TRUE LIES
WRITTEN
BY
JAMES CAMERON
-----------------------
TITLE SEQUENCE
1 EXT. MOUNTAINS, NEAR GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - NIGHT
The snow covered Alps stand out clearly in the light of a full
moon. A fortress-like CHATEAU is situated in a flat saddle of
forest partway up the mountain, next to a frozen lake. The
property is surrounded by high stone walls, and the stately
grounds are bathed in floodlights and patrolled by armed guards
with dogs.
2 EXT. CHATEAU - NIGHT
The driveway and motorcourt are filled with cars. A formal-
dress party is in progress... a private reception for a middle-
eastern dignitary. Tuxedoes men escort their diamond-encrusted
ladies through the huge front doors, where they doff their
overcoats and are politely scanned with hand-held metal
detectors by white gloved security staffers.
The walled perimeter of the house runs along the lake, forming
a kind of rampart. There is an opening, to a kind of waterway
or canal, which connects to the private docks inside the
grounds. There is a steel grating across the opening. The
bars disappear down into the thin ice of early winter.
With the house visible BG, we CRANE DOWN below the parapet wall
along which a guard is a white exposure-suit is walking... down
along the dark wall to the grating... TILTING DOWN to see a
glow pulsing under the ice.
3 EXT. BENEATH THE ICE, UNDERWATER - NIGHT
Camera moving toward: A FIGURE in diving gear working at the
metal bars with an oxygen arc cutting torch. One bar has
already been cut out. Two quick cuts and a second bar falls to
the muddy bottom. Lit now only from the floodlights filtering
down through the ice, the figure slips through the bars and
swims powerfully along the stone canal wall.
Seem from below, the figure is a black shadow moving against
the rippled-glass of the ice above.
4 EXT. CANAL AND BOATHOUSE - NIGHT
A dock extends into the frozen canal, just behind a large
boathouse. There is a faint chipping sound. The ice breaks
quietly, and the pieces are slid back. A head appears, in a
rubber drysuit hood. The DIVER slips the regulator out of his
mouth and turns slowly, scanning... revealing:
HARRY TASKER. Our hero. Harry floats with just his eyes above
the surface, silent as a water snake, as a guard passes on a
footpath nearby.
After a few beats Harry slips out of his tanks and fins,
letting them sink, and climbs the frozen ladder onto the dock.
He moves like a ninja into the shadows of the boathouse.
Opening a WATERPROOF BAG, he pulls out a walky talky.
HARRY
Honey, I'm home.
5 INT. / EXT. SURVEILLANCE VAN, MOUNTAIN ROAD - NIGHT
Meet Harry's partner, ALBERT "GIB" GIBSON, an overweight twenty-
year-man with a lived in looking face. Gib answers Harry via
his headset.
GIB
Roger that.
(he covers the mike and
turns)
Hey, Fize! Get your butt in
here. Harry's inside.
Outside, FAST FAISIL, an Iranian-American, finishes making
yellow snow and hurries back to the van. They are parked on a
winding mountain road a half-mile from the chateau, whose
lights are visible through the trees.
Faisil jumps in and goes to the eyepiece of a huge telephoto
nightvision scope. The eerie green image lurches as he sweeps
the grounds, locating the boathouse.
6 EXT. BOATHOUSE - NIGHT
Concealed in the shadows, Harry is shucking out of his drysuit.
Underneath is he is wearing black tux pants, suspenders,
cummerbund and a formal shirt. He puts a tiny plug, like a
hearing aid, deep in his ear canal. A SUB-VOCAL TRANSCEIVER.
Very advanced.
HARRY
Switching to sub-vocal. Gib, you
copy?
GIB (OVER)
It's Talkradio. You're on the
air.
Harry slips into his shoulder harness... holster on one side,
containing his .45 auto Glock-22, and the transmitter pack for
the ear-piece slung on the other. He slips on a formal jacket,
concealing the rig. Then a final touch. A little aftershave
from a tiny plastic vial.
Harry adjusts his bow-tie and strides confidently out of the
shadows, crossing quickly to the main house. He looks
ultrasharp in his black tux with the white silk cummerbund and
his hair slicked back. He enters the main house through a back
service entrance.
7 INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
Harry strides through the huge kitchen like he owns the place.
The kitchen staff are scurrying around, too busy to really
notice. He finger-tastes a dish as he passes.
HARRY
(French/ subtitled)
This needs more garlic.
He breezes through unchallenged, exiting into the--
8 INT. MAIN HALL - NIGHT
Here the party is in full swing. Harry blends smoothly into
the crowd of foreign dignitaries, businessman and minor mid-
east nobility. They are a high-octane mixture of new oil money
and old European money, and run the spectrum from stodgy
bankers to playboy arms dealers.
Harry strolls amiably among the glittering woman, the cigar
smoking men, casually snagging a glass of champagne and a
canape from the passing waiters. He nods to someone as if he
knows them. Greets another is quite fluent Arabic. People in
his wake look at each other like "Do you know him?" They
shrug, go on with their conversation. Harry moves through the
crowd. Scanning.
HARRY
There's Daddy Petrobucks.
HARRY'S POV - Through the crowd is sees JAMAL KHALED, the host
of the party and owner of the chateau. He is fat and animated,
greeting guests with a flourish. As Harry watches he warmly
greets a beautiful WOMAN. They become absorbed in a
conversation.
The woman glances up and sees Harry checking her out. There is
a frank moment of returned interest. Then the crowd shifts,
cutting off their view of each other.
9 INT. STAIRCASE AND SECOND FLOOR - NIGHT
Harry makes his way up the grand staircase to the second floor.
He slips through doors into the private area of the mansion.
10 INT. LIBRARY - NIGHT
The doors open and Harry slips into the darkened library. He
crosses quickly to a window and opens it onto a terrace.
11 EXT. BALCONIES - NIGHT
Harry goes onto the terrace, and in a display of acrobatic
prowess, he pulls himself up onto the third floor balcony
directly above. He lets himself into--
12 INT. KHALED'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Khaled's office is ornately furnished. Beautiful antiques
glint in the moonlight coming in the French-doors. Harry
crosses to an immense desk and boots up the computer there.
Bathed in the glow from the screen, he pulls a FLAT BOX, about
the size of a paperback, from the back of his cummerbund. He
connects it quickly to the modem port in the back of the
computer.
HARRY
Modem in place. Transmitting...
now.
He pushes a button and a green light comes on.
13 INT. VAN - NIGHT
Gib and Faisil watch as their monitor screen lights with DATA
from Khaled's private computer.
FAISIL
Affirmatory. We are in.
Fast Faisil is a computer ace. His fingers fly on the keyboard
as he types rapid key commands. We see familiar "windows
appear". The words are all in Arabic characters.
FAISIL
These are encrypted files, guys.
This is going to take me a few
minutes.
14 OMITTED
15 INT. 2ND FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT
TIGHT ON LIBRARY DOOR. It opens a crack and a dental mirror
comes out, looking around like a U-boat periscope. Seeing the
coast is clear Harry slips out. But just as he is closing the
door, a GUARD rounds the corner ten feet away. Harry turns
smoothly. He smiles sheepishly and moves toward the guard.
HARRY
(In Arabic/ subtitled)
Where's the john around here? I
have to take a major leak.
The guard points warily down the corridor. Harry nods and
heads that way, back toward the party.
16 INT. MAIN HALL/ STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Harry comes down the staircase amid the glitter of the party.
He is sipping champagne and looking bored. He sees two
security guys moving purposefully through the crowd toward the
stairs, walkies in their hands. He turns away as they pass him
and pretends to study a large fragment of bas-relief... a
temple frieze depicting a war chariot drawn by four horses.
He senses someone next to him and turns. It is the WOMAN. She
is captivatingly beautiful, and her gaze is piercing.
HARRY
(indicating the bas-
relief)
Magnificent, isn't it?
WOMAN
Yes. Hi, I'm Juno Skinner. I
thought I knew most of Khaled's
friends but I don't believe I
know you.
Harry offers his hand to her.
HARRY
Renquist. Harry Renquist.
17 INT. VAN - NIGHT
Gib whirls to the screen displaying the mission database. He
scans rapidly for--
GIB
Skinner. Skinner. Come on...
Gib finds the entry he's looking for. Juno's picture and data
appear on the screen.
GIB
Juno Skinner. Art and
antiquities dealer, specializing
in ancient Persia.
18 INT. MAIN HALL - NIGHT
Harry turns back to the fragment of frieze.
HARRY
This is Persian, if I'm not
mistaken.
JUNO
Very good. It's sixth century
B.C. Do you like the period?
HARRY
(shameless)
I adore it.
19 EXT. DOCK/ BOATHOUSE (NIGHTVISION POV) - NIGHT
Seen through the starlight scope, we see one of the guards
shining his light on the hole in the ice and then on Harry's
footprints leading to the boathouse. He calls to one of the
other guards, who comes running over.
20 INT. MANSION - NIGHT
Harry, still with Juno, hears Gib in his ear:
GIB (VO)
Harry, we got a problem. Guards
are swarming all over the dock.
Harry glances up the stairs. Khaled's SECURITY CHIEF is
gesturing to several of his men, and speaking quickly into a
walky. Three SECURITY MEN come down the stairs, scanning the
crowd. Harry turns smoothly away from them and takes Juno's
arm.
HARRY
Do you dance, Ms. Skinner?
He steers her toward the dance floor.
21 INT. VAN - NIGHT
Gib, listening, rolls his eyes. He looks through the night-
vision scope. Guards are running around outside the chateau.
Harry's stirred up the hornet's nest. Faisil is still jamming
at the keyboard.
FAISIL
Okay, files are unlocked. I'm
in. I'm down, baby. I got my
hand up her dress and I'm going
for the gold. I'm--
GIB
Just copy the goddamn files!
(into his headset)
Harry, don't be stopping to smell
the roses, now. You hear me,
Harry?
22 INT. MAIN HALL - NIGHT
Harry whirls Juno aggressively across the dancefloor. She
responds deftly. They are well matched. She parries each of
his smooth moves with a flourish. It is a contest of wills,
and a surprised appraisal for each that the other is worthy.
