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Leverage Main | When Darkness Falls

5x13 The Corkscrew Job
[Grape Fields]

(workers are picking grapes. A man stumbles to his knees, then collapses. Others gather)

Betty: Sam? Sam?

Man: Is that Sam?

Betty: He’s stopped breathing! Somebody call an ambulance! (leans on Sam to check his breathing)

Leonard: Give him some room. (checks his pulse) I got it, folks. Back to work, please. Come on, back to work.

(people begin to move back to work)

Leonard: There’s grapes on the vine, people. We’ll take care of this. Get back to work. (louder) Everyone, get back to work!


[Brew Pub]

Kristin: The autopsy just showed heart failure, but the day after my dad died, a lawyer from the winery knocked on my door.

Nate: And, let me guess, said that your father’s death wasn’t their fault.

Kristin: Right. Then he gave me this. (hands him a check for a million dollars) That’s not normal. Right?

Nate: That’s a lot of zeros.

Kristin: The check isn’t valid unless I sign this nondisclosure agreement. That’s why I contacted you. I want to know what they did to my dad.

Nate: You don’t pay people to keep secrets unless you have secrets to keep. So, what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna find out what the secret of your father’s death is.


[Grape Fields]

(workers are picking grapes when a truck pulls up with Leonard riding in the back)

Leonard: Come on, people! I got 100 broke citizens standing outside that gate, hoping to get picked for work. You slow down, you go. I want my quota met. Hey! New guy!

Eliot: What?

Leonard: Still got to fill out your paperwork.

Eliot: Yeah, boss.

Leonard: And pick up your pace! (pounds on truck, which pulls away)

Eliot: Punk ass.

Betty: He can get a little rough. You better be careful.

Eliot: Yeah, well, I ain’t the guy that... wants trouble. (takes her bucket) Let me carry that for you. Your water.

(Betty pulls her water bottle from the bucket)

Eliot: So you work the harvest for two weeks, huh? (pours grapes into crate)

Betty: It’s steady work... If you can keep it. Pruning begins from leaf drop in the fall to bud break around April. (offers water to Eliot)

Eliot: Oh, thank you. (takes a drink)

Betty: Welcome.

Eliot: I had a good buddy that worked out here. I don’t know if you know him. Sam Knox.

Betty: Um, I’m sorry. (takes bucket) I’ve got to go.

Eliot (in comm.): People spooked out here, Nate. Any movement on getting somebody inside?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Working on it. Get me any background information you can on Sam Knox’s working conditions.

Eliot: Copy that.

Hardison: There’s the full nondisclosure agreement that Kristin’s required to sign in order to get her settlement. That thing’s 100 pages longer than the one you sign for the CIA. The winery’s just trying to get her to shut up.

Sophie: And how did you get your hands on the CIA contract?

Hardison: You ask too many questions.

Nate: You know, a man dies, you take responsibility, you make amends. You don’t bury your head in the sand, and, you know, make cash payments to people so they’ll be quiet.

Sophie: Unless it’s the tip of the iceberg. Who wants to bet that Sam Knox is not the first victim?

(an alert shows on the display)

Hardison: Parker’s in.

Nate: Okay, Parker, talk to me.


[Winery]

Parker: I’m Intern Parker. Intern Parker. (looks around the winery) Nate, I’m going in. I’m Intern Parker. Intern Parker.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Sophie: We’ve been working on her long-con abilities, internalizing the character more.

Nate: Is that really necessary?


[Winery]

Parker: Winery interns? I’m an intern, too! All right. I’m so excited. We get to stomp grapes and taste wine.

Madigan: So, you’re the new the cellar rats. I know why you’re here. You want to learn how to make wine in the ancient tradition of the great vintners of Europe. Well…

(a man hands Parker a mop)

Madigan: …that’s not gonna happen. That’s like me teaching you Latin to go to the moon. We’re gonna increase the output of this winery by 1,000%, and for the pleasure of being part of that, you get college credit. Welcome. (walks)

Parker: What? Wait. Is college credit code for “you’re not gonna pay me”?

Madigan: Get to work!

Parker: Is Intern Parker working for free?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Sophie: She’s just a character, Parker.


[Winery]

Parker: Yeah, but I know what Intern Parker’s worth is. And Intern Parker deserves a fair wage for her labor!


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: You know, you might wanna dial that back a little bit.

Sophie: Dial it back, yeah. Thinking so.

Hardison: Now, that charmer we heard, that’s Frank Madigan. (pulls information up on display) He recently bought the Bee Meadow Winery. Basically, he fired all the staff and hired a bunch of part-timers.

Sophie: Where’d he get his money?

Hardison: He used to run a chemical manufacturing company. They made acrylics, adhesives, dyes, epoxies, fertilizers.

Nate: What’s his safety record?

