8mm Page #18

DINO VELVET:

You brought the money?

WELLES:

(takes out envelope)

Right here.

Dino lets fly another arrow... another bull's-eye, then

turns to look at Welles with a smile.

DINO VELVET:

Excellent.

WELLES:

Where are the women?

DINO VELVET:

They should be here any minute.

Welles comes forward slowly, places the envelope on the

table, beside Bowie knifes. He's sweating.

WELLES:

(of the knifes)

What are these for?

DINO VELVET:

Hmm? Oh, the knifes? They're just

props. Nice, aren't they?

WELLES:

Sure.

Dino walks across towards the target.

DINO VELVET:

Machine and I were just talking

about knifes. The beauty of

knifes...

Dino pulls arrows from the target.

DINO VELVET:

He was saying how fascinated he is

by their simple ability to be sharp.

The ability of a piece of metal to

be so thin that it is almost

nothing...

Dino walks back to the table, replaces the arrows in the

quiver, cueing another arrow in is bow.

DINO VELVET:

So close to nothingness that it cuts

with minimum effort, because it's so

non-intrusive. Flesh is fooled. It

blooms open as the blade widens, but

by then it's too late, because the

knife's already doing its pure,

simple damage.

Dino shoots another arrow to the target.

A CLATTER attracts Welles attention. Far across the

warehouse, a DELIVERY DOOR rolls upwards. A CAR with tinted

windows drives in...

The MAN who opened the door, silhouetted in sunlight, stays

behind to close the door as the car pulls forward...

DINO VELVET:

Ah, ours guests have arrived.

Machine stands. He is a giant.

Welles takes a few steps back, wary, sweating hard now.

The car parks across the warehouse, not far from the target.

Dino puts another arrow in his bow, pulls it taunt, aims at

the target... turns, aims the arrow at Welles.

DINO VELVET:

Mister Welles... would you be so

kind as to remove any firearms from

your person?

WELLES:

What are you... ?

DINO VELVET:

Take out your gun!

Welles brings his hand towards his holster...

DINO VELVET:

Slowly. Let me see it.

Welles takes out his gun, looks across the warehouse...

The SILHOUETTED MAN is walking this way. Can't tell who he

is yet. Machine heads the direction of the parked car.

DINO VELVET:

Empty the gun onto the table, very

carefully.

WELLES:

Look, I don't know what this...

DINO VELVET:

Shut up, c*nt! Do exactly as I say,

or I'll put this arrow through your

throat.

Welles obeys, helpless, dumps the bullets out on the table.

The SILHOUETTED MAN'S getting closer. It's Eddie Poole.

EDDIE:

Is that him?

DINO VELVET:

(to Welles)

Put the gun down, take the

handcuffs. Handcuff yourself to the

bed.

Welles obeys, walks to the bed.

Welles attaches one cuff to the bed's iron rail, fastens the

other cuff around his wrist. Dino puts down the bow and arrow.

DINO VELVET:

(still to Welles)

Didn't know what to make of you at

first, and you certainly had Eddie

on pins and needles. But, lo and

behold, from out of the blue came an

old business acquaintance to explain

everything...

Welles looks across to the car...

The sinister lawyer, Longdale, gets out from behind the

wheel and hands the keys to Machine, walks this way...

EDDIE:

This is the f***er? Motherf***er,

doesn't look like anything...

Eddie walks around the bed, studies Welles. Welles watches

him. Eddie goes to stand behind Welles, rushes forward...

PUNCHES Welles in the side of the head.

Welles goes down, clutching his face.

EDDIE:

Doesn't look like sh*t.

Eddie pulls Welles to his feet, throws him against the bed,

frisking him from head to toe.

Longdale comes to stand beside Dino, nervous, taking out a

tiny HANDGUN and pointing it at Welles. Welles looks up,

holding his head, afraid, sits on the bed.

DINO VELVET:

(to Welles)

You remember Mr. Longdale, don't you?

WELLES:

I remember him.

LONGDALE:

Let's get this over with.

DINO VELVET:

Fine idea.

Dino comes to sit on the bed beside Welles.

DINO VELVET:

You're going to go get the film you

received from Mrs. Christian, bring

it here and put it in my hand. And

to save time, so we make this as

efficient as possible, there's an

incentive...

Dino puts his fingers in his mouth, lets out a sharp WHISTLE.

Across the warehouse, Machine uses the car keys to open the

trunk of the car, pulls SOMEONE out...

It's Max, beaten bloody, bound, face swollen, gagged, hardly

conscious. Machine throws him to the floor.

WELLES:

No...

Welles tries to go towards Max, yanked back by the

handcuffs, pulls the bed a few inches, but it's heavy.

DINO VELVET:

Friend of yours?

WELLES:

Look, he's got nothing to do with

this... let him go...

DINO VELVET:

Can you guess what I'm going to say

next?

WELLES:

He doesn't know anything... he's got

nothing to do with this...

DINO VELVET:

Bring the film, or we kill him.

Sorrow and rage rises up in Welles, but there's no choice.

WELLES:

I'll get it. It's in a safe deposit

box, in the city...

DINO VELVET:

How cooperative. Longdale will keep

you company.

Dino takes out HANDCUFF KEYS, throws them to Longdale.

Longdale approaches Welles carefully, unlocking him.

DINO VELVET:

Don't let Longdale's questionable

choice of weapon give you any ideas.

If his fey little gun puts enough

little holes in you, you'll be just

as dead... and so will Max.

EDDIE:

Move it, dirtbag... !

Eddie comes to SHOVE Welles. Welles stumbles to the

ground, gets to his feet. Welles walks, takes one last

glance back towards Max. Longdale follows.

DINO VELVET:

(watching them go)

Do hurry.

EXT. MANHATTAN STREETS -- DAY

Welles' car moves in the slow flow of traffic into mid-town.

INT. WELLES' CAR -- CONTINUOUS

Welles is at the wheel. Longdale is in the passenger seat,

gun held in his lap.

WELLES:

You were the middleman, am I right?

Old man Christian wasn't about to go

shopping for a snuff film himself.

LONGDALE:

Wouldn't exactly have been possible

for a man of his stature.

WELLES:

So, he sent you, gave you the money,

his errand-boy. And if you refused,

it wasn't like you could tell anyone

your pervert boss just asked you to

get him a snuff film. That's the

beauty of lawyer/client privilege.

LONGDALE:

That's trust. Mr. Christian trusted

me implicitly.

WELLES:

Must have paid you a lot, for you to

risk everything. Would've had to

have cut yourself a real nice piece

of money.

LONGDALE:

I was well compensated.

WELLES:

That's why you got scared when Mrs.

Christian hired me. You knew about

the film, figured it had to be in

that safe. How'd you find me?

LONGDALE:

Never mind how I found you.

WELLES:

Followed me... must have freaked out

when you saw me closing in on your

buddies...

LONGDALE:

They're no friends of mine.

WELLES:

Except, you're willing commit murder

with them.

LONGDALE:

None of this would be happening if

you would have left it alone. If

you weren't digging up a girl who

died six years ago. A girl no one

even remembers.

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