Juno is hot. He bends her back at the waist, then snaps her
up. She twirls into the crook of his arm. Their faces are
inches apart. Wow. The music ends and she gives him a wry
grin.
JUNO
Well. And I thought this was
going to be just another bunch of
boring bankers and oil
billionaires.
GIB (OVER)
Harry, seconds count, buddy.
Ditch the bitch, let's go.
HARRY
Unfortunately, Juno, I have a
plane to catch.
She slips a card out of a pocket in her otherwise sheer dress.
She hands it to him, maintaining eye contact. Serious sparks.
JUNO
Call me, if you'd like to see
some of my other pieces.
HARRY
I'd like that.
23 INT. VAN - NIGHT
Gib can't believe this conversation.
GIB
(to Faisil)
Son of a bitch is with her two
minutes and she's ready to bear
his children
(to Harry)
What's your exit strategy Twinkle
Toes?
24 EXT. CHATEAU/ FRONT ENTRANCE - NIGHT
Harry nods to the security men at the door as he strides
confidently through. He goes down the steps to the broad
terrace above the motor court. Behind Harry, a GUARD lowers
his walky talky and starts after him.
GUARD
May I see your invitation, sir?
Without turning, Harry slips a small flat box out of his breast
pocket. A REMOTE DETONATOR.
HARRY
Here's my invitation.
He pushes the button and--
KABOOM! The second floor office windows blow out in a fiery
explosion. Using the diversion, Harry leaps off the terrace
before the guard can open fire.
25 INT. / EXT. VAN - NIGHT
Gib sees the rising fireball a half-mile away. He starts the
van.
GIB
Aw, shit. Here we go--
26 EXT. CHATEAU AND GROUNDS - NIGHT
Harry sprints across the snow-covered lawn, through the trees.
Guards with automatic weapons run after him, firing. The snow
explodes around him with bullet hits.
TWO DOBERMANS pelt toward Harry, leaping at him in perfect
unison. He waits... and knocks their heads together in mid-
leap with a crack like a baseball bat. The dogs drop to the
snow, wobbling around like they're drunk.
As Harry sprints on, ANOTHER DOBERMAN lunges out of the bushes
ahead, leaping directly for his throat. Harry grabs the dog
and shot-puts him up into a tree without breaking stride. Dog
Fu. The dog yelps and scrambles to hold onto an icy branch,
looking down in amazement.
27 EXT. PERIMETER WALL/ MOUNTAIN SLOPE - NIGHT
Harry leaps down on the outside of the wall, hitting a snow
bank and sliding downhill. He sprints down the gentle slope
toward the highway.
Harry looks back as TWO GUARDS ON SKIS come out of a guard
station beside the main entrance.
TRACKING WITH THE SKI-GUARDS, searching through the trees with
lights. They have lost Harry. They stop. A snowbank behind
them EXPLODES as Harry leaps out. He disables them both with
vicious street-fighter moves. Harry looks upslope as--
A service gate opens in the perimeter wall and TEAMS OF
SECURITY MEN in white snow-suits pour out, some on skis, some
on SNOWMOBILES. A HELICOPTER rises over the wall in a blast of
swirling snow. Its xenon lights rake through the trees,
casting lurid wheeling shadows on the snow.
ON Harry, snapping closed the ski boots he has stolen from one
of the disabled guards. He pops the boots quickly into the
bindings and takes off downhill with one of the guard's FN FAL
rifles slung across his back.
The helicopter swoops downhill, its searchlight blazing through
the forest. Snowmobile headlights illuminate the ski-patrols
zig-zagging among the trees.
Harry slashes expertly downhill. He cuts a distinguished
figure in his black tux. Automatic weapons fire rips through
the trees from behind him. Harry is going flat-out. The xenon
light hits him. A 7.62 mm machine gun in the chopper rips the
slope into white clouds around him. Harry slashes, turns,
weaving among the trees at breakneck speed. A snowmobile is
closing in, outflanking him. He turns toward it, suddenly.
Hits a mogul. Uses the air to slash his skis right across the
rider's face. The snowmobile crashes and tumbles into the
night.
28 INT. / EXT. VAN - MOUNTAIN ROAD - NIGHT
GIB'S VAN takes an icy turn in a hairy slide.
INSIDE Gib is peering upslope, trying to see what's going on.
All he can see are lights and gunfire.
GIB
Harry, what's your twenty? I
need a position, buddy--
Suddenly a skier in a black tux launches across the road from
the slope above, RIGHT OVER THE VAN, and lands deftly
downslope.
GIB
Uh... right! I'll catch you on
the next bend.
Behind the van, pursuing guards leap across the road. Only
about half can make the jump. The rest crash horribly. The
helicopter thunders overhead.
29 EXT. MOUNTAIN SLOPE - NIGHT
Harry sees the chopper start an attack run. He comes out into
the open, going straight downhill like a rocket. The chopper
gets suckered in... trying to hit him, getting right down
behind him... and suddenly-- Harry slides to a stop in an
explosion of powder and whips up the rifle. P-P-P-POW! He
rakes a burst across the windshield. The startled pilot
swerves and-- Suddenly two tall pine trees are right in front
of him.
K-WHACK! The main-rotor blade snaps clean off and the chopper
drops into the snow, plowing into a snowbank. It slides right
to the edge of a steep ridge and stops, teetering.
Firing from a snowmobile, one of the guards puts a burst right
across Harry's path. Harry's skis are hit and he tumbles,
comes out of it... running down the hill like a juggernaut in
his heavy boots. He has lost the rifle somewhere in the snow.
Harry takes cover behind the burning wreck of the downed
chopper, which still has its engine running. The ski patrol
opens fire from upslope. Rounds whacking against the disabled
helicopter.
Harry looks down the slope and gets an idea. He jerks the
unconscious pilot out and pushes on the fuselage, rocking it.
It slips over the edge. He leaps inside as it topples forward
and slides down the slope.
30 INT./ EXT. HELICOPTER - MOUNTAIN SLOPE - NIGHT
Harry adds throttle and works the footpedals, using the tail-
rotor to steer. The chopper had snow-skids, and Harry is
skiing the damn thing down the mountain.
The copter is burning as it rockets down the slope on its
skids. Bullets are hitting the fuselage, and everything around
it. Skiers are wiping out, hitting trees. A snowmobile hits
a rock and flies spectacularly into a ravine.
GIB (OVER)
Harry! Where are you!
HARRY
In the helicopter.
31 INT./ EXT. VAN - MOUNTAIN ROAD - NIGHT
Gib slides the van around a curve.
GIB
(deadpan, to Faisil)
He's in the helicopter.
Big is scanning above for the chopper. Then upslope he sees
the burning fuselage skiing expertly among the trees.
The chopper hits a jump and launches into the air-- It crashes
through trees, still soaring and-- Gib looks up, screaming as--
The chopper drops right toward him-- He hits the brakes and--
BLAMMO! It drops onto the road ten feet in front of the
skidding van... then slides over the edge and tumbles into a
rocky canyon where is BLOWS UP! The fireball lights up the
night.
Gib and Faisil jump out of the van. They look downslope at the
burning wreckage.
GIB
Harry? HARRY?!
HARRY
What?
Gib and Faisil spin to look behind them. Harry is lodged in
tree-branches hanging over the road. Gib hands his MP-5K
machine gun to Faisil and reaches up to Harry, who grabs his
hand and pulls. Harry tumbles down into the snowbank. He
stands, brushing snow off his tux, and clomps toward the van in
his ski-boots. He is completely unruffled.
HARRY
Let's go. We can still make our
flight.
As Faisil is getting into the van behind Harry, TWO GUARD TEAMS
ON SNOWMOBILES roar around the bend behind them, fish-tailing
on the ice. Faisil OPENS FIRE. One snowmobile swerves over
the embankment. The other pulls up broadside, and the guards
duck behind it. Gib floors it and the van roars down the
mountain. Faisil is still Ramboing on full-auto.
FAISIL
This is GREAT!! I never get to
shoot!
CUT TO:
32 EXT. DULLES AIRPORT - NIGHT
An American Airlines 747 touches down amid puffs of tire smoke.
33 EXT. SUBURBAN D.C. STREET - NIGHT
A NON-DESCRIPT SEDAN pulls to the curb in a neighborhood of
modest middle-income tract homes. The street is deserted. It
is 4 A.M. Gib is at the wheel, dropping Harry off at his
house.
34 INT. SEDAN - NIGHT
Harry is emptying his pockets... passport, business cards etc.
All documents under his name "Renquist". He double checks that
his pants and jacket pockets and empty. Gib fastidiously puts
the items into a plastic zip-lock.
HARRY
Empty. Go.
Gib starts handing him items from a briefcase. This should all
feel like a tired ceremony between them.
GIB
Harry Tasker wallet. Harry
Tasker passport. Plane ticket
stub, hotel receipt, Tasker. Two
postcards of Lake Geneva. House
keys. Souvenir snowing Swiss
village.
Gib snows him how is snows when you shake it up and turn it
over.
HARRY
What's this for?
GIB
For Dana, schmuck. Bring your
kid something. You know. The
dad thing.
HARRY
Got it. Nice touch. Okay, pick
me up at eight. The de-brief is
at ten hundred.
Harry opens the car door.
GIB
Hey, hey, hey... what are we
forgetting?
Gib holds up Harry's gold wedding band. Harry puts it on.
HARRY
What a team. See you at eight.
GIB
Yep. Sleep fast.
35 INT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
Harry slips inside. He sets down his suitcase and walks
quietly down the hall. He pauses at a door with lurid labels
and stickers plastered all over it (Toxic Waste, STAY OUT!, IF
IT'S TOO LOUD YOU'RE TOO OLD, etc.)
Harry silently opens the door and looks in at his sleeping
daughter, DANA. She looks like an angel in the moonlight
coming in the window. In fact, she is a typical 14 year old
girl, and therefore hardly an angel. But to Harry she is
unflawed.
36 INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT
Harry, undressed now, slips into bed next to... a lump in the
covers which we presume to be a human being. This is HELEN
TASKER, Harry's wife of 15 years. He kisses her on the cheek
and she stirs. She rolls toward him, giving him a sleepy hug
and a kiss.
HELEN
(a drowsy murmur)
Hi, honey. How was the flight?
HARRY
Fine, honey. Stay asleep.
