Bus Depot Washington D.C. (On the main concourse of the bus depot a janitor mops the floor after the bustle of the day. A lone passenger strides towards the exit. In a back room behind a service counter four people sit around a table playing poker. The woman, the clerk of the booking desk of the bus depot, is smoking. It would appear that the game has been in progress for some time.) Woman: Two pair is the power. (She blows smoke from the cigarette up towards the ceiling.) Lou: Oh like candy from babies. I’m in for fifty. (He throws a bill on the pot in the middle of the table before turning to the man beside him.) Zipper? Zipper: Oh, for a pair of dogs. I’m out. (He places his cards on the table.) Lou: How ‘bout it, Smokey? (He is referring to the cigarette in her mouth.) Woman: Very charming. Kiss your mother with that mouth? Fold. (She also puts her cards on the table.) Lou: Oh well, I guess it’s you and me big time. See the bet. I need Kayger(?) money. Jarod: I’ll see your fifty and I’ll raise you fifty. (He places the money in the pot.) Zipper: He’s got the flush Lou. Lou: Not a chance. Eleven spades played that leaves two left in the deck. Jarod: You only need one. (He says it with all innocence and sincerity.) Lou: Alright I will see your fifty, and bump you two hundred. (Jarod looks down at his limited cash on the table beside him.) Oh. Looks like you’re a little light mister. Jarod: Oh, I don’t have any more cash with me. I do have my watch. Will that work? (He removes it from his wrist and places it on the middle of the table.) Lou: Let’s see. (He picks up the watch and examines it closely. He looks up in surprise.) This is an Omega Seamaster. It’s gotta be worth at least four grand. Jarod: It’s worth six. And I’ll give it to you for the three hundred and twenty-seven dollar bet and your (pointing) . . . hat. Lou: You want my hat? (It is a black hat, similar in style to that worn by Frank Sinatra. It is primarily worn for decoration as it could provide very little protection from the sun.) Jarod: Hmm mm. All you have to do is call the bet. (Lou takes off his hat and puts it on the table.) Woman: There’s a reason why they call Aces and Eights a ‘Dead Man’s Hand’, Wild Bill. Lou: Do you mind, Smokey? Woman: Excuse me. (She stands and moves to the front desk.) Jarod: The watch is ticking. Woman: (She leans over, flicks a switch and talks into the microphone.) Last call for Hartford, Boston and Albany at Bay Seven. All aboard. Zipper: He’s got the flush Lou. Just cut your losses and get on the bus. Lou: Shut up! Jarod: Tick. Tick. Tick. Lou: (He looks at Jarod carefully who is the epitome of innocence. He throws the cards down on the table.) Fine, take it. Jarod: Okay! Lou: Let’s go Zipper. (He stands and he and Zipper walk towards the door.) Woman: You boys stop by any time. Lou: (He stops and turns back to Jarod.) Hey mister, did you have the flush. Jarod: Do you really want to know? Lou: Nah. Jarod: Have a good trip. (They leave. Jarod starts to gather up his money.) Woman: (She turns over Jarod’s cards and looks at them. She laughs.) Hell of a bluff sweetie. Where did you learn to play cards? Jarod: I read this book. (He holds it up so that she can read the title: “How to Play Poker.”) It’s very good. (A bell is rung on the front counter. A young woman stands there, expectantly.) Rachael: (She is breathless.) Excuse me. I need a ticket. Ah, your first thing out, please. Woman: I’ve got a turnaround to Baltimore leaves in ten minutes. Rachael: Perfect. Thank you. Woman: You want to get on a bus, (The young woman looks over her shoulder just in time to notice a man enter the building by the front door.) ride for an hour then come right back? Rachael: (She turns back to the clerk, now visibly anxious.) A bathroom. Do you have a bathroom? (Jarod stands and goes to the door to look at the woman as he notices the anxiety in her voice.) Woman: It’s in the back. (She hurries off in the direction indicated by the woman. Jarod picks up his black leather jacket and puts it on before following her.) (Outside the bathroom, the man pulls out a gun before pushing open the door and entering the ladies room. Inside Rachael, who has locked herself into the third cubicle jumps at the sound of the outer door opening. He moves to the first cubicle and pushing the door open. Finding it open he moves to the second one and repeats the action. On finding the third door locked he peers through the gap between the door and the wall. He sees Rachael sitting there.) Man: Alright Rachael it’s time to come out of there. Rachael: I’m not running away. Man: It’s a bus station. This looks very bad. Rachael: I just need time to think. I don’t have any luggage. Man: You know what’s