Everyone in the Barn gets a spiral-bound copy of Lanie's report. Upstairs in the captain's office, Chief Bankston isn't surprised by what Lanie wrote. He announces the city is making budget cuts, meaning police officers are on an overtime and pay freeze. It'll take a year longer for people to qualify for a pension with a shrinkage in benefits. The Barn will also have to fire 20% of its workforce.
Chief Bankston instructs Edgar-veda to start with the disciplinary problems and people close to retirement, "then fire whoever you have to" until he gets to 20%. After all, who knows the officers better than the captain? Edgar-veda sees right through that: "You want the blood on my hands, not yours." He refuses to do it; he's leaving anyway. The chief says, "You can't afford to lose your job the day before a close election." He wants the list of firings by tonight.
Julien meets Tomas at an outdoor cafe. He's brought along Gary, his sexual reorientation therapy sponsor. Julien tells Tomas to stop calling him. Tomas whines that he's broke and homeless. Julien suggests he go to a shelter. Tomas gets angry, saying Julien and Gary aren't fooling anyone by "hiding behind Jesus." He punches Gary in the face, opening up his eyebrow, then runs away. Julien stays to help Gary.
Dutch's past has come back to haunt him too. Lanie's report contained 5 paragraphs on the Bob and Marcy case. He and Claudette are about to interview the parents of Jeffrey Cole, a 14-year-old boy who's been missing since last night. "He's the father, but I am the parent," Jeffrey's Mom says when the detectives walk into the apartment, "This wouldn't have happened if he was still with me."
Jeffrey's Dad last saw his son when he left for work. Dad gets off late and didn't want to wake up Jeffrey, so he didn't check on him after getting home. Jeffrey's Mom lives in Venice and called all their friends and neighbors; none of them have seen Jeffrey. Claudette asks for a recent picture of the teen. "Oh God, if anything's happened to him, I'll never forgive myself," Dad mumbles as he hands it over.
Vic asks, "The money train's moving up?" Lem doesn't know for sure, but the ship the Armenians normally use is due in port tonight. The manifest says the ship will leave after 2 days. "The Armenians can't be onto us. We've been careful," says Vic. Shane thinks they're just trying not to be too routine. Vic pounds on his stove in frustration.
"We can't just walk away from this," says Ronnie, who probably is in quite a bit of medical debt. Vic doesn't want to take unnecessary chances. Lem, of all people, wants to at least find out the new location. Vic agrees to that much. If things start to look shaky, they won't go through with it.
Danny and Julien show Jeffrey's picture around the neighborhood. Danny heard Lanie's report has a paragraph about Armadillo getting shanked in the cage. Julien is sure the killer got the knife some other way.
Danny asks a nearby shop owner about Jeffrey. The guy saw Jeffrey last night, thought the kid looked lost. Jeffrey got into a car, but the shop owner couldn't tell if he was being forced. Julien asks what kind of car.
Dutch explains the Cole family background to Edgar-veda. Jeffrey used to live with Mom and went to school in Venice. Dad wanted the kid to live with him in Farmington for a year and Mom reluctantly agreed. According to Dad, Jeffrey hasn't made a lot of friends yet. Dutch thinks that makes the kid an ideal victim for an adult predator. Two other boys were kidnapped in the area 3 months ago; their bodies were found weeks apart.
"These the kids who were duct-taped and shot in the face?" asks Vic. Dutch confirms it. One boy was 12, the other 13. Both were sexually assaulted and tortured. They may only have a few hours at best to find Jeffrey. Best case scenario is "that this deviant's got the boy chained up to a fence somewhere. loves his ass so much he can't give it up for a few days." Jeffrey's Dad tackles Dutch from behind, roaring, "That's my son, asshole!"
Dutch's papers go flying. Vic pulls Dad off, but not before Dad has the chance to get in a couple of kidney and rib shots. Vic tries to calm the guy down. All that matters right now is finding Jeffrey. Unfortunately, Chief Bankston has witnessed this whole thing.
