| abstract
| - Two men are on the phone discussing the early release of crime lord Gianni Moretti from prison, and figure that Elias engineered it. Carter is watching the prison as Moretti is released and Reese gets into the car with her. She explains that she’s been authorized to put Moretti into Witness Protection in return for his testifying against his son, Carl Elias. A car pulls up to pick up Moretti and Carter goes over to talk to Moretti while Reese checks in with his partner. Finch tells Reese that they have a new number, Leila Smith, and her SSN was issued just two months ago. He figures that she’s either a new citizen or involved in identify fraud. Finch has pulled up her work address and leaves to check it out, reminding Reese that even with Moretti, the numbers won’t wait. Carter stops Moretti as he tries to leave and offers him the deal, but he points out that she’s got no one else with her and that things haven’t changed. He dismisses her offer and tells his driver to leave. Finch discovers that Leila’s working address is St. Raymond’s Clinic. As he goes in, he notices two orderlies outside. Once inside, Finch shuts down the surveillance cameras and hacks the clinic files, and discovers that Leila is a patient, not an employee. Posing as a doctor, Finch talks to Nurse Mary Abbot and convinces her to take him to Leila. He’s surprised to discover that Leila is a six-month-old infant. Mary explains that Leila is a safe haven baby and that she filed for the girl’s social security number. The child has had bronchitis and hasn’t been adopted yet. As she leaves, Finch notices the two orderlies from outside and realizes that they’re wearing non-regulation street shoes. As Mary brings them into the nursery, Finch wonders what to do next. He calls Reese, who says he has problems of his own. Someone has had an accident on the road ahead of Moretti’s guard. When his driver slows down, Moretti tells him to keep going. The fake victims open fire, killing Moretti’s bodyguards, but Carter and Reese arrive in time to kill the hit squad and save Moretti. That night, Carter takes Moretti to a safe house where Detective Szymanski is already in position. Moretti doesn’t want to stay until Carter reminds him that if he steps outside, Elias will have him killed. When Carter leaves, she finds Reese outside and tells him that Szymanski and a few other good cops helped set up the safe house. She thanks Reese for his help and goes, and Reese checks in with Finch. He asks what happened to the number, and Finch reluctantly admits that he did something rash... while checking on Leila on the seat next to him. The next morning, Finch and Reese meet at the Library and try to figure out what’s going on. Finch figures that the abductors planned to dump Leila in an orphanage somewhere and lose her. The clinic received an anonymous $50,000 donation at the same time they “found” Leila and $10,000 each month after that. Finch sends a fake IRS letter demanding the records to the clinic to get the information. They also discover that a yellow alert has been put out on Leila’s abduction. Reese takes his turn watching Leila while Finch arranges a meeting with Carter while he shops for baby supplies. She soon realizes that Finch took Leila and he explains what happened. Finch asks her to follow up on the kidnapping report and find out who Leila’s real parents are, and suggests that she talk to Nurse Mary. Meanwhile, the cashier sees them together and figures Carter and Finch are Leila’s parents. Simmons meets Fusco and tells him that HR wants to know where Moretti is on behalf of Elias. He tells Fusco to check on his partner and discover where she’s stashed Moretti. Carter talks to Mary and the clinic’s head doctor, Marcus Adalian. Adalian claims that there are no record of Leila’s parent, but Carter gives her card to Mary and suggests that she call her if she has anything to say. Back at the Library, Finch changes Leila’s diaper and then receives the clinic email with the tax ID of the donor. The man is Adnan Petrosian, a construction magnate, with a wife Nicola and son Bradley who is studying finance at NYU. Reese goes to watch the Petrosians and hears Adnan complaining to Bradley about how much money it’s costing him to keep the son out of trouble. Bradley tells his father that everything is taken care of and Reese figures that they’re talking about Leila. Mary calls Carter to tell her that Leila had a silver bracelet when she first arrived, and the nurse gave it to Adalian. Adalian now claims that he never received the bracelet, which had the initials C.C. on it. Carter passes the information on to Finch, who checks Petrosian’s employment records and confirms that a Claudia Cruz worked in the head office as a receptionist. She was terminated from her job eight months ago, right when she would have started showing, and died in a house fire four days ago. Reese and Finch meet Carter at the river and bring Leila with them. They tell Carter what they’ve found out about Claudia and figure that she was killed after she decided to keep Leila, so that the father wouldn’t have to pay child support and have his involvement revealed. Carter plans to go back to Claudia’s apartment and examine it with her mentor, Rafael Alvarez, while Reese follows Bradley and Finch meets with Claudia’s parents, Sammy and Veda Cruz. Posing as a Family Services representative, Finch talks to the Cruzs and explains that his office has received a report that Claudia was pregnant. They don’t believe it but admit that they hadn’t seen their daughter since she moved into her new apartment. The Cruzs confirm that Claudia had a silver bracelet with her initials on it and ask to see the baby, and Finch says that he might be able to arrange something. He checks some files that Claudia left with her parents and finds a photo of Bradley Petrosian. Reese follows Bradley and sees him meet with his secret lover... a man. Reese tells Finch that Bradley isn’t their suspect and goes to check on Adnan, while Finch realizes that Leila has crawled away from her makeshift playpen. Carter and Alvarez go over Claudia’s apartment and check the autopsy report. Supposedly Claudia was drinking just before the time of her death and accidentally set the fire. However, Alvarez examines the fire alarm and confirms that it was sabotaged. They check the x-rays and determine that someone inflicted a blow to Claudia’s head just before her death. Carter finds a lamp that matches the indentation and Alvarez tells her that the heat could have etched the killer’s fingerprints into the metal. Finch calls Reese back to the Library and they search the Library for the