FBI: International (2021) s01e16 Episode Script

1
No, not your vibe.
Nick?
Yeah.
Oh, my God. It's you.
- How are you?
- I'm good. How are you?
Yeah, I'm okay.
Oh, I live around the corner,
and I heard about this new gym,
so, you know, I just decided
wait, what are you doing in Europe?
Uh, wow.
Lot to catch up on, huh?
Yeah.
Hey, how about we
how about we grab a beer?
Hm? I know this hole-in-the-wall place
with a bunch of expats and
- I think I could swing that.
- Yeah?
- Mm-hmm.
- All right. Come on.
First round's on me.
So how's the Fly Team, huh?
Wait, wait, wait,
I think you still owe me
what you're doing in Budapest.
Mm, I'm, uh I'm here for work.
When'd you get in?
- Wow.
- Yeah, you impressed?
- Yes.
- Yeah?
You already know Hungarian. Okay.
I mean, foreign language
was never your strong suit.
Yeah, well, you know, phone apps.
- Ah, the secret comes out.
- Yes, it does.
Mm.
Are you still working
that undercover op?
Uh, no, no, I'm, uh
I'm not at the Vegas
Field Office anymore.
- Uh
- Hm. Where'd you transfer?
I, uh
Took an overseas gig,
uh, in the in the private sector.
Uh, you quit the bureau?
- Uh
- Nick.
Your mom showed me a photo
of you wearing your dad's
FBI jacket when you were five.
Dude, I wouldn't have
made it through Quantico
if it weren't for you.
Look, um, I need your help,
but I, uh I got to take care
of something, okay?
Um
Is everything good?
Yeah, yeah, all good. All good.
I'll, um
I'll reach out, okay?
Okay.
Mm-mm. Cash only.
Hey. You called this in?
- Yeah.
- What happened?
I was having a drink with a friend,
a former agent actually.
The victim walked in,
started staring us down.
That's when my friend left,
the victim followed him out.
20 seconds later, I heard the gunshot.
Where's your friend now?
I don't know.
I mean, I tried calling him,
but his number's not in service.
Huh.
A former agent wouldn't
skip out if he heard a gunshot.
Do you think he could have
been involved?
I don't know.
All right. I don't want you talking
to the Hungarian police
unless I'm around.
Okay. What's the deal?
The DOA is Roland Torok.
He's a local gambling regulator.
Missed calls in the past hour alone.
This is more serious than you think.
I can't have our team in
Vo.
You remember Erin Padilla,
our legat here in Hungary?
Of course.
We need to have a private conversation.
Sure.
What's your relationship to Nick Thorpe?
I knew him since we were kids.
We went to West Point,
graduated from the
same class in Quantico.
Did Thorpe know Roland Torok?
I mean, that's the feeling I got
based on their body language.
Any idea how he'd get mixed
up with a gambling watchdog?
Well, Thorpe worked out
of the Vegas office,
so I assumed that they've
crossed paths before.
There weren't any cameras
around the pub.
Can you just confirm you were
the first person on scene?
Am I being questioned
as a person of interest?
Look, the Hungarians are
breathing down my neck.
They placed you in a pub
with their number one suspect.
If I can't clear this up
with the U.S. Ambassador,
your team may have
to find a new home in Europe.
That's not happening.
Vo, you said Thorpe mentioned
something about an overseas job.
You know who he's working for?
We never got that far
in the conversation.
Okay. Anything else significant?
Uh, yeah.
Uh, he said that he quit the bureau,
which, I mean, doesn't make any sense,
because the bureau lives in his DNA.
Well, he didn't quit.
He was fired ten months ago.
For what?
Falsified info on an affidavit
to get a search warrant.
You know the drill you lie,
you lose your credibility, you're gone.
The ambassador is requesting
you put her on ice
until we sort this out.
You got it.
Okay. Thank you.
Talk soon.
If there is anything else that
I need to know about Thorpe,
now is the time
before I run this through
with the Hungarians.