at stake here. Rachael: I know. Man: Why don’t you open the door and we can settle this like decent human beings . . . (She looks up and around looking for an escape route.) You’ve got three seconds bitch or I take you where you sit. Jarod: Hey! (The man turns around and Jarod grabs him by the hand that is holding the gun. He bends and rolls the man over his shoulder. The man falls with a crash onto his back onto the hard floor.) I believe this is the lady’s room. (Jarod hits the man across the jaw, knocking him out. He shakes his hand to ease the pain in his knuckles.) Ow! You can come out now. Rachael: (She unlocks the door and steps part of the way out of the cubicle using the door as a shield. She looks to where the man is prone on the floor.) Is he dead? (Jarod picks up the mans gun.) Jarod: I don’t think so. Rachael: Do you have any idea what you’ve just done? Jarod: Helped you? Rachael: (She moves past Jarod towards the outer door of the bathroom.) Mind your own business. You could get somebody killed. (She quickly leaves. Jarod looks after her in puzzlement.) OPENING CREDITS The Centre Main Concourse (Broots and Sydney are walking across the Main Concourse. Broots is reading from a card in his hand.) Broots: We are pleased to announce our engagement. Join us in celebrating our newfound bliss. Oh excuse me but this is whacked with a capital Y. Bridget: (Her path crosses Sydney and Broots.) Boys. Sydney: It is the Centre. Strange bedfellows. For richer or poorer. (They stop walking as Miss Parker, also in a hurry, steps up behind them.) Parker: Anything new from the bus station? Broots: We’re still running the information. Parker: Jarod was all over those surveillance cameras and he never got on a bus. Broots: Oh yeah, right. I have a team on top of it. Um. Miss Parker. I was wondering if maybe I could get out of here. I have a date tonight. Parker: A date? Broots: Sharlene Reynolds. She works over in accounting. I . . . She’s very nice actually. Except for the tooth. Sydney: I also have plans. Parker: Another trip to the Chuckle Hut? Sydney: Mary Winfield. She’s giving a reading from her new book of poetry. Parker: Sounds like a hoot. Broots: What are you doing tonight Miss Parker? Parker: Good night. (She nods and leaves.) Rachael’s Residence (Jarod smashes a glass panel of the front door and unlocks it. He opens the door slowly checking the interior before entering. He looks at the pictures on the sideboard before turning on the answering machine.) Answering Machine: Hi! This is Rachael. The kids and I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message and we’ll call you right back. Right gang? Th.. th..that’s all folks! (He picks up a framed photograph of the woman from the bus depot with two young children on either side of her, a boy and a girl. Rachael steps up behind him, cocks a gun and places it at the nape of his neck.) Rachael: Are you stupid? Did you forget what I told you? Jarod: Funny. (He raises his hands.) It’s all coming back to me now. Rachael: Turn around. Slowly! (She steps back and he turns around. The gun is now pointing “centre man”.) What are you doing in my house? Jarod: (He reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket.) I got your address . . . Rachael: That hand disappears, so do you. Jarod: My pocket. Rachael: (She reaches into his pocket and takes out a photograph. It is of her. She turns it over to discover her address written on the back.) Where did you get this? Jarod: Off your friend at the bus station. Rachael: Did the company send you? Jarod: The bus company? Rachael: If you want to play games I’m gonna shoot you right here. Jarod: In front of your children. (He looks to the sideboard where the pictures of her family are displayed.) You have a beautiful family. Where are they? Rachael: (She is startled by the beeping of her cellular phone. She takes it out of her pocket and answers it.) Yes? I wasn’t running. I wouldn’t. You’re telling me he’s not one of yours? No. No. I understand. I said I understand. Please tell me what’s going on? Rock Creek Park, 10 am. Ah yes I will. I’ll be there. (She disconnects, puts the phone away and holds the gun with both hands again.) What’s your name? Jarod: Jarod. Rachael: Turn around Jarod. Jarod: I’d really rather not. Rachael: Turn around. (He does so, slowly, reluctant to take his eyes off the woman who is holding the gun.) Have you ever felt completely alone like you’re in a dark room and you can’t find the door? Jarod: My whole life. Rachael: That’s what they’ve done to me. They’ve taken away the light. (She hits him on the back of the head with the gun. He grunts and falls unconscious to the carpet.) I’m sorry. (She puts the gun in her waistband at