Traveler Page #10

MARLOW:

What are you driving at, Mr.

Burchell?

IN THE ALLEY:

Jay steels himself for what he has to say.

JAY:

I have another bomb in the city. I

want you to call your men off or

I'll be forced to detonate it.

ON MARLOW:

Scanning the crowd with eagle eyes. HER P.O.V. stops at each

man she sees on a cell phone.

MARLOW:

What if I said I think you're

bluffing? What if I told you we

found your friend in the museum,

dead?

Jay winces. That last bit of news is the nail in the coffin.

JAY:

I'd say you still have to take my

deal. We're not bad people, Agent

Marlow... But you never really know

what people are capable of, do you?

As Marlow weighs the question before her...

END ACT FIVE:

53.

ACT SIX:

EXT. ROOFTOPS - CONT.

Marlow still scans the crowd below. Borjes waits for orders,

gun pointed at the back of Taylor's head.

INT. NEW YORK FBI FIELD OFFICE - SIT ROOM

Chambers and his men listen to the RADIO SILENCE.

JAY (O.S.)

Are you still there, Agent Marlow?

Chambers knows it's his call. He finally interjects.

CHAMBERS:

Damniti Give me the location of the

bomb and I'll call off my men.

JAY:

Not until every cop and agent

leaves the plaza.

Chambers has to stop himself from smashing his coffee mug.

CHAMBERS:

Okay. Give me a second to clear it.

(to Radio Tech)

Put Burchell on hold and give me

the readout.

The radio tech types a command and hands Chambers a map.

CHAMBERS (cont'd)

Okay, Marlow. The cell towers put

him within three blocks of the

plaza...

INTERCUT WITH:

EXT. ROOFTOPS - SAME

Marlow listens to Chambers on the radio.

CHAMBERS (O.S.)

I'm gonna pull you and the officers

out of there, but I want all plain

clothes agents to blanket that

building and search the area for

Burchell. Copy that?

54.

MARLOW (O.S.)

Copy.

CHAMBERS:

I told you these guys were smart.

Give him back to me.

The Radio Tech reconnects Jay.

CHAMBERS (cont'd)

Burchell, it's your lucky day.

Marlow clicks her radio, so Jay can hear her orders.

MARLOW:

Officers stand down. Let the

suspect go. All units pull back.

She motions for the Beat Cop to leave. He heads down the fire

escape.

CHAMBERS:

That good for you, Mr. Burchell?

JAY (O.S.)

For now.

CHAMBERS:

Then I want the location.

EXT. ALLEYWAY - SAME

Jay watches squad cars pull away. Marlow is still on the

roof.

JAY:

Agent Marlow, I want your word that

Taylor is free and clear.

MARLOW (O.S.)

We're leaving him now.

EXT. ROOFTOPS - SAME

Marlow makes a final scan of the crowd. Then she and Borjes

pull back to the fire escape.

Taylor looks over his shoulder. They disappear over the edge.

EXT. ALLEYWAY - SAME

Jay watches them descend the fire escape. Then he looks at a

map of Manhattan on the back of the newsstand.

55.

JAY:

Okay. Brooklyn Bridge. Northwest

abutment.

He flips the phone shut.

INT. MARLOW'S CROWN VIC - PARKED

Marlow and Borjes hop in. She picks up the radio.

AGENT MARLOW:

All units to the Brooklyn Bridge. I

need an E.O.D. team at the

northwest abutment ASAP.

She slams it down. Furious with herself.

BORJES:

Our guys will stay on him.

Borjes uses his HORN to clear the crowd.

EXT. NEWSSTAND - SAME

Jay watches as the Crown Vic pulls out of the plaza. The

crowd resumes its exodus over the Bridge.

Jay pauses to catch his breath. He puts on an old Chicago

Cubs hat from his bag and changes shirts. He's about to step

out of the alley when he sees...

THREE LARGE AGENTS WITH BUZZCUTS APPROACH TAYLOR'S BUILDING.

The PLAINCLOTHES AGENTS take up positions around the

building's front door and scan the crowd. Jay grabs his cell.

EXT. ROOFTOPS - SAME

Taylor's finally alone on the roof. He lets his hands down

and looks around, a grin forming. He picks up his bag and

heads to the roof access door. His blackberry rings. He looks

down. "Call from Jay." He answers it, completely manic.

TAYLOR:

Jay? I owe you big for this. I

didn't think you'd come back—

JAY (O.S.)

Listen to me. You can't come

down.

TAYLOR:

What?

They've still got men by the

building. But I thought they left?

56.

JAY:

If you come down they'll be on you.

The news is too much for Taylor to take. Emotion deflates. He

leans against the access door and sinks to the ground.

TAYLOR:

Okay. Last call for ideas. It's

obviously not my day for them.

Jay peers out. Two more Plainclothes Agents leave the

building and start to search the crowd. He ducks back in the

alley.

JAY:

How much money do you have? Maybe

they'll take a bribe.

TAYLOR:

(laughs, defeated)

That's a good one.

Taylor looks at the gym bag. Green bills peek out at him. And

then an idea occurs to him.

TAYLOR (cont'd)

No. That is a good one. Go. I'll

meet you on the bridge. And lose

the phone. They're looking for it.

JAY:

I'm not going without you.

But Taylor's not listening. He grabs two thick stacks of

bills. He walks over to the edge and looks down at the

crowded plaza below.

TAYLOR:

Hey everybody! Thank you for being

a great audience! Hope you enjoyed

the show!

He rips open two stacks of $50 bills and tosses them into the

air. The wind catches the money, blowing it down in a cloud

of spinning greenbacks. The crowd goes after the floating

money like kids with butterfly nets.

JAY:

Nice.

Jay throws his cell phone in a dumpster. He grabs a New York

Times from the newsstand. He opens it, pretending to read.

57.

The paper completely obscures him as he passes a PLAINCOTHES

AGENT and blends into the crowd.

INT. EAST SIDE APARTMENT BUILDING - STAIRWELL - CONT.

Taylor enters the building. He rips off the sport coat he was

wearing for the chase. He puts on the grungiest tee he can

find in his bag. He pulls his blackberry out of his pocket.

After a last look, he places it in the bag.

EXT. QUEENSBORO BRIDGE & TRAM PLAZA - SAME

PLAINCLOTHES AGENTS struggle to maintain order at the door.

PLAINCLOTHES AGENT

(into his radio)

I need more agents at the front. We

need eyes on this!

They do their best to push people out of the way.

INT. NEW YORK APARTMENT BUILDING - LOBBY - SAME

Taylor comes down the stairs dressed in a T-shirt, shorts,

and wrap around shades. His hair's hidden by a doo-rag. He

only carries the nylon bag of cash. He falls in with a group

of five YOUNG RESIDENTS heading out of the lobby.

SLACKER:

You know what the hell's going on

out front?

TAYLOR:

No idea, man.

The Slacker pushes the door open and we realize THEY'VE GONE

OUT THE SIDE EXIT.

Only one PLAINCLOTHES AGENT covers the door. He holds a

picture of Taylor: collared shirt, long hair. He double takes

at the slackers. But TAYLOR'S ALREADY MELTED INTO THE CROWD.

EXT. QUEENSBORO BRIDGE - DAY

The crowds make their way off the island. Visible relief on

their faces as they distance themselves from Manhattan.

Jay walks among them. He keeps his head low, pretending to

read the paper. Soon, he notices a black gym bag swinging in

rhythm beside him. He looks up at Taylor grinning from

behind his shades. Jay grins back. They share a knowing look.

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