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You don't have to wait with me, mom.
Don't worry.
When the bus comes, I'll scoot inside the house;
none of your friends will see me.
What friends?
Oh, come on, now.
This is going to be your year, Johnny.
I can feel it.
Yeah, well, the bus is coming.
See you later.
Look, it'll be great.
It'll be all the same kids as last year.
But I don't like all of them.
That's all right, sweetheart.
Just play with the kids that you like and
ignore the other ones.
Right, Hannah?
Right.
Now, there's Mrs.
Subble.
She's going to take you into the classroom.
Okay?
You're not coming in with us?
No, sweetheart, I got to go to work.
Will you pick us up later?
No.
Mommy's going to do that
but I'll be at dinner tonight, okay?
If mom lets you.
I'll be there; I'm back, all right?
It's not a day-to-day thing.
Come on, Kate.
Hey, forgetting something?
How about lunch money?
I know for a fact that your mother gave you
lunch money, you little thief.
Get in there.
Bye, dad.
Yeah, what's going on?
Where are you?
Dropping the kids off at school.
What's up?
A school bus went missing in Armonk.
A bus?
- Uh-huh.
It was headed to the high school,
never made it, nobody's seen it.
- How many kids?
At least ten.
We're headed over there now.
All right, I'm on my way.
Bye, Sweetie.
Bye, dad.
Be good.
Do we have an accurate head count?
Thirteen kids, aged 12 to 16.
How many of them had cell phones?
Eight, two blackberries.
All the parents tried to make contact.
We're assuming the kidnappers confiscated them.
What about the bus driver?
Bus driver Bernard Griffin, 42,
african american, divorced, no record.
We're running a full background check,
and I'm headed over to the bus barn.
- Okay, I want you to take Martin with you.
- No, Jack, I can do this on my own.
Yes, I know.
I want you to take him anyway.
And what else?
Local P.
D.
and F.
D.
are forming search parties.
We've got road blocks at every major
artery and a dozen choppers in the air.
We've also grounded all the other
school busses in the county.
If they're still on the road somewhere,
we want to make sure they stand out.
You know what? It's been three hours since that
bus has gone missing.
They could be 200 miles away by now.
I want you to contact the defense department,
see if we can use their surveillance satellite, okay?
Did you see which way the bus turned
when it got to the corner?
No.
I'd already I'd already gone inside.
According to our head count,
Johnny was the last student to get on the bus.
Meaning what?
Meaning that the bus must have made
a detour when it got to Preston drive,
otherwise the kids at the next stop,
well, they would have seen the bus coming.
Oh, my god, I can't believe what we're talking about.
I'm sorry.
No, no, that's fine.
Mrs.
Atkins, you mentioned that Johnny isn't well-
adjusted.
What exactly did you mean by that?
It's nothing serious; he's not a troublemaker
or anything, it's just
it's high school, and it's very click-y, and, you know
if you don't have the best video games or a pool for parties or
I don't know, a cool dad to take you
and your friends to the Knicks games,
it's just not necessarily the easiest
place for a teenage boy to grow up, you know?
I got it.
Agent Johnson?
Excuse me one moment.
Here are all the files you asked for.
Is there anything in there that I should keep an eye on?
I mean, have you had trouble with any of the students?
You'll find a file in here on Doug and Richard Carrol.
They were both suspended for the final week of school at the end of last year.
What for?
They set off a few smoke bombs in the halls.
The fire alarms went off;
we had to evacuate everyone.
And how did they react when you suspended them?
Well, Richard doesn't say much,
but Doug was pretty aggravated.
A week!
There's only a week left of school, Doug.
You're
lucky about that or it would be longer.
It should be longer.
Excuse me?
Given what we did, I mean,
you should have seen the look on
those girl's faces.
If you don't want to be at school, that's something we
should talk about with your father.
Whatever you have to do, Mrs.
Suarez.
And you discussed this with their parents?
Their father.
Their mother died four years ago.
And?
Mr.
Carrol said he would handle it at home.
And you left it at that?
There was nothing in their actions that
told me they were violent.
There are two ways to be a school principle now.
You can be an alarmist, or you can try to
deal specifically with each child.
I choose the latter.
