The Last Swan (5) It manages to swat Waxner's nose and suddenly he's dripping blood. Ann grabs the cat and it immediately falls asleep in her arms. ANN We were just leaving. Waxner stares after them. He isn't angry yet. He hasn't had time. He still doesn't believe it. INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE MEG’S APARTMENT (EARLY MORNING) Ann knocks at Meg's door. Meg opens it and smiles MEG I've been expecting you, come in. Ann walks in, takes the leash off the cat and drops it to the floor.It runs off. Ann sits down heavily on the sofa. ANN I had no where else to go. MEG Does that mean you're staying? ANN Just sitting down for a minute. I'm a little tired. MEG I believe that. Are you all right? ANN Ashamed, I dont even know of what. Do you have any brandy? MEG You dont want it, it's the same as last time. I'll get you some chamomile tea and an oatmeal cookie, it will calm you down. She marches into the kitchen to make tea. ANN Aren't you frightened? MEG (from the kitchen) You're trusting me with your cat. besides, I like you. Ann gets up and checks the locks on the door. ANN I shouldn't stay, I'm endangering you. MEG (from the kitchen) Sit down and shut up, I'll be with you in a minute. Ann sits down in the armchair. She sees a pile of fashion magazines next to it. She smiles and shakes her head in disbelief. MEG (continuing) When I was a little girl, I dreamt of this horrible monster that came into my room to kill me but, he couldn't harm me because I liked him. Ann thinks that over and begins to relax. Meg comes out of the kitchen with tea and cookies. She's wearing a 1940's tea dress, long and high roll, doing a Carole Lombard imitation with her hair up in a French roll. Ann is startled. MEG Is there anything in particular you'd like me to wear? ANN I'd like a blindfold. Meg puts down the tray and throws a sleep mask at her. MEG You're fun people. EST SHOT. TORONTO (NIGHT) INT. HOTEL LOBBY PLASTIC) Rogo is renting a room. He tries to pay in cash. CLERK I'm sorry, sir, we dont accept cash. Only credit cards. Do you have a credit card, sir? ROGO Yes, of course. It has his name on it. He hands it over. INT. POLICE HQ (EARLY AFTERNOON) LT. GUZMAN walks in as Ann is arguing with a plain clothes cop who is obviously her EX-HUSBAND. Guzman sees that she's pretty and that she's pissed. He sees an opening. EX He's not dead or, if he is, he killed himself.I cant investigate a murder that didn't happen. ANN Sure you can, you just cant solve it. EX She couldn't have really said that. You didn't really say that did you? ANN What about Barthes? EX Apparent heart attack,. no violence. You'll have to wait for the autopsy , if there is one. How crazy are you? GUZMAN Is this man annoying you? Not covering his mouth when he coughs? things like that? ANN (to her EX) Find out. What are you afraid of? You have the badge, you have the gun, what more do you want? EX (to GUZMAN) You see now why we broke up. Her boyfriend ran off without her so, he must have been murdered. ANN He was killed to keep him from publishing his results. GUZMAN I dont understand. ANN Why should you? GUZMAN Tell me. EX Don’t encourage her, we'll never get her out of here. She's been here two hours already. GUZMAN (to ANN) Come on, he doesn't deserve you. EX Maybe, I should introduce you two? GUZMAN I can handle it. INTERROGATION ROOM (INTIMIDATING) Ann and Guzman sitting, tape recorder running. GUZMAN Publish or perish, I heard of that. But, killing him to stop him from publishing, that doesn't make sense. You'll have to explain. Ann shakes her head. She doesn't know where to begin. Guzman nods, smiles and makes with the encouraging body language. Nothing happens. He takes out a cigarette. GUZMAN (continuing) You can smoke. The rules dont apply here. She does. He takes out a 5th of Jack Daniels'. ANN Drinking on duty? GUZMAN It's an interrogation room. It helps people to talk. She accepts and throws back a double shot. GUZMAN (continuing) I don’t know enough about this to ask questions so, why dont you tell me the whole story from the beginning. ANN He was murdered. GUZMAN From the beginning. She tries to interrupt. GUZMAN (continuing) I know it seems like the long way but, it saves time in the end. ANN You're trying to keep me from talking. GUZMAN Sounds like it, doesn't it. Let's begin. THE SAME 4 TIMES FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES