Original subtitles

You have to trust me on this one, Jack.

Two murders, six careers ruined, and it was all about Walleye Pike.

Whoa. Yeah, just another lonely night when the moon is full.

The trance channelers from San Rafael are saying that Mercury is in retrograde,

and according to Nostradamus, the world as we know it was supposed to end yesterday.

Feelin' lucky?

Okay, now, I just bet my producer that it is gonna be one of those nights,

so San Francisco, don't fail me now!

I got twin saw bucks riding on this.

All right, we're gonna go to, oh, let's see.

Let's try Clara from Hillsboro.

Talk to me.

I'd like to talk to you about protection, Mr. Killian.

From what, Clara? Declining property values? Or the next market crash?

From the libertine sex offenders lurking in

every shadow and stalking every street and alley.

In Hillsboro, Clara?

I thought the only criminals that you allow across

the city line were the brokers on Montgomery Street.

On the contrary, Mr. Killian. You'll find them here wearing studded leather collars.

It's gotten so I can't take De Margo out for our

evening constitutional without being accosted.

By whom, Clara?

By every flea-bitten, mange-ridden mutt in San Mateo County.

Who is De Margo, Clara?

My beloved Corgi bitch.

Oh. Your dog?

Kiss it goodbye, Billy. Kiss it goodbye.

I got oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen.

He keeps corn licking it, breathing heavy.

He's killing me!

What did you expect, Billy?

I mean, anyone who's laundered as much money

as Tom Jay is bound to bleed you dry at gin.

This is square game. You don't think I'm stupid enough to cheat my own bodyguard?

Room service? I'll get it.

Maybe if I get up and move around, I'll change my luck.

Hey, are you one of those radio stations offering a reward if you find Elvis?

Because if you are, I just saw him ordering a

large anchovy pizza with extra cheese dynamite.

Huh.

Well, uh, no, my producer tells me that we are not offering a reward for Elvis.

But hey, if you see him again, tell him I really liked him a lot in King Grill.

And as we near the end of our show, I want to pass along

this bright idea from Marge down at Operative Cafe.

Okay.

Jack, Marge said, you want to crank up your ratings?

What you need to do is come up with a gimmick like that Winfrey woman on TV.

Let's do this again. I think I'm going to win this time.

We'll play again.

Fine, I'll take your money one more time, Phil.

No, you won't.

I just thought...

Marge to intel.

This is Jack Killian, the Nighthawk on KJCM Radio 98.3 on your FM dial.

And goodnight America, wherever you are.

It happened sometime early this morning.

Three people were reportedly gunned down in their hotel suite.

Sources high up in the police department have

indicated the dead are two San Francisco PD detectives

and Thomas Jay, former accountant to financier Ephraim Rothwell.

It's rumored Jay was turning state's evidence in exchange for details

of Rothwell's alleged money laundering operation and underworld ties.

That's Lieutenant Zymack. He is the chief investigating officer on this case.

Let's go back and take a listen to what he has to say.

Sources high up in the police department?

That's you?

Yes, I am in charge of lying to the press.

Well, how long do you think you can keep her dead to the world?

As long as it takes.

Jordan has no memory of what happened. Can't describe the hitman.

She's been asking for you since she regained consciousness.

You have any idea why?

I don't know. It's been a long time since we've seen each other.

Anything?

Nothing.

Hey, Jordan.

Hi, Jack.

You should avoid places like this, you know?

They're bad for your health.

Uh-huh.

So, I hear you've been asking for me.

That's what I like about you, Jack.

You cut right to the chase. No small talk.

Okay, well, gee, Jordan, you look great, you really do.

I love what you've done with your hair, babe.

I hear you've been asking for me.

I keep thinking I need to talk to you.

I don't know why.

That's okay. You don't need an excuse to call me.

I think I may be going a little bit crazy.

You're allowed to go a little crazy after you get shot.

The lieutenant told me that Philly's dead.

I don't remember that.

It was my partner.

He was my best friend. Don't you think I'd remember if I saw him killed?