I literally gave you everything.
Okay.
Type up a 302. Account
for every last minute
since you woke up.
Then you can go home
after you're finished.
And if this guy reaches out
look at me
call me.
Got it.
- Hey.
- Hey.
This is Lieutenant Colonel Akos Valkó
from the Hungarian National
Bureau of Investigation.
Follow me.
Ah, bullet entered
through Roland Torok's
left temporal lobe.
And ballistics examined the bullet?
Nine-millimeter.
NATO.
This was found in an IWB
holster on Torok's body.
Well, it's a custom piece,
no serial number.
- It's a ghost gun.
- What's a regulator
from the Gambling Authority doing
with a ghost gun to begin with?
One of the many things
we need to figure out.
- What about Torok's phone?
- Wasn't on his body.
- Anyone try tracking it?
- It was turned off.
My team will do a sweep
of Torok's residence
to see what we can find out.
Okay. I want Raines there.
This is a Hungarian matter.
That involves one of our former agents.
So I want one of my team members there
in case you find anything
that requires us
to track a lead down in the U.S.
- Jesus!
- Hey. Hey.
- Nick!
- Hey, I did not kill that man.
- Okay?
- I am breaking a handful
of international laws right now
just by talking to you.
I know, but you're
the only person I trust.
I need you to believe me.
Then why'd you skip out?
The guy I work for had
that gambling regulator
killed for skimming cash.
I came to you because I was trying
to get on top of it.
Things just
things just went sideways, okay?
- Who's this guy you work for?
- His name's Paul Kovács.
After I left the bureau,
I took a private security gig
with him in Vegas.
Yes, I've read about him
Hungarian American,
he inherited one of the casinos
here in Budapest.
Yeah, well, you probably
didn't read the part
about him being in bed
with the Russians.
Kovács had this had this plan
to build a luxury casino in Vegas
and use his chain of low-rent casinos
in North Vegas as collateral.
He got upside down
to the tune of 450 mill.
That's when he started his
partnership with the Russians
through a an old family connection.
What's your involvement?
Well, they provide him with the 450 mill
to finish the project if Kovács agrees
to launder their cash through
his casino in Budapest.
But once the new casino opens in Vegas,
they'll use it to launder cash
from Eurasian organized crime
networks expanding in the U.S.
You left the bureau.
I'm sure you heard.
Well, I want your version.
They pulled me from an undercover op
when my informant decided
to change his story.
The bureau accused me
of falsifying info on an affidavit.
Hey, no. No, no, no, no.
Don't answer that.
It's a fellow agent.
You're the only person I trust, Cam, no.
I am not getting arrested
for obstruction of justice.
So if you trust me,
you trust her.
Yeah, okay. All right.
Hey. I need to ask you
a few questions about
Thorpe's background.
Mind if I what's wrong?
- Thorpe's here.
- What?
Look, he needs our help.
Just hear him out.
What the hell are you doing?
I didn't know he'd be here.
Why does he have a key
to your apartment?
Nick had six years in the bureau.
Okay, he knows how to get
into an apartment.
Well, he just put you
in a vise with the Hungarians,
the bureau, and the State Department.
He is wrapped up in some shady business
at a casino here in Budapest,
and he wants
to come out of the cold.
Let me guess, he's claiming
he didn't kill Torok,
and he wants immunity?
I know Nick.
And if he pulled that trigger,
he would've been
on another continent by now.
Cameron, Thorpe was fired
because he signed an affidavit
stating an informant gave him a tip
in order to get a search warrant.
It was investigated, and
the informant never existed.
The case was dismissed,
and ten defendants walked.
Hello?
Nick, if you are on the
other end, you better
start talking right now,
or you're gonna drag my career
down the drain with you.
Cam, I'm sorry.
I know we've always
dreamed of being agents.
The last thing I'd do
is take that away from you.
If you care about me,
then you'll talk to my team.
I'll talk, but I need
protection and immunity,
queen for a day.