the back of her jeans before picking up her handbag and leaving by front door.) The Centre Miss Parker’s Office (Miss Parker, agitated, almost frantic, opens and closes drawers of her desk. Eventually at the back of the bottom drawer she finds what she is looking for. She removes a cigarette packet from behind the folders there, but crushes it angrily when she discovers it’s empty. She quickly throws it down as Bridget and Lyle enter her office unannounced.) Parker: What the hell? What do you two want? Mr Lyle: Think of me as the United Nations holding Peace Talks to avoid a full scale war. Parker: Don’t worry I would never attack an unarmed person. Bridget: You know better than that. Besides I think, baby sister and I can reach an accord on our own, can’t we, luv? Parker: We can die trying. Mr Lyle: (He picks up the cigarette packet.) I thought you quit? Parker: Actually, I was just about to clean out my desk which is what I would like to get back to if you two don’t mind. Mr Lyle: You really should get a personal life. Bridget: Your father and I have a very special relationship. Someday, I hope you find the happiness that we share. (Bridget leaves.) Parker: How could you let this happen? Mr Lyle: Hey, it’s just as strange for me as it is for you that our father is marrying Bridget. Hell I slept with her myself. Look just because you haven’t found happiness, doesn’t mean that you should deny it to those around you. Rachael’s Residence Jarod: Ow! Hmm! Ow! (On the floor of the living room Jarod regains consciousness. He gets to his knees feeling the back of his head as he does so. He looks around, quickly getting his bearings and spots a digital clock readout on a VCR. It reads 9:43) Damn! (He quickly gets to his feet, picks up the photograph of Rachael and her children and leaves.) Rock Creek Park Carousel (Rachael approaches the carousel, stops and buys a ticket at the booth before getting onto a carriage where the man from the bathroom is already sitting.) Rachael: That bruise looks painful. Man: Where’s your hero? (He is eating an apple.) Rachael: What do you want? Man: Take the case under the bench. Rachael: What’s in it? Man: Shutup! (He leans into her jamming her up against the side of the carriage.) There’s a room waiting for you at the Chester Hotel, the reservations under the name Andrews. Take the case and wait there. Rachael: I’ve done everything you’ve asked. Can I at least just see them? Man: (He puts her hand threateningly on the back of her neck.) If it were my call, I’d shoot you in the head right here. I’ll stay in touch. (He gets off the carousel and leaves. Rachael reaches under the seat and pulls out a large case. She steps out of the carriage and leaves. Jarod follows her.) Local Gas Station (On the porch of the store Miss Parker stands in front of a cigarette machine, coins in hand. She is approached by a man, ruggedly good looking wearing the clothes of a tradesman.) Thomas: Will she or won’t she? (She turns long enough to give him a dirty look before returning to her study of the machine.) Only her cardiologist knows for sure. You should probably stock up on red meat and doughnuts while you’re at it. I mean, why waste a perfectly good heart attack? Parker: Have we met? Thomas: Thomas Gates. Friends call me Tommy. (He holds out his hand but she ignores it and places the coins in the cigarette machine’s coin slot.) So what do your friends call you? Parker: I don’t have any friends. (She gives one of the levers on the machine a tug. When the machine fails to deliver her cigarettes she pulls more violently at it.) Thomas: Two years, three months, twenty-one days. Parker: What? Thomas: That’s how long it’s been since I’ve had a cigarette. How about you? Parker: I’ve stopped counting. (Her continued tugging has not achieved its purpose.) Dammit! Thomas: Do you believe in fate? Parker: (She turns to him and tries to disintegrate him with a look again.) Oh please! Thomas: Come on! A sensible ex-smoker risks her hard-earned two and a quarter to re-join the nicotine club. (She bangs her fist on the top of the machine.) A vendor machine malfunctions giving a stranger in jeans and a pennleton(?) time to convince her that she doesn’t really want to belong to that club. (He pulls the refund lever of the machine and the coins drop.) Fate. (He turns away and enters the store. Miss Parker can only watch him leave.) The Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Rachael enters the main part of the hotel room from the bathroom. Her hair is down, she is barefooted and she is wearing a white bathrobe. She moves to the window and pulls back the lacy curtain before turning back to the room. She notices the framed picture of the children and