Untraceable Page #18

BOX:

Any idea why Griffin was blinking

“suicide”? A few of us have ideas,

but....

MARSH:

John, I...I’m finished. Tomorrow,

I’m gonna pick up my mom and Annie,

and just....I’ll take them...we’ll

disappear...till it’s over.

Their eyes meet. Hold. Marsh looks away.

MARSH (cont’d)

I’ll be fine. You can go home now.

BOX:

Nope.

MARSH:

(finding a smile)

Never?

He just stares. She lowers her eyes and speaks, almost

inaudibly-

MARSH (cont’d)

I’m good at a lot of things, but

not losing people. I’m bad at

losing people....

A tear trickles down her cheek. He leans over, gently wipes

it away. Her smile is sweet, grateful.

92.

INT. MOTEL ROOM -- LATER -- DAWN.

Under the covers, bathed in slanting light from the blinds,

Box lies on his side, sound asleep, holding Marsh, naked, in

his arms.

.

ANOTHER ANGLE. Marsh is awake. Feeling protected, she is

calmer now. Her eyes drift over to the laptop computer

sitting on the other bed.

Her mind starts to work.

She gently removes Box’s arm from around her and slips out.

She throws on a T-shirt, then walks over, sits on the bed,

and opens her computer.

For a moment, she just stares at the screen. Then she pulls

from a pouch in her computer case the Kinross disc that

Griffin gave her. She inserts it into her machine.

After it loads, she clicks open a long list of titled video

clip files. Into a search box she types the word “Suicide.”

She clicks on the first found item: “Suicide Jump”. A video

clip plays of a young woman, perched atop the roof of an

apartment building. Marsh lowers the volume.

Rescuers reach out to the young woman. Frightened, she pulls

away, slips, and falls. She tumbles out of frame to her

death.

Marsh closes the file. She clicks opens the next one, marked

“Kurt Suicide”. It’s an old news clip of Kurt Cobain

discussing suicide.

She closes it and clicks opens the next one, “Suicide Mayor.”

A small-town mayor addresses a press conference. Without

warning, he lifts a revolver to his mouth, pulls the trigger,

and falls, his head spouting blood.

.

A beat, then Marsh open the next file, “Rush-Hour Suicide.”

As it plays....

ANGLE ON BOX, lying on his side in bed, petting Marsh’s cat,

watching Marsh work. She’s beautiful in the early morning

light.

We hear the scratchy sound of a TRAFFIC HELICOPTER REPORTER

coming from Marsh’s computer, but Box cannot see what she is

watching--

93.

TRAFFIC REPORTER (O.S.)

His erratic driving has slowed

traffic on the 1-50 north all the

way back to the 340 interchange.

But now, as you can see, the

vehicle has stopped on the

shoulder.

Box, frowning, slowly sits up.

TRAFFIC REPORTER (O.S.) (cont’d)

His door is opening. And there’s

the driver. What is that? It’s a

rifle! The driver has a rifle!

Box rises, lays his hands on her shoulders, massages them.

She leans her body back into his and angles the screen so he

can see better-

MARSH:

It’s called “Rush Hour Suicide.”

BOX:

I remember. The guy was a professor.

TRAFFIC REPORTER

Two Highway Patrol cars are on the

scene now. Traffic has stopped

entirely.

MARSH:

Kinross included it in his greatest

hits. His “Best of the Worst.”

TRAFFIC REPORTER

The officers are ordering him to

drop his weapon and get down on the

ground.

MARSH:

I know how it ends.

As Marsh reaches to click it off-

BOX:

Yeah, to this day, I still can’t

eat at that Burger King.

Marsh stops, freezes the picture, then turns around and looks

at him questioningly. Box smiles.

94.

BOX (cont’d)

That yellow roof? It’s a Burger

King. It’s where the back of the

guy’s skull landed. I was in there

a few weeks ago..starving to

death...and I still couldn’t bring

myself to order.

Marsh looks away, thinking, then looks back at him.

MARSH:

What were you doing there?

BOX:

Talking to the kid who owned the

kitten.

Marsh’s eyes widen, hardly daring to believe. It takes a

moment, but Box understands where her mind has gone.

BOX (cont’d)

You think-

MARSH:

Do you remember the professor’s

name?

BOX:

No, but I know he taught at some

junior college.

Beat.

MARSH:

Marshall Junior College?

BOX:

Yeah. Holy sh*t.

(crossing away)

The traffic report? Whose is it?

Who shot it?

MARSH:

Channel 9.

Box grabs his phone, but, before dialing, looks at her.

BOX:

I never thought I’d say this to

you, but put on some clothes.

She jumps up and begins to dress.

95.

INT. CHANNEL 9 TV STATION -- LATER -- MORNING.

Marsh and Box stride down the hall, led by a NERVOUS EMPLOYEE.

INT. CHANNEL 9 CONTROL ROOM -- CONTINUOUS.

When Marsh and Box step into the dark room, they see the rush-

hour suicide footage already playing on a monitor, while

other monitors play OTHER FOOTAGE related to the event.

.

A TECHNICIAN works the controls. A STATION EXECUTIVE,

consulting a clipboard, invites them to sit down.

EXT. HIGHWAY -- LATER -- NOON.

Box’s unmarked car speeds along, light flashing, siren

wailing.

INT. BOX’S CAR -- SAME -- DAY.

Box drives, while Marsh speaks on the phone-

MARSH:

Yes, your honor, and normally I

would have waited for you to finish

your swim.

She listens. Smiles at Box.

INT. TASK FORCE COMMAND CENTER -- LATER -- DAY.

The Task force sits, assembled, waiting.

INT. CYBER DIVISION HEADQUARTERS -- SAME -- DAY.

Marsh and Box stride down the hall and into the room.

INT. TASK FORCE COMMAND CENTER -- LATER -- DAY.

The room is dark. On the plasma screen appears a college

yearbook photograph of a long-haired, dreary-eyed teenager.

REVERSE ANGLE TO reveal Marsh addressing the Task Force with

clarity and intensity. She controls the images on the plasma

with her laptop-MARSH

Andrew Kinross. A sophomore at

Georgetown University. He died

last month, but that didn’t stop

him from recommending...the day

after his body was discovered...a

new website called killwithme.com.

How did he do it? He didn’t.

(MORE)

96.

MARSH(cont'd)

The killer did, using his name.

Why? Why did the subject use

Kinross’s name and not someone

else’s to promote his site? That’s

what Griffin and I asked ourselves,

and, the night before he died,

Griffin found the answer. But the

killer knew that he had, and he got

to him first.

Marsh clicks her mouse and the photo of Kinross is replaced

by a grainy aerial photograph of the man, holding the rifle,

standing on the shoulder of a towering freeway overpass.

MARSH (cont’d)

Recognize him? He had his fifteen

minutes.

Many recognize him, other clearly do not.

MARSH (cont’d)

.

James Cleary. A biology teacher at

Marshall Junior College. Nine

months ago, depressed by the recent

death of his wife...a hematologist

...Cleary staggered out of his car,

during rush hour, onto the I-50

overpass. Traffic copters were out

in force that day...but only one...

Channel 9’s...caught the action

from beginning to end. The regular

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes