Previously on Reacher...
A woman kills herself on the same train
as the chief of staff of a potential presidential candidate?
CIA starts kidnapping people over it?
- [shouting, grunting] - That's a story.
I don't know where Ben is, but I knew that girl--
the one he left with the other night.
Yeah, real name's Mary Ellen Daniels.
Do you have an address?
[propulsive music playing]
Whoever did this weren't amateurs.
Found the self-checkout's car.
[Russell] Any idea why she'd ditch a perfectly good car,
take the subway?
[Jacob] It's a work badge.
[beeps]
[Russell] Name: Anna Merrick. Work address and
level eight clearance.
[Tamara] Well, at least we know where we're going to next.
What the hell was Anna doing here?
[Lila] Putra and his soldiers
were trained by an American Delta Force specialist.
- John Sampson. - [Lila] That drive has the proof
connecting Sampson to all of this.
I have never tortured or killed civilians.
- What about your chief of staff? - What about him?
[Reacher] Why were you on the subway
with Anna Merrick the night she died?
- I'm sorry, John. - [John] Nolan.
- Nolan. Nolan. - No!
[indistinct police radio chatter]
[ominous music playing]
[camera shutter clicking]
And had Mr. Cahill exhibited any signs of distress?
- No. - Um, any particular matters
weighing on him-- romantic or financial-- anything like that?
Not to my knowledge.
Did he leave a note, a text message, maybe an email?
Look, Detective, like, I-I appreciate your thoroughness,
but he didn't leave anything. He displayed
no red flags, and right now, I'm...
If you could excuse us, I'm just trying to deal with the loss of my friend.
Understood, Congressman.
If I have any more questions, I'll reach out
- to your office. - Thank you.
How do I get a hold of you, Mr. Reacher?
You can't.
My office can pass along any inquiries you have for Mr. Reacher.
Okay, yeah. Good enough.
Um, my condolences.
Front desk just called, sir.
News crews are arriving. We got to get you someplace else.
Well, it's not a secret that I was staying at the hotel.
Or that Nolan worked for me.
A visual of you at the scene of a suicide is not good for--
Oh, for fuck's sake, Springfield.
I served with that man for 11 years,
and I'm not gonna leave him in a parking lot
underneath a tarp.
John, there's nothing you can do for him now.
The press is gonna want the quotes,
and Nolan would've been the first one to tell you
that you are in no state to go on the record right now.
This is no different than your military training.
Sometimes you have to just fall back and regroup.
[somber music playing]
I could use a beer.
It's 9:00 a.m.
I know a third shift bar.
Thanks.
Thank you.
I didn't know what kind of sweetener you liked,
so I got, uh, sugar, Splenda and Sweet'N Low.
Sugar's fine, thanks.
Okay, for the future, sugar it is.
Oh, shit. Listen to what I just found.
Last year, Congress passed
a really boring, bipartisan deficit reduction plan.
It's a million little paper cuts
to hopefully bleed out our massive national debt.
It's window dressing to convince the populace
our politicians are actually doing something.
- Focus. - Right, sorry.
Anyway, one of the paper cuts was a government-wide
move away from costly document storage facilities,
massive warehouses that stored decades-old records.
Between rental fees, maintenance,
they were really expensive.
Now, per the new law, most documents over ten years old
are to be digitized, uploaded to the secure server,
and then the paper copies destroyed.
This has to be where they're doing it.
You guessing or you know?
Well, the government doesn't exactly publicize the addresses
of their secret document destruction depots,
but I've studied enough of these federally-owned buildings
to know that that smokestack
is a ventilator for a commercial-grade incinerator.
When the government needs something important
go away, they burn it.
That's why nobody's ever seen the original Warren Commission Report.
Burnt up.
Why not just shred 'em?
Haven't you ever seen Argo? You can tape that shit back together.
We got to get in there.
We got to see what Anna had access to.
- And stole. - Hey, we don't know that.
Man, I'm not trying to take a shot at your sister,
but she was working at a top-clearance government building
and she left with a thumb drive everybody wants.
What else could she have done?
