NCIS New Orleans (2014) s04e07 Episode Script
The Accident
1 (indistinct shouting and laughing) (marching band playing) State's gonna crush 'em.
I still can't believe you got tickets.
Promised you I would, son.
Just took a little longer than I hoped.
Come on.
Come on! We're okay, Dad.
Don't worry about it.
It's my fault.
We should have left earlier.
Dad, really, it's okay.
Dad? No! Dad! Dad! Dad! (gun cocks) What are you doing?! No, stop! Hey! Dad! NCIS:New Orleans 4x07 The Accident Boom, boom, boom, boom Bang, bang, bang, bang Boom, boom, boom, boom How, how, how, how Hey, hey You gotta come on.
LASALLE: Shooter's a gunner's mate out of Belle Chasse, King.
Witnesses say he just started shooting for no reason.
All went down pretty fast.
Sebastian.
How's the boy? He's still in shock, poor guy.
LASALLE: No.
Doc's here doing her prelim now.
We'll canvass the scene, see you when you get here.
Pride and Gregorio are on their way.
Yeah, well, so is the boy's mom.
I didn't even really know what to say to him, you know? It's not really something they go over in training.
Yeah.
It's the toughest part of the job, talking to survivors and loved ones.
Best thing we can do is find some answers and figure out what happened.
Yeah, well, what happened seems pretty clear.
I mean, his dad just lost it and snapped.
Any idea what triggered it? Not enough to make him do what he did.
Eddie, his son, said that he was agitated by the traffic and then just started shooting.
Well, that doesn't make sense.
People just don't suddenly snap and start shooting for no reason.
Based on the amount of blood loss, I'd say at least one of the security guard's bullets severed Mr.
Ridley's aorta.
Died instantly? Yeah.
Lucky he's the only one who did, shooting like that in a crowded area.
You know what caused it? Meds, hallucinogens, alcohol? There's no obvious outward sign.
I'll run the tox screen when I get back.
However, there is one curious thing.
It's a recent incision, still healing.
Could indicate Mr.
Ridley had some kind of brain surgery.
I'll know more when I get him on my table.
(phone chirps) LASALLE: Oh, man.
Everything all right? King just texted.
He and Gregorio are taking a detour to Ochsner Medical.
Wait, what? Why? Patton's been in an accident.
I'm okay.
It's no big deal.
(gasps) Aye, ya.
I just misjudged the landing a little, that's all.
Landing? What landing, Patton? What were you doing? Okay.
Doctor wants you back in a week or so, to get the stitches removed.
I'll go get your discharge papers.
Thank you.
GREGORIO: Hello.
Somebody want to tell me what's going on? You might as well tell her before she kicks your butt.
That's exactly what I'm afraid's gonna happen if I do tell her.
Tell me what? Every once in a while, I like to do a little paragliding.
Paragliding? Wait.
You mean like with the parachute when you drop from the sky? You're kidding me.
He's kidding.
See, that's why I didn't want to tell her.
Bound to find out sooner or later.
Wait.
And you're okay with this? Are you two out of your minds? You could have gotten killed.
Relax.
Okay? Relax? Look, I've been doing stuff like this my whole life.
I ain't gonna stop now 'cause I use a chair.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah, clearly.
Do me a favor, talk some sense into him, please.
Lost that battle years ago.
Ugh.
Still, neither of us are as young as we used to be.
Might want to consider that, if nothing else.
PATTON: Oh, boy.
Hey, Patton.
Marlene.
Sorry.
I just wanted to make sure you're okay.
I was worried about you.
Marlene Bell, Tammy Gregorio, Dwayne Pride.
These are my coworkers.
Hey.
MARLENE: Hello.
PATTON: Marlene runs the paragliding business.
She probably worried she's about to lose her best customer.
That's not true, and you know it.
Don't worry.
I'm gonna be up and flying in no time.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Maybe next time you'll crack that thick skull of yours open.
Just her way of caring.
She's from New York.
(phone chimes) Yeah.
Well, it doesn't mean she's not making sense.
Just saying.
Oh, I got to get back to the squad room, catch up on the case.
Are you good? Absolutely.
Let's get to work.
No, no, no.
You're gonna go home and get some rest, Patton.
Doctor's orders.
Mine, too.
Nice to meet you.
You, too.
(scoffs) How's Patton doing? Is he okay? Don't even start with me.
She's upset.
She didn't know that Patton was a paraglider.
Oh, yeah.
But he doesn't just paraglide.
He asked me to go bungee jumping with him once.
Yeah.
But I was like, âHow about instead of that, I just, you know, stay alive?â Okay, what's the deal? Why does he do this? SEBASTIAN: Honestly, I-I think it's really cool.
For him, at least, you know? He-he won't let the chair hold him back.
No, but there's got to be something more to it than that because he said he's been doing it his whole life.
So most people thrill-seek for fun, some to run.
I mean, why does Patton do it? It's probably better if we stick to our dead sailor first.
PRIDE: Yeah.
Just got off the phone with his Navy shrink.
Any idea what made him snap? Said he suffered from PTSS, but he said he's been making remarkable progress for a while now.
Even volunteered for research studies to help those afflicted by it.
Well, something had to have triggered him to go off like that.
Question is: what? Doc Wade might have found the answer.
So it turns out that Ridley did, in fact, have brain surgery not too long ago, but it wasn't to fix something, it was to implant something.
What is that? I think that it's a neural interface.
Yeah.
Okay, so follow me on this, all right? Elon Musk, Google, Apple, they've all been upping their research into wizard hats, as they're known.
Blending brains and computers.
It's pretty cutting-edge stuff.
Pretty creepy, too.
What's it supposed to do? Well, I think that this one was designed to stimulate targeted areas of the brain with electrical pulses.
Kind of like what they've been trying to do recently to control Parkinson's or epilepsy.
Or PTSS? Yeah.
I think this could be the research study that he was involved with.
A little zap to the limbic center when anger or depression hits could just stabilize the subject without the messy side effects of pharmaceuticals.
Still, messing with people's brains is a slippery slope.
Especially if something goes wrong.
It's hard to believe that's not what triggered things.
Yeah, which means we need to find out who put that thing in his head now.
Well, one step ahead of you.
So, there's only one lab in all of Louisiana that's got pre-market approval from the FDA to carry out this type of research.
BioResearch Institute of New Orleans.
PRIDE: All right.
You and I are gonna pay them a visit.
Chris, you and Gregorio find out anything and everything you can about the institute.
Oh, hey, wait, we're just going to a lab, right? I don't need to bring my gun.
Well, if you're sure that the sailor's death was an accident.
I'm gonna bring my gun.
(trolley bell ringing) Dr.
Yoon? These are federal agents.
They're here to see you.
They say it's important.
Uh Anna.
Dwayne.
Oh, I've got this, thanks.
It's been so long.
Too long.
Thought you were still at Naval Research.
I was, that is until DoD approved my project.
Which, I'm assuming, is why you're here.
I heard about Gabriel, we're trying to figure out what happened.
Uh Sorry.
Forensic Agent Lund, he works with me.
Dr.
Anna Yoon.
Hi.
Nice to meet you.
Hi.
Uh, where do I know your name from? Anna used to be married to Patton.
SEBASTIAN: Oh.
Okay, yeah.
That-- okay.
That Anna Yoon.
Yup, one and the same.
Anyway the implant is yours? The entire project is mine.
Excuse me, Anna, but, uh, Max thinks he might've found something.
Okay, I'll be right there, thanks.
That's Dr.
Lyons, he's chief surgeon of the clinical trial.
What do you think went wrong? That's the thing, we don't know.
Here, come, follow me.
It's not exactly a new science.
Deep brain stimulation has been used for years without any problems.
