Absolute Power Page #14

76.

187 CONTINUED:
187

Years.

SETH:

Never been.

KATE:

188 EXT. LUTHER’S FRONT DOOR -DAY 188

Seth stoops, gets the key from under the terra cotta

planter.

SETH:

Strange place for a thief to leave

a key, don’t you think?

KATE:

(quick memory)

He always did that...

189 INT. LUTHER’S HOUSE -LIVING ROOM -DAY 189

They enter. It’s surprisingly tidy.

Seth and Kate as they move along.

who suddenly stops dead.

Seth is watching Kate

The mantle. A large blowup of the same picture Kate had

in her office, the one of Kate and her mom ---

with one startling change: Luther is in this shot,

standing there proud and smiling. She has ripped his

presence out of her photo.

Seth, silently watching Kate.

He gestures for her to follow.

She turns sharply away.

190 INT. LUTHER’S BEDROOM -DAY 190

They enter. Clothes tossed all over.

SETH:

He sure took off in a hurry. What

scares a professional thief like

that?

Kate. No reply. She has seen something across the tiny

room and is drawn to it -Luther’s

bed table ---

and here it is!

(CONTINUED)

77.

190 CONTINUED:
190

Call it a montage, call it a collage, call it what you

will, we are looking at dozens of photographs -

--all of them featuring Kate.

Many of them we saw in her apartment --only here, as in

the photo over the mantle, Luther is there with Kate and

her mom.

We are looking at a shrine!

And there are newer photos too --Kate at her college

graduation, Kate at her law school graduation, Kate and

her mother coming out of an elegant restaurant, Kate

alone on the steps of Middleton County Courthouse -

--these are not posed shots.

She looks wonderful and alive in all of them -

Kate. She looks dead now. All energy gone. She sits

heavily down on the bed.

KATE:

(fighting tears)

... but he wasn’tat those

places...

(pointing to the

grown-up photos)

... college graduation; law school

graduation; the night Mom and I

celebrated when I got a job; and

me alone on the steps? --I’d just

won my first case, I was so

proud...

(still fighting)

... I used to think... sometimes

I’d come home and I’d sense he’d

been in my apartment, checking the

fridge, shaking his head because

he never thought I ate right...

It’s crazy but I just knew Daddy

was watching over me...

And now she loses it, starts crying silently.

Seth kneels alongside her, gives her a handkerchief.

SETH:

You can do a good thing, Kate -

(beat)

--help me bring him in. Just

leave a message on his phone

machine, you’re worried about him.

(CONTINUED)

)B( ABSOLUTE POWER -Rev. 5/16/96 78.

190 CONTINUED:
(2) 190

... No...

KATE:

SETH:

It’s the truth --you are worried

about him --this isn’t your

normal case --his life may be in

danger --you can save him, make

the call -KATE

... He won’t come...

SETH:

(indicating the

pictures)

Of course he’ll come.

he has.

You’re all

Kate, staring at the photos, trying to get control.

SETH:

(moving in)

Kate, he’s on the run and he’s

scared and he’s right to be scared

because he’s going to get caught

--you don’t know the heat on this. *

KATE:

He’s not a murderer.

*

*

SETH:

Maybe you’re right. Maybe he is

innocent. If so I’ll have him

home and dry in a few hours. But

what happens if some hotshot who’s

trying to make a reputation tracks

him down?

(beat)

I can guarantee his safety. You

make the call, I make a promise:

You’ll have your father, home and

dry...

*

*

*

*

191 INT. KATE’S APARTMENT -LATE AFTERNOON 191

Kate alone. Totally wiped out. She is on the phone with

Seth. Outside, the sun is dying.

KATE:

I left a message on his machine,

he called back within an hour;

we’re meeting tomorrow afternoon.

)B( ABSOLUTE POWER -Rev. 5/16/96 79.

192 INT. SETH’S OFFICE -LATE AFTERNOON 192

Seth, taking it down.

SETH:

Where?

KATE (V.O.)

An open-air place near my office,

the Cafe Alonzo -Seth’s

excited.

193 INT. TREASURY BUILDING -BURTON’S OFFICE -BURTON -193 *

LATE AFTERNOON:

taking it down.

KATE (V.O.)

Four o’clock --it’s deserted then.

Burton’s excited too. HOLD.

194

EXT. SKY -MOON -NIGHT 194

high in the sky --middle of the night now.

195

INT. KATE’S APARTMENT -KATE -NIGHT 195

Wired. Pacing across her small apartment, back and

forth, back and forth.

196

INT. SETH’S OFFICE -SETH -NIGHT 196

alone in his office, going over plans, sipping coffee to

stay awake.

197

INT. BURTON’S BEDROOM -BURTON -NIGHT 197

alone in his bed, staring at the ceiling, a nearly empty

Scotch bottle in one hand.

198 OMITTED 198

199 INT. LUTHER’S SAFE HOUSE APARTMENT -LUTHER -NIGHT 199

listening to the PHONE MACHINE. We hear KATE’S VOICE.

"Daddy... I miss you... I’m worried... call me..."

A CLICK. Luther hangs up, immediately dials again. We

hear the message start over. "Daddy... I miss you..." As

he continues to listen -

80.

200

EXT. FIRING RANGE -DAY (EARLY MORNING) 200

--on what’s going to be a gorgeous day.

Burton, yawning, blowing into a steaming paper cup of

coffee. Collin, wide awake, moves alongside. Collin is

carrying a rifle.

--we are at a government firing range.

Collin squints into the morning sun.

Burton, putting down the coffee cup, picking up a pair of

binoculars.

Burton and Collin staring out ---

A distant target is being raised.

Collin. He strokes the barrel of his high-powered rifle.

CUT TO:

201 TARGET 201

A long way off.

CUT TO:

202

BURTON 202

as he has focused the binoculars -

203 BINOCULAR POV -TARGET 203

seen through the binoculars as it comes clear --the

bull’s eye is small.

CUT TO:

204

COLLIN 204

with his rifle. His fingers still move along the barrel.

No hurry whatsoever ---

and then it all goes fast, and in one motion he is

aiming and FIRING and FIRING again and the sound explodes

and -Burton,

dazed.

CUT TO:

81.

205 TARGET 205

--the bull’s eye has been totally blown away.

CUT TO:

206 OMITTED 206

207 INT. DOWNTOWN MEN’S STORE -DAY 207

Luther and a SALESMAN are engaged in conversation.

Luther is buttoning a new raincoat to the throat. The

Salesman holds several hats. Luther picks one, tries it

on.

LUTHER:

I need to look really good today.

He doesn’t like the hat.

SALESMAN:

Business?

Rate this script:1.0 / 2 votes