Original subtitles

.

[car horn honks]

[car door opens]

- Thanks.

[indistinct chatter]

Hey.

You're early.

- Yeah.

Uh...yeah.

- Um... - Yeah.

- Yeah, I'm gonna go get changed real quick.

- Okay, yeah. - I'm sorry about the--

- No.

No--no--please.

I'll, uh--I'll wait.

- Okay.

Cool.

Thank you.

- Where's Donovan?

- He's out the rest of the week--advanced tact training.

- Where's he doing that?

- Uh, I put him with the SWAT guys.

- Hell, yeah.

Did you see that new BearCat they got?

- No. Private donations? - It had to be.

They plated it in navy blue and put a damn racing stripe on it.

Thank you.

So cool, I swear. [scoffs]

- So the Ninth District's Specialized Unit gets disbanded

due to inefficient use of resources,

but now you need us to do the job they used to do?

- That's about the size of it.

- All right, Imani, Torres...

you're in Chinatown today--

community outreach.

- Uh, not just today, actually--uh, every month.

It's an ongoing effort.

See, Chinatown has an artificially low crime rate,

but that's really only because, um--

- Because no one there trusts police.

So no one there reports crime.

- Oh.

S-so go get them to trust us, sir?

[tense music]

♪ ♪

[person speaks Chinese]

- No.

- You sure?

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

- Well, maybe you can tell me where the wheel got stolen,

'cause it obviously didn't come like that, right?

- It came like this.

Stupid cop.

♪ ♪

- Okay.

Yeah, so that sign makes you an easy target, you understand?

So, if you run into any trouble, you call me.

My name is Officer Dante Torres.

All right?

♪ ♪

- Did the break-in happen last night?

♪ ♪

[person speaking Chinese]

- Excuse me, ma'am.

Hi, I'm Officer Torres.

I just wanted to introduce myself to you.

- [speaking Chinese]

- We got the best Szechuan mala chicken,

the best dragon parade, and the best distrust

in the whole city. [indistinct chatter on radio]

I've never seen you in the Ninth District.

- Intelligence. Officer Torres.

- Shen.

Idiot Feds made a mistake cutting the Ninth.

You know JB? Roby? - Uh, no. No.

- Oh, well, it's good to have more police out here

no matter where you're from.

- Are you from here? - You know it.

Born here, still working here.

[radio chatter continues]

- Well, uh, stay safe, yeah?

- You too. - All right.

Do you feel like we made progress?

- Nope, but we probably didn't make it worse.

- Low bar. - Sane bar.

- You all right?

- Yeah, just, um, got a headache.

[person screaming]

Where did that-- - Alley?

[screaming continues]

- Hey! - Hey!

Chicago PD! - I'll get the car.

5021 Ocean, on-view abduction, Princeton and Cermak--

white van, no plates, heading northbound.

Hey! Hold the alley.

Don't let anyone in.

Get some squads!

[tires squealing]

[suspenseful music]

[engine revving, tires screeching]

♪ ♪

- 5021 Union, we're northbound on Princeton at Cermak

in pursuit of the white van.

[indistinct chatter over police radio]

Come on, move, move.

Turning westbound onto Cermak. - Copy, Union.

♪ ♪

- Damn it.

[horn honks]

♪ ♪

Hold on.

[tires squealing]

♪ ♪

- 5021 Union, I need a BOLO on a white van,

no plates, last seen heading westbound on Cermak.

We lost eyes. - 10-4, 5021.

We'll advise on the spot.

♪ ♪

.

[concerned chatter in Chinese]

- 5021 Union, put out an all-call message--

abduction of an Asian female... - Hey!

- At Cermak and Princeton. - Shen.

What happened to the car? Did you call it in?

- No, uh--I'm-- I'm not a police officer.

- What? - I'm sorry.

I never meant to make you think I was police.

I'm Shen Zhuang. I'm a private citizen.

I'm a fixer. - What does that mean?

- I liaise with the police. I help out where I can.

