Burn Notice - S01E09 - Hard Bargain

My name is Michael Weston. I used to be a spy until... When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in. You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend. An old friend who's informing on you to the FBI. You know spies. A bunch of bitchy little girls. Family too. Hey, is that your mom again? If you're desperate... Someone needs your help, Michael. Bottom line, until you figure out who burned you, you're not going anywhere. Isn't there a part of you that's beginning to like Miami? It's fine. Fine? There are people who come here from all over the world. They don't have a waterfront like this in Afghanistan. It doesn't rain as much either there. There are pleasant parts of Afghanistan. The mountains are nice. Maybe we can vacation there someday. Or when you can travel again, of course. Some special occasion. Speaking of which, it's my birthday in a few days. Did you get me anything yet? Yeah, I got you something. You know, for someone who's worked as a professional liar for most of his career, you're not terribly good at it when it counts. What's he doing? Your mystery man? Getting heatstroke, it looks like. Michael, I'm pretending that I'm here for more than just tactical backup. You're supposed to be playing a part for your girlfriend. You want me to get you a shaved ice fee? I mean, I need someone, okay? What's this guy's name again? Perry Clark. At least that's the name he gave me on the phone. And you said he was here to review your status? That's desk jockey jargon for what now? He may be able to get me off the blacklist. Revoke my burn notice. And now you're about to piss him off on purpose. Just a precaution, food. I have learned to be careful. Work around spies for a while, and you learn to be careful when it looks like you're getting what you want. That's when you tend to let your guard down, get careless. Look at him, Michael. He's a cubicle monkey. Calling the cops on someone can teach you a lot. A foreign agent would run, so might an armed assassin. A bureaucrat's going to act like a bureaucrat. You can't look in that, sir. I think he just passed your little test. All right. Aren't you going to talk to him? Now might not be the best time. I'm sorry, I must have missed you. Yeah, I had a conversation with the police about a suspicious man matching my description. You're not the first field op I've dealt with, Mr. West, and believe me, I've been vetted every which way. Maybe we can set up a new time. I have had enough of new times and places and tests. I hope I don't have to remind you that my recommendation carries weight when it comes to removing you from this blacklist. Bureaucrats live for respect. East of the Balkans, that means a bribe. In the West, it's more about showing you know they're in charge. And I expect a little more consideration for my time. Yeah, I apologize. Yeah, it won't happen again. It's just I talked with the man on the phone who burned me recently. He seemed unhappy. This is not about one NSA officer who acted on information in a file. This is a departmental review in which I am... Let's set up a new time, a new place to meet. We'll review the file. I'll check my schedule. Thank you. When you keep pissing him off, Michael, you'll be in Miami forever. At least I'll get an answer. The government sent him down here, and he's not going to go back to D.C. without getting a verdict on me. Not at his pay grade, anyway. You think you could convince him that you were set up? I read the dossier. It's pretty convincing. Yeah, Sam. Mike, I'm on my way over. There's a thing I need you to help me look into right away. Sam, I'm in the middle of... A car. Yeah. It's a gift from the lady friend. I got it yesterday. It's like driving on a cloud. What exactly do you do for these women, Sam? Well... Never mind. Anyway, thanks for coming. I didn't ask. Yeah, well, you owe me, because I've been checking into this guy who came down from D.C. What did you find out? Well, I'm still working on it, but he's a... He's a paper pusher. He's a name in a cubicle. That's all you got? Well, hey, you know, with the crap you've been doing, I'm not getting much love in D.C. Keep digging, Sam. Keep digging. I will, brother. Anyway, so this guy we're gonna go see, my lady friend hooked me up with him. He's got some kind of problem, and he heard that she had a boyfriend who could help. He heard that she had a boyfriend that could help? I was vague. I said I was a freelance superhero Robin Hood kind of guy. That's vague. A house like this, I mean, it's probably some expensive kitting up a tree. Cakewalk. You're