The Shield

Previously on "The Shield"...

Shane?

We're going to find out who did this, and we're gonna kill him.

- Grenades? - The el salvadorans. Start there.

It's Guardo. He stepped on his protection plate twice.

Nydia Hernandez? We have information that someone is planning on kidnapping you.

Well, I should call Guardo and warn him.

No, no, no. We don't know who's listening on this side of the line.

We have to move you now.

- Come on. We better get going. - Ok.

What's this?

It's the message I'm waiting on from Guardo.

A necklace.

You tell him that if he ever wants to see her again,

He has 24 hours to get 50 grand in person to L.A.

Guardo wanted to have you killed. You made up a story about Vic so that

you could get witness protection. Now, does that sound about right?

I fed her the story. I framed him. Guilty man.

You're under arrest for interfering with police business under call of authority.

- Case against Vic has been dropped. - This has turned into a kidnapping.

- Just let Nydia go. - She's how we're going to get to Guardo.

For every second he gets to breathe, and Lem doesn't, is unacceptable.

So how come no one's helping you?

Helping me watch you?

I think I can handle it.

- No calls. - I need to talk to Guardo.

The wrong people could be listening.

You could say something that could reveal your location on a listen.

I talk to him everyday. He'll get worried if I don't call.

He might lower his guard if you do. For all we know, this could be an inside threat.

Until we know more, the less he knows or hears, the safer it'll be.

Besides, he's probably going to call you at some point.

When he's alone. Right?

Yeah.

Well, then we'll wait for that call.

Corrine. Hi.

- Is everything all right? - Yeah. Look, I know it's early,

but I've been meaning to drop off these hand-me down toys for jackson.

- Mara's expecting them. - Yeah. Come on in.

- Ahh. Look at him. - I appreciate this.

- I don't want them to go to waste, so... - They won't. Trust me.

Mara's not in the house, so daddy's stepping up.

- Um, I heard Vic was cleared of all the charges. - Yeah.

Kavanaugh planted that evidence in Vic's apartment. Set the whole thing up.

I had the door on, when I, um, told him about all that extra money.

I kept my mouth shut.

- I don't know, maybe Lem... - Sweetie, no. Lem's not your fault.

If it's anybody's, it's Kavanaugh's.

And you didn't screw up. You know, he crossed a line.

What's going to happen to Vic now?

- Oh, he's in the clear. - He's not himself.

Yeah. Well, how can any of us be?

He's looking for the person who killed Lem, right?

He has to be.

What happens if he finds him?

I lost one of my closest and most dearest friends.

- I'm not going to lose him, too. - He's always been there.

The kids, they're so connected to him.

Now it feels like all that's changed.

It hasn't changed. It won't. I won't let it.

Promise.

- Why am I trusting you? - If you care about Guardo,

You'll play it my way. Otherwise, you'll lead him right to this killer Salceda.

- I never even heard of Salceda. - There's no reason you would.

He wants Guardo's business. He'll eliminate him to get it.

Guardo's strong. Nobody can get to him.

Not even the cartel? Salceda's mexican.

You really think anybody's going to complain when a salvadoran gets replaced

by one of their own?

- Guardo can take care of himself. - Maybe I should let him do that then.

Your boyfriend gets killed, it's one less piece of shit I have to scoop up.

One more murder notch for Salceda.

Where you going?

- The bathroom. - Fine.

Leave the phone.

Uh, the guy's the store manager. The other 2 are pharmacy tech and a cashier.

- Looks fresh. - Suspects came in as soon as the doors opened,

those 2 were the only ones in the place.

Took the employees in the back, shot'em, and then cleared the ephedrine out of this locked case.

- It's not the most original crime in the world. - Meth heads.

You know, shred 'em. Wanting to plan this much on destruction.

- That's one theory. - You got another?

Used to be these smash and grabs were just users wanting a fix.

Now, that ephedrine's so locked down,

just as likely to be cookers needing ingredients.

Yeah, well, in either case we're waiting for the owner to come down

and then we'll see how much they got.

That's second multiple murder in a week.

Wonder what the brass is going to think about my body count.

Would be nice to close it.

Spoken like a true captain.

Hey, Dutch?

- I owe you an apology. - For what?

For not embracing this partnership sooner.

The truth is, we're on the verge of becoming a damn good team.

Well, I'm still making up my mind.

Well, if you think about it, your weaknesses are my strength, and Viceversa.

And, uh, what exactly are my weaknesses, Steve?

Arrogance,

overconfidence, the inability to give credit to those around you.

- Come on. I'm not tellin'ya anything you don't already know. - Anything else?