SEBASTIAN: Well, except, and, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, that was before you were implanting devices directly into people's brains.
Well, that's the point of a clinical trial.
In success, DBS allows us to modulate overly aggressive and violent behavior so that we can regulate and calm the patient immediately.
No disrespect, but controlling people's brains from a computer We are not controlling, we are just monitoring; giving low-level stimuli when necessary.
This could be the biggest breakthrough in mental health in years, Dwayne, especially for vets.
Which is why the DoD is so excited about it.
MAX: Dr.
Yoon? I think we might have a problem.
Wait, is that Gabriel Ridley? MAX: Yeah.
Right before he died.
That's impossible.
Why, what is it? That's Ridley's prefrontal cortex, right? The amygdala? It's where aggressive behavior forms.
Except it's intensified instead of reduced.
How did that happen? Who did this, Max? Nobody from here.
I I think we've been hacked.
All right! Triple P is in the house and ready to rock.
Aren't you supposed to be resting? Oh, come on, I ain't a resting kind of guy.
Besides, Pride texted me, said he needed me to trace down a hacker, so let's get the show on the road.
King happen to mention the hacking involves one of your ex-wives? Oh, no, which one? Theresa? Uh, no.
Jasmine? Afraid not.
Anna? I'm out of here.
Where you going? Nah, I ain't doing this.
I know Pride didn't do me that.
Check this out, BioResearch turned down three competitors in the last year alone who offered millions of dollars to buy the DBS project.
Well, I'm not surprised, especially with all the heavy hitters Sebastian said that are interested in these wizard hats, or whatever it is they call them.
Cute name, scary technology.
You got that right.
I mean, hacking into cars and computers is one thing, but now brains? Hey, you think one of the competitors didn't take no for an answer? Like, maybe they tried to sabotage the project? Well, all the more reason for us to try and trace the hack, see where it leads.
Problem is, we can deep-dive into company records all we want, but Without Patton's help, we're grasping at straws.
- He's full of surprises, isn't he? - Patton? He likes to keep his private life private.
Doesn't really talk about it much.
No, he doesn't talk about it at all.
I've been working here for, what, over a year now.
I've never heard about these crazy stunts and ex-wives.
I mean, that's just weird.
Yeah.
It's understandable though.
Tough times Patton went through when he and Anna divorced.
What's it been? Uh, about six years now? Six years.
That's when Patton had his accident, right? Became paralyzed? Yeah, like I said, tough times.
Fortunately for P, Pride gave him a fresh start.
He joined NCIS and he's never looked back.
Yeah, well, never looking back is one thing.
Completely avoiding it is a whole different deal.
I mean, you saw how fast he took off at just the mention of Anna's name.
Something's still going on there.
Well, hopefully King can talk him through it, 'cause we need Patton to find this hacker.
(beeping) Oh, good, you guys are there.
I think I found something.
Like what, a prop from Back to the Future? Oh, right.
I totally forgot.
Although, actually, you know, Doc Brown is sort of a personal hero of mine.
No, uh, Anna was about to show me a virtual demo on how DBS works, but, more importantly, I think I found a suspect.
Lieutenant Krista Vreeland.
She was a test subject here, until a couple weeks ago, when she suddenly just quit the trial.
Anna said she was pretty pissed, too.
Did she say why? Only that she thought the treatment wasn't working for her.
She started acting erratically and then just refused to come back.
You thinking maybe a grudge? That sounds like a good enough motive for me.
We'll check it out.
Hey, Sebastian, good work.
Keep digging, but don't fry your brain.
Too late.
Just kidding.
I hope.
(elevator bell dings) (Patton grunting softly) Not gonna lie.
I wasn't sure you'd even buzz me up.
I figured if I didn't, you'd keep dogging me.
And I don't have time for no lecture.
Should you be lifting weights? I shouldn't be doing a lot of things, according to most folks, but that's not gonna keep me from doing what I do.
I heard that you were pretty upset when you found out about Anna being involved in the case.
You should have told me, so I wouldn't be caught off guard.
I didn't want to tell you in a text.
And I had no idea you'd be in such a hurry to get back into the office, either.
You call, I'm there.
You know that.
Patton, it's me, okay? Let's just talk about this.
Pride, I don't want to talk, especially about her.
Not now, not ever.
And I'd think you'd know that better than anybody! I do.
But I also know that, sooner or later, you're gonna need to talk about it for your own sake.
But that's not why I'm here.
I need you on this case.
A young boy lost his father yesterday because somebody hacked into Anna's project, and you're the only one who can help find out who might have done it and why.
I'm sorry.
I know this is hard for you.
And I wouldn't be asking if I had any other choice, but I don't think I can do it without you.
Sometimes it sucks being so good at what I do.
(Patton scoffs) Let me hit the shower.
(indistinct chatter) Lieutenant Vreeland? Special Agents Lasalle and Gregorio.
Will you stop the treadmill for us, please? What's this about? (treadmill beeps) We're NCIS, Lieutenant.
When we say stop, you stop.
Besides, he said âplease.
â I'm sorry, it's just when I get my adrenaline going I take my exercise very seriously, that's all.
Yeah, well, we take the murder of a sailor very seriously as well.
Murder? I don't understand.
Step over here, please.
The DBS clinical trial-- why did you quit? How do you know about that? LASALLE: Just answer the question.
Hey, look, we're not trying to piss you off, Lieutenant.
We just want some answers, all right? So take a deep breath and tell us what you know.
I didn't want to quit.
Frankly, DBS was the best thing that ever happened to me after this.
Okay.
So why did you quit the trial? Because of Max.
He's a tech specialist at BioResearch.
We started dating, and then I broke it off, and he didn't like that.
Okay, so what does that have to do with Max started posting terrible things about me online, making me look like a slut.
He was trying to piss me off.
But not just with the posts, either-- with that thing that they put in my head.
What do you mean? The implant? Are you saying that he used it to somehow manipulate you? I know he was.
I don't deny I have anger issues.
Okay? But nothing close to the rage I felt every time he posted about me.
I can't explain it, but it was like a switch had gone off, and I could barely control it.
That's why I quit the program.
And that's why I'm getting this thing taken out as soon as possible.
Okay.
Well, you can go, for now.
Thanks.
(sighs) What do you think? Think she sounds more like victim than suspect.
Yeah.
Which means it's possible this Max guy's trying to do the same thing to the lieutenant he did to our sailor.
Pretty good way to sabotage the program.
Plus, two deaths are better than one.
PRIDE: All right, we're at the institute now.
I'll talk to Max.
Meanwhile, you and Chris find out everything you can about him, especially a motive.
They might be onto something.
Oh, good, then let's go.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, no.
Hold on, hold on, you're not going anywhere.
Need proof on whoever's doing the hacking.
Only you can get it.
Okay, all right, I'm good.
You sure? Absolutely.
Let's do this.
Okay, 'cause here she comes.
What? Where? God, she is beautiful.
Damn her! Not about Anna, it's about the case.
Right, it's about the case.
Hello, Patton.
How are you doing? I'm just here for the case.
I-I mean, that's not what I mean.
I mean, it is what I mean, but (sighs) Anna, you look great.
Thank you.
Um, where's the mainframe? I got a hacker to catch.
Oh, uh, your associate, Sebastian, is working on it upstairs with Dr.
Lyons.
The elevator's over there.
Okay, well, that's the way I'm headed.
Excuse me.
He's still mad at me, isn't he? I don't know.
And not for me to say.
I think you just did.
Listen, we, um might have a suspect.
Krista? Your tech specialist-- Max Cahill.
Max? Are you sure? - Is he here? - Actually, no.
He called in sick.
Pride, I think you better get up here fast.
ANNA: What's wrong? We're locked out.