I'm a familiar face. People know me. They trust me.

When something goes down in Chinatown, they call me--

- Yeah, instead of police-- I get it.

- Well, hopefully, in addition to.

I work off donations. My job is to help.

- 5021 Ocean, I need some cars in the alley

of Cermak and Princeton.

- Officer Torres, right? I can help now.

Anything you need, just point me to it.

I can help. [indistinct chatter in Chinese]

- Can you translate? - Yes.

- All right, let's find out anyone saw anything.

[indistinct chatter]

Okay, what do you got?

- On-view abduction, female victim--

two masked offenders grabbed her,

threw her in the back of a white van.

- Both appear to be male.

- We know who the victim is? - No, not yet.

- What about the van? - BOLO's out. No plates.

- All right, so let's run the hot sheet,

see if any white vans were stolen the last 24 hours.

Pull all PODs, cams, knock and talk.

Let's cover everything.

- Officer Torres.

This is May Wong--she lives in that building right there.

She says she saw what happened.

- Can she ID the victim? - [speaking Chinese]

- [speaking Chinese]

- She says the woman is one of her neighbors.

Her name is Wendy Ping. - Wendy Ping.

- The van was parked here all afternoon.

She's told Wendy it's safer to go the long way around

to the front.

But Wendy wants to take the shortcut.

- Okay.

- As soon as she showed up,

a man in a black mask jumped out of the van.

- W-what made her look out the window?

Did she hear the man say something?

- She was waiting for Wendy.

Wendy brings her bao-- sweet buns--every day.

- All right, thank you.

An officer's gonna come and take your statement.

Bro, this was planned.

I mean, they were lying in wait.

They knew Wendy's schedule.

All right, so run her phone and get into her apartment.

Let's find out who'd want to harm her.

- Okay.

All right, I got it.

Thanks.

Her name's Wendy. She's 26 from China.

Here for grad school on a student visa.

She works at a hair salon and a diner.

- School, two jobs-- that's a lot.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Family call at 4:00 a.m. every Saturday.

♪ ♪

- Makes sense if her family's back in China.

- Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

- Hey.

Do you know how expensive these are?

- You don't buy those working at a diner.

- No.

Maybe they're gifts?

♪ ♪

- Gifts.

- It's been two hours since the kidnapping.

Tell me we got something.

- Landlord and neighbor said the same thing.

Wendy was friendly, sweet, but she kept to herself--

not too many friends.

- And multiple residents described her as lonely,

which is why maybe she and Mrs. Wong found each other.

- Hey, anything on that van?

- Nothing on traffic cams or PODs.

They might've switched vehicles.

- Wendy's phone's off--last ping's a block from her house

right before she got grabbed.

Check this out--phone records. Got a boyfriend, a secret one.

- Gifts.

- Saved as "Jin" in her cell phone.

- Hmm.

- Looks like they've been together for about a year.

Starts off real sweet-- heart emojis.

He understands her homesickness.

Then about a week ago, Jin's tone changes.

- "I'm getting threats from someone who knows about us.

"Someone's trying to shake me down.

Who did you tell, Wendy?"

- Okay, so why's the relationship secret?

- Oh, guy's full name is Jin Liu.

He's a 50-year-old Chinese national.

And he's married. - There you go.

Maybe the wife found out. - Huh.

- Well, there's no indication that she has.

Jin's the CEO of a private-equity company

based in Shanghai.

They split their time between here and there.

But the wife hasn't been in the U.S. for 13 months.

- It's a good target for a K&R. - So let's go talk to this Jin.

Chicago Police.

We're looking for your boss.

- I am sorry--Mr. Liu's not available right now.

- Where is he? - I don't know.

- Isn't it your job to know?

- He can't be reached right now.

- Is that Jin? - Um, no, sir.

He's not available. Wai--

No, wait. Please, you can't go in there.

Hi. I'm Officer Torres, Chicago PD.

Are you Jin Liu?

♪ ♪

.

