Traveler Page #5

Taylor peers over the rail. Three blue jackets and black

revolvers are headed their way. Taylor looks up at Jay. Jay

consults the floorplan. He nods to the door.

INT. HALLWAY - CONT.

Jay leads Taylor as they run through the 10th floor hall.

They follow the map to the floor's opposite stairwell.

Jay goes to open the stairwell door. But Taylor grabs his

hand. He throws Jay against the wall as

THREE MORE POLICE PASS BY THE WINDOW IN THE STAIRWELL DOOR.

Jay and Taylor's chests heave. Both are already out of

breath. After a beat, Jay opens the door. They slip inside.

INT. STAIRWELL - CONT.

Jay and Taylor now tip toe down the stairs. They can hear the

FOOTSTEPS of the Police climbing above until

POLICE RADIO (O.S.)

All units. Be advised. Suspects are

on the move. Lockdown all exits.

POLICEMAN 1 (O.S.)

Crawford you go up! Cotter and I

got down!

Jay and Taylor, hear the FOOTSTEPS COME CRASHING TOWARDS THEM.

They run. Reckless f***ing abandon. Leaping four or five

stairs at a time. Floors scream by 8... 6.... 5.... 4....

25.

They can see the bottom between the railings. They're almost

OUt. But down below, TWO MORE POLICE ENTER THE STAIRWELL.

They're trapped. Two cops descending. Two cops climbing. A

moment of pure purgatory. Taylor is momentarily frozen. A

hand grabs his shoulder. Jay drags him into

INT. THIRD FLOOR HALLWAY - CONT.

As they run down the hall they hear behind them.

POLICEMAN 1 (O.S.)

That you up there, MurtaughI!?

POLICEMAN 2 (O.S.)

You check three! We got four!

They turn a corner in the hall and hide against the wall. TWO

COPS EXIT THE STAIRWELL and start knocking on rooms behind

them. Taylor wipes sweat from his eyes. Jay swears silently.

Jay takes a last look at his floorplan. Keeps moving. Taylor

follows. Jay finds what he's looking for. AN UNMARKED DOOR.

INT. ESSEX HOUSE HOTEL - SERVICE CLOSET - CONT.

The guys enter a large closet filled with linens, bathrobes,

toiletries. All the components of a Five Star Hotel Room.

They lock the door, take off their packs, catch their breath.

JAY:

Any more great ideas?

Jay leans his head against the wall.

TAYLOR:

Yeah. But you're not gonna like it.

JAY:

Not like we have a lot of options.

TAYLOR:

In Negotiations class we did a case

study about high school bomb

threats.

JAY:

You're talking business school?

TAYLOR:

It's the law of expected value.

Most high schools know there's not

a bomb when kids call in.

(MORE)

26.

TAYLOR (cont'd)

But they're forced to clear out the

school because in the off chance

the threat's real and they ignore

it, they're screwed.

JAY:

You're right. I don't like it.

Taylor pulls out his blackberry phone.

TAYLOR:

It might give us a window—

JAY:

I said nothing that makes us look

guilty.

But it's too late. The door handle RATTLES. Jay and Taylor

back up as the handle slowly turns and

THEIR HOTEL PORTER ENTERS.

It's the same guy who showed them their room. He looks at Jay

and Taylor for a long beat.

PORTER:

You two are a long way from the

luxury suites.

TAYLOR:

We, uh, ran out of shampoo.

The Porter laughs quietly. Then locks the door behind him.

PORTER:

Don't worry. I ain't no fan of the

police.

JAY:

Look, there's a chance a friend of

ours is in trouble. And unless we

get out of here, we're not gonna

find out.

TAYLOR:

We can pay.

Taylor starts to pull out his wallet, the Porter stops him.

PORTER:

You ain't got enough for this.

(beat, eyeing something)

But I do like that watch.

27.

TAYLOR:

It's all yours.

Taylor peels off his Rolex and hands it to the Porter.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Knocks on the door. The knob RATTLES. A VOICE drifts in.

POLICEMAN 2 (O.S.)

NYPD! Can you open this door?

Taylor and Jay check the Porter to see what he'll do.

PORTER:

(calling)

One minute, please!

(then whispering)

There's a laundry chute to the

basement. Take the hall to your

left. It leads to the building next

door. Cops won't know about it.

He pushes aside a huge basket filled with dirty linens. He

pulls down a heavy steel door and throws their backpacks down

a dark chute. BAM! BAM! BAM!

POLICEMAN 2 (O.S.)

I need you to open this door now!

PORTER:

I'm changing! Be right there!

The Porter helps a nervous Taylor into the chute.

PORTER (cont'd)

Don't worry. It's a soft landing.

The Porter lets go of Taylor's hand. WHOOSH! He's gone.

Jay climbs inside. The doorknob RATTLES and starts to turn.

SOMEONE IS WORKING THE LOCK FROM THE OUTSIDE. He hangs there

just long enough to see the Porter push the laundry basket

back to hide the chute and then WHOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHI!!

Jay drops through a tunnel of black. Finally the darkness

explodes into light and... POOF! Jay lands in a pile of

linens. Taylor sits a foot away, amazed he's alive.

TAYLOR:

That was definitely worth a Rolex.

28.

Jay and Taylor climb out and grab their bags. TWO LAUNDRY

MAIDS watch dumbstruck as the men disappear into the hallway.

INT. NEW YORK CITY FBI FIELD OFFICE - DAY

Marlow and Borjes trail S.A.C. Chambers through the sea of

cubicles. Marlow takes Chambers through her work up. He reads

through a file as he marches towards the SIT room.

MARLOW:

Jason Cruz Burchell. Age 26.

Graduated Yale Law School last

week. Top five in his class. UCLA

for undergrad. Grew up in

Wilmington, California. Rough

neighborhood.

CHAMBERS:

What about parents?

MARLOW:

Mother, Felicia Cruz, holds

multiple jobs in the Los Angeles

area. Mainly housework.

CHAMBERS:

Father?

MARLOW:

That's where it gets interesting.

Sgt. William Burchell. Served in

Iraq. 1992. Burchell was courtmartialed

for a friendly fire

incident that killed five men. He

took his own life a year later.

CHAMBERS:

(that raises an eyebrow)

Think this kid holds a grudge?

MARLOW:

Guess we'll find out soon.

CHAMBERS:

What about the name he gave us?

MARLOW:

Will Traveler? So far, we can't

find any records in the national

database. We're checking aliases.

CHAMBERS:

Sounds like a dead-end. A decoy.

29.

MARLOW:

I don't think Burchell made it up.

His speech pattern was panicked but

he didn't strike me as a liar.

CHAMBERS:

The good ones never do.

Chambers pushes open the door and they enter

INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - SIT ROOM

The chaos of the room immediately goes quiet.

CHAMBERS:

This ain't church, people. Talk to

me.

AGENT WITH GLASSES

They weren't there.

CHAMBERS AGENT WITH GLASSES

We were on the phone with

them five minutes ago! They slipped by PD. But the

room was registered to

Carlton Fog?! Oh, this day Carlton Fog...

just keeps getting better.

And hotel Security footage

shows it was actually his

son, Taylor, who checked in.

MARLOW:

So, Taylor Fog's our number two7

AGENT WITH GLASSES

We tracked his credit cards. Looks

like Fog and Burchell hit Peter

Luger, Crobar, Marquee, and Score's

last night.

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