Untraceable Page #15

Marsh, chest heaving, grabs the door knob. Marsh swings the

door open, gun poised, ready to shoot. It’s Annie.

On the verge of tears, chin trembling, she says-

75.

ANNIE:

The door got locked.

Suddenly, outside, SIRENS BLARE. Marsh lowers her gun, and,

gasping for breath, grabs Annie and hugs her with all her

might. Stella rushes down to them.

EXT. MARSH’S HOUSE -- SAME -- MORNING.

TWO POLICE CARS pull up, one from each direction. COPS spill

out, weapons drawn. Two surround a car parked across the

street. Two race toward the house.

INT. MARSH’S FOYER --_SAME -- MORNING.

Marsh gestures for the cops to stop. From inside the

embrace, Annie asks-

ANNIE:

Did I do something bad?

MARSH:

No, baby, everything’s okay now.

.

ANNIE:

Are we still gonna have French

toast?

Marsh kisses Annie over and over again, then hands her to

Stella, who groans as she takes her.

STELLA:

Such a big girl you are.

Stella heads to the kitchen. As Marsh hurries outside, TWO

MORE POLICE CARS screech to a stop outside.

EXT. MARSH’S HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS -- MORNING.

Marsh, furious, strides across the lawn.

COP #1

Everything okay inside, ma’am?

She walks right past them toward the car parked across the

street. A big, black BMW. We recognize it. A web cam is

visible, attached to the roof.

CUT TO:

CLOSE ON A COMPUTER SCREEN, as Marsh, furious, walks closer

and closer to us. When she reaches us, pulls out her weapon

and swings it at the camera. The image goes haywire, then

black.

76.

WIDEN TO REVEAL-

INT. OWEN’S BASEMENT -- SAME -- MORNING.

Owen, sitting at his computer, smiles at her reaction.

EXT. MARSH’S STREET -- SAME -- MORNING.

The camera lands with a clatter at the curb. Marsh breathes

hard, trying to calm herself. In the background, we hear-

COP #1 (O.S.)

Virginia plates.

COP #2 (O.S.)

I’ll check the glove compartment.

MARSH:

(half to herself)

I know whose car it is.

No one hears her.

COP #1 (O.S.)

Pop the trunk, will ya? Dave,

let’s get this fingerprinted!

We hear the trunk open.

COP #1 (O.S.) (cont’d)

Oh, sh*t!

WIDER ON MARSH, as she turns and sees Cop #1, shrinking from

the horror of what’s inside. Marsh walks over and looks. A

black, crusty mess, barely identifiable as human, covered

with patriotic bunting and swarming with flies.

.

MARSH:

It’s his.

EXT. MARSH'S KITCHEN -- LATER -- MORNING.

Marsh, Annie, and Stella eat their French toast. In every

window, POLICEMEN are visible walking back and forth, going

about their tasks.

MARSH:

Know what I was thinking? Since

camp’s almost over, we should go on

vacation. Today. We could stay in a

nice hotel, and you could swim in the

pool.

77.

ANNIE:

(excited)

Really?

MARSH:

Really. Except...well, I have a

little more work to do, so maybe

you and Grandma could go today, and

I’ll come as soon as I can.

ANNIE:

Soon soon? You promise?

MARSH:

Uh-huh.

ANNIE:

Cross your heart and hope to die?

Beat.

MARSH:

Yeah.

ANNIE:

(waving)

Hi, John!

Marsh turns and there’s Box at her back door, peering in.

Marsh smiles, glad to see him.

.

EXT. MARSH’S HOUSE -- LATER -- MORNING.

Marsh, standing with Box, refuses to cry as she watches

Annie, a little forlorn, waving good-bye from the back of a

black Bureau car as it drives away.

BOX:

What are you waiting for? Go with

them.

(off her look)

No one would blame you.

MARSH:

I might. Keeping my family safe,

while the Carvers are pouring Jerry

into the ground?

BOX:

You’ve sacrificed enough.

