Smokin' Aces Page #13

MESSNER:

No rest for the wicked.

(beat, holds up file)

Why were we never shown these files?

We're sitting on Sparazza for what?

Six months now and we're just seeing

this?

(beat, reading)

Did you know that he's has had thirty-

six major medical procedures performed

on him since 1953?

(flips, reads)

Elective plastic surgery, every single

one --

Messner, turning the file toward Carruthers, pointing.

MESSNER:

-- look at this, look at the work

he's had done; nose, three times,

eyes, eyelids, chin, jaw -- he's had

his jaw done a dozen times. You take

every hasbeen actor in Hollywood

they haven't been cut this much.

Messner flips to another part of the file.

MESSNER:

Unreal, this guys jacket too. Wall-

to-wall major felony offenses, murder,

extortion, arson, grand larceny --

(beat, points)

-- A paternity suit... I just feel

like we're playing catch-up with all

this and we shouldn't be.

CARRUTHERS:

Welcome to the new Bureau. Nobody

shares information anymore, it's

become synonymous with job security.

MESSNER:

Based on what we had, I thought

Sparazza was a mid-level player at

best and it turns out he's this mob

relic, running the show out west.

Carruthers nods, sips his coffee.

CARRUTHERS:

He's stayed below the radar. You

don't kill a hundred and thirty people

without knowing how to tip-toe.

Messner flips the file, finds a page paper-clipped with a

photograph of murder/martyred Federal Agent Freeman Heller.

MESSNER:

But the Bureau knew Sparazza killed

Heller. Why not go after him, guns

blazing' for that one?

CARRUTHERS:

Heller was buried in agency lore,

anytime an operative failed or was

perceived to have failed, Hoover

blackballed their memory. Look at

Ness.

MESSNER:

Yeah, but the Untouchables took down

Capone. Heller got shot and killed.

The bad guys beat him. Worse, Sparazza

walked.

Messner sits back, kills the remainder of his coffee, gazing

out the window, watching sightseers stream by. Carruthers

glances at his watch.

CARRUTHERS:

It's almost five a.m. in D.C. now.

Locke said the lawyers from Justice

had been in there since three o'clock

yesterday afternoon. Israel's manager

is acting as his attorney and that's

what's holding things up.

The waitress arrives with breakfast, sets it down.

MESSNER:

So he has no idea what's about to

happen?

CARRUTHERS:

No. And I want to be in that room a

half second after Mecklen calls to

say the deal's done. We've got a

sheriff's task force on stand-by.

MESSNER:

What about the hotel staff obstructing

us. Israel's obviously paid off the

management.

CARRUTHERS:

Tampering with a witness extraction

of this magnitude makes everyone

indictable at the federal level.

(beat, grins)

Trust me, we won't any problems with

the hotel staff. You show 'em your

ID with the letters "F.B.I." in all

caps and it's instant compliance.

I've seen in happen a hundred times.

CUT TO:

F.B.I. BADGE AND IDENTIFICATION

It fills the the frame. An O.S. voice explains:

VOICE (O.S.)

Special Agent Gerald Diego, Federal

Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco

Field Office.

INT. NOMAD HOTEL AND CASINO -- LOBBY/RECEPTION -- DAY

PULL BACK TO REVEAL: Gerald Diego... aka Pasquale Acosta,

aka "El Estrago" the most notorious torture-murder specialist

in the biz in convincing disguise. His suit, mannerisms and

speech. Pitch Perfect... he's got the fake-Fed bit down cold.

ACOSTA:

We're conducting a series of impromptu

inspections for the Nevada Gaming

Commission. I'd like to speak with

your head of security.

A pimply CASINO EMPLOYEE nods, dashing off to find the boss.

Acosta glances around, takes in the eight-dollar-an-hour

security, the array of quasi-armed guards... and smiles.

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