Wait a minute, that's impossible.
Well, we tried to identify the IP address of the hacker.
We used data analytics PATTON: That was your first mistake.
Probably what triggered the reaction.
What reaction? PATTON: From the hacker.
He knows we're looking for him, so he sent a virus to infect the entire system.
And now we can't monitor or control any of our test patients.
PRIDE: Hold on.
How many more are there? Five.
PATTON: Which potentially means five walking time bombs.
Where are we with Max Cahill? Uh, nowhere good, I'm afraid.
Put a BOLO out, but so far, there's no sign of him.
Did you try tracking his car or his cell? Tapped into the GPS on both.
They're either inoperable or they've both been disabled.
Which could me Cahill doesn't want to be found.
Still, what's his motive? I get possibly one: to hurt the lieutenant for jilting him, but why Gabriel Ridley? This might be why.
Three weeks ago, Max supposedly got a research grant for 100 grand from a group called the Elmshorn Foundation.
A grant for what? That's the thing-- I can't find out.
There is no record of the organization even existing.
You thinking maybe it's a payoff by somebody wanting Max to sabotage Anna's project? It would certainly explain why he attacked both the lieutenant and Ridley.
And why he locked out the institute, put all their other patients at risk.
One's still at risk for sure.
Just got off the phone with Sebastian.
He and Dr.
Lyons were able to contact every other test patient and bring them in.
All except for Lieutenant Vreeland.
They can't find her anywhere.
No Max, no Krista-- that can't be good.
PRIDE: Keep looking for Max, and keep trying to figure out where that money really came from.
You're gonna try and find Krista? Hopefully before Max does.
Come on, Christopher, let's go.
Fill in Patton and Anna when they get here.
Uh, what do you mean? Wait, Th-they're coming here? Well, the institute computers were compromised, so Patton wants to try and take back control with his own gear.
With Anna? Like, are they getting along? Too soon to tell.
GREGORIO: Okay.
I don't need that drama.
I'm busy.
(horn honks, tires screeching) ANNA: You're gonna get us both killed.
Will you please slow down? (horn honking) ANNA: Watch out! For God sakes, please.
Not to worry, Triple P is completely in control.
I see you're still referring to yourself in third person with that stupid nickname.
Wait, hold on, you used to like that stupid nickname.
You said it was one of my lovable quirks.
I never said that.
You must be confusing me with someone else.
I ain't been with nobody else since you.
You just not remembering right.
I remember you drive like a maniac.
What happened to your arm? Oh, you don't even want to know.
(tires screeching) Patton! We're here.
(engine turns off) Oh, boy.
MARLENE: Hey, Patton! Hey, Marlene.
Hey.
I was passing by.
I knew you worked here, so I thought I'd drop your gear off.
Um How's the arm? Good enough to go paragliding again soon, I hope.
Paragliding? Really? Is that how you hurt your arm? Unbelievable.
Ex-wife, enough said.
(clears throat) Thank you.
Oh, hey.
You must be Dr.
Yoon.
I'm Agent Gregorio, Tammy.
Anna, nice to meet you.
You, too.
Where's Patton? - Well, uh - Follow me.
Let's get to work.
No need to explain.
I've got an ex, too.
Yeah? Any tips? Yeah.
Well, I just arrested mine and threw his sorry ass in jail, so probably not.
(chuckles) Is he, uh, doing okay? Patton? Are you kidding? Yeah, he's great.
Like one big happy family.
I'm so glad to hear that.
Yeah.
So his office is that way? Straight through the courtyard, can't miss it.
Thanks.
Wish me luck.
(chuckles) Lieutenant Vreeland, federal agents.
(quietly): Chris, take the back.
Clear.
LASALLE: Looks like the place has been ransacked.
More like trashed than ransacked.
Too many broken things.
Yeah, somebody had to be pretty out of control to do this much damage.
Think it has to do with her implant? Fits the profile, unfortunately.
Especially if somebody's trying to do to her what they did to Ridley.
LASALLE: Man, I don't get it.
I don't care how much so-called potential this thing has, messing with people's minds is just wrong.
That's what they said about heart transplants when they came out; now, look at all the folks it's helped.
Progress isn't always pretty.
Yeah, well, not pretty's one thing, (keys rattle) but dangerous is another.
King, might be her cell.
Looks like she got a text from Max an hour ago.
âPlease let me apologize.
â Well, it doesn't exactly sound like somebody trying to hurt her.
LASALLE: Doesn't mean the lieutenant doesn't want to hurt him, though.
Maybe Max's cyberbullying went too far for her.
Well, it doesn't make sense.
If Max is behind all this, why taunt her, then trigger the DBS to make her violent, and then ask to meet? LASALLE: Yeah, putting himself in harm's way, it doesn't add up.
Either way, we got to find her and stop her before it's too late.
Man, I done tried everything.
Whoever locked you out the project, they know what they're doing.
Well, it has to be Max, he's the one who programmed the software.
Got to be a compiler backdoor.
He has to have a remote way in if he's trying to hurt people.
You ever change your default password? I assume you change your passwords regularly like I taught you to.
Yeah, just not every week.
Wait, I never said âevery week.
â Maybe every other week.
Your first password, do you even remember it? âClaudia1219.
â Who's that? I don't remember no Claudia being in your family.
Claudia's my daughter.
â12/19â is her birthday.
Whoa.
Okay.
I didn't know.
I mean, you know, 'cause you're not wearing a ring.
Yeah, well, I'm not married.
Not anymore, anyway.
I hope I'm a better mother than I was a wife.
True that.
What is that supposed to mean? Nothing, never mind.
No, you said it, I want to know what you meant by that.
It didn't mean anything.
Fine, just bury your head in the sand like you always do.
Wait, whoa, say what?, Or, better yet, why don't you go skydiving or-or paragliding, or why don't you race your boat too damn fast? See? That's cold.
I thought we didn't want to go there.
No, you don't want to go there.
You never want to go there.
You just want to keep blaming me 'cause it's easier than looking at yourself in the mirror.
I don't want to talk about it! You never want to talk about it.
That's the problem! That's our problem.
You never wanted to talk about anything.
You just want to keep running, and denying, and blaming everything on me, but it's not fair.
I'm not the one who put you in the chair, you did.
Sorry to interrupt.
Uh, but Pride needs you, Patton.
PRIDE: Patton, you get into the DBS program yet? I'm still trying.
Running out of time here.
Well, I would've been in by now if I didn't have these few distractions.
(Patton typing) I'm in.
What do you need? I need you to shut it down.
Krista's about to meet Max at a coffee shop in the Quarter, and we have to get to her before she does something she regrets.
Krista.
Somebody's triggering her limbic system, it's off the charts.
What does that mean? It means you have to shut it down, fast! Or she's gonna hurt somebody.
(siren wailing) (siren chirps, stops) (woman screaming) Get out of the way! Out of the way! NCIS, don't move.
It's Max.
What have I done? (indistinct radio chatter) LASALLE: How is she? Still doesn't remember what happened.
Doesn't even remember coming here to meet Max in the first place.
(siren chirps) How is that possible? Blackout, maybe, blinded by rage.
Krista says it's happened before.
Well, it doesn't look good for her, King.
It's gonna be hard to prove that someone triggered her to be violent, especially if that somebody turns out to be the victim.
Unless it wasn't Max who triggered her.
Like you said before, doesn't add up.
It's too neat.
Max taunted her, I know, but if all he was really trying to do was sabotage Anna's project You think someone's trying to set them both up? Hoping to make Max look like the fall guy so we'd stop investigating? I think we need to find that out.
Blunt force trauma.
I'd say at least three or four strikes and powerful ones, too.
I found skull fragments deep in the corpus callosum of his brain.