HELEN
Okay.
As she drifts off, Harry puts his head on the pillow and stares
at the ceiling.
DISSOLVE TO:
37 INT. TASKER HOUSE - DAY (MORNING)
TIGHT ON SWISS VILLAGE. It is snowing.
ON DANA, reaching to the present Harry just gave her.
DANA
Hey, thanks dad. I never had one
of these.
They are in her room, which is your basic room from Hell.
Pearl Jam posters, and an unbelievable clutter of junk,
magazines and cheap jewelry. Harry kisses her on the cheek, to
which she submits dutifully. He looks at his watch and heads
for the door.
HARRY
You better hurry. You're going
to be late for school.
Harry hurries out and Dana considers the Swiss village a
moment.
DANA
Really lame.
She plonks is straight in the wastebasket.
38 INT. HALLWAY/BEDROOM/ BATHROOM - DAY
Harry strides down the hall, avoiding their small but
incredibly ugly dog, GIZMO, who skitters past him going the
other way.
HARRY
Dana, don't forget to feed Gizmo!
Harry crosses the bedroom, hurrying past Helen who is clearly
rushing to get ready herself. We get our first good look at
Helen. She is wearing a terrycloth robe as she picks out an
outfit. Her hair is wrapped in a towel. To call her plain
would be inaccurate. She could be attractive if she put any
effort into it, which doesn't occur to her.
HARRY
I'm late.
HELEN
Me too.
They talk without looking at each other, the way people who
have been together a long time do.
HELEN
How'd it go at the trade show?
You make all the other salesmen
jealous?
HARRY
Yeah. You should have seen it.
We were the hit of the show with
the new model ordering system,
the one for the 680... how you
can write up an order and the
second the customer's name goes
into the computer, it starts
checking their credit, and if
they've ordered anything in the
past, and if they get a
discount...
She is already tuning him out. And it hits us: SHE HAS NO
IDEA WHAT HARRY REALLY DOES.
HELEN
(barely listening)
That's fabulous Harry.
HARRY
Yeah, it was wild.
Harry glances at her, oblivious to him and brushing her teeth.
He smiles. The best lies are told with enthusiasm.
39 INT. FRONT HALLWAY, LIVING ROOM - DAY
Gib opens the door, knocks a bit, then strolls in like he lives
there. He is wearing dark Ray Bans, like he's doing a Roy
Orbison impression. Gizmo runs toward him, yapping, but Gib
gives him the evil eye.
GIB
Come any closer I'll kill you.
The dog backs up, whining plaintively. Gib throws his jacket
over the back of the couch and then, inexplicably, he takes out
a pack of CAMELS and sets it on the mantelpiece. He adjusts
its position carefully. Hmmmm.
40 INT. BATHROOM - DAY
Harry and Helen maneuver around each other expertly. She is
doing her make-up.
HELEN
The plumber came yesterday. He
said they have to dig under the
slab or something and it's going
to be six hundred dollars to fix.
Harry is not really paying attention as he ties his tie in
front of the mirror. His mind is elsewhere. He couldn't care
less about there domestic problems.
HARRY
Uh huh. Okay.
HELEN
It's not okay. It's extortion.
HARRY
What did you tell him?
HELEN
I slept with him and he knocked
off a hundred bucks.
HARRY
Good thinking, honey.
Harry kisses her on the cheek and exits.
41 INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Gib enters and pours two cups of coffee. Dana is drinking
orange juice from the bottle at the fridge.
GIB
Hi, kid.
DANA
Hey, Gib. What up?
She EXITS, eating an uncooked pop-tart. Harry comes in a
second later and Gib hands him his coffee.
HARRY
Thanks dear.
GIB
Here, check these out.
Gib hands Harry the glasses. Harry studies them, seeing the
VIRTUAL VIDEO DISPLAY inside the left lens of the Ray Bans.
Harry glances down the hall, making sure no-one is looking,
then he puts them on.
HARRY'S POV - INSIDE THE GLASSES - A black and white video
image of his own living room.
GIB
The CCD camera and transmitter
and inside a pack of smokes.
Slick little unit, huh?
IN POV we see Dana enter the living room. She looks around
carefuly, then quickly lifts Gib's jacket and slips out his
wallet. She palms two twenties in the blink of an eye and puts
the wallet back. Pro moves.
HARRY
Son of a bitch!
GIB
What?
Harry whips off the glasses and charges out of the kitchen.
Gib goes after him.
42 EXT. HOUSE - DAY
Dana comes out the front door, letting it slam behind her, and
runs to her boyfriend, TRENT, who is waiting for her in the
driveway on his idling YAMAHA. Trent is 16, dressed in grunge-
rock style, trying to look tough. Harry comes out the front
door as Trent revs the motor.
HARRY
Dana!!
She waves from the back of the bike as Trent pops the clutch
and they shoot down the driveway.
DANA
(yelling over the
engine)
Can't stop, I'm late. Bye, Dad!
43 INT. / EXT. GIB'S CAR/ STREETS OF WASHINGTON - DAY
They are driving through D.C. Harry is still shocked by his
daughter's behavior.
GIB
Kids. Ten seconds of joy.
Thirty years of misery.
HARRY
She knows not to steal. I've
taught her better than that.
GIB
Yeah, but you're not her parents,
anymore, you and Helen. Her
parents are Axl Rose and Madonna.
The five minutes you spend a day
with her can't compete with that
kind of constant bombardment.
You're outgunned, amigo.
Gib and Harry turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue, heading toward
Lafayette Square. Capital Hill is behind them.
44 INT. TEKTEL OFFICES - DAY
Harry and Gib come out of an elevator on the 12th floor.
Behind the receptionist is a burnished metal sign which reads
TEKTEL SYSTEMS. They cross a open floor of cubicle spaces.
There is the hum of activity everywhere. A normal day at a
normal business.
SECRETARY
Morning, Mr. Tasker.
HARRY
Morning, Charlene.
GIB
See, kids now are ten years ahead
of where we were at the same age.
You probably think she's still a
virgin--
HARRY
Don't be ridiculous. She's only --
how old is she?
GIB
Fourteen, Harry.
HARRY
Right. She's only fourteen.
They go into a corridor.
GIB
Uh huh. And her little hormones
are going like a fire alarm. I
say even money that physicist on
the bike is boinkin' her.
HARRY
No way. Not Dana.
They stop at a door, like any other along the corridor. It is
blank.
GIB
Okay. Okay. De-nail ain't just
a river in Egypt. She's probably
stealing the money to pay for an
abortion.
HARRY
Will you just open the door!
Gib touches a plastic card to an unmarked spot just above the
doorknob. There is the CLUNK of a SOLENOID LOCK.
GIB
Or drugs.
45 OMITTED
46 INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
They enter a long corridor, which is featureless except for
video surveillance cameras. They walk along the silence for a
moment, then . . .
GIB
Twenty here, fifty there... I
figured my wife's boyfriend was
taking it.
HARRY
I thought you moved out.
GIB
Well . . . I moved back in.
My lawyer said it would give me
a better claim on the house in
the property settlement. Don't
change the subject... you owe me
two hundred bucks.
They approach another door, with a (bulletproof) glass window
in it. Beyond is a brightly lit room, with a woman sitting at
a desk... and nothing else. Gib presses a buzzer.
47 INT. OUTER SECURITY ROOM - DAY
JANICE sits at the non-descript desk like a receptionist... but
she is a highly trained security specialist. She is also hefty
through the shoulders, aggressively unattractive and utterly
humorless. She watches them on a monitor screen as they stand
outside the door. Harry and Gib appear as living X-Ray images.
Their weapons are visible in their shoulder harnesses. Janice
puts one hand automatically on the butt of a .45 tucked in a
holster riveted beneath her desk. She buzzes Harry and Gib in
with the other.
JANICE
Gentlemen, please idenitify
yourselves to the scanner.
Harry and Gib step up to the combination retinal-thumbprint-
voice scanners. Harry presses his thumb against a black-glass
plate for laser scan, and looks into the eye-piece of the
retinal scanner.
HARRY
Harry Tasker. One zero zero two
four.
GIB
Albert Gibson. Three four nine
nine one.
Their clearance appears on a monitor on Janice's desk.
JANICE
Thank you. You are cleared.
She stands to give them plastic I.D. badges which they hang
around their necks.
GIB
Janice, how many years have you
been buzzing us in?
JANICE
Ten, Mr. Gibson.
GIB
And you still reach for your
piece every time.
JANICE
Yes sir.
GIB
God! You have no idea how much
that turns me on. I've never had
the courage to say this before
but... I love you, Janice.
JANICE
Yes, sir.
He kisses her wetly on the cheek as he goes by. She does not
react is any discernible way.
They pass through a heavy stainless steel door which opens
automatically. Beyond is a kind of airlock... a SALLY PORT.
Behind a lexan shield are TWO GUARDS armed with MP5s. They nod
but do not speak at Harry and Gib pass them.
HARRY
You better watch it. She might
file on you for sexual
harassment.
GIB
In her dreams.
48 INT. OMEGA SECTOR INNER SANCTUM - DAY
Gib and Harry pass through the inner door of the sally port
into a large austere atrium.
ANGLE FROM ABOVE as they cross. A huge graphic logo covers the
floor. Across the center is says OMEGA SECTOR. In smaller
print, around the perimeter, is the motto: "THE LAST LINE OF
DEFENSE".
They enter a high-tech office space. It is a maze of glass
partitions surrounding a central floor-space of cubicles.
There is a hushed quality here. People do not joke. They do
not hurry. There are a lot of computer screens displaying
information from around the world. It looks like a combination
of NASA mission control and FBI headquarters.
Fast Faisil greets them, yawning, as they pass his partitioned
cubicle.
HARRY
Come on, Fize. We're late for
our butt-grinding.
Faisil gulps his coffee and hurries after them.
49 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
A dark and severe conference room, with large-screen computer
displays at one end. Glowering at one end of the long,
polished table, is SPENCER TRILBY, the chief of Omega Sector.
Visualize a cross between Colin Powel and J. Edgar Hoover.
TRILBY
Jesus, Harry! You guys really
screwed the pooch last night.
Please tell me how I can look at
this, that it's not a total pooch-
screw.