Hardison: He’s got several worker fatalities. (pulls up more information on screen) He’s basically trying to pull the same thing he did there... Paying for silence. I mean, if his old company was a person, he’d be doing time for murder one.

Sophie: Instead, he buys a winery.

Nate: We got negligence, worker deaths, cover-ups. New digs, same MO. Hell, he said he’ll increase yield by 1,000%. That’s a big claim. He’s up to something.

Hardison: Well, Parker and Eliot are investigating the death. What’s our gig?

Nate: Let me see the financials on the winery.

Hardison: Okay, so here’s the loan that Madigan took out to buy the winery. It says here he put up his wine collection as collateral. Can he do that?

Sophie: If you have a strong collection made up of certain vintages, it can easily be worth millions.

Nate: Some of the biggest cases I investigated were wine-insurance payouts.

Sophie: What is the jewel in his crown?

Hardison: That would be a bottle previously owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Sophie: Excuse me?

Hardison: It’s the only one of its kind. Appraised value is… priceless.

Nate: When Eliot and Parker find out Madigan’s secret, that bottle is what we’ll use for leverage.

Sophie: Let’s go steal a bottle!

Nate: No, we... Not steal. A wine like that, a Thomas Jefferson bottle... That collection is gonna be heavily insured. So if we steal it, we’re just gonna be handing him a fat insurance payout. I think we need to maybe ride with him through the loan. If his wine collection is the collateral, let’s make the collection worthless.

Sophie: If the bank finds out the collection’s a fraud, Madigan loses the winery.

Hardison: Yeah, we just take a 200-year-old bottle of grape juice and turn it into two-buck Chuck.

Nate: Let’s go fake a bottle.


[Interior Car]

Hardison: Nate, this isn’t what I do. I make beers, man. I don’t do wines.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Madigan broomed out the old staff, so there’s job openings. That’s the best way in. Hardison, you’re gonna make a great vintner.


[Interior Car]

Hardison: I don’t even know what a vintner does.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: A vintner is like, uh, the resident geek. Wine-making, it’s fermentation, a chemical process.


[Interior Car]

Nate: So you just pretend that you’re making whatever it is that you make.

Hardison: What I make is beer! Did you even try my Jicama Plum Stout?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: No.


[Interior Car]

Hardison: It’s ridiculous. The flavor’s just... It’s pungent, and it’s amazing. And if you did, you would know that I know my beers. This is wine. It’s a completely different field. It’s like trying to play football on a-a-a baseball field.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Interview jitters. Relax. Sophie’s got you all the answers.


[Brew Pub]

Vintner: What paper did you say you write for?

Sophie: Wine blog. “Kay Syrah Syrah”. (pulls up a website)

Vintner (laughs): That’s clever.

Sophie: So, you were the vintner at the Bee Meadow Winery until Frank Madigan took ownership. Everyone wants to know, what’s the real reason behind your departure?

Vintner: At the end of the day, you can’t rush the grapes.


[Winery]

Hardison: You can totally rush the grapes. Yeah.


[Brew Pub]

Sophie: What kind of materials do you use?

Vintner: Sustainably harvested oak barrels.


[Winery]

Hardison: What’s wrong with plastic? Let’s save some trees.


[Brew Pub]

Vintner: Bottom line... I value quality over quantity.


[Winery]

Hardison: And, you know, I got three words for you... Volume, volume, volume.

Madigan: You’re hired.

(later, Hardison tests liquid from a barrel while Madigan speaks)

Madigan: Interns... Jason Brown, the new vintner. When he says “clean”, you say “how clean?”.

Parker: But we’ve already cleaned.

Madigan: I’m sorry. Was I talking to you? Intern.

Hardison: Did you sterilize it? Did you remember to sterilize it? One microbe will destroy this entire barrel. You understand this, right? All of you?

(Hard walks away)

Parker: I am gonna...

Hardison (quietly): Sorry. I...

Man: Here’s the computer you ordered.

Hardison (whispering to computer): My precious.

(Parker looks disgruntled)

Hardison (to Parker): You... I mean you. You’re my precious.

(later at testing station)

Hardison: Okay, look. I really don’t want to be here. I got things to do today. So I’m only gonna say this once. (holds up a monitor) This is a carbon dioxide monitor. Does anybody know what that does?

Parker: It measures...

Hardison: Wrong. It monitors carbon dioxide. There’s one in every room in the winery, like the one on the wall back there. This... (changes display on monitors) reads out real-time CO2 levels. And none of you know what that means. (to Parker) You. You’re on supplies. Get me everything on this list. (hands Parker a list) I mean, everything. It’s gonna take you a while. You get it? You see what I’m saying?

Parker: Aye-aye, captain.

