Regular Cast	Recurring Cast
FRASER	HUGO
RAY
DIEFENBAKER
WELSH
HUEY
GARDINO
ELAINE
Guest Cast – Speaking Roles
SUZANNE CHAPIN/WOMAN
FRANK BODINE
DESK CLERK
OFFICER
PARAMEDIC
VENDOR

EXTERIOR-DAY	INTERIOR-DAY
ARMORY – LOADING DOCK	APARTMENT HALLWAY
ARMY TRUCK	ARMORY – SUPPLY DEPOT
BARN	ARMY TRUCK
BODINE’S APARTMENT	BARN
BODINE’S BUILDING	BODINE’S APARTMENT
BOTTOM OF RAVINE	BODINE’S APARTMENT ENTRY
DIRT ROAD	BODINE’S BEDROOM
FARMHOUSE	BODINE’S VAN
FARMHOUSE AND BARN	EMPTY LOFT APARTMENT
HORSE PATH/RAVIN	FARMHOUSE
NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY	FARMHOUSE - KITCHEN
POLICE STATION - ESTABLISHING	HALLWAY OF BODINE’S BUILDING
RAVINE	NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY
STREET IN FRONT OF BODINE’S APARTMENT	POLICE STATION – BOOKING AREA
THE WOODS	POLICE STATION – BULL PEN
TOP OF THE RAVINE	POLICE STATION
TRACKING VAN	RAY’S CAR
STREET – RAY’S CAR	STACKOUT APARTMENT
	THE WOMAN’S CAMARO
	TRACKING VAN
	UTILITY TRUCK BEHINE THE APARTMENT BUILDING)
	VAN
EXTERIOR-NIGHT	INTERIOR-NIGHT
CHICAGO STREETS	BODINE’S CAR
HOTEL	FRASER’S APARTMENT
STREET – BODINE’S CAR	HOTEL LOBBY
STREET	POLICE STATION – BOOKING AREA
	POLICE STATION – LUNCH ROOM
	POLICE STATION – SQUAD ROOM
	POLICE STATION – SQUAD ROOM & BULLPEN
	RAY’S CAR
	STAKEOUT APARTMENT
	WELSH’S OFFICE

PROLOGUE

FADE IN:
INT. RAY’S CAR – ROLLING – NIGHT
RAY and FRASER are returning from shooting hoops at a local gym. DIEFENBAKER is in the rear seat, patrolling his territory. Ray is bundled up against the cold. Fraser is in his RCMP athletic sweats.
RAY: . . .I give you that shot a hundred times, you never make it again. It looked like something you’d do on ice skates. I mean, this isn’t hockey, Fraser. This is basketball. A good American game.
FRASER: Well, perhaps it has become Americanized, Ray, but, like many things Americans lay claim to, it originated elsewhaere.
RAY: Get outta here.
FRASER: It’s a fact, Ray. Basketball was inverted by a Canadian.
RAY: Fraser, just because some fisherman once slam-dunked a halibut into a net…
FRASER: Actually he was a minis4ter who used a soccer ball and nailed peach baskets to either end of the gym.
RAY: This is sad, Fraser.
FRASER: Of course, Reverend Naismith did eventually emigrate to the United States – like many lacking vision and backbone – in fact, he was working at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, when … (abruptly) Stop the car.
RAY: What?
FRASER: Someone’s parked in a fire zone.
RAY: So?
FRASER: Well, for one thing, it’s dangerous. Not to mention disrespectful of the law.
RAY: You kidding? Parking illegally is a sport in this city.
FRASER: Fine. I’ll catch up.
Fraser opens the door and prepares to roll out.
RAY: Okay, okay! (pulling over) You know, you’re driving my insurance rates through the roof.
Fraser gets out of the car followed by Dief.
EXT. CHICAGO STREET – WITH FRASER – NIGHT
as he walks over to the illegally-parked car, where a large, not particularly cordial-looking man in his thirties, FRANK BODINE, is about to unlock the door.
FRASER: Excuse me, sir, perhaps you hadn’t noticed the sign when you parked your car, but you’re in a fire zone…
The man looks at him, looks at the sign, looks back at him incredulously. It’s 11 o’clock at night. There’s no one else in sight.
FRASER: If there were a fire, the trucks would need access to the fire hydrant, which is blocked by your car.
BODINE: That so?
FRASER: Yes. They wouldn’t have a source of water for the fire hoses…
BODINE: You know what you can do with your fire hose?
Bodine opens the door, gets behind the wheel, Fraser leans down and speaks calmly through the car window.
FRASER: I was simply pointing out the danger involved in parking in a fire zone.
Ray, not liking this guy’s attitude, gets out of his car, comes over.
RAY: (to Fraser) Let me handle this… (to Bodine, as he takes his badge out and flashes it) License and Registration.
Bodine looks at him takes a beat, then goes for the glove compartment presumably to get his registration. Instead he comes out with a .357 magnum, points it a Ray and says:
BODINE: Register this.
And, holding the gun on them with one hand, Bodine STARTS THE ENGINE with the other and pulls away. Ray fires a couple of rounds at the retreating car. Then Diefenbaker gives chase.
FRASER: (calling) Diefenbaker!
And Fraser takes off on the run after Diefenbaker.
RAY: I think I hit a tire…
Ray turns and hurries back toward his car. As he moves around to the driver’s side, suddenly we HEAR a loud SQUEL of tires.
WIDER ANGLE
As another car seems to come out of nowhere and nearly runs Ray over. Ray has to jump back at the last moment and is thrown against his car, banging his head hard. He goes down.
EXT. STREET – BONINE’S CAR – NIGHT
as the tire goes, and the car starts to swerve.
INT. BODINE’S CAR – NIGHT
as Bodine struggles to keep the car moving, but to no avail. The car skids into a garbage dumpster. Bodine gets out.
EXT. STREET – NIGHT
as Bodine flees on foot.
FRASER
A block behind, running full speed after Diefenbaker, about fifty yards ahead.
BACK TO RAY
a WOMAN is bending over him, giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
THE WOMAN – RAY’S POV
as he opens his eyes, he sees a very attractive face looking at him with some concern. The glow of a street lamp casts a soft halo around her head.
WOMAN: Are you al right?
Ray mutters something, unable to focus or articulate.
WOMAN: We better get you out of the middle of the street.
ANGLE
We see the woman, her hands under Ray’s arms, drag him away from the middle of the street, to the sidewalk. As the woman puts him down gently:
WOMAN: You’ll be all right here. I have to go.
RAY: Who are you…?
WOMAN: Long story.
She begins to move away – he grabs her hand.
RAY: Stay…
She smiles, as though realizing…
WELSH: I’d like to.
….Then gently removes his hand.
WOMAN: As she moves away:
RAY’S POV
Just the shimmer of long hair and long legs as the woman melts away into the darkness. Then somewhere the ROAR OF AN ENGINE and the blur of a car as it whips past.
BACK TO RAY
lying on the pavement, very woozy, muttering:
RAY: God, you’re beautiful…
Then he closes his eyes and slumps over.
END OF PROLOGUE

ACT ONE
FRAD IN:
EXT. STREET – NIGHT
where Ray went down. A couple of squad cars are on the scene. There is a Paramedic ambulance pared beside Ray’s car. The PARAMEDIC is checking Ray’s skull and temples, probing with his fingers, looking for abrasions or contusions. Fraser stands by, watching. In the b.g. an OFFICER (#1) is measuring the skid marks on the road left by the car that felled Ray.
