Original subtitles

ELLIS: Previously on The Beast.

You're a busy guy.

You have no idea.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

You could do so much better than me.

And you get to decide that?

You're so twisted around, you don't know which way is up anymore, do you?

Sometimes I feel they got me watching the wrong people.

I've trusted you every step of the way.

I put it all on the line for you.

I've earned the right of an explanation.

It was a case called Red Gauntlet. It was the Bureau.

Gordon Freed. He was once one of us.

Barker is off the rails.

(GUNS FIRING)

MAN: Reload!

Okay, 50 bucks says I get more rounds center mass.

Let's make it 100.

MAN: Change hands.

Ready on the firing line.

(SIGHS)

Non-sequential bills, right?

This isn't my first rodeo.

(LOCKS RELEASING)

Homing device? Hidden in the top lining.

Got it.

(BRIEFCASE CLOSES)

(LOCKS SNAP)

Why do you always get so nervous when you give me money?

It's not the money.

I'm getting a lot of heat on this, more than the usual.

Well, relax. I got a meet set with Max to make the buy.

You're gonna get your counterfeit plates.

Then you track him down to the seller.

The seller is the guy we want.

BARKER: Conrad, what is your deal?

This is not my first rodeo, either.

I'm quite clear of the operational goal.

You know what? Maybe you need a vacation.

Maybe you should take a little time off.

If we can prove those plates came from North Korea,

there's gonna be serious fallout.

So, they're gonna put them back on the axis of evil list?

You know the score.

Counterfeiting another country's currency

is considered an act of war.

Yeah, I know the score.

ELLIS: What if he pats you down?

He wouldn't want to try.

Anyway, he didn't last time.

Yeah, well, he didn't have the plates last time.

I'll deal with it.

Give me a radio check.

"There was a young maid from Nantucket

(RADIO FEEDBACK) "Who took great pride in..."

(SIGHS)

We're good.

Okay, after the deal goes down,

we'll pick up surveillance on Max on the outside.

What if there's trouble?

We got to take him alive.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

That's it. We're on.

Later.

Good luck.

What do you say, Max?

Mr. Brown?

That is close enough.

So, are we ready to do business or what?

Do you have the money? BARKER: Of course.

Do you have the plates?

MAX: What are you doing, Brown?

No! Stop! Don't shoot!

(GUNSHOTS)

What the hell happened?

Sniper.

Sniper? Where?

Fired from that other roof. I only got a glimpse of him.

That's not how it sounded.

Doesn't make sense.

There's no phone, no I.D. Nothing but these keys.

Where are the plates?

There weren't any.

If he was ripping you off, he'd have a gun.

(SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE)

Did you call for backup?

No.

Look, we better get our stories straight.

"Stories straight"? We don't need a story.

The sniper took him out. You heard it.

What I heard was this guy begging you not to shoot him.

Bullshit! It's on the goddamn disc!

I heard!

Red Gauntlet.

Red Gauntlet.

This is a setup.

They're coming for me, Ellis.

I'll be in contact.

Barker!

(SIRENS WAILING)

(CAR ALARM BEEPS)

(TIRES SCREECHING)

(HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING)

MAN: Bag it and tag it.

MAN: ...the south side of the building.

I wired him up. We went over the plan.

Barker got the text from Max.

Saying?

Saying that the meet was on.

Barker went to make the buy.

Then what? Come on, Ellis. What'd he say?

No, I don't know. I couldn't hear anything.

What, there was interference?

There was no signal.

(STAMMERING) It was just like his mike quit, you know?

What the hell are you telling me?

Barker went in there, in the meeting,

without his mike turned on?

Look, it was working, and then it just quit.

I want that disc.

There's nothing on it.

I...

I ran after Barker when I realized there was a problem,

tried to catch him before he made the buy.

And then I heard shots, so I went to help him.

And he was gone?

Yes. Didn't see him leaving?

No. So, what did Barker do, fly off the roof?

No, that's just stupid. Hey.

I got a dead perp, missing plates

and an agent who split with $2 million in cash.

Even by Barker's standards, that's not business as usual.

You tell him I said so.

(ALARM BEEPING)

(BEEPING)

(CLATTERING)

Find what you're looking for?