HARRY
Total is a strong word--
GIB
There are degrees of totality.
FAISIL
It's a scale really, with
"perfect mission" on one end and
"total pooch-screw" on the other
and we're more about here--
TRILBY
Faisil. You're new on Harry's
team, aren't you?
FAISIL
Yes.
TRILBY
So what makes you think that the
slack I cut him in any way
translates to you?!
FAISIL
Sorry, sir. Uh... here's what we
got.
He hits a button and a photo of Khaled fills a wall-screen.
FAISIL
Jamal Khaled. We think he's
dirty so we raid his financial
files... Check it out...
Faisil hits some buttons and a second screen lights up with the
data for their raid.
FAISIL
One hundred million in wire
transfers from the COMMERCE BANK
INTERNATIONAL--
GIB
Which we all know is a front for
certain nations to fund terrorist
activities. Something big is
going down --
FAISIL
And we know that a week ago four
MIRV warheads were smuggled out
of the former Soviet Republic of
Kazakhstan . . .
HARRY
We think Khaled's group has
bought the nukes and is bringing
them to U.S. soil.
TRILBY
So far this is not blowing my
skirt up, gentleman. Do you have
anything remotely substantial?
Don't be pumping beets up my ass
here. Do you have hard data?
HARRY
Not what you'd call rock hard.
GIB
It's pretty limp, actually.
TRILBY
Then perhaps you better get some
... before somebody parks a car
in front of the White House with
a nuclear weapon in the trunk!
50 INT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
It is the interior of a huge law office. Helen works there as
a paralegal. She is going to the break room for coffee with
her friend, ALLISON, a secretary. Allison is black, younger
then Helen, and still single.
HELEN
I mean, it's not like he's saving
the world or anything. He's a
sales rep for Chrissakes.
Whenever I can't get to sleep I
ask him to tell me about his day.
Six seconds and I'm out. But he
acts like he's curing cancer or
something.
ALLISON
So I guess you didn't get away
for the weekend after all?
HELEN
Are you kidding? Harry had to go
out of town.
ALLISON
I'm shocked.
HELEN
Yeah. You know Harry.
Helen's nerdy boss BRAD, comes up behind her, scowling.
BRAD
Helen, have you pulled those
files yet? I need them by lunch.
HELEN
I won't let you down, Brad.
Brad leaves.
HELEN
(under her breath)
You little pencil-neck.
(to Allison)
So... yo... sista! D'you do
anything interesting?
ALLISON
Oh... Eric and I drove up to this
little romantic inn, and...
pretty much lapped champagne out
of each other's navels for two
days.
HELEN
You bitch.
ALLISON
Girlfriend, you got a man. You
just have to take control . .
. set up the right mood.
HELEN
Harry only has two moods: busy...
and asleep.
ALLISON
Then you better do something to
jumpstart that man's motor. You
know... wake up the sleeping
giant of his passion.
They both crack up at that one.
51 INT. OMEGA SECTOR (DATA CENTER) - DAY
Harry meets up with Gib and Faisil coming from the ANALYSIS
Department.
HARRY
What'ya got?
The following will play as they wind their way through the rows
of data-analysis workstations.
FAISIL
(handing Harry a
printout)
Here, check this out--
GIB
It's a two million dollar
disbursement from Khaled to...
Juno Skinner.
(Harry raises an
eyebrow)
Uh huh. The babe at the party.
HARRY
It doesn't mean anything. She
buys antiquities for Khaled.
GIB
Nope. The art buys are in a
separate ledger.
FAISIL
And this is a little above market-
rate for the horizontal bop, even
for a total biscuit like her.
HARRY
Alright, I want a complete workup
on her. Do we know where she is?
FAISIL
Uh huh. Right here in river
city.
HARRY
You're kidding.
FAISIL
She lives in Rome, but she does
stuff here the Smithsonian and
has a lot of diplomatic
connections, so she has offices
here.
Gib starts tangoing with an imaginary partner.
GIB
Sounds like a job for a
specialist.
52 INT. TASKER HOUSE/ KITCHEN - NIGHT (10PM)
DING! Harry opens the microwave as his dinner finishes re-
heating. He sits down alone at the kitchen table and pulls the
Saran-wrap off the plate. Another solo supper two hours late.
His motions are so automatic we gather that this is the rule,
not the exception. Helen comes in from the living room,
holding the suspense novel she is reading.
HELEN
I need you to talk to Dana. The
vice principle called and she cut
class again this afternoon.
HARRY
I'll handle it.
Harry picks up his porkchop and goes out the back door.
53 EXT. DRIVEWAY - NIGHT
A basketball hoop is bolted to the garage and Dana is shooting
baskets in the driveway. Moths orbit the outside floodlights.
She sinks one, dribbled back to the foul line. Harry comes up
behind her and lifts the ball out of her hands as she stands
poised to shoot. She turns.
HARRY
Dana, Mr. Hardy called. Why
weren't you in class today?
DANA
He lies! I was there! I was in
the nurse's office, cause I had
a headache.
HARRY
You seem fine now.
DANA
Great! You're going to believe
that fat dweeb Mr. Hardy over
your own daughter.
HARRY
I'm not sure what to believe
anymore, young lady. You never
used to lie to me. But lately
you don't seem to know the
difference between right and
wrong.
Dana studies something really fascinating at the end of a
fingernail.
HARRY
Dana, are you listening to me?
DANA
Yeah, Dad.
HARRY
You know you can always talk to
me. Right? Whatever is going on
in your life, your mom and I'll
understand.
DANA
Okay, Dad.
HARRY
You'd tell me if there was
something wrong, wouldn't you,
pumpkin?
DANA
I'm not a pumpkin! Okay?!! Do
I look even remotely like a
pumpkin?! I'm not a muffin, or a
cupcake or a honeybear either!
And you don't understand anything
Dad...
Dana runs into the house, agent. Hold on Harry, superagent,
unable to comprehend the mind of a 14-year-old. He looks up to
see Helen at the backdoor.
HELEN
(macho voice)
"I'll handle it".
CUT TO:
54 OMITTED
55 INT. / EXT. LIMO - DAY (NEXT MORNING)
A BLACK LIMO cruises through a morning fill of bright promise.
INSIDE, Gib is at the wheel in a chauffeur's uniform. He talks
to Harry, riding in the back, without turning.
GIB
It's all set up... ghost phones
and fax, all the usual stuff.
You have a suite at the Marquis
Hotel under Renquist. Okay,
reality check. Go.
HARRY
Hi, I'm Harry Renquist. I own a--
56 INT. JUNO'S OFFICES - DAY
HARRY
--corporate art consulting
company in San Francisco. I have
an appointment with Ms. Skinner--
Harry is extending his business card to the receptionist as
Juno breezes into the lobby from a corridor. She is dressed
sharply and looks as stunning as Harry remembers.
JUNO
Harry! I thought I might see you
again. I just didn't except you
to call so soon.
Juno lingers a second or so long on the handshake.
HARRY
Well, what's the point of
waiting?
JUNO
I agree.
There is definitely unholy magnetism here. She indicates for
Harry to walk with her and leads him through the suite of
offices. There are mounted fragments of ancient sculpture in
niches on either side, and beautifully restored mosaics and
tablets of hieroglyphics mounted on the walls.
JUNO
So your clients want something
for the lobby of their new
corporate headquarters?
HARRY
That's right. They want
something... dramatic. I spoke
to a number of people who said
you're the one to see.
Juno leads Harry through a door into a large warehouse area.
There is a bustle of activity as workmen unpack crates. An
overhead crane is used to move huge stone pieces. There are
massive columns, and statues two stories high. Even the entire
facade of a tomb.
JUNO
So what did these... people...
say about me exactly?
They stroll amongst the statues, as coveralled workmen move
around them with tools, scaffolding, pneumatic equipment. Most
of the workers are middle-eastern.
HARRY
Let's see... that you can read
ancient Sanskrit without having
to sound out the words. And that
other dealers and archeologists
don't like you much.
JUNO
Those wimps. It's because I use
my diplomatic contacts to export
cultural treasures from countries
which tell them to take a hike.
(yelling in Arabic to
two workmen)
I told you to move those crates
an hour ago. Come on guys, let's
get going.
We realize that A WORKMAN is watching them intently from
nearby. He is an intense looking MIDDLE-EASTERN MAN in his mid-
thirties.
JUNO
You see, a lot of these pieces
are from ancient Persia.
Unfortunately, ancient Persia is
twenty feet under the sand of
Iran, Iraq and Syria. Not the
most popular places lately. So
I've had to become an expert in
international diplomacy.
Juno stops and looks at Harry. Her smile indicates the
possibility of more than just business.
JUNO
Well, do you see anything you
like, Mr. Renquist?
CUT TO:
57 INT. HOTEL SUITE - DAY
Harry, Gib and Fast Faisil are in a luxury suite at the MARQUIS
HOTEL. It is a corner suite, with a spectacular view of the
city. Faisil is routinely sweeping the room for bugs with an
electronic DETECTOR.
HARRY
She's importing stuff from all
over the mid-east.
GIB
She could be moving money, guns.
Anything.
FAISIL
And the second you left there, we
started getting calls to the
ghost numbers. They were
checking out the Renquist front.
HARRY
Okay. Let's step up the
surveillance on her. Put on two
more guys.
58 INT. JUNO'S WAREHOUSE - DAY
WE FOLLOW the WORKMAN we saw watching Harry earlier. He
catches up with Juno, who is going through the doors to the
office area. His name is MALIK.
MALIK
Ms. Skinner? Can I speak to you
for a moment please, in your
office?
His manner is self-effacing. Humble. He doesn't meet her
gaze. She nods and they go into the private office.
59 INT. JUNO'S OFFICE - DAY
MALIK comes in behind her and closes the door. The moment they
are away from public observation, his manner changes. His
humble posture straightens and his eyes flash intensely as he
approaches her. Without warning he SLAPS HER HARD ACROSS THE
FACE.
MALIK
You stupid undisciplined bitch!
Her jaw clenches but her reaction is surprisingly submissive.
JUNO
It's a good thing you pay me
well.
MALIK
Do you realize that there are
surveillance teams watching this
place right now? Your phones are
almost certainly tapped. And you
are busy laughing and flirting
like a whore with this Renquist,
who may be a--
JUNO
No. He checked out okay--
Malik slaps her again.
