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A Mother's Worst Fear (2018)
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- Help! Help! Help, someone! Help! Maddy your going to be late. Coming mom. I could walk to school, you know. It's only five blocks away. - I prefer to take you. That way, I know you got there safe. - Mom, you're gonna have to let me go at some point. I'm turning 18 in a few months. I'm almost an adult. - Yeah well, turning 18 doesn't give you automatic good judgment and experience. You have to learn those things. - And how am I supposed to if you never let me do anything on my own? - Honey, the world is full of dangerous people. I just don't think you're ready to deal with it all yet. - Maybe you're the one not ready to deal with it. Hey, let's call Dad. - Honey, I don't know if his plane has landed yet. - Hey Dad! - Hey, kiddo! - Say hi to Mom. - Hi! - Hey, babe. - How's everything? - Yeah, it's fine. I just checked in to the hotel. I got a meeting in like an hour. - Sounds good, let me know how it goes. Oh, the permit office called. They weren't too thrilled with the blueprints we submitted last week. - Dad, can I go to a party at Nicole's tonight? - I already told you no. - But why? My grades are almost all A's, except for math, I finished all my college essays, and I'm two sections ahead in my SAT prep. - 'Cause I know for a fact that Nicole's parents are in the Bahamas and you are too young to go to a party that's unsupervised. - Being a cop made you paranoid. - Yeah listen honey, can you handle that, since you're there and you're the one that said no? - Okay, just don't forget to ask them why the materials are so cheap. The permit office is worried that they're subpar. - You got it, I'll do just that. Alright, I'll talk to you guys later. Hey Maddy, listen to your mom. - Yeah, whatever. - Bye. - I was a hostage negotiator, not a cop. And I'm protective of you because I know what's out there. Okay, so I will meet you at 4:00 for your meeting with Mr. Hammer? - Fine. - Hey. I love you. - So that's why you embarrass me by dropping me off at school like I'm a freshman? - I liked you a lot better when you didn't talk back. - Perfect, I'll never talk to you again. - Ha ha, very funny. Laughing all the way to work. Good morning. - Oh wait, she just walked in. Good morning, Alice. I have Tony Materelli on the phone for you. - Tony, what is his deal? - Um-- - Rhetorical question. - I'll put her through. - Hey, Tony. Yes. I'm sure he will be there. Yes, he has other meetings today. Okay. Alright, will do. I'm sure he will be there. Talk to you later. - Everything okay? - Yeah, strange. Tony from the construction company called. Said he went to pick up Brent at the airport and he wasn't there. - Oh, he already checked into his hotel. He doesn't meet with them until tomorrow. - Did he call you? - No, I called him. I had a question about the electrician. - Ah, okay. Well, he seemed very worried like Brent didn't actually make the meeting. - I don't know. - Hey, I'm sorry you didn't get to go. I know you were counting on it. It's just, I have so much work here while Brent is in New York. - I totally understand. That's what assistants are for. - Let's see here ... - Large skinny latte with two shots for Alice. - Thank you. - Whoa! - Oh geez, I'm so sorry. Steve! - Alice! It's not the first time you've spilled coffee on me. - I am so sorry. - No you didn't get-- - Did I get you? - It's fine, let me call you back. How are ya? - Great! - Yeah? - I'm great, yeah. - It's good to see you. - Yeah, you too. - You got a minute, you wanna sit? - Yeah, sure. - Great. - So, I see you can't get away from uniforms. - Yeah, it's my calling, you know? How's civilian life treating you? - It's good. Three years have flown by. - Three years, wow. And Maddy must be a what, a junior now? - She just started senior year. - Senior year, that was fast. - Crazy. - Can I get you something over here? - Uh yeah, could I get a double espresso? - Coming right up. - Thanks. And how's Brent? - Yeah, he's, he's Brent. A mover and a shaker. We are trying for a new development deal on the Strip, so he's in New York meeting with contractors and investors. - Some things never change. - Some things do. - Sometimes. - It was good to see you, Steve. - Yeah, it was really good to see you, Alice. Hey Alice listen, if you ever need anything, I'm around. - I know. - So as you can see, she's right on track. - But the math. - It's not that important when you're applying for creative writing programs. - Yes. Can we talk about the practicalities of this major? - Mom! - I want you to be able to get a job when you graduate. - There are many options. Most students that graduate from Ainsley they already have books commissioned. - Ainsley, as in Ainsley College in New York City? - Yes, well, technically in Brooklyn, but... - Mom just-- - We'll talk about this when we get home. - Yeah, right. - I believe in Maddy. She'll be fine no matter what she does. - Right. You're not ready to be on the other side of the country. - Dad is there for work literally all the time. - What if, what if you need us and we can't get to you? Plus, there are plenty of excellent schools here. - It's the one I wanna go to. Plus, Josh says I'd meet the right people. - Josh, first name basis? - What, he's nice! - I bet. - Hey, kiddo. How was your day? - Awful. Mom won't let me go to the college I want to apply to. - Okay, well uh, look, I've actually had a really long day myself, and I got a lot of meetings tomorrow. So, can we talk about this when I get home? - Did you even hear what I said? - Yes, I did. Uh, college, and your mom and I will discuss. - Fine! No one cares what I want. - I care! - Yeah, about work, and money. - Hi. - Will you lighten up on her a little bit please? - She's not ready to be in New York City all by herself. - Look, you've always been overprotective, but honestly, it's getting to a point where it's ridiculous. Kid doesn't have a chance to breathe! - New York, no way! - LA is not much better than New York. - You know what? Let's sidebar this. - Whatever you say. - I'm just trying to get her to adulthood safely, okay? And alive. Tony Materelli called the office today. - What did he