Damages s04e04 Episode Script

Previously on Damages I saw your client on Charlie Rose.
His English is better than his French.
Mr Coupet, did you personally oversee the development of a vaccine called Tranzec? We conduct clinical trials for every drug we develop.
Did you ever have occasion to hear the term "adverse event"? A wrongful death suit was filed against you and High Star in federal court.
The plaintiff's attorney is Ellen Parsons.
The brief lists a single witness, Christopher Sanchez.
Mr Sanchez came forward as a witness.
He claimed that High Star was involved in illegal activity that led to the deaths of three men.
I never liked that last mission.
Lawsuit's been filed.
The company cannot have you talking.
Mr Sanchez, in previous conversations, do you recall stating that you were involved in an illegal operation? I don't ever recall saying that.
What are you doing? I told them what you wanted! They got him to lie.
I think they were going after somebody over there.
# Little lamb # Smile # When I am through with you # There won't be anything left # When I am through with you # There won't be anything left # When I am through with you # Praise God and good evening.
It fills my heart with joy to be here with you tonight.
This week, my six-year-old son made a Christmas card for me.
It said, "Peace on Earth, good will to all men".
Peace on Earth.
Chris? I didn't know you were home.
How are you? I'm good.
What are you doing here? - I had to come back.
- Why? You know why.
- Hey! - I missed you last night.
I got hung up at work.
Sorry.
You spent the night at your desk, didn't you? Where are you? Let's have lunch later.
I'm on my way to the airport.
Right.
Of course.
Have a good time at your folks.
Wish them Merry Christmas for me.
Travel safe.
- Merry Christmas, Ellen.
- Merry Christmas.
This is bullshit, Patty.
You have no respect for my client.
You know, if you insist on additional days to depose Mr Coupet, you have to do it in a timely manner.
I'm not going to depose him until I'm fully prepared.
Fine.
I'm going to get the judge to compel you.
Good.
Give it your best shot.
I'm sure the judge will understand that it takes a little time to read 10 years worth of clinical trials.
- You've had time.
- A month, Jim.
Springtime in Paris is not so bad.
It looks like that went well.
I don't want you to have to jeopardise your other case by helping me.
Don't worry about it.
It's good to let them stew.
What's wrong? It's Chris.
I don't know if he's safe.
I don't even know if he's alive.
Are you getting emotionally involved? No.
No.
Don't.
It'll affect your judgement.
You'll make mistakes.
I'm here to see Ellen Parsons.
- And your name is, sir? - Christopher Sanchez.
- You can wait in here.
- Thank you.
And there's coffee and tea right out there.
Help yourself.
Ellen.
I want you to seriously reconsider pursuing this case.
I appreciate your concern, Patty, I do, but it's fine.
- Ms Parsons.
- Yes? There's a Mr Sanchez waiting for you in conference room two.
- Ms Parsons? - Who are you? My name is Nasim Marwat.
That is for you.
Did you tell reception you were Chris Sanchez? Only so I could see you.
- Call security, please.
- No, no, please.
Chris Sanchez sent me.
I'm his friend.
You see? This is from Chris.
She's a real pretty lady, this church.
The restoration's picture perfect.
Well, that was only possible because of you.
We're all grateful.
There's no need to thank me.
I'm happy to do it.
So what's on your mind? I've been struggling with Christmas Eve.
You're having second thoughts about giving the guest sermon? No, no.
I'm honoured to do that.
I just want to be sure I have something worthwhile to talk about.
Of course.
When Mary-Alice was alive, she was my ears for this sort of thing.
I'm kind of lost without her.
I must've filled a dozen wastebaskets with crumpled paper.
It happens to all of us.
I've been reading my Bible, studying my favourite passages.
I don't just want to talk about what matters to me.
I want to speak to the whole congregation.
Howard, that's my job.
You're a unique man with a unique perspective.
It's why I asked you to speak.
The congregation can be enlightened by your point of view.
I don't know about that.
Trust that God can lead you down the right path.
And remember that the faithful heart never errs.
Where did you get this? Chris gave it to my father so that I could bring it to you.