MALIK
That is for interrupting.
(He backhands her)
And that is for being wrong. We
do not tolerate mistakes.
Juno bites her lip.
JUNO
What do you want me to do?
MALIK
Find out who this Renquist it.
JUNO
How?
MALIK
Use the gifts that Allah has
given you.
60 INT. TEKTEL SYSTEMS OFFICES - DUSK
The phone rings on the desk of CHARLENE, Harry's secretary at
Tektel Systems, the permanent front-company for Omega Sector.
SECRETARY
Hello, Tektel Systems. Mr.
Tasker's office.
61 INT. TASKER HOUSE - DUSK
Helen is in the kitchen, showing Dana how to put icing on a
large birthday cake.
HELEN
Hi, Charlene? It's Helen. Is he
there?
62 INT. TEKTEL OFFICES - DUSK
Charlene doesn't hesitate a microsecond.
CHARLENE
Harry's in a sales meeting, Mrs.
Tasker. Let me try him in there.
Hold please.
She punches a key, engaging a digital scrambler and connecting
to--
63 INT. SUITE AT THE MARQUIS - DUSK
A PHONE RINGS. Gib opens his briefcase and looks at the
console of the cellular scrambler-phone inside. The display
reads TEKTEL/CALLER ID POS -- TASKER, HELEN.
GIB
It's Helen.
Harry picks up the phone. INTERCUT THE FOLLOWING WITH HELEN.
HARRY
Hi honey. What's going on?
HELEN
Sorry to bother you in a meeting,
but you have to promise me that
you'll be home at eight. I don't
want Dana and I sitting here by
ourselves like we were last year.
You promise?
HARRY
(laughing)
Baby, I said I'd be there.
Really. Trust me.
(the room phone RINGS)
Gotta go, honey. Bye bye.
RING. Harry raises an eyebrow as he answers.
HARRY
Hello? Oh, Juno, hi.
(pause)
Well sure. I can be there in
twenty minutes.
Harry hangs up. Gib, checking his watch, has a look like he's
got a bad gas pain.
HARRY
What? It's on the way. She says
she's got something for me.
GIB
Yeah, right.
64 INT. JUNO'S WORKSHOP - NIGHT
A WORKMAN guides Harry through the maze of statuary. He points
toward the back of the warehouse and then leaves. Harry is
left alone in the vast space.
Only a few lights are on, rendering the place somewhat Gothic.
Harry strolls in the direction the workman pointed. Ahead of
him, is the huge facade of a royal tomb. There is a flickering
light inside. A shadow moves across the wall in the entryway.
HARRY
Hello?
He enters the stone doorway of the tomb. FOLLOWING HARRY as he
steps into the inner chamber. There is an oil-lamp burning on
a stone sarcophagus, the only light. The room appears empty.
REVERSE ON HARRY. Behind him a figure emerges from a shadowed
alcove. It is Juno. She looks ethereal in the strange light.
JUNO
Hello, Harry.
Harry whips around, startled.
JUNO
Do you like my tomb? The museum
financing fell out, so I thought
your clients might be interested.
HARRY
It's certainly... dramatic.
JUNO
Especially in this light. This
is the only light they had then,
so I like to study it this way.
I love this place. I love all
ruins.
HARRY
Is that why you got into this
business?
Juno turns to him in the flickering half-light. She moves
closer. Her eyes seem to glitter.
JUNO
I've always been a collector at
heart. When I see something I
want, I have to have it.
HARRY
And you have a reputation as
someone who gets what she wants.
She is very close to him. Her eyes seem to glitter in the
light from the oil lamp. She is unbelievably beautiful.
JUNO
Yes, I do.
65 INT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib is sitting in the car, in the shadows, up the street...
with his earphone in place. Listening.
GIB
Harry, this is your conscience
speaking...
66 INT. TOMB - NIGHT
Juno picks up the lamp and walks along the wall, holding it up
so that the flickering shadows seem to bring the bas-relief
figures to life. Stone faces shift and change, stone eyes
move.
JUNO
Look at this. People who dies
twenty centuries ago.
Juno presses her cheek against the cold stone. She runs her
fingers slowly across the figures. It is strange and erotic.
JUNO
They breathed and loved and wept,
just like us. And now their
ideals, their religions, their
social orders... are gone like
mist. What did any of it matter?
She crosses to Harry.
JUNO
I only hope they lived well.
That they got what they wanted.
She puts her hands on him and pulls herself close. It is a
hypnotic moment.
JUNO
Getting what you want is the only
important thing.
She kisses him, very lightly, with infinite sensuality.
67 INT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
GIB
Harry? Listen to the following
code word. Helen. H-E-L-E-N.
Now, do you want me to I beep
you?
68 INT. TOMB - NIGHT
Harry breaks the kiss... slowly pulling back.
HARRY
Yes.
JUNO
Yes what?
HARRY
Uh, yes, it is important.
Juno is moving in for a more passionate lip-lock when-- BEEP
BEEP BEEP!! Harry pulls his beeper off his hip and looks at
it. The moment is spoiled.
HARRY
Uh, it looks like I have to run.
I'll call you tomorrow. Your
proposal is very interesting.
69 INT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib lets out a big exhale of relief. He looks at his watch.
70 INT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
Helen and Dana are sitting expectantly at the dining room
table. There is a big cake, and presents piled on the buffet.
The food is getting cold. Helen looks at her watch.
DANA
See.
71 INT./EXT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Harry is changing clothes, getting ready to be Harry Tasker
again, as Gib drives through evening traffic. Gib keeps
checking the rearview.
GIB
We have a friend. Five cars
back, inside lane. They've been
on us since we left Juno's.
Harry adjusts the passenger side mirror.
HARRY
Station wagon?
GIB
Uh huh. Want me to lose them?
HARRY
No. We need this lead.
(into his Rover)
Unit Seven.
UNIT SEVEN (FAISIL)
Seven here.
HARRY
(into Rover)
I need you at the Georgetown mall
in three minutes.
SEVEN
Copy that. We're rolling.
GIB
Helen's going to be pissed.
HARRY
See, that's the problem with
terrorists. They're really
inconsiderate when it comes to
people's schedules.
72 INT. STATION WAGON - NIGHT
There are three men in the car. YUSIF and MAHMOUD are in the
front, with Mahmoud driving. In the back, shadowed, we can
just make out ABU MALIK. Yusif is massively built, with a body
like a beer-keg. Mahmoud is skinny and intense.
73 OMITTED
74 INT./EXT. GIB'S CAR - MALL - NIGHT
Harry puts his SUB-VOCAL TRANSCEIVER into his ear canal.
HARRY
Test two three.
(Gib nods, receiving)
Pull over here.
Gib pulls the car to the curb near the mall entrance. Half a
block behind them the station wagon does the same. Harry slips
on the virtual-image sunglasses and gets out of the car.
75 EXT. MALL - NIGHT
Harry pauses on the sidewalk a moment to light a cigarette. He
coughs slightly.
GIB
(in his ear)
You don't smoke, dickhead.
Harry lets his hand drop to his side, holding the pack of
cigarettes casually. He turns his hand. The tiny lens in the
cigarette pack glints.
POV VIDEO SCREEN --inside the left lens of the glasses. The
camera in the cigarette pack reveals Yusif and Mahmoud getting
out of their cars, crossing the street half a block away.
HARRY strolls into the mall. It is an open promenade design,
with a moderate crowd of shoppers and movie-goers. Harry
watches in the glasses as Mahmoud and Yusif slip through the
crowd behind him.
GIB (VO)
What's the plan?
HARRY
(apparently mumbling to
himself)
Gonna try to get a closer shot of
Beavis & Butthead.
76 INT. / EXT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib looks in the rearview, studying the car behind him.
GIB
There's another guy, still in the
car.
HARRY
(on radio)
Stay on him.
All Gib can see is a silhouette in the car. A soft cherry
glow, the tip of a cigarette in the dark. No features.
77 EXT. MALL - NIGHT
Harry turns off the main concourse, into a narrower walkway
between shops. In the video-glasses he watches Yusif and
Mahmoud, who have split up to look less conspicuous, as they
track him through the pedestrian traffic.
78 INT. / EXT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib in on the cellular phone.
GIB
Helen? Hi, it's Gib. Harry
remembered something he left at
the office. You know Harry.
As he is talking he sees that a bus has blocked his view of the
station wagon.
79 INT. HARRY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
She sighs fatalistically.
HELEN
Yeah, Gib. I know Harry.
Helen hangs up the phone just as Dana strides through the room,
putting on a jacket and heading for the front door.
HELEN
Where are you going?
DANA
Out. If Dad doesn't care enough
about us to be here on his
birthday, then why should I care?
I'm going to a movie.
HELEN
No you're not. You're going to
stay here until your father gets
home and have cake!
DANA
Mom, wake up! Dad barely knows
we exist.
We see the hurt in her eyes. She doesn't hate her father. She
just misses him.
HELEN
That's not true, honey--
DANA
It is true! He doesn't know
anything about me. He still
thinks I'm like ten years old or
something. As long as I just
smile and say yes to whatever he
says, like his good little
fantasy daughter, he thinks
everything's fine. But it's not
fine. Nothing's fine.
Dana runs out the kitchen by the other door. Helen runs
after her.
HELEN
Dana! Come back here!
The slamming door is her answer.
80 EXT. MALL - MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
Yusif sees Harry, up ahead, enter a public restroom. He
signals Mahmoud with his eyes and the two of them close in on
the restroom.
81 INT. / EXT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib hangs up the car-phone. Ten the bus blocking his view
finally pulls away and Gib see that the station wagon is
empty. No silhouette.
GIB
Oh shit.
(into his headset)
Harry, I lost the third guy.
Harry?
82 INT. RESTROOM - NIGHT
Harry can't answer because Mahmoud just entered the room behind
him. Harry is at one of the urinals, apparently taking a leak.
Mahmoud goes to the mirror. Starts combing his hair. He
doesn't much notice the pack of Camels sitting on the counter
nearby. Harry is whistling. Shaking himself.