MOS ANN You dont believe me. . GUZMAN Well, no. ANN Ask me questions, trip me up. GUZMAN I couldn't even recite it back to you. It's like one of those Shakespeare in the Park things with everyone disguised as someone else. ANN Then why listen at all? GUZMAN You're pretty. ANN Good-bye. She moves for the door. . GUZMAN Hold it, wait. What is it you want me to do? Ann doesn't know either. ANN Barthes is dead, I want to know what he died off. GUZMAN Sounds easy. Come on. He leads her out of the interrogation room to a computer terminal in an empty office and logs in. GUZMAN (continuing) Heart attack, looks like. No autopsy scheduled. ANN Let's go to the morgue. I'm a doctor. GUZMAN Trust me, I'm a doctor? What could you tell by looking at the body. ANN Probably nothing. MAN Suddenly, I believe your whole story. Why is that? INT. MORGUE (OVERLIT AND ANTISEPTIC) GUZMAN Barthes, you have him? ATTENDANT Yeah, so what? GUZMAN This is the wife. ATT The wife was already here. GUZMAN This is the other one. ATT Oh, like that. They get to Barthes' body. It rolls out of the cabinet. ATT (continuing) And he was a jogger, pulse rate of 42, with the ginseng-and the good cholesterol vs. the bad cholesterol, rolls over in bed to screw his wife and has a flame out and he chokes on his own blood. It's all what nature gave you. The rest of it is just jerking off. He rolls open the drawer to show the corpse. ATT (continuing) They don’t look like much. Once the spark is gone, they're hard to recognize; You want to check some identifying marks? The appendix scar? The mole on the inside of his thigh? ANN No. ATT He doesn't have a mole on the inside of his thigh. Who are you? Let's see some ID. Guzman flashes his badge ATT (continuing) Wait a minute, the way you flashed that it could be anything. Let me see it again. Guzman shows his badge again. Ann rips the sheet off Barthes’s body. His face is purple red and there is a black-red froth of dried blood around his mouth. He’s been stabbed twice through the heart. ATT (continuing) Wait a minute. You cant do that. ANN Heart attack? I love that Dawn Patrol RAF understatement. It shows class. ATT Well, you know, it was suicide, they don’t like to admit it. ANN He’s been stabbed twice through the heart. It’s physically impossible for him to have done it himself. He couldn’t have pulled the knife out after the first time. So, it’s murder. ATT What do you want from me? Ann is about to say something, but Guzman grabs her arm and hustles her outside. EXT. STREET (GRAY DAY) ANN What do we do now? GUZMAN Nothing. You heard him: it’s official. ANN You’re walking out on me too? There’s a long silence. GUZMAN Look I’ll find out what I can and I'll call you tonight. ANN No, I cant go home. I’ll have to meet you somewhere. Tell me. GUZMAN No, you tell me. Someplace you feel comfortable. She hands him a matchbook from Florent. GUZMAN (continuing) Give me some time. Around ll. It shouldn't be a place where you're known ANN I've been there once. She watches him walk away until he disappears INT. CANADIAN PASSPORT OFFICE (SLIGHTLY OLD WEST) Rogo is getting a Canadian passport. CLERK Normally, we do this by mail and it takes 2 weeks but, you're obviously Canadian. He holds out Rogo's passport to him. Rogo looks puzzled. CLERK (continuing) The accent. ROGO You mean: a little Scot, a little Irish in there? Maybe, I'm American and my parents are from Boston CLERK Now, you're trying to sound like it. ROGO For all you know, I'm an American embezzler with a lawyer who knows Canadian law and how casually you hand out passports. CLERK You're Canadian, all right. If you're looking for an argument, try an American, they dont know any better. Rogo picks up his passport and turns to go. ROGO 54/40 or fight! CLERK That's the spirit. EXT. TORONTO AIRPORT (NIGHT) Rogo is boarding an EL AL jet. He's about to climb the stairs. ROGO Which way is south? THE ATTENDANT points. Rogo looks south toward America but there's nothing to see but darkness and flickering lights. Rogo looks unhappy. ATTENDANT Cheer up, there's a MacDonald’s in Tel Aviv, too. Rogo shakes his head. He looks as though he wants to cry and cant. He gives up on it and climbs the stairs and boards the 747. INT. POLICE HQ (BRIGHT) Guzman gets called into the office of THE CHIEF OF DETECTIVES CHIEF Where is she? GUZMAN Who? CHIEF Whadyado? screw her and take a liking to her? GUZMAN