Following that rather intense situation, we find the group sitting in uncomfortable silence with Noah holding onto the egg, unsure as to how they should respond following that whole altercation. After a few moments, Emma turns towards Noah, still looking rather unapologetic in regards to Noah's earlier comments.
"So, you don't want to have a baby so we can do more shit like that?" she asked him.
"No. No," Noah replies, shaking his head.
"Is that the fruit you were thinking about?" she asked.
"No. Mmm-mmm. That's not the fruit. No," he answers, still looking perturbed.
We transition to the back where we see Geoff looking out the back to make sure they aren't being tailed while Bridgette nudges him, regaining his attention.
"Hey, thanks for the assist," Bridgette tells him, smiling.
"Yeah," Geoff said, a bit timorous. "I don't even know why I really did it." He chuckles, with Bridgette momentarily joining in.
"Do you think it's because you're falling for me?" she asked, curious. Geoff laughs at this, causing Bridgette to look offended, but as Geoff begins to ponder it, he turns to face her, genuinely smiling.
"I… I think you're right," Geoff tells her. She looks towards him to see if he's making fun of her… but she sees none of that. Instantly, she pulls him in, and they begin kissing, passionately. At first, he's taken by surprise, but he decides to roll with it and soon joins in.
However, their moment of pleasure is interrupted when Stephanie calls them to her attention.
"Ahem. Look, as nice of a moment as that is, we currently have bigger fish to fry so if you could save the love-making for after we're done with all this, that would be appreciated, okay?" Stephanie asked.
"I can roll with that," Geoff said.
"Same here," Bridgette comments, giving Geoff a sly smile, indicating that they're not quite finished yet.
"It's two minutes to 12:00. Where the hell is this bridge?" Noah asked, clearly on edge due to the dire circumstances and the ticking clock.
"GPS says it's right about here, but I don't see it," Ryan tells the group, looking around to make sure they didn't miss something.
Then, using her sharp eyesight, Emma manages to catch a glimpse of it around a sharp corner. "Oh. Oh. Oh. There it is. 4th Street." She points out the window towards the bridge, which has several road barriers and construction signs position around it.
"Oh, shit!" Ryan yells out when he nearly misses the turn, prompting him to slam on his brakes, causing the tires to screech as he skids to a stop in the middle of the intersection.
Unfortunately, as a result of him being forced to make a hasty stop, everyone within the vehicle jolts forward, causing Noah to lose his grip on the egg, sending it flying into dashboard, shattering it to pieces. Upon seeing taking note of the circumstance, they take a moment to let it sink in, their faces bathed in nonplussed expressions.
"Oh, my," Ryan comments.
"That's great," Noah says, sarcastically. "That's great. Now they're gonna kill my brother."
Emma, after having struggled alongside Noah and the others all night, covers her face in remorse. "Shit. Oh God!" she says to herself.
However, upon taking a closer look at the broken pieces, Stephanie notices some interesting details. "Hold on," she said, viewing a piece from various angles and sides. "I'm not an expert, but these gems look plastic to me."
As Ryan observes another piece, he finds a sticker located on the inside. "'Made in China'. Is this thing not even real?" he asked, confused.
"Maybe just that sticker was made in China," Geoff says to Bridgette.
"Let's let them talk," Bridgette tells him, patting the guy on the shoulder.
"Can I see?" Noah asked, prompting Ryan to hand him the piece.
Meanwhile, putting those eagle eyes to good use once more, Emma notices a piece of paper strewn about the broken pieces situated atop the console.
"Hey, why would the Spaniard ask Dave to bring him a fake egg?" Ryan asked. Emma grabs the slip of paper and unrolls it, revealing itself to be a WITSEC list, which prompts her to realize the Spaniard's true intentions behind the whole ordeal.
"Uh, I don't think he wanted an egg at all," Emma told the group, prompting everyone to take notice of list situated within her hands. "I think he wanted what was inside the egg."