herself on the desk. She picks it up. She is startled as a lamp is switched on. She swings around to see Jarod sitting in the armchair.) Rachael: Huh! Jarod: Now why would someone run away from the people they loved? Rachael: Who are you? Jarod: (He leans forward in the chair.) Someone who’s trying to help you find your light again. (He stands up, moves to the bed and opens the case that is lying there. It contains a high powered rifle, disassembled, its components protected and held in place in foam packing.) And what were you planning to do with this? Rachael: Get my children back. (This was not the answer he was expecting.) The Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Some time has passed. Rachael is now dressed in jeans and shirt, her hair pulled up into a pony tail. She is sitting on the edge of the bed. Jarod looks at the photograph.) Rachael: It was called the M2 project. I was twenty-two when they recruited me from the University of Virginia. Jarod: They? Meaning the Company. Rachael: The Company. Jarod: Why was the CIA interested in college students? Rachael: We were computer analysts, tops of the class . They took us and trained us in the creation of covert simulations. Jarod: Simulations? Rachael: Hypothetical scenarios, kidnappings, sabotage, assassinations and told us the files were being created for training situations. Jarod: (He stands and moves towards her.) How many people were involved in this M2? Rachael: Five including me. We all had military backgrounds. I was ROTC. Jarod: So you can obviously handle a fire arm. Rachael: My father was a champion target shooter. I was a better shot than him. (She moves to the window and looks out.) I started reading stories in the newspaper. Bombings, terrorist assaults, political murders and I recognised them from files that we’d thought up. You have no idea what it’s like to know that people are dying from something you thought up. Jarod: (He sits in a chair and looks up at her. His voice drops in volume and pitch.) To have so much innocent blood on your hands. I understand. Rachael: I begged for a transfer and Renfro looked at me like I’d asked him to give up a kidney. Jarod: Renfro? Rachael: Alex E. The man in charge of M2. Jarod: So what happened? Rachael: I started to ingest small amounts of poison, commercial pesticides, and after a month of throwing up on my desk, Renfro actually signed the transfer papers himself. Jarod: Where’s your husband? Rachael: He walked out on us after Zac was born. Jarod: So after ten years with no contact with anyone at M2, (He goes to the window, tweaks the curtains before turning back to her.) out of nowhere, they take your children? Rachael: It was ten days ago. I was finishing the dishes. Belinda and Zachery were at the table drawing pictures. I heard a knock at the front door. Not unusual. We get salespeople in our area all the time. Then Maggie, our dog started barking in the back yard. When I heard the knocking again I asked the kids to check on her and I went to answer the door. When I opened it and there was no one there my heart stopped instantly. I knew that something was wrong. I went running to the back of the house and the kids were gone. I got a call a few minutes later. I didn’t recognise the voice but the message was certainly clear. I do exactly what they say or they kill my children. I don’t know who they want me to shoot. Jarod: They’ll tell you when they’re ready. Gas Station (Miss Parker drives down a country road at speed towards the gas station. She pulls up at one of the bowsers and beeps the horn impatiently. Thomas steps down from the porch and places his grocery bag on top of the pump.) Thomas: I think the guy’s in the bathroom. Too much Applejack. Here. Let me get that for you. Parker: I can do it myself. (She gets out of the car.) Thankyou. Thomas: So, you live up on Briar, don’t you? Parker: Careful. (She starts filling the tank.) They have stalking laws in this state. Thomas: I’m restoring a split level just north of you. Parker: That dump on the hill? Thomas: There’s nothing quite like discovering a seventeenth hardwood floor under a sheet of lime green linoleum. Parker: I can only imagine. (She sounds far from excited.) Thomas: Don’t you have any passions Miss Parker? (She turns and glares at him.) Parker: You know my name. Thomas: People talk. (He hands her a business card. Miss Parker takes it and reads it out loud.) Parker: “Gates Restoration. Where everything old is new again.” Thomas: I wrote that myself. Parker: Move over Hemmingway. Thomas: Well you have yourself a nice day Miss Parker. I have a feeling you deserve one. The Centre Main Concourse (Broots is excitedly telling a joke to a young woman who appears to be