In the clubhouse, Jeffrey's Dad is still fuming over the idea that "some monster" has his son. Vic isn't sure that's the case yet. But that's what Dutch said. Vic tells him Dutch really needs to work on his people skills. "Jeffrey's a good kid," says Dad. Vic promises to do everything he can to get Jeffrey back.
Hunting pedophiles isn't Vic's strong suit, but he still wants to help Dutch out with the case any way he can. All 3 boys were abducted from the same neighborhood, so it's likely the pervert is a local. He could be buying porn there too. Shane says they'll canvass the smut stores. "It won't be easy to get names from a sex shop. Privacy issues," says Dutch. Vic thinks they can find a way around that.
Dutch ran the names of all the sex offenders in the neighborhood. There's a convicted child molester who didn't register until after the first two boys were murdered. Edgar-veda tells him and Claudette to consolidate the murder cases into the abduction investigation. Chief Bankston introduces himself to Claudette and asks her to walk him out.
The chief read Lanie's report and her recommendation that Claudette take over the Barn. He agrees that she's the best candidate. Claudette believes the Barn has deep problems, but they aren't as wide as they look. She doesn't clarify what she means by that. However, Claudette does say she's not a leader; she likes being able to investigate her cases and go home.
Vic sends Tavon to Venice to find Jeffrey's hometown friends. "Me and Ronnie'll stay on the money tr---" Lem starts.
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Shane keeps ranting. Lem just screwed up. It's not like Shane never has. He's sorry, okay?
A uniform tells Julien that he just interviewed Gary at the hospital. Gary's vision is blurry and the doctors think it could be permanent. The attacker was wearing a ring and Gary can't identify him. Julien knows who did it: Tomas Motyashik. Poor Gary. I bet he never thought sponsoring someone trying to change their sexuality would be this dangerous.
Shane and Vic shoo some customers out of a sex shop. Vic asks the clerk if he's selling anything out of the back room. The clerk wants to see a warrant. Vic finds a shelf full of child porn videos behind a curtain. "No minors were used," the clerk insists. The actors' faces were Photoshopped to appear younger. "Hooray for Hollywood," Shane says sarcastically.
The clerk gloats that the cops are out of luck. Not so fast. Shane thinks the shop has at least a dozen fire code violations. Vic wants a list of the store's "more deviant clients."
Claudette shows Blaine the pedophile Jeffrey's photo. With a creepy grin, he says, "He looks very sweet." Hey, It's That Guy! Last time I saw Don McManus, he was wreaking havoc as Samhain the demon on Supernatural. Claudette asks him to explain why Jeffrey was seen getting into his car at 9:30 last night.
Blaine has an alibi. He was eating a late dinner with "some like-minded" individuals. They talked about young boys, but "didn't have any for dessert."
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Dutch theorizes their predator likes to abduct several boys at the same time. Maybe the guy molests one boy and forces the others to watch. If that's the case, Jeffrey might still be alive.
Shane goes to run the list of sex shop customers through the DMV. Vic updates Jeffrey's Dad. They have some good leads; Dad just has to trust him. Tavon heard from one of Jeffrey's friends in Venice that the kid's been depressed lately. Dad has noticed that, but thought it was a phase. He missed out on a lot of Jeffrey's life after the divorce.
"You think he ran away and got in a car with somebody he shouldn't have?" asks Dad. Vic has a question of his own: If Jeffrey did run away, where would he go? Dad thinks he would've gone back to Venice to be with his mom.
As he's walked to the cage, Tomas spots Julien. He calls out, "Don't turn your back on me! Not after all we've had together! Oh, you got laid, now you wanna just ignore me?" He keeps going on about how Julien still loves him. Danny takes Tomas upstairs. Julien says none of this is his fault; Tomas put himself in jail by making bad choices. The scorned lover retaliates by listing off various sex acts he and Julien have done. Everyone in the squadroom looks curiously at Julien.
Vic sits down with his lawyer. Corinne got a subpoena for Vic's police personnel file and financial records. She froze their joint savings account and emptied their checking account. In his experience, "no one goes straight to DefCon5 the way she did without a reason." Vic explains that after the papers were served, Corinne came to Vic's apartment. "And you weren't alone?" the lawyer guesses.