want? - Said he went to pick you up at the airport and you weren't there. - He said that? - Yeah, something about wanting to show you around New York, like you haven't been there before. You are in New York, right? - Where else would I be? - I don't know. You don't have the best track record of telling me the truth. - Okay, Tony is Tony, he's-- - He's a shady guy is what he is. - He's paying us a lot of money. - Yeah, money coming from God knows where. - You really wanna do this now? - You know what? It's late, you should get some rest. We'll talk about this tomorrow. Just don't forget to tell them-- - I know, I know, check about the materials, I got it. - I'm just trying to help. - I know you are, okay? I'll handle everything here. You handle Maddy. I love you. - I love you too. - Large cheese, extra pepperoni. - Thanks. - You got it. - Hey! Losing it. - What? - Hey Maddy? Honey, pizza's here. - I'm not hungry. - What did you eat today? - Hmm, nine cheeseburgers, a box of cookies, and not a single vegetable. You wanna see the receipts? - Did you do your homework? - No. - Maddy! - Mom, yes! That was a joke. - Very funny. I love you. - What did Josh say to your mom? - He told her he thought I could get into Ainsley. She like freaked out. - Of course she did. Tell her to take whatever's lodged up her ass, out! - Seriously, she knows all I wanna do is go there, and get away from her. It's so annoying. She wants me to be able to get a stable job. - Why? That school is amazing. My dad would be so happy if I could even get in there. - I don't know. She thinks I should stay home for college, 'cause she doesn't think I'm ready to go out on my own. - What are you, 12? - She thinks I'm 10. - Man, your mom's got issues. - Hey Nicole, can I have some of this? - Yeah, go for it. - Can I get some of that? - Mmhmm. - You should take a shot. - No. - Come on, Maddy. - No, I'm just fine. - Is that you saying no, or your mom? - I'm just kinda tired. - You don't look tired to me. - I'm really just not thirsty. - Ooh, it's tasty. - Next time, I promise. - Yeah right. - I think I'm gonna go, though. - Okay, be safe. - See you tomorrow. Be safe. - Okay. - Text me when you get home. - Bye. - Wow. I can't believe it. - I know. - Good night, honey. - Stop! Help! Help! - Hey, cutie, you're at the office early. - I wanted to make sure to be here in case you needed anything. - What would I do without you? - I don't know. You haven't been spending much time with me lately. - Is this about you not coming to New York? - We were gonna have a romantic week together. Champagne, hot tub, remember? - I know, I know, but you know, things came up. - You said that last time. - Look, it turned out to be a very busy trip, back to back meetings, we wouldn't have any time to spend together anyway. And besides, Alice is in LA. - Alice, can she do anything herself? - You are our assistant. - Really? - Yes, really. - You're never gonna leave her. Brent? Are you or are you not? I'm so tired of this back and forth. - I will, okay? And then you and I can run the business together, but it's not the right time right now. - It's never the right time. I knew when you canceled my ticket to New York that you weren't gonna follow through with any of your promises. - Victoria, listen to me. - No, I will not listen to anymore of your lies and broken promises. - Okay, so Costa Rica? Costa Rica was a lie? I remember that being a very good time. - That was two years ago. - Look, I have to go. I gotta get to a meeting. Can we talk about this later? - Fine! - Yes, I'm en route, I'll be there in 15 minutes. He said what? - Maddy! You're gonna be late! Maddy! Maddy, why are you still in bed? Maddy, wake up, honey. Maddy, we don't have time for this today. Maddy, are you trying on those shoes again? Where are you? Maddy, where are you? - Mom? - Honey? Are you okay? What's wrong? - Someone has me. - What do you mean someone has you? - I was kidnapped. - What? What are you talking about? Who took you? - I don't know. They had a knife to me. - Oh my god. Maddy, listen to me. Everything is gonna be okay. Ask him how much he wants. - How much do you want? He says, don't call the police. - Maddy, Maddy, listen to me. Your job right now is to do whatever you can do to stay alive. Do you understand me? - Yeah. Now, put him on the phone. - She wants to talk to you. - I don't know who you are or what you want, but you better be ready, because I'm coming for my girl. Do you hear me? - Please. Please, just let me go now, I won't say anything. Please. No. - Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Come on, pick up. Pick up. - You've reached Brent Gould. Leave a message. - Oh. Brent, you need to call me back as soon as you get this. The car. Cheryl? Hi it's Alice Gould. - Hi Alice, how are you? - Uh, great, how are you? - I'm good. - Hey, I have a favor to ask you. I know I shouldn't be doing this, but there was a car parked in my neighborhood last night, and I was just wondering if you could run the plates for me? - No, I can't do that. - Yeah, I know. I just don't want to get the police involved in case it was just a neighbor or something. I don't wanna seem paranoid. - Don't tell anyone, but I'll do it. - Really? That would be fantastic. Thank you so much, thank you. I will send the image right over. Okay. - Okay, this is so not like her. - It's really weird. I'm gonna call her. Okay. - You have reached the voicemail box of-- - Hey, I've texted you like a thousand times. We've been waiting for you and school's about to start, but you're not here. Wanted to make sure you got home okay. Anyways, text me back, I'm kinda worried. - Cheryl, thanks for getting back to me so quick. Any hits? - Yeah. I got a Steve Jenkins. - Are you sure? - Yes. - Absolutely positive? - Give me his address. - 2928 Meadowlark Lane. - Okay. Thank you Cheryl, I owe you. Call Victoria. - Good morning, Alice. - Hi, good. Okay good, you're in already. - Yep, I got here early. I had to take care of a few things. What time will you be here? - That's actually why I'm calling. I'm not gonna be in today. - Um, you have the meeting with the potential new tenants today. You have to be here. - Maddy's sick, so, I need you to actually reschedule those meetings for me