Jack, if Philly's dead, why am I here?

Why am I still alive?

You got lucky.

Lucky.

So, you don't remember anything at all about last night?

No.

What about before last night? What do you remember?

I remember covering your butt when you broke

chain of evidence on your first assignment.

I can't catch a break. You forget everything else. And you remember that?

It makes no sense.

Every time I try to think about what happened last night, all I get...

is your voice on the radio.

What do you think it means?

You're a fan?

Yeah.

You better go.

Listen, I'll...

I'm gonna leave you my phone number here, okay?

I love you, Jack.

I'll be back soon.

So?

What?

What about all this chain of evidence business?

You know, chain of evidence.

When you're in court and you have to be accountable for the

whereabouts of physical evidence while it's in your custody.

See, I know that. What I want to know is...

when you broke the chain of evidence.

I don't remember.

Jack, Jack, come here.

Jack.

I want to do a show on Survivor's Guild.

It's a little off the beaten path, isn't it?

What's behind it?

I just think it'd be a good idea.

Let's see.

All right, there's this officer I know. She's a good cop.

Yeah, I'll transfer you.

We were in the academy together.

Her partner was killed right in front of her.

And she's having problems now.

It got me thinking.

Is this her story or yours?

Yeah, it's my story and it's hers. It's a lot of people's.

Look, I know that it's not fascinating like doing a five-part

series on jaywalking or the tragedy of traffic tickets.

Is this over-defensiveness just your particular

problem or is it a trait that all cops share?

Is that a real question or is that your idea for a show?

Look, let's try something really original here, okay? Let's not argue.

I think it's a good idea for a show.

My only question is...

Given all of the psychological ramifications of this subject, do you

really feel that you have the expertise needed to handle it properly?

Yeah, I do.

I think I have what you might call layman's expertise.

And you feel that your listeners are going to want to

talk about their guilt at being live over the radio?

Well, if it doesn't work, I'll just change gears, you know? So...

What do you got to lose?

Your ratings and my sanity.

Okay?

Okay.

We seem to have a problem.

My people tell me you didn't finish the contract.

Don't believe it. It was a clean job.

My source is unimpeachable.

Unimpeachable.

A woman is still alive.

I want that loose end tied up immediately.

Tonight we're going to talk about guilt.

Survivor's guilt.

It's almost impossible to get through life without

losing someone close to you at some point in time.

But when that loss comes harshly and unexpectedly,

sometimes the person left behind begins to think

that they're the ones that should have died.

So tonight I'm offering us all a chance to face our personal demons.

To put them to rest so we can get on with the rest of our lives.

Now, I don't want to know your name or where you're calling from.

Just talk to me.

You're on the air.

It's about my husband.

He was terminally ill on life support.

I didn't want to see him suffer anymore.

I told the doctors to take him off those machines.

Now I keep thinking I shouldn't have robbed him of whatever time he had left.

Had you ever discussed with your husband what to do in a situation like this?

No.

You know, I used to have a partner on the force.

And for a lot of cops, that relationship is a primary one.

And it got to the point where Rusty and me actually knew what the other was thinking.

I mean, he would finish sentences for me.

You know, things like that.

Did you and your husband have that kind of relationship?

Yes. Yes, we did.

So you think it's possible that knowing your husband as well as you did,

that maybe you made the same choice he would have made for himself?

I never thought about it that way.

You're on the air.

I've been living with this for a long time.

Never been able to tell anyone about it.

One day, my niece called me and told me her father, my brother,

had been physically abusing her, beating her,

threatening the family with a gun.

She said she was afraid he was going to kill her.

She begged me to come get her, take her away, hide her from him.

What did you do?

I did nothing.

I didn't want to believe her.

I couldn't believe my own brother was capable of doing that to his own child.

What happened to her?

She died.

That night he killed her and then he turned the gun on himself.

But every time I think about her, I feel like I was the one who pulled the trigger.

I hope you still have your radio on and you're still listening.

I know what it's like to want to go back in time and have that one second back,

that one second that's going to change our lives forever.

