Nick of Time

Transcript written by and used with the courtesey of Angela Sugden

Conductor Los Angeles is next. Los Angeles is next. Please. . .

Announcer Can I have your attention please. Amtrak train number seven-seventy-one. Amtrak train number seven-seventy-one is now arriving at track number nine, from San Diego, Solano Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Fullerton and Commerce. Now arriving at track number nine, the San Diegan.

Smith Keep your eyes peeled. Sharp.

Rollerblader Okay, okay. . .

Woman Porter! Porter!

Announcer May I have your attention in the station, please. Paging Ms Joan Beary, please report to Amtrak station services. Ms Joan Beary. . .

Security Guard Hey, what the hell are you doing? Get your ass. . .You know you can’t skate in here. Hey, this is George. Where you at? I ain’t gonna tell you. . . Get your ass outta here, boy. What the hell you doing in here anyhow?

Woman Come on, you’re leaving your bags.

Jones That one. Right there.

Smith Nah. Hates his wife.

Rollerblader Damn!

Jones Oh, man, I hate rollerbladers. Skateboarders I don’t mind, even though they dress like fucking idiots, but when I see some pin-head on rollerblades, it really gives me the urge to grease the front of may car with them.

Smith Keep your eyes peeled.

Gene Lynn, honey. Lynn! Lynn, don’t run off now, Sweet-pea. Stay close to Daddy. Okay?

Lynn Okay.

Gene We made it.

Lynn We made it.

Jones What about them? Right there.

Smith Too old.

Jones Them?

Smith You ever had an idea that died of malnutrition? Leave it to me. I know people. It’s my job. People person.

Jones What are you looking for, huh?

Smith I’m looking for them, you see?

Jones Where?

Smith Right there.

Jones Oh, yeah. I see.

Gene Honey I gotta make a phone call. Do you see a phone anywhere? Hey, come on, you. Didn’t you ever see anybody kiss like that before?

Lynn On TV.

Gene You never saw your mom and me kiss like that? Hey. Listen to me. It’s all right to talk about it. You know that, don’t you? All right. Well, tell me something. You never once saw your mom and me kiss like that?

Lynn No way.

Gene Not once? How’d you see us kiss? That’s it? That. . . that little peck of a kiss? Honey, you missed a whole lot of kisses. Come here. Oh God, Honey. Daddy’s late. We gotta go.

Smith Look at him. He’d do anything for her.

Jones Young love.

Couple (talking in French)

Smith Fuck me. Foreigners.

Jones Frogs. They copy our blue jeans, but when we need their help in Kuwait, where are they?

Smith Look at that.

Gene Hi, Mr Conners, it’s Gene Watson calling.

Rollerblader Give me that little teddy bear.

Gene Hold on one second. Hey! Hey! Honey, come here. Come here, sweetheart. You stay away from her. Come here. Sorry about that, sir. . .

Rollerblader I want the teddy.

Gene Stay close, Honey. Just guys on rollerskates. Look, er, er. . . My train just got in, I’m running a little bit late, but I’ll get there as soon as I can, all right?

Rollerblader Yo, punk.

Gene Thank you very much.

Rollerblader Check this out.

Gene Hey, get outta here would ya? Leave her alone. Okay, bye. You ready, sweets?

Rollerblader Yeah.

Gene Let’s do it. Oops. There you see. . . That’s why you should always wear a helmet and knee pads. Because you never know when you’re gonna fall down and go boom, right?

Lynn Right.

Gene Come on. Let’s get outta here. Watch your step. Come on.

Smith It’s perfect.

Jones Perfect.

Smith Can I see some identification, sir?

Gene Excuse me?

Jones ID. Can we see some?

Gene Er. . . Sure. Sure. Is driver’s license all right?

Smith Fine.

Gene What’s the problem? Oh, it’s about those guys there, you know they were circling my little girl. . .

Smith You’re from Santa Maria, Mr Watson?

Gene Yes, I am.

Jones Where’s that?

Gene It’s north, near Lompoc. Why?

Smith Come with us, sir.

Gene I’d like to know what’s going on first.

Smith Don’t cause a ruckus, sir, not with the little girl along.

Gene Er, ma’am. . .

Jones Come with me.

Gene Listen. Ma’am, I’ll take my daughter.

Smith Don’t worry. My partner’s good with kids.

Lynn You stole that.