today. - No offense, Alice, but she's 17. She can stay home by herself. - Don't tell me how to raise my daughter. - I'm sorry, that wasn't what I intended. I didn't realize it was so serious. Do you want me to call Brent and get him out of that meeting? - No, no, I'll deal with Brent. I don't want to worry him. Just go ahead and cancel my meetings, all of them, for the whole week. - For the week? - Yeah. Yeah, Maddy's got something and I need to be with her. - Okay, sure. I hope she feels better. - Who are you? Why are you doing this? I could scream. Someone will hear me. Okay fine, I won't. But my mom meant what she said. She's gonna find me. She was a hostage negotiator, so she knows how to do these things. Ah! - Maddy? Maddy, are you in there? Maddy? Maddy, are you in there? Maddy? - Alice, what are you doing? - Where's my daughter? - What? - Where is Maddy? Is she in there? - What are you talking about? - I said is she in there? - Why would she be in my garage? - You took her last night, didn't you? You kidnapped her. Tell me! - Whoa, whoa. I didn't kidnap Maddy. - You're lying. Where is she? Open it. I said open it right now! - Alright, alright, alright! Easy. - Maddy? Maddy? - See? She's not in here. - I don't understand. I don't under ... Who took her? What's going on? Talk to me. What's going on? - I don't understand. - Talk to me, talk to me. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, come here, come here. Come here, it's alright, it's alright. How long has she been gone? - I don't know. Since sometime last night. - And the kidnapper didn't say what he wanted? - No. Maddy asked him and he just said don't call the police. - No money? - No. You know what that means. - It's personal. - Why were you outside my house last night? - I don't know, I was, you know, after I ran into you yesterday, and you told me Brent was out of town, I got a little worried. I knew you and Maddy would be home alone. - Have you done that before? - Maybe once or twice. - Sounds stalkerish. - I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I know Brent's business dealings haven't always been on the up and up. - , Steve, he promised me that that's all over with. - Yeah, right. Look, the cop in me won't go away. What can I say? Once a cop, always a cop. Though not anymore. - I still feel responsible for that. - Yeah well, you're not, but it's weird, you're in a very similar situation now. - I just hope that it turns out differently. - Hey, hey listen to me. This will turn out differently, I promise you. - I don't even know where to begin. I only negotiated the releases. Where do I even start? - Let's just break it down one step at a time. Can you think of any reason someone would want to hurt any one of you? - No. - Is Brent in debt again? - No, I keep a close watch on the books. - What about you? Have you been contacted by anyone from your days with the police? How about Nick? - No. - No emails, no letters? - Nothing. - What about Maddy? - Maddy? Maddy's just, she's a kid. Who would go after her? - Kids get mixed up in all sorts of bad stuff these days. - Do you think it was someone at the party? - Nah, this doesn't feel like within the capabilities of a teenager. - I mean, I don't know. There could have been older kids there. Plus, Nick was 23, barely older than a teenager. - Whose party was it? - Nicole. - I have to go to the bathroom. I have to go to the bathroom. No, like I have to go, go. - Okay, now you know you have to stop by the front office for a pass, Mrs. Gould. - Absolutely. - Nicole! - Mrs. Gould, how's Maddy feeling? Josh said that she was sick. - She's, really sick. - Yeah, she hasn't even been texting. - She's sleeping right now, so she doesn't have the energy for that. - Oh, well, tell her that I hope she feels better. - Uh, do you mind. - Can you give us a moment? Thank you. Thanks. - Nicole, Maddy told me that she was at your party last night. - Uh-oh. Are you a cop? Who are you? I know that you used to work in the police. - I'm not a cop, I'm a friend of Mrs. Gould. - He's definitely not a cop. - Was she at the party? - I, I don't know, I didn't-- - Nicole, cut the crap. Was she at the party? - Maddy left as soon as everyone started drinking. Maddy doesn't drink. Please don't tell my parents. I'll get in so much trouble, and they promised to take me to Paris for my birthday, and if they find out, then they'll cancel the trip. - Nicole, honey, it's fine. I'm not here to get you in trouble. I just need to know who was at the party? - I don't know, just some friends from school. I really don't wanna get any of them in trouble either. - Did anyone else leave after you guys started drinking? - Um, Hunter? Yeah, he yeah, he left like pretty soon after Maddy left. His parents are really strict too, no offense. - And, do you know where we could find him? - He and his friends sometimes hang out at a coffee shop around the corner after school. I see them here sometimes. - Okay. I think I've seen that. Maddy's talked about him a few times before. - Ow! - Mine. I think she wore them to the party. And one came off when he took her, apparently, because I found it in the street. - Like Cinderella? - More like Rapunzel. - We're gonna find her. - I just, it's my fault, again. - What is? - All of this, this whole thing. I am so overprotective of her, and I don't trust her to make the right decisions, but she did. She made the right decision. She left the party when they started drinking. - You got a great kid there. - Yeah, she's the best. I gotta take this. Brent! - Babe, what's going on? - Where have you been? - Your message sounded kinda urgent. - I have something very, very difficult to tell you, sit down, please. - What, is, is Maddy okay? - She's alive. - Are-- - But, she's been kidnapped. - What? - I know. - Kidnapped, by who? - I don't know, I don't know. - Did you call the police? - No, whoever took her said not to call the police. - Of course he said not to call them. - Brent, please! - What does he want, money? - No, I don't think so. - What else could be want, Alice? What did he say? He didn't say anything.! You know what, I'm getting on a plane and I'm coming home right now. - Okay, have Victoria book you a flight out. - What are you gonna be