But as you know, there's no such thing as a time machine.

We can't go back and change it.

The only thing we can do is you have to try to forgive yourself and just go on.

And good night, America, wherever you are.

This is KCM 98.3 on your FM dial.

And here's little Ross Levinson to get us through to the dawn.

Hey, JCM.

Hello, is Jack Killian there, please?

I'm sorry, the show's over. You can call back tomorrow night.

Or you can leave a message.

No, no message.

You think you could do me a personal favor?

Maybe.

About that old chain of evidence thing, you know, as long

as you got this memory loss happening, maybe you could.

No way, Jack, it's etched on my mind forever.

The sight of you passed out in that coroner's office is too vivid to forget.

Should have said something about being squeamish.

I wasn't squeamish. I had the flu.

The smell of formaldehyde got to me. That could have happened to anybody.

Face it, Jack, if it hadn't been for me taking over

your assignment, you could have blown the case.

Did you hear the show tonight?

I tried.

They give me so many drugs around here, I have a hard time staying awake.

Something happened tonight, though.

I started dreaming about the shooting.

Now, I don't know if it's real or if I'm just

putting together stuff everyone's told me,

but I started to see things, Jerry.

Fragments, you know, pieces, but...

Yeah, you'll get there.

Yeah.

So, making any progress?

Physically, she's out of bed, moving around, but her memory, it's hard to say.

She seems to remember some of what happened that

night, but she still can't see the guy's face.

So, we're still back at square one.

You didn't turn up anything at the hotel?

Nobody sees the shooter come in, nobody sees him leave.

Left nothing behind for forensics.

This guy must have gotten his doctorate at Hitman U.

Hitman U?

I don't think this is a very good idea.

You don't? All right, well, you put it in your report and I'll sign off on it.

It's against orders.

I have five minutes.

Five minutes, and I'm with you every step.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I can manage from here, thanks.

It's not a very good time. Why don't you try again in a few minutes?

Whatever you say.

Any surprises in the format tonight, Jack?

I hope so. Makes life more interesting, don't you, Nick?

Yeah, for some of us.

I heard that.

You know, the switchboard stayed lit for a good hour after you left the other night.

Really?

All right.

You ready?

Five, four, three, two...

It's midnight hour, and this is Jack Killian, the

Nighthawk, on KJCM Radio 98.3 on your FM dial.

You know, we got a lot of response to the show we did dealing with survivors' guilt.

So we're gonna try it one more time.

Those of you who didn't get through the other night, you got another chance.

And that's what this is all about.

Another chance.

Uh-oh.

Even though you may not want it.

What?

I gotta tell you.

You got another chance.

I like what he's doing.

Lead forward the life of someone you love, so...

Good, Billy, so do I.

Know that you can't waste it.

I do. I think it's obviously something that Jack has to deal with.

As difficult as it is to face, think about it for a second.

Okay.

Just ask yourself...

Okay.

one question.

Ask yourself why fate's allowed you to be the one left behind...

when it would have been so much easier for you to have perished, too.

Now, the answers to that question may be a hard one to live with...

assuming that you find that answer at all.

But nobody ever said life was supposed to be easy.

Oh!

Take it easy. It's only me.

Oh, Jack, you scared me.

I didn't mean to wake you.

I just thought I'd check on you before I went home.

Well, I'm really glad you did.

Starting to dream again.

Maybe I should go, or I'll come back tomorrow.

No.

Well, just wait with me until I go back to sleep, please.

Sure. Okay.

Jack.

What?

Your guard's gone. Call for backup.

Neither of you saw his face, of course.

No.

No.

But he's dressed like an orderly.

He's infiltrated here.

As long as damn near anyone in hospital greens is a suspect, we've got a problem.

Some of us more than others, Lieutenant.

I hate to believe it, but it wouldn't surprise me if

Mr. Rothwell has managed to get a pipeline into the department.

You put a snitch in a swank hotel, and they got him.

You put a dead cop in intensive care, and they tried to kill her.

