HAROLD AND BETTY POV:
Harold eavesdrops on the conversation. He stands up and approaches Nathan and Mary. Betty clings to him, urges him to stay put.
HAROLD
What kind of medication does
your daughter take?
NATHAN
Who are you?
HAROLD
I work in sales for a large pharmaceutical
company.
BETTY
Harold…
NATHAN
(to Harold)
You trying to sell us something?
HAROLD
No, I’m just asking a question.
Your daughter’s arrhythmias
impairs her heart’s ability to
pump blood. Some people respond to
certain medications better than others.
Nathan looks at Mary. He scratches his head.
NATHAN
Are you some kind of doctor?
HAROLD
No, but I work with a lot of
doctors who treat heart rate
rhythm disorders.
Nathan checks his watch. He glances over at Dirk, who continues to visually monitor the police outside.
NATHAN
Propafenone. Our daughter
takes propafenone.
HAROLD
Does she get sick from it?
MARY
Sometimes.
HAROLD
Tell your doctor to give her
disopyramide. It might reduce
the side effects. If you let
us go, I could get your daughter
a lifetime supply for free.
NATHAN
Sure, and while you’re at it, I’ll
take a million dollars and a
house in Beverly Hills. One of
those with the clay tile roofs
that don’t leak – and a pool in
the back yard. The kind with the
little waterfall.
MARY
(to Nathan)
Stop it.
HAROLD
I’m serious. Just let my wife
and I leave.
NATHAN
No deal.
Mary tugs on Nathan’s arm. She whispers in his ear.
NATHAN
(to Mary)
Why should we trust him?
THE POWER GOES OUT IN THE DINER. THE AIR CONDITIONING STOPS.
DIRK
The power’s on across the street.
The cops are trying to sweat us
out.
A CELL PHONE RINGS.
Dirk and Nathan look around the room. Mary pats her pocket when she realizes the phone is hers. She answers.
MARY
Hello?
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott paces while she smokes a cigarette. A ‘76 Plymouth Volare wagon with missing hubcaps, red interior, and a broken windshield pulls up. A white trash female sits behind the wheel.
MRS. ABBOTT
This is Debra. Where the hell
are you?
INT. DINER – DAY
MARY
Is Rose all right?
NATHAN
(whispering)
Who is it?
MARY
(to Nathan)
It’s Mrs. Abbott.
Mary turns away from Nathan.
MARY
(to Mrs. Abbott)
Did she take her bottle?
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
MRS. ABBOTT
She took most of it.
INT. DINER – DAY
MARY
Did you change her diaper?
She’s soaked when she gets up
from her nap.
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott shrugs at the driver who HONKS the horn in defiance.
MRS. ABBOTT
Look, my ride’s here.
I have Bingo at the school
this morning and I need cigarettes.
I can’t hang around here all day.
INT. DINER – DAY
Mary grows more distraught.
MARY
We’ll be back soon. Just keep
our baby safe.
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER HOME – DAY
Mrs. Abbott hears the baby CRYING FROM THE TRAILER. The driver revs the engine.
MRS. ABBOTT
Hurry up.
INT. DINER – DAY
Nathan takes the phone from Mary and throws it against the floor.
MARY
What are you doing?
NATHAN
The cops can trace it.
EXT. DINER PARKING LOT – DAY
Dale approaches Sheriff Thorton who has one foot on the SWAT van bumper with his arm across his knee. The Sheriff’s cheek is puffed with chewing tobacco. He spits brown juice on the ground.
DALE
How much longer are we going
to wait?
SHERIFF
Not long.
DALE
Chuck’s still inside.
SHERIFF
SWAT has a plan.
DALE
I want in.
SHERIFF
Forget it. Let those boys do
their jobs. That’s what they
get paid for.
DALE
What about your brother?
The Sheriff spits again.
SHERIFF
Simon can take care of himself.
EXT. GAS STATION ROOF – DAY
A SWAT sniper in a prone position rests his eye against his rifle scope to check his target placement.
CLOSE ON: VIEW FROM RIFLE SCOPE
The diner’s window blinds are closed. Two SWAT team members circle around the back.
BACK TO SCENE:
SWAT COMMANDER (VO)
Bravo two, are you in place?