Let me see what I can do.
Meet me inside the control
room at the abandoned
power station in the 18th district.
Put your hands out to your side.
- He the boss?
- Yeah.
Who the hell is she?
Katrin Jaeger, Europol.
I just got off the phone with
the Hungarian prosecutor.
He'll enter into an immunity agreement
if you agree to testify
and tell us what happened.
I told Paul Kovács, the guy I work for,
that Torok was skimming from the cash
being laundered through Kovács' casino.
I came to you because I had a suspicion
something bad was gonna go down.
So you put a bullseye on Torok's chest?
Hey, Torok made his own bed. All right?
That cash he was skimming
was coming from the Russians.
So how long have you known
Kovács' been laundering money
through the casino in Budapest?
Since he asked me to do
the books and records
when I moved here.
Which is how long?
I don't know. Uh, six months.
Torok then offered me a cut
of the stolen money
if I kept my mouth shut.
That's when he got popped.
By who?
Kovács' muscle.
Goes by the name Benkó.
Did this Benkó see you and Vo together?
Benkó mentioned it to Kovács,
and I told him you were
a contact from my Vegas days
looking to clean some cash.
And how's that the solution?
We slide you in.
All right, you'll be under
the custody of the bureau
until we figure out
how we're gonna play this.
Fine.
You'll need to validate Thorpe's story
or the defense attorney will tear him
to shreds on the stand.
Look, Nick, he screwed up big time.
But, I mean, I'll do it,
because at the end of the day,
he risked his life for mine once.
So I owe him this.
What'd he do?
Over a beer some time.
Just did a registry analysis
on Torok's laptop.
He was repeatedly accessing
an external hard drive
over the last week.
It's possible he was using it
to access something
he didn't want seen
on his work computer.
All right, I'll have Lieutenant Valkó
do another sweep
of Torok's office at the GSA.
What's your take on this guy?
Very punchable.
But do you trust him?
I don't need to. Vo does.
So Kovács hired me
as the legitimate front
to the Queen Casino.
I've never bought any
shady business before,
but as soon as I sold him the story
about you looking to clean some cash,
he was begging to meet you.
Okay, how much is he in the hole
after the money was stolen?
Torok pocketed roughly
six mill from loads coming in.
But Kovács was was paranoid
and desperate to begin with.
I mean, he would've laundered your socks
if it meant paying back the Russians.
What led you to realize
Torok was stealing the money?
Well, Kovács knew
my background in finance.
So he asked me to set up
the casino shell accounts
under fictitious names.
Hey. Hey, hey, hey, Cam.
Look, I I know you're pissed at me,
all right?
Before we do this, I just
well, I I need
to know you believe me.
Yes, Nick.
I believe you.
Any thoughts on a cover story?
Uh, yeah.
I met Vo's family when
they were pushing cash
through some small casinos
in downtown Vegas.
We just need a reason
to explain why she's in Europe.
Well, there are a dozen
Vietnamese gangs in Prague
involved in drug smuggling.
Let's run with, uh,
synthetic drug production.
Vo was washing money
through the casinos in Prague.
Government's been cracking down.
- That works.
- Then let's set up a meet.
Raines will go with you,
act as a bodyguard.
No, no, no, no. No need.
Me and Cam have got this.
Apparently you're still
living in this fantasy world
that you work for the bureau.
You don't.
So you're gonna do what I tell you to do
when I tell you to do it.
Or we can hand you over
to the Hungarians,
and you can try your luck with them.
Whatever you say.
Good.
I've got eyes on Vo and Raines.
That your idea of smart casual?
Nice Patek.
Did you buy that on layaway?
They're heading up to the VIP floor.
Copy. I'm at the VIP bar.
This is my contact from Vegas, Nichole.
And who are you?
Her security.
I will let Kovács know she's here.
That's Benkó, the guy who killed Torok.
Got a visual on Benkó.
He's packing a gray
nine-millimeter pistol.