[suspenseful music playing]
You know, a lot of these cars have the same kind of parking pass Anna did.
Probably for parking over there.
And if they have the same pass as Anna,
they probably have the same work badge she did, too.
You just figured out our way in.
Hey, hey, we try to lift someone's work badge,
we could get arrested.
People are looking for us.
We can't allow ourselves to get put in the system.
We got to get in there. We can't use Anna's badge.
A dead woman comes up at the security gate,
we definitely get caught.
[car door closes]
[car alarm chirps]
- [door opens] - [electric entry bell chimes]
- [exclaims] - Oh...
- My God! Watch where you're going. - I am so sorry.
Oh, here, here, here, here. Here.
- Oh, God. - I am so,
- so sorry. - Geez.
- Oh, my God. - Oh...
Here's your stuff. I am so sorry.
[Jacqueline] It's fine. I've got it.
Sorry I snapped. It's just...
a new shirt.
Here, you know what?
Let me give you this for the dry cleaning.
- I insist. - It's fine.
Geez.
- [♪ Jamon Scott sings "Remember Me"] - ♪ I never dreamed...
- Two Natty Bohs. - Thank you.
♪ Livin' in a world...
To Nolan Cahill.
[whispers] What the fuck?
♪ did it come to this...
[regular volume] I met him first day of Delta training.
Terrified every one of us.
Meanest son of a bitch I ever met.
Is that why you made him your chief of staff?
A chief of staff
that no one could intimidate?
You can't put a price tag on that.
And I knew that he'd never have a problem
working for someone he previously commanded
'cause he had no ego.
It was always about the mission.
Molded me in his image.
All of us.
If that's true,
what would make you jump off a roof?
Excuse me?
You said you were molded in his image.
That means you're of the same character and morality,
more or less. So, given the same information, the same situation,
same circumstances,
you might react the same way.
Obviously, he knew something you didn't,
so I'm just wondering
what would make you jump off a building to your death?
I have no goddamn idea.
It's not what your source told you.
We never tortured or killed civilians.
But people were tortured and killed.
After we left.
What exactly did you do in Indonesia?
Look, I know you didn't know Anna Merrick.
Maybe a dead woman's a sunk cost to you,
but her son's still missing. 20 years old,
and very likely with sociopathic killers.
So the truth can only help right now.
Miss? Scotch.
Conversations that require scotch--
Are conversations that maybe shouldn't be had.
But if there's some way that you think I can help...
...I'll tell you what I know.
Even if it's things you can't legally say?
Look, I'll dance on that line
best I can without violating my oath.
[waitress] Dewar's okay?
Just fine, thank you.
♪ People lined up ♪
♪ all the way out in the street ♪
♪ waiting for a chance ♪
♪ just to say goodbye to you ♪
♪ telling me what you meant to them ♪
♪ what I meant to you...
Our squadron was dispatched to Indonesia with a team of scientists.
Something about using rainforest plants
to help find a cure for new
antibiotic-resistant strains of malaria or...
I-I… Who can remember?
Uncle Sam says you're going to Asia with a bunch scientists,
you go to Asia.
[uneasy music playing]
Our job was to keep the scientists safe
and to secure the cooperation of the local government while we were there.
Cahill oversaw that branch of the operation.
Now, in exchange for Indonesia's hospitality,
the U.S. agreed to train their military's special forces.
Which were led by General Reza Putra.
I oversaw that branch of the operation.
Look, I taught his men everything from
weapons training to guerrilla tactics.
When do you get to the part about slaughtering political dissidents?
Once we got back stateside...
...Putra went after people.
Anyone who was opposed to his increasing power.
And in the process, he wiped out an entire village.
Civilians,
kids, elderly.
Innocent, good people. He was indiscriminate.
Suddenly, he wasn't just some general that we ran drills with in the jungle.
He was a war criminal.
He was committing...
...just unspeakable acts.
Saddam Hussein, Noriega.
We were even friends with bin Laden when he was fighting the Russians.
Wouldn't be the first time America's been burned.
Still, if my connection to Putra were to be made public...
...it would derail everything that my team and I
have worked for for the past few years.