She throws him a curious look. She isn’t sure what he means.

He’s tired of pretending-

78.

BOX (cont’d)

I told you I remembered you from

Rick’s funeral. Well, when I saw

Annie, it didn’t take me long to

figure out who her father was.

Marsh stares at him, revealing nothing.

BOX (cont’d)

I don’t blame you for working

behind a desk. Losing one parent

is enough for any kid. And now

that the piece of sh*t’s camping

out on your front lawn, I’d say

it’s time for you to get lost, and

stay lost till we’ve got him

hanging from a hook.

(beat)

That’s just my opinion.

Box walks away, leaving Marsh to think.

INT. MARSH’S HOUSE -- MOMENTS LATER -- MORNING.

Marsh enters the house. Looks around. It feels empty. She

walks through an archway into-

INT. MARSH’S DINING ROOM -- CONTINUOUS -- MORNING.

She stops at the hutch, opens the drawer, pulls her Glock out

of the back of her jeans, starts to set it inside, but then

stops. Decides against it. She jams it back in her jeans.

The phone rings, startling her.

INT. MARSH’S KITCHEN -- MOMENTS LATER -- MORNING.

Marsh enters and answers it.

MARSH:

Hello?

GRIFFIN (O.S.)

I guess I missed all the fun.

MARSH:

Where are you?

INTERCUT WITH:

INT. GRIFFIN’S MOVING SPORTS CAR -- SAME -- MORNING.

Griffin drives-

.

79.

GRIFFIN:

On my way in. Annie’s okay?

MARSH:

She and my mom just left. The

Bureau’s putting them up...a few

hours away...near Gettysburg.

GRIFFIN:

What about you?

Marsh plucks a hand-drawn Mother’s Day card off the

refrigerator. Studies it.

MARSH:

I’ll be fine.

GRIFFIN:

You sure?

MARSH:

Yeah.

GRIFFIN:

So you wanna hear my theory about

why he tried to scare the crap out

of you?

MARSH:

Please.

GRIFFIN:

Because there is a connection

between him and Kinross, and

somehow he knows you’re onto it,

and he wants to drive you off the

case.

MARSH:

You found it? I didn’t find

anything.

GRIFFIN:

Maybe. I mean, it’s a long shot

and I still need to check out some

details, but-

(click)

Sh*t! Hold on.

(clicking over)

Hello?

MELANIE (O.S.)

Hi.

80.

GRIFFIN:

(surprised)

Melanie. Hi. Hold on.

(clicking back to Marsh)

Are you coming in today?

MARSH:

Around one.

GRIFFIN:

Come sooner. Noon. I’ll lay the

whole thing out for you.

MARSH:

Griffin, just-

GRIFFIN:

Gotta go! It’s Melanie!

MARSH:

Who?

GRIFFIN:

The one I ditched. Bye!

Too late. He’s gone. Marsh has to smile to herself.

INT. GRIFFIN’S MOVING SPORTS CAR -- SAME -- DAY.

Griffin speaks to Melanie-

GRIFFIN:

So you actually forgive me?

.

MELANIE (O.S.)

(with a sigh)

Your e-mail was very sweet.

GRIFFIN:

Yeah, I spent some time on it.

INT. OWEN’S BASEMENT -- SAME -- MORNING.

Owen tinkers with some kind of mechanical contraption. From

a speaker on his computer-

GRIFFIN (O.S.)

I hear you stayed for a while.

Even ate a hotdog.

Owen speaks in his normal voice into his computer-

OWEN:

Just half of one.

81.

GRIFFIN (O.S.)

Annie really liked you. And you

know what they say about kids.

That like animals. Very good

judges of character.

OWEN:

What can I say? I have to agree.

I’m a total catch.

(beat)

So, Mr. Dowd-

INT. GRIFFIN’S MOVING SPORTS CAR -- SAME -- DAY.

Owen’s voice is being electronically altered to sound female:

OWEN/MELANIE (O.S.)

--what’re you doing right now?

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