That sounds pretty violent.
Very.
And, yes, overstimulating anybody's limbic region, even artificially, could make someone strong enough to do this.
LASALLE: Doesn't exactly let Lieutenant Vreeland off the hook, does it? No, but this might.
I just checked the murder weapon for prints, didn't find any.
You mean you didn't find the lieutenant's? No, I mean I didn't find anyone's prints.
Nada, nothing.
There's clearly blood where there should be fingerprints, but instead of loops and whorls, all I found was trace evidence of latex.
Killer was wearing gloves.
But Krista wasn't.
SEBASTIAN: Right, plus, the size and shape of the blood spatter on the lieutenant's clothes doesn't match the downward force she would've had to use to hit Max with.
So you are certain she's not the killer.
100%.
That means Dwayne was right, Lieutenant Vreeland was being set up.
Which means so is Max.
Question is: by who? SEBASTIAN: Hopefully Patton's found something.
Hey.
You okay? Yeah, yeah, of course.
I'm still trying to backtrace the hacker.
So far, looks like all roads lead to Max.
Doesn't mean somebody didn't set him up, though, right? Like Pride thinks? Yeah, well, it's a pretty elaborate setup if somebody did.
Expensive, too, if that same someone planted 100 grand in Max's bank account to make it look even worse for him.
Yeah.
You know what? I'm gonna see if I can trace it.
No, I got it.
Don't worry, it's no problem.
Patton? Can you stop? I'm not gonna pretend that I didn't hear what you and Anna were arguing about.
Obviously, she's pretty pissed at me.
I can't say I blame her.
No, but you can talk to her.
Come on, you know how long it took before I finally faced my ex, figured out what I'd been running from all those years.
Only wish I'd done it sooner.
Gregorio, it's easier said than done.
No, I know, baby, but I'm telling you, now that I'm on the other side of it, I feel free.
And it might be freeing for Anna, too.
How much did you overhear anyway? Oh, not a lot.
Just enough to know that I don't want you to get hurt anymore.
And I'm not just talking about your arm.
I got Max, you go get Anna.
Get out of here.
Don't be scared.
(gasps, sighs) Patton I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.
That happens a lot.
These tires are not as noisy as footsteps.
What are you doing here? I'm not exactly sure.
I thought we should talk.
Now is not a good time.
Why not? I mean What are you doing? Packing up.
Dr.
Lyons and I decided to shut down the project for good.
What? I mean, if I find out who sabotaged you It doesn't matter.
Even if you catch whoever did this, they still violated every single safety protocol that we had.
People got killed.
And this project was supposed to help people, not hurt them.
I'm sorry, Anna.
It's not your fault.
Yes, actually, it is.
You were right when you said I've been blaming you, and I have been all along.
And I'm wrong for that.
I guess I just didn't want to admit it.
I shouldn't have said the things that I said that night.
Yeah, you should have.
I just didn't want to hear it.
So I did what I always do when I don't want to deal-- I ran.
I had way too much to drink, I drove that stupid boat too fast trying to get away from it all, and here I am.
Here we are.
Patton It's okay, Anna.
It-- no, it really is.
I'm good.
My life is good.
Do you know how many times I've relived that night? Thinking if only we had never fought No, Anna.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm lucky to even still be alive to do what I do-- help people.
Like you always tried to do.
I was just a boy when my mother died.
I didn't want to deal with that.
I didn't know how.
All you ever did was tell me I needed to.
Now I get it.
Better late than never, huh? Does that mean no more paragliding? Hey, girl, come on.
Don't go getting greedy now.
(chuckles) Just take the apology, will you? (laughing) I'm sorry for everything, Anna.
I truly am.
For blaming you, for everything I put you through, for what happened to us All of it.
Thank you.
Now, get out of my way.
I got to find out who's behind this and save your project, (Anna laughing) whether you like it or not.
I think I know where Max's research grant supposedly came from.
Well, I hope it leads to a suspect, 'cause we don't have jack.
So, when I couldn't find anything on the foundation, I did a forensic track on where the money came from.
Ran into nothing but firewalls.
The same ones Patton kept running into when he was looking for the hacker.
Well, it makes sense.
- Probably the same person behind both.
- Exactly.
Which means probably the same digital M.
O.
So I started looking for some connection to Anna's project files.
I found about 100,000 of them.
So, what, you're saying the money that ended up in Max's account came from Anna? Or from her partner, Dr.
Lyons? Got to be Dr.
Lyons.
LASALLE: Well, why would he want to sabotage their own project? Unless he was trying to get it away from Anna to sell it for the millions that she turned down.
Well, if that's true, and Lyons figures out we know he set Max up Anna could be in danger.
Where is she? With Patton, at the institute.
PRIDE: All right, get Patton on the phone.
Let's go.
Now that I know the back door that they used, I should be able to backtrace the IP address from your project's mainframe.
(phone ringing) PRIDE: Patton Hello? Not now, Pride.
I'm hot on the trail of PRIDE: Listen to me, Patton.
You're in danger.
(Anna gasps) PRIDE: What's happening? Nothing good.
(glass shatters) ANNA: What was that? I don't know, stay here.
(gunshots) PATTON: Get back! (Anna yells) (siren wailing) Still can't get through to Patton's cell.
No answer at the institute, either.
GREGORIO: He'd obviously pick up if he wasn't in trouble.
Find out how close NOPD is.
(gunshots) (gas hissing) (whispering): Are you okay? No, I'm not okay.
I'm scared.
In all fairness, you scare easily.
Not funny.
I don't understand.
How does killing us help Caleb get away with this? (gas hissing) What's that sound? Stay here.
Where are you going? Patton.
(hissing continues) (whispering): I think he's trying to blow up the laboratory to make it look like we died in an accident.
You know, I got an idea.
Get the orange strap.
(gas hissing) Here.
Put it around my waist.
What are you about to do? Strap in and do something that you've been trying to stop me from doing for years.
What? Now, give me a push with everything you got.
Are you crazy? You want to die? (yelling) Patton! ANNA: No! (gunshot) Patton, you okay? Turn them damn valves off, I will be.
(gasps) (hissing stops) GREGORIO: You're not hurt? Nah, nothing broken.
I'm good.
Guess all that paragliding paid off.
Stuck the landing.
PATTON: Well, sort of.
(chuckling) You really are crazy, you know that? PRIDE: Yeah, well we've, uh, known that a long, long time.
PATTON: Uh-huh.
That's right.
I ain't crazy, I'm colorful.
Triple P to the rescue.
(all laughing) (Pride groans playfully) (doorbell chiming) Hmm? (sighs) (elevator bell dings) You were thinking about pretending you weren't home, weren't you? Well, I thought about it, but then I remembered my van was parked out front.
Knew I didn't have a chance.
(laughs) Want a drink? A drink? It's a little early, isn't it? (scoffs) This is New Orleans, baby.
No, thanks, I'm fine.
I just thought I'd stop by on my way to work.
I wanted to let you know that I'm taking your advice.
I'm gonna try to salvage my project.
All right.
Now you're talking, Anna.
Good for you.
And I think I can talk Krista into sticking with it, too, now that the charges have been dropped.
See, it's all working out.
It is working out.
I'm glad we finally had that talk, Patton.
I just wish it could have happened six years sooner.
I wasn't much of a talker back then.
Or a listener.
Good thing, though, or you wouldn't have Claudia.
And you wouldn't have all these people who obviously care a lot about you, too.
(motor buzzing) Yeah! Hey, Patton.
How are you? Living the dream, Marlene.
Living the dream.
You want to go up? Hell yeah.
But, I have a question first.
I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out to dinner with me sometime.
I'd like that.
All right.
That makes two of us.
(chuckles) But first, strap me in, Marlene.