Sam? Yeah, I'm Sam. Thanks for meeting me, man. Yeah, no problem. Uh, this is Michael, the guy I told you about over the phone. Yeah, your assistant. What's up, bro? Uh, oh. No, no, it's actually more like a partner sort of thing. So Veronica said you want to talk? Yeah, dude. I've got a serious problem. Come inside. After you. A place like this, you could have called Halliburton to help you out. Halliburton? I don't know him. I'm saying you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself, Nick. Oh, no, I don't own this. I'm a house sitter. I work three or four estates on the island. That's a job? House sitter? Yeah, these people are only here a few weeks out of the year. Okay, so do you need an application for that? Tell me your problem, Nick. That's Dawn. She's my fiance. She was kidnapped the day before yesterday and the people that took her want like five million dollars. And they think you have that kind of money? Well, the thing about this job is that you drive these cars and you stay in these houses and people kind of think that you own them, you know? And it gets harder to tell them that you don't. And your fiance thinks that you own these things? Kind of. I guess, yeah. I didn't want to tell her that I was lying to everyone. I was afraid I'd lose her, man. I don't know what to do, bro. What you need to do is call the police. No, I can't. They said that they would kill her if I did. They said they'd know. Here, they sent me this. They kidnapped that girl last year and her family called the cops. And now she's dead. I got like an hour before they're gonna call. And I told them that I was trying to get the money together, but... An hour? Man, I got nowhere else to turn. Look, you can have anything you want. I got about 15 grand. I got a surfboard collection, anything. You got it. Are you guys gonna help me or not? They're gonna kill her. Okay, okay. Sam, why don't you go get Fia? I think we're gonna need a little help on this cakewalk. I'm on it, Mike. Okay, Nick. Let's get you ready. About 40% of kidnapping victims are released safely. These statistics are affected by a number of factors, including the nationality of the kidnappers, the age of the victim, and whether a hostage negotiator is employed. I can't do this, man. What's the point? They want like 5 million bucks. The odds go down sharply if no one has any money to pay the ransom. Keep it together, Nick. You're doing fine. Just stick to the script. Do it like we practiced. Really? It's gonna be okay. Let's just get through this. Okay. Now, do they usually call on time or... Oh, that answers that question. Just like we rehearsed. Pick it up. Nick, pick up the phone. Nick. Three, two, one. Hello? I'm getting it. I just... I need to know if she's alive first. You talking to the police? No, man. I... She's fine. I just need to know that Dawn's okay. You don't pay. Well, I'm not gonna pay. Until I get to see her. I need to know you didn't hurt her. You want five million bucks? I wanna see a video. You're pushing it, carajo. Now, hang on. A kidnapping is a business deal. The bad guys have negotiating power, since they're selling the life of a loved one. But then again, they have a market of one, so they have to work with you. Go to the Coconut Grove mall. Two hours. We'll call you. Jesus! Oh, Jesus, I thought I was gonna puke, bro. You did fine, Nick. You did fine. So you understand. You pick up the package, and you walk away. You got it? Oh, yeah. You don't look at us, you don't talk to us. You just walk out with the video. Fiona and I will be watching to see if the kidnappers have someone there, and Sam will follow in the car if he sees anyone leave. Okay. So I walk to the car. No, Nick. Focus. You just walk away. You pick up the package, and you leave. Like we're not even there. But wait, you will be there, right? Yes, we will be there. Okay. Go ahead. Unlock. Working with untrained amateurs introduces an element of risk. It's a risk you have to live with in a lot of operations. Although you often find yourself wishing everyone went through Green Beret training in high school. Get me a birthday card. Just window shopping, see? You got eyes on Nick? Yes. All the way from the escalators to that charming little lingerie store. They have a fabulous little teddy in there. They make a great gift. I've never seen you wear anything but men's shirts to bed. Fair enough. The men's store on the third floor. Nice selection. The ones with the big buttons are easier to undo. Focus, V. Can you see people on my side of the mall? Because I can't look at everybody. Yeah. Oh, Nick. There he goes. Anyone looking curious? There's a decent candidate at the cafe. Gray shirt. On here, too. I see. How's our ace operating performance? Looking good. He's going to get the package now. Just walk away, Nick. No, don't. He made me fake. Once a kidnapper knows you're on to him, he'll try to contact his partners to have the hostage killed. At that point, you have a choice. You can start choosing wreaths for the hostage's funeral. Or take a hostage of your own. Axe. Come on, please. I want to go home. I'll call you tonight. Jesus. