Original air date: February 19, 2000

Written by: Juan Carlos Coto

Directed by: Jon Koslowsky

Jarod hleps an undercover agent whose boss has put unreasonable demands on her and even cut her off from her family in his attempt to bring down the head of a gun/money laundering operation.

Jarod’s Discoveries: Karma

Jarod’s Occupations: Head of Security, Ex-cop, Bodyguard

Jarod’s Aliases: Jarod Grey

Behind the scenes insights and the Creator’s Take

Official Synopsis

Jarod protects a female agent working undercover in a gun/money-laundering operation.

Jarod barges into an apartment where a nude female tenant sits in a yoga meditation position.  Unfazed by the intruder, the woman, Thea Thompkins, calmly puts on her robe.  Thea reads Jarod’s palm, revealing many past truths about Jarod.  She predicts that he is about to meet someone like him: a kindred spirit.

Valerie McGann rushes down the street trying to elude a mysterious man, Rick Alonzo.  Jarod watches from behind the large trashcan as Valerie quickly dashes into an alley, dons clothes of a bag lady and throws her purse into the trashcan.  Fooled by the disguise, Alonzo runs right by her.  Jarod tries unsuccessfully to make a connection with Valerie as she jumps into a taxi.  Moments later, Jarod pulls Valerie’s purse out of the trashcan and finds her license and a photo of Valerie, her eight-year-old daughter, Cassie, and Valerie’s father, Kenneth McGann.  Later that day, at Pritchard Gun Works, a now composed Valerie arrives at work with her boss and fiancé, Roland Pritchard.  Pritchard illegally launders cash through his ten gun shops.  He is also under suspicion by the ATF for the murder of a gun supplier, an ex-cop.  However, the murder weapon has eluded law enforcement.  For over a year, Valerie, an ATF undercover agent, has worked for Pritchard trying to secure enough evidence to put Pritchard away.  The ATF operation investigating Pritchard is called “Fat Cat.” Unfortunately, ATF agents like Alonzo have placed unreasonable demands on Valerie in this undercover job.  She can only see her eight-year-old daughter, who now lives with Valerie’s father, on clandestine visits.  When Pritchard developed a romantic interest in Valerie, the ATF told her to reciprocate his affections.

Jarod observes the arrival of Valerie and Pritchard from across the street.  Taking advantage of a weak link in Pritchard’s security team, Jarod trips the alarm of Pritchard’s car and promptly stuffs the late arriving security guard, Chuck, in the car’s trunk.  While Sam Morgan, Pritchard’s bodyguard, rushes outside to check out the tripped alarm, Jarod stealthily sneaks into the upstairs office to find Pritchard and Valerie.  Jarod convinces Pritchard that he is an employee of the security company Pritchard uses.  A wary Morgan confirms Jarod’s credentials.  Subsequently, Pritchard hires Jarod as Valerie’s security guard.

At the Centre, Miss Parker and her father watch Baby Parker struggle inside an incubator.  The newly born-again Raines makes an uninvited visit.  Miss Parker cannot contain her hostility.  Not only has she always maintained that Raines killed her mother, but she views his new-found incarnation as a disingenuous manipulation.  Raines is resurrecting an experimental toxin, veritas gas, developed and then shelved by the Centre in the 1980s.

As Jarod does a security check underneath Pritchard’s car, he overhears Valerie on her cell phone pleading with Agent Alonzo to let her see her daughter.  Suddenly, Jarod notices a car with a blonde, bearded man inside raising an automatic rifle.  Jarod jumps on Valerie from behind the car as the gunman sprays the area with gunfire.  Jarod and Valerie survive unscathed.  Later, Jarod confronts Valerie about the phone call with Alzono.  Jarod tells Valerie that he knows Alonzo is an agent for the ATF and asks if Alonzo is forcing her to testify against Pritchard.  Jarod wants to protect Valerie and get her daughter back.  Valerie pulls a gun on Jarod and says that she cannot trust him.  Jarod reveals that he knows about operation “Fat Cat” and Valerie’s role in it.  Valerie burst into tears and confides in Jarod.  According to Valerie, Alonzo stopped her visits with her daughter, because Alonzo thought that Pritchard was getting too close to the operation.  As a result, Alonzo moved her father and Cassie to a secret location.  Valerie states that Pritchard is meeting the “Fat Cat” in New Jersey in two days.  Valerie gives Jarod her heirloom ring to give to her daughter in case she does not survive.

Jarod confronts Alonzo about his unscrupulous tactics with Valerie.  Alonzo remains unrepentant, saying the extreme measures are necessary because of the scope of Pritchard’s operation.  Before the defiant Alonzo stomps off, Jarod slyly pickpockets his badge.  Later, Jarod approaches Kenneth McGann, Cassie’s grandfather.  Jarod shows Kenneth the badge he just swiped to assure him that he works with Valerie.  Jarod gives Kenneth the heirloom ring and tells Kenneth to keep it safe for Cassie.  Jarod promises both Cassie and Kenneth that they shall see Valerie in a few days.  Meanwhile, at the Centre, Miss Parker spots Raines holding an oxygen tank over the incubator.  She bursts into the room screaming, “He’s killing the baby!” Mr. Parker stops his daughter and assures her Raines is saving, not killing, the infant, and that a distilled version of the veritas gas will loosen the child’s congested lungs.  Incredulously, Miss Parker looks inside the incubator and sees that, indeed, the baby shows improvement.

Back at the gun shop, Pritchard tells Jarod that he discovered that Valerie is an agent for the ATF.  Unfortunately, Pritchard now also knows about Cassie.  Subsequently, Jarod tells Valerie that her cover has been blown.  Valerie confronts Pritchard and says she will do anything to help him get out of the country as long as he doesn’t hurt her daughter.  Jarod tries to talk Valerie out of helping Pritchard.  Pritchard shoots Jarod, and Jarod falls to the ground.  Hours later in a dark alley in Newark, New Jersey, Pritchard drags Valerie out of the car only to be met by Jarod.  Pritchard shoots Jarod again, but finally realizes that he is shooting blanks.  Jarod radios Agent Alonzo, who just nabbed “Fat Cat.”  Jarod tells Alonzo that he is leaving a package for him in an alley.  A cuffed, gagged Pritchard sits helplessly in the back of the car.  His incriminating gun, the one used to kill the supplier earlier in the year, lies on the hood.  As Jarod promised, Valerie makes it to Cassie’s choir performance with her proud grandfather watching.  After the performance, Valerie, Cassie, and Kenneth embrace as Jarod walks silently away.