SNIPER
Roger that, team leader.
I’m in position.
INT. DINER – DAY
JON AND CARL POV:
Jon and Carl sit at a booth with sugar spilled across the table. The place is darker with the power out and the limited sunlight seeping through the closed blinds.
JON
How much longer?
CARL
Hard to say.
Jon looks at the robbers. He’s nervous, scared.
JON
What are they waiting for?
CARL
The right opportunity.
JON
To do what?
CARL
To end this thing.
JON
What if the cops start shooting?
Long beat. Carl concentrates on his answer.
CARL
Hug the floor.
JON
How can you just sit here
like this? Like nothing’s
happened?
CARL
What do you want me to do?
JON
Something. Anything. The
longer we sit here-
CARL
Keep your cool and do what
they tell you. No one else
is going to get hurt.
Jon fidgets with a sugar packet.
JON
I never got my coffee.
CARL
I never got my eggs.
Long beat.
JON
I should have got on that bus.
This morning, in the parking lot.
I couldn’t do it. I can’t go back.
I joined the Army out of high
school. My mom told me not to but
I enlisted anyway just to piss her off.
They sent me to Afghanistan right out of
basic. I did two years in that
shit hole. Now I’m AWOL.
CARL
You’re not AWOL. You just missed
the bus.
JON
Tell that to Uncle Sam. He’s the
one who’s got my balls in a twist.
I can’t go back. I can’t. I love my
country, but I’m not cut out for this.
Long beat. Jon looks at Carl intently. Carl remains expressionless.
JON
You think that makes me a coward?
CARL
It makes you human.
JON
I did two years. That otta
count for something.
A LOUD COMMOTION IN THE BACK ROOM PROMPTS JON AND CARL TO LOOK AWAY.
DIRK AND NATHAN POV:
Dirk sees Hilda tugging on the rear exit door. He FIRES TWO SHOTS and misses. He fires A THIRD SHOT as Hilda opens the door and runs out.
Nathan follows Dirk to the back room and secures the door again.
NATHAN
Where the hell did she come from?
Dirk runs to the front window and peeks out. HE SEES HILDA RUN TOWARD THE POLICE.
DIRK
She never saw our faces.
She can’t ID us.
Dirk storms toward Lindsay and Kelly. He grabs Kelly by the hair and pulls her off her seat. He puts the HOT MUZZLE to her forehead. KELLY CRIES OUT. The muzzle leaves a small impression in her skin.
DIRK
I should have done this sooner.
NATHAN
Let her go.
Dirk points his gun at Nathan.
DIRK
Now it’s my turn.
Nathan puts his hands in the air.
NATHAN
This won’t help anything.
So one of them got away.
Big deal. She can’t hurt us.
Dirk hesitates for a second. He looks at Kelly, then back at Nathan.
NATHAN
Please. Too many people are
hurt already.
Dirk pulls the trigger. CLICK. The gun is empty.
Dirk laughs. He lets go of Kelly, who runs back to the hostage group.
Dirk dumps the spent .357 casings on the floor. He digs more bullets from his pocket and reloads.
DIRK
I wish I could see your face.
EXT. DINER PARKING LOT – DAY
Sheriff Thorton grabs Hilda by her shoulders and looks her in the eye. Hilda’s hyped on adrenaline. Out of breath. In a state of shock.
SHERIFF
It’s all right. Shhhh.
It’s all right. Are you hurt?
Hilda shakes her head. A paramedic rushes over.
SHERIFF
She’s all right.
PARAMEDIC
I still need to evaluate her.
Hilda swallows hard. Her hands are shaking.
HILDA
I’m all right.
She waves the paramedic off.
SHERIFF
(to Hilda)
What happened in there?
Hilda takes a step back. She’s reeling from what happened.
HILDA
I saw three men with guns.
They’re wearing masks.
(beat)
One of them shot a cop.
SHERIFF
Is he still alive?
Hilda shakes her head.
HILDA
(about to cry)
They shot him twice in the chest.
(crying)
I think they killed him.
The Sheriff punches the air in frustration.
SHERIFF
Son of a bitch.
Dale approaches.
DALE
What happened?
SHERIFF
Chuck’s dead.