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Okay, stop saying that. Oh, God. I screwed everything up, bro. Seriously, stop talking. Stop moaning now. The moaning. It's the moaning. Nick, stop moaning. Listen, Nick. I'm not saying I'm happy with how things went down today, either. But this can still work out. Look, in some ways, we're better off. How? How are we better off, dude? You got some kidnapper tied up someplace. You got Don. Oh, wait. Oh, I get it. You're going to trade Don for the dude. No. He's just a hired hand. If they find out we've got their guy, they'll kill her immediately and probably leave town. So how are we better off? They want five million dollars or they kill Don, yes? Right. Last time I checked, we don't have five million dollars, right? No. So our only hope is to find Don before they find out we don't have five million dollars. We will convince this guy to help us find Don. Yeah. Okay. The art of turning someone into a double agent is delicate. The target has to be put into a fragile psychological state. Get this crazy bitch away from me! Fortunately, fragile psychological states are a specialty of Fiona's. I was just helping our friend Lucio into a more cooperative mood. Where's Sam? Had to get some air. It was getting a little loud in here. So what do we know about our new friend? Well, his name is Lucio Velasquez. Colombian national. He's got a rap sheet here and at home. He and his brother ran an extortion racket in Colombia. His brother got caught. Lucio ran. Good to meet you, Lucio. You know what? Go ahead and taser me all you want. I'm not going to tell you nothing. Taser? Oh, no. We have something much better than a taser. We've got an instant camera. It's always easier to turn someone who works for a criminal gang into a double agent. The more secretive and ruthless their side is, the better. You work on their fear that any hint of disloyalty will get them killed by their own people. Lucio, you need to think about your situation very carefully. You have been caught in the middle of a delicate assignment. Say we let you go and give this photo to your boss. Along with a cooperating witness statement you're about to give to the FBI. Oh, no, no, no, no. I never made no statement. Here's the form. Looks real, huh? We'll fill it out and sign it on your behalf. Sam's pretty good with a computer. Oh, thanks, Mike. It's just Photoshop. Oh, look here. You have... It means you're going to testify in court against your boss. So, anyway. We take the photo. We put it in the file. Sam here has ties to the FBI and other government agencies, just in case your boss does his homework. I have to say, you guys look pretty tight here. My guess is, he won't feel right until you're dead. What do you want, man? You now work for us, Lucio. You tell us what we want to know. You do what we say. And that is how you will stay alive. Where's Don? I don't know. You don't know, Lucio? No, no, no, no, no, no. I swear. I swear. I don't know. Reyes keeps everything separate. Reyes, your boss. I find people in clubs, in rich neighborhoods, and in Reyes, he does a job with two other guys. Someone else guards the hostages. Everything is separate. Nobody knows each other. He does that for security. Let me be clear here. The girl dies, you die. You're lying. I'm not lying, all right? Now, I need to check in with Reyes right now. I'm already late. He's going to know that something is wrong. Fine. Call him. You broke your foot walking down the stairs at the mall. You forgot to call. I broke my foot. I didn't break my foot. There you go. There are a lot of little bones in your foot, so you'll be able to walk. You want to borrow the Mercedes, man? Yeah. Please try not to scratch that car. It's an S550 AMG worth like 120 grand. And we need a house. There's a penthouse downtown that I watch. What do you need it for? We need to find where Don is being kept. Lucio doesn't know. His job is just finding targets for Reyes. So, we're going to have Lucio bring him a new target. A rich society wife. Or something. And a disgruntled bodyguard. You got a bitch? Talk to Reyes. Tell