barely tolerating him and his joke telling.) Broots: So the camel says, hump her, but I don’t even know her. (The woman does not react.) Hump her? It’s a good joke. (She turns and leaves, watched by Broots. Miss Parker steps up to him.) Parker: Broots I need your help. Broots: That joke always kills. Parker: Focus, shecky. (She grabs his chin and turns his head so that he is looking at her rather than the departing woman.) Broots: Okay. Parker: Thomas Michael Gates. (She hands him a piece of paper.) Broots: Yeah? Parker: I want you to run him through the system, personal history, family background, the whole nine yards. And I want this information delivered to my office ASAP. Broots: Alright. Who is he? Parker: The quicker the better. (She turns and walks away. Broots calls after her.) Broots: Miss Parker did you hear the one about the coyote, the jackal and the one eyed armadillo? (She holds up a hand to stop him as she walks away.) Oh well. Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Jarod is sitting at his laptop, paper in his hand.) Jarod: Rachael, I downloaded this picture from the Federal Archives. Do you recognise anyone? (It is a grainy photograph of two men, one of them the man from the bathroom and carousel.) Rachael: That’s Alex Renfro. (She indicates the other man.) Jarod: Hmm. Rachael: What? Jarod: I ran a background check on him. He’s suspected in at least half a dozen political assassinations and the FBI had him on their internal top ten list. Rachael: Why had? Jarod: Alex Renfro died in a bus crash in Honduras in 1995. I also ran a background check on all the other M2 members. Each one of them is dead along with their families. Each death ruled accidental. Rachael: Oh my God. (She turns away and Jarod stands and follows her.) Jarod: Each M2 death was preceded within forty-eight hours by a political assassination. Rachael: He’s doing the same thing to me. Jarod: After you do this job, they’re going to kill you and your family. Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Some time has passed. Jarod is packing up his equipment.) Jarod: Alright. Let’s go over this one more time. We know that Renfro and the other members of M2 unit are dead. Was there anyone else of the unit that you can think of that somehow might have been involved? Rachael: Nobody. Jarod: Think hard. Rachael: Don’t you think I have? Do you have any idea what a nightmare my life has become. Ten days ago I was planning PTA meetings and baking cookies for a bake sale. And now I’m sitting here and waiting for someone to tell me who I’m supposed to kill. Jarod: I’m sorry. Maybe we should take a little break. Rachael: Who are you? Jarod: What do you mean? (He picks up his bag and carries it over to the bed.) Rachael: You rescue me in a bathroom like some phantom out of the night. You access classified files like it’s nothing and you seem to feel what I feel even before I feel it. Who are you? Jarod: I’m just a guy waiting for a bus. (He puts the bag under the bed.) (There is a knock on the door. Jarod gathers up the rest of his gear, pushing it under the bed, before picking up his jacket and going into the bathroom, indicating for her to be silent. The knocking continues on the door. Once Jarod has disappeared from sight she opens the door. The man is standing there.) Man: I’m standing out here like an idiot Pizza Boy. Rachael: I was in the bathroom. I’m sorry. Man: (He enters and moves to the desk, picking up the photograph.) You made the place very homey. (He moves to the window and looks out through the filmy curtains.) Not much of a view. Rachael: I hadn’t noticed. Man: (He moves back to the door to where Rachael is still holding it open.) Ooh relax. (He closes the door.) You look guilty and you haven’t even killed anybody yet. (He hands her an envelope.) Rachael: What’s this? Man: Open it. Rachael: Where are you going? Man: The bathroom. Do you mind? (He enters the bathroom and turns on the tap before disappearing around the corner.) Senator Sandford Rees. He’s giving a speech at Slayton(?) Hall tonight. He’s arriving there for a rehearsal in exactly one hour. Rachael: What am I supposed to do? Man: We’ve arranged access through a side service door. (He appears at the sink again and washes his hands. He picks up a towel and moves back to Rachael in the main part of the room.) As Rees finishes the rehearsal you will shoot him once through the forehead. (He puts the towel on the end of the bed.) Nice towels. Rachael: Why? Man: Don’t mess up . . . Mum. (He leaves. Rachael moves into the bathroom. She pulls back the shower curtain to find the bathtub empty. She looks up to see the small window open.) Outside the Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Jarod