And how do you know Chris? I helped him with his work, the missions.
I will scout the region, I talk to the people, I translate, I gather information.
Mr Marwat, are you employed by High Star? No.
I only do this for Chris.
My family and Chris, we have the same enemy.
You see, my father, he was educated in the west.
We love our country, but the Taliban, they destroy it.
On Chris' last mission, three of his men were killed.
- Yes, that is true.
- Do you know the purpose of that mission? They go to a village, and then they take someone away.
Who did they take? An Afghan.
And that's all I know.
And why did they take him? Every mission, they take someone away.
Dangerous men who have knowledge.
What did Chris' unit do with these men? Interrogate them.
They asked them questions to find out what they knew.
Chris explained this to my father.
And now, my father is dead.
That company is responsible for murdering my father.
I'm so sorry, Mr Marwat.
Do you know where Chris is now? No.
I looked, but he is nowhere.
Did anyone else know that you were assisting Mr Sanchez? No, no one.
Chris' unit that you were referring to, was it these men? Yes.
But on the final mission, there was another, an American that I've never seen before.
I'm sorry I do not have more information.
I've only seen him once, and he never saw me.
So they were interrogating terror suspects.
Sounds like it.
Unfortunately, Marwat is worthless as a witness.
I know.
It's all hearsay unless we can find some other way to confirm his story.
If High Star was running some sort of terrorist extraction programme, they couldn't have done it alone.
Someone in the government would have had to have known about it.
Sorry.
It's my mom.
I was supposed to meet her to do some Christmas shopping.
Go ahead, talk to her.
I'm going to go out.
I think I know someone who might be able to help us.
- I'll come with you.
- No, no.
That'd be a little tricky.
Check in with me later.
Hey, Mom.
Mom, are you there? Where are you? Are you okay? I'm fine.
I'm sorry, I was going to call you.
- I got stuck in a meeting.
- Are you going to come shopping? I don't think I can.
I'm looking at these bracelets again.
They're all so pretty.
I can't decide which one Aunt Laurie would like.
I need your eye, Ellie.
I'm sorry, Mom, I just I don't think I'm going to make it today.
That's okay, sweetheart.
I know your work's important.
Listen, we'll pick something out for Laurie tomorrow, okay? A potential witness has just shown up out of nowhere.
Exciting.
Who is it? Mom, you know I can't talk about it.
You always keep the juicy details from me.
An Afghani man.
- But that's all I can say.
- Well, good luck.
- I'll take a rain check for tomorrow.
- Bye, Mom.
That's impossible.
Who else at High Star knew about the programme? Carter and Sanchez.
You knew that.
I know that's what you told me.
I've withheld nothing from you.
Well, somehow there's a new witness in town.
We got to find out who this guy is.
I'm supposed to be meeting with the Defence Department next week.
There's 60 million in contracts on the line here.
Any chance Chris Sanchez had something to do with this? Carter has Sanchez locked down.
Sanchez could have sent someone back here.
Maybe.
Shouldn't be too tough to find out.
You know how to get answers.
Sanchez is an American citizen.
There are no rules.
We need information.
Who the fuck cares how we get it? I'm not going to do that to one of my own men.
I'm not going to give that order.
You either believe in what we're doing or you don't, Howard.
I'm going to go check with my sources.
Hey, next one's on me, blondie.
What's your poison? - It's 11:00 a.
m.
- I know, I know.
I could have been here earlier, except I couldn't find my socks.
Which reminds me of a story about the chimp with the clap.
No one wants to hear it, Bill.
Holy shit.
Patty Hewes.
Your landlord gave me a couple of suggestions of where you might be drowning yourself, so I came by for a little conversation.
Little conversation? About what? About something near and dear to your heart.
That's not possible.
What about extraordinary rendition? I assume that in between drinks, you've been following Howard Erickson and High Star.
What about them? I've been hearing rumours that Erickson may be running his own in-house operation.
Seizing and interrogating terror suspects.
Erickson would be insane to go that far off the reservation.
High Star's not sanctioned for intelligence operations.
He'd lose his company if that ever got out.