All right? This source of yours
is after stolen records connecting me to a monster.
She thinks you're the monster.
Well, then you tell her that she's pissing up the wrong damn tree,
because I had nothing to do with what Putra
did to those people. In fact,
the U.S. government sent a team down there
to deal with Putra the second they caught wind of it.
Well, something made Cahill
follow Anna Merrick onto that subway,
and something made him jump off that roof.
I'm gonna get that drive and find out what that is.
Well, I goddamn hope you do.
And when you find it, you do the right thing...
...and return it to me.
You seem to want this thing pretty bad
for someone who doesn't know what's on it.
Well, I could say the same of you.
You want it bad enough to send a team of mercenaries
in tactical gear after me.
I don't act outside the law.
The CIA does. Maybe you leaned on them.
I already told you I have no involvement with that agency.
It'll be a cold day in hell that they take orders
from a U.S. congressman.
Look, all I did was redirect you
to the Department of Defense when you started poking around.
Is that who Snap, Crackle and Pop work for?
Is that what you call them?
They wouldn't tell me their names.
Look, bottom line, Reacher...
...regardless of my personal interests,
whatever's on that drive
is the property of the United States Army,
and I just want to see it get returned to the Pentagon where it belongs.
I'll find that drive.
And once I see what's on it...
...I'll decide what to do with it.
[thunder rumbling]
He's probably gonna be a while.
[Elspeth] That's okay.
John Sampson will not drink from the well
when mourning his best friend.
All the same to a dead man.
Do you know what a Jonah is?
Among sailors, a Jonah is the person on the ship
that brings nothing but misfortune.
Every time he comes on board,
bad luck follows.
You're a Jonah, Mr. Reacher.
Like my mother said,
trouble always seems to find me.
I hope you got what you needed from John,
'cause I'd prefer it if you stay away from us now.
Can I get a ride back to the hotel?
Fuck off.
[tense music playing]
[indistinct radio chatter]
We don't get a lot of walk-ons.
Yeah, car's in the shop. Had the Lyft drop me at the bagel place.
Why is she looking at the ground?
She doesn't want cameras to get a good look at her face.
This is taking too long.
She's definitely gonna get busted.
No, she's not.
[off-key beep]
Seems to be a problem.
You got to put the chip up.
Ah. See, this is what you get when they've only got decaf left.
Have a good one.
Yes.
[Cheryl] You can't just email distribution and then hope that they'll follow through,
'cause they won't. That's why I have to be copied
on everything moving forward.
Okay? Okay.
Hi. Can you help me? Shannon Thomas.
I'm totally lost. I was transferred here from the Pentagon.
I'm supposed to be taking over for Anna Merrick.
Cheryl Brewster. So awful about Anna.
Did you know her?
Didn't have the pleasure.
Come on.
I'll get you set up.
Anna was so sweet.
But I guess you never really know what someone's going through, do you?
No.
Embarrassed to admit I really don't know what I'm supposed to be doing here.
I got reassigned last minute.
It's pretty simple. We're converting physical files to digital.
Less space, less waste.
You'll be scanning documents and uploading them in our digital storage system.
It's busywork, but busywork that pays time and a half.
Ah, yeah. This was Anna's workstation.
I know it's a little morbid, but the productivity logs
are tied to the workstation number... Blah, blah, blah.
I'll make sure someone comes by to clean out her desk.
That's okay. It's fine.
Logging you in under Anna's ID
so you can pick up where she left off.
I'll switch it into your name by the end of day.
All the files are numbered.
That's what you'll name the file after it's scanned.
When you've scanned all the files in the box,
drop the box and its contents
in one of the carts in the hallway marked for incineration.
Then you start a new box.
Any questions?
Nope.
I think I got it.
Wait, isn't that the woman you stole the badge from?
Fuck.
How fast does she eat?
I'm sorry, I must have forgotten my badge today.
Name?
Jacqueline Reed.
Ma'am, your badge was swiped in ten minutes ago.
- [phone rings] - What?
[Jacob] You got to get out of there.
They know you stole the badge.