Noah proceeds to observe the paper that was previously concealed within the egg. "'WITSEC'. What does he want with this?"
"Um…" Bridgette said, noticing something rather unsettling situated outside. "We could ask them," she tells the group, pointing out the window.
Everyone redirects their attention towards the bridge where they see the kidnappers van parked in the center with Lightning, Duncan, and Dave standing beside the van's open doors, with Lightning and Duncan currently in the process of untying Dave's hands and removing the bag from his head, respectively.
Ryan makes a sharp turn and proceeds onto the bridge towards the kidnappers. The vehicle makes its way towards their location before coming to a stop just a few yards away, the headlights on Ryan's van showing-off Dave's terrified expression as Lightning and Duncan each hold a gun at his sides.
The group exit the vehicle and approach the trio, timorously. "You tell anyone we were coming here?" Lightning asked them.
"No," Noah replies, calmly as not to escalate the situation. "We've got your egg."
"You do?" Dave asked, amazed.
"Yeah, but we broke it," Noah says.
"What?" Dave said, distressed.
"Well, it was a fake," Emma explains to Dave before turning her attention towards the two mooks. "But we have the list of names that was inside. That's what you wanted, right?"
Lightning and Duncan turn and give each other a knowing look. Duncan then turns to face the group and aims his gun at them.
"Okay. Get on the ground," he orders.
"We've got what you want. Can't you just let us go?" Noah asked.
"I said, 'On the ground'!" he yells, angrily, as he approaches the group, gun still raised.
"You too, playboy, get over there," Lightning tells Dave as he shoves him forward. "Get on the ground." The group comply with the goons' orders and proceed to get down, fearful at the prospect of getting shot. "None of that child pose shit, either," he remarks towards Emma as he lays Dave down next to Noah.
Duncan begins circling the group while Lightning walks off to the side and pulls out a phone and makes a call. While this is taking place, Dave begins quietly speaking to Noah.
"The Spaniard's gonna kill me, probably you guys, too." he says to his brother. "Why did you come here?"
"Because you're my brother, and I can't just let you die, even though you might deserve it," Noah remarks.
"Yeah, it's me," Lightning says, talking to someone on the other end. "We got 'em all here." He continues his conversation in the background while Dave and Noah continue to whisper in secret.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Dave comments, guiltily. "You've always been a better person than me."
"You got to shut up, okay?" Noah says. However, Dave ignores Noah's warning and goes into elaborate detail as to what he means when he describes Noah as being a 'better person'."
"Listen. I'm a fraud, Noah. I'm not the carefree dude that wins at everything he touches. You know how I win? I cheat. I cheat at everything. I even cheated when we were kids playing Battleship."
Noah, taken aback by this comment, looks at his brother, incredulous. "What?"
"Didn't you ever wonder why I made you sit with your back to the TV?" Dave asked. "It was so I could see your ships in the reflection." Upon thinking about it, Noah realizes how obvious it was in hindsight and that he should've seen it from a mile away. Dave then continues after Noah finishes kicking himself. "I mean, I even took five grand every time we played Monopoly before we even started playing the game. I cheated at the Game of Life. And at the game of life."
"You son of a bitch," Noah says, dumbfounded.
"You son of a bitch!" Emma says, vexed as she sits upright.
"Yo, sit down," Duncan tells her as she eyes Dave, fiercely, while all Dave can do is look down in regret. Duncan then moves towards Stephanie and begins searching her. "What about you, princess?"
"I don't have anything!" Stephanie fearfully claims, prompting a protective response out of Ryan upon seeing his wife being hassled.
"But it didn't stop there," Dave continued, "because when we grew up, Noah…" He pauses as he tries to find the right words to explain his feelings towards Noah's accomplishments. "You went off to college, and I… You got a career, you… You married the greatest girl in the world." Emma appears touched by this remark despite the circumstances. "I knew I couldn't keep up with that success, so I… I told everyone that I got a job on Wall Street. And I did… selling coke to traders."