You're damn right he's getting tipped off.

We've got to get you out of here and stashed right now.

That guy, he looks familiar. Who is he?

That's Jack Killian. You know, on the radio. The Nighthawk.

Yeah. Right.

Thanks, mate.

Ooh. Ooh. Delish.

Don't touch anything.

Don't worry, I won't.

It's, uh, it's usually not this bad, but, uh...

I haven't been home in a while.

Uh-huh. That's very original, Jack.

What are you, the poster child for Bachelors Anonymous?

Uh, okay, well, let's give you the tour here. This is, um, obviously, the kitchen.

I'm impressed.

What, you were expecting a science project growing in there?

Yeah.

Well, I don't know what we do about this. I can, uh...

I can sleep on a couch, or we can sleep in shifts.

I don't think it matters right now. I just,

I feel like kind of a one-woman pajama party.

And I travel kind of light. Do you have something I could put on?

Yeah.

It's, uh...

Probably not the same size.

Well, I don't know. It'll work for any hall.

It'll look better on you.

I'll, uh, I'll get out of here.

No, I'm gonna need some help with this shirt.

Okay.

There, easy.

Thank you.

Okay?

Yeah.

Thanks for helping me out.

I know it's gotta be one of these guys.

I can remember almost everything else. Why can't I see his face?

Why don't you go back to bed? You need some sleep.

I can't sleep.

Every time I close my eyes, I see Philly. I

hear the shots. I mean, when is this gonna stop?

It never stops.

I thought it stopped for you.

No.

Never.

It's not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of Rusty somehow.

A voice.

A voice.

A stranger in a crowd who looks like him.

Catches my eye.

Somebody telling a bad joke.

Real loud.

In a bar.

Rusty never could tell a joke.

I heard you on the air the other night. You were talking about forgiveness.

Talking about getting on with your life.

That's what I gotta tell myself every morning when I wake up.

When I realize that I'm the one that's alive and Rusty's the one that's dead.

That's part of the battle. You have to fight the guilt.

I can't.

You have to make peace with the pain that you're having.

I can't.

Because it's not gonna leave you alone. Your life's never gonna be the same.

Stop it. I don't wanna hear this anymore.

Jordan.

You gotta hang on with the belief that there

is a reason that you're still breathing.

Then you have to go on and fulfill that reason for whatever it is.

Because if you don't, then...

Then Philly'd die for nothing.

Come on. Close your eyes.

Oh, please.

Come on. Come on. Just close your eyes.

Okay.

Alright.

You're in the hotel room.

And he wheels the car in.

He's dressed like a waiter. He's about 5'10 ", 5'11".

His hair?

His hair is dark.

Black?

Brown?

Boom.

Boom.

I can't. I can't.

You will. You will.

When you're ready, you'll do it.

Hello.

I need something.

Lose this number.

You botched the job and drove her underground.

I've got a lead.

I need an address on a local radio guy named Jack Killian.

Hold on.

Data processing.

I need some information.

Look, I don't think it's a good time right now.

I want it now.

I need the home address of a Jack Killian.

928 Beckett.

Got it.

At this point, it's either her or you, and I don't have a particular preference.

Whatever the outcome, I don't believe we'll be speaking again.

Hi.

Hi.

I need a favor.

I was wondering if you'd give me a couple days off.

Don't tell me.

There's a blues festival in New Orleans and BB King

just refuses to go on unless Jack Killian sits in.

You know, your fantasies about my life are better than my own, you know?

Now, you remember I was telling you about that officer who was having problems?

Yep.

Well, she's in trouble.

The police are using my place as a safe house, and I'm hiding her out, but...

Trouble is, there's a leak in the department

somewhere. I don't know how safe she is.

I thought it'd be better if I watched around the clock.

You know, sometimes I worry about you, Jack.

Is this gonna be a talk about impropriety?

Or the negative effects on the station if this thing blows up in my face?

No, what I said was I worry about you.

You're not a cop anymore.

I know that.

No, the woman's a friend of mine.