Jones No, I didn’t. I confiscated it. There’s a difference.

Lynn No, there’s not.

Gene `I’d like to know what’s going on, officer.

Smith I’ll explain.

Gene Officer, what’s going on?

Smith Get the front seat. Into the van, Mr Watson, thank you.

Jones Let’s get your seat belt on. Always wanna wear your seat belt, huh? Right?

Lynn I want my daddy.

Jones Well, you’re Daddy’s right there.

Gene Daddy’s right here, Honey. Daddy’s here.

Jones We’re your Daddy’s friends.

Smith That’s right. A policeman’s your friend. Isn’t that right, Daddy? Daddy?

Gene That’s right, Honey. Police are our friends.

Jones Hey, would you look at this green car. . .

Gene Listen, officer, I have an appointment that I’m late for. I’d really like to know what’s going on.

Jones This is the jack. Say “Hi, Jack”.

Smith Hi, Jack!

Jones And this goes in this little hole, right here.

Lynn Let me do it.

Jones Okay, go ahead.

Lynn It’s loud.

Smith Let’s get down to business.

Gene Who are you people?

Smith Pay attention, Mr Watson, pay attention. And your daughter won’t be hurt.

Gene All right, Honey, come to Daddy.

Smith Mr Watson, you’re not paying attention. Your daughter’s life depends on you. Do you understand? Do you understand that?

Gene Yes.

Smith Good. This is for you. In it there’s a picture of a woman and an itinerary. It’s her itinerary. She is presently. . . You listening, Mr Watson?

Gene Yes.

Smith She is presently at the Bonaventure Hotel. It’s not far from here. When you leave this van, you’ll get yourself a taxi over there and you will take it to the Bonaventure Hotel. Then, you will take this, and you will kill the woman whose picture’s in there. Not just shoot her, mind you, kill her. I recommend you empty the gun into her, close up. You got all that?

Gene You’re outta your mind.

Smith What’s your point?

Gene I will do no such thing.

Smith Yes you will, Mr Watson.

Jones Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of the kid.

Smith It’s now twelve-sixteen. If the woman in the picture’s alive at one-thirty, half past one. I call my partner, you’re daughter’s dead. What happens if I don’t call you?

Jones Kill her anyway.

Smith You hear that, Mr Watson? Do you understand? It’s the woman in the picture or your daughter.

Gene My God.

Smith God can’t help her, Mr Watson. Only you can help her.

Jones Only you.

Smith We’re wasting time. Let’s go.

Gene Honey? Daddy has to, go somewhere. I’ll be back soon. Okay? Stay with the nice lady.

Smith Move it. Let’s test this thing. Are you on?

Jones Read you.

Smith You’ll need some cash. There you go. I’ll hang on to the wallet, for the time being. You’ll need these. Cabs are that way. Get moving, Mr Watson. Time’s a-wasting. Let’s do it.

Lynn Where’s my Daddy going?

Jones Your Daddy’s gonna help the police, he’s gonna be a hero.

Lynn Like ‘Power Rangers’?

Jones Yeah, just like ‘Power Rangers’.

Girl Mamma!

Woman (talking in Spanish)

Officer Check you in about an hour.

Gene Officer. . .

Smith You talk to a cop, you even look at a cop too long, and your daughter’s dead. Get over there. Just do it.

Jones (on radio) Go ahead, Sugar-Pie.

Lynn (on radio) Lynn calling Daddy. Lynn calling Daddy. Come in, Daddy.

Gene Lynn.

Lynn (on radio) I can hear you good. Can you hear me?

Gene I can hear you, Honey. Where are you? You okay? Are you okay?

Jones (on radio) That’s enough. Daddy has to go now.

Lynn (on radio) You have to say ‘over and out’. Daddy you have to say ‘over and out’.

Gene Over and out.

Smith Okay. Look at your watch. Look at it. At one-thirty your little girl is dead. Say it with me. At one-thirty my little girl is dead. Say it! Say it! Name it!

Gene At one-thirty my little girl is dead.

Smith Unless you do what you’re told. You go do it. Don’t forget, I’ll be watching you.

Gene Excuse me, I need to get to the Bonaventure Hotel.

Taxi Driver Bonaventure?

Gene Yeah. You know where that is?

Taxi Driver Yeah, yeah. I can see it from here. Amtrak?

Gene Huh?

Taxi Driver What did you come in on, Amtrak?