Is Mr.
Carrol in there now?
No.
I haven't seen him.
You want to search my home?
Well, if your sons are involved in this somehow,
we want to know what they were doing.
My sons are not involved.
Then there's no harm in us searching their rooms.
No.
I think you should spend your time and your resources
in a more effective way.
Everybody's an expert.
I bet he's searching their rooms as we speak.
Yeah, I bet.
Are you coming?
Hold your horses.
Physical therapy going pretty well, huh?
Do yourself a favor, don't get shot,
it's not all it's cracked up to be.
I'll try my best.
How long has Mr.
Griffith been driving for you?
Ah, about two years.
Any behavioral problems?
Nope.
Temper?
Not that I ever saw.
Financial troubles, problems with a girlfriend?
We never talked about it.
And this morning?
Nothing much unusual.
He came in about 6:30, we went through
our usual routine.
Hey, another day, another dollar,
Hey, Bernard?
Another day another thousand dollars
with these kids.
See you at 5:00.
God willing.
So that comment he made about the kids having money,
you think he's resentful about that?
Sure, he's resentful.
I'm resentful, too.
It doesn't mean I'm going
to kidnap a bus full of them.
He said god willing,
he'd see you back here at 5:00.
Why would he say that?
It's called an expression.
Hey, I got to tell you, you guys
are barking up the wrong tree.
You ought to be looking at those kids.
Oh, my god! Oh, my god, it's her,
it's my daughter! She's
sending me a message.
There's a lot of static, a lot of rustling around.
That's my daughter's shoe.
Are you sure?
Yes.
Then here's the only voice.
Did you hear me?
The voice is too far away to isolate it.
Can we get rid some of that echo?
Not with the way it was transmitted.
Can't we send her a message of some kind?
Not without risking the phone ringing, giving her away.
Did you hear me?
Is your daughter a fighter?
Oh, since the day she was born.
Then chances are she'll call us again when she can.
Can I wait here, then?
Sure, but you'll have to wait in the reception.
There are no bus seats.
I don't think they're on the bus anymore.
The way they're all huddled together like that,
they're in some kind of enclosed space.
Agent Taylor, I just got an anonymous phone call
from someone who claims to know where the bus is.
Thank you, Mrs.
Suarez.
Got a positive on the bus.
Hello? Is anybody in here?
I got one! I got one!
Hey! Are you all right?
Help! Please! Help!
Are you all right?
Shh-shh! It's okay.
You're going to be okay.
I'm with the FBI.
You're going to be okay.
Okay.
What's your name, huh?
Johnny.
Where are the others?
I don't know.
How long ago did they leave you here?
I don't know.
Maybe like an hour.
Okay.
They they said they wanted five million dollars.
Good.
Five million dollars?
In cash.
Did they tell you how we could get it to them?
They said Monroe Park by the fountain.
When?
Tomorrow morning at 10:00.
Good.
Now, you sure?
I'm positive, 'cause they said that or
they're going to kill everybody.
When you say "they," could you give me a description?
Doug and Richard Carrol.
Are you sure?
- I'm positive.
Good.
- Johnny? Oh, god.
Are you all right?
- Yeah.
.
Oh, thank god.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome, Mrs.
Atkins.
Listen, before I could release him, I'd like to ask him
a couple more questions, but you're more than welcome to sit in.
Okay, now, can you tell me how all this started?
From the beginning.
Okay, everybody, listen up!
We're going on a bit of a field trip today.
- Do what I say, man.
Just - Everybody, just watch
their tongue, and nobody's going to get hurt!
Come on, Polly.
No crying!
We all know we didn't want to go to school today!
Now, we are going to have
the adventure of our lives!
First, they made the bus driver get off and the door move out.
And then they collected
all of the cell phones and pagers,
and then they took us here.
Five million dollars.
Ten o'clock,
tomorrow morning, Monroe Park.
You got it?
Hey, you're the lucky one, man!
The other ones -- they're the
ones in for it.
You didn't see where they took the others,
or what they did with the bus driver?
No.
Are you absolutely sure it was Doug and Richard Carrol?
Of course I'm sure.
Why wouldn't I be sure?
- Okay.
- Okay.