Not yet. So, why are we covering up for murder? CHIEF He's not dead. He was in a hotel in Toronto. At least, his credit card was. We'll find him. GUZMAN What about Barthes? CHIEF Who? GUZMAN That's about what I figured. CHIEF Young Hero, maybe things did get a little out of hand over there but, outside of maybe Hollywood, pharmaceuticals are the one big business America has left. No one is going to let you mess with it. GUZMAN That's cool, but what do you want with the girl? CHIEF She's stolen secret documents from the company. She's trying to peddle them. She's trying to use them for extortion. GUZMAN If that were true, she wouldn't have come to the police. CHIEF I dont have time for this shit. GUZMAN You going to kill me too? I know it all. I might talk. CHIEF Who'd listen? GUZMAN What about her? No one believes her. There's nothing she can do with the notebooks. Why don’t they just let her alone? CHIEF Because there is something she can do and, if they let her hang around long enough, she'll figure out what it is. GUZMAN Like what? CHIEF Like you, are you a cop or what? GUZMAN She's afraid to go home. She said she'd call tomorrow and arrange a meet. CHIEF You give her home or office? GUZMAN Both. CHIEF We'll have them covered. Dismissed. EXT. STREET CORNER BANK MACHINE (NIGHT) Ann hesitates then uses her bankcard at the teller machine. A MAN comes to the machine next to hers, gets his money and goes. Her machine still hasn't given her card back yet. She looks around and sees all kinds of reasons for paranoia. Even a child in a stroller begins to look like a secret agent. The machine hums and lights flash but, it gives no response. Finally, She panics and begins walking away fast. As she does, 2 cop cars slide up to the teller machine. THE COPS get out, slowly, calmly but, with their guns in their hands. Ann turns around. ANN What's going on? officer. COP Go home, lady, just go home. The cop doesn't even look at her. She heads west, trying hard to walk slowly. She goes 1 block turns the corner finds a phone and dials. INT. FAKE C&W BAR (TOO CUTE) The phone rings, THE BARTENDER answers BARTENDER Hogs and Heifers. ANN (V.O.) Duane, please. BARTENDER We got 5, it's that kind of place. Do you have a preference? ANN (V.O.) The one who looks like Keanu Reeves and acts like Woody Alien. Duane the snag comes to the phone. EXT. ANN IN THE PHONE BOOTH (NIGHT) SNAG (V.O.) I could hear you yelling clear across the room. ANN Duane, are you being followed? If you were being followed, would you know it? SNAG (V.O.) No. But, I know you're in some kind of trouble. I don’t care. You' re my girl. If you killed someone, I’ll help you hide the body. Tell me what you need me to do. ANN There's a place called Florent. Be there at 11:30 with a car. SNAG (V.O.) It's almost 11 right now. ANN It's a few blocks from you on Gansevoort Street. SNAG (V.O.) Spell it. ANN I cant. He was a Revolutionary War hero, he defended the fort at Swaxhill guarding the entrance to the Mohawk Valley. It was a sideshow to the Battle of Saratoga. SNAG I'll find it. I'll be there. Are you okay? ANN I will be, if you help me. SNAG I'll be there. Just calm down. ANN Thank you, Duane. She hangs up. She closes her eyes and leans against the wall. EXT. FLORENT (NIGHT) Ann walks in. She looks around. Guzman isn't there. EXT. STREET (NIGHT) The clock says ll:05. Guzman is parking his car a block away from Florent. He gets out and starts walking. The neighborhood is deserted. He's being followed and they’re not being subtle about it. He stops, thinks about that for a moment, then keeps walking. POV follows him into Florent. INT. FLORENT --- CLASSIC 1950’s DINER He sees Ann, but ignores her. He sees A GIRL who looks vaguely like her and walks up to her. GUZMAN Forgive me, Ma'm, my wife is sitting over there and she looks a lot like you. It might save my marriage if I could make her jealous. GIRL That has got to be the most outrageous come-on I have ever heard in my life! That's beautiful. The girl laughs, throws her arms around Guzman’s neck and kisses him passionately. The 2 goons who have been following Guzman rush in and grab him and the girl. POV retreats to Ann. There's an argument, but we cant hear it. The background noise is a steady roar of emphatic conversation drowns them out. The argument turns ugly. Guns are drawn. The conversation dies except for one SERBIAN GIRL who's