I understand that, and you're nothing if you're not a friend.

In a way, that's your job.

Professional friend.

Six nights a week, people call in here to talk with Jack Killian.

You hear their stories.

You listen to their problems.

Try to help them out.

You make them smile.

Ask them to think.

Jack.

If you're lonely at 2.30 in the morning, your

friend the Nighthawk is only a phone call away.

Yeah, yeah, that's me saying Jack.

What about you, Jack?

Do you ever get lonely?

Who do you turn to for advice?

Who makes you smile, Jack?

You do.

You make me smile.

Well, I'm glad.

But I don't think that you can just block out your own pain

and fears simply by taking on somebody else's problems.

I don't think anybody can do that.

I think that even Jack, I can handle it.

Killian needs a friend that he can talk to every once in a while.

And you think that maybe you're that person?

It's up to you.

But, yes, Jack, I'd like to be your friend.

Okay.

Okay.

Cause with all that pain

Please believe

I feel the same

And I know a heart that's breaking

You can't make it whole

Until you know what has been taking

And all those pieces

I bet you found them on your own

It's a mistake, you know?

It's not a mistake

Even if it's just for tonight

Please believe

I feel the same

Ugh

Get down. Get off the bed.

Stay put.

Ugh

Ugh

No.

I didn't get any kind of look at this guy, Carl.

Yeah.

All I know is there's another cop dead and Jordan's disappeared.

Hey!

I heard you were dead.

Yeah. Not yet, but I'm working on it.

Who is he?

Hey, I'm out of that line of work.

Manny!

Why don't you go to a hospital and make both our lives easier?

Manny, this man killed Philly.

He's tried to do me a couple of times.

I want him.

And you're the guy that can get him for me.

So get him for me!

Manny!

Tell him to stand up and face me like a man.

No more of this chicken snipe and run game.

Tell him to meet me at Spofford Alley.

Now, give me your gun.

I don't have a gun.

Manny, it has been a really bad couple of days.

Don't make me get up and get it myself.

Put me through Mr. Rothwell.

14-year career.

The last five years have been spent right there in San Francisco.

In boxing last night,

highly touted cruiserweight Alonzo Bates

won his seventh straight by taking out

Taylor Smith in the seventh round of his scheduled ten-rounder.

NBA action saw a limited play last night

with the big 117, San Antonio 111 in overtime.

Where?

Los Angeles Lakers, who won their seventh straight.

Chinatown, near Spofford Alley.

Take them both out.

She showed you a picture. You gave her a name. Then what?

Then nothing. She left.

Where did she go?

I don't know.

Hey!

You didn't escape before. Now, where did she go?

Now, don't lie to me. Where did she go?

She took my gun.

She went to Spofford Alley.

Oh, man.

Run!

Jordan!

Wait! Wait!

Wait!

Go ahead! Go ahead!

You're not much good at this, are you?

She'll be in the hospital.

It's a little awkward.

What? Making the bed one-handed?

Yeah, that too.

Ah.

You feel uncomfortable about last night.

Which part?

The part before the bullets.

I don't know.

Maybe I'll get used to it.

Well, I guess you'll never think of me as just one of the guys again, huh?

I never did.

And what do you say we just...

Say nothing happened last night.

You think we can go back to just being friends?

What if we say what happened last night was that two old friends were...

Tired and lonely and scared and...

Just found some peace together for a little while.

Okay.

Ah.

The time of the night when you're most alone...

Is when you feel the magnetic field of companionship most forcefully.

It is when you are drawn to souls of friends...

Lost...

And forever missed.

In these hours before the dawn you recall...

The words you never uttered and regret...

Emotions you never expressed.

It is now that you make promises to those unable to hear.

Now that you swear to finish jobs left undone.

Rarely do we complete these tasks, but when we do...

We feel most alive.

It is at those moments...

When the pain and suffering are forgotten.

When you know there is a reason...

That you are still breathing.

This is Jack Killian, the Nighthawk on KJCM Radio 98.3 on your FM dial.

And goodnight America, wherever you are.