Hardison: What y’all standing around looking at me for? I see a room full of smudges and a bunch of people with brooms and mops. Get to it. I don’t have a mop in my hand. I can’t do nothing about it. Can’t help you. I’m sorry.

(interns walk away, Hardison turns around and smiles)

Hardison: Age of the geek, baby. I am the Grape Gatsby.


[Grape Fields]

Parker: Can’t take this anymore. Clean, clean, clean. Interns do this, interns do that. You know what? I don’t think this is a valuable work experience. (brushes off Eliot’s sleeve) You got a little something on you right there.

Eliot: Look.

(Leonard is talking to one of the workers)

Parker: Who’s that?

Eliot: His name’s Leonard. It’s Madigan’s right-hand guy.

Parker: He’s got a very punchable face.

Eliot: Yeah, I noticed that.


[Brew Pub]

Nate: Okay, it’s time we get you in. Here’s what I’m thinking.

Sophie: Oh, no, I’m gonna think of something fun. This isn’t my first picnic with a wine collector.

Nate: I know, Sophie, but you have to be careful. This is someone who knows how to make wine on a molecular level. This isn’t some rich person’s weekend hobby. You can’t fool a scientist at his business.

Sophie: It’s just about status. Wine’s just another way of saying: “I’m better. I belong.” And that’s my business.

Nate: E-end of the day, some things can’t be faked.

Sophie: End of the day, there’s fake... and then there’s fake. (walks away)

Nate: I’d like to know the difference.

(Sophie turns and smiles, then leaves)


[Wine Tasting Room]

(Sophie walks in and assesses the situation, then approaches Madigan)

Sophie: Mr. Madigan. Chantale Mitchell. (holds up an advertisement) You’re looking for a new pourer?

Madigan: HR handles those applications.

Sophie: I’m not one for filling out forms. I’ll tell you what, Mr. Madigan. I sell a case of wine, a case of wine, to any customer in this room... I’m your girl.

Madigan: You’ll never land them. These people are looky-loos. They’re here because the tasting is free. Excuse me.

Sophie: Mr. Madigan. I am very, very persuasive.

Madigan: All right, then. Let’s start with the toughest customer here.


[Grape Fields]

(a worker takes a drink of water before wiping sweat from her forehead)

Parker: What are we looking for, Nate?

Nate: The most common cause of death for field workers—


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: —are dehydration and hypothermia.


[Grape Fields]

(all of the workers have water bottles and drink from them frequently)

Parker: Well, so much for dehydration.

Eliot: It’s been warm here for over three weeks. No one’s freezing to death.

Leonard: Break’s over! Back to work!

Parker: I do not like that guy.

Eliot: Nate, this guy works everybody really hard, but he’s not killing anyone.

(Eliot looks at Dana through the rows of grapes, but she looks away)

Nate: If Madigan was willing to pay through the nose to cover up Sam’s death... Keep looking.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Sophie: You like the finer things. And you’re not afraid to show it. You’re a cab man. (moves to get a bottle)

Madigan: Cut the small talk and pour.

Sophie: It’s our 2010. Big flavors. It’s jammy. Taste the notes of black currant.

Madigan: It’s fine, but I’m not reaching for my wallet.

Sophie: Let’s try something different. Something special.

Madigan: I know the wines, lady. Next time, don’t try to snow the boss.

Sophie: The vintner usually holds back something nice for the staff. (looks in a cabinet) Ah.

Madigan: What is it?

Sophie (hides the label with a towel): No peeking. The finer things... for a fine wine.

(Sophie pours Madigan a glass and he drinks)

Sophie: Better, right? Structured, supple.

Madigan: Tastes like money. What is it, the ‘08?

Sophie (reveals label): It’s still the 2010.

Madigan: Wait. The same one. I tasted the difference.

Sophie: No. You expected the second glass to taste better than the first glass. I told you a story. I set the table. You tasted what you wanted to taste.

Madigan: That’s disturbing. (drinks more wine) The family that owned this place didn’t care if they turned a profit, so long as they made a better bottle. They made 20,000 cases a year. You know what I call that? Small-time. I’m making big changes. 200,000 cases a year. The wine will cost me half as much to make. Won’t taste the same, but it’ll be good enough. I need someone who can help me sell it. You on board?

Sophie: Of course, Mr. Madigan. (pours him another glass)


[Exterior, Winery]

Eliot: Look for endosulfans and organochlorines. They’re illegal pesticides... Could have killed our victim.

Parker (looks at buckets): This vocabulary is not thief friendly.

Eliot: Just scan and move on. Clear. It’s fertilizer.

(Parker peels back a label to reveal one beneath)

Parker: Someone changed the labels.

Eliot (opens bucket): It’s not fertilizer.

Parker: Then what is it? (puts a water bottle into the bucket to get a sample)

Eliot: Don’t get it on your hands.