Thanks.
Just hang-hang on a second, all right?
Yeah?
Mr.
Carrol, we have a warrant to search your premises.
I'll call you right back.
What the hell is this?
We have an eyewitness that says that
your sons hijacked the bus.
What eyewitness?
Who?
Who were you talking to just now?
A family friend, if that's okay with you.
- Where are your sons' bedrooms?
- Upstairs.
So, the Carrol boys transfer the other kids
into a u-haul or a van or something like that.
They leave the bus in the ravine,
and now they're on the road again.
Yeah, but they can't go too far
if they got to be here to pick up the ransom tomorrow morning.
Well, unless one of them's driving the van out of the area,
and then the other one's going to go to the park for the meet.
Okay, Doug is 16.
Richard's 15.
How the hell did they get their
hands on a u-haul or a van?
Well, they could be working with somebody older.
Bus driver.
No.
Johnny said that the bus driver was one of the hostages.
Yeah, I know what Johnny said.
What I'm saying is,
maybe he pretends to be a hostage, give himself plausible
deniability later.
Boys take off with the money.
He hooks up with them in Mexico,
Takes his cut.
Fitzgerald.
Yup.
We know which one?
No.
Thanks.
Yeah.
We just got a trace on that anonymous phone
call that came into the principal.
The call was made from a pay phone at the school.
- One of the students?
- Or teachers.
Or parents.
Tell me everything about the phone call.
I'm sorry, I can't remember exactly what he said.
It was very quick.
- And the voice -- it was definitely a man's?
- Yes.
- I mean, some of the seniors have men's voice.
- Okay, how about Bob Carrol? Could it have been him?
- I don't know his voice well enough.
- Okay.
Thanks.
- Agent Johnson? Do you think I should
have seen this coming? - No.
No.
Would you mind giving us a few moments?
- Have you seen this?
- No.
You get bonus points for killing teachers and girls.
- Do you keep guns in the house?
- No.
- What about your boys?
- No.
Would you even know?
You probably ought to have more information
before you go ahead and judge me.
We're running a trace on your phone right now.
If you've
had any conversations with your boys, you should tell me.
- They haven't done anything wrong.
- You haven't answered my question.
No.
I haven't talked to them.
They were suspended at the end of last year.
What were they doing during the summer?
I really don't know.
They both went off to summer camp.
Any trouble there?
Yeah.
They went on a couple of *** raids.
Is that a federal offense?
Ah, no.
Anything this morning?
- I really didn't see them.
- What about last night?
Well, yeah.
Briefly.
Hey, guys.
- You have a date tonight?
- Yeah.
Kind of.
- More like a trick.
- Hey, watch your mouth.
What do you call it when they come over at 10:00
at night and leave at 4:00 in the morning?
I don't like anybody staying over unless
it's serious, for your sakes.
Wow.
Thanks.
You know what?
I don't know what the hell you two want from me.
So, that was last night.
Sound interesting?
We've looked at your sons' e-mails.
It would
appear that they harbor some resentment toward you.
Yeah.
I know it's terrible -- me
giving them everything they've asked for.
What is your point? That they kidnapped their
friends so they could get my attention?
They're also asking for $5 million.
You know, you look around here all you want,
but you're way off base.
What have you got?
We can't wait long 'cause they're just outside.
We're jammed into a cargo truck somewhere.
It's really hot.
Put it away, J.
J.
They're coming back.
I'm really scared please don't let us
What the hell is that? No, no, no.
Give me that.
Can you enhance that?
I need to use the restroom.
Down the hall to the right.
- Uh, okay, did did she say they were ?
- Yeah, she did.
They're in a cargo truck.
I rode in one of those, hitchhiking
across country, and after a few hours, there's really no air at all.
Got something.
Who the hell is that?
It's not Doug or Richard.
Do you recognize him?
- No.
Who is he?
- Look closely, Johnny.
No.
I'm sorry.
Do you, Mrs.
Atkins?
No.
I could you please, uh,
tell us what this is all about?
Well, we think this man may be working with Doug and Richard.
- Oh.
Agent Taylor, could I, uh, speak with you
privately for a moment? - Sure.
