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4 Motive - Riverboat
Justice
EXT. RIVERBOAT PARKING LOT - DAY
Adrian, sitting on his motorcycle and hidden by tourist cars, watches
the limo down the street from Zigler Concessions. LORA exits from Zigler
Concessions. He admires her as she walks. A moment later the limo moves
forward. Lora sees it, turns, and moves quickly the other direction. Adrian
notices Lora's actions and moves toward her on his cycle. The limo lurches
forward and a man springs out to capture Lora. She starts to run. Adrian
guns it, and just before the man can get his hands on her, he runs between
them, hitting the man's arm. Adrian stops and turns in time to see the
man pulling a handgun. He guns the engine, doing a wheely aimed straight
at the gunman. The gunman jumps out of the way, falling and losing his
gun under the car. As he scrambles for it, Adrian pulls Lora onto the cycle
behind him and roars away. Caliano watches from within.
EXT. CITY STREET & PARKING GARAGE - DAY
Adrian pulls into a parking garage and takes Lora through a tunnel into
an office complex. As they walk, they talk.
ADRIAN
Who were those men?
LORA
Th... Thank-you, mister... What's your
name?
ADRIAN
Adrian. Yours?
LORA
Lora.
ADRIAN
Lora. Who were those men, and why
were they trying to take you?
Lora stops. She is still very nervous.
LORA
Look, I'm very grateful to you for
saving me. But I can't tell you about
those men. They're very dangerous.
ADRIAN
I suppose they won't try this again?
Lora breaks into tears. Mouthing 'yes' as she sobs. Adrian takes her in
his arms and holds her as she cries freely.
INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
Adrian and Lora are seated at a booth and the waiter is just leaving
after taking their order.
ADRIAN
Who were those men?
LORA
You don't give up, do you?
ADRIAN
(Smiles)
Not on pretty ladies.
Lora reaches across the table and puts her hand on his.
LORA
Please. Don't make me tell you.
People who talk get...
ADRIAN
What did they want?
Lora looks away.
ADRIAN
What's going to happen now?
LORA
They'll come back. They get what they
want. They always do.
ADRIAN
Do they want to hurt you?
LORA
I... I don't think so. I haven't done
anything. They probably just want to scare me.
ADRIAN
Are they making you do something
illegal?
Lora frowns and looks at him quizzically.
LORA
Are you another undercover cop?
She puts her hands to her mouth and stands up.
LORA
I have to go.
She hurries out.
INT. CALIANO'S ESTATE - DAY
Caliano is talking to his lieutenants, BOBBY, early thirties, not very
smart; and ANDREW, late forties, not overly smart, pudgy, and not into
hard work. They are standing by very attentively while Caliano roars, parading
around his desk like an angry bear ready to strike.
CALIANO
What is the world coming to? A man
can't drive down the street without some
madman on a motorcycle attacking him!
ANDREW
Probably some crazy teen on drugs.
It probably won't happen again.
Caliano kicks Andrew in the shins.
CALIANO
Don't be an ass. I've got to protect
myself.
BOBBY
What do you want us to do, Mr. Caliano?
CALIANO
When I leave, you follow in another car.
If you see someone about to do
something, you stop them. Understood?
ANDREW and BOBBY
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
CALIANO
You don't stop them....
EXT. PULL OFF, NARROW BLACK TOP ROAD - DAY
Adrian is resting against the seat of his Harley. A man on a big touring
motorcycle passes by. After a moment the man returns, slows, looks around
cautiously and comes to a stop. His visor is opaque and he doesn't remove
it.
MAN
What's your name?
ADRIAN
Adrian.
MAN
I understand your father was killed by
some drug dealer.
Adrian nods.
MAN
The way I see it, that doesn't make you
a cop. You get involved in this, it makes
you a victim. I appreciate your interest,
but stay out of it.
ADRIAN
I'm an expert at counterintelligence, and
I'm in a position to find out things.
MAN
Why is that?
ADRIAN
I have to stay undercover. If word leaks
out who I am all the St. Louis Police and
an Army won't keep me alive.
MAN
What have you done?
ADRIAN
Let's just say I pissed off half the gun
loving military world.
MAN
(Begrudgingly)
What is it you want to know?
ADRIAN
What did you find out Zigler was doing?
MAN
He's being used as a front to wash drug
money.
ADRIAN
Is Lora involved?
MAN
She doesn't participate willingly.
Look, if you get any information from
Lora or Zigler, give it to us, OK?
The Man starts his motorcycle.
ADRIAN
How does the operation work?
