Basic Page #9

STYLES:

JAG gets here in three hours. Try

for the confession.

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- DAY

Dunbar looks up as Hardy and Osborne enter.

HARDY:

(cheerfully)

Hey, Ray! Just had a nice talk with

your buddy. Kendall - seems you

killed three people!

DUNBAR:

That son of a b*tch.

HARDY:

That'd be my reaction too-

DUNBAR:

He's lying.

HARDY:

Well, why didn't you say so? We'll

Just drop all your charges, then-

DUNBAR:

I'm serious-

Hardy leans across the table.

HARDY:

F*** "you’re serious", Raymond, you

got exactly zero truck with us; right

now we'd take the word of a crackhead

over yours, so if you've got something

to say, say it.

DUNBAR:

Did Kendall tell you about the PX?

OSBORNE:

He said he worked there-

DUNBAR:

No, did he tell you about it? About

the business Childs ran?

OSBORNE:

What business?

47.

DUNBAR:

Pills, shots, you name it, Basic's a

lot easier when you don't feel pain-

HARDY:

So Childs made some side money, so

what? People are dead, Ray, and the

only one we have to blame is you-

DUNBAR:

Didn't shoot West-

HARDY:

Yeah, we know, Pike did.

Dunbar stares at him.

DUNBAR:

You think you know everything, don't

you? You haven't even scratched the

surface.

Hardy leans across the table, looks Dunbar dead in the eye.

HARDY:

I know enough to know you got two

choices - you can sign a confession,

in which case you'll probably spend

the rest of your life in a military

prison, or you can tell us to f***

off, in which case you'll probably

get the gas chamber.

(smiling)

Am I scratching your surface yet?

Dunbar stares at him for a moment and then LAUNCHES HIMSELF

at Hardy, SCREAMING. Tackles him to the floor, CHOKING HIM...

Osborne, pulling her sidearm, and PISTOL WHIPPING Dunbar in

the head! Dunbar goes sprawling off Hardy as M.P.'s rush

into the room, RESTRAINING him.

Hardy gets up, gasping, and stumbles to the door.

OSBORNE:

Hardy!

But he's already gone.

INT. FORT MCKINLEY -- CORRIDORS -- DAY

Hardy, walking angrily towards the front entrance, wheezing

and massaging his neck. Osborne, runninq to catch up.

HARDY:

Why the f*** wasn't he in restraints?

48.

OSBORNE:

I don't know.

Styles appears at the end of the hall.

STYLES:

Tom, where are you going-

HARDY:

Home, I'm done.

STYLES:

What about the confession?

Hardy stares at him. ..

HARDY:

You want a confession? Why don't

you confess, Bill: people are dead

and you don't give a sh*t about it!

Only reason you called me is to

protect your f***ing job, you know

this is your fault-

STYLES:

What the hell are you talking about-

HARDY:

I'm talking about West! We had him,

Bill, we were there. You're the

f***ing Base Commander, you knew

what he did to Cadets and you let

him go on the way he always he has-

Styles couldn’t reassign him, he's a

legend-

HARDY:

You knew what he was capable of and

you just stood by. It was just a

matter of time till somebody fragged

his ass, and you know what? He

deserved it. There's your confession.

He pushes past a shocked Styles and walks out the door.

EXT. FORT MCKINLEY -- PARADE GROUNDS -- DAY

Hardy storms across the grass. Osborne, still following.

OSBORNE:

Goddammit, Hardy, you can't just

leave-

HARDY:

Watch me.

49.

OSBORNE:

You said you owed Styles and now

you're gonna turn your back on him?

Hardy whirls on her.

HARDY:

West was a monster! Fifteen years

ago, I was here, I was Section Eight,

I was Pike. F*** being the knife

dummy- that thing he did, stripping

Pike down, making him stand outside

all night? He did that every year,

he did that to me. Fifteen years

ago, I wanted him dead, and now I'm

supposed to care that somebody offed

him? Sorry, no can do. I tried.

OSBORNE:

You did more than try. You cracked

Dunbar in less than three minutes,

as an investigator you're phenomenal-

HARDY:

Phenomenal at taking bribes, right?

A beat. Osborne shakes her head.

OSBORNE:

I was starting to believe you, you

know? That you weren't who everyone

Said. I guess I was wrong-

HARDY:

Oh, spare me the reverse psychology

bullshit! This isn't my "great second

chance", Osborne. Everyone thinks

I'm a piece of sh*t cop who took

money and nothing is going to change

that. Nobody will ever know what

happens here-

OSBORNE:

But you will.

Hardy stares at her.

HARDY:

Why do you care?

OSBORNE:

Because it's my job. Because people

are dead. Because of the whole honor

and duty thing, make a difference in

the world, crap like that.

(pause)

We can do this, Hardy.

50.

Hardy looks at the ground.

OSBORNE:

Two and a half hours. That's all

I'm asking. Two and a half hours to

maybe get the truth. Silence.

Hardy looks back up at her. Speaking softly:

HARDY:

I didn't shoot West...

OSBORNE:

What?

HARDY:

Dunbar... He said he didn't shoot

West. West wasn't shot, Kendall

said he was blown apart by a

phosphorous grenade and Dunbar never

saw the body.

They stare at each other for a moment...

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- DAY

Hardy and Osborne enter to find Dunbar in SHACKLES.

DUNBAR:

Apologize-

HARDY:

You saw West’s body.

DUNBAR:

Of course-

OSBORNE:

Where?

DUNBAR:

The creek bed-

HARDY:

And he'd been shot.

DUNBAR:

Yeah-

OSBORNE:

What about the phosphorous grenade?

DUNBAR:

One went off, yeah, but it didn't

Touch him- I thought you knew this

51.

HARDY:

Tell it to me.

INT. LOUISIANA BAYOU -- CREEK BED -- LAST NIGHT

Dunbar and Nunez RUNNING towards the glow of phosphorous and

sound of GUNFIRE. They come over the hill to see Childs and

Kendall, standing over WEST'S BODY. Dunbar stops, shocked.

DUNBAR:

Holy f***... Holy f***, what the

f*** did you guys do?

CHILDS:

We found him like this...

Dunbar edges closer, looking at West. With BULLET HOLES.

His chest, riddled.

KENDALL:

Somebody emptied a full clip into

him-

HARDY (V.O.}

Stop.

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- PRESENT DAY

HARDY:

Kendall told us Mueller was the one

who found them with West's body.

DUNBAR:

He's lying, then. We didn't see

Mueller till we got to the cabin.

INT. CABIN -- LAST NIGHT

Dunbar, Kendall, Childs, and Nunez push through the door to

find Mueller in his undershirt, a FIRE burning in the hearth.

MUELLER:

Jesus, what happened?

DUNBAR:

(breathing hard)

West...he's dead.

OSBORNE (V.O.}

Back up.

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- PRESENT DAY

OSBORNE:

Mueller was alone in the cabin?

52.

DUNBAR:

Yeah.

INT. CABIN -- LAST NIGHT

MUE:
LLER

Pike and I got separated... then I

heard gunfire. Close.

DUNBAR:

So did we. Why didn't you come?

Mueller looks down, scared.

MUELLER:

I was afraid... Mueller voice FADES

OUT as he continues to talk.

DUNBAR (V.O.)

I didn't buy it. But Mueller had

all three of his grenades.

Mueller shows his three grenades to the others.

INT. COFFEE ROOM -- PRESENT DAY

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