Gene Oh, yeah.

Taxi Driver Business or pleasure?

Gene Business.

Taxi Driver So where’d you come in from?

Gene What?

Taxi Driver Where’d you come in from?

Gene San Diego.

Taxi Driver Ah, San Diego. I thought about moving down to San Diego. It’s hard to make a living in this town. With short hops you can’t make a dime. What do you think?

Gene About what?

Taxi Driver San Diego. Better opportunities in San Diego, or what?

Gene I really wouldn’t know. I don’t live there. I, I just went down there for a funeral.

Taxi Driver Somebody close?

Gene Excuse me?

Taxi Driver Was it somebody close to you?

Gene Yeah. Yes. It was my wife. Well, ex-wife. Soon-to-be-ex. She wanted a divorce. Listen, er. . . I’ve got a problem, I’ve got a really big problem.

Taxi Driver Oh, yeah? Maniac! What the hell are you doing?! Sorry about that. Well, I’d like to hear about your problem, but the ride’s over. That’ll be three-fifty. I hope your problem’s got nothing to do with my three-fifty.

Gene No, no.

Taxi Driver What, you writing a cheque?

Gene Thank you very much.

Taxi Driver All right. Thank you.

Doorman I got you, sir. Right here. I got one for the airport. You free?

Taxi Driver You betcha. Public accountant? What the hell’d I need with an accountant? Hello.

Man Hey.

Workman 1 Ben! Ben! Coming on down. Coming in.

Workman 2 Let it go!

Gene Oh, shit. Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Emerald Bay Room is?

Gustino Third floor. Yellow stairwell. Follow the signs.

Gene Thank you.

Gustino No problem.

Brendan The governor and I have an enormous admiration for people like you. . . I’m sorry. You okay?

Gene Yeah.

Brendan Sure? Nice body-check. Anyway, it’s illuminating, it’s inspiring. . .

Gene Excuse me, ma’am, is the thing over?

Woman You didn’t miss anything. The food, soggy pancakes. . .

Gene I guess the governor’s gone.

Woman Nice speech. You know. It’s the same at all these things.

Smith Okay. Just check that itinerary and move along. It’s right here.

Gene That says ‘invitation only’.

Smith See, you’re a big donor to the campaign. Of course you’re invited. They love you. That’ll get you in anywhere.

Gene Who are you?

Smith I’m the guy’s gonna kill your daughter if you don’t get moving.

Eleanor Nobody heard a word I said. The mike was too low on the podium.

Ms Brooks How much did we pay for that room?

Franco We didn’t.

Eleanor Well somebody did. Make sure you have Melvin pre-check the PA system.

Franco Excuse me, sir. This elevator’s for the governor. You can take the next one.

Eleanor No, no, no. Don’t you dare, Franco. This is one of our biggest contributors. Look at the name tag. Come on in, it’s okay. Hi, Eleanor Grant, gubernational incumbent. It’s a mouthful, isn’t it? I love saying it. Whose idea was it to schedule lunch right after brunch?

Ms Brooks We’ll just walk through, we’ll do a little grip and grin. And we’ll get ready for the press.

Gene Governor?

Eleanor Yes.

Gene I need your help.

Eleanor What can I do for you, Mr, er, Watson?

Gene It’s about my daughter… Now, my daugh. . .

Smith Got room in there for one more?

Eleanor Well I think we can accommodate one more.

Smith Pleasure, Governor.

Eleanor Well, thank you very much. Erm, you were saying. . . Your daughter. Yes?

Gene Well. . . She just wanted me to be sure that I got your, um, autograph.

Eleanor Of course! I wish everything were that easy.

Ms Brooks I’ve got the pen if you’ve got the paper. How about that? That something precious?

Gene No.

Eleanor Um, her name? Her name?

Gene L. . . Lynn. Her name’s Lynn.

Ms Brooks You know, it’s funny, I don’t even keep a pad of paper with me any more. Everything’s gone so electronic.

Eleanor Are you all right? I know, elevators make me queasy too. Here. Good luck. All right, here we go guys. Let’s go. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Smith She was right in front of you.

Gene Listen to me. . .

Smith What’s wrong with you? Are you fucking with me? Are you fucking with me? Get up there.

Gene The gun isn’t loaded.