HARRY'S POV - In the video glasses Harry sees himself and
Mahmoud. Yusif comes into the restroom, seemingly ignoring
both Harry and Mahmoud, as if heading for the stalls. As he
passes behind Harry he reaches into his coat--
Harry spins lightning fast. He knocks away the SILENCED PISTOL
aimed at the back of his head with a sweeping block, capturing
Yusif's arm in an arm-lock. The shot goes wide, shattering a
urinal.
Harry slams his palm into Yusif's face like a piledriver, and
spins him against the steel stalls. The silenced pistol goes
skittering across the floor.
Mahmoud whips a pistol out of his waistband. Still holding the
bear-like Yusif, Harry draws his Glock so fast we can barely
see him move. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Three .45 slugs go through
Mahmoud's chest, shattering the mirror behind him. He flops on
his butt, slumping against the wall.
Yusif, who is easily Harry's size, bellows and grabs his gun
arm. They smash against the walls, struggling for the gun.
Yusif, locked to Harry, hurls him against the stalls. They hit
a locked door, which pops open, banging inward.
Yusif drives Harry to the floor. Harry's head is between the
shoes of an OLD GUY sitting on the can, who looks down
uncomprehendingly at him.
Yusif slams Harry's gun hand repeatedly against the doorframe
of the stall. He twists Harry's wrist brutally. He even
pounds against Harry's hand with his knee. The old guy winces.
That's got to hurt. Harry cries out in pain and the gun drops.
Yusif reaches for it, but Harry kicks it under the stalls.
He punches Yusif in the face, driving him back. They grapple,
spinning. Harry drives Yusif's head into the counter. Then he
elbows him in the throat and they crash together on the filthy
floor. Harry grabs Yusif's hair and pounds his face repeatedly
against the rim of a urinal. In case you haven't noticed, this
is a messy, nasty fight. Survival is like that.
Yusif sags into submission. Harry pulls a nylon zip-strip out
of his pocket and uses it like hand-cuffs, securing Yusif's
wrists.
83 EXT. MALL - NIGHT
Gib is running full out, drawing his gun. He has one finger
jammed in his ear. His gut is doing the rumba as he runs.
GIB
Harry? Harry, you copy?! Shit!
84 INT. RESTROOM - NIGHT
Harry is pulling Yusif to his feet when the door bangs open
behind him. He turns, thinking it is Gib. It's not. Malik
raises a FULL-AUTO BERETTA 92-F and opens fire. Harry spins
Yusif between him and the machine pistol. Yusif's beer-keg
body stops the spray of 9mm slugs form hitting Harry long
enough for him to dive into a stall.
Malik hoses the room with the Beretta. The metal stalls are
riddled with hits.
HARRY is in the stall with the old guy, who's just sitting
there. The walls of the stall are pimpling with the hits on
the far side. Harry reaches under the stall, retrieving his
Glock.
MALIK goes empty. Harry hears that and pops out, cranking off
rounds--
Malik is a blur going out the door, as Harry's shots shatter
tiles on the doorframe. Then silence.
HARRY
(to the old guy)
Sorry.
85 EXT. MALL - NIGHT
MOVING WITH MALIK, who backs rapidly away from the restroom,
reloading.
GIB (OFF)
FREEZE!!!
Malik spins to see Gib nearby, going into a firing stance
behind a light-standard. The terrorist doesn't hesitate. His
Beretta ROARS at 900 rounds per minute.
Gib tries to hide behind the light-standard, which is about
half as wide as he is. Shots hit all around him, shattering
window glass behind him. His stomach sticks out from behind
the pole. He sucks it in. Now his butt is sticking out on the
other side. Shots clang into the steel column, and riddle
everything behind him.
GIB
WRONG! THIS IS NOT GOOD!
Just when it looks like Gib is going to get a 9mm tummy tuck,
Malik turns and sprints away, through shocked pedestrians.
Harry runs out of the restroom, trying for a shot, but there
are too many people in the line of fire and Malik knows it.
HARRY
Get back to the car!
Gib nods and heads the other way as Harry takes off after
Malik. Malik is fast and vicious. He hurls people out of the
way, sending shoppers sprawling. Harry is ruthless in his
pursuit. They pound through the mall and out onto the street--
86 EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Malik sprints straight into traffic. A car screeches, not
stopping in time... Malik goes right over the hood. Harry
leaps over the hoods of cars after him. Malik sees Harry
coming after him like a juggernaut.
He turns and sees a MOTORCYCLIST coming down the street,
accelerating from a right-turn. Malik runs at him, clothes-
lining him right off the bike. The terrorist picks up the
nimble little Kawasaki 250, which is still running, and leaps
on. He pops the clutch and takes off. Harry pounds after him
like a locomotive. He sees Malik turn, taking the bike path
into a large PARK. Harry cuts into the park on a diagonal.
87 EXT. PARK - NIGHT
ON HARRY, running. Ahead is a MOUNTED COP. Harry doesn't
break stride, heading right for the cop on the horse. The cop
turns, surprised, a split second before-- Harry pulls him off
the horse and slams him to the ground (he's wearing a helmet).
HARRY
Federal Officer in pursuit of
suspect! Sorry.
Harry is in the saddle and galloping after Malik before the cop
can get his gut out of the holster to stop him.
MALIK roars through the park on the Kawasaki. He looks back,
amazed to see Harry charging after him on a horse. They
scatter joggers and bicyclists, people walking their dogs.
TRACKING WITH THEM as they rocket through the park. Malik
leaves the winding path and goes straight through the trees.
Harry charges through some rollerbladers who go sprawling.
Malik fires his Beretta straight back at Harry, emptying it.
He drops the pistol and crouches over the bike, twisting the
last bit of throttle out of it. They are going flat out,
through the trees, in a kinetic blur.
88 EXT. STREET - NEAR MALL - NIGHT
Gib, panting and heaving, pulls his car into traffic. The Unit
Seven car pulls out as well, up the block.
GIB
Harry, what's your twenty?
89 EXT. PARK/ STREETS - NIGHT
Harry is legging the police horse hard. He has his reigns in
one hand, his Glock in the other. It's the wild west.
HARRY
Westbound in the park... suspect
is on a motorcycle... he's going
to come out on Franklin. Hang
on--
Harry leaps a park bench like he's in a steeple chase.
HARRY (CONT'D)
I want you on 14th in case he
turns south. And I need Seven on
the north side to box him in.
90 INT. /EXT. GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
Gib is weaving furiously through traffic. He slides into a
turn.
GIB
Copy that.
HARRY
And make it fast. My horse is
getting tired.
ON GIB, mouthing "Your horse?"
91 EXT. STREET - NEXT TO PARK - NIGHT
Malik explodes through the bushes and out onto the street.
Cars skid around him, out of control. He turns south. Weaving
through traffic. Harry leaps the hedgerow behind Malik and
gallops among the spun-out cars. He goes right over the hood
on one which is blocking his path. The driver ducks as the
horse's hoof cracks the windshield.
92 EXT. STREET/ HYATT REGENCY HOTEL - NIGHT
Up ahead traffic is stopped, jammed tight at a light. Malik
goes into the oncoming traffic lanes, which are empty. Gib's
car slides around the corner in a blare of horns and comes
barrelling down the street toward him. Gib cranks the wheel
the slides the car broadside, blocking both lanes. Malik locks
up the brakes and the bike slides to a stop. Then the
terrorist pops the clutch and wheels the bike around-- Jumping
the curb and going straight at the entrance of THE HYATT
REGENCY HOTEL.
Bellmen and guests scatter as the bike roars right at them.
The sliding doors and opening for a bellman coming out with
bags and Malik blasts past him into the lobby.
HARRY ducks, galloping through the doors after him.
93 INT. HOTEL - NIGHT
Acres of marble and red carpet. Liveries porters. Guests
dressed for evening, the men in suits, diamonds on the women.
And sudden pandemonium as Malik roars through the lobby, with
Harry charging along behind him. Malik guns it across the
lounge, knocking over tables. He gets air at the top of the
steps going up to the RESTAURANT.
Harry swerves to avoid a panicking guest and finds himself
careening toward the JAZZ QUARTET at a full gallop. He gathers
the animal and LEAPS (in glorious SLOW MOTION) over the
bassist, who is diving for the carpet. Harry and horse land
deftly and then he urges his mount right up the steps after
Malik.
94 INT. HOTEL RESTAURANT - NIGHT
Malik roars between the tables, looking around wildly for a way
out. Harry charges in, ducking to avoid the chandelier.
Waiters, trays, dinners, tables... everything seems to be
flying at once as people dive out of the way.
95 INT. HOTEL - MAIN HALL - NIGHT
MALIK skids out into the main hall by another door, and sees--
the ELEVATORS. The door is just closing on one of them. He
guns it and slides through the doors.
HARRY RIDES out of the restaurant in time to catch a glimpse of
Malik as the doors close.
96 INT. SCENIC ELEVATOR - NIGHT
Harry canters the horse into the next elevator, which has just
been boarded by an older couple. He has to practically lie
down on the horse to fit through the door. The animal barely
fits, nose to tail, in what turns out to be--
A GLASS ELEVATOR with a view of the whole atrium of the hotel
as it rises, right to the top of the building. Harry looks
through the glass at the elevator car next to him, fifteen feet
away. Malik is inside, punching a button. He glances up and
sees Harry. There eyes meet for a moment, just before Malik's
car ascends rapidly. Malik's malevolent glare is etched on
Harry's retinas.
The older couple is jammed against the side-wall by Harry's
panting, snorting horse. It clomps around the tight elevator.
The woman is trying to crawl between her husband and the wall.
HARRY
Can you just press the top floor,
please.
The man nods mutely and complies. Their elevator takes off,
rising after Malik's.
97 INT. HOTEL LOBBY - NIGHT
Gib runs in with Faisil and Keough. They follow the path of
destruction, growing more and more amazed. Gib yells to one of
the porters.
GIB
The guy on the horse?!
The porter points at the elevators.
98 INT. / EXT. SCENIC ELEVATORS - NIGHT
Harry has slid off the horse to get next to the control panel.
He can look up at an angle and see Malik in the car above him.
His thumb hovers over the emergency stop button. If Malik gets
out at any floor, Harry will have a moment to react and stop.
Malik can look down and see this. He knows Harry's got him.