Parker: That’s it, Eliot... proof.

Eliot: Maybe. (puts cover back on bucket)

Eliot: We got something, Nate.

Parker: Yeah, hundreds of gallons of something.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Parker: We got a sample.

Nate: Get it to Hardison. I want it ID’d. Hundreds of gallons... That means there’s purchase orders, usage logs. We need evidence that’s gonna hold up in court. Parker, find the paper trail.


[Exterior, Winery]

Parker: Could be poison. (watches workers moving buckets) Can’t let them use this.

Eliot: You go. I’ll take care of it. (walks toward the workers)


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Okay, Hardison, Sophie, start the con. Keep it simple. A swap-and-whisper campaign. Sophie, I bet you’re halfway there.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Sophie: Three quarters. (to customer) Thank you so much. Hey, Nate, I think I’m making quite an impression on our mark. (hands a bag to a customer) Enjoy.

Customer: Thank you.

Madigan: Hey. (pulls Sophie aside) Pinot sold out. So did the Syrah and the Chardonnay. Pre-orders for next year are through the roof. Let’s celebrate.

Sophie: I’m dying for a drink. And the good stuff. I’ve heard things about your collection.

Madigan: I got a couple of bottles I’ve been saving for the right time. I got just the place for a drink. Come on. (pulls her away)


[Tower]

Madigan (drinks wine): Tower’s my favorite part of the whole building.

Sophie: It’s gorgeous. Is it part of the original winery?

Madigan: Yeah, see, at harvest, carbon dioxide builds up around the tanks. Hundreds of tons of grapes and yeast-making alcohol releasing CO2. You can’t see it, smell it. You just feel a bit woozy, and then... you’re done.

Sophie: Ooh, scary.

Madigan: Nowadays, we use air movers and HVAC systems to keep the levels down. But in the old days, these doors would open up and flush the whole winery with fresh air.

Sophie: It’s pretty impressive.

Madigan: Yeah, it’s like the place when I bought it. It’s good for its time, but times change, science marches on. What do you think of the wine?

Sophie: Mm. It’s good. But I understood you had some really rare bottles.

Madigan: Yeah. You want to see my cave?

Sophie: Try and stop me. (puts down wine and picks up purse)


[Winery]

Hardison: And your button cam is now online. Okay. All right, Sophie, get ready to swap. Killing the lights at your say-so.


[Wine Cellar]

Sophie: Wow.

Madigan: Nice, huh? I pulled some of my favorite bottles.

Sophie: Bella Nunzio. Rion des Landes. 1934 Chateau Margaux. Frank...

(Madigan goes into a gated off area and brings out a bottle of wine)

Madigan: Owned by Thomas Jefferson himself. Isn’t that something? Over 200 years old? I put some serious security on this thing.

Sophie: Oh. May I? (takes bottle and examines it)


[Winery]

(Hardison examines the bottle in Sophie’s button cam)

Madigan: It’s got its own unique ID number.


[Wine Cellar]

Madigan: You can’t open it without breaking the seal. No one can swap it out without me knowing.


[Winery]

Hardison: Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on. Hang on. (zooms in on bottle)


[Wine Cellar]

Sophie: You put a license plate on your wine.


[Winery]

Hardison: Come on, he put a license plate on the wine? Who does that? This is gonna take days for me to crack. By the time I do, there’s no guarantee Sophie can get back in that wine cellar.

Parker (sets bottle on counter): Plus, we don’t want the workers breathing this stuff in anymore.

Hardison: Madigan has to be caught with a fraudulent wine collection, okay? And how do we do that if we can’t swap bottles?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Just make the real bottle look fake.


[Winery]

Hardison: A 200-year-old bottle that we can’t swap. How?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Ah, I’m working on it. Okay, Parker?


[Winery]

Nate: About that paper trail... Go find it.

Hardison: Great. Got to forge a bottle.

(Parker pats him on the back)

Hardison: Test the mystery fluid and forge a bottle. Easy day. Yay.

(Parker walks away)


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Now, Sophie, start the whisper campaign. Make him doubt his own bottle.


[Wine Cellar]

Sophie: Huh. (hands back the bottle) That Ponsot looks to die for.

Madigan: Did you just say “huh” to a bottle that was owned by one of our founding fathers?

Sophie: Frank, I… hm, I’m sure I’ve got this all wrong. It’s just... My old boss, Mike Biltz, he went on a crusade for five years searching for that Jefferson bottle, and he claims he found it, without a shadow of a doubt, in the collection of a Saudi prince.

Madigan (laughs): There’s only one bottle. The other must be...

Sophie: Fake?

Madigan: Yeah.

Sophie: Yeah, you think so? You think that’s possible? He put a $20 million offer on the table. He had it authenticated and triple-checked.

Madigan: Look. This is the real bottle.