'Cause Triple P is ready to fly.
(both chuckling)
I still can't believe you got tickets.
Promised you I would, son.
Just took a little longer than I hoped.
Come on.
Come on! We're okay, Dad.
Don't worry about it.
It's my fault.
We should have left earlier.
Dad, really, it's okay.
Dad? No! Dad! Dad! Dad! (gun cocks) What are you doing?! No, stop! Hey! Dad! NCIS:New Orleans 4x07 The Accident Boom, boom, boom, boom Bang, bang, bang, bang Boom, boom, boom, boom How, how, how, how Hey, hey You gotta come on.
LASALLE: Shooter's a gunner's mate out of Belle Chasse, King.
Witnesses say he just started shooting for no reason.
All went down pretty fast.
Sebastian.
How's the boy? He's still in shock, poor guy.
LASALLE: No.
Doc's here doing her prelim now.
We'll canvass the scene, see you when you get here.
Pride and Gregorio are on their way.
Yeah, well, so is the boy's mom.
I didn't even really know what to say to him, you know? It's not really something they go over in training.
Yeah.
It's the toughest part of the job, talking to survivors and loved ones.
Best thing we can do is find some answers and figure out what happened.
Yeah, well, what happened seems pretty clear.
I mean, his dad just lost it and snapped.
Any idea what triggered it? Not enough to make him do what he did.
Eddie, his son, said that he was agitated by the traffic and then just started shooting.
Well, that doesn't make sense.
People just don't suddenly snap and start shooting for no reason.
Based on the amount of blood loss, I'd say at least one of the security guard's bullets severed Mr.
Ridley's aorta.
Died instantly? Yeah.
Lucky he's the only one who did, shooting like that in a crowded area.
You know what caused it? Meds, hallucinogens, alcohol? There's no obvious outward sign.
I'll run the tox screen when I get back.
However, there is one curious thing.
It's a recent incision, still healing.
Could indicate Mr.
Ridley had some kind of brain surgery.
I'll know more when I get him on my table.
(phone chirps) LASALLE: Oh, man.
Everything all right? King just texted.
He and Gregorio are taking a detour to Ochsner Medical.
Wait, what? Why? Patton's been in an accident.
I'm okay.
It's no big deal.
(gasps) Aye, ya.
I just misjudged the landing a little, that's all.
Landing? What landing, Patton? What were you doing? Okay.
Doctor wants you back in a week or so, to get the stitches removed.
I'll go get your discharge papers.
Thank you.
GREGORIO: Hello.
Somebody want to tell me what's going on? You might as well tell her before she kicks your butt.
That's exactly what I'm afraid's gonna happen if I do tell her.
Tell me what? Every once in a while, I like to do a little paragliding.
Paragliding? Wait.
You mean like with the parachute when you drop from the sky? You're kidding me.
He's kidding.
See, that's why I didn't want to tell her.
Bound to find out sooner or later.
Wait.
And you're okay with this? Are you two out of your minds? You could have gotten killed.
Relax.
Okay? Relax? Look, I've been doing stuff like this my whole life.
I ain't gonna stop now 'cause I use a chair.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah, clearly.
Do me a favor, talk some sense into him, please.
Lost that battle years ago.
Ugh.
Still, neither of us are as young as we used to be.
Might want to consider that, if nothing else.
PATTON: Oh, boy.
Hey, Patton.
Marlene.
Sorry.
I just wanted to make sure you're okay.
I was worried about you.
Marlene Bell, Tammy Gregorio, Dwayne Pride.
These are my coworkers.
Hey.
MARLENE: Hello.
PATTON: Marlene runs the paragliding business.
She probably worried she's about to lose her best customer.
That's not true, and you know it.
Don't worry.
I'm gonna be up and flying in no time.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Maybe next time you'll crack that thick skull of yours open.
Just her way of caring.
She's from New York.
(phone chimes) Yeah.
Well, it doesn't mean she's not making sense.
Just saying.
Oh, I got to get back to the squad room, catch up on the case.
Are you good? Absolutely.
Let's get to work.
No, no, no.
You're gonna go home and get some rest, Patton.
Doctor's orders.
Mine, too.
Nice to meet you.
You, too.
(scoffs) How's Patton doing? Is he okay? Don't even start with me.
She's upset.
She didn't know that Patton was a paraglider.
Oh, yeah.
But he doesn't just paraglide.
He asked me to go bungee jumping with him once.
Yeah.
But I was like, âHow about instead of that, I just, you know, stay alive?â Okay, what's the deal? Why does he do this? SEBASTIAN: Honestly, I-I think it's really cool.
For him, at least, you know? He-he won't let the chair hold him back.
No, but there's got to be something more to it than that because he said he's been doing it his whole life.
So most people thrill-seek for fun, some to run.
I mean, why does Patton do it? It's probably better if we stick to our dead sailor first.
PRIDE: Yeah.
Just got off the phone with his Navy shrink.
Any idea what made him snap? Said he suffered from PTSS, but he said he's been making remarkable progress for a while now.
Even volunteered for research studies to help those afflicted by it.
Well, something had to have triggered him to go off like that.
Question is: what? Doc Wade might have found the answer.
So it turns out that Ridley did, in fact, have brain surgery not too long ago, but it wasn't to fix something, it was to implant something.
What is that? I think that it's a neural interface.
Yeah.
Okay, so follow me on this, all right? Elon Musk, Google, Apple, they've all been upping their research into wizard hats, as they're known.
Blending brains and computers.
It's pretty cutting-edge stuff.
Pretty creepy, too.
What's it supposed to do? Well, I think that this one was designed to stimulate targeted areas of the brain with electrical pulses.
Kind of like what they've been trying to do recently to control Parkinson's or epilepsy.
Or PTSS? Yeah.
I think this could be the research study that he was involved with.
A little zap to the limbic center when anger or depression hits could just stabilize the subject without the messy side effects of pharmaceuticals.
Still, messing with people's brains is a slippery slope.
Especially if something goes wrong.
It's hard to believe that's not what triggered things.
Yeah, which means we need to find out who put that thing in his head now.
Well, one step ahead of you.
So, there's only one lab in all of Louisiana that's got pre-market approval from the FDA to carry out this type of research.
BioResearch Institute of New Orleans.
PRIDE: All right.
You and I are gonna pay them a visit.
Chris, you and Gregorio find out anything and everything you can about the institute.
Oh, hey, wait, we're just going to a lab, right? I don't need to bring my gun.
Well, if you're sure that the sailor's death was an accident.
I'm gonna bring my gun.
(trolley bell ringing) Dr.
Yoon? These are federal agents.
They're here to see you.
They say it's important.
Uh Anna.
Dwayne.
Oh, I've got this, thanks.
It's been so long.
Too long.
Thought you were still at Naval Research.
I was, that is until DoD approved my project.
Which, I'm assuming, is why you're here.
I heard about Gabriel, we're trying to figure out what happened.
Uh Sorry.
Forensic Agent Lund, he works with me.
Dr.
Anna Yoon.
Hi.
Nice to meet you.
Hi.
Uh, where do I know your name from? Anna used to be married to Patton.
SEBASTIAN: Oh.
Okay, yeah.
That-- okay.
That Anna Yoon.
Yup, one and the same.
Anyway the implant is yours? The entire project is mine.
Excuse me, Anna, but, uh, Max thinks he might've found something.
Okay, I'll be right there, thanks.
That's Dr.
Lyons, he's chief surgeon of the clinical trial.
What do you think went wrong? That's the thing, we don't know.
Here, come, follow me.
It's not exactly a new science.
Deep brain stimulation has been used for years without any problems.
SEBASTIAN: Well, except, and, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, that was before you were implanting devices directly into people's brains.