Noah appears amazed by this revelation while Dave appears remorseful. "You didn't invest in Panera?"
"I ate at Panera," Dave mentions.
"Jesus Christ," Noah says, looking irritated at the fact that, all this time, he felt inadequate compared to Dave when in fact, Noah was the better brother the whole time.
Duncan approaches Lightning, who's still on the phone with persons unknown, gaining Geoff's attention. "What the fuck's going on?" Geoff asks Bridgette, gaining a shrug out of her.
"But that's why I've been trying to make it up to you," Dave explains. "That's what this whole game night was about. See, I had it rigged so that you'd finally win. The last clue was gonna lead you…" He darts his eyes to the left, signaling the location of the final clue. "Your jacket pocket."
Noah, intrigued, looks up towards the mooks, who are currently preoccupied with other matters, prompting him to silently reach into his jacket pocket. He feels around for a moment before hearing the familiar jingle of keys. He pulls the object out of his pocket, and discovers it to be the keys to the Stingray; the dream car he always wanted. He looks towards Dave, shocked that his true intentions were a gesture of generosity in order to atone for the past.
"Surprise," Dave said, chuckling weakly. He then looks down in shame due to everything the group became involved in as the result of his actions. "I even managed to fuck that up, though. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Noah." He signs in resignation as sirens faintly begin to wail in the distance.
Noah, seeing that Dave truly wishes to seek some form of redemption, attempts to comfort his wayward brother. "I think we're gonna be okay, though. I got a feeling."
"You want us to kill them all?" Lightning asked the individual on the other end, causing everyone to lift their heads up in shock and terror.
"What?" Bridgette yells out.
"Okay," Lightning says, as he and Duncan cock their guns and prepare to fire.
"Wait, wait. Just let us go," Emma pleads. "We won't tell anyone anything."
"We got you the list!" Stephanie tells them, angrily.
"I finally find the one girl who genuinely loves me back and now I'm gonna die," Geoff said to himself, pissed.
Throughout the scene, the siren sounds intensify and begin rapidly growing in volume. Eventually, this turns the mooks' attention away from the group and towards an oncoming vehicle.
"What the fuck, man?" Lightning said.
"Fuck! God damn it!" Duncan yelled out, aggrieved. The group look up and turn to see a police vehicle approaching the scene, which proceeds to skid to a stop, managing to pull off a 90° turn. "Oh, shit! The fuzz!"
The door bursts open, and MacArthur emerges, steel-gazed and all. "Freeze!" she yells out, holding up her gun and aiming it at the kidnappers.
"MacArthur?" Noah asked in surprised.
"Don't even think about it, pig," Lightning called out to her.
"Can't say I care for nomenclature," MacArthur replies.
The duo yelled out in frustration and begin firing off their rounds, prompting the group to duck down, scared for their lives.
MacArthur soon retaliates before turning and sliding across the hood of her squad car to gain cover against the goons while they get themselves situated next to their van.
"Come on, bitch!" Duncan yelled out to her.
MacArthur begins silently moving alongside the car, staying low to the ground in order to avoid being seen through the windows. Upon receiving an opening, she bolts up and opens fire, nailing Lightning in the chest, causing him to collapse.
Duncan attempts to fire off a round, but MacArthur gets another round off before he can react, causing him to get shot in the leg. "God damn it!" he yells out in pain. He fires another bullet, but MacArthur manages to find cover behind the open door of Ryan's minivan, which she closes before emerging and firing another shot, hitting Duncan once more.
Duncan attempts to take her down with him, but MacArthur quick reflexes enable her to take Duncan down without breaking a sweat. She smiles at her handiwork while Noah and the others look on in astonishment.
"Hey, isn't that your neighbor?" Dave asked.
MacArthur holsters her gun and approaches the group, who proceed to stand and look upon her in all her glory. "When did MacArthur get so cool?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, my God!" Geoff said, both relieved that they're still alive and by MacArthur's heroism.
