RONIN Page #12

LARRY:

(to himself)

What are you gonna do, call him up and

ask him to give us back our sh*t?

SAM:

(ignoring Larry, to Deirdre)

Did he bring that with him?

DEIRDRE:

I bought it for him -- all the stuff he

was using, it was in his contract. Cost

a nice penny, too, especially that

goddamned phone:
Gregor had expensive

tastes.

SAM:

Check this out.

(he's thinking on his feet)

Gregor's a spook, or he was one until

recently. When he was a spy he lived the

life -- you know, a prince in some

Eastern Bloc country where nobody had

sh*t and Gregor had everything. Then the

wall goes down. No more Cold War. And

Gregor is out of a job. No apartment, no

special stores with Western food and

video tapes. I would bet dollars against

sh*t that Gregor liked that phone and he

doesn't want to give it up. And I

wouldn't be surprised if he's arrogant

enough to think...

DEIRDRE:

(finishing his sentence)

That we're too stupid to trace his calls.

Deirdre and Sam share the slightest of conspiratorial smiles

as they realize they're both thinking the same thought: they

might still win this one.

EXT. AIX EN PROVENCE - TWILIGHT

We're on perhaps the MOST BEAUTIFUL STREET in all of France:

the Cours Mirabeau in the town of Aix.

Outdoor cafes line the sides of the street, while a canopy of

interlocking trees covers everything. Now we're - MOVING,

DOWN THE STREET, towards a CAFE, where a DAPPER GENT sits,

sipping a mineral water. The Gent has a SATCHEL at his feet.

Now - A JEEP pulls up to a nearby corner and idles in

neutral. The Dapper Gent throws some bills on the table and

gets up, crossing to - The Jeep. A door opens, and the

Dapper Gent, carrying his satchel, gets into the jeep, which

drives off as we -

CUT TO:

INT. JEEP - SAME TIME

Gregor and the Dapper Gent drive in silence for minute, down

the length of the Cours Mirabeau.

GREGOR:

(breaking the silence)

It's a beautiful street, no?

The Dapper Gent also has an accent, a much thicker one than

Gregor's; it's an accent that places the Gent as a resident

of what used to be called the Soviet Union.

DAPPER GENT:

(he can't wait any longer)

Do you have it?

GREGOR:

Always in a rush, you are. All these

years I've known you, you could never

wait for anything.

DAPPER GENT:

This is important.

GREGOR:

Do you really think so?

DAPPER GENT:

You know it is.

Gregor, still driving, takes out a SILENCED PISTOL, and the

Dapper Gent reaches for his own piece.

GREGOR:

Relax!

The Dapper Gent loweres his hand, leaving his gun in his coat.

Gregor pulls the van to a curb.

GREGOR:

Look over there.

GREGOR & THE GENT'S POV: THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD - A GROUP OF

CHILDREN are playing.

GREGOR (O.S.)

Do you see that one? The girl in the

light blue dress?

We find one particular LITTLE GIRL, around eight, holding the

end of a jump rope, wearing a light blue dress. She's

breathtakingly beautiful, and now - Gregor raises his

silenced pistol, as if to shoot her.

DAPPER GENT:

What are you doing, have you lost your

mind?!?

Gregor pulls the trigger, as he does so the Dapper Gent jogs

his arm, and we hear the soft thwpfft of the silenced shot

just as the shot goes off - Missing its mark, harmlessly

shooting into a tree, causing a SINGLE LEAF to float to the

ground behind the playing children. Nobody notices a thing.

BEAT. The Dapper Gent is visibly shaken, because there is no

doubt that Gregor would have killed the Girl if the Gent

hadn't ruined his aim.

DAPPER GENT:

Why did you do that?

GREGOR:

To make a point. I don't know her, and I

was ready to splatter her brains all over

the sidewalk.

(giving the Gent a look)

I don't particularly like you, so imagine

what I'll do if you try anything...

Gregor leaves his gun dangling in the air a moment longer than

necessary and then starts the jeep as we -

CUT TO:

EXT. A COUNTRY ROAD OUTSIDE OF AIX - NIGHT

A FULL MOON casts a silver light over a field of wild grass.

A soft wind blows, and the grass moves gently from side to

side. Now - Gregor's JEEP glides down this road as we MOVE

THROUGH TO -

INT. THE JEEP - SAME TIME

DAPPER GENT:

(squirming)

Enough! We've been driving for an hour,

where is my package?

Gregor smiles -- he's been waiting for this. He pulls the

jeep over and looks at the Dapper Gent.

GREGOR:

It's under your seat.

DAPPER GENT:

(incredulous)

What?

GREGOR:

As my American friend Larry would say:

are you f***ing deaf? It's under your

seat.

The Dapper Gent looks down, and sure enough, the edge of the

Briefcase sticks out beneath the seat.

DAPPER GENT:

I can't believe you'd do that, Gregor. I

thought I trained you better than that.

With a laugh the Dapper Gent hands his satchel to Gregor,

whose eyes literally dance with the prospect of his reward.

He can't help himself, he opens the satchel and there it is -

COLD HARD CASH in large bills, enough for Gregor to live like

a prince for quite some time. Gregor sucks in an involuntary

breath and then looks back up to see - The Dapper Gent hasn't

reached for the Briefcase. Instead he's taken out his gun,

and it's only inches from Gregor's head.

DAPPER GENT:

I've never particularly liked you either,

Gregor.

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