RAY: There was this woman….
PARAMEDIC: Uh-huh.
FRASER: I just opened my eyes and she was there…the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
PARAMEDIC: Uh-huh….(aside to Fraser) How long was he unconscious?
FRASER: (quietly, to Paramedic): Four, maybe five minutes.
RAY: She pulled me to safety…and then she kissed me…
FRASER: Kissed you?
RAY: On the lips.
PARAMEDIC: (to Fraser): Head injury – it happens.
FRASER: Did she speak to you?
RAY: She wanted to stay, I know she did. and then she was gone. (beat, realizing) She wants me to find her, Fraser.
PARAMEDIC: Uh-huh…
RAY: (to Paramedic) Would you stop uh-huhing!
FRASER: Can you remember what she looked like?
RAY: She looked…exquisite.
PARAMEDIC/FRASER: Uh-huh….
Ray flashes them a look. OFFICER #1 has finished measuring the skid marks and crosses in.
OFFICER (to Fraser): Definite hit and run – plenty of skid marks. Nobody saw the driver.
FRASER: She must have backtracked and sped off in the other direction.
RAY: (defensive) What do you mean “she?”
FRASER: (carefully) There was no one else on the street, Ray.
RAY: You think it was here? Fraser the woman saved my life!
FRASER: Yes she did. After she hit you.
In the B.G. a tow truck moves in, pulling Bodine’s car. OFFICER #2, who has been inspecting Bodine’s car, steps in.
OFFICER #2: (to Ray) There’s something you ought to see.
As Ray and Fraser follow:
RAY: (to Fraser) It was an accident. She’s driving at night in a strange neighborhood, bad street lighting…
They both glance up at the street lights – which, unfortunately are blazing brightly.
RAY: (covering) Possibly nearsighted…
Fraser wisely decides to let this go. They arrive at:
BODINE’S CAR
The open trunk is packed with several wooden crates.
OFFICER #2 (to Ray, re: Fraser) He actually stopped a guy on the south side to lecture him on fire safety?
RAY: Well, it’s Saturday night, he’s a Canadian… (the rest goes without saying)
The Officer pries the lid off one of the crates with a crowbar.
THE CRATE – THEIR POV
is loaded with state-of-the-art heavy-duty automatic weapons.
RAY, FRASER AND THE OFFICER (#2)
stare at the crate, taken aback.
OFFICER #2: Good call.
CUT TO:
EXT. DISTRICT 27 – ESTABLISHING – DAY
INT. POLICE STATION, BULL PEN – DAY
Fraser, Ray and Diefenbaker are with ELAINE, as she runs the plate on the computer. She’s inputting key strokes, as:
ELAINE: Vehicle is registered to Frank Bodine, 1177 West Flournoy, apartment 12. He’s got $1450 in unpaid parking tickets and an expired registration.
RAY: Any priors?
ELAINE: That’s a different program. This is just vehicular…
As she hits more keystrokes:
ELAINE: So, Fraser, how’s the apartment furnishing coming along?
FRASER: Very well, Elaine, thank you. I just purchased a lamp.
ELAINE: Really, a lamp.
FRASER: It’s good for reading.
ELAINE: Is that what you do at night?
RAY: Elaine, we got work to do here.
She hits more key strokes, as:
ELAINE: So, what are you reading with your new lamp?
FRASER: I’ve been reading a book about currency watermarks.
ELAINE: Must cut into your social life. (off computer screen) Here we go. Bodine, Frank, a.k.a. Frank Binghamton. August ’89, Breaking and Entering, one-year, suspended; March ’90, Receiving Stolen Property, got eighteen months in Joliet, did eight. November ’94, Possession of Illegal Weapons, case pending, $250,000 bail posted.
RAY: No wonder he didn’t want us running his license. (to Elaine) What about the woman?
ELAINE: You know, funny thing, but I’m having a hard time matching the word “exquisite” to a lot of mug shots.
INT. POLICE STATION, BOOKING AREA – DAY
TRACK Fraser and Ray as they walk along with Welsh toward the squad room. Diefenbaker follows, his eyes never once leaving the breakfast jack that Welsh is holding.
WELSH: You want me to authorize a stakeout for a weapons violation.
RAY: Assault weapons, sir, a trunk full of ‘em. Now, we can put out an APB, but this guy’s a nasty piece of work, he’s not coming in for just anybody. So naturally, I’m thinking stakeout.
WELSH: I don’t blame you, Vecchio. Stakeouts are such a romantic notion. In fact, I’m still tingling from the last one you asked me to authorize.
RAY: The hotel scam. Well, sir, that was not your average stakeout…
WELSH: No, it certainly wasn’t. I remember the hotel bill as it were yesterday – the poolside cabana suite, the aquatic aerobics lessons…
RAY: The suspect liked to swim, sir.
WELSH: …and the thrill I got just adding up that four thousand dollar mini-bar tab…
RAY: It’s the honey roasted peanuts, sir – one bag and they’ve got you.
Welsh stops, looks down at Diefenbaker, whose mute Oliver Twist routine has become more importunate.
WELSH: (to Fraser) You ever feed this wolf?
FRASER: I’m sorry, sir, it’s the urban influence. He seems to have developed a taste for fast food.
WELSH: (to Diefenbaker) Go. Scram.
Diefenbaker does not respond.
FRASER: He’s also refusing to lip-read. I think it’s the sugar.
Welsh switches his sandwich to his other hand and continues walking.
WELSH: (to Ray) Two teams, two spotters, one apartment, no mini-bar.
RAY: Thanks, Lieutenant.
WELSH: You don’t pull him in by Friday, that’s it.
Welsh turns to see that Dief is now on the other side of him staring at the sandwich.
WELSH: (to Fraser) If I give him some of this, will he stop?
FRASER: Not necessarily, sir.
Welsh sighs, gives Diefenbaker the remains of his breakfast jack. Dief wolfs it down (as it were) and walks away.
On Fraser, mortified:
CUT TO:
OMITTED
OMITTED
ECU: A HUGE BOX OF SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT
is dropped onto a table. PULL BACK TO:
OMITTED
INT. STAKEOUT APARMENT – DAY (MONTAGE)
a large, mostly-empty loft-like space. Ray and Fraser go through the equipment. Ray attaches a radio mike on his lapel and inserts a small radio transmitter listening device into his ear. Then he takes a surveillance camera and fits a telescopic lens to it, attaches the camera to a tripod. He swings the camera toward the window.
OMITTED
OMITTED
THROUGH LENSE – RAY’S POV
we pick up a NEWSPAPER VENDOR with a pile of newspapers on the street. The Newspaper Vendor receives Ray in his ear piece, looks up at him across the street and gives him a nod. Then TILT UP to the windows of Bodine’s apartment, where the lense PUSHES IN and finds A TELEPHONE sitting on the coffee table. as A HAND reaches in and lifts the receiver we WIDEN TO: a TELEPHONE REPAIR PERSON doing a convincing job of checking out the equipment. the bored SUPERINTENDENT at the door misses the bug being placed inside the receiver. The Repair Person faces the window and gives a small “thumbs up” sign.