Smith It’s not? Give it to me. Give me the gun! You don’t get chances like that. Mr Watson. That’s the way life works. Turn around. Now look at that. Huh? You see that? Do not blow the next one. Hear me? All right. It’s loaded. It’s ready, for the hunt, and so are we. Sorry I hit you.

Gene Yeah.

Smith Breathe deep. Let’s go.

Gene I think I need a restroom.

Smith It’s that way.

Chinese Man (talking Chinese)

Huey You having a rough day? Down at the heels, as they say? You don’t see your face, you don’t pay. What you need is a shoeshine.

Jones That’s pretty good.

Lynn I’ve done much better ones than this.

Jones You have, huh?

Lynn Oh, yes. I’ll show you. I have much more colours at home.

Jones Well, that’s good. That’s good, Sweetie-Pie.

Smith Let’s go.

Huey Shoeshine. Shoeshine today. Hey, hey, shoeshine. Take ten. Take a break. Take a seat. Take a load off. What you need is a shoeshine. Shoe shining day. Come on. Take ten. Take a break. Take a load off. Put the world in perspective. So, are you a visitor?

Gene No, no I’m just visiting.

Huey What do you do? If, I may be so bold.

Gene Sorry, what?

Huey What do you do?

Gene I’m an accountant.

Huey Well, don’t denigrate yourself, my friend. Where would the government be without accountants? They wouldn’t know how hard they could squeeze us, until we popped. Isn’t that right? Now, you take tips. Time was, a tip was between a man and his customer. Not anymore. They’ve figured out what they call, a formula. They take your sales see, and slap a percentile on that figure. And somewhere between your lies and your bad luck, they’ll hit on the ‘mean amount’, mean meaning in the middle. But if you ask me it just means plain mean. You can have Uncle Scrooge wring a nickel over your palm, or Daddy Warbucks dropping pearl stickpins, don’t make no difference. They’ll tax your behind according to that same formula. Doesn’t seem quite right, does it?

Gene No, it doesn’t.

Porter Hey, Mr Huey. How’s it going today?

Huey Well, it’s a load, my friend. But somebody’s got to carry it.

Gene Sir. Sir. I need your help.

Huey What’s that? You’ll have to speak up.

Gene There’s a little girl in a van. She’s my daughter.

Huey I’m, I’m a little deaf in this ear. I mean, between that and my wooden leg, I’m all messed up. Compliments of the United States Army, Artillery Corps.

Gene Listen to me. A man and a woman were at the train. They showed me a badge and then they took her away from me. They took her because they want me to do something for them, do you understand? She’s in trouble.

Huey I’ll have you out of here in a few shakes.

Gene Please, I don’t have much time. I need your help. He’s watching me.

Huey Who’s watching you?

Gene The man.

Huey You know, for a quality shoe, you can’t beat a good wing-tip. No, sir, it wears like iron. No you’re a, you’re a wise man, you know? There you go. Two bucks’ll do you. You got anything smaller?

Gene Keep it.

Huey Well, that’s a twenty.

Gene It’s fine, keep it.

Huey Well, thank you.

Gene What street is that?

Huey That’s Flower. Just go out past the bar. Takes you right out there.

Gene Do me a favour. If anything were to happen to me, remember the van. She’s in the van.

Smith Ten minutes, you get another chance.

Gene Good. Then I’ve time to get a drink.

Smith All right. Make it just one, Mr Watson, wouldn’t want to lose you.

Man 1 So, where was I?

Man 2 Something about the governor’s new regime.

Man 1 Oh, yeah, yeah. She’s dumping the good old boys faster than yesterday’s newspapers.

Man 2 It’s no wonder they’re howling.

Man 1 They had no idea she was gonna turn into this flaming Liberal.

Man 2 They’re pisses, huh?

Man 1 She’s turned the governor’s office into the United Nations. You don’t think they’re gonna make her pay?

Man 2 Fuck with this bunch, they could blow your ass to kingdom-come.

Man 1 That’s right. The only people not on her staff, are those ones still lost in the rainforest. I’m serious, I’m serious. Who are these people? They don’t represent you and me.