MAN
I can't tell you that.
ADRIAN
The guy in the limo - who is he?
You know I'm going to find out.
MAN
Anthony Caliano. That's all I can tell.
The Man rides off on his motorcycle.
ESTABLISH SHOT: Exponential Enterprises
INT. CEO's OFFICE - DAY
The CEO, on the phone, is holding up a canceled pay check.
PAULSON (V.O.)
Senator Paulson.
CEO
Senator, this is Robert Stephenson.
PAULSON (V.O.)
Yes, Robert. Any news?
CEO
We know they went to St. Louis. We
have a canceled paycheck from a bank
there.
PAULSON (V.O.)
Fine, fine. The question is, are they still
there or did they cash the check as they
were leaving town? If you hear anything
more, even the slightest clue, let me
know.
CEO
I'm sure their new employer will have to
pay them and they will have to open an
account. But I have no access to bank
records.
PAULSON (V.O.)
That's no problem. I'll have a Federal
Judge issue a subpoena for their
records.
Sooner or later we'll find them - they
have to pay taxes, pay social security -
they can't hide forever.
CEO
Excellent! Let me know when you have
an address, we want our prototypes
back.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE ROAD - DAY
The Man who met with Adrian approaches. Traffic is light. A semi has
been waiting on the other side, the driver
watching through binoculars. The semi begins to move, gaining speed
as the cycle approaches. At mid-bridge the
semi swings into the center, aiming for the Man and leaving no time
to swerve out of the way. The Man splits to the
left, the semi clips the cycle throwing it into the metal beams. It
bounces back under the semi, spinning underneath the
semi as if it might miss the tires, but is finally run over by the
rear wheels. The semi continues on.
INT. RIVERBOAT CASINO - NIGHT
Captain Nelson is standing with a patron, talking. Adrian enters.
NELSON
Adrian. What fantastic acts - your Dad
would have been proud. Sorry I missed
the one o'clock, I had weather to plot.
Doesn't mean a thing, but regulations....
What's up?
Adrian nods toward the door. They go outside to the rail.
EXT. RIVERBOAT PASSAGE - NIGHT
ADRIAN
The undercover cop - I think he was run
over by a semi truck today. Hit and run.
TV news covered it - the semi was in the
middle of the road.
NELSON
Caliano probably ordered a hit on the
undercover policeman to keep him from
testifying. This is bad news. Caliano is controlled
by The Chicago Mob - the Outfit, they
call themselves - and they're ruthless.
ADRIAN
What's next?
NELSON
You've certainly done an excellent job.
I'll turn this over to the Missouri
Gaming Commission.
ADRIAN
What do they know about controlling
Organized crime?
NELSON
They're about to get their feet wet. If
they mishandle it, people could get
killed. The Mob likes to kill just to set an
example. They know the police can't touch them.
ADRIAN
Won't that give the riverboats a bad
reputation?
NELSON
It might sink us.
ADRIAN
What if someone from outside attacks
them? So they don't know who they are
fighting?
NELSON
Adrian, I know what you're thinking.
Stay out of it. These people have better
intelligence operations than the police.
They'll get you.
ADRIAN
It would help me clear my conscience
about my father's death. I need to do it.
NELSON
Look, anything you happen to see, just
tell me and I'll pass it on. I like your
magic act too much to lose you. We're
not going to have any riverboat justice.
ADRIAN
Riverboat justice? What is that?
NELSON
In the early days of riverboating, boats
sailed a lot of remote areas with no
protection. People had a knack for
taking care of themselves. It wasn't a
good idea to mess with river people.
But this is the twentieth century. Keep
those ideas out of your head.
EXT. RIVERBOAT FORWARD CREW AREA OUTER PASSAGE - NIGHT
Adrian is standing at the rail looking at the stars. Cecillia quietly
walks near him, unknown to him.
ADRIAN
So here I am, an entertainer on a
gambling riverboat. You used to say, for
everything there is a season, a time for
war, a time to laugh and dance.
CECILLIA
I don't think that's quite the way it goes.
Who are you talking to, anyway?
ADRIAN
Uh, that star.
CECILLIA
You talk to stars? Are you an incurable
romantic, or just totally nuts?
ADRIAN
My mother gave me that star before she
died. She knew I wouldn't have a mother
to talk to and she didn't want me
traveling to her grave, so she gave me
that star.
CECILLIA
Oh. It's a pretty star. How old were
you....?
ADRIAN
Twelve. You, uh... don't think it's weird,
talking to a star?
CECILLIA
Of course it's weird, but it's... warm
and... human. Your father? He's a cop?