OMITTED
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT
Ray picks up the signal, puts on headphones and flips on the switch of a reel to reel tape recorder. As the tapes begin to spin he reaches back to a carton to pick up a piece of pizza. Diefenbaker picks it up first and walks away with it.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – DAY
Huey and Gardino have taken over. Huey is viewing the building through the telescopic lense. Gardino is playing solitaire and watching cartoons on a miniature TV.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – NIGHT
Ray is at the camera lens, Fraser has the earphones on for the telephone tap. He glances down to see:
DIEFENBAKER
his nose burried [*me note: that is how they spelled it] in a bag of cheesies.
FRASER
shakes his head, disgusted.
SISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – DAY
Huey and Gardino playing cards, eating sandwiches.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – NIGHT
Ray and Fraser have taken over and Huey and Gardino put on their jackets to leave. Ray picks up Gardino’s deck of cards and shuffles it with a dealer’s flourish. Gardino breaks into a smile. Huey smiles too, ready for action, as does Ray. All have the same thought at once and turn to look at their prey….
FRASER
who responds with an innocent grin.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – NIGHT
Huey, Gardino, Ray and Fraser are playing poker. Everything about the scene – the naked light bulb, the body language, the pizza cartons – is classic poker game except for one thing: there is no money on the table. They are playing for match sticks. Huey’s dealing. They all check their hands out: then:
RAY: It’s all about signs… (throws three cards away) Give me three…
Huey deals him three cards, as:
GARDINO: What do you mean signs? (throws two cards) Two…
RAY: Women give you signs to let you know they’re the right woman for you.
GARDINO: She hit you with her car. You call that a sign?
FRASER: When the French fall in love they say they’ve been hit with a “coup de foudre,” a stroke of lightning.
GARDINO: Huh?
FRASER: Love can be a very disorienting emotion. They’ve done experiments that demonstrate that hamsters who are mating secrete hormones that make them irresponsible. They react as it they were actually in pain, and, in some instances, actually choose not to subject themselves to more pain...May I have one please…
Huey deals him one card, takes three himself.
RAY: You know how my father knew my mother was the right woman for him? I’ll bet three….
He throws three match sticks into the pot.
RAY: Cheese cake.
HUEY: We playing cards here, or we talking about cheese cake?
RAY: He was at his brother Angelo’s wedding in Gary. Everyone’s eating, drinking wine, making toasts when suddenly he looks over and sees this woman sitting by herself at a table eating a piece of cheese cake with a knife and fork. I mean, how often do you see a person eat cheese cake with a knife and fork? Most people eat it with their fingers or just a fork….
GARDINO: That’s why he married her? Because she ate cheese cake with a knife and fork?
RAY: No, Gardino, that was the sign. That’s how he knew she was the right woman for him. She was a lady…
HUEY (to Gardino): You gonna call?
GARDINO: I don’t know.
HUEY: It’s only match sticks.
GARDINO: I don’t see why we can’t play for money. We’re cops. What are we going to do, arrest ourselves?
RAY: No, but he will. (indicates Fraser)
FRASER: I’m sorry. I would feel honorbound.
Gardino sighs and tosses three match sticks into the pot.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – LATER
ON Fraser as he checks the surveillance camera by the window.
HUEY (O.S.): I think there’s two million women on this planet you could be happy with…
PAN WITH Fraser as he walks back to the table, sits down. It’s a few hours later. Ties are loosened, shoes are off. The place is a little messier. There is a different distribution of match sticks in front of the players.
HUEY: You meet one you got to ask yourself if this is number 1, number 2,000,000 or number 617. It’s a crap shoot. You could settle for number 617 and tomorrow meet number 11…I raise…
And he puts five match sticks in the pot.
GARDINO: Call. Phyllis was number 2,000,001. Drove me crazy. She had a voice like a parakeet…never shut up. Then there was Vanessa. She was number 2,000,002. She came from a family of meat packers. You visit your in-laws on Sunday, you come home smelling like a pork roast. She developed an eating disorder. Blew up bigger than an aircraft carrier…
Ray throws his hand in.
GARDINO: Then there was Janice…
HUEY: You gonna call, Fraser?
FRASER: Well, I was just wondering if I should. Would you refresh my memory – does a straight beat a flush?
HUEY: Not even in Canada.
GARDINO: Janice was some piece of work. I have this recurring nightmare that I’m still married to her. I wake up screaming…
RAY: You a three time loser, Gardino?
GARDINO: Two. I never married Vanessa. It was Janice I shouldn’t of married. But she had great ankles.
RAY: You like ankles?
GARDINO: I’m a sucker for ankles…(lays down his hand)I got trips…
As Gardino scoops up the pot…
GARDINO: The only sign I ever got was from Janice. And that took five years.
FRASER: What was it?
GARDINO: It came in the mail. It was from her lawyer…
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – NIGHT
The game has been going on now for many hours and there is a feeling of stale air and fatigue in the room. The match sticks are redistributed once more.
RAY: (O.S.) …so there we were, parked in the Riviera, it’s two o’clock in the morning…and she asks me where this relationship’s going…
HUEY: (to Ray) Call or fold.
He throws his hand away.
RAY (O.SO): I mean, what kind of question is that to ask someone at two in the morning.
FRASER: Perhaps she was just being prudent.
HUEY (to Fraser): You in?
Fraser throws some match sticks into the pot.
RAY: Fraser, nobody who’s prudent has any business being in love. I’m talking a beautiful summer night, the wind’s blowing in off the lake. This is not the time to sit and talk about the future.
HUEY: The future is, it’s gonna be noon before we finish this game.
GARDINO: See talk is bad, you talk and before you know it, it’s all over. You’re married.
RAY: Yeah, and then what? What about love? What about that moment when you know that you want to be with this woman every waking hour for the rest of your life?
HUEY: Okay, my turn – I call. (to himself) Look at this, I’m playing pokier with myself.
He throws some match sticks in the pot.
RAY: I’m telling you, you’ve gotta have that moment in your life when you know that you’ll never be the same. Ever again.
Fraser is knitting on something. The conversation has struck a chord, but no one notices but us.
FRASER: When it happens, how do you know?
RAY: You just know. That’s what happened to me on Friday. I lived that moment. I got the sign.
GARDINO: Yeah, now all you gotta do is find her.
RAY: I’ll find her.
GARDINO: I got a flush.
And he starts to take the pot, but Fraser lays down his hand.
FRASER: I’m sorry, I appear to have a royal house.
HUEY: A what?
Fraser lays down his hand. He has Three aces and two tens.
HUEY: That’s a full house.
FRASER: Of course. Sorry.
HUEY: Look at that. A mountie sandbagging. Who ever heard of a mountie sandbagging?
RAY: You only meet the woman of your dreams once in a lifetime. I’m going to find her. You watch.
HUEY: Meanwhile, you wanna deal…
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – NIGHT
Fraser sits in the chair by the window looking out. Diefenbaker lays on the floor beside him. He’s talking to someone off screen – Ray we suppose.
FRASER: (beat; then softly, almost thrown away) There was a woman once. We were…I don’t know what we were.