Sophie: Yeah, yes, yes, I’m sure you’re right. I just... You know, wine fraud is a pernicious business. My ex-boyfriend, ah. He turned out to be a big disappointment. Half his collection was fake.


[Winery]

Hardison: Make the man doubt his own wine and his manhood? Damn.


[Grape Fields]

(workers are handing out containers with the mystery liquid)

Eliot: Hang on, boys. Flag on the play. Boss man told me to move this to another part of the field. (puts top on a bucket and lifts it onto the back of the truck) I’ll take this. Hop down for me, amigo. All right. I’ll meet you guys there.

Worker: Okay, no problem.

(Eliot gets into the truck and starts it, then takes off quickly, dumping all the buckets onto the ground)

Eliot: Ah, hell. That’s my bad. I’ll go tell Leonard this happened. I’ll pick up another load. You guys just go ahead and keep working.

(Eliot drives away as Dana watches)

Worker: What an idiot.


[Interior Truck]

Eliot: Alright, Hardison, did you ID the sample?


[Winery]

Hardison: I’m kind of doing two things at once here, man. (refers to display) This SN-12 is some nasty stuff. Its chemical structure reminds me of like some kind of experimental fertilizer. Probably accelerates plant metabolism. You can get high yields faster.


[Interior Truck]

Eliot: Yeah, and more profit for Madigan.


[Winery]

Hardison: You know, plants love it, but people, not so much. Other substances like this cause palpitations, high blood pressure, and sometimes even heart failure.


[Interior Truck]

Eliot: Just like our victim. Parker, did you find a paper trail on the SN-12?


[Office]

Parker: Yes, but I’m not exactly sure what to do with it.


[Winery]

Hardison: Ah, it’s no problem, Parker. What you should do is disable the SSH shell and then delete dot log-in, and then reproc the authentication daemon.


[Office]

Parker: U-um, okay.


[Winery]

Hardison: Wait. Too sloppy? You know what? You’re right. Instead... ah, how about this? Try to trigger a BIOS update, and then intercept the request so you can trojan a reply. That easy.


[Office]

Parker: Can’t you just come and do this?


[Winery]

Hardison: Not right now, baby. Still spoofing Madigan’s PC. It’s the last step of the whisper campaign. I’m making him think he bought a fake bottle of wine so that he has to call the 911 of wine. Okay. Last step. I’m just adding another buyer, Sophie’s old boss.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Good, good. Prey on Madigan’s insecurities. He’s a self-made man. Make me old money. Give me a Yale degree, a home in the Hamptons. If I say the Dubai bottle is real, who is he to question it?


[Wine Cellar]

(Madigan checks internet sites on his phone, then dials a number)

Madigan: Yeah, get me Dan Snyder.


[Winery]

Hardison: Ha, ha, ha, yes. Outgoing call to the wine auditor.


[Office]

Parker: Hardison, are you almost done? Because exception 214 is about to happen.


[Winery]

Hardison: That’s an automatic system wipe.


[Office]

Parker: What? No. No, no no. N-no, no no.


[Winery]

Hardison: The evidence is about to get scrubbed. (leaves the station quickly)


[Office]

Parker: Hardison, I can’t stop this.


[Winery]

(Hardison runs along a balcony)


[Office]

(display reads countdown to auto system wipe)

Parker (typing frantically): No. No, no no. N-no, no no.

(Hardison enters)

Parker: No. I—

(Parker gets up and lets Hardison sit down. He types frantically, overriding the wipe)

Parker: All right. (nods)

Hardison: So what am I looking for?

Parker: Maintenance records, spraying schedules, logs that tell us exactly when the workers used SN-12.

Hardison: There’s no data. I thought you stopped the wipe. I did, but Madigan must’ve deleted it before we got here.

Parker: So it’s too late.

Hardison: Wait, somebody copied the data before it got deleted.

Parker: Why would Madigan copy files that could have him sent to jail?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Ms. Knox, Nate Ford.


[Parking Lot]

Kristin: Mr. Ford, any progress?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: So, Madigan was using a chemical on his vines, and we think that’s what caused your father’s heart failure. Now, it’s not something that a medical examiner typically screens for.


[Parking Lot]

Kristin: He was so happy to have the work, even though it was... He worked more hours than anyone else on that pruning crew.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Ah, extra exposure. That’s probably why he was the first to get sick.

Kristin: Wait, Madigan’s still using the chemical?


[Parking Lot]

Kristin: What about the other workers?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Ah, oh, I got my people on it, but I have to ask you a question. Did anybody else from the winery pay you a visit?


[Parking Lot]

Kristin: Uh, actually, yeah. A woman just stopped by.

Nate: Thank you, Ms. Knox. We’ll be in touch.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Okay, I know who has the missing data. Hardison, pull up the security footage.