Yeah, but what if Erickson was being protected? The schmuck had better be if he's going to run a programme like that.
So, what are we saying here? You got your sights set on taking down High Star? No.
Not me.
One of my associates, Ellen Parsons.
Never heard of her.
Well, if she wanted confirmation that High Star was running a programme like that, how would she get it? Patty, nobody's taken my calls for the last 15 years, including you.
How the fuck do I know how she'd get it? You know, I'm sure you must still have a few drinking buddies lurking in the shadows of D.
C.
You owe me, Bill.
Buy yourself a couple of rounds.
Think about it.
What can I do for you? How are your ties in the Afghan community? I have some eyes and ears.
- How's your Pashto? - A little rusty.
What have you got? Someone has just arrived from Afghanistan.
He's dangerous.
I need you to find him before he does any damage.
Some details would be helpful.
I'm guessing he's from the Kunar Province, or at least he spent time just south of the Hindu Kush.
As for his tribe, I'd say Kom Nuristani.
Start there.
That's all I got.
Excellent.
I will be happy to look for the next year.
You don't find him, I'll be happy to revoke your immigration status.
There's no need to talk like this.
I will search.
Your Uncle Sam thanks you for your vigilance.
"Blessed be the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God".
"I did not come to bring peace to the Earth.
"I did not come to bring peace, but a sword".
AC.
Sir, base camp said you were trying to get in touch with me.
We got ourselves a situation here.
An individual arrived from Afghanistan.
He's in New York talking to lawyers.
- Any idea who this could be? - No, sir.
Is it possible Sanchez sent someone stateside? He spoke to that contact of his.
Find out what they talked about.
See if Sanchez set anything in motion.
Yes, sir.
AC, this is important.
Top priority, understand? Sir, just to clarify, you're asking me to talk to him.
- Sir? - Yes, just talk to him.
See if he'll listen to reason.
"Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus".
"Join with me in suffering".
Yeah.
You miss Chris, don't you, girl? Let's get this back on you.
Come here.
Come here.
Your food, it tastes like home.
You are from Kunar Province? Very close.
Laghman.
I am from Bamyan Valley.
I have visited.
It's very beautiful.
Please come back.
You're welcome anytime.
- You are sure you're not hungry? - I'm fine, thank you.
I was hoping you could help me with something.
Have you ever seen these initials before? - Certainly.
This is the Double Dees.
- The Double Dees? Chris and his men, they call themselves this.
- What does it mean? - I do not know.
I really appreciate you coming all this way, Mr Marwat.
You should thank Chris.
He told my father to send me here.
The last time I saw Chris, he was going through a very difficult time.
Did your father say anything about his state of mind? When Chris came to visit my father, he wished to apologise.
For what? For the company, for the work, for the taking of the men who do not return.
Do you believe that High Star tortured the men that they took? Chris, he did not speak to me of this.
But, you know, sometimes it happens that they take the wrong men.
The men who are innocent.
Chris, he explained this regret to my father.
I see Chris means a lot to you.
To me, also.
I will do whatever I can to help him.
Thank you.
I'm telling you, man, I don't know what you're talking about.
Then why did you want to meet with Zafar Marwat alone? He's my own personal contact, he's a friend! - Your friend? - Yeah! Your friends are my friends.
Aren't we all on the same side? Marwat, he's plugged into tribal politics.
If he knows something about Nur Taraki, I just wanted to make him feel comfortable with telling me, so I went alone, okay? Sorry, man, I just don't buy it.
Did you have the old man pass on a message about the Double Dees for you? No! You understand why I can't trust you, right, Chris? No, you started this thing.
You sidestepped company channels, and you talked to a lawyer.
What you did may directly jeopardise High Star's ability to protect our country.
- Protect our country? - Yes.
Protect our country?! - You really think that's what we were doing? - Absolutely.
No, it's not so simple, AC.
Chris.
Come on, man.
Don't make this any harder than it has to be.
Now, you sent someone to New York with information.
- Give me a name.
- Or what? What are you going to do to me? - Thanks for the call.
- A man has come in several times.
He says he's recently arrived from Laghman.