Well, that's the point of a clinical trial.
In success, DBS allows us to modulate overly aggressive and violent behavior so that we can regulate and calm the patient immediately.
No disrespect, but controlling people's brains from a computer We are not controlling, we are just monitoring; giving low-level stimuli when necessary.
This could be the biggest breakthrough in mental health in years, Dwayne, especially for vets.
Which is why the DoD is so excited about it.
MAX: Dr.
Yoon? I think we might have a problem.
Wait, is that Gabriel Ridley? MAX: Yeah.
Right before he died.
That's impossible.
Why, what is it? That's Ridley's prefrontal cortex, right? The amygdala? It's where aggressive behavior forms.
Except it's intensified instead of reduced.
How did that happen? Who did this, Max? Nobody from here.
I I think we've been hacked.
All right! Triple P is in the house and ready to rock.
Aren't you supposed to be resting? Oh, come on, I ain't a resting kind of guy.
Besides, Pride texted me, said he needed me to trace down a hacker, so let's get the show on the road.
King happen to mention the hacking involves one of your ex-wives? Oh, no, which one? Theresa? Uh, no.
Jasmine? Afraid not.
Anna? I'm out of here.
Where you going? Nah, I ain't doing this.
I know Pride didn't do me that.
Check this out, BioResearch turned down three competitors in the last year alone who offered millions of dollars to buy the DBS project.
Well, I'm not surprised, especially with all the heavy hitters Sebastian said that are interested in these wizard hats, or whatever it is they call them.
Cute name, scary technology.
You got that right.
I mean, hacking into cars and computers is one thing, but now brains? Hey, you think one of the competitors didn't take no for an answer? Like, maybe they tried to sabotage the project? Well, all the more reason for us to try and trace the hack, see where it leads.
Problem is, we can deep-dive into company records all we want, but Without Patton's help, we're grasping at straws.
- He's full of surprises, isn't he? - Patton? He likes to keep his private life private.
Doesn't really talk about it much.
No, he doesn't talk about it at all.
I've been working here for, what, over a year now.
I've never heard about these crazy stunts and ex-wives.
I mean, that's just weird.
Yeah.
It's understandable though.
Tough times Patton went through when he and Anna divorced.
What's it been? Uh, about six years now? Six years.
That's when Patton had his accident, right? Became paralyzed? Yeah, like I said, tough times.
Fortunately for P, Pride gave him a fresh start.
He joined NCIS and he's never looked back.
Yeah, well, never looking back is one thing.
Completely avoiding it is a whole different deal.
I mean, you saw how fast he took off at just the mention of Anna's name.
Something's still going on there.
Well, hopefully King can talk him through it, 'cause we need Patton to find this hacker.
(beeping) Oh, good, you guys are there.
I think I found something.
Like what, a prop from Back to the Future? Oh, right.
I totally forgot.
Although, actually, you know, Doc Brown is sort of a personal hero of mine.
No, uh, Anna was about to show me a virtual demo on how DBS works, but, more importantly, I think I found a suspect.
Lieutenant Krista Vreeland.
She was a test subject here, until a couple weeks ago, when she suddenly just quit the trial.
Anna said she was pretty pissed, too.
Did she say why? Only that she thought the treatment wasn't working for her.
She started acting erratically and then just refused to come back.
You thinking maybe a grudge? That sounds like a good enough motive for me.
We'll check it out.
Hey, Sebastian, good work.
Keep digging, but don't fry your brain.
Too late.
Just kidding.
I hope.
(elevator bell dings) (Patton grunting softly) Not gonna lie.
I wasn't sure you'd even buzz me up.
I figured if I didn't, you'd keep dogging me.
And I don't have time for no lecture.
Should you be lifting weights? I shouldn't be doing a lot of things, according to most folks, but that's not gonna keep me from doing what I do.
I heard that you were pretty upset when you found out about Anna being involved in the case.
You should have told me, so I wouldn't be caught off guard.
I didn't want to tell you in a text.
And I had no idea you'd be in such a hurry to get back into the office, either.
You call, I'm there.
You know that.
Patton, it's me, okay? Let's just talk about this.
Pride, I don't want to talk, especially about her.
Not now, not ever.
And I'd think you'd know that better than anybody! I do.
But I also know that, sooner or later, you're gonna need to talk about it for your own sake.
But that's not why I'm here.
I need you on this case.
A young boy lost his father yesterday because somebody hacked into Anna's project, and you're the only one who can help find out who might have done it and why.
I'm sorry.
I know this is hard for you.
And I wouldn't be asking if I had any other choice, but I don't think I can do it without you.
Sometimes it sucks being so good at what I do.
(Patton scoffs) Let me hit the shower.
(indistinct chatter) Lieutenant Vreeland? Special Agents Lasalle and Gregorio.
Will you stop the treadmill for us, please? What's this about? (treadmill beeps) We're NCIS, Lieutenant.
When we say stop, you stop.
Besides, he said âplease.
â I'm sorry, it's just when I get my adrenaline going I take my exercise very seriously, that's all.
Yeah, well, we take the murder of a sailor very seriously as well.
Murder? I don't understand.
Step over here, please.
The DBS clinical trial-- why did you quit? How do you know about that? LASALLE: Just answer the question.
Hey, look, we're not trying to piss you off, Lieutenant.
We just want some answers, all right? So take a deep breath and tell us what you know.
I didn't want to quit.
Frankly, DBS was the best thing that ever happened to me after this.
Okay.
So why did you quit the trial? Because of Max.
He's a tech specialist at BioResearch.
We started dating, and then I broke it off, and he didn't like that.
Okay, so what does that have to do with Max started posting terrible things about me online, making me look like a slut.
He was trying to piss me off.
But not just with the posts, either-- with that thing that they put in my head.
What do you mean? The implant? Are you saying that he used it to somehow manipulate you? I know he was.
I don't deny I have anger issues.
Okay? But nothing close to the rage I felt every time he posted about me.
I can't explain it, but it was like a switch had gone off, and I could barely control it.
That's why I quit the program.
And that's why I'm getting this thing taken out as soon as possible.
Okay.
Well, you can go, for now.
Thanks.
(sighs) What do you think? Think she sounds more like victim than suspect.
Yeah.
Which means it's possible this Max guy's trying to do the same thing to the lieutenant he did to our sailor.
Pretty good way to sabotage the program.
Plus, two deaths are better than one.
PRIDE: All right, we're at the institute now.
I'll talk to Max.
Meanwhile, you and Chris find out everything you can about him, especially a motive.
They might be onto something.
Oh, good, then let's go.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, no.
Hold on, hold on, you're not going anywhere.
Need proof on whoever's doing the hacking.
Only you can get it.
Okay, all right, I'm good.
You sure? Absolutely.
Let's do this.
Okay, 'cause here she comes.
What? Where? God, she is beautiful.
Damn her! Not about Anna, it's about the case.
Right, it's about the case.
Hello, Patton.
How are you doing? I'm just here for the case.
I-I mean, that's not what I mean.
I mean, it is what I mean, but (sighs) Anna, you look great.
Thank you.
Um, where's the mainframe? I got a hacker to catch.
Oh, uh, your associate, Sebastian, is working on it upstairs with Dr.
Lyons.
The elevator's over there.
Okay, well, that's the way I'm headed.
Excuse me.
He's still mad at me, isn't he? I don't know.
And not for me to say.
I think you just did.
Listen, we, um might have a suspect.
Krista? Your tech specialist-- Max Cahill.
Max? Are you sure? - Is he here? - Actually, no.
He called in sick.
Pride, I think you better get up here fast.
ANNA: What's wrong? We're locked out.
Wait a minute, that's impossible.
Well, we tried to identify the IP address of the hacker.
