The Negotiator Page #5

the fund and you killed him.

You could've ended this.

I guess you don't want to.

That's too bad.

That's really too bad.

Because Danny Roman was just

starting to like you.

Tell Danny Roman to hold the f*** on.

You don't want to do this.

How do you know?

If you think I could kill Nate, how do

you know I don't want to do this?

Danny Roman?

This is Chris Sabian here.

Good timing, Chris.

You made it just in time.

I got lucky. Traffic was light.

Glad you accepted my invitation.

I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

What's it been? 2 years?

Not since we both...

...showed for that North Side gig.

You pulled rank and ran my boys out.

Two negotiators on the same site...

... never work.

So what's this, then? The exception

that disproves the rule?

You do your job, I do mine, maybe we

both walk out of here in one piece.

Here's the million-dollar question.

Why you?

Exactly.

I don't want to go into that now.

We'll talk about that later.

This is our first date.

The courting period.

So what do guys like you do when

they're not talking guys like me down?

I'm pretty much of a homebody.

I spend a lot of time with my family.

My kid.

I read a lot of books.

I watch a lot of old movies. AMC.

You got a satellite?

They show all those old westerns.

Westerns?

I like comedies, myself.

I did like Shane though.

Shane, now that's a good one.

I would have picked one where

the hero lives at the end.

Like a Rio Bravo...

...or a Red River.

I think that's the wrong movie.

Shane lives. At the end of it,

he's riding off and that kid...

- Brandon...

- De Wilde.

Brandon de Wilde's calling his name:

"Shane, come back! Shane!"

I'm sorry to be the one to

tell you this but Shane died.

That's an assumption.

It's a common mistake.

In the final shot,

he slumps over his horse.

He doesn't look back because he can't.

Shane's dead.

He slumps because he's shot.

Don't mean he's dead.

You think Butch and Sundance live too?

You never see them dead either,

but they're surrounded.

Now you're a history buff?

I generally read

histories and biographies.

Don't believe everything you read.

I didn't say I read just one book.

I try to read all books on a subject.

You know, try to get all the facts...

...and then decide for myself

what really happened.

Get all the facts, huh? That's smart.

You're much better at this than Farley.

All right, before we start to bore

everyone, let's get back to business.

First, my list of demands.

One:
I want my badge brought down here.

Two:
If I die, I want a

departmental funeral.

No one's dying here.

Three:
I want the informant found.

He's the only one who

can clear my name...

...and knows who's running

this conspiracy.

Four:
I want to know

who killed my partner.

If neither the informant or killer

is found in 8 hours...

...I will kill one hostage an hour

until they're all dead.

Five:

I want to talk to you face to face now.

- Scene commander's upstairs?

- You can talk to me.

You're the chief?

Pleased to meet you.

You're Beck?

You're...?

All right. Vest.

You're going up?

Yes.

- Why didn't you try and talk him down?

- He would've expected it. His sheet.

Why'd he ask for me?

We were hoping you could answer that.

Psych evaluation, who's on it?

He thinks he's innocent.

We'll probably have to go tactical.

We've put a plan together.

If we can distract him long enough,

we can send in an infiltration team.

- Let's wait on that.

- Wife's here!

God! How is he? Has he hurt anyone?

Who's talking to him?

Karen, he's okay.

He asked for Chris Sabian.

I'm Chris Sabian.

Do you know Danny?

He didn't do those things they say.

You have to help him.

I have no idea about Danny's

guilt or innocence.

I'm here to get him out safely.

If you want to help...

...answer Tonray's questions

and then go home.

No! No! I'm not going home.

You bring tension and emotion to a scene

that already has too much of both.

I am not...

...leaving my husband.

All right, fine. But if you want

to help him, help me.

I have to get up there now.

Go with Tonray, answer his questions

and then stay in case we need you.

Just come with me and talk, okay?

It's going to be all right.

How do I get up?

Freight elevator to 18,

and walk the rest of the way.

All right. What is this? This is a

shaft off Internal Affairs?

That's access to the steam pipes.

It's unusable.

First, get his badge.

Second, shut off the heat.

He might deal a hostage to get it back.

What channel?

Three.

I want to show you something.

Danny, take me.

Take him. Come on.

I got the asthma.

You know?

You can't put me in bad situations, man.

For chrissakes.

Why you always pick on me?

I mean, who am I?

Charlie Brown?

You know what Nietzsche says:

"Even the strongest have their

moments of fatigue."

And I'm fatigued, Dan.

I'm f***ing fatigued. Oh, God.

You okay?

Do I look okay? I got a gun

pointed at the back of my head.

Nice f***ing pants.

Shut up, Mr. Blackwell. Get over here.

- You working?

- Sort of.

I was negotiating a truce between

my wife and daughter.

That might prove easy by comparison.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

You shut off the heat.

You know how this works.

Yeah, I do.

Next time you try and bluff,

make sure you charge your cell phone.

Now, you want to tell me

what I'm doing up here?

I wanted to tell you face to face

I'm not crazy.

I'm just doing this to

prove my innocence.

I believe you.

Anything I can do to help you get out...

Don't f***ing patronize me!

You don't think I'm innocent!

Don't tell me "I want to do everything

I can to help you."

Like I'm some second-rate HT.

You're right. I'm sorry. My mistake.

You are sorry. Get out. Lock the door.

Call when you want to talk.

I'm ready to talk.

You're right.

You're right.

I don't know if you're innocent or not.

You could've done everything they say

you've done. I don't care.

There are ways to prove your innocence.

This isn't one of them.

And now you got hostages.

So let me tell you:

You hurt one of them, you'll burn up

whatever currency you got to deal with.

They're all I care about. You leaving

here walking is a distant second.

Do I make myself clear?

Good.

Now we're getting somewhere.

Good. Now answer my question.

What am I doing up here?

Before Nate was killed, he told me

the men involved are from my precinct.

Guys I know.

- Guys I might call friends.

- And?

And you're not.

When your friends betray you...

...sometimes the only people

you can trust are strangers.

Lock the door! Get out!

Come on, hurry up. Lock it!

Hurry up!

Hold it right there.

Beck, what happened? I've lost him!

He's gone back in!

Come on, go, go.

Get up! Get up!

Drop the gun! Drop them!

Put it down!

You are jeopardizing the life

of this hostage!

Drop your guns!

Sniper team, can anyone see Roman?

Look for the one shot.

We have the target acquired.

- Put it down!

- Drop the weapon, Danny!

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