Just looking for some chervil.

It's a spice.

So, I hear you had a long day.

Hard day. I thought you might be hungry.

Normally, I don't serve omelets for dinner,

but there wasn't much in your fridge that hadn't expired.

Barker didn't kill that guy.

Hmm.

Know that for a fact, do you?

Yep.

According to your statement, you weren't on the roof,

didn't hear anything because Barker's mike mysteriously failed.

Now, are you changing your statement?

Nope.

Here's the problem. Knowing how good an agent you really are,

it's hard for me to believe

you sent him in there with faulty equipment.

You think I'm a good agent?

Thank you.

But that's how it was.

Uh-huh. Mmm-hmm.

This is how I think it went down.

Barker sensed we were closing in,

saw an opportunity to steal some

very valuable counterfeit plates

and a ton of cash,

so he took it and ran.

Figured he'd get out of the game,

go live in one of those sunny, wet places

you see in those credit card commercials.

Everything that happens, you turn it against Barker.

He's not what you think.

The last time you gave that speech,

it was a lot more convincing.

I'll work on my convincingness.

Now, come on, man. Get the hell out of here.

Oh, one last thing.

You're gonna want to fold that in a minute. Bye-bye.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

Unit Chief Robicheaux, Special Agent Harry Conrad.

You made good time from DC, huh?

The quicker we run Barker into ground, the better.

Show me where to set up.

Yeah, Robicheaux. Yeah, hold on.

I just got word, they recovered the homing device

on a truck in Indiana, no sign of the cash.

Get a statement from the driver.

I want to know every stop he made in the Chicago area.

Send it.

Everything you have on Barker,

every case he's worked, wins and losses,

particularly the losses.

I've already put in a request with Records.

I thought we might start with the most...

Just turn over the files, Agent Conrad.

We'll take it from here.

The same for Barker's partner.

Why? Do you think he was involved?

Corruption is a disease that spreads on contact.

I've had plenty of contact with Barker.

We'll get to you later.

(SIGHS)

You're wrong about Barker.

He goes a little Dirty Harry sometimes,

but he didn't murder that guy.

But that's not what you're talking about, is it?

Barker was your man.

You'd better worry about saving your own ass.

BARKER: What do you say, Max?

MAX: Mr. Brown?

That is close enough.

So, are we ready to do business or what?

Do you have the money? Of course.

Do you have the plates?

What are you doing, Brown?

No! Stop! Don't shoot!

(GUNSHOTS)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Do you mind? Forget it.

Relax.

I need you to get a message to Ellis.

You know Ellis?

You're his neighbor. You live upstairs from him, right?

Yeah. I haven't seen him in weeks, though.

I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't have to.

I need you to get a message to him that he needs to meet me at 4:15.

Meet you, whoever you are.

He knows.

Where?

He knows that, too.

4:15 sharp. You got it?

You can't just call him?

I wish it were that easy.

Thank you.

You know, I've seen your calls come through on his cell.

You're "The Devil," aren't you?

Depends on who you ask.

I'll call it in.

It's me. Dove's dropped a package.

Hey, Mo. Some little punks are spray-painting your wall out there.

Yeah.

Patrol units located Barker's car

two blocks away from the train station.

He's laying a false trail. That son of a bitch is still here.

I got him.

All this for Barker?

We've taken over from Chicago PD.

It's a straight-up manhunt now. No need for secrecy.

Good. Now I don't have to avoid being seen here.

Excuse me, sir. This just came in.

The bullets taken from the victim

match our records for Barker's gun.

It's kind of odd he used his primary weapon.

Why? Under the circumstances, there's no doubt who did it.

So, where do you want me?

You're off the case. Your job was to put Barker away.

You failed. Now we have to clean up your mess.

Sir, with all due respect.

You're out, Ray.

I'm having you reassigned.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Hey, uh...

I met "The Devil" today.

Okay.

Your boss.

How'd that go for you?

He met me on the bus.

How does he know what bus I take?

Uh, he makes it his job to, uh, know things.

Yeah, he seems complicated.

(CHUCKLES)

That's accurate.

What did he, um... What did he say?