doing? - I'm trying to find her. - How? Who's that? I thought you just said you didn't call the police. - Steve is here with me. - Steve, nice. - Hey, Brent. Listen, we're gonna do everything we can to get her back, okay? - Yeah, I'm sure you told a lot of people that, Steve. Didn't always work out the way you planned it, did it? - You know what Brent, I'm here to help, that's it. - Sorry about Brent. - Uh, he's under emotional distress. It's quite a shock. Do you see this kid? - Yeah, I think that's him. - Order for Hunter? - Thank you. - Yeah. - Yeah, that's him. Let's go. Hunter. - Hey, hey, what are you doing? - I need to have a couple words with you. It's alright. - Terrible report card. - What are you're doing? - Just have a couple questions. - Hey, your Maddy's mom, right? - That's Maddy's mom, alright. And you're going to tell us what happened with Maddy last night. - What do you mean what happened with her? Nothing happened. - You left the party after her. - Did you follow her? - No! - Where'd you go after the party? - I just went home! - Why'd you leave right after her, Hunter? - Dude, if my parents caught me underage drinking, they'd kill me. It's gonna jeopardize me getting into Harvard or so they say. - You followed her last night, didn't you? Where is she? - No, I did not, I don't know. Why would I even do that? - Oh, come on, Hunter. You know, she's a cute girl. And you, heh, you obviously think a lot of yourself. - No, man, it's not even like that. Plus, she's not even into me. She likes Josh. - Josh? His name keeps coming up. Who's this Josh kid? - Kid, it's a teacher. - Excuse me? - Mr. Hammer. Yeah. - Hey, man, thanks for your time. Sorry to interrupt you. - Yeah, alright. For sure. - You have a good day. - You too. - I'm gonna kill him. - What are you thinking? - Hi. - Don't act so excited to hear me. - I have a lot on my mind right now. - Yeah, I know. That conversation we had was really unpleasant. - No, no it's other things. - What is it, Brent? You seem upset. - No, I can't, alright? There's some stuff going on with Maddy and Alice. - Babe, you can tell me, that's what I'm here for. - Yeah, I can't get into this with you right now. Did you book my ticket? - Yeah, I was just forwarding you the information now. A car will be there in 15 minutes to pick you up and take you to the airport, and you should be back in town by 10:00. - Thank you. - Brent, come and see me when you get back. I'll help you cope with whatever is going on at home and we can work out our problems. - No, I just need to be with my family. - Brent-- - Victoria, I'll talk to you later. - Ugh! - Here you go. - Thank you. I grabbed it before I left. I don't even know why I did it. - Good instincts, do you know her password? - I can guess. - Angiovanni? - The sparkly shoes, she's obsessed with that brand. - Alright, let's look at her search history. - Okay. Hemingway, Fitzgerald-- - Pretty smart kid. - How to sneak out without your mom finding out. - And there's the teenager. Here's something. - How to tell if an older guy likes you, oh my God. At least we know we're on the right track. - Any addresses? Maybe she was trying to find out where he lives. - No, let's check her emails. - Okay. - Okay, open up. Hammer. Oh no. He's sending her poems. Your hair is like a gleaming chestnut in the sun. She's 17. I'm gonna to kill him. - What does the latest email say? - Okay, here's one from three days ago. Can't wait to talk in person. Let's meet in my office. Best not to tell your mom for now. - What a creep. - Would he really keep her at the school? - Well, let's go find out. - Come on, man. - Nick, we're gonna talk about this. - I'm gonna kill her. - Nick, calm down. - Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick, you've got nowhere to go! Easy, easy. Come on, think about this! Think about this, don't do it! - Nick. Nick, come on, please. - No, no, no. - Come on, okay. Put the knife down. - I can't, I love her. - Is this how people show love, Nick? By abducting them and holding them at knifepoint? - Don't come any closer! - Hey, okay. - Don't do it, man, come on. We just wanna return Lily safely to her parents, that's it. - Why? They don't love her. They wouldn't even let her see me! They kept answering the phone for her, telling her not to see me! - Everything is gonna be okay. - It's all lies! - Nick, don't man, think about this, think about it. - Nick, we'll talk to her parents. We'll let them know. - Why should I believe you? - We'll tell them that you need to be able to see her. Just put the knife down, Nick. - Lily, will you tell them that you wanna be with me? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Nick, putting my gun away, okay? Gun's going away, stay calm, stay calm. - I wanna be with you, I love you. - You don't wanna do this. - I swear. - Don't do it, don't do it. - I don't believe you. - It's true! - Liar! - No, no, no, no! - You alright? - Yeah, I'm fine, I think. I just drifted off there for a second. - All the doors are locked. There's cameras everywhere. I don't think we're gonna have any luck breaking in. - So, what do you think we should we do, just sit out here all night, 'til he comes out? - Well, it's getting pretty late. Are you sure that's his car over there? - Yeah, I mean it's the description that Nicole gave us, and he wasn't at his house. He's gotta be here. - Who's there? - Ow! - Oh, you again. - Can I help you? - Help me? You're the ones trespassing on school grounds. - My daughter goes to school here. - Yes, I know, Mrs. Gould. That doesn't give you the right to be on school property after hours. - Who's this again? - The traffic attendant. - I do security here. I'm gonna have to ask you to vacate the premises. - What is your name, again? - Marilyn. - Marilyn. Marilyn, can we ask you for a huge favor? Mrs. Gould's daughter is very sick, and we need to get into her locker to get her college applications so she doesn't miss the filing deadline, and do you think there's any way you could help us out with that? - Please. - That was very smooth. You had her eating out of your hands. - Yeah, I have that effect on women. - Some, maybe. Alright, I think his office is right around here. A struggle you think? - Yeah, maybe, It looks like