He looks out the window, hesitates. Finally, in a hesitant voice:
FRASER: I tracked her up above the 62nd parallel into a place called Fortitude Pass. It had been storming for days. The whole world was white. By the time I found her I’d lost everything. She was huddled on the lee-side of a near death. I stake a lean-to, draped my coat over it and drew her inside. The storm closed in around us like a blanket. I covered her body with mine and held her until all I could hear was the sound of her heartbeat weakening. I forced her to speak to me, to talk to me – anything to keep the cold from taking her. (moment) It snowed for a day and a night and a day. I became delirious. Almost let go. All I could hold onto was the sound of her voice, which never wavered. She recited a poem. I must have heard it a thousand times that night. I never heard the words. (long moment) It ended badly…She had a darkness inside her. And the most beautiful voice you ever heard…
As he drifts off into silence, we gradually PULL BACK to reveal Ray asleep on a bed roll on the floor.
FRASER: It was a long time ago…
Fraser looks to Ray, sees that he is asleep, then turns back to the window and continues looking out into the night.
DISSOLVE TO:
OMITTED
EXT. BODINE’S APARTMENT – MORNING
The only sign of life is the Newspaper Vendor opening up his stall, the start of a new shift.
DOWN THE BLOCK
a camaro SLOWS AND PULLS TO THE CURB.. After a moment, the driver’s door opens, and a woman steps outside. (It may take us a moment to realize that this is the woman from the Prologue.) She looks around her carefully, then approaches the apartment building. As she passes by the Newspaper Vendor and enters the building, CAMERA STAYS on the Vendor. He speaks into his lapel mic.
VENDER: I’ve got someone entering the building.
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – MORNING
as Ray picks up the broadcast on his earphone
RAY: (to Fraser) Someone’s going in.
ONITTED
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT – MORNING
Fraser’s got her on the telescopic lense.
FRASER: She’s in Bodine’s apartment.
INT. BODINE’S APARTMENT – LENSE POV
as the woman takes a valise out of a closet and starts to fill it with men’s clothes.
FRASER: (O.S.) She’s taking clothes.
RESUME RAY AND FRASER
as Ray looks through the lense, reacts.
RAY: Fraser…
FRASER: What?
THROUGH LENSE – RAY’S POV
as the woman closes the suitcase, exits the apartment.
RESUME RAY AND FRASER
Ray is ashen-faced, in shock.
RAY: (to Fraser) It’s her…
Before Fraser can react, Ray is on his feet, racing for the door…
RAY: (into lapel mic) She’s coming out. Stop her…
And he’s out the door. Fraser follows, then turns back.
FRASER: (calling) Diefenbaker.
but…
DIEF
is conked out on the floor surrounded by munchie wrappers.
FRASER: That’s it, you are cut off, bucko.
Fraser takes off out the door.
INT. BODINE’S BUILDING – MORNING
the woman hurries down the stairs and out the exit.
INT. STAKEOUT APARTMENT BUILDING – MORNING
Ray tearing down the stairs, Fraser following. They exit as:
EXT. BODINE’S BUILDING – WITH THE WOMAN
heads for her car. The undercover cop/newspaper vendor, joined by the cop in the utility truck move to intercept her. As the utility truck cop takes out a badge, flashes it – the woman swings the suitcase squarely at her, knocking her out. Then she turns and with one extremely effective martial arts move, she immobilizes the Newspaper vendor. As she jumps in her car and takes off…
RAY AND FRASER
watching this in awe.
RAY: (bitterly) There she is, Fraser. The woman of my dreams.
END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO
FADE IN:
INT. RAY’S CAR – ROLLING – DAY
Ray at the wheel, Fraser beside him.
RAY: It wasn’t a sign, Fraser. It was an omen. Why didn’t I see it?
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD – RAY AND FRASER’S POV
The car they’re following driving swiftly through traffic.
RESUME RAY AND FRASER
FRASER: Any one can have a lapse in judgement, Ray.
RAY: This is not a lapse, Fraser, this is my life. Whenever I think I found the right one, she turns out to be the wrong one. And the one I thought was wrong – we’d make a date, I wouldn’t show up – six months later I’m sitting in a pew watching her walk down the aisle with some goombah, and I’m thinking, that’s her. She walked right out of my life and I didn’t see it.
FRASER: (pointing to the road) Ray…the dumpster…
Ray focuses on the road long enough to avoid the dumpster being pushed across the street and squeals around it.
RAY: But this one…this one I would’ve bet my soul on. And here she is working for Frank Bodine.
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD – RAY AND FRASER’S POV
The car runs a yellow light and turns right.
INT. RAY’S CAR
as Ray hits the gas and speeds through the red after her.
FRASER: Ray, slow down.
RAY: We’ll lose her.
FRASER: No. Watch – you slow down, she’ll slow down.
Ray eases up on the accelerator.
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD – THEIR POV
The Camaro slows down as well.
RESUME RAY AND FRASER
FRASER: She has no intention of losing you, Ray.
RAY: (realizing) She’s a decoy. She tricked us. (furious with himself) Why do I love that??
As he jams the brakes on and does a squealing u-turn:
EXT. STREET – RAY’S CAR
does a 180 in full traffic and speeds off in the other direction.
INT. THE WOMAN’S CARARO
She’s on a cell phone watching the Riviera disappear in her side-view mirror.
WOMAN: (into phone) They made me, Frank. Get out of there.
INT. HALLWAY OF BODINE’S APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS
Ray checks the place out, finds no one there.
RAY: He’s gone. We missed him.
Fraser pushes the bedroom door open and glances in.
FRASER: The closet is closed. She left it open.
As they enter the bedroom:
INT. BODIN’S BEDROOM – CONTINUOUS
Sparse and fastidiously neat. In the center is a bed with nightstand and a goose-neck lamp. To one side is a portable TB on a stand opposite an armchair. Fraser crosses to the closet and opens it. As he studies the contents:
FRASER: What would he need so badly that he would go to all that trouble to get?
Fraser leaves the closet for the moment and walks around the room examining things. Ray studies the room uncomfortable, looking for signs of her.
RAY: (on his own track) She was in and out in thirty seconds. She knew where everything was.
FRASER: We’ve been looking at a man’s apartment through a telescope for two days. What do we know about him?
RAY: You think she’s been living here with him?
FRASER: We knew he was near-sighted, for one thing. The TV’s too close to the easy chair. But he wasn’t wearing glasses when we met him. Maybe contact lenses…
RAY: I mean, just ‘cause she’s doing his dirty work for him doesn’t mean…
But he lets it drop, not believing his own argument.
FRASER: He went to the closet…
Fraser returns and studies it again.
FRASER: What isn’t here any more?
RAY: Her stuff, maybe some of his. How are we supposed to know? The closet was closed.
FRASER: Good point.
And without further comment Fraser goes over to the bed, inspect the bedding for a moment, announces:
FRASER: The sheets have hospital corners.
RAY: (relieved) At least they’re not floral. Only a woman buys floral.
FRASER: You learn that in the army.
RAY: Not with his rap sheet.
FRASER: What if he were in the National Guard?
RAY: It would give him access to weapons.
Fraser considers for a moment. Then it dawns on him. As he crosses to the closet:
FRASER: What is the one thing a Guardsman is never supposed to be without?
He opens the door and looks through the wardrobe – whatever he’s searching for it isn't there.
FRASER: It’s missing.
RAY: What?
FRASER: His Guard uniform. That’s why he came back here, Ray. He needed his uniform.