He hopes Vic realizes this will make him much less sympathetic to a judge. All Vic cares about is being able to see his kids. Vic needs to cut the meeting short; he promised to help Cassidy with her science project. "If you had a predetermined time to be with your kid, honor that." advises the lawyer.
When Vic tries to unlock the back door of his house, the key doesn't work. He knocks: "Corinne! I know you're home!" Corinne is in the bathroom, giving toddler Megan a bath. Matt and Cassidy are helping. Suddenly, Matt runs past the glass doors shrieking. Vic stupidly decides to break a window, setting off the burglar alarm. Corinne goes into panic mode. She tells Cassidy to stay with Megan.
Vic tries to turn off the alarm, but it keeps blaring. Corinne must've changed the code along with the locks. She comes to shut off the alarm and asks why Vic came in. He says he heard Matt scream. Corinne punches in a code and the alarm still continues. Guess she doesn't know the code either. Cassidy comes out of the bathroom and sees her parents arguing.
Vic says he's just here to see his daughter. "You'll have to go through my lawyer to set up a time from now on," Corinne informs him. Vic doesn't want to play it that way. Corinne says if that's his attitude, he can't see the kids at all. Cassidy runs out of the kitchen. We can hear Megan screaming in the bathroom.
When the rest of the family arrives, Megan is trying to climb out of the bathtub. The water is still running and way too hot. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Cassidy whimpers. Vic checks Megan over. He thinks she's more scared than anything. Cassidy tells her dad to leave. Vic is shocked. The phone is ringing off the hook, adding to the general racket in the house. Vic answers the phone. It's the alarm company. Vic gets the alarm code from them and tells them everyone is fine. Wonderful response by the security company. What if Vic was actually a burglar?
By now, Matt is sitting by himself in his room, rocking back and forth while biting his shirt collar. Vic picks him up and hugs him. Megan is still wailing in Corinne's arms. Corinne seems on the verge of tears herself.
Edgar-veda asks Claudette, "Did the chief offer you my job?" Claudette answers honestly, "Yes. I wasn't interested." Vic enters the office and the captain demands to know where he's been for the last hour. Oh, just dealing with a scalded baby and an autistic meltdown, the usual. "You're either on this case or you're not," says Edgar-veda. Vic says Shane might've found a possible match for the car by using the sex shop list.
Claudette knows that won't be enough to get a warrant. "One of us better start getting creative while this kid's still breathing," says Vic. The abductor killed his previous victims within 30 hours of abduction. Edgar-veda instructs them to pick the guy up on the street for questioning only.
Outside the pervert's apartment, Shane is on the sidewalk smoking. Vic is down the block, fiddling under the hood of his truck. Lemming is across the street munching on something. He casually crosses the street when he sees the guy get into his car. The pervert has a shiner. "That's okay, Adam, we'll drive," says Vic, grabbing him.
"What'd I do?" asks Adam. Vic's reply is blunt: "Two 14-year-olds." Shane asks about his eye. Did one of the boys fight back? As he's brought into the precinct, Adam protests that he didn't do anything. "This used to be a church, man. You lie in here, you're goin' straight to hell," says Reverend Shane.
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Jeffrey's Dad comes out of the clubhouse and sees Adam on the balcony: "Is that the guy?" Vic tells him it's his job to find out; Jeffrey's Dad should go back to the clubhouse and stay calm. Like Vic would be calm if it was his kid. Shockingly, Jeffrey's Dad complies.
Dutch tells Adam that Jeffrey was seen getting into his car. He claims he's never seen the kid. Dutch points out that Adam didn't even look at the photo. Claudette asks about Lydell. Did he give Adam the black eye? Adam claims he didn't abduct anyone. If that's true, Claudette thinks it might help him.
The police are currently dusting Adam's car for fingerprints. Adam wants his lawyer if he's being treated as a suspect. "Lawyering up this fast, we know he's lying," Vic tells Edgar-veda in the observation room. A uniform lets them know that the body of a teenage boy has been discovered.