climbs down the fire escape ladder. He is about to go out the gate at the bottom of the stairs when he notices the man running across the road towards a limo. In the back of it, sits the man that Rachael recognised as Alex Renfro.) The Gas Station Thomas: Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow. (He exits the store to find Miss Parker leaning on the back of his red pickup truck.) Why, we’re going to have to stop meeting like this. People will start to talk. Parker: Let people talk. I don’t usually pay much attention to them myself. Thomas: That’s good advice. So it looks like we’re going to have a full moon tonight. (He looks up at the sky expectantly and Miss Parker imitates him.) Parker: I hear that happens almost monthly. Thomas: Right. Right. Look I know this is a little abrupt, but ah, I was going to take a drive out to the bluffs and try out my new telescope. Would you like to join me? (He laughs and drops his head in embarrassment.) Was that the worse pick up line in the history of pick up lines. So, so you want to come? Parker: (She looks at him briefly before giving a little laugh herself.) Do I look like a hanging out in the woods kinda gal to you? Thomas: Well not in those shoes, no, but ah, you can never tell when people are ready to dive into a new experience. Know what I mean? (A large black sedan pulls up behind Miss Parker. The tinted window is lowered to reveal Bridget.) Bridget: Sorry to disturb you Miss Parker, but there’s been a bit of an emergency Parker: What kind of emergency? Bridget: The personal kind. (She waves her fingers in a friendly gesture at Tommy.) I’ll see you back at the office. (The window closes and the car departs.) Thomas: Room-mate? Parker: I have to go. I’m sorry but this was a big mistake. (She runs for her car. Tommy follows her.) Thomas: Look I’ll be up by the Ridge Road if you change your mind. Parker: I won’t. (She starts the engine.) Thomas: Got to kick off those shoes one day, Parker. (She drives of at speed.) Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Rachael has opened Jarod’s DSA case and is watching one of the simulations.) DSA Jarod: I would suggest a second and third scenario. Automatic weapon fire from behind the building over here and a staged auto accident here. That would leave the transport . . . (The door of the room opens and Jarod enters.) Jarod: You’ll never guess who I just ran into. (He notices what Rachael is doing.) What are you doing? Rachael: (She turns off the DSA reader and turns to face Jarod, her gun in her hand at waist level.) Who do you work for? The CIA, The NSA Who? Jarod: This isn’t what it looks like. Rachael: Good because it looks like you’re involved in some pretty ugly stuff. Jarod: Rachael I can explain . . . Rachael: I trusted you. (She throws a handful of DSAs at him and despite his best efforts to avoid them some of them hit him in the chest.) I trusted you with the lives of my children. (She brings the gun up to eyelevel as she using both hands to aim the gun at Jarod.) Jarod: Alex Renfro is alive. I just saw him outside of this hotel. My guess is that he’s behind everything that’s happening to you. Rachael: Get in the closet. Jarod: (He stands his ground.) You know what he’s going to do to you after this is over. Rachael: I’m going to talk to him. Get in! Jarod: I can help you. Rachael: I’m going to talk to him. Get in! Don’t make me chose between you and my children. Jarod: (He moves to the closet, opens the door and gives her a last look before getting in and closing the door behind him.) You’re making a mistake. Rachael: My mistake. (She puts her foot on the bottom of the door to hold it closed before putting the gun in her waistband at the small of her back. She takes a chair and wedges it under the door knob. She leaves.) Jarod: Rachael, listen to me! Oh! Dammit! (He turns on the light and tries shoulder charging the door twice before he grabs the hanging rail of the closet to assist his balance as he applies his boot to the bottom panel of the door. He breaks through the panel and removes the chair from under the door handle. He leaves the closet and the hotel room.) The Centre Sim Lab (Miss Parker enters the room and walks over to a desk where Bridget is leaning back, at ease, in the chair. She is smiling smugly, happy to have received such a prompt reaction from Miss Parker.) Parker: What do you think you were doing out there? (She speaks quitely and evenly with barely disguised anger.) Bridget: My job. Parker: By spying on me. Bridget: By following orders. I have to admit Thomas is cute if you like that blue collar, dirt under the finger nails, butt crack, refrigerator repairman type. Parker: Why are you still involved in my life? (Bridget sits forward and picks up a bundle of photographs and starts throwing them one by one onto the desk. Miss Parker picks them up. They are shots of her meetings with Tommy.) Hah! Bridget: Your father and I love you very much. We only want what’s best for you. Parker: Daddy ordered this? Bridget: You don’t know a thing about this man. He could be a security risk not to mention a sexual deviant. Parker: He’s a carpenter. Bridget: So he says. Now the point is you are not to have further contact with him until a complete background check is finished. Parker: Hmm. Is that an order? Bridget: From the highest level. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re like them because you’re not. (She stands up, picks up the photographs and slams them into Miss Parker’s chest. Miss Parker lets them fall to the floor.) Never forget where you’ve come from Miss Parker. Never. (Bridget leaves.) Parker: Okay. Conference Hall (A lead car complete with flashing lights precedes a limousine as it pulls up at the rear of the conference hall. The Senator’s security team alight before escorting him out of the car. Jarod watches from a concealed position. He watches as the caterers move around outside making final preparations for the function. Within the auditorium on the scaffolding above the seating, Rachael begins her preparations. Jarod gains entry to the backstage area, dressed as a waiter. Rachael starts to assemble the rifle. She drops the silencer but catches it before it rolls off the gantry. Jarod enters the lighting both that overlooks the entire auditorium.) Lighting Tech: Excuse me. What the hell are you doing here? Jarod: Is there anything else above the control booth. I’m with security. Tech: Another catwalk. Jarod: How do I get up there? Tech: That way. (He indicates a ladder at the back of the booth.) Ah, Joe, bring the houselights down to a quarter. (Jarod takes a last look around before climbing the ladder.) (Above the auditorium Rachael is taking aim at the Senator. She releases the safety catch. Her line of sight is obstructed by one of the people surrounding the guest speaker. She takes aim again. Jarod spies her across the way and makes his way towards her.) Rachael: God, please forgive me. Jarod: Rachael, don’t do this. Rachael: (She turns and points at him.) Stop. Stop! Jarod: (He crouches down so that he is at her level.) You asked me once if I knew what it felt like to have innocent blood on my hands. I do. I try to run from it. I spend every day of my life trying to make up for it. Rachael: (She turns back and takes aim again.) I’m afraid. Jarod: I know you are but if you pull that trigger, if you kill this man, there’ll be no life left for you or your children. Rachael: I don’t want to kill anybody. I have to. Jarod: If there is a way to save your children, I’ll find it or I’ll die trying. I promise you that. Please, put down the rifle. (She starts to cry, the stress of her dilemma overwhelming her. She takes her finger off the trigger.) Rachael: (She takes a deep breath.) You just saved his life. And I just killed my children. Conference Hall Outside (Renfro and the man in their car watch as the Senator is escorted to his car and driven away. Renfro speaks angrily at the man in the front of his car.) Conference Hall Corridor (Rachael and Jarod walk hurriedly down the corridor.) Rachael: Where are we going? Jarod: I don’t know yet. Rachael: What do you mean, you don’t know? (Her phone rings. She answers it.) Hello. Renfro: I am disappointed in you Rachael. Rachael: Renfro. Renfro: Still quite the little problem solver aren’t you? Except you’ve created a sizeable dilemma for your children. Why didn’t you just do as you were told. Rachael: Please don’t hurt them. Renfro: That’s out of my control now. Rachael: I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything. Jarod: (Jarod takes the phone out of Rachael’s hand.) Listen to me, Renfro. There’s a new player at the table. Renfro: The White Knight from the bus station. Jarod: I know that you were behind the M2 killings and I know you faked your own death to avert an FBI manhunt. Renfro: Is this the best hand you have? Jarod: I have a video tape of you taken this afternoon outside the Chester Hotel. I have Rachael, your last witness. So unless you return the children I am going to put in a call to the FBI and tell them that you are very much alive. There won’t be a hole on this planet deep enough for you to hide in. You have thirty seconds to make up your mind. (He disconnects.) Rachael: What are you doing? Are you insane? Jarod: He’ll call back. Rachael: What if he doesn’t call back. These are my children. Jarod: (He looks down at the phone in his hand, a frown creasing his brow.) Come