We used data analytics PATTON: That was your first mistake.
Probably what triggered the reaction.
What reaction? PATTON: From the hacker.
He knows we're looking for him, so he sent a virus to infect the entire system.
And now we can't monitor or control any of our test patients.
PRIDE: Hold on.
How many more are there? Five.
PATTON: Which potentially means five walking time bombs.
Where are we with Max Cahill? Uh, nowhere good, I'm afraid.
Put a BOLO out, but so far, there's no sign of him.
Did you try tracking his car or his cell? Tapped into the GPS on both.
They're either inoperable or they've both been disabled.
Which could me Cahill doesn't want to be found.
Still, what's his motive? I get possibly one: to hurt the lieutenant for jilting him, but why Gabriel Ridley? This might be why.
Three weeks ago, Max supposedly got a research grant for 100 grand from a group called the Elmshorn Foundation.
A grant for what? That's the thing-- I can't find out.
There is no record of the organization even existing.
You thinking maybe it's a payoff by somebody wanting Max to sabotage Anna's project? It would certainly explain why he attacked both the lieutenant and Ridley.
And why he locked out the institute, put all their other patients at risk.
One's still at risk for sure.
Just got off the phone with Sebastian.
He and Dr.
Lyons were able to contact every other test patient and bring them in.
All except for Lieutenant Vreeland.
They can't find her anywhere.
No Max, no Krista-- that can't be good.
PRIDE: Keep looking for Max, and keep trying to figure out where that money really came from.
You're gonna try and find Krista? Hopefully before Max does.
Come on, Christopher, let's go.
Fill in Patton and Anna when they get here.
Uh, what do you mean? Wait, Th-they're coming here? Well, the institute computers were compromised, so Patton wants to try and take back control with his own gear.
With Anna? Like, are they getting along? Too soon to tell.
GREGORIO: Okay.
I don't need that drama.
I'm busy.
(horn honks, tires screeching) ANNA: You're gonna get us both killed.
Will you please slow down? (horn honking) ANNA: Watch out! For God sakes, please.
Not to worry, Triple P is completely in control.
I see you're still referring to yourself in third person with that stupid nickname.
Wait, hold on, you used to like that stupid nickname.
You said it was one of my lovable quirks.
I never said that.
You must be confusing me with someone else.
I ain't been with nobody else since you.
You just not remembering right.
I remember you drive like a maniac.
What happened to your arm? Oh, you don't even want to know.
(tires screeching) Patton! We're here.
(engine turns off) Oh, boy.
MARLENE: Hey, Patton! Hey, Marlene.
Hey.
I was passing by.
I knew you worked here, so I thought I'd drop your gear off.
Um How's the arm? Good enough to go paragliding again soon, I hope.
Paragliding? Really? Is that how you hurt your arm? Unbelievable.
Ex-wife, enough said.
(clears throat) Thank you.
Oh, hey.
You must be Dr.
Yoon.
I'm Agent Gregorio, Tammy.
Anna, nice to meet you.
You, too.
Where's Patton? - Well, uh - Follow me.
Let's get to work.
No need to explain.
I've got an ex, too.
Yeah? Any tips? Yeah.
Well, I just arrested mine and threw his sorry ass in jail, so probably not.
(chuckles) Is he, uh, doing okay? Patton? Are you kidding? Yeah, he's great.
Like one big happy family.
I'm so glad to hear that.
Yeah.
So his office is that way? Straight through the courtyard, can't miss it.
Thanks.
Wish me luck.
(chuckles) Lieutenant Vreeland, federal agents.
(quietly): Chris, take the back.
Clear.
LASALLE: Looks like the place has been ransacked.
More like trashed than ransacked.
Too many broken things.
Yeah, somebody had to be pretty out of control to do this much damage.
Think it has to do with her implant? Fits the profile, unfortunately.
Especially if somebody's trying to do to her what they did to Ridley.
LASALLE: Man, I don't get it.
I don't care how much so-called potential this thing has, messing with people's minds is just wrong.
That's what they said about heart transplants when they came out; now, look at all the folks it's helped.
Progress isn't always pretty.
Yeah, well, not pretty's one thing, (keys rattle) but dangerous is another.
King, might be her cell.
Looks like she got a text from Max an hour ago.
âPlease let me apologize.
â Well, it doesn't exactly sound like somebody trying to hurt her.
LASALLE: Doesn't mean the lieutenant doesn't want to hurt him, though.
Maybe Max's cyberbullying went too far for her.
Well, it doesn't make sense.
If Max is behind all this, why taunt her, then trigger the DBS to make her violent, and then ask to meet? LASALLE: Yeah, putting himself in harm's way, it doesn't add up.
Either way, we got to find her and stop her before it's too late.
Man, I done tried everything.
Whoever locked you out the project, they know what they're doing.
Well, it has to be Max, he's the one who programmed the software.
Got to be a compiler backdoor.
He has to have a remote way in if he's trying to hurt people.
You ever change your default password? I assume you change your passwords regularly like I taught you to.
Yeah, just not every week.
Wait, I never said âevery week.
â Maybe every other week.
Your first password, do you even remember it? âClaudia1219.
â Who's that? I don't remember no Claudia being in your family.
Claudia's my daughter.
â12/19â is her birthday.
Whoa.
Okay.
I didn't know.
I mean, you know, 'cause you're not wearing a ring.
Yeah, well, I'm not married.
Not anymore, anyway.
I hope I'm a better mother than I was a wife.
True that.
What is that supposed to mean? Nothing, never mind.
No, you said it, I want to know what you meant by that.
It didn't mean anything.
Fine, just bury your head in the sand like you always do.
Wait, whoa, say what?, Or, better yet, why don't you go skydiving or-or paragliding, or why don't you race your boat too damn fast? See? That's cold.
I thought we didn't want to go there.
No, you don't want to go there.
You never want to go there.
You just want to keep blaming me 'cause it's easier than looking at yourself in the mirror.
I don't want to talk about it! You never want to talk about it.
That's the problem! That's our problem.
You never wanted to talk about anything.
You just want to keep running, and denying, and blaming everything on me, but it's not fair.
I'm not the one who put you in the chair, you did.
Sorry to interrupt.
Uh, but Pride needs you, Patton.
PRIDE: Patton, you get into the DBS program yet? I'm still trying.
Running out of time here.
Well, I would've been in by now if I didn't have these few distractions.
(Patton typing) I'm in.
What do you need? I need you to shut it down.
Krista's about to meet Max at a coffee shop in the Quarter, and we have to get to her before she does something she regrets.
Krista.
Somebody's triggering her limbic system, it's off the charts.
What does that mean? It means you have to shut it down, fast! Or she's gonna hurt somebody.
(siren wailing) (siren chirps, stops) (woman screaming) Get out of the way! Out of the way! NCIS, don't move.
It's Max.
What have I done? (indistinct radio chatter) LASALLE: How is she? Still doesn't remember what happened.
Doesn't even remember coming here to meet Max in the first place.
(siren chirps) How is that possible? Blackout, maybe, blinded by rage.
Krista says it's happened before.
Well, it doesn't look good for her, King.
It's gonna be hard to prove that someone triggered her to be violent, especially if that somebody turns out to be the victim.
Unless it wasn't Max who triggered her.
Like you said before, doesn't add up.
It's too neat.
Max taunted her, I know, but if all he was really trying to do was sabotage Anna's project You think someone's trying to set them both up? Hoping to make Max look like the fall guy so we'd stop investigating? I think we need to find that out.
Blunt force trauma.
I'd say at least three or four strikes and powerful ones, too.
I found skull fragments deep in the corpus callosum of his brain.
That sounds pretty violent.
Very.