You're afraid Cardera was the better detective and you were just drafting off of her,

so you treat me like a piece of shit because if we start tanking,

you can paint me as the guy that dragged you down.

Hey, you asked.

Got me rattlin' this whole plan. Right out of my head.

And I think we should just step back from this whole thing.

Just from the girlfriend, just for a little while.

- Step back. - You were just cleared. We were all in the clear

for the first time in a very long time, man.

Lettin' Lem's death go unanswered isn't being in the clear.

Besides, the night is in play. We're down the road.

Tell 'em we found the guy who's trying to kill Guardo.

We'll put a little distance between us and her.

Wait for Guardo to get back in the country. That's when we make our move, in a month or two.

Guardo killed Lem or knows who did. I'm not scheduling payback for

later in the year.

I'm just talking about lettin' the dust settle, man.

The public doesn't want this case solved because it opens old wounds.

Now, they hung Lem out to the press as a dirty cop.

That makes us the only ones who care enough to make it right.

They got nowhere on the investigation. Now Claudette's assigning it to new cases.

We owe it to Lem.

It's on us.

Guardo might call anytime. Go back to the Barn.

Try to get us some heavier firepower. We might need it.

I'm supposed to have the day off. What if Claudette asks?

Just picking up more of Lem's stuff.

Let's get this straight.

We need the truth.

This thing's going to get a lot uglier before it gets better.

Shooters. Let's call 'em early 30s.

Doesn't look like they're tweaking. Make copies of this, gave it to all the units.

Owner thinks they got away with some soap and ephedrine.

Couple of white guys. One of them has tats. See if they're arians, bikers, one of them.

- Something else? - This feels like a strike team case to me.

Drug world. Why not hand it off to them and put me back on the Lemansky murder?

- I thought you hit a dead-end there? - Looks like Guardo's out of the country,

but a name keeps popping up in my interviews. Hernan.

- Hernan. Connected? - Don't know. But several salvadorans mentioned him.

It's like a ghost. Leads me to believe he's either got something to hide, he's smart, or both.

The strike team's been on the sideline since Lemansky's death.

If you hear something on Hernan, let me know.

Otherwise, try to clear this pharmacy murder quick.

- You two still work here? - Taking some personal days. Sent you the memo.

- What about you? - I used mine up on the wisdom teeth.

- As long as you're still on the clock, I need you. - I'll just put these on the truck.

- Just came by to get some things of Lem's. - Saves me having to ask.

We're short of lockers. I'm going to need his when it's ready.

- I'll have it cleared out by tomorrow. - How's Vic doing?

- He lost a friend. - I understand.

- He still hasn't returned my calls. - Well, he's been off-duty.

As soon as he can, I want him back at work and I don't mean on the Lemansky killing either.

- You don't have to worry about that. - Good. And...

if he thinks he can avoid my warnings by ducking calls, tell him as far as I'm concerned,

he just got it.

- Have Ronnie find me. - Hey, Dutch!

I don't know what this tattoo is, but it doesn't match anything on the books.

Not arian nation. Looks like some kind of bird.

Can't i.d. the tats. Might be gang, but I doubt it.

Ronnie.

This is one of the suspects in the pharmacy shooting.

- You know him? - No.

What about the tattoo?

Military. Navy, I think.

A lot of these assholes first get hooked up on it for Uncle Sam.

Armed forces second only to the joint as a recruitment center.

Stay with this one with Dutch and Steve.

We got 3 dead already. I want them before they need more supplies.

Ok.

I don't need another person to baby-sit.

You were the one that said this was a strike team case.

You got your wish. Besides, keep your ears open,

if Mackey and Vendrell are looking for Lemansky's killer, like I think they are,

- might get one of it through Ronnie. Let me know. - Ok.

Answer it.

- Hello? - Nydia?

- Give me that back! - I need to talk to him.

Please. Just for a minute.

You said you wanted to protect him. To save his life, right?

You got to do things my way. Remember?

Talk.

You know who I am, asshole?

She's still alive. For now.

That's the last time you get to hear her voice.

You're a gringo. Who's this?

Are you mob? Russian?

I'm the guy that decides whether Nydia lives or dies.

And who her last lover is.

- You touch her, you're dead. - Oh, you got that all turned around.

If I don't see you with the money, she dies.

But not until she feels my soft touch.

Stupid bitch.

Next word out of your mouth better be 'when'.

Or I will rape and kill that bitch while you're listening.

When?

Where are you?

Near the border.

MacArthur Park.

The trash can by the lake. Southeast corner. You got that?