RONIN Page #5

SAM (V.O.)

Could I get one of those?

INT. THE CAR - STILL DRIVING - SAME TIME

Vincent is driving and smoking a cigarette. He tosses his

pack to Sam, but he seems a little surprised at Sam's

request.

VINCENT:

Help yourself.

(quick beat)

Since when do you smoke?

SAM:

(lighting up)

I have, I don't know, maybe a cigarette a

week.

VINCENT:

A cigarette? As in one?

(exasperated, almost to

himself)

One cigarette a week, who smokes like

that?

SAM:

I do.

VINCENT:

Christ, I smoke a pack-and-a-half a day,

and I tell myself I could be worse.

(takes a satisfying drag)

It's just so damned pleasurable.

SAM:

(blowing a smoke ring with

great skill)

It has it's moments.

(stubs out cigarette)

Course, you get cancer and die, that's

the down side.

VINCENT:

(with a sigh)

There is that.

Vincent stamps his cigarette out, looking vaguely unhappy

that Sam has spoiled his smoke.

SAM:

So, Vincent:
why bring me along for the

ride? Job like this calls for a warm

body, somebody who can stand around and

look threatening. A tough guy.

VINCENT:

Like Larry or Swede.

SAM:

Exactly. Why not bring them?

VINCENT:

Let's just say I thought the

conversational possibilities were

limited. Of course, I might have brought

Gregor, but he didn't seem like the right

candidate -- for this.

SAM:

Watch that one, he's an ex-spook for

sure, maybe Stasi, maybe KGB. He's

smart, Gregor is.

VINCENT:

So is the woman.

SAM:

Deirdre? Smart, yeah, and seriously

goddamned dangerous.

VINCENT:

I wonder if she truly left the IRA.

SAM:

I've wondered that myself. None of this

answers my question, though...

(suddenly direct)

Why bring me?

VINCENT:

I wanted to see who you were.

SAM:

Who am I?

Vincent, driving all the while, gives Sam a sideways glance

before speaking.

VINCENT:

You were once some kind of special

forces. Airborne Ranger, maybe a Navy

SEAL. After that you rode shotgun for

the CIA in some place like El Salvador or

Afghanistan, a real mercenary.

(beat)

Only now -- now you're like the rest of

us, it's a very competitive market since

the end of the cold war. There's a lot

of hired guns out here, and not nearly

enough work to go around.

SAM:

That's right:
there's not hardly enough

work these days, nothing that pays the

big money, anyhow. Then along comes this

job, paying so much goddamned money I

couldn't afford not to take it. Somebody's

paying through the nose for this.

VINCENT:

They certainly are. Whatever it is we're

going to steal, it must be quite

something.

SAM:

Whatever it is it must be goddamned

priceless.

And on that thought we -

CUT TO:

EXT. A SIDE STREET - NIGHT

The Fiat pulls up to the curb and Vincent and Sam get out.

Vincent leads Sam around a corner and they come to -

AN EXQUISITE PARK, a small, perfectly manicured place -- a

kind of mini-Luxembourg Gardens in the middle of nowhere.

When Sam sees the park, he draws an involuntary breath.

VINCENT:

Lovely, isn't it?

SAM:

They'd have to keep something like this

under lock and key in New York, and it

would still get f***ed up.

The two men enter the park, which is, indeed, open to the

public. Inside, sitting on a bench in the back, almost

invisible from the street, we see - FRANCOIS, a stubble-faced

tough with a stained shirt and bad teeth. Vincent and Sam

draw near. This next conversation between Francois and

Vincent is in FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

FRANCOIS:

That's good right where you are, Vincent.

Vincent signals for Sam to stop. Both Vincent and Sam are

still several feet away from Francois.

VINCENT:

Do you have it?

FRANCOIS:

Not so fast.

(nods slightly to Sam)

Who's that?

VINCENT:

He's company.

FRANCOIS:

(as if he recognizes Sam)

Bad company...

VINCENT:

What do you mean?

FRANCOIS:

He's a cop, Vincent, he's French and he's

a cop and you better shoot him in the

f***ing head right now!

Sam hasn't said a word -- he doesn't seem to understand

what's been said, but he has noted the urgency with which

Francois spoke. Now - We HOLD FOR A BEAT. Neither Vincent

nor Francois pulls out a piece to shoot Sam. Instead they

wait to see if Sam will respond in any way to what Francois

said. The conversation now switches to ENGLISH, which (it

turns out) Francois speaks fairly well.

SAM:

(to Vincent)

What's going on?

VINCENT:

I just wanted to see something.

SAM:

(that edge creeping into his

voice)

See what?

Vincent isn't going to answer, but the overbearing Francois

chimes in.

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