He just keeps going, floor after floor, using the time to
think.
The older woman is still just staring, trying not to breathe.
The horse flicks her in the face with his tail.
99 INT. /EXT. ROOFTOP - NIGHT
The rooftop has a spectacular view of the city. TRACKING WITH
Malik as he comes out of the elevator, rides to the far edge of
the roof and slides to a stop. He looks down twenty stories.
THE SECOND ELEVATOR arrives. The doors part and Harry comes
out, with his Glock poised and ready. He sees Malik revving
his bike. The terrorist brodies the bike into a fast one-
eighty and speeds back toward the edge of the roof. Amazingly,
he increases speed, ROARING RIGHT OFF THE EDGE, ARCING THE
BIKE SUICIDALLY OUT INTO SPACE!
Harry rides to the edge in time to see Malik, on his bike,
CLEAR A 60 FOOT JUMP and SPLASH INTO THE ROOFTOP POOL of a
LOWER BUILDING next to the hotel!
Harry is out of control now, seeing the guy setting away. He
wheels his mount and charges across the roof to get some
running space. Then he turns again, back toward the edge Malik
jumped from. He kicks the horse's flanks and yells HAAHH!!
The horse's hoofs thunder on the roof as they go full tilt
toward the edge.
But a horse is not a motorcycle. It is slightly smarter. It
slams its front hoofs down together, stopping suddenly. Harry
goes right over its head. He flies forward, almost going right
off the roof. He slams to the edge, with his legs dangling
over, holding onto a piece of pipe with one hand. His Glock
tumbles down into darkness.
Harry sees Malik far below, climb out of the pool, running to
the roof door of the other building. Getting away. Harry
clambers up onto his own roof, breathing hard. He walks over
to the horse.
HARRY
What the hell were you thinking?
We had the guy and you let him
get away.
He looks into the horse's innocent brown eyes. Pats its neck
fondly.
HARRY
What kind of cop are you?
100 INT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
Helen is asleep at the dining room table next to a half-eaten
cake and some melted ice cream. His unopened presents are
piled at one end of the table. She raises her head as Harry
enters sheepishly.
HARRY
Look, I know you're upset. I'm
really sorry, honey. I raced
home as quick--
HELEN
It's okay, don't bother, Harry.
He goes to her and puts his arms around her. He is tender with
her. He wishes he can tell her the truth.
HARRY
I'm sorry. Thank you for the
party.
HELEN
Yeah. It was great.
Helen finds a smile for him somewhere. She really does love
him, though more and more often lately she finds her heart in
pain.
HELEN
Let's go to bed, Harry. There's
only one present you have to open
tonight.
She grins and arches one eyebrow meaningfully.
101 INT. BEDROOM / BATHROOM - NIGHT
Helen walks Harry to the edge of the bed and sits him down.
She puts her hand on his chest and pushes, causing him to lie
back.
HELEN
Don't move. I'll be right back.
She turns on the stereo. A Kenny G disc she put in there
earlier. Soft tenor sax flows around the room. Helen enters
the BATHROOM and shuts the door partway. She opens a cupboard
and quickly pulls out some things she hid there earlier. A
bottle of champagne on ice. Two glasses. Some trashy
lingerie.
HARRY
Come on to bed, you don't have to
brush your teeth.
HELEN
I'll just be a second. So what
happened tonight at the office?
HARRY
I couldn't believe it. I go back
to get this report I need, right,
and the phone is ringing, so like
a bonehead I answer it--
Helen is hurrying to put on the unfamiliar lingerie. G-string
panties and low-cut bra. She holds up the garter belt, turning
it backward and forward, trying to figure out which way it
goes.
ON HARRY, yawning. Lying with the ease of years of practice.
HARRY
It's the big client in Japan,
and it's the middle of the
morning there and their whole
system is crashed... this guy's
having a meltdown--
HELEN
(keeping him talking)
What'd you do, honey?
HARRY
Well I pull out the manual on
their setup, which is the new 680
server...
Helen is pulling up the black stockings. She fastens the
garters to the tops. Her features are a scowl of
concentration. She is very earnest in her preparations.
HARRY (CONT'D)
...and I'm troubleshooting it
with them over the phone...
talking to a translator, right,
who's getting half of it wrong...
it was unbelievable... really
wild.
HELEN
(putting on black
pumps)
It sounds wild. So now you're a
big hero, right? For fixing
their system.
HARRY
(faintly)
Uh huh.
HELEN
My husband the hero.
Red lipstick. Then she puts a little perfume on her wrists.
HELEN
I'll be right there, honey. Just
a minute.
Harry doesn't answer. Helen puts a little perfume down the
front of her panties.
HELEN
Just a second.
Helen quickly pours two glasses of champagne. Then she slinks
around the doorframe, making her entrance. She looks like a
living 900 number. Helen stands before the bed, looking down,
holding the champagne glasses.
ON HARRY: sprawled on the bed, fully clothed, snoring softly.
A little bit of drool is coming out the side of his mouth.
HOLD ON HELEN, all dressed up with no place to go. She gazes
down at him, her shoulders slumping.
HELEN
Happy Birthday, Harry.
She sighs deeply and downs her champagne in one long gulp.
CUT TO:
102 EXT. STREET/ NEAR HIGH-SCHOOL - DAY
It is the following morning. Harry and Gib are staked out
watching the front of Dana's school. Actually, Harry is staked
out, scanning the crowds of kids with binoculars.
Gib just keeps looking at his watch. He picks up a cellular
phone and pretends to call the office.
GIB
Hey, did that guy Harry chased
last night call in to give
himself up yet? Cause apparently
that's the only way we're going
to catch the son of a bitch --
HARRY
(not listening)
Okay. Here she comes.
103 EXT. STREET - DAY
HARRY'S POV THROUGH BINOCULARS - We see Dana come out to the
curb and meet Trent, who pulls up on his bike. She gets on
behind him, adjusts her walkman headphones over her ears and he
launches out into traffic.
104 INT. HARRY'S CAR - DAY
Harry, who is behind the wheel, pulls out after her. Trent
weaves radically through the light traffic, going in between
the cars.
HARRY
Look at the way the little punk
is driving. He's all over the
place. Look-- he hasn't
signalled once.
GIB
Goddammit! That's outrageous.
Harry speeds up. Somebody honks as he cuts them off to stay
with Trent.
105 EXT. MOTORCYCLE - DAY
ON DANA AND TRENT as she looks back and sees Harry following
her. She is mortified that her father is actually tailing her
DANA
Oh my God! I think that's my
dad!
TRENT
Hang on!
Trent downshifts and punches it. The nimble little bike
screams as it zips between cars.
106 INT. HARRY'S CAR - DAY
HARRY
(clenching his jaw)
So, you wanna play huh? You
little--
GIB
(rolling his eyes)
That's it. Get 'im Harry
(he draws a pistol)
We'll teach that little puke not
to signal.
107 EXT. MOTORCYCLE
BACK ON TRENT, who's actually a really good rider. He zig-zags
through the cars, cutting between them at the next light where
Gib and Harry get blocked. He cuts a sharp right turn and
disappears.
108 INT. HARRY'S CAR - DAY
Harry is stuck in stopped traffic. He pounds the wheel in
frustration.
GIB
(exploding with
laughter)
Ha! The little prick ditched
you! That is so goddamn funny.
HARRY
Son of a bitch!
GIB
Can we go to the office now, Mr.
Superspy?
CUT TO:
109 INT. OMEGA SECTOR / I.D. ANALYSIS ROOM - DAY
Harry is sitting at a computer workstation, lit by the monitor
screen. Gib and Faisil look on as he clicks through HEADSHOTS
of known terrorists. CLICK. CLICK. CLICK. Harry is very
focussed. He stops. He goes back one. Studies the face.
110 INT. ANALYSIS ROOM - TIGHT ON THE SCREEN - DAY
A defiant looking Syrian with a full beard.
HARRY holds up his hand, blocking out the beard, concentrating
on the eyes.
HARRY
That's him.
111 INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Harry slaps photos down in front of Trilby.
HARRY
Abu Kaleem Malik.
GIB
(reading from a file)
Hardcore, highly fanatical, ultra-
fundamentalist. Linked to
numerous car-bombings, that cafe
bomb in Rome, and the 727 out of
Lisbon last year. Major player.
FAISIL
Now he's formed his own splinter
faction called CRIMSON JIHAD.
GIB
Guess he thought the other
terrorist groups were too warm
and fuzzy for his taste.
FAISIL
They call him "The Sand Spider".
TRILBY
Why?
FAISIL
(he shrugs)
Probably because it sounds scary.
TRILBY
This is impressive, gentlemen.
Of course, it would have been
even more impressive if you
actually knew where he was.
HARRY
We'll get him.
TRILBY
Yes. You will.
(meaning-- you damn
well better)
Harry, I still want you in
charge, even though your cover is
blown. Just keep a low profile.
(he slaps a newspaper
on the table)
I generally prefer it when my
covert operations don't make the
front page.
The agents look at the headlines: WILD WEST CHASE. Harry and
Gib wince.
112 EXT. HELEN'S OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
Harry and Gib pull to the curb in front of the building.
GIB
What's going on?
Harry gets out of the car and turns back, leaning in the door
to talk to Gib.
HARRY
Look, uh... I've got to talk to
Helen about this thing with Dana.
I'm just going to run in and see
if she can get away for lunch.
GIB
You want me to just hang-- ?
HARRY
Just hang a minute.
GIB
I'll just hang then, shall I?
113 INT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
Harry enters the office of Helen's firm. He stops at
reception.
RECEPTIONIST
Hello Mr. Tasker. Just a second,
I'll buzz Helen.
HARRY
No. No, I'd like to surprise
her. Thanks, I know where her
desk is.
He smiles and breezes past her before she has a chance to
object.
114 INT. HELEN'S OFFICE - DAY
TRACKING WITH HARRY as he moves through the offices. He passes
through a library-like maze of records stacks. Through them he
can see Helen at her desk. But as he approaches, still
concealed, ALLISON puts a call on hold and whips around to
Helen.
ALLISON
Helen!
(grinning
conspiratorially)
It's your mystery man.
HELEN
Simon? Ohmygod.