- You're not answering the question.

What are you doing here? - I know Mr. Liu.

- You knew he was seeing Wendy,

but you didn't want to tell us that?

- [speaking Chinese]

- I was gonna contact the police--

you, Officer Torres-- but I wanted

to speak alone with Jin first.

- Discretion is important to me.

- All right, listen, we have a kidnapped woman.

None of this matters.

Have you been contacted for a ransom?

Have you been contacted for ransom?

- Can we discuss this somewhere more private?

- All right, arrange a covert, get them to the district, fast.

- Look, the faster you talk, the faster we can find Wendy.

I've seen your texts.

You're the first person she texts in the morning

and the last person she calls before bed.

We know that you care about her.

You might even love her.

- I am a married man.

- Look, we are not concerned with your reputation.

Our priority is finding Wendy.

Now, did the kidnappers contact you?

Yes or no?

- Someone called my cell phone, yes.

- Okay. Man or woman?

- The voice was distorted.

They said I had 24 hours to come up with $2 million.

- Or what?

- They kill her.

- Did you get proof of life?

- They put Wendy on the phone.

She was crying.

Said she wanted to come home.

They said they will call back in 24 hours

to tell me where to deliver the money.

That's all I can tell you. - All right.

We need access to your phone.

- He's not gonna cooperate, not like this.

Things operate differently in these circles.

- What circles?

- The community of Asian expats here,

the wealthy elite from China.

They're very insular,

and they value their privacy above all else.

A man like Jin...

he only talks to someone he trusts.

- You mean someone like you.

- Where are you from, Officer?

- I'm from Pilsen.

- So you know what I mean.

Our communities weren't created by accident.

100 years ago, the Chinese carved out this neighborhood

to protect themselves from discrimination and violence.

When they were victims of crime,

they couldn't go to the police.

The authorities were more interested

in their immigration status.

- That was a different time. - Was it?

Jin will listen to me.

I can help.

- You really want to help?

Then get Jin to sign a consensual overhear.

- All right, talk to me. - Shen is good for it.

He got Jin to give us his phone,

so consensual overhear is up. - Good.

Do we know who called him? - No.

Kidnappers used a burner. It's dead now.

I can't get a location off of it.

I'm looking to see where it was bought.

- And Jin's getting the money together now.

Says he has to liquidate his assets.

- Yeah, well, I'd like to find Wendy before we need it.

- I'm running Wendy and Jin's known contacts.

I'll cast a wide net.

- All right, so anyone who has priors or needs cash--

they move to the top of the list.

Let's go.

[mouse clicking]

[cell phone vibrates]

[indistinct chatter over police radio]

- What's up?

- I caught Jin before he left.

He told me something you should know.

You didn't hear it from me, you understand?

Jin thinks he knows who did this--

a man who used to work for him, Jimmy Betelman.

Goes by "Betz."

- Used to work for him? - Jin fired him.

Betz had a nasty temper. He was aggressive.

- Yeah, that doesn't make him a kidnapper.

- After he was fired, Betz stalked Jin...

made threatening phone calls.

- Did he know about Jin and Wendy?

- He was a part of Jin's security.

It was his job to know where he was, who he was with.

He knew.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Where can I find him?

♪ ♪

Sarge, no sign of Betz, but I can see his car.

We're doing a walk-by.

♪ ♪

I've got eyes on Betz.

- Where the hell have you been? - [speaking Chinese]

- 5021 Ocean, I need cars at 2293 South Normal...

- Get inside.

- Possible kidnapping, suspect assaulting two women.

[door closes] - Copy, Ocean.

We're headed your way.

He's got a gun.

♪ ♪

Chicago PD! - Police!

- Don't move. - Hands up. Hands up.

- You move, I'll shoot. [people screaming]

- What did I do? - Stop talking.

Get on the wall. - I didn't do anything.

- Hands on the wall. Stop talking.

- Wendy! - Put your hands on the wall.

- Hey, that's Betz. I got him.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Turn around, turn around!