him I'm willing to help him pull the job, but he's got to show me where he keeps the hostage. Hopefully, they'll bring Sam to where Don is, and we can grab her. But we got to move fast. And we need a target that will make him drool. Karachi to Bogota. Every kidnapper's favorite resource is a corrupt employee. Her husband's worth 200 million. Good work, Lucio. An employee can handle alarms, police. You can get financial information, bank accounts. You've even got a fall guy if anything goes wrong. To a professional kidnapper, a good man on the inside is worth a lot. And a bad man on the inside is worth even more. Lucio. Okay, okay. I can do this. Okay, man, I can. Reyes is going to kill me if he finds out. Well, that's the point, Lucio. You do your job well, he won't find out and you'll stay alive. Did Reyes like our little business opportunity? The rich lady in the bodyguard? Yeah, he loved it. Okay, we've been following him around all day. He wants to meet with your guy, talk terms. What about Don? He's impatient. Look, the guy wants his money. I held him off a little bit, but I don't know if I can do it much longer. I'm supposed to be calling you right now and telling you that you only got 12 hours or the girl's dead. Tell him 12 hours isn't long enough. Tell him Nick's family has hired a hostage negotiator and that the guy wants to talk to him in person. Thanks. Come on, you can't be serious. You convince him it's the best way for him to get his money. You just need to buy enough time to find Don and then you're done, Lucio. You'll do it? Do I get a choice? No, you don't. You got my number. Tell me where and when. The thing about doubling anyone is that the more they do for you, the deeper they get. The deeper they get, the more you can make them do. Great if you're running them, but hard on the source. The suicide rate is above average. I understand your concerns, Mr. Weston. I have worked with field operatives before. I may find your priorities somewhat baroque and unnecessary, but I suppose that's why I work in an office and run around the world with guns. I suppose so, yes. So, you've now had your opportunity to screen me in public. Are you satisfied that I'm not some shadow figure sent to liquidate you? Can we do our business now? Yes. Now, I have security concerns of my own. As I'm sure you're aware, your case has certain issues pertaining to national security. Issues that require a private venue. Now, my office in Fort Lauderdale is important. I would not be able to make it up there for at least a few days. That's unfortunate. Maybe this isn't important enough to you, Mr. Weston. I have to get back to D.C. You could come by my place the night after tomorrow. You hope to gain some sort of home court advantage? No, it's just that I need to be around here for the next few days for my day job. If there were any other way, believe me. Fine. Call me with it. Thank you. Andrew Chambers, hostage negotiator for the family. Okay, you got a sniper trained, not you. Nick's family's not gonna pay if you shoot the negotiator. You'd end up with nothing for your trouble. How do I know you're not a cop? Cops don't make themselves available as potential hostages. They don't get paid enough for that. And I don't know what the magnification is on your sniper's scope, but the label? The label's Armani. Cops don't fit Armani. How do I look? I look good, right? You gonna keep playing games? Because I got all day. Nice suit. Get in. I like doing my meetings this way. I hope you don't mind. No, fine by me. You know I'm not wearing a wire. Smart. Plus, the massage music. It's really nice. And coming! Okay, all right. Look, let me get straight to the point. I'm gonna have a hard time getting Nick's family to pay $5 million for Don. Oh, is that so? Don's not part of the family, and the engagement really isn't that official yet. I don't want to talk out of school, but I don't think the family likes it very much. Well, I wonder how much they would pay for a smart-ass hostage negotiator. Trust me, at my hourly rate, you'd be doing them a favor, sweetie. You can go a little lower and a little left. I have a trouble spot right about... Yeah, right there. Okay, so give me a number. A count or offer. I think I can close at a million. One million? That's 20% of my price. Mm, you are good with numbers. I take 20% of my price, I'll give you 20% of the car. Hostage negotiators hear that one a lot. It's funny the first few times. Oh, you think I was joking. Look, it comes down to how much we're willing to move on the price. I gave you a number, now it's your turn. Three million. That's as low as