Lioness

So, she stated she doesn't speak Spanish.

In her initial interview.

She stated that she had no knowledge about her uncle

and that her parents only encouraged her to speak English.

But she does speak Spanish and she is aware of the uncle,

even though she stated otherwise.

- That is correct. - Wow.

Well, that is a staggering discovery, Joe.

You know, what did you expect her to say

when you cornered her in some CO's office in Iraq

and started pounding her with questions about her family?

She's an Army officer, Byron, I expect her

- to fucking tell the truth. - While you headhunt

for her uncle and use her father for the introduction...

She doesn't need an introduction. That's the point.

Tone and volume, Joe.

Find different levels for both, please.

- Sure. - When her father

makes the intro and the Lioness is discovered,

and she will be discovered in some capacity,

her father is dead, her mother is dead.

Any siblings she might have, they'll also be killed.

And you find it odd

that she'd be resistant to such an endeavor?

I find it troublesome, yes.

Let me ask you this:

did she volunteer or did you coerce her?

That isn't an either-or question.

Oh, it is absolutely an either-or question.

Either she volunteered

- or you coerced her. Which one... - She volunteered.

With some coercion.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

I didn't choose her. This was chosen for me

by eight different agencies all playing head chief.

Why don't we treat her as a double agent,

put an operator on her who will act as a shadow,

goes where she goes, knows what she knows?

At least we have some measure of control

- if she flips. - Mm-hmm.

How does that give us control if she flips?

If the operator is close, at least we protect the program.

How is that different from a drone strike?

Right, it's just a smaller projectile, right?

Let's not forget the overriding objective here.

I never forget the objective.

It's the people under round roofs who lose sight of success

the minute they order a fucking op

and then they shift focus

to covering their asses if it fails.

Let's talk about failure for a second, Joe.

All right, these aren't some Houthi rebels

operating out of caves in Yemen.

These are leaders of a trillion-dollar industry

with an intelligence and paramilitary arm

operating and controlling whole neighborhoods

in every major city in America.

Someone exposing our program

exposes our officers, their families.

Your family.

Should she turn, and I hope she doesn't,

the moment she makes that decision needs to be the last.

- Understood. - This isn't some

25-year-old blind patriot who you just wind up and point.

This is an experienced officer

trained as a freethinker, used to being in command.

So be careful.

Be careful of taking that away from her,

or you'll manifest the very thing

that concerns you.

Got it.

Now, if you'll excuse me,

I'm gonna go look for a 25-year-old blind patriot

that I can wind up and point directly at her.

Where are you?

Coordinating our eyes in the sky.

Where are you?

I just left the office.

We got to find a handler for our pilot.

Well, you got six on your team

to choose from, so...

I'm not putting my team in that situation.

I need a shadow. You know what I mean?

- That's not very nice. - Neither was lying to us.

I'm not getting burned on some fucking dirt runway in Jalisco.

Yeah, I can think of better ways to go.

You got to be fucking kidding me.

I'm sharing my location.

I got it. What's up?

I haven't shared it yet.

There's a tracker in the firewall.

You son of a bitch.

We're on the same team, Joe.

Just looking out if something happens.

Yeah, well, something happened.

- I got a tail. - Really?

- No, I'm making it up. - All right, you got a plate?

Give me a minute.

November,

kilo, Romeo,

- 6-1-5-niner. - Run a plate.

Virginia November, kilo, Romeo, 6-1-5-niner.

2019 Lincoln Navigator

registered to a Randall Newman.

Newman was convicted of money laundering in 2021,

pled down to 18 months with a suspended sentence.

There's a TSC file. Want me to look at it?

Fucking A. Yeah.

Let's look at it.

What do you got? This clown's hugging me now.

Well, it's getting real interesting.

I'm about five minutes out.

Let me know when you have eyes on him.

I'm gonna take this fucking prick for a ride.

Made an immunity deal with U.S. Attorneys' Office.

In WitPro. Got him in Cave Creek, Arizona.

All right, real careful, Joe.

This fucker's got a badge.

With who?

Case was presented by DEA.

Take a guess.

I got you up ahead.

Okay, I'm exiting now.

We'll get him on the access road.

All right, clown's armed, so don't rush the vehicle.

Let's do this like traffic cops, all right?

All right, I got you. I'm on your six.

Okay, you want to clue me in on the plan here?

I'm gonna put this fucker in a bar ditch.

Yeah, or we could go with the plan that doesn't

- put us on the news. - All right.

- We box him. - Fine.

Hands on the fucking steering wheel.

It's my first day on the job, asshole?

Hands on the fucking steering wheel.

Well, Special Agent Gutierrez,

you have some fucking explaining to do.

I got explaining to do?

What the fuck is the CIA doing wandering all over the border

like it's fucking Syria?

You have drones buzzing around like hornets,

you have strike teams taking over airplane hangars

on a decommissioned runway?

Why don't you take an ad out in a fucking newspaper?

Only thing you didn't bother doing

is telling us you're there.

Or why.

So, what, so you start tailing a senior case officer?

Who gave you that order, huh?

And you'd better hope it was some senior fucking agent

and not some bagman in Juárez.

Order came from DOJ.

How's that for fucking senior?

You want to get that gun out of my fucking neck?

Yeah, real, real, real low profile, guys.

Thought you're supposed to be a covert organization.

Surprised you didn't show up

with the Army's fucking marching band.

Whatever it is you think you're doing on the border,

you'd better fill me the fuck in.

Maybe we don't want the world to know.

World already knows.

Believe me, if we know, cartels sure as fuck know.

You think you have satellites?

One call to Beijing, and there's a camera on you

everywhere you fucking go.

We're supposed to be on the same fucking team.

In my business,

we don't put surveillance on our teammates.

You think this is surveillance?

Following you two cars back?

This is cover, honey.

You're not dealing with some

pedophile zealots who live in the desert who think

they're gonna get a roomful of virgins

when they blow themselves up.

These fucking monsters control an entire continent

and the top third of another one.

They'll just show up

to a fucking sheriff's house

with a million in cash,

and he has a choice.

Take the money, or watch them impale

his nine-year-old on a rake,

hang his wife from a fucking bridge.

They're in every major city in America,

they've infiltrated

every state and federal agency we have.

Hey, hey.

You think they kidnapped that congresswoman for no reason?

They kidnapped her

because she said no.

That's who you're fucking with.

You think you can do this on your own?

Best of luck.

Change the locks on your fucking house.

Not that it'll make a fucking difference.

And one more thing.

Once I swap out this fucking car,

I'm gonna keep following you,