[indistinct chatter]
Shit.
[security guard] Excuse me, ma'am, can I talk to you, please?
Ma'am, I need you to wait.
Yeah, I got her. She's right here.
Ma'am!
I need backup. We're on the second floor.
Whoa. What's going on?
[exciting music playing]
Oh!
[clattering]
[alarm blaring]
Uh, is it good that she's running?
[gate guard] You! Hold it!
- Stop! - [Russell] Come on, hurry!
- [gate guard] Get back here now! - Go!
- Go, go! - Get out of the car! Damn it!
[car engine revving]
[dramatic music playing]
Let's do it the easy way this time, Reacher.
No.
[exciting music playing]
[Foster] Keep him alive!
Break formation. Tactical dispersal.
[clattering]
[grunting]
[shouts]
[grunting]
[clattering in distance]
[grunting]
[shouts]
[grunting]
[groans]
[shouts]
What was your plan?
Uh...
maim you, shove you in a van,
ask you some questions.
[sirens wailing in distance]
[exclaims]
[groaning]
No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Fuck. Fuck! Aah!
- God! [panting] - [grunts]
Prick.
You're lucky I didn't throw you in, too.
[Tamara] It was just the one file.
Anna scanned it, deleted it and sent it to the incinerator.
Never uploaded it
- to the government server. - [Reacher] She must have
downloaded it to a jump drive before she deleted it.
Yeah, that's what we're thinking, too.
So whatever's on that drive
is the only copy in existence
- by design. - My sister's design?
More likely whoever she was getting that data for.
If it contains the only copy in the world of whatever documents are on it,
that drive becomes a lot more valuable.
Feels like whoever wanted it is probably looking to sell it.
Or they don't want us to see what they took
so we can't plan a defense against it.
Won't know till we know.
Let's hope we don't find out too late.
Okay, I'll see you in Philly.
We're almost back. Just in traffic south of the city.
What is the point of nighttime
construction if they keep this equipment in the road all day?
[intriguing music playing]
How long have you been stuck in traffic?
[Tamara] Couple exits.
But it gets really bad in this bottleneck.
Can you see the next off-ramp?
[Jacob] Uh, exit 20.
Columbus Boulevard and Washington.
Plum, look up the nearest subway station to exit 20.
[Russell] Yeah, copy that.
What are you thinking?
Thinking I might know why Anna got out of her car
and onto the subway.
- Tasker-Morris station. - That's where Anna bought her SEPTA pass.
She was probably stuck in the same traffic when she was bringing Lila
- the drive. - So she took the first exit
after traffic got bad,
went to the nearest SEPTA station and got on the next subway.
Anna had a clock to beat.
She was given a deadline. Can you get off
that road and get to that subway station?
[Jacob] Yeah, we're almost through the bottleneck.
I'll meet you
at Tasker-Morris as soon as I can.
[mournful music playing]
You good?
There's no way that Ben's okay, is there?
We don't know that yet.
Do you think he's alive?
Come on. You're a city cop.
You've worked hard cases before. You have instincts.
Is my nephew alive?
I've seen no evidence that confirms Ben is dead.
I feel like I have no control
over anything that's happening,
and I have no power to stop it.
I'm spinning out, you know?
Hey. Hey. Listen to me.
I've been a cop 15 years.
I've seen terrible shit happen to good people.
It's easy to get lost in the aftermath.
We don't have the luxury right now.
We got killers and feds raining down on us,
and a case that doesn't make any fucking sense.
We need you,
with your feet planted firm and your head in the game.
So when that darkness starts to wrap around you
and you feel like you're about to spin out,
know there's people who care for you.
Myself included.
Oh, um...
you reminded me.
Took this from Anna's workstation.
I thought you should have it.
Thank you.
Figured nobody would have a problem with turkey and cheese.
Everything okay?
We're good.
He's here.
Oh, shit.
I didn't get him a hoagie.
Oh. Sorry, man.
All right, so, this is where Anna came.
She was desperate.
You said she was at zero hour, so break it down.
Let's assume we're right.