Move. Move.

Do me a favor. Move. Move.

Imani. - Coming.

♪ ♪

[handcuffs clicking] - Grab his other wrist.

[Betz groans] Did you find her?

- No. I looked everywhere.

♪ ♪

- Everyone that works here says the same thing.

It's just a massage parlor.

If some women offered more, they didn't know about it.

- Huh. And Betelman? - He's hired to work the door.

He crashes here sometimes, but there's no sign of Wendy.

- You're telling me you've never seen her before?

- I don't know how many times I have to tell you.

I never met that girl in my life.

- When's the last time you saw Jin Liu?

- What? Jin? You're hassling me over Jin?

- Bro, I haven't even started hassling you.

- I haven't spoke to that prick in months.

I'm not in touch with him, and I didn't kidnap that bitch.

I didn't. I've been here. I haven't left.

Check the cameras. Check my phone. Check it all.

- All right, give her access to your phone.

- The phone's inside under my chair.

Look, if Jin sent you my way, he's playing with you.

He's a compulsive liar

who surrounds himself around liars who kiss his ass.

This is all wrong.

[indistinct chatter]

- [tapping on glass]

[door buzzes]

[bell chimes]

Chicago PD. Do those cameras out front work?

- Wouldn't be there if they didn't.

- Well, I need your footage from the last 48 hours, please.

Thank you.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[door buzzes]

[bell chimes]

Ah.

- What? What's the matter?

- Betz checks out.

He's been here this whole time.

This isn't a real lead, none of it.

Shen played me.

.

[indistinct chatter in Chinese, telephone ringing]

- Uh, excuse me, he's in a private meeting.

You have to wait. - Betz was a waste of time.

He had nothing to do with this.

- He's a bad man. - No, he's not the kidnapper.

You wanted to tie us up. - No.

- Look, Jin sent you a list

of Wendy's neighbors and coworkers.

We saw the texts--we've been tracing your movements.

In the past six hours, you visited every single person

on that list. - Traffic cams don't lie.

You were looking for the kidnappers without us.

- Are we wrong?

Did you find them?

- No.

It was simply divide and conquer, Officers.

We share the same goal--to find out who's doing this to Jin.

- Right--You mean who's doing this to Wendy.

- We had good intentions.

If we can find these people and reason with them,

Jin can resolve this privately.

- And keep his precious discretion.

This is obstruction of justice.

[dramatic music]

- No.

I may not be police,

but I know you need evidence to prove that.

I told you--things are done differently in Chinatown.

Priorities are--

- No, no, no, your priority is your paycheck.

People like him pay you.

You don't protect Chinatown. You protect the wealthy.

♪ ♪

- [speaking Chinese]

- Mr. Liu is withdrawing his consensual overhear,

effective immediately.

♪ ♪

- Why did I trust him? - 'Cause he's like you.

I just mean that he helps people.

You know, he does do good in Chinatown.

Those two community drop-in centers that just opened--

that was him, so he does help.

- Yeah, but he's not helping Wendy.

- No, he's not.

But it's not wrong that you saw the good in him.

You just-- you don't judge people.

You don't. And you didn't judge him.

- There's a reason we had a specialized unit

working Chinatown. - Yes.

But we don't have consent anymore to monitor Jin's phone,

which means we can't get ahead of a drop.

And we're running everyone right now,

but none of them look good for this.

I don't know what the next steps that I can--

- All right, all right, all right, what's done is done.

What we can do is find the offenders before the drop.

We keep moving.

- All right.

- All right, I want you guys

to rerun all of Wendy and Jin's associates.

Look, the kidnappers knew 'em. They knew her schedule.

They're gonna be hidden in their lives somewhere.

We just need to find 'em.

♪ ♪

- Mm.

- Hey, Sarge. I think we got 'em.

- Okay. - All right, that's Victor Wu.

He's 28.

He was hired as a busboy last month

at the diner that Wendy works at, and he's been popped

for multiple robberies and assaults.