He asked me to tell you to meet him at 4:15.

Did he say where? He said you would know.

You want to tell me what's going on?

(SCOFFS)

Of course not.

With that, I'm officially done.

Done.

As in "us."

Be safe.

So, did you miss me?

You shouldn't have used Rose.

I had to contact you.

Find another way.

You put her in danger by dragging her into this.

You are the one who dragged her into this.

I warned you, you carry this job with you.

You cannot wash it off. So don't blame me.

Okay. More importantly, what happened on the roof?

It went down just like I said.

What do you say, Max?

Mr. Brown?

That is close enough, please.

BARKER: So, are we ready to do business or what?

Do you have the money? Of course.

Do you have the plates?

(GUNSHOTS)

God!

BARKER: This whole case was a setup.

You said at the hotel they were coming after you.

Who? The people behind Red Gauntlet.

I rattled their cage, and now this is payback.

The whole counterfeit case was phony.

It was set up by them to make me look corrupt

and to discredit any evidence I had against them.

And they thought of everything, right down to setting

the sniper angle of the bullets

so they matched my position.

Then you should've handed in your gun

and showed it wasn't fired.

Then they bribe someone in the lab to say it was.

(SIGHS)

So, who was Max?

I don't know yet.

I checked out the address we had for him.

It was a cover, and he did not live there.

What about the disc? I heard him begging you not to shoot.

It was a fake, Ellis.

Look, you got to make sure they get an independent examiner to test it

and somebody outside of the Bureau.

They don't have it.

I didn't give it to them.

Okay.

Then we're still in the game.

We got to get somebody we trust to test that recording.

Where is it?

I got it stashed.

Saving it for trial.

Trial? Wake up.

There is not gonna be any trial. They want me dead.

You need to give me the disc.

No.

Do you remember what I told you when we first partnered up?

You trust your case file, you trust me.

I've got to be sure.

Okay, fine. You go be sure,

and I will nail these guys on my own.

Hey, I'm just doing what you'd do.

You sure about that?

Tomorrow, midnight, the boathouse.

Come on, guys!

Agent Dove.

You could have saved us a lot of trouble.

Who are you?

Unit Chief Robicheaux.

I'm directing the investigation of your partner.

You, too, maybe. Who knows?

And, what, you thought he'd be hiding in here?

I want that disc you recorded.

Read the report.

There was no recording.

That little stunt you pulled at the mailbox,

very clever.

Oh, that's my Christmas list.

I've been a good boy.

You're lucky. Most men don't recognize it

when they've reached a turning point.

They don't realize till years later

it was a decision that changed everything.

You have 10 seconds to decide

if you're gonna cooperate or turn your life to hell.

Do I have to use the whole 10 seconds?

Nice ride.

So, are you on the take, too?

Are you serious?

It had crossed my mind.

Don't. Don't.

Conrad. You pushed this case on me.

You were all over my ass like I've never seen you before.

After everything, I got to have this conversation with you?

Well, whoever sent this case our way, somebody is playing us.

They're moving us around like two pawns on a chessboard.

Is it your past finally catching up with you?

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

So are you gonna help me?

What do you need?

I need you to dig into the background on this case file.

You got to find out where it came from.

Paulson said to drop everything else.

Then that's where to start.

You got to find out who was pressuring Paulson.

I know it's a dangerous thing to do, but

I don't have a lot of options.

No. That'll be tough.

Here's the number on the phone at Max's apartment.

Pull the log, check all incoming and outgoing calls to that number.

And I want the addresses.

How do I get it to you?

I'll call you on that tomorrow.

Give me the names.

Conrad.

Thanks.

(CAR DOOR CLOSES)

(CAR ENGINE STARTING)

Sorry to keep you waiting, Harry.

I appreciate you seeing me, Assistant Director Paulson.

Well, rest assured, I don't blame you for this Barker business.

That's probably not gonna help you much under the circumstances.

Unit Chief Robicheaux made it clear

he considered anyone close to Barker a suspect.

Robicheaux's a zealot.

That's between us.

Of course.

Barker's one of my agents.

And it's... It's just hard for me to sit on the sidelines.

I always feared this day would come.

