RONIN Page #13

The Dapper Gent yanks out the Briefcase, and as he does -

THE SEVERED HAND comes whipping out along with it, still

attached by the handcuff chain. The Hand flies up in the

Dapper Gent's face, and we notice that the Hand is starting

to rot -- it's bloated and swelling and horrific and it

scares the sh*t out of the Dapper Gent, who drops his gun and

fumbles with the Briefcase as - THWPFFT...we hear the sound

of another silenced shot as we -

SMASH CUT TO:

EXT. OUTSIDE THE JEEP - SAME TIME

A DARK STAIN splashes against the passenger side window of

the jeep. Seconds later - The door swings open, and the

Dapper Gent's body plunks out onto the ground. A moment

later, something wet and viscous plops down on the face of

the Gent as the jeep drives off. Now - We HOLD FOR A BEAT on

the Dapper Gent's dead body, which lies in the silver

moonlight, blood running out from beneath him, while the

Severed Hand palms the Gent's face, fingers splayed out

around his head. Now - We HEAR the sound of PHONE TONES.

And not just any phone...

INT. THE JEEP - SAME TIME

Gregor finishes punching a number into his CELL PHONE. We

hear a single ring on the other end of the phone before it is

picked up.

PHONE VOICE (V.O.)

(in Russian, English subtitles)

Is it done?

GREGOR:

(in English)

It's done.

BEAT. The Phone Voice doesn't respond for a moment -- whoever

this is they didn't expect to hear from Gregor. The Voice

switches to English.

PHONE VOICE (V.O.)

Gregor, is that you?

GREGOR:

(with a low chuckle)

Much to your disappointment, no doubt.

PHONE VOICE (V.O.)

It was a mistake, it shouldn't have

happened.

GREGOR:

(suddenly cold, furious)

I'm in the middle of saving you people a

great deal of money -- the least you

could do is have the decency to pay me!

BEAT.

PHONE VOICE (V.O.)

So what do we do?

GREGOR:

What I do is none of your concern. What

you should do is wait for my next phone

call. I'm going to find a place where I

can tilt the field in my favor. When I'm

ready, I'll call you and tell you what I

want you to do.

The Phone Voice says something unintelligible in Russian, cut

off by Gregor as he angrily snaps off his cell phone and we -

CUT TO:

INT. THE CHEAP APARTMENT - DAWN

Larry snores on the couch, while Deirdre sleeps in a sleeping

bag on the floor. Vincent sits in a ratty easy chair, feet

propped on an overturned crate, dozing lightly. Suddenly -

Vincent's eyes open, warily, as if something has changed in

the room. He looks around - No Sam. Vincent gets up, takes

out his gun, and silently gets to his feet. He moves down a

long hall and - No Sam. Now, like a cat, Vincent moves into -

THE BATHROOM:
pitch black. He moves in, swipes the string of

the overhead light and - nothing. Nobody's here. The only

place left is the front door, and now Vincent approaches. He

opens the door, gun still at ready, and moves out into -

INT. THE LANDING OUTSIDE - SAME TIME

This is a small building. There is no other apartment on

the floor. At the far end of the landing, there is a small

ladder which leads up to -

THE ROOF. And the door which leads to the roof is flapping

in a light wind.

EXT. THE ROOF - SAME TIME

Vincent bursts onto the roof, gun straight out, finger on the

trigger, only to find - Sam is there, his gun pointed at

Vincent. A BEAT, then both men give little laughs and put

their weapons away, like Samurai so trained in combat that

they know when it's safe to relax.

SAM:

What's going on?

VINCENT:

You weren't around when I woke up, I

thought maybe something had happened.

(off Sam's look)

This has been one very f***ed up job,

Sam, and I'm not taking any more chances

on anybody...

(a quick beat)

Including you...

In answer Sam takes out Vincent's pack of cigarettes and

tosses them back to him. Vincent looks almost delighted at

this.

SAM:

I came up here to sneak a smoke.

VINCENT:

You were smoking?

SAM:

I hope you don't mind I took your pack.

It was on the table.

VINCENT:

(very sincere, offering the

pack)

Please, help yourself. Smoke as many

you'd like.

Sam considers for a minute, and then takes one. Vincent does

so as well, and he searches for his lighter, which he can't

seem to find, because - Sam has it, and he lights their

cigarettes, and then hands the lighter back to Vincent.

SAM:

(a shrug of the shoulders)

I borrowed that, too...

VINCENT:

(puffing contentedly)

Of course...whenever you feel like it

just help yourself.

SAM:

I have a feeling I'm about to start

buying my own.

BEAT. The two men smoke in silence, looking out at -

THE CURVED SHORELINE OF NICE -

Which glitters with thousands of lights from the apartment

buildings, and a thousand more from the cars that travel on

the road that leads into town: the Promenade des Anglais.

VINCENT (O.S.)

That was a bad bit of business, today.

BACK ON Sam and Vincent.

SAM:

It was at that.

VINCENT:

A lot of people died.

SAM:

I've seen a lot of people die before.

VINCENT:

I haven't. Not like that. How do you

get used to it?

SAM:

You don't. You just learn to live with

it.

VINCENT:

I won't lie -- there have been times when

I had to do it, times when the only way

to get out alive was to see that the

other man didn't.

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