The OnlyFans woman was murdered and her killers--
probably the Big Red Machine-- kidnapped Ben.
Leverage to get Anna to bring them the drive instead of giving it to Lila.
"Get us the drive by a certain time or we kill your son."
That's why she couldn't sit in traffic anymore.
So she took the subway to try to save Ben,
but that doesn't make sense, because...
Because what?
Uh, I don't know, man. Nothing.
I think what Plum is trying to say is...
...we know your sister didn't have the drive on the train,
and she couldn't save Ben without the drive,
so by the time Anna got on the subway,
she already knew her son was dead.
No, no, no, no, no, no. That-that doesn't play out.
Why would they kill their bargaining chip?
Kidnapping's rarely a clean crime.
It's hard enough to control a child, let alone a 250-pound linebacker.
So things broke bad and Ben wound up dead.
I don't want to be right, but I think I am.
How could she know Ben was dead?
She was probably getting proof of life updates.
Phone calls, maybe a video.
Then they refused to do it anymore.
Anna was stuck in traffic, missing their deadline would be bad news for Ben,
so she called, insisted on seeing he was still okay.
They wouldn't put him on the phone.
'Cause they couldn't put him on the phone.
That's how she knew he was already dead.
[Russell] So Anna couldn't save Ben,
why even get on the subway?
She couldn't stand to just sit there after what they did.
She needed to avenge him. She got to the off-ramp...
and she took it.
He's right.
When I saw Anna, she was a grieving,
distraught mother with a gun.
She wanted her pound of flesh.
From professional mercenaries? She was a government clerk.
She didn't care. She probably grabbed the black coat she had in the car
to cover the white shirt she had on, hoping it would help her
sneak up on Ben's killers.
She probably brought the gun to protect herself
and Ben after she gave the drive to the kidnappers
so that she could get out of there,
but now she was just using it to get payback.
But if she had a plan...
why would she kill herself?
What?
[foreboding music playing]
When I approached Anna...
...I told her I was a cop.
She was smart.
She knew I'd have to arrest her, and any hope for revenge would be over.
She already felt like she failed Ben in life.
Now she was failing him in death.
The guilt and pain was too much for her.
You told her that you were a cop?
I wanted her to-to feel like
she was with somebody in control when she was so clearly
out of control.
I thought it would de-escalate the situation.
I wanted to help her.
I didn't.
The jump drive-- Anna had it when she left for Philly.
No way she was gonna let Ben's killers get their hands on that drive.
So she got rid of it.
I think I know where she put it.
The mail that we found in Anna's car.
The only open letter was that credit card offer.
I don't remember seeing a return envelope.
You know, the kind that has a "No Postage Necessary" thing in the corner?
She mailed the drive,
and maybe her phone, before getting on the subway.
To who?
To Lila.
So if Anna died getting vengeance,
at least Ben's killers would be exposed by her story.
The fourth estate.
Last line of defense against tyranny.
So the thing we've been looking for this entire time
has been at Lila's hotel?
It's the last place Anna knew Lila was staying.
But Lila had to leave the hotel after getting attacked,
- before the drive was delivered. - [phone rings]
Docherty.
Wh-- You gave him your burner number?
Hey.
Okay.
Thanks.
They found Ben.
I'm so sorry.
I don't want him going to the morgue alone.
- Plum and I will go with him. - Yeah.
You meet Lila at her old hotel. Get that fucking drive.
I'll let you know when I have it.
[line ringing]
Lila? It's Reacher.
[Lila] Can you check in the back?
We don't keep anything in the back. Old mail
and lost and found stays up at the desk.
Can I talk to a manager?
Uh, Gene's in the Poconos till next week.
He'll tell you the same.
Thanks for the help.
Is there any other place Anna would have sent the drive to you?
It's the only place she knew.
I can't believe it wasn't there.
I got to get to the morgue.
- The morgue? - Anna's son was killed.
- Body was just found. - Dear God.
Mother and son.
Was it the same people who keep coming after us?
Most likely.
Working theory is Ben was a pawn to make Anna to bring them the drive.
So, I'm responsible for Anna's death and that of her only child.