Jones Ssh, ssh, ssh. You’ll wake the baby up. What we have here, is what they call a Mexican Stand-Off. Now, the thing you’ve gotta ask yourself is, what’s behind the seat? Now, a twenty-two’d go right through it. But even a button’ll throw a twenty-two off, so there is a good chance that it could get screwed up somewhere along the way and miss the target. What about a thirty-eight? Well, a thirty-eight will drill pretty straight, unless, of course, it hits metal. Then it’s gonna bust up into little biddy pieces. It’ll keep going. But it’ll get slowed down quite a bit. How’s about a three-fifty-seven? Now that’ll go through the seat, her, the dashboard. Shit, it’ll go through the entire engine block before it even knows it hit anything. It’ll end up in some pedestrian three blocks away. What do you think? What’s my poison? Huh? Well, it’s a comfort to know you’ve got the cajones to pull that thing out. Whether or not you’ve got the balls to pull the trigger, we’ve still gotta see. Close the door. It’s hot outside. He’s coming back in.

Smith I got him, in the cross-hairs.

Gene Excuse me, pool deck, where’s the pool deck?

Porter Fourth floor. Take that escalator.

Gene Thanks very much.

White Take positions near the stage area. Keep your eyes open. Let’s have a safe day.

Officer You got it.

Security Guard 1 Sir, do you have metal in there?

Man Er, just my keys.

Security Guard 1 May I see them? Thank you.

Security Guard 2 Sir, I can take you down here. You don’t have to wait, I can take you up here. Come on. Sir. Yes, you. I can take you down here. Come on down. Come on. Okay, you’re all done. Move on now. Right here.

Officer Sir, they’re all in place.

White Best we check the entryway over here.

Gene Officer.

Smith I know what you’re thinking. You’re like a worm on a hook, wriggling around thinking you might get off.

Gene What would you do?

Smith She’d be dead. You do what you’re supposed to do, young man. You do it now. Whoa, what’re you doing?

Gene Officer.

White Yeah?

Gene There’s a plot to kill the governor. Now, if you don’t believe me, you can check that man right there. He has a gun.

White So do you, Mr Watson. You got this under control, Smitty?

Smith Yeah.

White Sure doesn’t look like it.

Smith Well, it’s under control.

White Yeah. Well, it’d better be, ‘cos I’m running out of these.

Smith I ought to throw you after that walkie-talkie but, I’m gonna give you a break ‘cos you’re amateur.

Waiter Gentlemen?

Smith Yeah, thanks.

Gene No, thank you.

Smith Have a cracker, Mr Watson. Thank you. You got spunk. There was this guy, big guy, Irish-Italian, red face, black hair, jolly son of a bitch. Wait a second. Nobody could make me laugh like him. He made a science of collecting jokes. Closed more bars together than I could count. Now, he was a pal. I loved the crazy Mick. I’m not ashamed to say that, but, he was a fuck-up. He had this image of himself. He thought he was a, a con-man. Always trying to shave the edge. He was nickel and dime. I’ll always miss him. Tell me why.

Gene Tell you why what?

Smith Tell me why I miss him.

Gene He’s dead?

Smith That’s right, he is dead. But tell me why.

Gene How do I know? I don’t. . . I. . .

Smith Tell me why he’s dead.

Gene ‘Cos you killed him.

Smith That’s right, I did. I killed him. He fucked up one too many times, so, I put a bullet in his eye, then I put two more into him just to make sure. Now, that was somebody I loved. I loved him. But, I got the call, I put him down like a sick animal. So, if you got doubts about what’s gonna happen, if you don’t deliver, let me tell you something. I’ll make gravy out of your little girl, just to season that black Irish cocksucker’s meat. You do what you’re supposed to do, young man. You do it now.

Announcer May I have your attention, please. May I have your attention. Let’s give a big warm welcome to the honourable Tom Bradley.

Ms Brooks Hi.

Gene Hi.

Ms Brooks Are you feeling better? The elevator, you weren’t feeling well. Are you better now?

Gene Oh yeah.

Ms Brooks Better now?

Gene Yeah, much better, thanks.

Tom Bradley I give you now, my friend and yours, Governor Eleanor Grant.

Gene You know something? My wife, always said I had a problem trusting people.

Eleanor Thank you, Tom, for that lovely introduction.

Ms Brooks Well, you can trust Eleanor Samara Grant.

Gene Yeah. Well, I’m gonna trust you, and you’re gonna trust me.

Ms Brooks Er, I don’t understand.

Gene Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, but my little girl needs your help. She’s going to die if you don’t help me.

Ms Brooks Okay, I’ll help you. Let me, let me just get Mr White. He’s our head of security.

Gene No, no, everything’s fine, just take a walk with me, just you and me. Right this way.

