Circle of Treason Page #13

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INT. CIA - JEANNE’S OFFICE (NHB) - DAY

Holt and Milburn, distinctly unimpressed, crowd in her

cramped office with Sandy, Dan Payne, and Redmond while

Jeanne briefs them from a whiteboard. Drawing a series of

concentric circles

JEANNE:

First, we look at who recruited,

ran and analyzed the operations.

Next, technical and clerical

employees - support staff.

Finally, anyone plugged in through

hallway gossip. Scuttlebutt.

Holt and Milburn trade a look, complaining:

HOLT MILBURN:

You can’t start an ...Looking for a needle in a

investigation with a hundred haystack made of needles.

ninety-eight suspects.

Jeanne just smiles, as if this were exactly the response she

predicted - and wanted.

JEANNE:

Oh, I agree. We have to narrow the

search.

DAN PAYNE:

We could start with anyone in the

D.O. or the D.I. with financial

problems...

HOLT MILBURN:

(agreeing)Divorce... family illness.

Motive.

Jeanne cuts through it.

68.

JEANNE:

Once you’ve been read-in, we’ll

take a poll. Choose five or six

names that stand out to you. Who

in your opinion warrant a closer

look. We’ll weight them

numerically and concentrate on

those who score highest.

That stops them. Sandy stares, surprised. The Federal

agents shifting at the idea.

MILBURN:

You want to run your investigation

based on women’s intuition?

SANDY:

Or you want, you can spend the next

ten years sat on that wastebasket?

Holt and Milburn exchange another look, though Holt appears

to be coming round to the idea.

JEANNE:

We’ll get you passes to the secure

vault, you can get started right

away. Any questions?

Raising his hand like a begrudging school kid in class:

MILBURN:

How seriously is the Agency taking

this investigation - enough for

another chair?

INT. CIA - NEW HEADQUARTERS BUILDING - SECURE ROOM - DAY

Sandy drops on the table in front of Holt and Milburn the

first of many thick files she has just retrieved from one of

the safes lining the walls. As the agents eye it, Sandy

returns for another

SANDY:

(drily)

Sorry, no Cliff Notes.

INT. CIA - NEW HEADQUARTERS BUILDING - CIC PEN - EVENING

Chatting with another analyst as he retrieves a file from one

of the heavy drawers lining the room, Rick watches Sandy walk

out for the night.

69.

INT. CIA - NEW HEADQUARTERS BUILDING - PHOTOCOPY ROOM - NIGHT

The flash-whir... flash-whir... of a photocopier, printing

off pages marked ‘Top Secret.’ Rick feeds in pages from

another file. His briefcase is nearby, a four-inch stack of

documents already inside.

INT. CIA - LOBBY - NIGHT

Clutching his briefcase, Rick inserts his ID into the

turnstile. The SECURITY GUARD buzzes him through. As Rick

crosses the marble lobby...

SECURITY GUARD:

Hey, wait...!

Rick freezes, turns to see the guard holding the ID badge he

left behind. He doubles back to retrieve it, then heads out.

Distant JET ENGINES roar

EXT. BOGOTA - DAY

Massive wheels blow off smoke as an Avianca flight touches

down, high in the Andes.

EXT. LA CANDELARIA - BOGOTA - DAY

A taxi drives Rick and Rosario through the city’s historic

downtown. Whitewashed homes with wrought-iron balconies.

Street vendors, illusionists, jugglers and musicians vying

for trade. In the back of the taxi with expensive shopping

bags, Rosario gives Rick a long, lingering kiss.

EXT. SHOPPING MALL (UNICENTRO) - BOGOTA - DAY

Holding his briefcase and a copy of TIME as he waits outside

the Bolicentro bowling alley in a bland suburban mall, Rick

watches a guy he doesn’t recognize - late fifties, balding -

approach him from the crowd

ANDRE:

Didn’t we meet in Vienna?

RICK:

No. Maybe it was London.

Their ‘parole’ established, Rick follows the guy to his car,

a nondescript sedan with diplomatic plates.

70.

INT. SEDAN - DAY

As Rick gets in, finds a baseball cap and dark glasses on the

back seat and puts them on...

RICK:

Where’s Vlad?

ANDRE:

You can call me Andre.

Rick sits low in the seat as Andre pulls out into traffic.

EXT. SOVIET EMBASSY - BOGOTA - DAY

The sedan drives up to a walled compound in the city’s

diplomatic neighborhood. Soviet flags hang outside. The

security gates open.

INT. SOVIET EMBASSY - BOGOTA - DAY

Pouring two vodkas, Andre hands one to Rick in a room with

red and gold flags and pictures of Gorbachev. A t.v. runs

muted footage of mobs outside KGB headquarters in Lubyanka

Square. It’s August 1991.

ANDRE:

Nasdrovia.

Rick pulls out the thick package of stolen CIA documents and

puts it down. Andre hefts it.

RICK:

I want my money.

ANDRE:

Of course.

RICK:

All of it. Everything outstanding.

Andre, having reached into a drawer for a brick of U.S.

currency, hesitates.

RICK (CONT’D)

(calmly)

Every time I service a drop, every

time I come down here to deliver

your mail for you, I take a risk.

I put my family at risk. If I’m at

risk, then so are you.

71.

ANDRE:

(hearing the threat in it)

You sound upset, why are you

getting upset?

Andre puts the money down in front of him. Rick, the picture

of calm, makes no move to take it.

ANDRE (CONT’D)

You know we will always do

everything we can to protect you.

RICK:

(yells)

You rolled them all up! You got

scared and you got greedy and you

rolled them up. And you shone a

f***ing light on me.

Andre nods to acknowledge the KGB’s mistake.

RICK (CONT’D)

Protect me? You can’t even protect

yourselves.

Rick gestures to the TV: where, at that moment, a STUDENT is

scaling the statue of ‘Iron Felix’ Dzerzhinsky outside KGB

headquarters, looping a rope around its neck.

RICK (CONT’D)

If they dismantle the KGB, you’ll

be out of a job. You might decide

you want your family to know what a

Big Mac tastes like. But you’ll

need a ticket to America.

In other words, ‘me.’

ANDRE:

Now you sound paranoid.

RICK:

Being paranoid is my job.

Rick takes a beat, mastering himself.

RICK (CONT’D)

The CIA have a source. They’re

planning to exfiltrate him.

ANDRE:

Do you have the name of this

source?

72.

RICK:

Zhomov. He approached one of our

station chiefs on the train to

Leningrad, wanting to defect.

(indicates the stolen

files)

It’s all in there.

ANDRE:

(smiling)

You have nothing to fear from this

man. Of this you can be absolutely

certain.

A beat on Rick, getting it.

ANDRE (CONT’D)

This man, this operation, every

piece of information he has given

you is part of an elaborate lie

designed for one purpose: to

protect you. You are the most

valuable agent we have ever had.

So tell me, how do you think we

would ever let anything happen to

you?

Rick regards him for a moment, then drinks.

RICK:

Nasdrovia.

(a beat)

They have a new unit at Langley.

They’re looking for a mole.

ANDRE:

Who are they?

RICK:

It’s a couple of women and some

analysts from the Bureau.

ANDRE:

(concerned)

The FBI is involved?

RICK:

The Feds couldn’t find their own

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