Strange Days Page #24

Lenny and Mace emerge from a service door into the

glitterati crowd, heading into the ballroom.

They scan the room.

LENNY:

You see Tran?

MACE:

Uh unh.

Lenny whips out his cellular and recalls Max's number. He

hears the phone connect. It starts to ring.

LENNY'S POV... as the crowd parts for a moment. He sees

PALMER STRICKLAND talking to a city-hall type. Lenny

turns away before Strickland sees him.

LENNY:

(to the ringing

phone)

Come on, Max. Come on, buddy...

(two more rings)

Damnit.

He looks around now. Starting to feel the creeping edge

of panic. No Tran. No Max.

LENNY:

Alright. We're going up.

MACE:

And do what? Take on his whole

posse?

LENNY:

I still got one ace to play. Tran's

got what I want... and I've got what

he wants...

Lenny pulls the Jeriko tape out of his breast-pocket and

holds it up. Mace just stares at him completely outraged.

MACE:

That's the original. There are no

copies.

LENNY:

(not getting it)

Exactly. That's why it's a make-

able deal.

Mace gets very, very close to Lenny, and her voice drops

to an odd, cold... lethal-sounding... growl.

MACE:

Look. That tape is a lightning bolt

from God. It's worth more than you,

more than me, more than Faith. You

understand? It can change things.

Things that need changing before we

all go off the end of the road. And

you do not have the right to use it

for currency.

(Lenny's eyes are

wide)

You go... you go alone. This is

where I draw the line. I care about

you Lenny... a lot more than you

know... which makes us both pretty

stupid. But you pawn that tape, you

mean nothing to me.

Lenny doesn't know what to say. Tough choice. He

clenches his jaw...

And turns away. He strides into the crowd, heading for

the lobby and the elevators.

ON MACE, watching him go. Wanting to run and stop him.

But she's said what there is to say. She turns away,

desolate and churning with emotion. The moment lengthens

as she wrestles with it. You see her fury, her sadness...

and her protective instincts. Her resolve fails her.

Ultimately, she must protect him if she can.

MACE:

Ah, hell. Lenny--

She turns, running toward the lobby. And...

BOOM. Slams into him. He came back.

Lenny takes her hand and puts the tape in her palm.

Closes her fingers on it.

LENNY:

See that guy?

(pointing)

The one with the ramrod up his ass.

That's Strickland.

Mace follows his look to Strickland, across the room.

LENNY:

Take it to him.

MACE:

A cop? You want me to trust a cop?!

LENNY:

No. Trust me.

He unclips his playback deck from his belt and hands it to

her.

MACE:

(nodding slowly)

Oh boy.

(she takes a deep

breath)

What if you're wrong?

LENNY:

Then we'll be right where we are

now.

MACE:

Yeah, right. F***ed.

CUT TO:

INT. BONAVENTURE ELEVATOR

It is a glass-cage scenic elevator, running up the outside

of the building. 10th floor. The last passengers step

out. When the doors whoosh closed and Lenny's left alone

there's only the sound of Muzak Christmas carols. The

elevator rises, the lights of LA spread out below. He is

hyperventilating.

CUT TO:

INT. HOTEL BALLROOM

Mace threads her way past tables circling a dance floor

full of dancers and makes her way through celebs air-

kissing each other.

But as she gets near Strickland's table, he stands up and

excuses himself. He starts toward the men's room. And

Mace follows him.

CUT TO:

INT. MEN'S ROOM/HOTEL

A few guys in tuxes tending to themselves. Strickland

enters, crossing to a urinal. He unzips.

Mace steps up beside him. Guys behind her looking on,

slack-jawed. Mace pays no attention to them. Strickland,

stern and flinty-eyed, raises one eyebrow.

STRICKLAND:

Yes?

She puts the playback deck on top of Strickland's urinal.

He scowls.

MACE:

There's a tape in there you need to

see. I mean right now.

While see is looking at Strickland, a young LAPD OFFICER

comes out of a stall, and goes to the sink. He glances in

the mirror at Mace.

STRICKLAND:

If it wasn't New Year's Eve, I'd

arrest you for possession of illegal

equipment--

MACE:

(interrupting)

Just look at the tape! You want to

know who killed Jeriko One? Go in

the stall right now and hit Play.

The young cop steps up behind her.

YOUNG COP:

Sir, is there a problem here?

Mace turns. Oh sh*t. She backs away from them.

MACE:

Damn! I knew it--

Strickland motions with his eyes and the cop grabs for

her. Mace twists viciously out of his grip, knocks him

down and vanishes out the door.

STRICKLAND hefts the recorder, pondering it. His

expression is opaque.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY/BONAVENTURE HOTEL

Lenny comes out of the elevator. Standing at the corner,

where he can watch the elevators and the corridor, is Wade

Beemer. Lenny doesn't break stride. Just walks toward

Beemer. He's not afraid anymore. He's pissed off.

Beemer moves toward him.

LENNY:

Now, Wade, can we talk here, like

two human beings--

We think he's starting the usual negotiation. But when he

gets in range he lets fly with a line-drive right,

straight into Beemer's face. We're talking a John Wayne

haymaker punch. He staggers back, surprised and dazed,

and Lenny knees him right in the gut as hard as he can.

He drops to his knees, sucking wind. Lenny draws his

Glock and puts it behind Beemer's ear, pulling a pair of

handcuffs off his belt. Okay, we're starting to believe

he might have been a cop once.

LENNY:

It's not personal.

CUT TO:

INT. BALLROOM

Mace, moving fast as she can through the crowd and past

the tables when...

... she's grabbed by DUNCAN. He gets her in a good tight

come-along. Like any good security person, the hold is

not so obvious that the party around them is disrupted.

VITA MINH steps up next to her, closing ranks.

MACE IS WALKED around behind the bandstand. Joey Corto

walks up to her, looking mean and smug.

Mace twists one hand free and snaps it out in a blur. Her

open palm breaks Corto's nose with an audible crunch.

Corto screams and grabs his face.

CORTO:

Aw, not the f***ing nose!!

She slams her foot down on Duncan's instep and snaps her

head back simultaneously in a reverse head-butt. He keeps

the hold. Mace drives her free hand back into the

approximate position of his nuts. Even though Duncan

looks like he bench-presses Buicks, this has the desired

effect.

Mace jerks away from him, shoving him back through a

buffet table. Vita draws a knife in a lightning move

but...

Suddenly Mace is standing there with her dress hiked up

and her pistol straight-armed, with the muzzle right in

her face. Vita says the smartest line of the night.

VITA:

Hey, enjoy the party.

Mace spins and sprints through dumbfounded glitterati, her

gun innocuously tight to her side. She spots a red "Exit"

sign above a fire door and goes through.

CUT TO:

INT. STAIRWELL AND PENTHOUSE/BONAVENTURE

Lenny closes the stairwell door, giving us a quick glimpse

of Beemer handcuffed to the steel railing. Lenny moves

down the empty corridor.

He approaches suite 2203. The door is ajar. Always a bad

sign.

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