"Everybody, okay?" Stephanie asked, looking around to make sure everyone was unharmed.
"Oh! You're a cool-ass, MacArthur," Ryan comments, starstruck.
"You all right?" Noah asked MacArthur as he approached her.
"Fine, thank you," she says, looking back towards her vehicle before looking back towards the group. "Though, in sliding, my belt buckle may have inadvertently scratched the finish of my squad car."
"How did you know we were in trouble?" Emma asked.
"The nocturnal Jenga game, my blood-spattered martial souvenirs, and Noah's curious search history piqued my interest."
"Right," Emma said, uncomfortable.
"You, uh…" Noah said, sheepishly. "You saved our lives."
"Thank you," Emma said, relieved.
MacArthur smiles, proudly. "Just doing my j-" She's immediately cut short by a gunshot hitting her square in the chest.
Duncan, who appears to be on his last breath, managed to get off one final shot before letting the gun fall from his hand.
MacArthur grasps her chest and falls against the tire of Ryan's minivan while everyone recoils in shock.
"Oh, my God!" Geoff yells out in terror.
"Shit!" Bridgette yells out.
"Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" Ryan yells out.
"MacArthur!" Emma yells out in fear as she and Noah come to her side while Bridgette pulls out her phone and begins dialing. "MacArthur!"
"Hello? I need an ambulance. Officer down!" Bridgette said into the phone as Noah and Emma crouch down to be by there, so she isn't alone.
"Oh, shit!" Emma said, worriedly, as blood begins to pour out of MacArthur's mouth
"Hang in there, pal," Noah says. "Hang on, hang on, pal." Stephanie looks practically on the verge of tears as Emma tries in vain to stop the bleeding. "Hang on. You're gonna be all right. We're gonna get you to a hospital."
"Okay, look at me," Emma says. "MacArthur, look. You have got a lot to live for, okay?"
"Do I?" MacArthur asks, downtrodden. "I have no husband… no friends."
"That's not true," Noah claims.
"No, don't say that," Emma says, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You've got us."
"You got us," Noah asserts. "We're your friends."
"You don't even like sp-" She begins breathing heavily before managing to cough up the words. "Spending time with me."
"Yes, we do," Noah claims. "We just… We've been a little selfish, that's all. I'm sorry about that."
"Right, right," Emma nods, solemnly. MacArthur groans in pain as Noah and Emma comfort her in this dire moment. "Oh, God. Oh, God."
"Valentina."
"Huh?"
"Someone please take care of Valentina."
"MacArthur, you are gonna take care of Valentina yourself, okay?" Emma asserts.
"Listen. As soon as you get out of the hospital, you're gonna come to every single game night we have," Noah pledges.
MacArthur appears to be struggling to hold on, but she shakily manages to speak as Noah listens in closely. "Don't…. Don't you… ever… exclude me again," she responds, seriously.
"Never exclude you again, pal," Noah promises.
Upon getting confirmation, she spits something out of her mouth, which Noah and Emma notice, causing even more worry amongst the two.
"Oh, God. Oh, God. What is that?" Emma asked, scared.
"Uh-oh. What is that?" Noah asked, picking up the item as if falls onto MacArthur's uniform.
"Is that a blood clot?" Emma asked.
"It's a blood capsule," MacArthur said, her mood suddenly changing from that of a person on their deathbed to someone who has just made a miraculous recovery.
"Huh?" Emma asked, confused.
"A blood capsule?" Noah asked, equally confused.
She smiles at them, triumphantly. "And that is how you do a game night." She chuckles as she gets to her feet, leaving Noah and Emma dumbfounded.
"What?" Emma asked, irate, as she and Noah get to their feet and rejoin the group, all of whom appear to have the same expressions Noah and Emma have plastered to their faces.
MacArthur gives everyone a slow clap and she stands in front of them, still smiling. "I've duped you all."
"Wha…" Stephanie began, unable to fully comprehend exactly what took place.