What's he look like? See for yourself.
My God, how much money you spend on this place? I mean, it's nice.
A little antiseptic, could use a bit more flash.
- But you did good.
- I'm glad you approve.
- Can I get some of this bourbon? - No.
- You wanted to see me? - Yes.
Ellen Parsons, William Herndon.
- Wow.
- Don't.
Relax, I learned my lesson.
We behave in the workplace now, don't we? - Pleasure.
- Likewise.
Mr Herndon can make some inquires about High Star on your behalf.
Let me brass tack it for you.
If I can get someone to talk, you're going to have a hell of a bull's-eye on your back.
- I understand.
- Bullshit.
Bullshit you understand.
You fuck this up, and your career will be flushed down the shitter faster than you can say, "The American people have a right to know".
I get it.
You've got a life ahead of you, huh? So you make damn sure this is what you want before I go any further.
It's your call, Ellen.
We don't have to go through with this.
If this is the only way to confirm Mr Marwat's story, then please, get all the facts that you can.
I'll handle the consequences.
Who the hell was that? My first job out of law school was at a firm where Bill was a junior partner.
How come I have never heard of him? Because about 10 years ago, he made a decision that cost him his practice.
He was disbarred.
Now, he drinks.
Why do we want him involved in this case? Because he's the only person I know who could possibly get us the information that we need.
Can we trust him? I certainly hope so.
Get in the car.
The agency's got a tail on me now? What are you doing hanging around a mosque? My job, following up on a tip.
And you just screwed it up for me.
File your goddamn reports, I won't have to shanghai you on the street.
You know I always take off for holidays.
So what's going on with this wrongful death suit against High Star? It's got nothing to do with us.
A couple of High Star contractors were KIA.
Now, some ambulance chasers are going after the company.
So the case isn't related to Double Dee? Of course not.
The programme was already over.
The brass went and yanked the plug on it.
So, now the war's entering its second decade, and all you geniuses are getting promoted.
Boorman, I don't know whose dick you greased to get this far, but if I find out that you're lying to me, you're withholding intel, you're so much as farting without filing a report, you are done.
You'll never be heard from again.
Is that clear? - No, can you repeat it? - Get the fuck out of my car.
Praise God.
And good evening.
It fills my heart with joy being with your Being here with you tonight.
I'd like to express my gratitude to Pastor Yates for giving me this opportunity.
Fuck.
- Yeah.
- I saw the son of a bitch, but I lost him.
Who is he? I don't know his name, just what he looks like.
- You get anything from Sanchez? - Nothing we can use.
What the fuck are you doing, Howard? A man is running around this goddamn city talking to lawyers.
- Push harder.
- Calm yourself, Jerry.
Stop being sentimental about Sanchez.
It's information.
It don't mean a lick of shit who you get it from.
Now, pull your head out of your ass and give the order.
So, Chris Sanchez is involved in your case.
- Which one? - That one, the blue one.
My gosh, that boy broke your heart junior year.
Tore it in two.
Broke my heart? That's a little strong, Mom.
It's good.
Your father and I thought you'd never stop crying.
- I don't remember that.
- You really think Aunt Laurie would like it? Yeah, it's lovely, Mom.
You should get it.
Great! - Because you've been good.
- I've been really good.
You have been really good.
How many cookies do you think Santa wants? How many? You think three? That's a good idea.
Want to put them on his plate? - Hello? - Any word from Herndon? No.
Bill hasn't gotten in touch yet.
I think we're just going to have to wait.
Well, I can't just wait around anymore.
Where can I find him? - Sir.
- Merry Christmas.
Sorry, sir, still nothing.
I'm not diddling around here, Carter.
We need details.
Step it up.
- What do you mean? - You know what I mean.
Sir? National security is on the line here.
It's not a time for hesitation.
We need to know how our security has been breached, and you're the only one who can find out.
I'm giving you an order.
How far do you want me to go? As far as you have to.
Matthew 5:9? I know it's a well-worn passage.
Not very original.
Well, there's nothing in the scripture that doesn't warrant further exploration.
I want to make sure that you approve of my interpretation.