[Office]

Nate: Look for a time stamp that matches when the file was copied.

(Hardison pulls up footage of a woman entering the office)

Hardison: We got a Jane Doe. I’m sending you her photo right now.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Hardison: Nate, is she a friend of yours?

Nate: Never met her. But she paid Kristin Knox a visit. She knows about SN-12. And she’s going after Madigan. We have ourself an ally.


[Grape Fields]

(Eliot pulls up picture of woman on his phone)

Eliot: She works out here. She got jumpy when I was asking her questions.


[Office]

Hardison: I’m searching the employee database. I got a Betty Carter.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Hardison: Looks like OSHA sent Madigan a warning—


[Office]

Hardison: —after Sam’s death. They got an anonymous tip about the working conditions here, and somebody named Leonard put her on the suspect list.

Parker: Well, that explains why she was so scared. She probably thought Eliot was working for Madigan.

Hardison: She took the data for the exact same reason that we need it... To shut Madigan down.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Okay, Eliot, find her.


[Grape Fields]

Nate: If we know Betty has the data—


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: —it’s only a matter of time before Madigan does as well.


[Office]

Parker (points to window): Look. Here comes Leonard. Let’s go.

(Parker and Hardison leave the office. Leonard enters and sees employment records pulled up on screen. He makes a phone call)

Leonard: Mr. Madigan. Someone’s been poking around the office.


[Winery]

Madigan: I told you no one gets near the Knox death, do you understand? I’m trying to move this place into the future. Why don’t people get that?

Leonard: What if it’s the Carter girl?

Madigan: Then you’re gonna have to shut her down. I’ll handle the auditor.


[Exterior, Winery]

(wine auditor arrives and unloads his tools from the vehicle, taking them inside on a cart)


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Sophie, Hardison, the wine auditor should be on his way.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Sophie: What? No code names?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Ah, uh… the fox is in the henhouse. How’s that?


[Wine Tasting Room]

(Hardison helps the auditor set up while Madigan and Sophie watch. Parker pours Sophie a glass of wine)

Sophie (into comm): We’re good to go.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Wine fraud is a million-dollar business, so we’re up against million-dollar tests. There are three standard tests he’ll run on the Jefferson wine to verify its age. We need to hack each test to make sure that it fails.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Hardison (now standing near Sophie and Parker): You want us to hack three state-of-the-art tests while the owner is hovering like a stage mom?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: That’s exactly what I want.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Sophie: The first one’s mine. Easy peasy. (walks toward Madigan and auditor) Frank. Your bottle is the genuine article. I’m sure of it. I-I-I just want to give you some moral support.

Madigan: I appreciate that, Chantale.

Auditor: When you’re ready, Mr. Madigan.

(Sophie crosses her fingers. Madigan turns to get bottle)

Sophie Wait, wait, wait. (stops him before he can give bottle to the auditor and kisses her fingers then touches the bottle): Good luck.

(Madigan carries the bottle to the auditor, who picks it up and examines it)

Hardison: Okay, Nate, now he’s doing the visual inspection.

(Auditor takes photos of the bottle)

Parker: I like that camera. Could shove a cat in that camera.

Hardison: He is zooming in.

Nate: Yeah, he’s looking for the wrong font, the wrong materials.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Any sign that it’s not 200 years old. Good thing Sophie got there first.


[Flashback]

Sophie Wait, wait, wait. (stops him before he can give bottle to the auditor and kisses her fingers then touches the bottle, focus on the T): Good luck.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Nate: It’s all about the details. Invisible film. We printed one letter with the wrong kerning.

Hardison: That thing screams “laser printer 2012”. It makes the whole thing look forged.

Nate: Yeah, well, that was the easy one.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: The next two are gonna be a lot trickier.


[Wine Tasting Room]

(auditor continues examining the bottle)

Sophie: He’s testing the glass.

Nate: Wine bottles made before 1957... They contain manganese. Bottles made after that have chromium.

Hardison: That’s because in ‘57 Madagascar gained independence and the price of manganese skyrocketed.

Parker: “World ablaze.”

Hardison: You know, when you play Shaka Zulu on extreme level, you got to readjust your strategic economy.

Parker: Level 4.

Hardison: For real? Go ahead, girl.

(Parker takes the wine she’s poured over the Madigan and the auditor)

Parker: Wine? Wine?

Madigan: What are you doing?

Parker: I’m interning.

Madigan: Get out!

(Parker places a filter on the device the auditor is using)

Parker (to auditor): Wine. (walks away)

Madigan: Unbelievable.

(Parker places wine on counter)

Sophie: I’ll taste that.

Hardison: That’s my masterpiece right there. Wine as sweet as my orange soda.

Sophie: My teeth ache!

Parker: Is it working?