he just freaked out and tossed the place. - Well, it's obvious he isn't keeping her here. Look at this. - That might explain something. - Motive for despair? I think I know. - You know about this place. - I helped Maddy bring chairs down here after one of her readings. - You really think he's holed up here. He could be anywhere in the school. - Yeah, this is definitely the place. He keeps all of his equipment in there, lights, microphones, podium. - It was his fault, not yours. - What are you talking about? - You said you felt bad about ending my career. You didn't, Nick did. - I pulled the trigger. I shouldn't have, I was never a great shot. - He made the first move towards violence. We did what we were trained to do. - No, I should have gone for her, not the gun. - Your bullet only grazed her leg, it didn't kill her. The knife did, okay? - No, not gonna happen this time. - No, it's not. - Where is she? - Where is she? - Who are you? Mrs. Gould? - Where is she? Where is Maddy? - She's at home, she was sick, I thought. - Do you flirt with all the 17 year old girls or just Maddy? - What is he talking about? - Come on, cut the crap! I saw the emails that you sent her, romantic poems! She's 17, you creep! - That was from our critique group. You've been to the readings. She was in the process of submitting something to Ainsley, which you didn't approve of. They were her poems, I just critiqued them. Look, I'm sorry, but, she's got a lot of passion and talent, and I'm not gonna let you stifle that. - He's lying, trying to throw us off the scent. You're too close to these kids. Josh this, Josh that. - I learned from my mistake today. Moving forth, they're gonna start calling me Mr. Hammer. - Oh god, he's telling the truth. - Did you go in my office? - We did. - So you saw it, the rejection letter. - Alright, Josh. Alright, you're young enough. You'll write a book one day worth publishing. Let's get him outta here. - Mrs. Gould. - Watch your step. - I'm really sorry about what I said to you earlier. - Easy, easy. - I really think you're ... - Take it easy, Josh, and stay off those kids, okay? - Thanks, Steve. - Young girls? - Hey, Steve ... - Yeah, man, you got him? - Hey, Tony, I'm sorry, but we've had a bit of an emergency. Brent had to fly back to be with our daughter who's very sick. Yes, he will reschedule when she's feeling better. I am sure. No, we are not going with another construction company. I promise. Okay, Tony, I gotta go. We will be in touch, okay? Yep, I promise, okay. Sheez! - Who's that? - Tony, the owner of the construction company that Brent was supposed to meet with in New York. He keeps texting me about this, thinking we're replacing him. It's starting to get on my nerves. - Should we look at Maddy's email again? - No. I think we've exhausted everyone in her life at this point. It might be time to visit Nick. - Who would you though? - Nick, put them through. - I didn't believe them when they told me who was here to see me. - It's been a while, Nick. - Well, time flies when you have nothing left to live for. - You did that to yourself. - No, I did not. You did this to me, and you, but mostly you. Well anyway, I've enjoyed this jaunt down memory lane, but I'm in for life and time's a-wasting, so unless you have anything else you'd like to say, I think I'll be going. - Sit back down, we're not finished with you yet. - Okay. Alright. Well, enough of the niceties. Let's get down to why you're both here. - We find ourselves in a very similar situation that we were in three years ago. - Someone ran away from their parents to be with the man she loves? - Nick, we know that's not what happened. - So, what do you want from me? - Wanted to get some insight from you. See what it's like to be inside the head of a kidnapper. - Well, Alice, I can call you Alice, right? You'd know better than me for two reasons. First of all, you're the professional. Second of all, and I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but I did not kidnap Lily. She ran away to be with me. - I don't care about your opinions. Just wanna know why you did it. - Well, love of course. - You didn't love her, you didn't even know her. - Of course I knew her. She was my girlfriend. We were getting married, have kids, a family, and you two messed it up. Ruined my life, thank you for that. - She was a girl who worked in a coffee shop that you became obsessed with and you stalked her, like you did to many other young women, we came to discover. - Our relationship was special. - We've heard you have a pretty keen interest in keeping up with who's in and who's out, and have plenty of phone calls with the outside. - Well, that isn't a crime, is it? - No, certainly not. But if you asked any of your little buddies you made in prison to do anything, say, kidnap another little 17 year old girl, now, that would be a crime. - Are you accusing me of conspiring to kidnap a sweet innocent little girl? I want my lawyer. - You're not entitled to one. - Uh, yes I am, I know my rights. - We're not working for the police and this isn't an interrogation. This is just us coming in here as civilians having a friendly conversation. - Oh, this is so friendly, accusing me of conspiring to kidnap a sweet, innocent girl. That's exactly what friends do. - Are you involved? - What if I am? - Are you? - Answer the damn question or I will kill you right now. - No, I'm not. - You haven't asked anyone to kidnap someone? Hinted they might do it? Told them how you abducted Lily? - What would I get out of it? I'm stuck in here for life, remember? Oh. You think I did it out of revenge. Who's is it? You had a kid, didn't you? - She's 17, just like Lily. - Someone has abducted her. - What do they want? - I don't know. - There's no money involved? - No. - Sounds very personal. Let me assure you that I am absolutely no way involved. But I am absolutely thrilled that this is happening. Well, y'all have a nice life now. Oh, and tell your daughter, if you ever see her again, come by and say hi. I'd love to meet her. - Enjoy your time here. - Have a nice life in prison. - No. It would be a lot easier to eat if I could use my hands. - Ow! - Oh stop, no, no! What do you think? - It's definitely not him. - Ugh, back to square