on. Rachael: You have more innocent blood on your hands. (The phone rings. Jarod answers it.) Jarod: Speak to me. Conference Hall Outside (The man turns around in his seat so that he is facing Renfro.) Man: What’s the play? Renfro: With this guy, cautious. We meet Rachael, the White Knight. Exchange the kids for the tapes. Then we follow them home and you kill them. (The man nods his head and smiles.) The Chester Hotel Washington D.C. (Jarod sits on the bed reading “How to Play Poker”. There are cards spread out on the bed in front of him. He straps a flak jacket on Rachael as he explains the plan to her. He deals out the cards. He talks on the phone, the phone number for the F.B.I. written on a notepad in front of him. He sits in front of a video camera, dealing cards onto the table, talking to the camera as he does so. Jarod dons his own flak jacket. Rachael makes a minor adjustment to the video camera. Jarod throws a last card on the bed and smiles that knowing smile as he finalises his plan. Rock Creek Park (Renfro and the man get out of the car. Renfro steps towards where Jarod and Rachael wait for him.) Renfro: Rachael. It’s been a long time. You look good. Rachael: Where are my children? Renfro: Close. Very close. Jarod: The tape we talked about. (He holds it up before giving it to Renfro.) Now, where are the children? Renfro: What’s to keep you from going to the authorities after I turn them over. Rachael: I don’t care what happens to you Renfro. I want my family. Renfro: I believe you. (He turns to the man and the man opens the rear door of the car. The children climb out of the car and run towards their mother.) Children: Mummy. Mummy. Rachael: Oh my God! (She hugs them and leads them away.) Renfro: Our business appears to be done. Jarod: Be sure to check the tape. I wouldn’t want you to feel cheated. Man: I won’t forget this. (He indicates the bruise on his face. He walks around the car and gets in.) The Back of the Car (Renfro plays the video tape that Jarod has given him. Jarod is sitting at a table dealing two hands of cards.) Jarod: Before we get on with the rest of the show I wanted to congratulate you on your masterful hand of poker. Your use of low profile assassins, your own fake death to sever any connections to the killings and your elimination of all witnesses and their immediate family. Now I realised that there was no way that you would allow Rachael and the children to just walk away even after you got what you wanted. Like I said before there’s a new player at the table, and I’m afraid you’re not going to like the hand you were just dealt. Go ahead open the envelope. (Renfro puts the small player to one side and opens up the envelope. He takes out the cards. He holds them up so that the man in the front passenger seat can see them.) Man: Aces and eights. Renfro: Dead man’s hand. Jarod: Which is exactly what you are. Renfro: Oh God! (The sound of approaching sirens can be heard. The cars prevent the forward progress of Renfro’s car. It is forced to a halt.) FBI Agent: Get out of the car. Let me see your hands. Get ‘em up. Get ‘em up in the air. Now! Move! Put your hands on the roof of the car. (Renfro does as instructed his head hanging down in defeat.) The Centre Miss Parker’s Office (Miss Parker enters her office to discover a red folder on her desk. On its front flap “Thomas Gates, Background Analysis” is emblazoned. The phone rings. She picks it up.) Parker: What? Jarod: It’s midnight Miss Parker. What a shock to find you still at the office. Parker: I was just on my way out. Jarod: (He is in a phone booth near the carousel.) I met a woman who reminds me of you. She was smart, compassionate, tortured. Parker: Is that what I am? Jarod: Like you she was a prisoner of her past. The people who wanted to control her future. Instead of fighting back she almost let them destroy her. Parker: Doesn’t sound like a happy ending. Jarod: It all worked out in the end. I hope the same thing happens for you. Parker: Meaning? Jarod: Trust your heart Miss Parker. Don’t let them take away your happiness. (She hangs up. She picks up Tommy’s business card, looks at it closely. She picks up his file and throws it in the bin before leaving the office.) The Woods (There is a full moon. An owl hoots. Thomas leans over his telescope, partially illuminated by the light of a fire. Miss Parker emerges from the shadows of the woods and approaches Thomas. He stands up and looks at her. She holds out her arms as if to say “Well here I am”.) Thomas: I didn’t think you’d come. Parker: Tell me about yourself. Thomas: What do you want to know? Parker: Everything. (She smiles tentatively, not quite sure of herself. Thomas returns her smile.) CLOSING CREDITS