Helen, normally the image of composure, goes suddenly fluttery
and nervous as a high-school girl. She takes the phone,
turning away from Allison.
HELEN
Hello, Simon?
(pause)
It's all right. There's no one
around.
Helen glimpses Allison with her ears cocked and gives her a
scowl and a shooing motion. Allison turns away, grinning.
115 INT. OFFICE - STACKS OF RECORDS - DAY
ON HARRY, behind the stacks, reacting. He silently mouths
"SIMON?!"
116 INT. HELEN'S OFFICE - DAY
HELEN
You mean right now?
(she looks around
guiltily)
I guess so. Okay. I'll be right
there.
(pause)
Yes. I can't wait. Bye.
She hangs up, a little flushed. Then turns to Allison.
HELEN
Can you cover me for an hour?
ALLISON
Just an hour? You should tell
this stud to take more time.
HELEN
Will you shutup. I should never
have told you about him.
Helen grabs her purse and rushes out, going right past the
stack where Harry is standing, dumbfounded. He looks like he
was slammed in the stomach with a lead pipe. His whole like is
unravelling.
117 EXT. BUILDING - DAY
Gib sees Harry crossing the street, holding his stomach. He
seems dazed. He is not so much walking to the car as wandering
in its general direction. He stops, in the street. Gib gets
out of the car and rushes to him. He pulls him out of the path
of a bus which is HONKING irritably.
GIB
You look like you got gut-kicked.
What's the matter? You sick?
Harry leans against the car for support.
HARRY
(barely audible)
He-- Helen. Helen-- it's Helen.
It's Helen, Gib.
GIB
Something to do with Helen, is
what I'm getting.
HARRY
She's having an affair.
Harry's best friend in the world brightens with the news. He
slaps him on the back.
GIB
Congratulations. Welcome to the
club.
HARRY
It can't be. Not Helen.
GIB
Nobody believes it can happen to
them.
HARRY
It can't be.
GIB
Same thing happened to me with
wife two. I had no idea until I
came home and the house was
empty. I mean empty. She even
took the ice-cube trays from the
fridge. What kind of person
would think of that?
HARRY
(not listening)
I still don't believe it.
GIB
Relax. Helen still loves you.
She just wants this guy to bang
her. It's nothing serious.
You'll get used to it after a --
Harry wheels around on Gib, grabbing him by the lapels, and
slams him against the car.
HARRY
STOP. CHEERING. ME. UP.
We see in Harry's rage, frustration, and hurt confusion a
vulnerability we never expected to see.
GIB
What'dya expect Harry? She's a
flesh and blood woman. And
you're never there. It was only
a matter of time.
Harry sags. His friend is right. Gib opens the car door and
helps him in like an invalid, talking soothingly the whole time--
GIB
I say we concentrate on work.
That's how I always got through
it whenever my life turned to
dogshit. Let's catch some
terrorists and then you can beat
the crap out of them. You'll
feel better.
Gib gets in and starts the car, full of stoic cheer for Harry.
GIB
Women. Can't live with 'em.
Can't kill 'em.
118 INT. OMEGA SECTOR / LISTENING ROOM - DAY
Harry and Gib are in the LISTENING ROOM. Banks of tape-decks
recording calls, rows of technicians in cubicles processing and
collating transcripts.
GIB
He's giving us a blank check on
wiretaps. So I've set 'em up on
all of Juno's shipping agents,
her clients, and Faisil made up
a list of possible contacts that
Crimson Jihad might have in this
country. Now all we can do is
wait --
He notices Harry is not listening.
GIB
Is this national security stuff
boring you?
HARRY
Put a tap on her phone.
GIB
What're you talking about? We
have that.
HARRY
Helen's phone. Her office line
and the line at my house.
Gib gives Harry a stricken look, and glances around nervously.
He pulls him into an empty office.
GIB
(a whispered hiss)
Okay . . .I have two words to
describe that idea. In. Sane.
Unauthorized wiretap is a felony,
pard.
Harry grabs him and rams him up against the wall, his teeth
clenched.
HARRY
Yeah, and we do it twenty times
a day. Don't give me that crap.
Just put on the taps. Now.
GIB
Sure, Harry. I'm on it.
Harry releases him and turns away. Gib straightens his jacket,
looking at his friend like he's completely losing it.
119 INT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
That night Harry is actually there on time for dinner. He
glances at Dana, who has been eyeing him warily. She looks at
her peas.
HARRY
How was school today?
DANA
Fine.
Harry takes a bite of his food, watching her. Silence. Helen
glances at him.
HELEN
So. You came by to see me today?
She is a too casual, masking her nervousness.
HARRY
I was in the area, and I thought
you might like to have lunch.
HELEN
They must've just missed me.
HARRY
They said you had to run out.
HELEN
Yeah. It was a rush thing. They
needed some documents down at the
court house. I barely made it.
Harry watches her lying to him with some amazement. You can
see the jaw muscles clenching.
HARRY
So, a little excitement in an
otherwise dull day. Did is work
out okay?
HELEN
Oh, sure. Fine.
(she gets up suddenly)
I'll get some more gravy.
DANA
I'm done.
Dana bolts. She has eaten about four bites. Harry sits at the
table, alone. He feels isolated, knowing that everybody is
lying to everybody else. He is a man without a center, lost.
CUT TO:
120 INT. OMEGA SECTOR/ LISTENING ROOM - DAY
TRACKING ALONG THE BANK OF RECORDERS. Harry comes to a
particular set of machines. He reaches past the technician and
picks up the hard-copy of the transcripts.
ON HARRY walking and leafing through the phone transcripts.
Gib watches him through a glass partition, shaking his head
slowly. Harry freezes, staring at the page and WE HEAR THE
SOUND OF THE CONVERSATION OVERLAID:
HELEN
Hello?
SIMON
Helen? It's Simon. Is it safe
to talk?
HELEN
Yes. Go ahead.
121 INT. CAR - FLASHBACK SEQUENCE - DAY
A man in his mid-thirties, sitting in a car SOMEPLACE (DAY),
speaks into a cellular phone. This is SIMON. He is dark
haired, and fairly good-looking in an off-beat way. He is
unshaven and his clothes look slept in. He glances around in
a furtive manner.
SIMON
I can't talk long. Can you meet
me for lunch tomorrow? I must
see you.
122 INT. HELEN'S OFFICE - DAY
NOW WE SEE HELEN, at her office.
HELEN
Yes. I suppose so. Where?
SIMON
The same place. One o'clock. I
have to go now. See you
tomorrow. Remember, I need you.
123 INT. LISTENING ROOM - DAY
The last line is played ON HARRY, reading. Now he is seeing
the proof in black and white. He slowly crumples the paper in
one hand, his expression dark.
124 INT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
Helen is reading in bed. She glances up as Harry comes into
the room. Gives him a quick smile. Too quick.
HARRY
I thought we might have lunch
tomorrow.
HELEN
I can't, honey. I promised
Allison I'd go shopping with her.
Sorry.
Harry watches her smoothly lying to him. It's surreal to him.
HARRY
No problem.
He surreptitiously picks up Helen's purse from a dresser and
goes into the hall.
125 OMITTED
126 EXT. TASKER HOUSE - NIGHT
THE FRONT DOOR OPENS and Harry comes out, walking Gizmo on a
leash. Harry walks briskly along the sidewalk, jerking the
poor dog along twice as fast as his little legs will go.
127 EXT. SIDEWALK, BY GIB'S CAR - NIGHT
He reaches Gib's car, half a block up, and hands him Helen's
purse. Gib eyes the dog warily. He growls at it. Gizmo hides
behind Harry's legs.
GIB
Look, Harry. I know this is
rough. I felt the same way the
first time it happened to--
Harry holds up one finger. His eyes and expression are so
intense, Gib just soft of trails off.
GIB
Right.
(hefting the purse)
So . . . the usual, right?
GPS locator, telemetry burst
transmitter, audio transmitter,
power supply.
HARRY
Just have is back in two hours.
128
thru OMITTED
129
130 INT. / EXT. HELEN'S CAR - DAY
TIGHT ON THE PURSE sitting on the seat next to her as Helen
drives through the city.
131 INT. / EXT. N.D. SEDAN - DAY
Harry drives while Gib watches--
132 INT. SEDAN, CLOSE UP ON MAP - DAY
A COMPUTERIZED MAP below the dash. Helen's purse appears as a
moving blip on a street-map of the city.
133 INT. / EXT. SEDAN - DAY
GIB
Okay, she's turning on
Seventeenth. Make a left, you
should see her.
Harry makes the turn.
HARRY
There she is.
134 EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY
Up ahead they see Helen's RED ACCORD pulling into a parking low
next to a CAFE. Harry parks the car a block away and gets out
his binoculars.
135 EXT. HELEN'S CAR THROUGH BINOCULARS - DAY
HARRY'S POV through the scope. Helen gets out of her car and
looks around as she walks to the cafe. It is not a nervous
look, but it is clear she is making sure she is not followed.
She goes inside.
136 INT. SEDAN - DAY
HARRY
Give me audio.
Gib hits a switch and they hear the clamor of the cafe at lunch
rush come over a speaker.
137 INT. CAFE - DAY
The restaurant is nothing fancy. A little dark. Helen makes
her way to a booth in the back. Sitting in the shadows, facing
the door, is SIMON. She sits down opposite him. He doesn't
smile or kiss her in greeting, but glances around the room like
he expects a threat to leap out at any moment.
SIMON
Are you sure you weren't
followed?
HELEN
I kept looking back, like you
taught me. I didn't see anyone.
SIMON
Okay. It's just, things are a
bit hot for me right now. If I
get a signal...
(holds up a cigarette
lighter meaningfully)
I may have to leave suddenly.
HELEN
I understand.
SIMON
It's my job to risk my life, but
not yours. I feel bad about
bringing you into this, but
you're the only one I can trust.
Simon creates an atmosphere of danger. His haggardness give
him an air of mystery and desperation.
HELEN
Where were you? On a... uh,
mission?
SIMON
Ssshhh! We say Op. Covert
operation. And this one got a
little rough.
HELEN
Worse than Cairo?
SIMON
Cairo was a day at the beach next
to this.
138 INT. SEDAN - DAY
Harry and Gib turn to each other, shocked with the dawning
awareness.