RAY: What for?
EXT. NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY – DAY
We see an army truck barrel down a ramp into the underground armory. Bodine, in his National Guard uniform, is sitting beside the woman, at the wheel, in a National Guard uniform as well.
INT. BODINE’S APARTMENT ENTRYWAY – DAY
Ray and Fraser come down the stairs, on the run. Ray is on the cell phone to Elaine.
ELAINE (V.O.) Bodine was a sergeant in the National Guard, ’85 through ’88.
RAY: Still active?
ELAINE (V.O.) With his record?
RAY: Check. And get me names and locations on every unit he’s been a member of.
They fire out the front door.
INT. NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY, UNDERGROUND AREA – DAY
as the truck parks at a loading dock/supply cage are. Bodine gets out of the truck, approaches a depot warehouse area. There is a SUPPLY SERGEANT behind a cage.
BODINE: I have an order to move weapons for maneuvers.
Bodine hands the sergeant a sheaf of invoice sheets.
TIGHT – THE INVOICE SHEETS
tucked inside is a thick stack of hundred dollar bills.
RESUME SCENE
as the sergeant nods, presses a button, opening the locked door to the supply depot.
OMITTED
INT. RAY’S CAR
As they buckle up, Elaine is on the overhead mic.
ELAINE (V.O.) …67th Regiment Armory, 57th and Wabash…
RAY: (to Fraser): Got him.
FRASER: (into overhead mic): Thank you kindly, Elaine.
ELAINE (V.O.): It’s what I live for.
INT. ARMORY, SUPPY DEPOT/LOADING DOCK – DAY
Assault weapons are being loaded into the truck, supervised by Bodine.
OMITTED
int. ray’s car – rolling – day
Ray speeding and talking at the same time.
RAY: Why can’t I meet some nice young thing who’s crazy about me? You know, someone who wears shorty pajamas and knits me mufflers for Christmas. Is that too much to ask?
FRASER: What exactly are shorty pajamas?
RAY: Don’t ask, you’re better off. Me, I gotta fall fro a hit and run driver who’s working for a stolen weapons dealer. Go figure…
FRASER: (beat) Go figure what?
RAY: It’s an American expression, Fraser. It’s about time you learned the language, don’t you think?
INT. ARMORY, SUPPLY DEPOT/LOADING DOCK – DAY
The last weapon is loaded. Bodine signs a receipt with a phony name, then closes the rear flap of the truck. He moves around to the cab, gets in the passenger side. The woman starts the motor, pulls away.
OMITTED
EXT. NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY – DAY
as Ray’s car pulls into the Armory from the street.
EXT. ARMORY, RAMP
as the truck pulls up the ramp.
OMITTED
EXT. ARMORY
Ray’s car pulls up to an office area. Ray and Fraser get out of the car.
WIDER
as Bodine’s truck falls in behind another army truck heading for the exit.
ANGLE
as the first army truck makes the turn, Bodine’s truck slows to follow suit. Ray and the woman see each other. Moment. They lock eyes.
BODINE
seeing this.
BODINE: Take out the cop.
The woman reaches for her gun and swivels, leaning out the window.
RAY AND FRASER
as the gun is leveled. She has a perfect shot at Ray.
INTERCUT – SLOW MOTION
The woman and Ray caught in a sort of deadly trance. He hesitates. She levels her gun. He’s frozen – he won’t believe it. She has dead aim. Something flashes in her eyes, but is quickly suppressed. Fraser turns…
FRASER: Ray!
She FIRES – Fraser makes a flying leap for Ray – too late, Ray goes down. They hit the ground, Fraser covering Ray as the truck pulls out of the armory with squealing tires.
END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE
FADE IN:
EXT. ARMORY – DAY
Ray’s car parked with the driver’s side door open.
ANGLE TOWARD CAR
Ray sits in the driver’s seat, his feet out the door, his head in his hands. Fraser stands by.
RAY: She had a perfect shot.
FRASER: Fill up your lungs with air, then exhale very gradually.
Ray tries this, but without much conviction.
FRASER: Better?
Ray shakes his head, then mutters in disbelief.
RAY: I just stood there like an idiot. She almost killed me.
Fraser hesitates for moment, then:
FRASER: No she didn’t. She missed you by seventeen centimeters.
Ray looks up, stunned.
RAY: What…?
INT. POLICE STATION – LUNCH ROOM – NIGHT
Ray sits nursing a soft drink. Fraser sits opposite. The only other person in the otherwise deserted lunch room is Hugo, who is off in the corner stocking the vending machine.
FRASER: She was firing a 9 millimeter Barretta at close range. The light was at her back. The truck wasn’t moving. I dug this out of the wall behind you.
The woman is at the table doing a meticulous job of cleaning her weapon. Bodine enters with some wood. They are both wearing their coats.
BODINE: It’s freezing in here….
He puts the wood in a pot-bellied stove, closes the door.
BODINE: When’s the coffee going to be ready?
WOMAN: As soon as you make it.
Bodine goes to the stove, grabs the coffee pot and fills it with water.
BODINE: Why the hell don’t they call?
The woman doesn’t respond – she’s clearly used to listening to him rail and ignores it. Bodine continues, undaunted as he heaps in some coffee and slaps the pot on the burner.
BODINE: I’m sitting on half a million bucks worth of weapons. You got the phone on?
The woman takes a cell phone out of her pocket, shows it to him.
BODINE: Leave it on the table.
She puts it on the table and continues calmly reassembling her Beretta.
BODINE: I don’t know how you missed that cop.
WOMAN (unconcerned): Neither do I. Off day, I guess.
BODINE: I don’t like that cop. Or his fruitcake mountie friend. We should’ve taken both of them out.
WOMAN: You never learn to relax, Frank. How are we ever gonna enjoy that half-million if you can’t relax?
BODINE: He’s a mountie. They always find you sooner or later. I hate that.
WOMAN: That’s not real life, Frank. That’s “Rocky and Bullwinkle.” (standing) Call me when the coffee’s ready.
She strides off into the back room.
INT. POLICE STATION – DAY
TIGHT on a reel-to-reel tape recorder as it spins.
WOMAN (V.O.): They made me, Frank. Get out of there…
WIDEN TO SQUAD ROOM, where Ray, Fraser, Huey, Gardino and Elaine are standing around the tape recorder.
FRASER: Is that her voice?
Ray nods.
RAY: She’s doing it under duress.
GARDINO: Right. She shot at you under duress too.
Ray just flashes him a look, as:
HUEY: Was that the only call in or out?
ELAINE: There was one wrong number and someone trying to sell life insurance.
HUEY: What were you doing following her?
RAY: She took some clothes out of Bodine’s apartment.
GARDINO: You don’t leave a stakeout.
RAY: Is that so, Gardino?
GARDINO: Yeah. Unless you got a thing for the babe that’s decoying you.
RAY: (angry) Did I ask your opinion? Did anybody in this room ask for Gardino’s opinion?
A moment of tense silence, broken by:
FRASER: (to Elaine): Can you get the number she was calling from?
ELAINE: Sure. But she called from her car. It’s a cell phone.
HUEY: you’re never gonna track a cell, it’s a nightmare.
FRASER: Not really. Not if you’ve tracked caribou.