"Hold on a second," Noah begins. "Are you telling me that this whole thing was a game?"
We then hear grunting, and we discover it to be Duncan and Lightning getting to their feet. Ryan turns and sees them and immediately freaks out.
"What?! What?!" Geoff asked, startled.
"They— They— I'm sorry. They got up. They got up," Ryan said, pointing behind him towards the kidnappers.
"When I learned you stopped inviting me to your game nights, I hijacked Dave's murder mystery party and I staged a kidnapping of my own," MacArthur explained.
"You got to be kidding me," Dave commented, incredulous.
"What better way to prove my worth as a game night participant?" MacArthur asked.
"Well, what about these dudes?" Ryan asked, pointing towards the goons, who've gotten to their feet. "Are they actors?"
"Oh, no. They're— They're felons."
"Felons?" Noah commented, knowing that that's not better.
"I was able to shave some time off of their parole in exchange for this little side project," MacArthur explains as Noah still attempts to wrap his mind around this whole escapade.
"We square now?" Duncan asked.
"Thank you, gentlemen," MacArthur said, waving to them, signifying that their work is done.
"That lady hit me with the car," Lightning commented, still fairly sore in that regard, while he and Duncan proceed towards the vehicle.
"Hey, what the hell kind of psycho are you?" Dave asked, aggrieved. "You put us through all this just for your own amusement?"
"No, no. Just the opposite. For your amusement," MacArthur claimed, pointing towards the group. "Did everyone have fun?"
"Yeah!" Geoff claims. However, the feeling doesn't appear to be mutual, as everyone vents their frustrations in regards to the evening's 'entertainment', prompting Geoff to cover it up by claiming his disliked the evening just as much as the next person.
"No, no, no!" Noah proclaimed. "No fun. I got shot!" He points towards his bullet wound.
"By me!" Emma yelled out.
"I don't see how that's possible. My men were using blanks."
"Well, that was my gun," Dave confesses. "It was a real gun."
"So, this whole thing, the Fabergé egg, the Spaniard—that was you?" Emma asked. However, MacArthur appears clueless as to what Emma is referring too.
"You've lost me," she says.
"The egg, the WITSEC list?" Noah asked, irate. "It's all you. All part of your game?"
Emma hands MacArthur the list. As she observes it, MacArthur's expression turns from clueless to fearful. "This is a list of people in the Federal Witness Protection program. How did you get this?"
"From inside the egg," Noah angrily tells her. "Stop fucking with us. It's over!"
"I'm not fudging with you. I honestly have no idea what-" Before she can continue, she's shot in the shoulder, causing her to fall to her knees, surprising everyone.
In the background, we find a muscular Spanish male with tan skin, dark brown, medium-length hair, and a soul patch approaching the group. He's accompanied by a scrawny male with fair skin, orange hair, and a rat face holding a Colt AR-15.
However, while Dave appears legitimately scared, Noah doesn't appear to be buying this for a second. "Oh, boy. Yikes! I mean, how stupid do you think we are?" Noah asked as MacArthur proceeded to observe her wounds.
"Hey, Noah…" Dave attempts to whisper, but his whisper falls on deaf ears as Noah continues to vent while everyone else appears equally fearful by the arrival of these new characters.
"Gang, are we looking at the big twist here? He gets shot again!" Noah quipped, sarcastically. "And by who? A couple of new characters you introduce at the last minute?" His tone changes back to normal. "You've jumped the shark. Do you go to the magic shop to buy a bunch of these little bullets?" He reaches down towards her bullet wound.
"No," she attempts to warn him, but he sticks his finger in there, causing her to rile in pain.
Upon seeing that reaction, and upon observing the blood, he begins to suspect that this might be real. "Hang on," he said, trying to process this revelation.
"This is Officer Escobar," MacArthur begins speaking into the police radio. "We've got a 20-07 on the 4th street-" She attempts to continue, only for a foot to kick her in the back of the head, knocking her out. The scrawny male points his weapon at the group as everyone begins backing up in fear. The Spanish male, whom everyone more than likely deduced is the 'Spaniard', eyes everyone up and down.