Eleanor As it is, this is not the life I want for our children, for myself and for you. . .

Gene I’m gonna put the gun back in my pocket now, but don’t make a move ‘cos it’s still pointing at you, all right?

Ms Brooks Okay.

Gene Just pretend that nothing’s happening. My daughter’s been kidnapped. They say they’re going to kill her if I don’t kill the governor. I don’t wanna do that. But. . .

Ms Brooks All right, all right. Let’s talk to security.

Gene No. Can’t talk to security, they’re involved.

Ms Brooks I don’t see how they could be involved. They’re the best. They’re hand-picked.

Gene Well, how’d I get in here with this?

Ms Brooks I don’t know.

Gene Listen to me. Now, if you don’t help me, the governor’ll be dead. I promise you. Please, you gotta trust me.

Ms Brooks It’s a little hard to trust you, under the circumstances.

Gene All right then, here. Do you trust me now?

Ms Brooks I guess I’ll have to.

Gene Well, good.

Ms Brooks Okay, there’s one person that we can go to, come on.

Gene We can’t go anywhere. They guy that’s following me’s got eyes in the back of his fucking head. If he see’s I’m not here, my daughter’s dead.

Ms Brooks Well, he’ll think you’re in the crowd until the end of the speech. Wait a minute, wait, wait. Er, we got about ten minutes.

Gene Ten minutes, you sure?

Ms Brooks Yeah, I’m sure, I’ve heard this speech a lot. Now come on, we’ll take care of it.

Gene No, wait. I can’t, I gotta. . .

Ms Brooks Hey, hey, trust me. You asked me for my help. Let me help. Come on.

Gene Listen, put that thing away, would you?

Ms Brooks Oh, yeah. Er, okay.

Gene Thank you.

Eleanor . . .control crime and prove that communities do belong to the people. . . . . .and change a perverted system that let’s us carry guns to school, but forbids us to pray there. Education is the key. Education is. . .

Albert Ms Brooks

Ms Brooks Is he in?

Albert Yes, ma’am.

Gene You sure we can trust these people?

Ms Brooks It’s her husband, he’s her campaign manager.

Brendan What is it? Is there a problem?

Ms Brooks Brendan, we need to see you.

Brendan Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs, covering the conference?

Gene We gotta hurry.

Ms Brooks Brendan, listen to me. Someone is trying to kill Eleanor.

Brendan What, what are you talking about?

Ms Brooks We, we need people that we can trust, we’ve only got a few minutes.

Brendan Well, that’s absurd. How do you know that?

Gene I know it, because I’m supposed to kill her.

Brendan You are? You’re supposed to kill my wife?

Gene That’s right.

Brendan And you brought this man to our suite?

Ms Brooks I had to, Brendan. Her security people may be involved.

Old Man Is there a problem, Brendan?

Brendan Er, I think you could say that. This man says he’s been hired to kill Eleanor.

Gene No, not hired. Blackmailed. They’re blackmailing me.

Old Man Now, who is this ‘they’?

Gene I really don’t know, sir. Mr Grant, we’ve gotta hurry. They’ve kidnapped my little girl. Your, your wife’s in serious danger here. I mean, anything could happen at this point.

Old Man Er, just a minute. On the strength of this. . . story, you bring this man to Mr Grant’s suite? You think that shows very good judgement, Miss Brooks? I may be just a friend of Brendan, but it certainly. . .

Ms Brooks He brought a gun, onto the pool deck.

Brendan What?

Ms Brooks He got onto the pool deck carrying a gun. Now, how did he get past her security, with this gun?

Brendan I’d like to know that.

Old Man Is it real? I mean, do we know anything about it?

Ms Brooks It looks real. I don’t know anything about guns.

Old Man May, may I see it, please?

Gene The gun’s real.

Old Man Well, it certainly looks real. May we have your opinion? You’re supposed to be the expert in these matters.

Smith Yeah, I’d say it’s real.

Brendan Are you out of your fucking mind?

White What are you doing?

Smith Help me. Get her outta here.

White What’s the matter?

Brendan God, what have you done to me?

Gene Bastard!

Smith You fucked up! You want me to kill your kid?! You want me to kill you?!

Old Man That’s enough. I said that’s enough. Don’t let him get away.

Gene I killed you.

Smith You fucked up.

Gene No, please. Please, no!

Lynn Help me, Daddy!