girl. They finally find Leila, playing with one of Reese’s tear gas grenades. Reese gets it away from her and Finch believes that they have to leave Leila with her grandparents since the two men don’t have the time to watch the baby. When Reese warns that the killer could be watching them, Finch assures his partner that he’s moved the couple to a secure location. Carter gets back to her desk and Fusco asks about the case she’s working. She tells him about Claudia’s death and asks him to take the lamp to the crime lab when she gets a call from Szymanski. Fusco overhears her talking to Szymanski and points out that he works in Organized Crime, and Carter lies and says that she and Szymanski are dating and asks Fusco to keep it a secret. Reese and Finch visit the Cruzs but discover that someone has broken in and captured them. Reese attacks the intruders but they manage to get away, but Reese grabs a medallion from one of them. He goes outside and checks on Finch, and discovers that someone has knocked him out and taken Leila. Reese gets Finch inside and confirms that the intruders put a PS tracker on the couple’s car to follow them. While Finch prepares to move the Cruzs again, Reese warns that the abductors will get Leila out of the country by dawn, and then there’s no chance that they’ll find the baby. The medallion identifies the intruders as East European mobsters, and Reese tells Finch and the baby’s grandparents that he’ll do whatever he can to get Leila back. Carter goes to the safe house and Moretti points out that only her and Szymanski are watching him. She claims that they’re trying to keep a low profile, and then takes a call from Detective Kane who says that they’ve identified the fingerprints on the lamp, and that the person they belong to was involved in a road rage incident ten years ago. Reese breaks into the Petrosian household, knocks out a security guard, and threatens Adnan until he tells him where Leila is. Adnan admits that he had an affair with Claudia, but that he didn’t kill her and doesn’t know where Leila is. Carter sends a text message to Reese saying that the fingerprints belong to Nicola, and Reese demands to know what she’s done. Nicola tells her shocked husband that she found out about the affair and took steps to protect their family’s reputation. However, she doesn’t know where the men she hired can be found now that they’ve done their job, and Leila is gone for good. An angry Reese leaves to find the baby. Reese goes to a bar where criminals hang out and demands answers from one man. Several of the customers come after Reese and he just smiles. (and defeats them) Fusco follows Carter to the safe house and sees her and Moretti through the window. After Reese disposes of the criminals, he returns to the first man, but the man says the same thing as Nicola, that there’s no way to find the East Europeans in time to stop Leila from leaving the country. Reese returns to the library and asks Finch for the burner phone that Elias left them. Finch warns against it but Reese admits that he’s up against a stone wall and that Elias will hear him out due to curiosity if nothing else. Elias agrees to a meeting and wonders why he should help Reese, who reminds him that he saved his life. However, Elias knows that Reese stopped his people from grabbing Moretti and considers himself even. A desperate Reese explains that someone has killed a mother and taken her child, just like Elias lost his mother. The crime lord points out that he survived, but Reese says that Leila is only six months old and doesn’t have the same chance. He warns Elias that if criminal start going after children, then there’s no rules and Elias has no control. Elias concedes the matter and figures that the East Europeans will hand Leila over to the Mexicans, who handle the child trade. Reese asks him to get him to the place where the hand off will occur. Elias’ henchman Scarface drops Reese and gives him the address. The next morning, Reese arrives there just as the East Europeans meet with the Mexicans. He drives a van toward them and gets out, and then uses the distraction to flank them and kneecap several of the men. The head abductor threatens to kill Leila if Reese doesn’t surrender, and Reese calmly shoots him in the face. However, as Reese picks up Leila, Scarface and his men shows up, capture Reese, and smash his phone. Elias arrives and has his men handcuff Reese inside of a refrigeration truck, and tells him that he’ll trade Leila for Moretti’s location. When Reese claims that he doesn’t know, Elias puts Leila inside and leaves an active radio, and then turns on the cooling unit. The crime lord tells Reese to call when he’s ready to talk. Simmons checks in with Fusco, who lies and says that he has no idea where Moretti is. The crooked HR cop reminds Fusco that he still has a corpse to hold over his head and tells him to find the gangster. Carter comes by and invites Fusco to come with her to arrest Nicola based on Finch’s tip. However, Finch calls to tell Carter that he’s lost Reese. He gives her Reese’s last known address and heads out. Carter tells Fusco she has other business and asks him to arrest Nicola on his own. Reese finally manages to break the pipe that he’s handcuffed to and embraces Leila. However, the doors are locked and there’s no way out. He finally gives in and yells at Elias that he’s won. Reese gives Elias Moretti’s address and Elias drops the handcuff keys into the truck and leaves, admitting that he could never harm a child but knew that Reese wouldn’t either. Reese frees himself and has enough leverage to break down the door. He takes Leila into the cab and turns on the heat, and Finch arrives at the address. Reese tells him to take care of Leila while he tries to save Moretti. He calls Carter en route to warn her, and she calls Szymanski and tells him to get Moretti out. Finch returns to the library and checks in with Reese as he arrives at the safe house with Carter. They break in and discover that Szymanski has been shot and Moretti taken. Reese admits that he had to give Elias Moretti’s address to save Leila. Angry at her friend’s wounding, Carter says that Reese should have called the police and let them handle it. She refuses to help Reese and Finch anymore and tells Reese to get out before the police arrive. Later, Finch and Reese hand Leila over to her grandparents. As the two men watch the family reunion, Reese wonders if they’ll ever have children. Finch notes that the problem with children is that one never knows how they’ll turn out. Elias has Moretti brought to him and says, “Hello, Dad.”
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