Lioness Episode 12: Five Hundred Children

Joe and Kyle first intercept a man tailing Joe and learn he is Special Agent Gutierrez, who says he is there under Department of Justice orders to provide cover, not to surveil them. Joe then meets with Kaitlyn and Byron at CIA headquarters, where they discuss the suspicion that Josie lied during her initial interview, and Joe is pushed to move forward with the mission anyway.

Joe brings together the expanded team for a strike on a cartel warehouse, using Josefinia’s helicopter to get them to the target. The assault turns into a firefight, and the team kills the armed men inside while local police vehicles begin arriving. Joe orders Josie to use the helicopter’s guns to destroy the police vehicles and kill the responding officers so the mission can continue without interference.

After clearing the warehouse, the team expects to find drugs or other contraband, but instead discovers hundreds of frightened children hidden inside. The children have numbers or area-code markings on their hands, making it clear they are being held as part of a trafficking operation. Shocked by what they find and with police closing in, Joe orders an evacuation rather than a rescue, and the team leaves the children behind as they exit the warehouse.