- And his license was suspended last month.

Too many missed child-support payments.

- So he needs cash. - Exactly.

Now check this out.

All right, the diner two weeks ago--

that's Victor on his cigarette break.

- Good.

- Now, Wendy clocks out, walks right by him,

gives a doggy bag to the homeless woman camped outside.

Then--watch this-- [keys clacking]

Jin picks her up in his Bentley,

kisses her, and Victor sees it all.

- So he knew about the affair, and he knew Jin was rich.

- Yes, and this is Victor's little brother Kai.

- Okay.

- Plate readers got this Honda Civic registered to Kai

driving in front of Wendy's apartment building

three times in the last week.

He was learning her schedule.

- Those are our guys, Sarge. - It's good.

All right, get an LKA. Let's go.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Chicago PD!

- Police!

♪ ♪

- Backyard's clear.

- First floor, clear.

- House is clear.

- I found something.

[dramatic music]

She was here.

- Hey, boss, Shen's on the move.

He left Jin's office with a backpack.

Looks heavy.

Ransom drop's got to be happening now.

.

- He's being real careful to stay under the speed limit.

- Hard to explain away $2 million in cash

if you get pulled over.

Shen's going westbound, only taking side streets.

Drop could be close.

- Heading towards you. Don't lose eyes/

- Shen just pulled over, east side of Chinatown Square.

- Copy.

- He got out with a backpack.

Moving towards the pedestrian zone.

- We're here. Pulling up now, west side.

- Imani, Torres, go on foot. Follow that backpack.

[indistinct chatter]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- I got eyes on Shen.

He's heading west across the square.

- All right, I'm here.

I'm at the north side-- no sign of the offenders.

♪ ♪

- Shen's dropping off the backpack right now.

He's heading away.

I'm gonna sit on the backpack.

- Everybody stay sharp.

Do not lose eyes on that backpack.

- I've got eyes on Shen. Staying close.

♪ ♪

- He stopped.

Northwest corner of the square--he's not moving.

- Copy you. Still sitting on his vehicle.

- He keeps hanging around like that,

he's gonna scare the kidnappers.

- Hold up.

♪ ♪

I got a male on a bike. He got the backpack.

Plaid shirt, black jeans, heading westbound.

Shen's running.

- He's following the pickup guy.

- All right, stop him before he blows this up.

Ruz, Kim, do not lose the money.

- Copy.

♪ ♪

Do we have eyes on the offenders?

- No sign.

- Aah!

- Aah!

- Hey!

- What the hell's your problem? - Chicago PD!

Hey! Get off of him.

- Tell them he can get more cash.

He'll get the money soon! - On your knees.

Hands on your head. - Hands behind your back.

Don't move. [handcuffs clicking]

- Hey, what is this?

There's, like, 20K in here.

Huh?

- Hey.

Hey! Look at me.

Where's Victor? Where is he?

Where are they? Is he here? - I--

- Huh?

Where did they tell you to go with the money?

Where did they tell you to go with the money?

- I don't know. - Where?

♪ ♪

[handcuffs clicking]

.

- What did you expect them to do with this?

- It's a good-faith deposit.

He'll get the full ransom.

He just needs time to get the money.

- He had the money. He said he had the mon--

His financials said he had the money.

- Yes, but it's not really his.

The company that Jin runs belongs to his wife.

It's her family business, her money.

He can't get the $2 million without her finding out.

- Right, 'cause then she'd find out about Wendy.

- Jin would lose everything-- his job, his family...

- His money? His money?

- It's why he wanted discretion.

- Right.

Do you understand that...

Wendy's gonna die?

[slams post] Do you understand that Wendy's gonna die?

- No. He'll-- - Do you understand that?

- He'll get the money! - He'll get the money, yeah?

- Look, there was no other way.

He wouldn't-- - What?

- I'm doing my job like you're doing yours.

I can't not help him. His money helps everyone.

I'm doing the best I can!

I'm doing the best I can.