Old Man You put him down, right now! You nearly killed him, you idiot.

Smith Nearly doesn’t count.

Brendan Well, this is a nightmare. This was supposed to be clean and simple. A high-powered rifle and it’s over. But no, you’ve gotta get creative. Drag some jerk in off the street, stick a gun in his hand, and what? I mean, what the hell were you thinking?

Old Man Relax, relax will you? It’s academic now.

Smith What were you thinking, lock her in a closet? He’s been seen all over the hotel, looking like some looney-tunes. Got him on video. It’ll work. Don’t worry about it. Come on, you. Up, let’s go. I want to show you something.

Brendan I don’t think we should go through with this.

Old Man I’m afraid it’s too late for that now.

Brendan How do I explain a dead woman on my bathroom floor?

Old Man She’s Eleanor’s assistant. She would have been shot by the same gun, by the same man, some, anonymous loser who went over the edge.

Smith Okay. Look at that. That’s what it looks like. She was alive a minute ago, now she’s dead because. . . you wouldn’t do what I told you to do.

White Here, here, clean up. Come on, let’s get going, we’ve only got a few minutes to pull this together.

Smith Look at that. Let’s go.

Old Man Every single promise made to us when we got that woman elected was broken. I don’t have to remind you who was supposed to keep her in line.

White Hey, Albert. Let me use your phone for a second.

Gene I know how this thing’s supposed to work.

Smith Do you, Mr Watson? Huh?

Gene I kill her and you kill me.

Smith Keep your voice down.

Gene Even if you don’t, a security man will. How am I supposed to get away?

Smith That’s not my problem. Come back.

Gene How do I know you’re not gonna kill my kid once I’m gone?

Smith It’s the radio. Come back. I told you, she’ll be all right. You do your job.

Gene Fine. I’m supposed to trust you?

Smith What choice do you have? After you. Gene, look out there. You see the van?

Gene Yeah.

Smith Come back.

Jones (on radio) Yeah.

Smith Do it!

Lynn (on radio) Daddy! Help me, Daddy! No!

Gene You son of a bitch!

Smith Security force, take the next car. Thank you. Do it again.

Lynn (on radio) Daddy! No!

Smith You got one last chance. Half an hour, the kid is dead. I’ll kill her myself. . . rip her head off right in front of you. Get up. Come on. Come on.

Lynn (on radio) Daddy, did you hear me scream? She told me to scream as loud as I could. Did you hear me?

Man Oh, Jesus!

Smith Next time I tell you to do something, you damn-well do it.

Jones Hey fuck you. You wanna baby-sit a screaming kid in traffic, you come out here and do it. He got the message, didn’t he?

Huey Come on, step up. Give ’em a shine with that extra something. Come on, step up. Do your shoes a favour. What you need is a shoeshine. Shoeshine, shoes shines today. Hey, take ten, take a break, take a seat, take a load off, put the world in perspective. So, what do you do, if I may be so. . . you got a complaint?

Gene Remember me?

Huey Yeah, the big tipper.

Gene Good. Listen, something’s gonna happen. When it’s over with, you’ll know what I was talking about.

Huey What? The end of the world? Look man, don’t give me your crazy rap. I’m not a bartender. I don’t wanna hear it. I raise a family doing this bull-shit. Do me a favour. Get your white ass outta my chair. Big tip doesn’t give you the right to crap in my ear. You want change, then you got it, brother. What was that you gave me? A twenty?

Smith Let’s get some privacy.

Gene He’s deaf.

Smith You wouldn’t be kidding me?

Gene No. No, no, he can’t hear a thing. Look, read that sign.

Smith Is that right? Shine man, you can’t hear me? Hello.

Huey Well, well lookee here. My customer quotient just got multiplied by two. What do you think of that? Oh, you’ll have to forgive me, sir, I didn’t hear you approach. Fact of the matter is, I’m deaf as a post. You want a shine, sir? You don’t see your face, you don’t pay.

Smith Yeah, sure, give me a shine. Let’s get out our itinerary. Hold that. Don’t throw it away. I’m putting your toy back in your pocket, Mr Watson. It’s all wound up. Now, let’s check this itinerary. Right there.

Gene One-thirty, California Ballroom.

Smith That’s right. That gives you twenty-eight minutes to get your shit together.

Gene Let me talk to her again.

Smith No.

Gene I wanna talk to her.