Dutch and Claudette go to the crime scene: a weedy overgrown lot overlooking a road. The dead boy in question isn't Jeffrey; it's Lydell. He was shot twice in the head, just like the others. Dutch suspects Adam made Jeffrey shoot Lydell, "like a twisted snuff film without the film." "Where do you get this stuff from?" asks Claudette. At least Adam is at the police station for now.
Out in the Barn's back parking lot, Lem has bad news; everything's been moved out of where the Armenians store the money. Vic shrugs that they can't do the heist. Ronnie the tech guru hacked into port's computer and learned the Armenians reserved a bigger shipping container, which means more cash. The company they reserved the container through filed for Chapter 11. This is the money train's last run, at least in Los Angeles. It's now or never.
Shane says they need to come up with a new plan pronto. Vic's done talking about it. I can't tell if he's worried that any shady shit will give Corinne more ammo for the divorce or if he's preoccupied with Jeffrey the missing teenager.
Machado, one of Edgar-veda's political backers, is upset. He arranged several rallies and Edgar-veda wasn't present at any of them. The captain sent Aurora in his place. "I am financing you in this election, not your wife!" snaps Machado. Edgar-veda explains he's working an important case that he can't get away from: 3 dead boys and one who's still missing. He can't be worrying about a few hundred possible votes.
Machado reminds him that a few hundred votes could make all the difference. He knows Chief Bankston is taking away Edgar-veda's job. Tomorrow's election is all he has. Edgar-veda repeats that he can't go begging for votes. Important decisions need to be made.
Two male uniforms ask Danny if she knew Julien was gay. She tells them Tomas is lying. The guys don't understand why or how Tomas would pull Julien's name out of a hat to make up the story. Danny asks, "Who knows? That Arab woman came after for me for no reason." The blond uniform disagrees with that assessment: "You killed her old man." May I remind you that Danny had no choice? Zaide pointed a gun at her.
The dark-haired uniform wonders what else Julien might be lying about. How are they supposed to trust him? Danny tells them Julien is a good cop. "So it's true, then?" asks the blond.
Dutch, Vic, Claudette, and Edgar-veda talk strategy in the observation room. According to the crime lab, getting fingerprints from Adam's car will take a minimum of 3 hours. Adam's lawyer is arriving in 20 minutes. Vic suggests they give him 5 minutes alone with the guy. Or they can let him go while they wait for the warrant and Vic will tail him. "Yeah, and what could go wrong with that?" Claudette asks sarcastically. Vic is focused on what could go right: Adam might lead them to Jeffrey. It's all over once lawyers get involved.
Dutch lies to Adam that there was a mix-up and they've cleared him as a suspect. He's sorry for the inconvenience. Cut to Vic and Lem following Adam's taxi in the Strike Team van. The taxi drops him off at home and they can't set foot there without a warrant. "Maybe we just tell a judge we heard the kid screaming and we had to go in," Lem suggests. But if Jeffrey isn't there, that'll ruin any chance at arresting Adam later on.
Danny and Julien find posters tacked up all over the squadroom. They have Julien's picture on them and slogans like WANTED FOR ANAL SEX. His face is even taped to an educational flyer about HIV. And I thought Los Angeles as a whole was pretty tolerant of gay people. Julien tears the posters down. Edgar-veda notices what's on them. He tells everyone it's hard to defend the Barn when crap like this is happening. Anyone who knows who did it is obligated to tell him. Nobody speaks up. "Let's start acting like adults," Edgar-veda advises.
Shane opens the side doors of the van. He's not alone. "That's the son of a bitch's house?" asks Jeffrey's Dad tensely. Once they get a warrant, Vic needs him to identify anything they find that could be Jeffrey's. "The judge we pulled is just left of Karl Marx." says Vic, so they could be sitting here all day. Jeffrey's Dad is agitated; what if his son is in there? Vic's a cop. Like it or not, that means having to respect the scumbag's rights.
"Well, I'm not a cop," Jeffrey's Dad points out. Vic gives him a meaningful look. Jeffrey's Dad heads for Adam's house. Vic hopes Shane gave Dad pat-down. Jeffrey's Dad knocks on Adam's door. When he answers, Dad punches him square in the face. "Ooh, that's a felony in progress," says Vic.
