30 a. M?
The New York Stock Exchange opens for trading.
Terrorist attacks cause panic.
In times of panic, people sell off their stocks.
The market plummets. What happened on 9/11?
Everyone dumped their airline stocks.
But a small group of people sold their airline shares short
the day before and made a fortune.
Marchetti's got a terrorist attack at his fingertips.
He doesn't even have to detonate the nuke.
The threat alone would be enough to crash the market.
If the public even thinks Jihadists stole that warhead,
it'll cause mass hysteria.
- Well, the video hasn't gone wide yet. - And the man isn't a Jihadist.
He's sitting on inside information that could make him billions.
All he has to do is release that video,
sit back and watch the market do his bidding.
It would be like the real-estate crash all over again.
Except it will be every business, all on the same day at the same time.
Yes, Eric?
We found what we were looking for on Marchetti.
- You guys need to look at this. - Bingo.
Dug up all real-estate holdings on Steve Brenner,
a.k.a. Justin Marchetti.
Last month, he acquired a factory called Festive Ceramics.
They produce dishes and plates.
Paint used on ceramics contains high amounts of uranium,
harmless but highly radioactive.
And any factory using it registers
off the charts in the eyes of the detection equipment.
Marchetti created a false positive.
The perfect smokescreen to hide the nuke.
There's not much time until the New York Stock Exchange opens.
We need to move on that factory now.
Shooters that hijacked that trailer will be there.
Anything we should know about them?
They're not the type to stop when you yell, "Freeze!"
Mr. Callen.
Lethal action has been authorized.
Sentries are down.
Very personal.
You're welcome.
Sam, someone just accessed the video from this laptop.
It could have been uploaded.
I've got the mirroring app up and running.
What are you seeing, Eric?
Video footage hasn't been streamed anywhere yet,
but they uploaded a copy to a flash drive.
Kensi, take them!
- The driver and passenger are down. - Seven down, one man left.
In there. Using the nuke for cover.
Don't miss.
Hetty, Empty Quiver is secure.
- Need to stop this video, Eric. - Video's already in the cloud.
The auto-run script executable is about to go live.
- I'm almost there. - Eric?
Video has been disabled, guys.
What did you just do?
I used a VNC controller to piggyback the upload with a Trojan
and corrupt the streaming data packets by initiating a stack buffer overflow.
In English, Mr. Beale?
Oh, I broke the Internet.
- Help me! - You okay?
- Mm-mm. - Drop it.
Sorry, it ain't over yet.
Okay.
You know, you're gonna have trouble shooting me with that safety on.
That's gonna leave a mark. Get over there.
I got a question for you.
Is it true all Wall Street guys are born losers and get rich to compensate?
- Well... - No, that's rhetorical. You're a loser.
And you?
You looked a lot better on camera, sweetheart.
Aw...
Oh, hey, guys. What did Eric do with the video?
Shut down the Internet.
What? The whole Internet?
- Yeah. - Even Twitter?
Whoa.
- What happens now? - CHP has taken over the case.
It's not our call.
But they know you helped us.
Did you get him? The guy who killed Paul?
We got him.
So turns out Marchetti was paying off an Intelligence officer
at Camp Pendleton. That's how he knew the route
the warhead was taking.
It makes sense.
Nell, is it true that you describe Kensi as hilarious?
I'm sorry, what?
- You don't remember that time? - Uh, what time?
The time that... Nell, come on. L...
The time.
Oh, right. That time. Of course.
It was funny be... It was funny because...
I was just replaying it in my head, and it was just...
Oh. Great.
In the future, I will, uh... I will try to take things more seriously.
I... I will try and lighten up.
I'd like that.
I would like that too.
- Do me a favor, though? - Yeah.
Don't ever laugh like that again.
It was terrifying.
Eh...