"Which one of you is David DeSanto?" the Spaniard asked. Dave, knowing the situation that he put everyone in, comes clean and raises his hand so that no has to be forced to take his place. The Spaniard eyes him, a bit surprised by this disheveled and pathetic exterior. "It's funny, you don't look like an asshole." He pauses. "Do I look like an asshole to you?"
"No," Dave replies.
"One of us has to be the asshole in this transaction," the Spaniard explained," because, otherwise, I'd have my egg, and you'd have your money. But instead, we've wasted our night tracking you down." He inhales deeply, fairly aggravated, before nodding his head, disappointedly. "Now we're gonna have to kill you."
"What? No, no, no, no," Noah steps forward to protest. "Mr. Spaniard, I'm assuming? Hi, I'm Noah." He begins stammering as he attempts to formulate a proper sentence in the presence of an arms dealer. "I'm Dave's brother. And you know, look. He screwed up. Right? You got greedy." Dave nods. "He admits it. Good news is, though, that we got your egg. It is broken. Uh, my screw-up. But, um, I got the list. Which I bet you've been after this whole time."
The Spaniard appears interested in this development as Noah crouches down and picks the list off of MacArthur's unconscious body. "What about this? How about…" He stands upright and holds up the list, confirming that he has it in his possession. "You take this list, for free, and we all go our separate ways? Nobody gets hurt. Uh, except the poor folks on this list, I'm guessing."
The Spaniard chuckles at this, but seeing that Noah makes a good point, figures that the pros far outweigh the cons. "Okay," he replies.
"Okay?" Noah asks, wanting to make sure that the Spaniard is serious.
"Deal," the Spaniard says. "Makes perfect sense."
"No, no," Dave tells Noah, believing something is off. "You give him that list, he's gonna kill me."
The Spaniard gives off a fake laugh attempting to pass it off as genuine. "That's nonsense," he claims.
However, Dave detects the eel within the Spaniard's saliva, and steals the slip, swallowing it, stopping the Spaniard's scheme. The Spaniard appears greatly displeased by what he's just witnessed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"There. It's done. Gone forever," Dave said.
"Can't we just cut it out of him?" the Spaniard's gunmen asked.
"No, you simpleton," the Spaniard rebuffed him. "The stomach acid will have dissolved the paper in seconds." He then thinks about something for a moment and gaining a devilish smile. "Although, that idea about cutting him might warrant some form of retribution for his misdeeds." He snaps his fingers and points towards Dave. "Take him, Scott."
Scott approaches Dave and grabs him by the arm and begins shoving him towards the Spaniard's vehicle. "Don't follow us, Noah," Dave warns him. "I'm serious!"
The Spaniard removes the weapon from Scott's hand and aims it at them. "I'm not worried about that." He then points the gun away from the group and shoots out one of the tires on Ryan's minivan. He then does the same thing to MacArthur's squad car, resulting in the group being without a vehicle.
"You just letting them go?" Scott asked, pointing towards the group.
"Yeah, they've done nothing wrong," the Spaniard states before turning towards Dave. "Only this one." He shoves Dave's forehead, indicating his ever-growing dislike of the guy, before moving towards the vehicle.
"Let's go," Scott said as he continued to shove Dave towards the car.
"Don't follow us," Dave asserted once more.
Once they're gone, Ryan and Stephanie come to MacArthur's side.
"MacArthur!" Ryan asked, feeling her neck. "She's breathing." He sighs in relief while Bridgette redials the ambulance.
As they're loading Dave into the car and driving away, a very bad idea pops into Noah's brain. "You know, the only private air terminal around here is in Conway?"
"Yeah," Emma states. "How are we gonna get there?"
Noah smiles. "Dave's house is not that far from here."
"But our car's not there."
Noah holds up the keys to their new car generously given to them by his brother. "Yeah, it is."