At Drexel Peters Laboratories in Okotoks, the board members are going over a report while in the manufacturing area, thousands of pills are made. Sheriff Buck Martin finally says that Arnie will soon call the FDA and then they'll be all over them. The head of the board, Drexel, tells Martin to give them a full report. Martin says that Arnie Brillstein has been talking to people on Dieter's shift and analyzed a capsule that was produced during the white shift. Peters says that he told Arnie that they were manufacturing drugs for the French market,. Martin warns that he can't stop Arnie from making a phone call even if he arrests him, and suggests that they stage an "extreme accident". Drexel asks Peters for information on Arnie, and Peters says that the man is a chemist, unmarried, and has been in the laboratory for five years. Drexel tells Martin to put Arnie under 24-hour surveillance and keep the white shift producing.
The next morning, Arnie drives out to a country crossroads and finds Ray waiting for him. Ray has a bottle of the drugs and points out that there's an antibiotic, cephalosporin, hid in the Vitamin B bottle that the company produces. Arnie explains that Micky Strickland told him how to get hold of Ray, and Ray points out that Arnie said that the company is manufacturing illegal drugs and may be trying to kill him. Arnie says that the company is distributing illegal drugs into third-world records, and the supposed antibiotic is penicillin that is too old according to FAD specs. Drexel Peters is adding H carbons to make it resemble the antibiotic, and then sell it to third-world countries who think that they're getting the real thing. Ray advises him to go to the FDA, and Arnie says that he doesn't have any proof. The company owns everything in the company from the police department on down, and Ray figures that he'll get killed if he goes in. Arnie says that he's hired a new Greek chemist, Stavos Nicodemus, who will arrive in ten days. Ray slips into the man's role and Arnie says that the fake ID has a wife that was born in LA. Ray tells him that he'll need two days, and Arnie gives him the address where he'll be living. When he asks how he pays, Ray explains about his favor system.
Ray calls Micky, who is now chief resident at the hospital, and thanks her for referring Arnie to him. He points out that Micky still owes him a favor and says that he needs Micky there on Friday. Ray explains that he needs her to be his wife and teach him chemistry in two days. Micky asks if she'll get to know his name, and Ray says that he'll be busy picking out their furniture.
A few days later, Ray and Micky arrive in Okotoks early and see a Vietnam met, Tommy Miller, practicing pitching an imaginary ball. As they go buy, Ray tells Micky that Tommy is a "greeter" who waves at people. Micky says that Tommy should be institutionalized, and Ray says that some cultures believe that people like Tommy have been touched by the gods.
Ray and Micky pull up to their house and the neighbors look at them. Ray slips into his role and a neighbor man, Kevin Wade, greets them. Inside, Ray keeps up his role figuring that the place is bugged. He confirms his suspicions and discovers that the bedroom is unmonitored. Ray suggests that they can convince the people in charge that they're players, and go to Arnie's house. Nobody answers, and Kevin comes over. He claims that he has no idea who Arnie is and says that the house is empty. Kevin takes them inside and they confirm that the place is cleaned out. Kevin says that he is in Payroll and no one named Arnie works at the plant.
Ray sketches Arnie's face and Micky confirms that it's her friend. Micky wonders what they do next, and Ray says that they'll keep asking questions and flash the sketch and see if anyone talks. She says that she's not going to get involved with Ray again, and Ray tells him that she'll know where he is and leaves the bedroom.
The next day, Ray drives to the plant and the guard directs him to where he works. A requisition clerk woman, Www, takes him to his desk and she claims that she has no idea who Arnie is. Www tells him to talk to Mr. Brockman. Once he's alone, Ray confirms that there are no bugs in the rooms and then calls Micky. He says that there's someone he thinks will talk to them.
On his lunch hour, Ray talks to Tommy, shows him the sketch of Arnie, and Tommy says that he's a sucker for inside pitches. Tommy explains that Arnie did some coaching for Okotok's Little League, but refuses to say what happened to Arnie. He talks about how people said that he would go to the big leagues, and then says that men came in a van and took Arnie to where the moss grows on the trees in the summer. Ray realizes that he's describing Vietnam and says that he's sorry, and explains that he was there and it messed them all up. Tommy insists that he can get the batter out, and Tommy assures him that he'll leave him in. He asks what Ray's name is, and Ray whispers his real name. Tommy stares at him in shock and Ray walks away.
That night, Ray and Micky sit in a car near the gates and watch as the white shift workers go in. Ray figures that Arnie is probably dead and Tommy thinks the same. Micky asks Ray what happened to him, and Ray admits that Tommy got to him. Ray talks about how they left the best part of Tommy in Vietnam, and his own time in Vietnam.