one? - Steve, I don't understand. It's obviously personal, but we've gone through everyone in her life, and it's not any one of them. And even Nick, he was a long shot, but it's not him. - There's only one person left in the family to check out. - Sorry. - Anything? - No, it's just this Tony guy, wondering when Brent is gonna reschedule the meeting. It's almost midnight there. Why is this guy so desperate? - How well do you know this guy? - Not very well. Our assistant, she made the introduction between Tony and Brent, but I didn't have anything to do with it. - Sounds fishy. - No, Brent wouldn't go there. - But he did. - Steve, no. - I think it's time we take a look into Brent's financial activities. - You've reached Brent Gould. Leave me a message. - I don't want this over. I know you've been distant lately, but I love you so much. And you said that you would leave Alice, and she's still your wife, not me! Brent, you are going have to hold up your end of the bargain, or there's no telling what I'll do. - I don't understand why he doesn't keep this stuff at the office. - He's paranoid about our employees having access to too much information. - It seems like access to information is necessary to run a business. - When your own employee turns you in to the FBI, you're gonna take a few more precautions. - If you're not doing anything wrong, you got nothing to hide. - Spoken like a true cop. And he was never charged. - Doesn't mean he didn't do it. - Look, he hid some things from me, and he got involved with the wrong people, but I don't think he set out to do anything wrong. - Okay. - Steve, there's no way. - Wait. What are these deposits from? - It's payments from apartment buildings we manage in New York. - I thought you guys just developed property. - I convinced Brent that we needed more dependable streams of income in case our development deals failed. - Okay, very practical. Looks like a good decision too. You're just breaking even at the moment. - That'll change once we get the funding for the new building. - And who's handling that? - Brent. He'd prefer I deal with all the property management, since it was all my idea. - Why is he trying to cut you out of everything? It sounds like he doesn't trust you, or he's hiding something. - No, he, he trusts me. I have access to everything. Here look. Here's our agreement with the investor. - That seems like an awfully large percentage this investor gets when the building produces profit. - No, it's just the standard. See? Whoa. Wait, somebody changed this after I saw it. This is not what we agreed on. - Who's this company again? - M & G Holdings. - M & G Holdings. - I don't know much about them. There's not that much on the internet about them, either. They don't even have a website. - See if there's any owners of the company listed. - No, nothing. Just a P.O. Box in Delaware. It's not unusual. - You know what? My partner joined the FBI when I retired. Why don't I call her and see if she knows anything? - Okay, but just don't say anything about Maddy. - No, of course not. - Who changed this? - Yeah, Dana Cohen? Steve, she knows who it is. Yeah have her call me back. Okay, thanks. She's gonna call me back. I don't know what to tell you, Alice. Thanks Dana, yeah sorry for calling so late. Say hi to Dan and the kids. Yep. - Well? - It's not good. - Just tell me. It could be linked to Maddy. - The feds have been looking at M & G Holdings for a while now. - So, they survey a lot of companies. - There's all sorts of nefarious activities, Loan sharking, drugs, trafficking. - Trafficking? - With ties to the mafia, run by ... - Tony Materelli? - Mmhmm. Do you think Brent knew? - I don't know how he couldn't have. Dana says they're investigating Brent as well, and she thinks he's been laundering money for them. - No, I don't believe it. - She has surveillance photos she's gonna email me. - No, no he promised me that he wouldn't do this again, that he wouldn't get involved with people like this again. - He broke that promise, Alice. - If he lied to me again, I am gonna kill him. - Listen, listen to me. You need to just chill out for a minute, and take a breath and get some food into you. - Get some food? I need to find her. I'm sorry, I ... - It's okay, it's alright, it's alright. - Okay. Okay. - Come on. Come on. - This is good, thank you. - You keep very nice ingredients in your house. - They have very expensive grocery stores in Beverly Hills. - Yeah, apparently. - I wonder if she's hungry. It's been almost 24 hours. - Hey, we'll get her whatever she wants to eat when we find her, alright? - Thank you, uh-- - Sorry. I've really missed you. We became pretty close during Lily's case. Did Brent ask you to cut off contact with me? - He did. - Yeah, I figured. He always seemed to try and control you too much. - Sometimes he disregards my feelings, but he's not controlling. - But you stopped returning my calls. - Yeah, not 'cause he asked me too, but because I knew we were getting ... Look, I would be risking my family and my marriage if I was to stay in contact with you. - That's very noble of you. - I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. - No, no listen, it's understandable, especially now that I know the reason. Probably Dana. - What did she say? - Do you know when these were taken? - Yeah, Victoria and Brent went to meet with the investment company last month. What? - Alice, it's ... - So he's a liar and a cheater. Dammit! I can't believe this ... He's cheated on me with our assistant who introduced him to this man with mafia connections, who probably abducted our daughter in order to force Brent to go through with the deal or to sell her to some sex trafficker. - Do you know where he is now? - His should have landed by now. I'll tell him to meet us at the office. - Yeah. Let's go. - Ah! I don't care if you kill me. I am not going back in that room! It's you! - What are we looking for? - Anything having to do with Tony's companies, a receipt, an invoice, something that has an address on the West Coast. - Are you gonna make him sleep in the office? - He's done it plenty of times before when he's pulled all-nighters. Oh god, that's why he didn't come home. - Any idea where she is? What the hell, Alice? - This