The Strike Team gets out of the van. Inside Adam's house, Jeffrey's Dad grabs the pervert by the throat and knees him in the gut. They knock over a vase. Jeffrey's Dad kicks Adam while he's down, demanding over and over, "Where is he?" Adam wails that Jeffrey got in his car, but it wasn't kidnapping.
Vic and Lem each grab one of Dad's arms and pull him off. Adam, his nose bleeding, tells Vic he picked up Jeffrey and paid the kid $20 for oral sex. Shane and Lem are now having a hard time holding Jeffrey's Dad back. Jeffrey supposedly pulled a knife and instead of a sex act, Adam ended up with a stolen wallet and a black eye. "You liar!" bellows Jeffrey's Dad as Lem and Shane try to force him outside. Adam curls into a ball and starts crying.
When the group returns to the Barn, Claudette asks where Adam is. "He's not our guy," says Vic. They checked his house and there was no sign of Jeffrey. As for Adam himself, he's at home. Claudette asks what Vic did.
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Another boy is dead and they don't know how or if Jeffrey was involved. Vic knows all this must be hard to hear. Is it possible William didn't know his son as well as he thought he did? They need his help to find Jeffrey. He should think about how Lydell's parents feel. William doesn't want to help Vic arrest his son. Vic can't arrest William himself either.
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In the office, Aurora tells Edgar-veda he can't save his job without costing himself the election. If there's nothing in it for him, why bother? That's a lovely attitude. Edgar-veda doesn't want to fire people arbitrarily or in between campaign rallies. Aurora thinks he's throwing away his job and any future in politics.
Claudette knocks on Adam's door and notices the new injuries on the pedophile's face. Adam won't tell her what happened; he vants to be alone, dah-ling. Back at the Barn, she confronts Vic. He explains that William attacked Adam; he and the boys got there in the nick of time. But how did William know Adam's address? Vic guesses he overheard it.
Claudette is angry that an innocent man was beaten. Hardly the word I'd use to describe a convicted sex offender. Adam might not have hurt Jeffrey, but that doesn't excuse his prior actions. Vic shares my viewpoint. He and Claudette argue until Tavon bursts in with "a 15-year-old piece of work" named Kyle, the only friend in Venice that Jeffrey still talks to.
When Vic walks into the interrogation room, Kyle tosses out a racial slur about Tavon and claims he doesn't know where Jeffrey is. "Let's see how hardcore you really are," says Vic. He pulls up the kid's shirt, revealing a small swastika tattoo on Kyle's scrawny chest.
Vic asks where Kyle picked up his beliefs. Kyle's been reading. Vic wants to know if Jeffrey's been reading the same books. Kyle says Jeffrey's school is mostly black and he was always getting attacked on his way to class. Vic asks if there was any trouble with Lydell. Kyle confirms it.
"So Jeffrey took out Lydell," Vic says. Kyle argues he didn't say that. Vic asks what Jeffrey's problem was with gays. Kyle and Jeffrey just did gay-bashing for fun and when they needed money. Their victims won't go to the cops because it would involve revealing they were cruising for teenagers. Vic asks if Jeffrey was trying to get money for a gun last night. Kyle won't say.
Vic walks Kyle to the window overlooking the cage. He points out William. Kyle shrugs that black people belong in jail. Vic tells him: "It's one thing to chant 'Heil Hitler' in your buddy's rec room. It's another thing entirely to say it loud and proud in the exercise yard at Pelican Bay." How does the kid think he'll fare in prison? Kyle isn't worried; he'll just join the Aryan Brotherhood.
Vic doesn't get it. With his attitude and tattoos, why would Kyle help a black person? Kyle laughs that he never would. Did he know Jeffrey's father is black? "I've met his mom. She's pure," Kyle scoffs. Vic points out William again and offers to introduce the two of them. Kyle can't believe it.
The Strike Team heads to a slightly rundown house. Shane and Vic approach the door. Gunshots rip through the flimsy wood, hitting Shane. He keels over on his back. Lucky for him, his vest caught it. Ronnie tends to him while Lem goes around the side of the house.
