Tracker

"Where you at?"

Almost done.

Hello?

Who's there?

Hey, is that you?

Shame to leave this poor little barstool empty.

It's taken.

Hey.

Aren't you Mr. Popular?

Billie. Thanks for meeting me.

Wasn't sure you'd come.

I was in the area. Really?

No. Huh.

Not at all. So, what's this all about?

Like I said, a job.

I need some help and you're the best I know.

Besides yourself.

Who's keeping track?

Okay, well...

What's the job?

Missing high school baseball pitcher, Eric Dobbs.

Disappeared two days ago,

missed the Fall Ball championship game.

Last seen by his coach practicing Thursday night.

Hmm.

I used to play a little ball. Really?

Yeah. Any good?

I could have been.

My dad wasn't too keen on, uh, team sports, so... Mm.

I didn't pursue it.

Doesn't sound like you had a choice.

No. No, I did not.

This missing kid-- police involved?

No.

Everyone's hoping he's just being a teenager,

flaking out till he shows up again.

Plus, the parents don't want any negative attention.

Why not?

Eric's supposed to sign a letter of intent

to play at Southern Nebraska University next year.

Neither side wants bad publicity,

even if he's just being irresponsible.

Hmm. Who posted the reward? SNU.

Through a booster group.

Been talking to a Shane Niall,

he's a big shot alumnus.

Wants constant updates.

Hmm, yes. One of those.

Guess he wants to know what he's getting

from a $50,000 reward.

And you need my help with all this why, exactly?

Missing baseball star. Worried family?

Eh, try again.

I missed you.

Okay. I knew this was a bad idea.

- Good luck with all that. - Oh, come on.

Billie, there's always an agenda with you.

What's the catch here, huh? Wait, wa...

Wait. I know you don't like to trust me,

but I swear there's no personal agenda.

There's something you're not telling me.

I'm from here. This town.

You're from here.

You're from this town.

You're not from Miami.

Nope. Huh.

Well, I guess there's a lot of things

I don't know about you.

Still doesn't explain why you need my help.

Well, there are some people in this town

that won't exactly be thrilled that I'm back.

A lot, actually. I kind of...

kind of left and never looked back.

So, you need me to run interference.

It won't be good for me

to be out in front of this one.

But I know this town inside and out.

Be a team effort.

You gonna tell me why you're not wanted here?

It has to do with my mother.

Let's just say she screwed a lot of people over.

Eric's family included.

If you help me, maybe I'll tell you about it.

Cannot believe you're not from South Beach.

Are you in or out?

I'm in, I'm in. 60-40 split.

I should tell you to shove it.

Yeah, but you won't.

You're getting greedy. Let's get to work, come on.

Talk to the parents?

Oh, no, no, no. That's gonna be your job.

Ah. All I know is that

Eric had his phone in his bag

at the field when he was last seen.

I checked the phone. There's nothing helpful on it.

Thought: maybe he grabbed a couple of buddies?

Skipped town, right?

Teenage stress is at an all-time high.

Maybe he just needed to get away for a little bit.

I mean, that's the hope, right?

The booster guy told me he had a girlfriend,

Ashley.

I've been trying to reach her. She's not answering my calls.

Maybe took off with her? Fingers crossed.

Like I said, easy money and

maybe we have some fun.

I'm gonna go see what these parents have to say.

Cool. I'm gonna keep trying to track down Ashley.

Oh, and, Colter.

Yeah?

It is good to be working with you again.

Billie?

What about that missing painting in Cleveland?

Cleveland can wait. I'm gonna help her out.

You're gonna help her?

Missing high school baseball player.

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

I'll be fine. Couple of days, max.

This is where Eric spends all his time.

I can see why.

Everything a kid would want is right in here.

That picture was from the state championship last season.

Eric pitched a shut-out.

Well, you must be very proud.

Eric ever do anything like this before--

just disappear for a couple days?

No. And never would in season.

Tell me about the girlfriend.

Ashley? Yeah.

Well, she's a couple years older.

They've been dating a couple of months.

And, uh, she works in a diner.

And is going nowhere.

Can I get you a lemonade, Mr. Shaw?

Sure. Thank you.

So, uh,

this girlfriend.

Yeah.

She got his head all screwed up.

What do you mean, "all screwed up"?

I mean that before she came along,

baseball was his priority. His focus.

Now he seems more interested in running around with her

than he does in taking care of his business on the mound.

Maybe...

what he wants is not baseball. Yeah, well,

what he needs to understand

is how much we have put on the line for him.

All of the training,

all of the private coaching, all of the clinics.

Hell, this adds up.

Yeah. And sounds like you're pretty involved.

Yeah.

Excellence comes from being pushed.

I know a little something about that, actually.

My old man drove me pretty hard.

Sounds like a good dad.

You know, sometimes I wished he would just be Dad,

you know, and not push so hard.

Maybe you pushed Eric

a little too hard and he...

maybe pushed back?

I noticed the bruises on your arm.

Yeah. We got into it pretty good the other night.

This time I lost my cool.

I pushed him up against the wall

and he grabbed me.

He told me I could go to hell.

Maybe he had reason to leave.

Maybe.

But I can swear to you

I never meant for it to go that far.

It's got to be this girl, Ashley.

Maybe. Maybe.

Would you mind if I poke around a little bit?

Yeah, go ahead. Yeah?

Vitamins and instructional videos,

training tapes. It's...

it's regular stuff. Yeah.

Lot of money.

Looks like Oxy.

What?

No.

No, there is no way that that's Eric's.

I don't know who that belongs to,

but that's not my son.

Drugs?

No chance. I run a clean program.

How long you been coaching Eric? Since Little League.

Couldn't wait to get him in high school.

Kid's a rare talent.

That's why it makes me sick that he's missing.

That his catcher over there?

Yeah. That's Hunter.

You mind if I talk to him?

Hunter, switch out.

Hunter, right?

Coach Perez told me you're Eric's catcher.

Uh, yeah. Yeah, E's my boy.

Great. Right, you talk to him recently? No.