is all your fault. You did this, with you and your little girlfriend. - What the hell are you talking about? - Stop,. I, I have seen photos of you kissing Victoria outside of Tony's office. - Where did you see these photos? - Steve has a contact at the FBI. Turns out, Tony owns both the construction company and the investment company, but you knew that, didn't you? - We are in debt, Alice. In order to make this project work and get us out, I had to make a lot of money. - We're not in that much debt. I keep track of the books. I know exactly how much money goes in and out. - No, you don't. I had to borrow a lot of money, and open up credit cards that you don't know about. - Why? - To keep us afloat, to build the business, to provide for our family. - How bad is it? - Bad. - We could have just declared bankruptcy. - No, I was not gonna fail for a second time. We're gonna finish building this condo building, and it's gonna be a success. - Yeah, with dirty money. - You didn't think I tried to find funding from any other source? No one would touch me, Alice. I got a failed project, debt up to my eyeballs. Tony was the only person that was gonna lend me any money. - People like Tony prey upon people in a situation like yours, and by associating with him, you put your daughter in danger. - There's Steve, lurking in the shadows huh? I'm sure you're loving this, man, just waiting to step in here, make me look like the bad guy so you could save Alice. - I don't need saving. - Steve has been present in our relationship for a long time. - Brent, Alice and I were only ever friends. Alright? - But, you have feelings for my wife. - Brent! - No, I wanna hear him say it. Do you have feelings for my wife, Steve? Well, there it is. At least now it's out in the open after all this time. - , none of this is important right now! Our daughter has been kidnapped, and Tony's cronies probably abducted her in order to force you to go through with the deal. - Brent, is there any place they would have taken her? A West Coast office or warehouse, anything, man. - No, I don't know any of Tony's contacts out here. I think it's probably time we reached out to the police. - We are not calling the police. - Alice, it's been 24 hours. We don't have the skills or the resources to deal with Tony's people. Alright, desipte Steve of there playing cops and robbers. - Whoever took her said not to call the police, and I am no letting what happened to Lily happen to her. - At some point, someone is gonna realize she is gone. How are we going to explain it? - Alice called the school and told them she was sick. - I forgot to call them. - But, Josh said the secretary told him she was sick. - No, I didn't call them. - And, her friend knew she was sick too. - Why would you do this? - Two reasons, really. First, to test your father's loyalty to me. - His loyalty to you, but, you're the one who works for him. - His loyalty to me personally, not professionally. - I don't understand. - I needed to see who he would run to if something went wrong. You see, your father and I have been having an affair for over two years. - I don't believe you. My dad would never cheat on my mom. - He promised me he was gonna leave your mother for me, and that we would continue to build this business together. - He loves my mom and would never leave her. - But lately, he's been distant, canceling dates, and spending more time with your mother, and cutting me out of meetings. - He'd never leave me, either. - And, we were supposed to go to New York together, and meet with Tony about the building, and have a romantic trip, but he canceled! So, I decided to conduct a little experiment. If something traumatic in his life happened, say, his daughter was abducted, who would he run to for comfort? Me, or Alice? - That's sick. - So, I'd have confirmation, once and for all. And if he went to your mother instead of me, I'd be in the perfect position to hurt them very badly. - She wouldn't do this. - No, it's her, I know it's her. She's the only person that I told that Maddy was sick. - Maybe there's something on her computer. - Just look for anything, something. - We need to call the police, tell them what happened, and let them take it from here. - Password protected. Would she keep her at her home? - No, she lives with two roommates. There's no privacy there, and she wouldn't do it! - Do you have a key for this? - Somewhere, yeah, and when we open it up and see there's nothing in there, we're calling the police. - Just get me the key. - You alright? - Do you think we should call the police? - The longer she's gone, the less likely we'll recover her alive. You know this better than me. You were the negotiator. - I know. I just needed to hear it from you. - So, we agree, we're gonna call the police? - Yeah, we agree. - Why are you still here? - It's my shoe. She was wearing this. - Uh, don't tell Tony for obvious reasons. I don't want Brent to find out. Yeah, I'll be there in 30 with the merchandise. - You're selling me? - What choice do I have? You've ruined my perfect plan. When your father came to me for comfort, I was going to dump you in the canyons for some early morning hikers to find, but then you had to go and pull off my mask. - No, you aren't taking me anywhere. I didn't know until I saw your face, but this is my parents' office building. One step closer, and I'm screaming. - Everyone has gone home for the day, and I've bribed the security guard. Men will do anything if you wear the right outfit. Come on. - Help, help! - Victoria, Victoria pick up the phone please. Where the hell are you, Victoria? - I'm sorry to call so late. It's just that she has these papers that I need tonight. Okay, she's not there. Thank you. - Hey, Cheryl, thanks for calling back. Um, any luck tracking the phone? No worries, thanks for checking. Uh, she must have disabled the GPS. She gotta be using a burner. - Brent, where would she keep her? - I don't know. - There has to be someplace that you can think of. - I can't think of any place right now. - Maybe some place you guys kinda went together, private and secluded? - We were having an affair, Steve. Everywhere we went was private and secluded. - What? - We used to sneak off at lunch, to a storage room