They all look at him, a little peculiarly. Then:
RAY: Fraser, let’s try this one more time: We’re in Chicago. We’re not tracking caribou. We’re tracking gun runners.
FRASER: Yes, Ray, I understand. But you catch them the same way. (turning to Elaine) Could you get me a grid map of the company’s cellular signal antennas?
INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY
The woman sits at the table sipping a cold cup of coffee. Bodine paces. The cell phone is on the table, its on-light blinking.
BODINE: Time?
She doesn’t even have to check her watch.
WOMAN: 2:20.
BODINE: They said two o’clock.
WOMAN: (weary of this): I know.
BODINE: I should have gotten half up front. That way they couldn’t stiff me. Why didn’t you think of that?
WOMAN: I did.
He turns to her slowly with a cold glare. Insulting this man is dangerous. But she’s used to this too and soothes him with a smile.
WOMAN: But what do I know?
Instantly disarmed, he reaches down and strokes her hair. But his eyes drift back to the cell phone, its green light blinking.
INT. POLICE STATION – DAY
TIGHT ON cellular phone grid map showing Chicago and the outlying areas within a fifty-mile radius. PULL BACK to find Ray looking over Fraser’s shoulder as he studies the map.
RAY: What is this – arts and crafts.
Fraser takes a triangle and begins to draw a series of lines.
FRASER: It’s called triangulation, Ray. It’s used by game wardens to track caribou herds.
RAY: That’s fascinating, Fraser, but the last caribou spotted in Chicago was about 300 years ago.
Elaine hangs up the pone and leans down to study the map.
ELAINE: That was the cell phone company. They found her number and picked up the signal…here. (she pin-points a grid on the map) Near Carpentersville. It’s farmland mostly, not too many folks with mobile phones in those parts.
FRASER: (turning to Elaine): Does the cell phone have to be in use to pick up the signal?
ELAINE: It just has to be turned on to receive calls. It emits a signal unless the power’s off. That’s the good news.
RAY: Elaine, we’re attempting to track criminals as though they are furbearing animals. What news could be bad?
ELAINE: The grid covers an area of over twenty square miles. Unless you plan to go door to door….
Ray sighs.
RAY: Okay, Fraser – how do we find the herd?
OMITTED
EXT. FREEWAY – DAY
Ray’s car leaving Chicago. A radio signal tracking antenna is mounted on the roof.
FRASER (V.O.): The cell phone company sends a signal out from their antenna to the phone.
INT. RAY’S CAR – ROLLING – DAY
Ray at the wheel, Fraser sitting beside him scanning a lap-size doppler device (similar to an air-traffic control screen) which indicates the presence of radio signals. Affixed to the dash is a separate radio scanner. The doppler device is operating, but the tell-tale blip has yet to appear on the screen.
FRASER: The pones sends a signal back. We draw a line on the map from that location to the signal. Then we drive to a second location, trip the signal again, draw another line – that’s our triangulation. Wherever the lines on the map meet, that’s where we’ll find Bodine.
RAY: I find her, I got to arrest her too. End of story.
FRASER: Yes.
RAY: (reluctantly) …Yeah.
[TWO PAGES OMITTED]
INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY
Bodine is pacing back and forth as the woman sits at the table filing her nails. She appears deadly calm, but if you look closely at her hands, as she does, they are shaking ever so slightly. Suddenly, the phone RINGS. They look at each other. He grabs the cellular phone from the table.
BODINE: Yeah…(beat) Where? (beat) We’ll be there in an hour…
He sets the phone down, turns to her.
BODINE: Pack your bikini.
She smiles. But as he moves past, the smile fades.
On the cell phone, the green light still blinking.
MATCH CUT TO:
OMITTED
INT. RAY’S CAR – TIGHT ON THE SCREEN OF THE DOPPLER DEVICE
A blip appears on the screen. PULL BACK to reveal Fraser and Ray are parked on the side of the road. Fraser is fiddling with the dials.
FRASER: I’m getting something…
Fraser checks the geological survey map and draws a second line which intersects with the first. As he circles the intersection.
FRASER: (off map) There.
Ray pulls the car out.
OMITTED
EXT. BARN – DAY
Bodine has pulled the truck out of the barn and into the laneway. He climbs out and crosses back to secure the barn.
INT. FARMHOUSE, KITCHEN – DAY
where the woman sits staring at the cellular phone.
EXT. DIRT ROAD – DAY
Ray’s car moving along a small, deserted country road.
INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY
The woman HEARS a vehicle approaching in the distance. She moves to a window, looks out.
HER POV
Ray’s car pulling up in front.
RESUME WOMAN
as she reacts.
INT. RAY’S CAR – RAY AND FRASER
seeing the farm and the barn.
RAY: You check the barn. I’ll check the house…
They get out of the car.
FRASER: (calling back) Diefenbaker…
DIEF
is sitting there with a candy bar in his mouth.
FRASER
losing hope.
FRASER: Never mind.
Fraser takes off for the barn, which is a few hundred yards from the house.
EXT. BARN – BODINE
as he rounds the corner of the barn sees Fraser approaching and pulls back.
INT. FARMHOUSE – THE WOMAN
reaches for her Baretta.
OMITTED
EXT. FARMHOUSE – RAY
reaching the door. Holding his gun ready, he tries the door, finds it open, moves cautiously through it.
EXT. BARN – FRASER
Finds the army truck in the laneway, checks it, no sign of Bodine or the woman then moves on around the barn.
INT. FARMHOUSE – CONTINUOUS
as Ray moves quietly through the anteroom toward the kitchen, gun drawn.
THE WOMAN
does the same, moving quietly toward the same door…
AT THE DOOR
Ray suddenly wheels into positions, gun drawn, only to see the woman standing in the doorway ready for him.
ANGLE
The two of them, twenty feet apart, holding guns on each other. For a moment, neither of them speaks; then Ray slowly lowers his gun. She does the same. They walk toward each other.
They meet and, still holding their guns, they kiss. It is tender and quite wonderful, two people holding guns and kissing. The kiss becomes hotter, more passionate.
They separate for a moment to catch their breath. She looks at him with soulful eyes and whispers.
WOMAN: I’m sorry…
Then she takes her gun and hits Ray hard on the head with the gun butt. He crumples in her arms.
EXT. FARMHOUSE AND BARN – WIDE – DAY
Bodine moves into firing position behind Fraser. Fraser reacts, dives for cover. Bodine has Fraser pinned down with automatic weapons fire from the barn.
ANGLE – FARMHOUSE
as the woman exits, runs to the army truck, gets behind the wheel.
FRASER
pinned down by a withering round of fire from Bodine’s M-16.
BODINE
firing as he runs towards the moving truck.
INT. RAY’S CAR
Dief sees the action going down. He looks to his candy bar…looks to the escaping criminals….looks to his candy bar…and fires out of Ray’s car.
BACK TO SCENE
as the woman pulls the truck alongside Bodine. Firing the automatic weapon at Fraser, Bodine gets in. As the woman yanks the trunk into gear.
DIEFENBAKER
leaps into the back of the army truck, disappearing behind the canvas flaps.
INT. ARMY TRUCK
The woman hits the gas and the truck jumps forward.
EXT. ARMY TRUCK
They speed off, Bodine firing out the window behind him as the truck wheels onto the road and disappears.
FRASER
gets up and runs toward the farmhouse.