I always knew somebody was gonna come through there

and tell me that Agent Charles Barker had

really stepped in it,

that he'd gone so far that no one here could help him anymore.

I suppose it's natural.

One of your agents, known for his unorthodox methods,

you'd worry, sooner or later...

It's not just that.

It's more than that.

I was a young agent.

I was in a...

(SCOFFS)

Let's just say I was in a jam,

the back of a truck with three men,

and they were gonna kill me.

I didn't see any way I was getting out of there.

When all of a sudden,

the truck started to shake from underneath.

I thought it was an earthquake.

It wasn't.

It was Charles Barker.

And when I woke up in the hospital,

not only was I not dead,

but nothing had happened to me that I couldn't live with.

Of course, I wanted to thank him, but you know Barker.

You know, words just sort of drip off him,

and all of a sudden, you feel like you're talking to yourself.

So I never did.

And now this.

And we're supposed to believe what?

He stuffed his pockets on a counterfeit bust,

left some guy dead, disappeared in a trail of smoke?

I wish I could absolutely rule out

that he would never, ever spin that far out of control.

I've been his handler,

and I do rule it out.

Well, I don't have that privilege, Harry.

Headquarters handed this to Robicheaux.

I can't interfere.

I have to watch this investigation run its course

and then hope like mad they come up empty.

I want to find Barker as much as anybody.

In fact, I thought...

I thought maybe those counterfeit plates...

Yeah, what about them?

Maybe the source on them,

you know, the person who put us in touch with the deal,

well, maybe that source knows of other buyers

that wanted the plates.

I doubt that we could turn that source up now.

And even if we could, it would go straight to Robicheaux.

It's his party now.

I understand.

I suspect this is gonna get pretty rough.

On you, I mean.

I'll do what I can.

Thanks.

Okay, now.

(SIGHS)

I, uh...

I didn't know.

(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)

ELLIS: Freeze! Oh!

Hey, look, man, whatever it is,

I didn't do it, all right, I've been here.

Relax, Dennis, I'm not here to bust you again, yet.

I'm telling you, man. I'm legit, my store's legit.

I even got permits.

I might believe you.

Might?

Look, I don't care about pirated DVDs.

It's not my detail anymore, thank God.

I need you to listen to this CD.

What is it?

Someone's jamming up a friend of mine.

You still a virgin?

(SIGHS)

That's none of your business, is it?

BARKER: Do you have the plates?

MAX: What are you doing, Brown?

No! Stop! Don't shoot!

(GUNSHOTS)

My friend said he didn't pull the trigger.

Is there any way of telling?

Look, you know, it wouldn't be a bad thing

for me to owe you.

Considering the circles you run in.

(SIGHS)

(TYPING)

CONRAD: Hey. BARKER: Yeah.

So, what'd you find out?

You're right. The apartment was a cover.

Aside from calls to fast-food joints,

the phone dialed out to one residential address.

Burn it after you give it to me.

The address isn't the interesting part.

I pulled the DMV photo of the tenant. It's Max.

What's his real name?

Mohamed Ghozlan. It gets better.

His wife got hauled off by Immigration yesterday.

Okay, I'm on it.

Find anything?

Your man got sloppy.

Sloppy, how?

(CHUCKLES)

I'm going with you.

Forget it.

Hey, if anything happens, Barker will listen to me.

Him listening is not my primary concern.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

I want a 100-yard perimeter

and three sniper points, there, there and there.

Yes, sir! Come on. You heard him. Let's go!

What are you doing here?

If Barker's in there, you've got to warn him.

He's had plenty of warning. We're going in.

No... Move in!

Shots fired!

Everyone down!

Go! Go! Come on!

Go!

(GUNS FIRING)

Go! Go! Go! Go out! Out, everybody!

Cover!

Well, I can't tell you whether your friend pulled the trigger,

but I can tell you there's two signals here.

Pitch on the mikes are different.

My guess, the FBI's using the M445.

These guys bought the newer 446.

But it's easy to separate them. Watch.

BARKER: Of course. Do you have the plates?

Now, your friend and that other sound are on one mike.

MAX: What are you doing, Brown?

Please, what are you doing? Don't shoot!