in the basement. - Let's go. - Let's go. - I told you, nobody's coming. - My Mom will, she'll find me and you're going to jail. - You know, you're a handful. I don't think I want you for a step-daughter after all. Huh, too late, Brent. You landed over an hour ago. You made your choice. Now at least, I'll make some money off of your brat. - Where is this room? - It's right here, it's right here. She's not in here. - They were here. - What? - They were here! Where was ... - Maddy! - Baby! - Stay back. - Please, let her go. - I don't think so, Alice. - Why are you doing this? - Why? Well let's see. You've canceled how many dates recently? I could tell what was happening, Brent. I said stay back! - What was happening, Victoria? - You were breaking up with me. You promised me you would leave Alice for me and that we would go on and build a life, and this business together and you're going back on your word. - I'm, I'm not. - He isn't. He told me before he left for New York that he was leaving me. - You're both liars. - Victoria, Victoria listen to me. There's no way out of this. Just calm down, calm down, put the knife down. You can do it. - Everything is gonna be fine. Okay, just please, just let her go, and everything will be okay. - No, it won't. This was your test, see? If something went wrong, who would you run to for help? Me or Alice? - Don't hurt my daughter, Victoria. - This is your test and you failed. And now I'm gonna hurt you like you hurt me. - Now. - I loved you, Brent. - I told you I was coming for my girl. - What time did you arrive? - I got here early in the morning. - How early is early? - 7:00 a.m. - I knew you'd find me. - Maddy, I'd go to the ends of the Earth to save you. - This was my fault, I should have listened. - No, you were right. I'm way too overprotective of you. I should have trusted you more. - Yeah, but, I lied and I snuck out to go to the party. - You did, but I heard you left the party when they started drinking. You can make the right decisions. - But if you had known where I was, you would have known something was wrong when I didn't come home. - I always say no when you wanna do something that makes me nervous, but I want you to feel like you can tell me the truth no matter what I'm feeling. - I will from now on, I promise. - And I promise to trust your decisions. I mean after all, you're nearly an adult. - Yeah, but I still need my mom. - The police are done taking our statements. We can go home now. - Okay. - Alright, let's get a nice bath, cleaned up, some food, that sound good? - Dad, how could you do that to Mom? - Maddy, it's alright. - I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, and I ... I just love you guys both so much. - Okay, all I care about right now is that Maddy gets home where she belongs. Alright, we'll deal with all that later. - I'll walk you out. - She say anything? - Not yet. - Whoo ... You're a real piece of work, Victoria. - It wasn't my fault. - Here you go, man. Alright, bring it down to the station, alright? - Yes, sir. - Wow, what a crazy day. - Yeah. I don't know what I would have done without you. - It was all you, Alice. You saved her. - Oh, Victoria, you're fired. - Hey. - Hey. - Do you want these photos? - The lawyer said we had to turn over everything. - I seriously doubt the FBI is gonna want our family pictures. - I'm sorry to see it go. - Not as sorry as I am, for everything. - I know you are, Brent. - How's Maddy coping? - She's good. I think this experience has made her stronger in a way. - My apartment will be ready this weekend. You think it would be okay if she came over and spent a little time with me? - If she wants. - Well, she wanted me to check with you first and assure you everything was safe over there, considering that my past behavior put our family in danger. - Just promise me that she won't get kidnapped, and I'll agree. When's your hearing? - Next week. Will you be there? - I'll think about it. What did your lawyer say about jail time? - He said I could probably avoid it because no money had actually exchanged hands yet. - That's good, for Maddy's sake. I filed this morning. I'm not gonna be vindictive and go after everything you have. I want it to be a fair split. My priority is the health and happiness of our daughter. - I appreciate that, Alice. It's more than I deserve. Hey. - Hey. - You ready? - Yeah, just let me grab my purse. - Alright. How's it going, Brent? - You know, it's been better. - Just keep your head up, man, things will improve. - Thanks for the words, Steve. - You know, I want you to know, I was telling the truth. About Alice and I. We-- - I know. I was just jealous. Hey listen, if I end up going to prison, will you watch my girls for me? - Yeah man, I'll definitely do that. - Okay, you ready? - Yeah. - We'll see you later, Brent. - See ya. - So where do you wanna go? - I don't know, maybe the coffee shop next door? Or do you think they'll remember that we roughed up some kid in their bathroom? - Yeah, we had a lot of good memories here, but the new house is cute. - Kinda small though. - Aw, we don't need a house this big. And with the business gone, it's a little much. - So, what are you gonna do now? - I think it's time for a new adventure. - Like what? - I don't know. There's plenty of possibilities. - And, do any of the possibilities include Steve? - Maybe, we'll see how that goes. - Yeah, I like him. - You do? - So, speaking of new adventures, can I go to a party tonight at Hunter's? - Absolutely not! - Mom! - No, you have to stay in and finish that poem, so you can make the filing deadline. - Really? - Yes, really! - Oh, my god, Mom thank you. - It's gonna be hard for me to let you go. - Mom, you know, we could take a trip to New York to check out the security of the dorms. - We can do that. - And we need to have weekly call scheduled so that you know that I'm doing okay. - Okay. - Mom, maybe you could just like text me every night before I go to bed so that you know I'm home? - Okay, I think you're going a little overboard. - No, but Mom, there are frat parties. You definitely need to periodically remind me about the dangers of underage drinking. - Oh boy, I've created a monster! |
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