used to all that and she keeps talking. A GIRL with a shaven head and subway strap earrings nods and smiles. SERB-ETTE But what she really doesn't like is that the waiter mistook Chris and I for brother and sister. Well, we've always been siblings, for as long as we'd known each other. We both have snake green eyes and we're exactly the same height and, even when we color our hair, we color it the same color. It's just one of those odd connections that we have, and it's always been that way. And then the shooting starts. This is a realistic gunfight: They're blazing away at each other point blank, but the only safe place to stand is where they're aiming at. And everyone has a gun and is sure that he's the target so, everyone is blazing away at everyone else. Bottles are exploding off the walls and on the tables, jugular spurts in all directions in odd corners of the room, but the gunmen themselves are untouched and dont seem surprised by it. The Serbian girl crawls under a table and keeps talking. Strangely, she can be heard clearly above the gunfire. So, we go to order and she refuses to order anything. She has a headache and she's not hungry. Now, mind you, I am still smiling, because it's Chris and if he really loves her and wants to marry her then it's now them and not just him and I would do anything for him and that includes putting up with his bitch fiancée. One of the goons is down, Guzman is wounded. Most of the patrons are dead. The TV and the cashregister computers have exploded, shredding the air with glass splinters. The other goon has crawled behind the bar. He and Guzman are blazing away, hitting everything except each other. So, I order her a chicken salad because she looks like a vegetarian, little prissy thing, and I try hard to include her in the conversation, but in the end there was absolutely nothing we could do to appease the bitch and she dragged him home early. THE CHEF comes out of the kitchen wearing gum rubber waders for some reason and carrying a sawed off double barreled shotgun that obviously belonged to his grandfather. And I'm kind as I can be as I say farewell and wish them both the best of luck and, in truth, I'm hoping for a car wreck that gives him a good smack on the head and puts her through the windshield. There is a sudden absolute silence. Then faintly, the drip of blood and broken bottles. Then, 2 weeks latter, there's a knock on the door... Ann runs into the kitchen and out the back door. Sounds of the battle begins again behind her. Then shots from 2 different guns: The scratchy rachety sound of a 9mm and the cell door slam of a.45 and the ear aching explosion of the sawed off. EXT. STREET IN THE MEAT PACKING DISTRICT (NIGHT) The street is cobble-stoned and dim. It looks like a scene from a Sherlock Holmes movie. An empty taxi is waiting by the rear door. She leaps in. Waxner is driving. ANN Airport. Any airport. WAXNER Surprised? ANN Not really. WAXNER How did you get along with an idealist like Rogo? ANN I kicked him in the shins a lot. You could kill me now. WAXNER The sex wasn't that bad, a little too professional. Not like a whore, that would have been better. More like a nurse, fluffing up my pillows and tucking me into bed and saying: There now, you have a nice nap. But, all right. ANN Have you killed Garvey? WAXNER Not yet, I’ve only got two hands. He let’s go of the steering wheel for a moment to show her. ANN I'm getting out. WAXNER Stop it. Just, stop it. The cab is going up the West Side Highway but, it's blockaded at 23rd Street. The cops are stopping cars and shining flash lights inside. ANN Can you get out of this? WAXNER I can do anything. He twists the cab over the low concrete divider, bending the tires out of shape until you’re sure they’ll burst (but they don’t), and takes off wrong way up a 1-way street. The cops follow with sirens howling but, when they reach 10th Ave, they cant pick Waxner's cab out of the army of cabs moving uptown. They try to set up a road block at 23rd and 10th but, the cabs roar past them. ANN Where are we going? WAXNER They expect you to go north. So, we head south. You have to stop being predictable. He takes the cab over to the curb at 47-49th and 11th Ave. past the array of WHORES . ANN I need money. Lots of it. WAXNER I can’t get more than $500 out of an ATM. Will you accept a check? ANN Stop the car.
Copyright © 1999 Angel Obregon |