(GUNSHOTS)

Now, the other guy's voice and the shots

came from another source.

Okay, so, how far from each other

can the two sources be?

Could be 50 yards apart. You wouldn't be able to tell.

(SIGHS)

I love you, man. Mmm.

Thank you.

I owe you.

So does your friend.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

Don't move.

Not now, Raymond.

Shut up. What, are you arresting me?

Shut up!

I knew you had this.

That recording proves that Barker was set up.

Ellis, no more bullshit.

I'm telling you the truth.

This is useless! You could've done anything to this.

Nobody's gonna believe what's on this now.

There's two signals coming from two separate locations.

Check it out. Even if that were true, it doesn't matter.

Ballistics match. What?

Barker's gun, the bullets recovered from the victim

were fired by Barker's gun.

Must have been faked.

Come on, man. Listen to yourself!

I'm telling you, man, if the recording can be faked,

the ballistics can, too.

Ockham's razor.

The simplest answer is usually the right one.

Usually, but not always.

What are you suggesting?

Test the bullets again, independently.

And then?

If they check out, I'll help you arrest Barker myself.

But if not,

you help me clear him.

We got a deal? Deal!

Don't lose that disc!

(CAR ENGINE STARTING)

(TIRES SCREECHING)

Are you sure?

Burdette ran the initial ballistics tests himself.

He was just looking for a match.

I want you to test for everything this time.

See if there's anything funny about those slugs.

How am I gonna process it without the Lab Director's approval?

Kirby, you've done this for me before.

In the Houston office.

Chicago's different. This case is different.

Look, I don't like this, either.

My career's on the line.

I never asked for this shit assignment.

What if I do find something? You know what that means.

Yeah, it means we've got bigger problems

than who ran the damn test.

Hello. My name is Evan Wallace.

I'm here to see my client, Farah Ghozlan.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

MAN: Every week, we do the same thing, fight!

BARKER: Hello, uh...

Farah Ghozlan?

"Farah." Who are you?

Someone who can help you. Please have a seat.

I don't know you. Why would you help me?

I'm sorry. My name is Evan Wallace

and it is my job to help people in trouble, like you.

I didn't do anything.

We didn't do anything wrong.

I'm sure.

Is this your husband?

(SOBBING)

Yes.

Have you seen him?

Yes.

How is he? Is he okay?

I want to clear his name.

I need to know what they charged him with.

We were supposed to leave when he completed his studies.

He was a graduate student.

But he got a job offer with a good American company.

So we overstayed our visa.

Overstayed your visa.

That's it? My husband is a biochemist.

We're Egyptian.

They told us they were gonna deport us unless we cooperated.

(SIGHS)

When did this start?

About a month ago.

Two men showed up at our apartment.

They had badges. They took Mohamed away.

(EXHALING)

Have you seen him since?

No.

Mohamed called me two days later. He told me not to worry.

He said that he was helping the government.

And, in return, they would permit us to stay in America.

What did he agree to do?

He said it was secret.

He said it was a way to show how much we love our new country.

I don't understand why this is happening.

I will get you out of here.

And my husband?

I will do my best to help you both.

You have my promise on that.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

(ALARM BEEPING)

Wow. Man, I couldn't tell you over the phone.

I found something.

I owe you.

What are you doing? Somebody broke into my apartment.

It's trashed.

You're okay? No, I'm not okay!

All right, just come in here.

What the hell is going on?

(SNIFFLES)

I mean, I come home, and my...

Will you please just tell me?

My life's messed up.

What exactly is your life?

You don't want to know.

Now, please, can you just leave town?

It's for your own safety.

Well, then tell me the truth.

You at least owe me that!

Fine. You want to know the truth?

Yeah. Yeah.

I've been in and out of jail

since I got kicked out of the service.

See, I've never had a real job.

I never needed one. The last time I did time

was in Texas a year ago.

My partner and I, we had a deal go bad.

Now they're making it personal.

You're a criminal?

Yeah. You wanted the truth.

(CRYING) You son of a bitch!

You brought me into this!

You brought me into this, you son of a bitch!

(DOOR SLAMMING)

Who's there?

You have a good night.