I go. Three million's gonna be a tough sell. I'll bring it to the family, but they'll need at least 72 hours to think it over. 48 hours. After that, the girl dies. 48 hours I can do. Now, could you have one of your boys turn the heat up? It's a little chilly. They paid you for the whole hour, right? Is that a mackerel? I don't know. The guy who owns this place is into guns and stuff. That's a Soviet-issue sidearm. From 1951, I think. It's a beautiful piece. I guess, yeah. How big is that? It's 60 inches, I think. The quality's nice. Satellite? It's, uh, DirecTV HD. That's why the picture's bigger. What the hell are we talking about? Look, I know that you asked me to stop talking about it and just stay here and watch TV, but I can't watch anymore. Are you gonna be able to save her? Please say yes. Working on it. How did we do? I bought us 48 hours. I'm setting up a meeting with Lucio tonight. Lucio's gonna set up a meeting with Sam, and Sam will get them to tell us where they keep the hostage. We're gonna finish this. Feyes wants to meet your guy tomorrow, quick. Did you get a time? No. He's getting sick of waiting. He wants to get rid of the girl. Hold him off, Lucio. Remember, if she dies... We on? We're on. GPS devices are becoming more and more common these days. Mostly they're for nervous parents tracking children, but they're perfectly good for other uses. Like a charm, Mike. You can follow me all over Miami with that thing. Now, look, wouldn't it be easier to grab her when she takes her morning jog along the beach, 6 a.m., every single day, nice and early? I'll consider it. So, look, you're the big boss man here, right? That's what they tell me. Okay, then you should know I'm taking a pretty big risk here, so I expect to be rewarded. I mean, this is my employer we're talking about kidnapping here. So as soon as this goes down, I'm out of a job. All right, well, if what you tell me about her husband is true, you'll be very wealthy when you finish. I like the sound of that. All right, now, look, if this is gonna happen, I gotta know the vehicle you're taking her in, and I wanna see where you're gonna keep her, because I hear stories of people being shoved in dungeons and crap like that, and that ain't gonna fly, okay? She can't get hurt. If she gets hurt, we get a lot of extra heat. Hey, we take care of the operation, okay? No, you hold it right there, my Colombian friend. This is 20 million bucks we're talking about, and you've been out of my ass about every little detail about how I deliver her. As of right now, I'm on the hook for life without parole for kidnapping, same as you, buddy. So you like it or not, we're a team. Fine, I'll show you. Come on. This is the type of car you use to grab them? Yeah, we prepare them like this, we use them once, and then we discard them. Shame to discard it. When this job is over, might get me one of these. Might get two. Still has that new car smell. So this is where you keep them, huh? And you have security? 24 hours. They're well taken care of here. Five years we do this, only one unintentional death. Not bad. All righty, then. Let's do this. Lucio, you should have called. I wanted to talk to you face to face. I've done all I can. Running a double agent is a relationship. There's a give and take. Mostly take, but sometimes you have to give. Lucio, you're doing a great job. You're almost out, you stay with it, and you'll be rewarded. We'll set up a bank account for you. Reyes wants to do the other job. The one with your friend? He wants to do it now. He said it's better to kill the girl so they can start the other job. Told me to call you to finish this. Finish it how? You have two hours to get him the money. Or the girl dies. You said we had two days. Now they want the money in two hours. They're gonna kill her, bro. Not if we get to her first. Now we know where they're keeping her. Maybe we should just call the cops. You think the cops can put together a rescue plan in two hours? The bad guys will be monitoring the police scanners. One whisper of this on the radio and she's dead. So what, I'm supposed to just sit here? No, you're going to get me the Yellow Pages and tell me where the nearest pharmacy and gardening store is. I need to pick up a few things. Yellow Pages? Bro, I have a computer. Rescuing a hostage isn't about battering rams and guns. Charged through a door with a gun and chances are the person you're trying to save will be the first person lying on the floor dying of acute lead poisoning. So you come up with alternatives. Ingredients from the local pharmacy mixed with aluminum foil powdered in a coffee