And, yes, overstimulating anybody's limbic region, even artificially, could make someone strong enough to do this.
LASALLE: Doesn't exactly let Lieutenant Vreeland off the hook, does it? No, but this might.
I just checked the murder weapon for prints, didn't find any.
You mean you didn't find the lieutenant's? No, I mean I didn't find anyone's prints.
Nada, nothing.
There's clearly blood where there should be fingerprints, but instead of loops and whorls, all I found was trace evidence of latex.
Killer was wearing gloves.
But Krista wasn't.
SEBASTIAN: Right, plus, the size and shape of the blood spatter on the lieutenant's clothes doesn't match the downward force she would've had to use to hit Max with.
So you are certain she's not the killer.
100%.
That means Dwayne was right, Lieutenant Vreeland was being set up.
Which means so is Max.
Question is: by who? SEBASTIAN: Hopefully Patton's found something.
Hey.
You okay? Yeah, yeah, of course.
I'm still trying to backtrace the hacker.
So far, looks like all roads lead to Max.
Doesn't mean somebody didn't set him up, though, right? Like Pride thinks? Yeah, well, it's a pretty elaborate setup if somebody did.
Expensive, too, if that same someone planted 100 grand in Max's bank account to make it look even worse for him.
Yeah.
You know what? I'm gonna see if I can trace it.
No, I got it.
Don't worry, it's no problem.
Patton? Can you stop? I'm not gonna pretend that I didn't hear what you and Anna were arguing about.
Obviously, she's pretty pissed at me.
I can't say I blame her.
No, but you can talk to her.
Come on, you know how long it took before I finally faced my ex, figured out what I'd been running from all those years.
Only wish I'd done it sooner.
Gregorio, it's easier said than done.
No, I know, baby, but I'm telling you, now that I'm on the other side of it, I feel free.
And it might be freeing for Anna, too.
How much did you overhear anyway? Oh, not a lot.
Just enough to know that I don't want you to get hurt anymore.
And I'm not just talking about your arm.
I got Max, you go get Anna.
Get out of here.
Don't be scared.
(gasps, sighs) Patton I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.
That happens a lot.
These tires are not as noisy as footsteps.
What are you doing here? I'm not exactly sure.
I thought we should talk.
Now is not a good time.
Why not? I mean What are you doing? Packing up.
Dr.
Lyons and I decided to shut down the project for good.
What? I mean, if I find out who sabotaged you It doesn't matter.
Even if you catch whoever did this, they still violated every single safety protocol that we had.
People got killed.
And this project was supposed to help people, not hurt them.
I'm sorry, Anna.
It's not your fault.
Yes, actually, it is.
You were right when you said I've been blaming you, and I have been all along.
And I'm wrong for that.
I guess I just didn't want to admit it.
I shouldn't have said the things that I said that night.
Yeah, you should have.
I just didn't want to hear it.
So I did what I always do when I don't want to deal-- I ran.
I had way too much to drink, I drove that stupid boat too fast trying to get away from it all, and here I am.
Here we are.
Patton It's okay, Anna.
It-- no, it really is.
I'm good.
My life is good.
Do you know how many times I've relived that night? Thinking if only we had never fought No, Anna.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm lucky to even still be alive to do what I do-- help people.
Like you always tried to do.
I was just a boy when my mother died.
I didn't want to deal with that.
I didn't know how.
All you ever did was tell me I needed to.
Now I get it.
Better late than never, huh? Does that mean no more paragliding? Hey, girl, come on.
Don't go getting greedy now.
(chuckles) Just take the apology, will you? (laughing) I'm sorry for everything, Anna.
I truly am.
For blaming you, for everything I put you through, for what happened to us All of it.
Thank you.
Now, get out of my way.
I got to find out who's behind this and save your project, (Anna laughing) whether you like it or not.
I think I know where Max's research grant supposedly came from.
Well, I hope it leads to a suspect, 'cause we don't have jack.
So, when I couldn't find anything on the foundation, I did a forensic track on where the money came from.
Ran into nothing but firewalls.
The same ones Patton kept running into when he was looking for the hacker.
Well, it makes sense.
- Probably the same person behind both.
- Exactly.
Which means probably the same digital M.
O.
So I started looking for some connection to Anna's project files.
I found about 100,000 of them.
So, what, you're saying the money that ended up in Max's account came from Anna? Or from her partner, Dr.
Lyons? Got to be Dr.
Lyons.
LASALLE: Well, why would he want to sabotage their own project? Unless he was trying to get it away from Anna to sell it for the millions that she turned down.
Well, if that's true, and Lyons figures out we know he set Max up Anna could be in danger.
Where is she? With Patton, at the institute.
PRIDE: All right, get Patton on the phone.
Let's go.
Now that I know the back door that they used, I should be able to backtrace the IP address from your project's mainframe.
(phone ringing) PRIDE: Patton Hello? Not now, Pride.
I'm hot on the trail of PRIDE: Listen to me, Patton.
You're in danger.
(Anna gasps) PRIDE: What's happening? Nothing good.
(glass shatters) ANNA: What was that? I don't know, stay here.
(gunshots) PATTON: Get back! (Anna yells) (siren wailing) Still can't get through to Patton's cell.
No answer at the institute, either.
GREGORIO: He'd obviously pick up if he wasn't in trouble.
Find out how close NOPD is.
(gunshots) (gas hissing) (whispering): Are you okay? No, I'm not okay.
I'm scared.
In all fairness, you scare easily.
Not funny.
I don't understand.
How does killing us help Caleb get away with this? (gas hissing) What's that sound? Stay here.
Where are you going? Patton.
(hissing continues) (whispering): I think he's trying to blow up the laboratory to make it look like we died in an accident.
You know, I got an idea.
Get the orange strap.
(gas hissing) Here.
Put it around my waist.
What are you about to do? Strap in and do something that you've been trying to stop me from doing for years.
What? Now, give me a push with everything you got.
Are you crazy? You want to die? (yelling) Patton! ANNA: No! (gunshot) Patton, you okay? Turn them damn valves off, I will be.
(gasps) (hissing stops) GREGORIO: You're not hurt? Nah, nothing broken.
I'm good.
Guess all that paragliding paid off.
Stuck the landing.
PATTON: Well, sort of.
(chuckling) You really are crazy, you know that? PRIDE: Yeah, well we've, uh, known that a long, long time.
PATTON: Uh-huh.
That's right.
I ain't crazy, I'm colorful.
Triple P to the rescue.
(all laughing) (Pride groans playfully) (doorbell chiming) Hmm? (sighs) (elevator bell dings) You were thinking about pretending you weren't home, weren't you? Well, I thought about it, but then I remembered my van was parked out front.
Knew I didn't have a chance.
(laughs) Want a drink? A drink? It's a little early, isn't it? (scoffs) This is New Orleans, baby.
No, thanks, I'm fine.
I just thought I'd stop by on my way to work.
I wanted to let you know that I'm taking your advice.
I'm gonna try to salvage my project.
All right.
Now you're talking, Anna.
Good for you.
And I think I can talk Krista into sticking with it, too, now that the charges have been dropped.
See, it's all working out.
It is working out.
I'm glad we finally had that talk, Patton.
I just wish it could have happened six years sooner.
I wasn't much of a talker back then.
Or a listener.
Good thing, though, or you wouldn't have Claudia.
And you wouldn't have all these people who obviously care a lot about you, too.
(motor buzzing) Yeah! Hey, Patton.
How are you? Living the dream, Marlene.
Living the dream.
You want to go up? Hell yeah.
But, I have a question first.
I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out to dinner with me sometime.
I'd like that.
All right.
That makes two of us.
(chuckles) But first, strap me in, Marlene.
'Cause Triple P is ready to fly.
(both chuckling)