DALE
Shit…God dammit! I fucking
new this would happen.
SHERIFF
(to Hilda)
Is anyone else hurt?
HILDA
A waitress got shot in the arm.
SHERIFF
What about the cook?
HILDA
They burned his hand but
he’s all right.
DALE
How many people are in there?
Hilda’s flustered, dizzy, STARTS TO FAINT. THE SHERIFF CATCHES HER.
SHERIFF
(to Paramedic)
Stay with her.
The Sheriff jogs to—
HIS CAR
The SWAT Commander follows him. Sheriff Thorton grabs his MEGAPHONE from the passenger seat.
SHERIFF
This is Sheriff Thorton.
Throw out your weapons and
step out now.
The SWAT Commander pushes the megaphone aside.
SWAT COMMANDER
What are you doing?
SHERIFF
Trying to end this thing.
SWAT COMMANDER
And kill everyone inside?
SHERIFF
We have to do something.
Sheriff Thorton runs his hand through his hair. He tosses the megaphone in the car.
SHERIFF
My brother’s inside there.
SWAT COMMANDER
I’m aware of that. I’m also aware
there are a dozen other hostages.
We’re doing everything we can.
SHERIFF
Well it’s not enough.
SWAT COMMANDER
Call the diner. Keep them
talking as long as you can.
We’ll get your people out.
INT. DINER – DAY
Nathan and Dirk pace back and forth near the counter. THE PHONE RINGS.
NATHAN
What if she can ID us?
DIRK
She never saw our faces.
NATHAN
She knows you killed that cop.
DIRK
We, killed that cop. Now we’re
all involved. For the long haul.
NATHAN
You said you’d get us out of here.
How are you going to do that?
Dirk answers the phone.
DIRK
What do you want?
EXT. DINER PARKING LOT – DAY
Sheriff Thorton on the phone. The SWAT Commander stands beside him and listens.
SHERIFF
This is Sheriff Thorton.
Don’t hang up.
DIRK (VO)
If you start shooting, I swear
to God I’ll kill every one of
these people.
SHERIFF
No shooting I promise.
I just wanna talk.
DIRK (VO)
Make it fast.
SHERIFF
Let the rest of the women go.
DIRK (VO)
I haven’t let anyone go.
That bitch got away on her own.
SHERIFF
Don’t make this worse.
DIRK (VO)
I want a car with tinted windows
and a full tank of gas. And I
want your guys to back off.
The Sheriff looks at the SWAT Commander and covers the cell phone with his hand.
SHERIFF
He wants a car.
The SWAT Commander nods.
SHERIFF
(to Dirk)
You still there?
DIRK (VO)
Twenty minutes. Or I start
killing hostages.
The line goes dead.
SHERIFF
Wait.
INT. DINER – DAY
Dirk slams the phone down. He turns his head to read the CLOCK on the wall. IT’S NOON. Then he turns back to read the iron man plaque on the wall by the grill station. He takes the plaque off the wall and reads the name beneath Simon’s picture.
CLOSE ON: IRON MAN PLAQUE
Dirk sees the name Simon Thorton.
BACK TO SCENE:
Dirk looks at Simon who’s holding ICE on his severely burned hand.
DIRK
Small world.
EXT. MARY’S TRAILER – DAY
Mrs. Abbott emerges from the trailer and climbs in the old Volare.
INT. VOLARE – DAY
WHITE TRASH DRIVER
What about the baby?
MRS. ABBOTT
She’s down for a nap.
EXT. DINER PARKING LOT – DAY
The Sheriff slams his hand on the roof of a police car. Dale stands beside him with his hands on his hips.
DALE
We can’t just give them a car.
SHERIFF
Then what do you suggest?
DALE
We can’t let them leave.
A cop runs up to Sheriff Thorton and hands him a fax. The Sheriff examines the page.
SHERIFF
What’s this?
OFFICER
Arrest warrant for Timothy Rivera.
The Corolla’s registered in his name
but he’s not our man.
(beat)
Orange County police popped him
for drug possession two nights ago.
He’s been in lock up since then.
DALE
(to Sheriff)
Then who’s inside?
SHERIFF
Peter fucking Piper for all I know.
(beat)
Find out. Fast. I wanna know
who we’re dealing with.