Uh this whole thing has been incredibly traumatic
for him, and I was just wondering if I, uh
if I took him away from here for a day or two,
would that be a problem?
Mrs.
Atkins, I know you want to protect your boy,
but we need to keep him around here.
If anything comes up, I'll know exactly where to go.
Yeah, sure.
I understand.
Sorry.
I am having no luck here.
No? Well, I'm all the way back in the early '80s.
I mean, what a good time for fashion.
Yeah, well, don't look now, but it's coming back.
- None of the parents recognize him.
- So what's going on with the ransom?
The parents are going to pay.
The drop is set for tomorrow morning.
Well, I didn't tell them.
I have no idea.
Maybe they showed it on tv.
Yep.
Well, you have to make sure that the sitter keeps an
eye on what they're watching.
How I don't know.
Tell them it'll
be fine.
Tell them I'll take care of it.
No.
I Got to stay here and see if I can
catch an hour on the couch.
Yes, I know.
Just, tell them I love them and
that I'll be home soon.
Yeah, okay.
Bye.
Well, he certainly looks as if he's old enough to have teenage kids.
Definitely having a hard time with that bag.
He says he's been working out.
I guess $5 million bucks weighs a lot.
- You really think their father's in on it with them?
- Doesn't look like he needs any more money.
He's probably just protecting his kids.
Yeah, remind me not to have any.
They don't all turn out to be psychopathic kidnappers, you know.
Let me guess -- 2.
2, white picket fence, golden retriever.
Yeah, maybe.
Something like that.
Not for me.
Not in this world.
Here we go.
Let's see the picture.
No, it's not the same guy.
Here, take a look.
What's he doing?
- Let's go.
- Yeah.
Subject approaching.
Possible match with photo.
Stacy!
- Cover the left?
- Yeah.
Something's not right.
Is that the money?
Count it.
It's $500,000.
We said a million.
You give me my boys; you'll get the rest.
Yeah, right.
Where's the rest of it?
It's nearby.
I can have it to you quickly
Nearby? What do you mean, nearby?
You tell me where it is right now.
Just give me someone -- at least one kid;
it doesn't have to be mine --
- just so I know you're good on your word.
- No-no-no-no.
You don't tell me.
I tell you.
I said a million.
You'll get it.
I swear.
Where's the rest of it.
I'm not fooling around.
- FBI! Down! Get down!
- Drop your weapon!
Drop the gun!
Tell me where they are.
I need EMS at Armonk State Park.
I got two suspects down.
- Where are they?!
So, they called yesterday afternoon.
They said forget about the five million.
It was just a ruse to distract you guys.
What they really wanted was a million from me.
Why you?
I don't know.
Maybe they thought I could afford it,
I could get it to them quickly.
They said if I told you, they'd kill everybody.
- Yeah, I was just trying to do the right thing.
- So what, you decided to go there with half
the money and bargain with them?
I don't give a damn about the money.
I just wanted to get some of those kids out of there.
Yeah, it was a great plan.
What the hell would you have done?
Well, considering that there were twelve kids' lives at risk,
I would have consulted the FBI who have some experience in this area.
If your agents hadn't shot those men,
maybe we'd have a chance of finding those kids.
If my agents hadn't shot those two men,
you'd be dead.
They saved your life.
My life.
My life isn't worth anything if you don't find my kids.
Did you get anything out of Bob Carrol?
- Not much.
Pretty much back to square one.
- Okay, so where do you want me?
- You know I'm going to need to take your gun.
- Yeah, I know.
Want my badge and credentials, too?
You know it's just standard procedure.
- How long till we get this straightened out with OPR?
- I'm not sure.
- But you did the right thing; you made the right choice.
- Yeah, I know, I know.
That's why I want to get this straightened out as soon as
possible.
I mean, when can I, when can I get back in the field?
Go home.
- Jack, I'm fine.
- I'm not asking you.
- I'm fine, I'm just
- I'm not asking you.
Go home.
Thanks.
You're going to love this.
Ned Riley lived at
- No.
- Yeah.
- Why'd you lie to us, Johnny?
- I didn't.
- You recognize that guy?
- This is Ned Riley.
He used to rent the back room at our house.
He was on the bus.