Hardison: That lens you put on there? Guaranteed. Two down, one to go.


[Grape Fields]

(Leonard is walking through the grape fields with some goons, one holding a clipboard)

Leonard: Should be over here. She’s working row 12.

Goon: Let’s just get this done quickly.

Betty (to man): Paul, give me your hat. I need your hat and your jacket. Quick.

Paul: No problem.

Betty: Just take it off quick.

Goon: We’ll find her.

(Betty puts on the hat and jacket and begins to move away)

Leonard: That’s her.

Goon: Let’s go.

(goons follow Betty)


[Wine Tasting Room]

Sophie: And now for the Geiger counter.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Okay, here’s the thing. All wine bottles after 1947 have trace amounts of radioactivity.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Nate: Cesium isotopes from atmospheric nuclear testing.

(Geiger counter makes noises)

Parker: Where did you get radioactive cesium?

Hardison: The things I do for Nate.


[Flashback, Richmond Nuclear Reservation]

(Hardison pauses between two fences, breathing hard. Dogs begin barking, and he climbs the exterior fence)


[Wine Tasting Room]

Parker: If it’s radioactive, then why are we drinking it?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Oh, come on now, it’s safe. There are trace amounts of cesium everywhere... On you, on me... Everywhere but old wine. Which is why Hardison dipped the auditor’s gloves into a slurry containing the isotope.


[Flashback]

(Hardison helps set up for the testing, switching the auditors gloves for the tainted ones, which the auditor puts on)


[Wine Tasting Room]

Parker: So I’m radioactive? Why don’t I have superpowers?

Hardison: Babe, we all feel cheated.

(the auditor uses a sensor, which makes noises)

Sophie: More clicks is good, right?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: All right, not bad. Now you’ve taken the oldest bottle of wine I’ve ever seen and made it look underage. Pretty good. He’ll tell the bank immediately. Madigan...


[Wine Tasting Room]

Nate: Kiss your winery goodbye.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Wait for it.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Auditor: Genuine.

Hardison: What?

Auditor: Congratulations, sir.

(Madigan picks up the bottle and leaves the room)


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Damn it.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Parker: He is nowhere near losing this winery.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: No, he isn’t.


[Wine Tasting Room]

Hardison: Bottle failed every single test. How’s that possible?


[Grape Fields]

Eliot: Nate, (picks up hat) I tracked Betty. (crouches near jacket) I got footprints here.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Eliot: Leonard’s guys got to her first. Three guys.


[Grape Fields]

Eliot: She put up a struggle. They’ve taken her, Nate.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Eliot: I’ve been shaking things up a bit.


[Grape Fields]

Eliot: We put Madigan on Betty’s trail.

Nate: Okay, Eliot, get her back.

Eliot: Yep.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: We succeeded too well. We didn’t just make him doubt the wine. We convinced him it was fake. So he bribed the auditor.


[Exterior, Winery]

Sophie: The bottle is real! That’s amazing. Let’s celebrate.

Madigan: I’m in the middle of something.

Sophie: What? No. What could be more important?

Madigan: Take the day off. We’re closing early.

Sophie: What about you?

Madigan (threateningly): I said go home. (walks away)

Sophie (into comm): Madigan’s giving everyone a vacation day.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Sophie: Something’s going down at the winery.

Nate: His wine collection is safe. His loan is safe. What is he up to?


[Winery]

Parker: Nate, something’s up. It’s the CO2 monitors.

Hardison (looking at phone): This is the winery app I made. Lets me access my workstation.

Parker: All the CO2 monitors are offline.

Hardison: So Madigan’s about to manipulate the carbon dioxide levels. I’d say he’s probably going for somewhere between deadly and lethal.

Parker: He just closed down the winery. Who is he trying to hurt?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: Your missing worker. Yeah. If I were Madigan, I’d make it look like Betty Carter tampered with those CO2 monitors in an act of sabotage, then died during her attempt. So any evidence she’d found is tainted as the work of a crazy person with a grudge. (looking at floorplan of winery) Eliot, they’ll leave her down by the fermentation tanks.


[Winery]

Hardison: You know, I should be able to up the oxygen levels remotely. Fire up some of the air movers... (phone beeps) or not. Madigan sabotaged the HVAC system.

Parker: The tower. Intern Parker learned about the ventilation. If we can get up there...

Hardison: We can open the door manually. Okay, Eliot, the air’s gonna get a little thin. We’re working on it.

(Parker and Hardison leave the winery. Elsewhere, Leonard and a goon carry Betty down a walkway between tanks. Eliot walks up stairs to the other end of the walkway, already breathing hard)

Eliot: Yo!

(Leonard and a goon put down Betty. Goon starts walking toward Eliot. Eliot takes off his hat and sets it on a tank)


[Hallway]

Parker: How much time do we have before Eliot runs out of air?