Looks identical to Torok's ghost gun.
Most of the guys who work
for Kovács are in the system
or trying to fly under the radar.
Let's put a surveillance team out
on Benkó once he leaves the casino.
We'll pick him up now and run
a ballistics exam on the pistol.
Hold off. If we get ahead of ourselves,
we'll spook the case.
Paul, this is Nichole Parker.
Nicole, this is my boss, Paul Kovács.
So you two met in Vegas?
That's right. Back when
my family was doing
business through a few casinos there.
Mm, a babe like you,
I would've thought you'd met
at the Ling Ling Club at Hakkasan, eh?
I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
I'd never say that to a woman
back in the States nowadays,
but we're in Budapest,
so I could give a rat's ass.
Mm?
Roulette. My usual numbers.
Yes, ma'am.
I like you. I like her a lot.
How 'bout we'll go
a little more private?
Eh, just Nichole and I?
Nick told me you're building
another casino in Vegas.
Congratulations.
Thank you. A five-star carpet joint.
I'll put you up in the
penthouse once we're open.
How long until construction's finished?
Mm. Another eight months
if everything goes according to plan.
1964 Exclusivo Maduro.
Make that two.
Ooh.
Beautiful. Light it up.
Mm. All right.
You want to do business,
what do you propose?
The people I work for
have a network distribution
across Europe.
The higher demand for synthetic drugs
means the more cash I need cleaned,
and the casinos
in Prague aren't cutting it.
I'm only interested
in going into business
with clients looking to push a minimum
of six mill through my casino a month.
Any less isn't worth the risk.
Make it seven million.
Keep the casino chandeliers burning.
We can start with 2.5 million in cash.
Yes, I'm a rascal,
but not easily manipulated.
One, the full seven,
and 15% cut, or no deal.
I'll have it pushed through
my casino in three weeks.
I'll agree to that
if Queen Casino can give us
an advance for 30% up front.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Not until I see the money.
We'll bring a truck
to Mangalica Restaurant
in Józsefváros.
My family does business
with the owner.
Oh.
You know, you are
you're stunning.
Do we have a deal?
Yes.
Hey, great job last night.
Oh, minus the fact that
we got zero PC on Benkó
to prove he's complicit.
We'll pick him up after the drop.
Thorpe said he'll be there.
Hey, Vo.
Can I talk to you for a minute?
Look, Thorpe is still involved
in a homicide investigation.
And I'm taking your word
on trusting him.
If we go through with this,
so I have to ask you
are you romantically involved?
There's a reason why I don't
date within the bureau.
It gets messy when it doesn't work out.
Before the bureau?
No.
We're close friends, and
I would have told you that.
Everybody's got blind spots
for people who they care about, Vo.
The trick is not to let them
send you over the edge.
You need to see what
Lieutenant Valkó's team
just found.
Okay.
Can you play this please, Andre?
Thanks.
Pause it here.
Recognize this man
in the security footage?
Benkó, Kovács' heavy.
We ran the footage through facial rec.
Legal name, István Benkó,
Hungarian national.
Did two stints at Kalocsai
Prison for vehicle crime.
Arrested on multiple
occasions for assault
and possession of illegal firearms.
That gives him a pretty damn good reason
to carry a ghost gun.
When was this recorded?
Ten minutes after Torok was shot.
Valkó's team pulled it from a bank less
than a kilometer from the pub.
So Thorpe's story wasn't
just smoke and mirrors.
That places Benkó in the area
at the time of the shooting.
It doesn't change the fact
that we have zero
inculpatory evidence to prove
who pulled that trigger.
We need to take a run at this guy.
After the bust. Let's gear up.
Raines, Vo, we are standing by
until Kovács and Thorpe arrive
with their crew to pick up the cash.
Something's up.
They should have been here by now.
Change of plan.
We are meeting Kovács
at another location to do the drop.
That wasn't part of the deal.
New location
or no deal.
One of our surveillance teams
just watched Kovács' crew
go into a train graveyard
outside the city.