ADRIAN
Dead. I was nineteen. He was a
motorcycle cop. He stopped a drug
dealer on the highway and was shot.
CECILLIA
I'm sorry.
(Beat)
What was that about seasons? Is this
your time to laugh and dance?
ADRIAN
I hope so, wartime magic isn't funny. If
you're sane, you get a warped sense of
humor to survive.
CECILLIA
Do you hate war?
ADRIAN
Doesn't everyone?
I would like my time to go for something
meaningful than camouflaging troops in
the Arabian desert.
CECILLIA
The Entertainment Director part of
me wants to know, what about a time
for love? Is that in your seasons?
Adrian puts his hand on hers.
ADRIAN
The man part of me wants to know if
you're available.
CECILLIA
That depends.
ADRIAN
On what?
CECILLIA
On what season you're in.
ADRIAN
Only time will tell.
INT. RIVERBOAT CABIN - DAY
Adrian is relaxing on a bunk. A WALKWAY is on the floor leading from
near the door to the desk. A BOTTLE of wine and a GLASS sit on the desk.
Dino enters. He removes his shoes and socks, then gingerly walks across
the walkway to the glass. He pours a glass and takes a sip, then adjusts
a control on the
walkway.
ADRIAN
What is this contraption?
DINO
It's a hot bed - you know, like a bed of
hot coals.
Dino goes to the beginning of the walkway and gingerly walks across it
again. He turns the control up and takes another sip of wine.
DINO
Aren't you going to ask why?
ADRIAN
I don't think I want to know.
DINO
I'm trying to heighten my mystical
control.
I'm starting off at a low temperature to
convince myself I can do it. Every day
I'm going to gradually raise the
temperature of this thing so each day
raises my psychic control just a little. I'm
going to make it to two thousand degrees.
Adrian walks to the beginning of the walkway and takes his shoes and socks
off.
ADRIAN
Turn it up to two thousand degrees now.
DINO
No! You'll burn your feet off.
ADRIAN
Do it - I won't even scorch my toes.
DINO
I'll set it on a hundred and sixty - that's
like sand on the beach.
Dino adjusts the control. Adrian does a magical incantation over the device,
then walks around it to the wine, pours himself some and drinks it.
ADRIAN
See how easy that was.
DINO
You didn't even walk on it!
ADRIAN
Exactly. Why walk on it when you can
walk around it?
DINO
You don't understand. You haven't
increased your psychic control.
ADRIAN
No, you don't understand. You have two
feet - just use them to walk around hot
beds and you won't get your feet burned.
Come on, let's go. Nelson is having us
at his house for dinner.
Adrian folds a small piece of paper, sticks it in the lower part of the
door jamb and closes the door on it. Dino watches.
ADRIAN
Old James Bond trick. Announces
company before you have to greet them.
Dino gives an "oh, brother" look.
ADRIAN
Did you turn that hotbed off?
Dino takes a remote control out of his
pocket and clicks it off.
INT. NELSON'S HOUSE - DAY
Adrian and Dino are drinking beverages and setting the kitchen table.
Nelson is putting on an apron.
NELSON
Grilled steaks or fried chicken, boys?
ADRIAN
Fried chicken.
NELSON
Mashed potatoes?
Nelson holds up a bag of potatoes and a knife. Dino grabs the bag and starts
peeling.
NELSON
What kind of work do you do, Dino?
DINO
Chemical Engineering: Reconnaissance
and weapons delivery systems.
NELSON
How did you become a magic comedian?
ADRIAN
Dino impersonates people. Exponential
Enterprises discovered him doing
stand-up comedy in a night club and
signed him on immediately.
All laugh.
ADRIAN
He's fluent in four languages: Spanish,
French, Saddam Hussein, and Donald
Duck.
All laugh.
DINO
(Hispanic accent)
My name is Dino Eduardo Zoltan Ibarra
Cordero. My mother gave me all those
names so I could be anyone I wanted.
All laugh.
NELSON
So you like being Dino. What's Dino
mean?
DINO
God of wine. I'm a man of many
pleasures.
DISSOLVE
SHOT: ADRIAN, DINO AND NELSON WATCHING TV.
CLOSEUP: TV SCREEN
A reporter, CINDY COSTLER is doing a broadcast from the courthouse steps.
She waits to begin talking until she sees the prosecutor coming down the
steps toward the press circle.
CINDY
The prosecution apparently failed
to make a case once again against
reputed mobster Anthony Caliano.