Did you like the speech? Do you believe in what you wrote? - You have doubts.
- No.
- That's what I believe.
- Then you need to share it.
- I don't see him.
- What does he look like? He's in his 70s, kind of rumpled.
- Is that him? - Mr Herndon? Look, it's Nancy Drew.
- Let me buy you a drink.
- No, thanks.
Cash me out, will you, Stu? Mr Herndon, we haven't heard from you.
Did you find anything on High Star? Shit.
This will never cover it.
Hey, do me a favour.
Spot me, will you, sweetheart? - I'll get you back next time.
- Did you find anything? Sorry, I struck out.
- Mr Herndon - Hey, listen, I gotta go.
It's Christmas Eve.
Got a lot of chimneys to hit, you know? Hey, thanks for picking up the cheque.
And make sure Stu gets a nice tip.
- And who are you? - Her mother.
Yeah.
Why not? Bye! Praise God.
And good evening.
It fills my heart with joy to be here with you tonight.
This week, my six-year-old son made me a Christmas card in art class.
It said, "Peace on Earth, good will to all men".
Peace on Earth.
You're making a mistake.
Someone is talking to that attorney in New York.
I want you to give me a name.
I don't have a name.
I didn't send anyone.
If you didn't, who did? You know, nothing has to happen to you that you don't want to.
But you know that I'm not going to stop until I get a name.
Fuck you.
I am sorry, brother, 'cause I didn't want it to go this way.
Jesus told us, "Blessed be the peacemakers, "for they shall be called the children of God".
But how far are we willing to go for peace? Surely, it is not enough just to wish for it.
Jesus understood this.
To redeem mankind, he had to suffer, to withstand torture and death in order to wash clean the world.
He teaches us there is no peace without suffering.
No one knows this better than a soldier.
This Christmas, I find myself thinking of the soldiers overseas who make the ultimate sacrifice for peace.
As did our saviour, they put their lives on the line to fulfil their promise.
They bear their burden with courage and faith, because they know that to suffer in war is to honour Jesus' suffering on the cross and carry out God's will.
To those who have taken on this holy cause to protect and defend this great nation, to my men who have endured pain and hardship to achieve peace, I tell you your suffering is not in vain.
It is an act of love.
A testament to your faith.
The pain you endure, no matter how unbearable, will bring you closer to God.
- AC, what's the report? - He's a tough son of a bitch.
Yeah? What'd you get from him? The guy's name is Nasim Marwat.
All right, nice work, AC.
- Hello? - It is Nasim.
- Is everything okay? - No.
I need to see you.
Okay.
Stay calm, Mr Marwat.
Where are you? Ms Parsons, the other American from Chris' mission, the one I told you about, he is here in New York.
- Are you certain it was the same person? - I saw him.
He was following me.
I wanted to tell you this before I return to Afghanistan.
Mr Marwat, you can't go back yet.
I need to get your testimony.
I have already lost my father.
My family cannot afford to lose me.
I understand your concern, but I'm asking you to just give us a little more time.
I am not safe.
I got a name.
Don't matter.
Don't need it any more.
What do you mean, you don't need it? I'm looking at our guy right now.
Trust me.
Hey, Dad, great speech.
That was really cool.
Thank you.
Go round up your brothers.
- Yes, sir.
- That was very moving, Howard.
- Thank you.
- What's wrong? You were inspiring.
It was a beautiful sermon.
Deacon Charles videotaped it.
I'll get you a copy.
Santa wants to know if you've been nice, Patty.
Because Howard Erickson has been very, very, very naughty.
You were able to confirm our witness' story? Now that would be something of an understatement.
High Star was extracting terror suspects for the CIA.
And I don't have to tell you there's a whole world of people who would prefer to keep that from going public.
Thank you for your help.
So what are you going to do? I mean, you can't share that with your little protégé.
The girl's in way over her head.
Yeah, she is.
She can't handle that.
So you keep that for yourself and get rid of her.
And remember what I taught you about dead weight.
I tell you, your suffering is not in vain.
The pain you endure, no matter how unbearable, will bring you closer to God.