INT. FARMHOUSE – CONTINUOUS
Fraser enters and finds Ray on the floor, just coming to.
FRASER: Are you okay?
RAY: She kissed me.
Fraser glances at Ray’s head, sees the wound.
FRASER: …And then she hit you with her gun.
RAY: (devastated) I’m gonna see her in jail, Fraser. It it’s the last thing I do.
END OF ACT THREE

ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
INT. RAY’S CAR – ROLLING –DAY
Fraser is studying the geological map as Ray tears along the country road at break-neck speed.
FRASER: This road intersects the main highway in 5.4 kilometers…
RAY: I want her, Fraser.
FRASER: If we can stop them from getting to the highway…
RAY: (obsessed) I’m going to put her away. For a long time. She’ll be an old woman by the time they let her out.
FRASER: Perhaps you should radio for backup…
RAY: (not listening) She’ll be ninety and she won’t be able to do this to men anymore…
FRASER: Ray, backup.
RAY: Huh?
FRASER: It might be a good idea to call the sheriff’s station for backup.
RAY: Right…
Ray picks up the radio mike, turns it ON.
RAY: (broadcasting) Patch me through to the Kane County Sheriff’s station…
EXT. DIRT ROAD – DAY
The woman and Bodine speeding along the dirt road.
INT. RAY’S CAR – ROLLING – DAY
speeding along the same road, but not yet having the truck in sight.
RAY: Armed robbery, attempted murder…assault and battery on a police officer…What do you figure? Forty to Life?
FRASER: I don’t know, Ray.
RAY: Hard labor in Joliet…
FRASER: Slow down.
RAY: What?
FRASER: There’s a road on the right.
Ext. Ray’s car
as it roars past a turn off to the right
INT. BODIN’S TRUCK – ROLLING – DAY
Bodine is holding the M-16 in his lap.
BODINE: How much longer till we hit the highway?
WOMAN: A few more minutes.
BODINE: Why didn’t you drop the cop?
WOMAN: I didn’t have a clear shot at him.
BODINE: Like at the armory?
WOMAN: He had a gun on me, Frank. I fire, we both get it. Then you’ve got no one to drive your getaway car, do you?
Bodine looks behind him, sees:
HIS POV – THROUGH REAR WINDOW
Ray’s car in the distance. RESUME SCENE
BODINE: Damnit. It’s them. Floor it.
As her foot goes down to the floor.
INT. RAY’S CAR
seeing them.
RAY: There they are…
and as Ray’s foot goes down to the floor.
EXT. THE ROAD – ANGLES
Ray’s car catches up and tries to pass the truck. Ray moves to the right; the truck moves to the right to block him. Ray moves to the left; the truck moves to the left to block him.
INTERCUT between the car and the truck as the deadly race continues until they reach a long, winding downhill stretch. Ray gains momentum and passes on the right. As he gets past the truck, he accelerates, moving far enough ahead to
EXT. THE ROAD
as Ray’s car does a fishtail stop in a cloud of dust and blocks the road at a spot where there is a steep drop off to the right.
EXT. RAY’S CAR
They climb out. Ray takes up a position behind the car.
FRASER: Ray, are you sure this is a good idea.
RAY: Yes, Fraser.
FRASER: (beat, then) Are you quite sure?
RAY: Yes.
THEIR POV
The army truck rounds a corner and bears down on them from the top of the rise.
BACK TO SCENE
Ray levels his weapons across the roof of the car, his attention riveted on the approaching truck.
FRASER: (speaking quickly) Ray, not to press the point, but we are hiding behind a 1972 Buick Riviera equipped with a light weight aluminum chassis. They, on the other hand, are driving downhill at roughly fifty-seven miles per hour in a steel plated military weapons carrier designed to smash through enemy fortifications in time of war.
RAY: (beat) Works for me.
FRASER: (beat) Ah.
Fraser adjusts his hat and prepares to stand his ground.
INT. BODINE’S TRUCK – ROLLING
as it approaches the car.
BODINE: Go around it.
WOMAN: There’s no room.
BODINE: Then go through it.
INTERCUT BETWEEN
Ray and Fraser behind Ray’s car and Bodine and the woman in the army truck, as the huge vehicle barrels toward it.
THE WOMAN – RAY’S POV
and the fear in those beautiful eyes.
RAY
holding his ground.
INT. ARMY TRUCK
Simultaneously, the woman makes her decision, grabbing the wheel, turning it away from the car -- Bodine grabs the wheel from her and steps on the accelerator, veering it back toward the car.
WOMAN: Frank, no!!
At that moment:
DIEFENBAKER lunges up from the back of the truck, barking furiously.
BODINE
startled, loosens his grip
THE WOMAN
yanks the wheel hard to the right
EXT. ARMY TRUCK
As it goes careening off the road and down the incline, it rolls and tumbles down into the ravine. The last thing we hear is the WOMAN’S SCREAM.
EXT. TOP OF THE RAVINE
RAY AND FRASER
race down the incline after the vehicle.
EXT. BOTTOM OF RAVINE
The truck is on its side. Ray yanks at the driver’s side door and pulls it open. The seat is empty.
AT THE REAR OF THE TRUCK
Fraser throws back the canvas flaps. It’s a mess, broken crates everywhere. No sign of Dief. Fraser looks as close to panicking as he’ll ever look. He grabs a crate and turns to heave it out….
ONE THE GROUND
Diefenbaker sits looking up at him.
Fraser quickly tries to cover his relief.
FRASER: (to Dief) Oh. There you are. Out of donuts, are we?
AT THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK
Ray is searching the grass around the truck, frantic.
ANGLE
the woman lies a few yards away in the grass. Ray hurries over to her and finds her unconscious.
ON RAY AND THE WOMAN
He lifts her head gently and gives her mouth t mouth resuscitation. a few seconds later she opens her eyes.
RAY: You all right?
She mumbles, disoriented.
WOMAN: …What happened?
RAY: (smiles, relieved) Long story.
He studies the bruise on her forehead and gently wipes a smear of dirt away.
RAY: You need an ambulance.
He starts to move away – she grabs his hand.
WOMAN: No. Stay…
He smiles.
RAY: I’d like to .
Ray looks at her. She is bruised, her hair is in her eyes. She looks more beautiful than ever. Then POLICE SIRENS are heard in the distance. Ray looks at her, then looks off toward the highway where the sirens are coming from. All of a sudden, he makes an emotional decision.
RAY: You okay to walk?
WOMAN: I…I think so.
RAY: Good. Get out of here.
WOMAN: What?
Ray helps her to her feet.
RAY: Get to the highway. You can cut through the woods.
WOMAN: You’re letting me go? I almost killed you three times.
RAY: You deaf? Get the hell out of here!
As the SIRENS get LOUDER. She doesn’t move. She looks at him, shakes her head, smiles sardonically.
WOMAN: Special Agent Suzanne Chapin – Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. You just screwed up five month’s work, detective. You’re busted.
She turns and walks toward the sound of the sirens. HOLD on Ray for a long moment, as it all sinks in, then…
EXT. RAVINE – DAY
Police cars, lights, ambulance. As paramedics carry Bodine’s body into the ambulance Suzanne Chapin is talking to Sheriff’s Deputies. PAN TO Ray and Fraser by themselves at Ray’s car.