You ever heard of a rogue group of agents,

an outfit within the agency, you know, guys for hire?

Only rumors.

You being honest?

Okay, a lot of rumors for a long time,

but I've never seen proof.

I think it's for real.

Wait, you don't believe that Barker...

Barker's part of it? No, no, no, no.

The opposite. I think they're after him.

Go on.

Well, I only know bits and pieces, all right?

Carrick, or Ezekiel, he was part of it.

Oland, maybe. That's all I know.

Why would they be after Barker?

He told me they used him once.

He never forgave them, started an investigation,

collected information on jobs they've done.

But now they want him dead.

First they got to dirty him up, ruin him for good,

because if the information that Barker has collected,

if that ever showed up,

that'd take them down.

See, that's what the whole hit on Max was about.

BARKER: What do you say, Max?

That is close enough, please.

(GUNSHOT)

ELLIS: It was to discredit Barker.

Well, your disc can clear him.

Yeah.

If I still had it. What the hell happened?

(STAMMERS)

Okay.

It's time I tell you about Raymond Beaumont.

He's gonna be here in a second.

Wait, you gave the disc to somebody?

Washington assigned him to investigate Barker.

What? How long has this been going on?

I don't know.

Six months at least.

Why didn't you tell me?

I could've run interference, huh?

I didn't know what to do, okay?

I'm telling you now.

Ray, this is my handler, Conrad.

I know. Good to meet you, finally.

Why wasn't I informed of your investigation?

Why do you think?

Did you run the ballistics again?

Bullets match Barker's gun.

(GROANS)

But they're not the ones taken from the victim.

My lab tech found traces of residue on them.

It matches the material found in the catch at the firing range.

(GUNSHOTS)

I went back there.

The backstop on the lane Barker used,

brand-new.

Someone must have dug the slugs out,

switched them in Evidence.

So you're on Barker's side now.

People go to that much trouble to frame him,

got to be a damn good reason.

The question is, who are they?

How high does this go?

And how long until we're in their sights?

Huh.

ELLIS: Yeah.

PAULSON: This was an independent test?

Yes, ma'am.

And you ordered it?

I did.

And the bullets are back in evidence?

One is, the other is stashed away

until DOJ can launch a full investigation.

Am I to understand that you went behind Robicheaux's back?

That he knows nothing of this?

That's right.

Nice work.

Now all we have to do is bring Barker back in safely.

Our plan... I don't want to hear it.

Just get it done.

(CARS APPROACHING)

Barker!

BARKER: Up here.

(SHIVERING)

(SIGHING)

ELLIS: Good to see you in one piece.

That's far enough.

We, uh, we got some good news.

The ballistics test we ran proved you were framed.

Someone switched the bullets that killed Max.

What a surprise. They had someone in the lab.

You find out who Max was?

He was an Egyptian biochemist

in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He overstayed his student visa,

so they blackmailed him into playing Max

to prove he loved America.

Did you, uh, talk to his wife?

Yeah. They're trying to fast-track her out of the country,

so you need to put the brakes on that.

What about the disc?

Yeah, faked, like you said.

Source confirmed the voice and the gunshot

came from a second mike. All right.

CONRAD: We took the evidence to Paulson.

DOJ appointed a special prosecutor.

Barker, you're cleared.

This isn't about clearing me.

The safest thing for you right now is to come in.

As long as you're on the run, they'll kill you.

Not if they don't catch me.

Who the hell is that?

He's with us.

RAY: Where is he?

Agent Barker, I'm SSA Ray Beaumont.

I know who you are.

Well, I've been investigating you for nearly a year.

And I never thought I'd say this,

but you're the best I've ever seen.

My intentions are to get you back in the field as an agent, ASAP.

Who is he?

He's your get-out-of-jail card.

Kirby ran the tests that proved the slugs were switched.

We've got a meeting at a secure location with a special prosecutor.

None of you get it, do you?

These guys can get to anyone.

Barker. You got to trust somebody.

Do I?

Tell you what.

If I'm going in, I go with him.

Okay. Do it.

(CAR DOORS OPENING)

We're not really going in, are we?

Not a chance in hell.

(CAR ENGINE STARTING)