-What?
-How about this man?
He was on the bus, too.
- Why didn't you tell them this?
- I don't know.
Did you know they were going to hijack the bus?
No, I don't know.
It just happened so fast.
What's up, John boy? How was your summer?
Spend the whole time with mommy?
I'd like to spend it with his mommy.
She's a milf, isn't she?
Major milf.
Johnny boy, how's your mommy?
Everybody, shh! Listen up.
Listen up.
We're going on a
little field trip today, okay?
If everybody does what they're told, then nobody gets hurt.
Hey, come on, sweetheart, sweetheart, no crying.
All right.
Come on now, huh?
You guys didn't want to go to school today anyways.
Now you're going on the adventure of your lives.
They got everyone off of the bus and then
they told me to tell you the stuff about the money.
Five million dollars.
Ten o'clock, tomorrow
morning at Monroe Park.
You got it?
Hey, man, we always talked about what you
could do with a little money in your pocket.
You're going to have 50 grand under your pillow by tomorrow
night.
Get yourself a hot set of wheels, you'll never
have to worry about taking the bus again.
All I had to do was give you a wrong description --
that's what they said.
And you just randomly decided to
blame Doug and Richard, right?
Why?
'Cause they're always giving me crap, so I thought that maybe,
you know, I could get them in trouble and
- Where are the other kids?
- I don't know.
- Johnny, we're running out of time.
- I swear, I don't know.
Mrs.
Atkins I think we should have
a private conversation outside.
I'll be right back.
Your son is lying to us.
You've got to
convince him to tell us the truth.
I don't understand.
If you have Ned and that other man,
can't they tell you where the children are?
Those two men are dead.
Oh my god.
Now, there is a bunch of children trapped
in a cargo truck with no air.
They're going to suffocate and die unless you
convince your son to tell us the truth.
Please.
It's okay, it's okay.
Everyone all right?
Okay, let's get out one at a time.
Get down.
Watch your head.
Thank you for waiting.
Is everyone all right?
Yes.
Would you mind? Follow me, please.
Take a seat, Mrs.
Atkins, right here.
All of these rooms have microphones
that are extremely sensitive.
Extremely sensitive.
Hey, babe, I just want you to know I'm going to
get you out of this, okay?
You knew Ned was going to do it, didn't you?
Johnny, you really think I'm capable of that? Don't you know me?
Look, you just keep quiet and let me take care of this, okay?
- Say the words, Johnny.
Promise me.
- I promise.
I'll be right back.
I love you, sweetheart.
He never said where the truck was.
You did.
All right, Mrs.
Atkins, let me swing it together for you.
Here's what I think happened.
Ned moves in seduces you,
convinces you to get involved in his kidnapping plan.
Gets you
to make the anonymous tip to the high school, the phone call -
except it's an audio tape.
Ned's voice.
No
- That was Carl's voice.
- Oh, really.
- You just don't get it, do you?
- Get what?
What it's like in that town with their cars
their houses their pools
the way they look at you like you're beneath them.
Why shouldn't I have what they have, huh?
Why shouldn't my son?
Oh, you did this for your son?
What you did was put your son through hell.
You've made him lie for you from the beginning.
He wouldn't have had to lie.
If Ned had worn
the mask, none of this would've happened!
Stay here, please.
So, is my mom coming soon?
Johnny, we still have a few more questions
we need to ask her.
Okay.
- Hey, what are you doing here?
- I forgot something.
The kids are all right?
That's what Roger Daltry says.
Right.
Yeah.
Get some sleep, will you?
Yeah, I just got to find the
thing that I forgot before.
- Goodnight.
- G'Night.
Martin?
- You know how you said we should get a drink sometime?
- Yeah.
I could really use a drink.
Well nothing worse than a beautiful woman drinking alone.
Yeah.
- You get your lunch money?
- Yeah.
Okay, here we are.
Give me a hug.
Come on.
All right, you guys.
Have a good day at school, all right?
- We don't want to go.
- Why not?
- We're scared.
- Of what?
That something will happen -- something bad --
like at the other school.
Nothing's going to happen to you, okay?
You're perfectly safe.
How do you know?
Trust me.
I know.
Go.