Through the living room window, Lem sees Jeffrey wielding a gun. "Drop it!" he orders. When the kid doesn't, Lem has no choice. A shotgun blast shatters the window. We see Jeffrey slumped by the couch.
CHAOS (Captain Has Arrived On Scene). Shirtless Shane is being checked out by the paramedics. He has a wicked bruise on his chest but is otherwise all right. Vic found a hit list and a map showing his intended victims' houses in Jeffrey's pocket. Edgar-veda praises Vic for stopping him before the killing spree started. "Lem got him," Vic corrects. Lem is over by a truck, pacing back and forth.
Danny finds Julien alone in the observation room. He tells her somebody called his house and told his 10-year-old stepson Randall that Julien is gay. He can deal with the consequences of his former lifestyle, but why punish a child?
Vic sighs as he approaches the cage. William immediately knows something is wrong. Vic just goes straight into what happened: Jeffrey was armed and planned on hurting other kids. He also shot a police officer in the chest, so they had to use deadly force. Vic wisely leaves out the part about Jeffrey being a white supremacist.
Dutch brings a stack of folders to his desk. Whoever killed the original two boys is still out there someplace. He plans to re-interview witnesses after he finishes making notes.
Claudette goes to a nice restaurant where Chief Bankston is having dinner. She tells him she doesn't want to be captain of the Barn, but she'd take the job if the offer is still on the table. Claudette doesn't like what's been going on and her options are to do something about it or quit. She considers herself too young to retire.
Vic is driving his partner/best buddy home. Shane starts, "I know you don't wanna talk about this..." For a second, I think he's talking to Lem in the backseat. Vic cuts Shane off, declaring, "The money train is back on." He doesn't know how they'll pull it off, but they will. Lem looks uncomfortable and I don't know if it's about the heist, the fact that he just killed a teenager, or both. Vic goes on that the money train is their safety net. At least one of their names is probably on the to-be-fired list.
Speak of the firings, Chief Bankston goes to the Barn and asks Edgar-veda for the list. The captain hands it over. After reading it, Chief Bankston asks, "Is this a joke?" Edgar-veda was supposed to cut 20% of the staff and there are only 5 names on the list. Edgar-veda says those people are the only real problems; the rest are honest, hard-working cops.
Vic Mackey is at the top of the list, which should come as a surprise to no one. Chief Bankston reads the other 4 names: Shane Vendrell, Curtis Lemansky, Ronnie Gardocki, and Edgar-veda himself. Nooooo, not my Lemming! Seriously, him and Ronnie are the good guys of the Strike Team. The captain believes he enabled Vic to run wild, so he deserves to lose his job right along with him.
Chief Bankston crumples up the list and tosses it on the floor. Edgar-veda already sent copies of it to the L.A. Times and the local news stations. So the Strike Team gets to find out they're fired via the paper or a news anchor? That's super professional. "The election is tomorrow. This'll kill you," says Chief Bankston. Edgar-veda doesn't care; it was the only way to twist the chief's arm into doing something about the Strike Team once and for all.
Vic sees Julien walking to his car in his civvies and stops him. He tells the rookie that it's just a few assholes that have a problem with him being gay, not the whole Barn. Julien doesn't even say thanks, just that he has to go home to his family.
A man in a suit and a sheriff's deputy enter the clubhouse. They inform Vic that Corinne has filed a domestic dispute complaint about the break-in. Vic basically says you can't break into your own house. They don't know all the nuances of the couples' personal life; they're just here to arrest Vic. Vic asks if the handcuffs can wait until he's outside the Barn. "You know I can't do that," says the suit, who's probably with IAD.
Vic hands over his gun. He's about to cuff himself when Shane and Ronnie come in. "What in the hell is this?" asks Shane. Vic explains that he had an argument with Corinne; this is a mistake. He's now cuffed in the front. Shane grabs Vic's leather jacket and drapes it over his arms to hide the handcuffs. He and Ronnie walk Vic out of the clubhouse.
Nobody in the squadroom seems to recognize a perp-walk when they see one. The desk sergeant buzzes Shane, Vic, Ronnie, IAD Guy, and the deputy out of the Barn. End of episode.
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