Smith Forget it.

Gene You let me talk to her, or you can forget it.

Smith Don’t you threaten me, young man.

Gene It’d be a lot less trouble if you’d just let me talk to her. You’re wasting time.

Smith Come back.

Jones (on radio) Yeah.

Smith Put her on.

Jones (on radio) What gives?

Smith Just put her on.

Lynn Daddy?

Gene Yeah, Honey, it’s me.

Lynn I’m tired. I want to go now.

Gene I know you do, Honey. So do I.

Lynn (on radio) Can we go now?

Gene Not just yet, Baby.

Gene (on radio) Daddy has to do something, first.

Lynn To be a hero?

Gene No, no, not to be a hero, Honey. I want you to remember something for me, okay?

Lynn All right.

Gene (on radio) Daddy’s doing it for you, no matter what anybody tells you, he’s doing it for you, because he loves you, all right?

Lynn All right.

Gene Promise me that.

Lynn I promise.

Gene All right, kisses to you.

Lynn No. Kisses to you.

Gene Kisses to you, Sweet-Pea.

Smith You done yet?

Huey Two dollars, if it pleases ya.

Smith It does not. I remember when it was two bits. Twenty-seven minutes.

Huey Thanks for the tip. Mister, what are you dragging me in to?

Gene I’m dragging you in to. . .

Huey Cover your mouth!

Gene What?

Huey That screwball’s watching, is that right?

Gene Yeah.

Huey Then don’t let him see you being talking to me.

Gene All right.

Huey That’s your kid on the walkie-talkie?

Gene Yeah. They got her in a van across the street. They said they’re gonna kill her if I don’t do something for them.

Huey Twenty-seven minutes in the California Ballroom?

Gene Yeah, that’s right.

Huey What are you supposed to do?

Gene Kill the governor.

Huey I knew I should have packed up and gone home, as soon as I got that twenty. What am I supposed to do about this situation?

Gene What am I supposed to do? These people have my baby. I make one wrong move and she’s dead. I don’t know who to trust. Everybody’s involved in this, I mean everybody. Except. . .

Huey Who?

Gene The governor.

Huey Oh, Jesus Christ!

Gene I gotta somehow do right by my little girl. I don’t care what happens to me, as long as she’s okay.

Huey Look, I can’t keep. . . er, can’t keep playing with these shoes. Er. . . it’ll look funny. Look, er, you go out and get yourself a drink. Make sure Godzilla there follows you.

Gene What are you gonna do?

Huey I don’t have the faintest idea. Just go on over there and I’ll get word to you.

Gene Stay out of it. Keep the change.

Huey Yeah. Well, don’t think I won’t.

Gene I’m gonna get a drink. Can I get a Jack and Coke, please?

Barman Jack & Coke.

Man 2 Yeah, I thought she was gonna get out the violins.

Man 1 Oh shit, if I hear that ‘stop the violence’ routine one more time, I swear to God, I’m gonna shoot somebody.

Man 2 Politicians. All the same.

Smith God can’t help her, Mr Watson. Say it with me. At one-thirty my little girl is dead. Say it! . . .gravy out of your little girl. . . the guy who’s gonna kill your daughter if you don’t get moving. Get moving mister.

Waitress Sir? Sir, here’s your Jack and Coke.

Gene Thank you.

Man 1 . . .bullshit because there is no such animal. You know what we are? We are a nation of two-hundred and forty special interest groups and that is it.

Barman Er, sir, you haven’t paid for that.

Gene It’s on that special interest right there, at the end of the bar.

Barman Sir, sir. Don’t make me call a cop.

White Where is he? Did you lose him?

Smith Shut up.

Gene Let’s hope so.

Huey Hey, quick, quick. Off with the shoes and pants. Trade with Gustino. Hurry up, come on, just do like I tell you.

Gene What are you talking about?

Huey Don’t worry about it. No time to be shy, ladies. Come on, do as I tell you! Hurry up! Godzilla’s coming. Come on, come on, hurry up. Okay. Come on, shut the door.

Cleaner It’s all right, he’s gone.

Huey This is Irene.

Gene Hi.

Irene Hello.

Huey Irene’s going to help.

Gene Oh, thank you.

Irene Yes, follow me.

Gene Where am I going?

Huey You said there was only one person you knew wasn’t in this.

Gene Right.

Huey Well, you’re going to see her.

Gene What?