[sinister music playing]
- What's wrong? - We're being followed.
The men who attacked you at this hotel
must have been staking the place out in case you showed up again.
What do we do?
Someone's got enough money for an endless supply of assholes.
I need to find out who.
Come on.
[grunting]
- No! - I'll deal with these guys
and meet you at the hotel.
[gun cocks]
The drive.
Left pocket.
Get it, then.
Unless you want to shoot me here in front of all these people
and risk getting arrested the same day you get the information you've been after,
you get it.
[grunting]
[people exclaiming, screaming]
Who do you work for?
- Fuck you. - [horn blows]
Aah!
[groaning]
Ow! [groaning]
Answer my questions or I'll take your other hand.
Aah!
[zapping]
Oh, shit.
[man in distance] Down here on the platform!
[propulsive music playing]
[grunts]
[cop] Hands up!
Show me your hands.
On the move!
[honking]
[grunting, shouting]
We need backup on the Tasker-Morris southbound platform.
Get guys on the exits now.
[grunting, panting]
[indistinct chatter]
[police radio chatter]
[man] Hey.
A little help?
- [indistinct chatter] - [female cop] He didn't come this way.
[male cop] I'll head east, you go west.
Thanks.
Hey, you know how to get to the Liberty Gardens Hotel
through these tunnels?
Where did they find him?
He was found around 9th and Callowhill.
Who called it in?
A garbageman reported a smell from a dumpster.
I'll give you a moment.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[somber music playing]
All Anna was dealing with...
...she never called me for help.
Because she knew I'm just a...
...glorified...
crossing guard with a badge.
Feckless, useless f-fuckin'...
...meter maid.
I wouldn't have called me, either.
[sniffles softly]
I have nothing now.
I am completely...
...alone.
[train rumbling in distance]
- [device beeps] - [radio static]
[merc leader] Can you hear me?
Rendezvous at Liberty Gardens ASAP.
Bennett, do you copy? Over.
Tyler?
[menacing music playing]
Rendezvous at Liberty Gardens ASAP.
We're moving in on the Princess' tower.
[sighs]
Come on, Lila.
Shit.
[elevator bell chimes]
[gasps]
[exhales]
[speaking Indonesian] You startled me.
- Did you get the drive? - [speaking English] It wasn't there.
But Reacher is still very invested in helping us,
so that's good.
- Okay. - What's all this?
[speaking Indonesian] I'm going to make us soto ayam.
I can't eat any more American food.
Perhaps this day won't turn out so terrible after all.
You're the officer who called in the Mary Ellen Daniels murder, right?
Yeah. She was with Ben Merrick the night she died.
It's all a part of a larger investigation.
Well, I just received a wound analysis you might be interested in.
It appears Ben's throat was cut by the same type of weapon
Mary was killed with.
[portentous music playing]
Don't move and don't scream.
Unless you want to end up like them,
tell us where the drive is.
Knives.
So no one hears a gunshot.
[medical examiner] It's a curved knife.
It's called a karambit.
Used by practitioners of certain martial arts in Indonesia.
Indonesia.
[dramatic music playing]
[vehicles honking]
♪ ♪
- [door crashes] - [SWAT officer] Philly PD!
Hands up! Hands up!
Don't you fucking move.
[♪ Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin sing "World's in a Bad Condition] - ♪ I declare this whole world is in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world's in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world's in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I guess I better make a move ♪
♪ I better move ♪
♪ Well, the preacher comes to your house ♪
♪ and you ask him to rest his hat ♪
♪ you know the next thing ♪
♪ the reverend wants to know ♪
♪ is, "Sister, where's your husband at?" ♪
♪ I declare this whole world is in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world's in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world's in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I guess I better make a move ♪
♪ I better move ♪
♪ Now, you see that politician ♪
♪ and he claims that he's working for you ♪
♪ But when he asks you for a donation ♪
♪ he slips a dollar down in his shoe ♪
♪ I declare this whole world is in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world is in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I declare this whole world's in a ♪
♪ bad condition ♪
♪ I guess I better make a move ♪
♪ I better move ♪