MEDIUM SHOT: PROSECUTOR AS THE REPORTERS GATHER AROUND HIM.
REPORTER 2
Mr. Prosecutor, there were eight
individuals brought before the Grand
Jury and not a single indictment. What
signal do you think that sends to
organized crime?
PROSECUTOR
(Angrily)
That we're going to do a better job
protecting the public and the justice
system.
CINDY
A police officer was killed last week
when he was run off the road by a semi.
He left a wife and a young daughter.
Speculation is, he was your undercover
police witness in this case. Do you fear
for your undercover police.
PROSECUTOR
Cindy, you know I can't comment on our
undercover operations. All I can say is,
police work entails risks, and the people
who do the work know the risks. We will
always do everything in our power to
protect our own.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
WIDEN ANGLE, revealing Adrian and Nelson watching the TV program, as another
reporter tries to ask a question and the prosecutor hurries away.
ADRIAN
Someone has to stop them.
NELSON
He killed a cop - they won't rest until
they nail him.
ADRIAN
How many people have to die before the
police stop him?
NELSON
Criminals aren't in short supply. You
stop one, another takes his place. Then
suppose they get mad and sink my boat
and kill two hundred people in retaliation.
Adrian picks up a picture that shows Nelson's family and Adrian's family
when both were whole, in Adrian's teens, with Dave and Adrian on motocross
cycles. He holds it in front of Nelson.
ADRIAN
Your family and mine together. My
father was killed by people like these.
That undercover cop left a wife and
daughter behind.
Drug dealers wreck people's lives. They
kill anyone who gets in their way.
Anthony Caliano has to be stopped.
NELSON
You going after him isn't the way.
ADRIAN
I don't have a family to lose.
And I know how to stop Caliano.
NELSON
By yourself?
ADRIAN
Dino would help. He can make smoke
bombs and tear gas bombs.
Beat. Dino is expressionless.
ADRIAN
I'm going to run this man and his
organization out of town...
Dino immediately goes to the door to leave, pauses and comes back to Adrian.
DINO
Look man, I'm your friend and you know
I'm here for you when the chips are
down. But right now you're talking out of
anger. Let it rest a couple of days.
ADRIAN
(Emphatic)
I'm doing it. The law can't do a thing
about them, but I can.
(Beat)
With or without you.
DINO
You're talking crazy man. Listen to
your...
Dino changes tactics, picks up a microphone and smiles as if to an audience.
DINO
You know, I got a phone call the other
day from a good friend. Someone who
is usually sane. He says to me, "I'm
going after the Mafia." I say, "What,
are you crazy? One man against the
Mafia? Why not just take a gun and shoot
yourself? It would be more merciful.
You want me to do what? Make
bombs!? You know that's illegal? You'll
get us both thrown in jail. Do you hate
us?
You're going to run them out of
town with tear gas and smoke bombs.
That works on the Mafia every time.
We'll have the police, the Mafia and
the arms dealers all after us. They all
win and we get the booby prize: we're
dead.
Dino lowers his microphone, loses his smile, and looks at Adrian.
ADRIAN
Very funny.
DINO
You can't win against the Mafia. Take a
siesta and think about not getting us
both killed.
(Beat)
I gotta' get back to the boat and work on
a costume. If you're smart, you'll get
this war madness out of your head and
just have some fun.
ADRIAN
I thought you looked up to me because
I'm not a hedonist, Mr. god of pleasure!
Dino exits, slamming the door.
NELSON
I should never have dragged either one
of you into this. There's too much of
your father in you. He could never let
things pass either.
ADRIAN
It's fate.
NELSON
Vigilante justice is no better than being a
criminal. It's vengeance. It's people
taking the law into their own hands
without a fair trial.
ADRIAN
I don't want vengeance, I want Caliano
stopped from hurting innocent people.
The only thing I'm going to hurt is the
guy's pride.
NELSON
Vigilantes are people trying to do the
work of professionals and getting hurt or
killed.
ADRIAN
I am a professional. He plays games with
the police like some kind of demon. The
police can't touch him. But I can.
NELSON
It's against all the things civilized people
stand for. I can't support this, Adrian.
ADRIAN
The day we give up all our
responsibilities to the police, and they
can't do the job because we've tied their
hands with nice rules, that's the day the
criminals take over and we all die.
That's the day we all end up like Zigler. I
can't let that happen.
They killed my father, they're not killing
any more people I know if I can help it.
NELSON
They'll get you. They never give up -
sooner or later they will get you.
ADRIAN
I never quit either.
NELSON
You won't hurt anyone.
Next: 5 Challenge
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