grinder will make a serviceable flash grenade that'll stun anyone for a good 20 feet. Thermite is another handy tool. With a surface temperature of 1,000 degrees it's used to weld together railroad ties. It will make pretty short work of most locks, too. I'm not excited about you seeing Reyes by yourself. Someone needs to stall him in case you guys need more time. Mike, nobody's got your back. If this goes bad, Reyes could get tipped off. The only other option for backup is Nick. You guys like that idea? Call me when you got done. Nice view. Where's my money? Would you consider being paid in bonds? Bonds? I said cash. I know, but a bearer bond is as good as cash. It's issued without a named holder. Listen, I'm not saying it's right, but the family has liquidity issues, there are tax implications. I don't care about the tax problems. I want my money. I understand, and I am trying to get you that money. No, no, no, you're trying my patience. I said cash, I expect cash. Your time is up. Go ahead, shoot. Good luck hiding the body. My guess is the cops show up first because that is a very loud gun you're holding. I am just trying to make this deal. Look at it from the family's perspective. They shell out three million in cash, and then what? It raises flags at the bank with their investment advisors, their employees, people piecing together that they paved you off. That is not my concern. But it concerns me, because if word gets out that this family paid a ransom, other guys like you will come out of the woodwork. I just need to make sure that this never happens to this family again. They're gonna call me any second. Would you mind taking that gun out of my face? If you can't get through a door without attracting attention, the next best thing is to attract a lot of attention. Once everyone's looking at the door, wondering what's going on, you can pop in a flash grenade, and they won't see anything for a while. Get down! Attaboy. You're not as dumb as you look. You're safe. We're gonna untie you. You're safe. Look at me. You're safe now. Unlike stocks, bonds are financial instruments. Now, that is the family. May I take this? Tell him it's cash, or she dies. Got it. Yeah. Hey, Mike, it's finished. No. They won't do stocks, nor bonds. Yeah, I explained the difference. I understand. That's it. They won't pay the ransom in cash. Now, I hope you can reconsider killing a hostage. Get out. Get out! Seriously, bro, I don't even know how to thank you. Those surfboards right there. Yeah, I don't surf. You're awesome, bro. Sounds like you're here. All set, Mike. Hospital checked her out. She's fine. Is Nick here? He's inside. You guys should talk. Cakewalk, huh? No. Look, Mike, you know, if you ever want to borrow my caddy, it's yours. Thanks. Nick. Hey, babe. You lied to me! Baby, I love you. You lied to me! Another happy ending. Mr. Clark. I've never done a meeting in a private home like this before, Mr. Weston. I'm not even sure it's allowed. Thanks for bending the rules. Again, no guarantees, Mr. Weston. We're gonna have to cut this short. You tell me your side of the story, I'll get back to you. This shouldn't take long. Oh, good. My wife's expecting me to actually make my flight tonight. Great. You have any coffee? Coffee. I think I have some instant. That's fine. The longer you've been in the game, the more you have to be careful about underestimating an opponent. Say you don't think much of bureaucrats, don't feel they're worth your time or attention. Then a bureaucrat is the perfect person to send to kill you. Wow, you're pretty good. It'd be less painful for you. It'll look like you hanged yourself. It probably isn't really the work that you need. It would have been easier if you'd kept our appointment before a water deal. I had some things arranged. Oh, Will. There's no way to anticipate every danger. You need a backup plan for when things go wrong. Sorry to inconvenience you. That's why home-court advantage is so important. Not a bad guess. Thanks, Sam. You were right about him. You know, he must feel a little proud of himself. I wanted my burn notice resolved, talk myself into denying my instincts. That's nothing to be proud of. I'm fine. Almost dying. That's happened before. So I'm not allowed to be concerned? To worry you? You can worry about me. Like Nick worried about Dawn? Hopefully not exactly like that. Oh, he was head over heels in love. I talked to him about you. About what I should get you for your birthday. I knock it off. He said you would like it. Is it the same? Nick convinced his boss to sell it to me at a discount. Thank you, Michael. Happy birthday, Fig.