Looks like they're doing
the drop in an old depot
built with concrete and steel.
Steel can hinder wire transmissions.
We'll issue a high-risk warrant.
They're moving. Headed north.
Pull up to the depot.
Park the truck inside.
Truck's inside the depot.
Damn it. Wire signal's down.
How far is the tac team?
Ten minutes.
Search them.
We will need your firearms.
Nah. Not if you want to do business.
Just standard procedure, all right?
It's okay.
Let's see the cash.
Where the hell is it?
There.
You screw with me?
Hm?
You screw with me.
Full seven mill.
The truck's yours once we get
our 30% advance we agreed upon.
There's no service in here.
I got to go outside
to make the transfer.
You have the account info?
Come on.
Thank you.
- Hey.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Mm, hey.
Trust me, you do not want to kill us.
Sure we do.
Hey. Hey.
Since when was this part
of the plan, huh?
That regulator stole
well over six million
from the casino.
Kovács isn't wasting his time
making 15% to pay back the Bratva.
He'll take 100%.
Kovács is rolling in a white Escalade
with one of his bodyguards.
All right. All right.
Shots fired.
Let me see your hands.
Come on, Cam, let's go.
- Let the tac team handle him.
- Shh.
Go, go, go.
So you're telling me
you didn't know anything
about Kovács' plan at the depot?
I swear to God.
You know, Vo really stuck
her neck out for you on this.
I hope you realize that.
Trust me,
I do.
I mean, she mentioned you all dated.
Why'd it end?
Let me guess,
Cam told you we didn't date,
which is the truth.
And you think she's lying,
so you're trying to bust her.
Am I right, Agent Forrester?
It wasn't for lack of trying,
I'll tell you that much.
Now, that's the first thing
out of your mouth
that I actually believe.
Lieutenant Valkó is a
bit upset Benkó is dead,
but on the plus side,
we matched the barrel
of his pistol to the bullet
that killed Torok.
Should've chucked it in the Danube.
We took a run at Kovács,
but he's keeping his mouth shut
until his hotshot attorney
flies in from Nevada.
We've got plenty on the wire
from his initial conversation with Vo.
Guess you're off the hook
for Torok's murder.
Doesn't excuse what went
down at the trainyard.
What was found during
the sweep at Queen Casino?
Two sets of books and records,
a box of burner phones,
six gray ghost guns
And Torok's missing hard drive.
Stashed in a safe in the back office.
It has ledgers on the shell
accounts used to launder money.
I'm still working on encryption
keys to access the files.
- Great.
- Like I said,
Torok was embezzling.
The Hungarians want to put you up
in a safe house during
prosecution planning.
After the trial, they'll cut
you loose with a clean record.
Okay.
Look, I, um I got to grab my stuff
from my hotel room at the Queen Casino.
I got some files you can use
for the prosecution.
I'll take him.
You okay?
Six months.
You were in town for six months,
and you didn't try to reach out?
I was ashamed, okay?
I felt I let you down as much
as anybody when I got fired.
So you didn't falsify info
on an affidavit to get a search warrant?
Hell, no.
Listen, when I transferred
to Crimes Against Children,
I was investigating videos
of minors being uploaded
to the dark web.
It took my UCO two years
before I had reason to believe
those videos were coming
from ten admins working out
of a trailer park in Reno.
Yes, I I knew my informant was shaky,
but there was so much at stake.
We ended up gathering
all this evidence, but
But a bunch of pedophiles walked free.
Yeah.
Yeah, they did.
You know, Cam, there'll come
a time in your career
when you have to make
an impossible decision
to do the right thing.
- Forrester?
- You with Thorpe?
Yeah, we're about to grab his stuff.
Bring him into the office ASAP.
Why, what's wrong?
Just bring him in now.
Nick.
Nick! Hey!
Nick! Nick!
Sorry, ma'am, you need a key card.
Do you know what room Nick Thorpe's in?