The next morning at 5:15, the shifts change and Ray tells Micky to call a number and ask for David Smith if he doesn't come back. Micky wishes him good luck and Ray boards in the last of several trucks leaving the plant. A guard sees him and runs after them, and Ray gets into the back and pockets one of the bottles. The guard leaps aboard and opens the door, and Ray attacks him. The two men fight and the man draws a gun. He slashes at Ray, who finally manages to disarm him and dangle him out of the back of the truck. Ray asks where the truck is going and threatens to drop the guard if he doesn't talk. The guard finally says that the trucks are going to New Orleans, and Ray pulls him back aboard and ties him up. Ray then climbs out, closes the door behind him, and jumps off.
Ray goes back and shows Micky the drugs in the bottle. She tells him that it's the same as before: subordinate penicillin with added H carbons. Ray figures that the guard will get loose and they're one call away from being in trouble, and he needs to get into the plant's record office and find concrete evidence to bust the company. He suggests that he claims to be a henpecked husband who needs more money to get his wife off of his back, and they debilitate the current chemist. Micky agrees to do it.
Soon, the plant surveillance techs are listening to Ray and Micky stage an argument in their kitchen. Drexel listens with satisfaction. Later at work, Ray talks to a co-worker and hints that he'd like to work a later shift for more money. The co-worker tells him to talk to Horace Milner, the chemist on the white shift. The chemists hang out together by their own in a clique. Ray breaks into Milner's laboratory and puts a drug that Micky mixed into Milner's watcher pitcher.
Later in the conference room, the mayor wonders why the guard hasn't called in. Drexel suggests that they shut down the white shift for a while, and Martin says that Ray might be a candidate for them. Milner took sick and they need a backup chemist. Peters says that he'll have Ray over for a barbeque while Martin checks him out.
The next day, Ray and Micky go to the neighborhood barbeque. Meanwhile, Martin lifts fingerprints from Ray's car. They come back with a military code lock. Martin calls Peters and tells him that he talked to the real Stavos, and figures that they're in deep trouble. He tells Peters that his men are heading over, and Peters should get all of the other people out of there so that they can dispose of Ray and Micky the same way that they got rid of Arnie. Once Peters hangs up, he takes a gun out of his kitchen drawer.
Peters goes outside and whispers to the attendees, who live one by one. Ray notices and privately tells Micky what's happening. He tells her to get to a nearby car and drive out of Okotoks. Martin and his deputy arrive, and go after Ray as he jumps over the back fence. Micky gets into car and drives off, and a deputy follows her. As Ray runs down the street, Micky picks him up and they drive off together. Martin has the dispatcher send a helicopter and orders his men to cut off the car.
When the police block the road, Ray swings around and drives back into Okotoks. He loses the squad cars and drives into the outlying woods, and they take cover as the helicopter flies overhead. Ray and Micky abandon the car and head back into town. Martin and his men find the car and Martin orders a manhunt.
In town, Ray and Micky hide in the bushes and find Tommy, and Ray says that he needs Tommy's help. He asks for a volunteer, and after a moment Tommy talks about how he took a wound to his pitching arm and he was going to retire. Then the Vietcong fired on them in December and killed Tommy's friend Russell, blowing him in half. Tommy says that he isn't going to volunteer no more, and Ray understands. Crying, Tommy starts to walk away and then tells Ray that there's a drainage tunnel and he'll meet Ray there.
Later, Tommy goes to the drainage tunnel and finds Ray and Micky waiting. He says that no one has wanted anything from him in fifteen years, and Ray tells him that he needs to find a way into the plant. Tommy takes them down the tunnel. They enter the plant where the drug is manufactured, and Ray goes to the records room. He finds the file on the cephalosporin, but a guard hears him and sounds the alarm. Martin orders his men to seal off the plant and shoot Ray on side.
Ray goes back into the tunnel and closes the grade behind him. He finds Tommy and Micky, and Tommy leads them back out. The board listens nervously as the reports come in that there's no sign of the fugitives.
The trio leave the tunnel by the river and Ray thanks Tommy for his help, assuring him that he's got great stuff. Ray and Micky walk away and Tommy smiles then gives them a thumbs up and says that they're out there.
Later, Ray and Micky are in Ray's Corvette at the airport, listening to the radio report about the government confiscating the counterfeit cephalosporin. Micky asks who Ray is, and he says that she's asking too many questions. She figures that she'll never find out who Ray is, and Ray says that some mysteries are better left unsolved. Ray tells her not to read too much into what he said about Vietnam, and he's got his own corner of PTSD. They kiss and as Micky walks away, Ray tells her that he might look her up. Micky waves and leaves, and Ray drives away.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 14, 2018