- What's your name?

- His name's Flo.

He's 17.

[indistinct chatter]

- Where were you supposed to go with the backpack?

Hmm?

No?

The money in the backpack is the price of a woman's life.

She was taken...

'cause she fell in love with the wrong man,

and now she's gonna die...

in minutes--seconds.

If that money doesn't get delivered, she's gonna die.

So you need to tell me what Victor told you to do.

Where were you supposed to go with the backpack?

Hey. [snaps fingers] Look at me.

I don't know what they told you, what they didn't tell you.

I don't know what brought you here.

But it's your choice now.

It's your choice.

- They didn't-- they didn't tell me anything.

- Where were you supposed to go with the backpack?

- I didn't know. - The money in the back--

Flo, the money in the backpack, where was it supposed to go?

Where?

Tell me where.

- My cousin Victor--he... he told me

he'd pay me 200 bucks to pick up the backpack

and bring it to him as fast as I could.

- Okay. All right, where? - A warehouse.

Kai and him are there waiting for me now.

- What warehouse?

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- White van, 10 o'clock.

♪ ♪

- All right, Kim, you clear that van.

We split the cover. Imani, with me.

You breach the front. Stay quiet as long as possible.

Let's go.

♪ ♪

[faint chatter]

- Chill.

It hasn't been long. Just be patient.

- Hey, where the hell is he? He should've been here by now.

- Chicago PD!

- You move, I will shoot you.

- Coming.

Turn over. - [grunts]

- You good? - Yeah.

- Hey, where's Wendy?

Where's Wendy?

Where is she?

[person whimpering]

♪ ♪

- Wendy.

I'm police.

You're safe now.

I'm gonna take out my knife. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?

- [whimpering]

- It's okay. It's okay. Careful, careful.

- [breathing rapidly]

- It's okay. It's okay.

- Is he--is...

is--is he mad at me?

- Who? - Jin.

Is Jin mad at me?

♪ ♪

- Wendy, you don't worry about any of that...

okay?

You're safe now.

- [crying]

♪ ♪

- I got her.

He could've gotten Wendy killed.

He obstructed justice. It's all there.

- Hmm.

Shen's got no record.

Judge will likely just give him probation.

- I'll testify.

[scoffs] I-I'll make sure he does time.

- Oh.

And then?

I mean, Chinatown is not gonna change overnight.

They've been policing their own for decades.

Shen is not the first of his kind.

He won't be the last.

Look, we put him in a cage,

someone else will take his place.

- So what?

- Devil you know.

- No, no, that--that man deserves time.

- Yeah, maybe.

He does do some good, right?

I mean, next guy may not.

But you decide.

♪ ♪

[door opens, closes]

- You're free to go.

♪ ♪

- You good? - Yeah, I'm fine.

- What?

- You know what you said, uh...

what you said before about me not judging?

- Hmm.

- I hope I don't.

But I do notice.

- What does that mean?

- It's...

you know, your late nights and...

your later mornings.

You drink, like, five cups of coffee now

instead of two.

And I can't say your sister's name anymore.

And you can't either.

We're friends, right?

We're friends? - Yeah.

- Yeah? - Yeah, yeah.

- So I think it's time that I tell you what I notice

in case you want to talk.

♪ ♪

- Am I your first friend, Dany? - No.

- This sounds like some first-friend thing.

- Well, I'm just trying not to piss you off.

- Yeah, well, I'm not that delicate.

- I know.

- I'll be fine.

- I know.

- It's just time.

Every spare moment,

every spare hour I had, I was looking for her,

and now that I found her, she doesn't...

Just time.

Time, time--got a lot of it.

Too much time. [chuckles softly]

♪ ♪

So-- - Uh--um...

you know, I'm gonna get an Uber.

Um, so I don't need a ride.

- You don't need a ride?

Okay.

So, uh... [clears throat]

Pick you up tomorrow same time? - Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Okay. - I'll see you.

♪ ♪

[wolf howls]