I'm not supposed to
give out guest information.
Plus, we're being shut down.
Oh. He's an employee?
Yes.
We have Nick Thorpe in the system,
but he checked out two days ago.
Forrester, Thorpe's in the wind.
I decrypted the files on Torok's drive,
and let me tell you,
everything Thorpe told us,
it ain't the whole truth.
Torok wasn't embezzling
money from the Russians.
Thorpe was.
Torok's drive must have spooked him
when Raines mentioned
the shell accounts.
They both had access to the money,
but when the numbers weren't lining up,
Torok started doing a digital
forensic analysis on Thorpe.
That's what I found on the drive.
Thorpe was diverting
a percentage of money
being laundered
to a hidden shell account
and then fudging the numbers.
Technically, a Ponzi scheme.
He was borrowing money
from the next load to make up
for the missing funds
from the previous delivery.
He faked the paperwork to show
that the casino had the money,
but in reality, they didn't.
It's possible Torok was
blackmailing Thorpe
with the info he had on the drive,
which explains why
he followed him to the pub
and held off on going to Kovács.
My theory is Thorpe flipped
the story on Torok
and ratted him out for scheming
before he blew him out of the water.
Then he checked out
of his room at the casino
and went directly to Vo to take
out their entire operation
before things went south.
But things went south.
He wiped Torok off his shoe with Kovács,
and he wiped Kovács
off his shoe with Vo.
The last domino falls,
but no one saw the first.
You cannot prove any of this
off of a couple of ledgers.
In theory, but I cross-referenced
the casino's books and
records with the drive.
Plus, the fact that he boogied
And he worked in white collar crimes
before he put in a transfer to Vegas.
How much is in the shell accounts?
Based on the casino's books and records,
a little over six mill.
But it was all transferred
out of the account.
That is the same amount
he said Torok skimmed
off the cash coming in.
Does Lieutenant Valkó know?
No, as far as the Hungarians
are concerned,
they owe Thorpe a medal.
How do we want to play this?
Search the system,
see if Thorpe's name pops up
on any flight records.
Already did. Not finding Nick Thorpe
in any flight, train, or bus records.
All right, put out a BOLO,
and then you all can take off.
We'll be notified if he tries
to flee the country.
Raines thought you might be here.
Well, this is his spot.
And I wasn't gonna go
to the Castle District
where all the girls train in Lulus.
I'm with you on that.
How are you holding up?
Like a sucker.
Vo, when you went to West Point,
did you ever hear the military
term "left of boom?"
Yeah, my dad used to say it,
but I never knew what it meant.
Well, the boom is when
the bomb goes off, right?
The gun is fired, the damage is done.
You want to be left of boom
to get ahead of it.
Don't make a case personal
and miss the warning signs.
- Hello?
- Hey, Raines.
- Hey.
- Thorpe mentioned that he
opened the shell accounts
the casino was using
to launder money under fictitious names,
so that means it's likely
he was using fake passports
to open the bank accounts, right?
I see where you're going.
I'll put a BOLO out under the names
he used to open the accounts
in case he tries to use
one of the passports.
- Thank you, Raines.
- Sure thing.
That was fast.
Just ran a search
under the fictitious names
he used to open the shell accounts.
An Austin Miller purchased
a one-way ticket
to Marrakesh about an hour ago.
First flight out tomorrow morning.
You think it's Thorpe?
Morocco doesn't have
an extradition treaty
with the U.S.
What you doing here, Cam?
Got some PTO?
We know what's on Torok's hard drive.
We know you stole the money.
My flight leaves in ten minutes.
No one has to know you let me go.
You know, sometimes we have
to make impossible decisions
to do the right thing.
Last round's on me.
Nick Thorpe, you're under
arrest for conspiracy
to commit murder and money laundering.
All right.
He created this whole house of cards
that hinged on Vo believing him.
Think she'll ever forgive him?
The most painful betrayal
never comes from your enemies.
It comes from the people
you trust the most.