(Parker and Hardison look up stairway. 2 men look down and see them)

Goon 2: There they are! Get them!


[Winery]

(Eliot and Goon begin fighting, Eliot knocks goon out and begins walking toward other goon who puts on a respirator. Eliot is struggling for breath and his vision goes weird as Leonard picks up a paddle and walks toward him)

Hardison: Eliot, hold on. We’re coming. Eliot. Eliot!


[Stairway]

Goon 2: There they are! Get them!

(goons start running down the stairs)

Hardison: Eliot’s running out of air.

(they look at each other)

Parker: Let’s do this.

(they move back and wait for goons to come down the stairs. Hardison begins to fight them as Parker jumps past them, climbing the stairs. Hardison knocks one of the men out and follows after her and the other goon)


[Winery]

(Leonard swings the paddle at Eliot and misses. Eliot is still having problems seeing)

Leonard: Your head’s pounding, your vision’s starting to go. That’s your brain running out of oxygen. You’ll be unconscious in 30 seconds.

Eliot (gasping): It’ll take me 10 seconds.

(they fight. Eliot grabs the paddle from Leonard tosses it aside. Leonard comes at him again and Eliot pushes him away. Leonard takes off the ventilator and Eliot throws him into an empty tank)


[Stairs]

(Parker continues to climb, using railings to climb faster as a goon chases her. At the top, she struggles to open the windows. The goon grabs her, but Hardison pulls him back and knocks him out)

Parker: Good job.

Hardison: I think it’s about time Intern Parker started getting paid.


[Winery]

(Eliot walks toward Betty, breathing hard)

Eliot: Hey, hey. (looks into her eyes) You all right?

(Betty nods)

Eliot: I got you. Come here. (picks up Betty) That’s it. Everybody out. We’re done. (carries Betty out)


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: I’d give that a B-plus overall.


[Winery]

Eliot: Have we been watching the same game? We barely saved Betty. We didn’t even get back the bottle.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Nate: We convinced Madigan that the bottle is fake. As far as he’s concerned, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds out. It’s a ticking time bomb that he has to unload. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.


[Grape Fields]

(Nate and Madigan are walking through the fields)

Nate: I’ve been waiting a long time for this bottle to come on the market.

Madigan: You’re happy with the authentication?

Nate: Your auditor was very convincing. I just wonder something. Why do we have to do this off the books?

Madigan: It’s not the government’s business where my assets go. You know what I mean.

Nate: Sure, sure. I heard you had to shut down your winery.

Madigan: Oh, it’s just a misunderstanding with OSHA. We’ll clear that up in no time.

Nate: Well, I couldn’t be more pleased. (hands Madigan an envelope)

Madigan: It’s been a pleasure.

Officer: Frank Madigan, you’re under arrest for fraud.

(Officer begins cuffing Madigan, other officers show badge and pull gun. Police cars pull up)

Madigan: What is this?

Nate: Ah, what does it look like? It’s a sting. The auditor confessed to this bottle failing all three tests. You just sold me a fake bottle of wine for an awful lot of money.

(Officer hands Nate a piece of paper)

Nate: Yes. (tries to hand bottle off) Here you go.

Officer: No. Keep it. It’s fake, after all.

Nate: Yes. Yes. (walks away)

Madigan: No, it’s the real bottle. That’s the real bottle. Come on, let’s go. That’s the real one!


[Brew Pub]

(Nate going over papers in folder)

Nate: In here is everything you will need to build a case against Frank Madigan and his foreman. Everything.

Kristin: Thank you. For everything.

Nate: She got there first. (looks at Betty)

Betty: Your father was a good man. (to Nate) The money you gave us, it was enough to buy back the winery. We are now 100% employee owned. We can’t thank you enough.

Nate: Just take good care of the place. (walks toward Sophie, sitting at the bar) Hello, beautiful.

Sophie: The money you gave them.

Nate: I may have found a buyer for the Jefferson bottle.

Sophie: Oh. Oh.

(Nate pours wine)

Sophie: It’s not Hardison’s brew, is it?

Nate: Certainly not. In memory of Kristin’s father... and in honor of good friends.

Sophie: And with hope for the future. (drinks wine) Wow. That’s amazing. It tastes...

Nate: Special.

Sophie: You said you found a buyer for the bottle. You didn’t say “wine”. You said “the Jefferson bottle”.

Nate: I meant wine when I said bottle. I mean, it’s not like the next buyer is ever going to taste the wine. It’s too valuable. No, of course I meant (clears throat) wine.

Sophie: You mean... we are drinking the world’s most expensive wine?

Nate: You’re the wine expert.

Sophie: And you’re never gonna tell me, are you?

Nate: I do know the difference between what’s real and what’s fake.

The End

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