The Contender Page #12

You don't have to humiliate him.

You f***ed up, buddy.

- The girl, do you know what she was?

- What girl?

- The girl in the river.

- She was a paralegal.

- Before that.

- She was military. Fourteen Golf.

We found the money that you put

in her account at the Bellagio.

- Two hundred thousand dollars.

- And that ad in...

- Soldier of Fortune.

- Yeah, Soldier of Fortune.

I don't mind confessing,

I am at a total f***ing loss.

Shelly, he paid her

to go off the f***ing bridge.

He paid her to save her.

Jesus Christ.

- Shelly, maybe I...

- You shouldn't say anything.

- Jack, look, we respect...

- You're going to have to come with me now.

Fred. We respect you.

We're trying to make this go

as smoothly as it possibly can.

I know you meant no harm.

- Hell, I don't even know... What would the charge be?

- Negligent homicide.

Oh, negligent homicide.

Sir.

- Good luck, Mrs. Hanson.

- You too.

Who doesn't want

a shortcut to greatness?

Oh, it's a goddamn shame

about the Muenster.

Mr. President.

Yeah, Shelly?

You set me up.

Just this once.

For the record, sir...

I find what you did

to be manipulative...

Mr. Chairman, let's just say...

"I'm guilty

but not responsible," hmm?

Shelly, you needn't worry

about us exposing the fact...

that you leaked all that horrible

material about Laine on the Internet.

We know that you were

just following your heart.

Yeah, Hartford,

it was a tough one.

But... Well, it doesn't

make a difference.

- She still is who she is.

- Yes, she is.

And you are who you are.

You're still coming

to the banquet, aren't you?

Because I'd love to see you.

Is your wife in town?

May I introduce

tonight's honoree, Miss Barr?

- Congressman Webster.

- Honor, madam.

And, Congressman,

you know the senator, of course.

We go about two feet back.

I asked them to have you seated

at my table tonight.

- If you want to break bread with me.

- Absolutely.

- Don't eat all the hors d'oeuvres.

- Shark steak sandwiches?

Yeah. Save me some.

Last time I shared one of these,

it was with the president of Russia.

Or maybe it was the kid

who won Wimbledon for the second time.

I'm honored, sir.

You're not supposed to inhale.

Maybe that's the first thing

you should've told me.

Recognize this affidavit?

Where'd you get that, sir?

Where you got yours.

Where Shelly Runyon got his.

From Mr. Webster.

He may not know

his right from his left...

but apparently

he does know right from wrong.

I understand you

even less now, Senator.

- You are an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

- Wrapped in a riddle.

Watch your step, Senator.

What if I told you that I'm just

busting at the seams...

to know what exactly

happened that night...

to hear the truth

from your own lips?

Totally off the record.

Not between the president and the senator,

but between the president and Laine.

Better than that.

Between Jackson and Laine.

Well, I had just turned 18

when I got to college...

and I had never been

away from home, not really.

And I was immediately...

I was immediately lonely.

And that's when

the sorority kicked in.

I wanted them,

they wanted me.

I was the daughter of the governor,

for chrissake.

- True blue catch.

- I guess so.

And like any other sorority,

they have an initiation, a rush.

And they have this girl, this woman

that Runyon deposed, Patty LaVamere.

She runs the sorority,

and she gives it to me straight:

If I wanna be in, I have to go to

their brother fraternity and have sex...

with two boys.

What a coup for them, huh?

Daughter of a big-time Republican

doing a frat house?

But I say,

"There's no chance. "

- The whole thing was pretty hairy.

- I bet.

But six beers later,

I'm talking a different tune...

so off we go

to the frat house.

Half the girls were there,

about a zillion boys.

They're cheering my name.

"Laine! Laine! Laine!"

And I'm just stumbling around.

Eventually I just say,

"I'm gonna go for it. "

If getting laid is a common initiation

for boys in the frat...

then why not for us, right?

- You're asking me?

- No, I'm not.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry. Go ahead.

That's okay.

So they send me

into this room.

It's dark and dim.

There are these two guys.

They both have towels

wrapped around their waists.

And the first guy,

he slips his towel off.

And I see his thing, and...

I take it in my hand...

and I say...

- It was the first thing that came into my head.

- What did you say?

I said,

"I'm sorry, I don't smoke. "

And then I just got

the hell out of there.

You okay, sir?

Oh, no, I'm just thinking what I'd pay

to be back in college again.

The next day, the campus

was rampant with word...

that I had been

the center of a gang-bang.

I mean, the governor's daughter.

Let me tell you.

That's one hell of a bell to un-ring.

- What about the photographs?

- Not me.

I never took my clothes off.

Even if I had, I've got

this big birthmark on my right thigh...

that the lady with the lovely physique

in the photo lacks.

- No witnesses?

- Pure urban legend.

A little bit of wishful thinking

thrown in, I think.

You know, Laine...

you could've looked those pricks

in the eye and told them the truth.

Under oath. Told them

they were full of sh*t.

And barring that,

you could've at least told me.

But see, it really wasn't any of your

business either, and it still isn't.

There's something about

almost puking on a Havana...

that just turns a girl...

to blush.

This letter from Jack Bennet...

and Larry Bellows, affidavit, I guess,

that you got from Webster.

It pretty much says

that nothing happened that night.

- They're ready to come forward to be deposed.

- That's very good of them.

So, that's it. The end.

Good guys win.

I'm gonna call a press conference

tomorrow, read that letter...

and damn it if you don't have

the fastest confirmation on record.

No, sir.

"No, sir"?

What, "No, sir"?

I would prefer that we not

have the press conference, sir.

Laine, maybe you've been out

of law school too long.

- This is what they call exculpatory evidence.

- Yes, I realize that.

- This is your ticket to wherever history is gonna take you.

- Yes.

But principles only mean something if you

stick by them when they're inconvenient.

If I ever did

answer the questions...

you know,

even to exonerate myself...

that would mean that it was okay for them

to have been asked in the first place...

and it isn't.

- You would sacrifice your reputation?

- Yes, I would.

People have sacrificed

a lot more for a lot less.

- We've got him! We have Goliath.

- Sir, are you all right, sir?

- It's okay, guys. Busted.

- POTUS is secure.

Of course, the president addressing

a joint session of Congress...

is always unusual,

always an event.

This speech is scheduled

to begin momentarily.

We understand the president

has arrived at the U.S. Capitol.

I don't care if I never

see any of these guys again.

Sources in the White House

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