RAY: They’re going to take my shield. None years on the force down the drain.
FRASER: There were mitigating circumstances…
RAY: She’s a Fed, Fraser. I offered t let her go. She’s going to put it in her repost and three minutes later Welsh is going to ask for my shield and he’ll be right. (then; wistfully) Of all the districts in this city, she has to walk into mine.
INT. POLICE STATION – BULLPEN – EVENING
Elaine is with Huey and Louey at their desks. Huey is wrapping up some paperwork. Louey is playing solitaire.
HUEY: Ask me, he would’ve been better off if she’d hit him and left him dead on the pavement.
GARDINO: See, that’s the trouble with sings. You get the right one from the wrong woman, you end up paying for it the rest of your life. Better you never saw the sign. Better it never happened.
ELAINE: Then how would you know?
GARDINO: How would you now what
ELAINE: If you never saw the sign how would you know if you were wrong or right?
GARDINO: You wouldn’t know. You’d just be taking your chances like every other dumb schmo. That’s the great thing about love, it evens the odds. Anyone can be completely humiliated.
ELAINE: Well if there was a sign, and I could tell just from the way he blew his nose or tipped his hat, I’d want to know.
GARDINO: Hey, hey – woman don’t have signs. Men have signs. Women have “biological imperatives.” (off their looks) It’s true. I read it.
ELAINE: Jeez, Gardino, no wonder your wife left you for a pork roast.
Ray enters. Suddenly, they stop talking, look at him.
HUEY: Lieutenant wants to see you, Vecchio.
Ray nods, continues walking, as:
GARDINO: Yeah. And bring your play book.
Ray continues walking. WITH him as he walks towards Welsh’s office. People seem to stop talking and watch as Ray walks along through the:
INT. POLICE STATION – SQUAD ROOM AND BULLPEN – CONTINUOUS
people looking at him, nobody talking. he reaches Welsh’s office, knocks.
INT. WELSH’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS
as Ray enters. Welsh is at his desk, an open file folder in front of him.
WELSH: Sit down, Vecchio.
RAY: I’d rather stand, sir.
WELSH: Suit yourself.
Welsh looks at the report.
WELSH: I have Special Agent Chapin’s report on the Bodine arrest here. Would you like me to read the relevant passage?
RAY: (dead and he knows it) Sure, why not.
Welsh puts on his reading glasses, reads:
WELSH: “We were able to seize 850 assault weapons and put Frank Bodine in custody. This arrest could not have been accomplished without the assistance of Detective Ray Vecchio, who was instrumental in bringing this operation to a satisfactory conclusion. His hard work and his courage in the face of danger were exemplary…
Welsh puts the file down, looks at Ray.
WELSH: Congratulations, Detective.
RAY: (stunned) …Sir?
WELSH: I said “congratulations.”
Ray doesn’t respond. Suddenly he turns and walks out. PAN TO the corner of the office, where Diefenbaker has been sitting, having bonded with Welsh.
They exchange a complicitous look; then Welsh opens the bottom drawer of his desk and takes out two pretzels.
WELSH: Same to you.
He gives one to Diefenbaker and ease one himself.
INT. POLICE STATION, SQUAD ROOM – EVENING
As Ray storms across the bullpen, he meets Fraser at the tip of the stairs.
RAY: (calling out) I gotta find her.
Fraser steps in and hands him a piece of notepaper.
FRASER: The Regents Park, I took the liberty…
Ray nods, continues out.
EXT. CHICAGO SKYLINE – NIGHT – MUSIC OVER
INT. HOTEL LOBBY – NIGHT
Suzanne steps off the elevator with her valise and approaches the front desk. There’s a long line of patrons waiting.
EXT. CHICAGO STREET – NIGHT
Ray’s car speeding through traffic.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY
Suzanne is third from the front now. The man in the front of the line is taking forever. She checks her watch.
EXT. CHICAGO STREETS
Ray’s car is backed up in traffic. Suddenly it wheels out of line, makes a right turn and fires down an alley.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY
Suzanne signs her credit card bill at the desk.
DESK CLERK: I hope you had a pleasant stay, Ms. Chapin.
SUZANNE: Yes, thank you…(then) I’ll need a car for O’Hare, please.
DESK CLERK: Certainly . . .
EXT. CHICAGO STREETS – RUNBYS – NIGHT
Ray wheels out of another alley and tears off down the street.
EXT. HOTEL – NIGHT
as Suzanne stands outside waiting for her limo. After a beat, the limo pulls up. The driver gets out, opens his trunk. Suzanne gives him her suitcase, moves to open the rear door just as
ANGLE – RAY AND SUZANNE
as they stand there beside the limo, the driver waiting, people passing by in the street. They face off – he challenging, she defensive.
SUZANNE: You want something, Detective?
RAY: That kiss meant “step closer so I can hit you.”
RAY: (takes this in, then) Good cover. You must be very good at your jo.
SUZANNE: Apparently.
She starts to step toward the limo. He steps in closer and holds her arm.
RAY: So I’m just a dump jerk, right? You’ll walk away and you won’t spend the rest of your life wishing you had the guts to say it.
She turns on him, desperate not to crack.
SUZANNE: It was a job.
RAY: Then why didn’t you report me?
SUZANNE: Come on! Who needs the paperwork?
That hurt. A beat.
RAY: Then go home.
Ray turns and walks away. Then stops. He’s gonna hate himself for this, but:
RAY: Damn!
He turns, strides back, grabs her and she’s in his arms. They kiss. It’s one hell of a kiss, and when they’re finished, she’s clearly lost the battle. Then she recovers and turns away, climbing into the back of the limo.
RAY
stands there watching the limo pull away. He turns to the Doorman and says:
RAY: She’s gonna turn back. Watch.
ANGLE
A long moment, and just when we’re sure he’s wrong, she turns back and looks at him through the rear window of the limo. And smiles.
RAY
smiles to himself. Then he turns and, hands thrust deep into his pockets, he walks off down the street – past his car—just walking.
As we CRANE UP slowly losing Ray among the lights of the city:
RAY (V.O.): That’s it, Fraser. That’s the sign.
FRASER (V.O.): What is, Ray?
RAY (V.O.): The look. She left me but she left for the right reason. She loves me.
FRASER (V.O.):…But she’s gone.
RAY (V.O.): That’s what’s right for us. Maybe someday it won’t be, but not it is.
FRASER (V.O.): But you might never see each other again.
RAY (V.O.): Exactly. That’s what we need – ridiculous odds and just a speck of hope that some day we’ll beat ‘em.
FRASER (V.O.) I can’t say I understand, Ray.
RAY (V.O.): Course you don’t. You’re not too swift with this stuff, are you, Fraser?
INT. FRASER’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
Fraser sits on the bed, Diefenbaker curled up beside him. On his lap is a small wooden box, the kind one might put keepsakes in so they don’t become lost or torn. For a moment he just looks at the box as if trying to get up his courage.
He looks at Diefenbaker, who looks directly back at him. Fraser looks away, turns back and finds Diefenbaker staring at him unrelentingly. He forces a smile he doesn’t believe in, as though trying to reassure.
FRASER: It was a very long time ago.
Diefenbaker holds his look, as Fraser lifts the lid of the box.
PUSH IN SLOWLY ON HIM as he carefully sifts through the contents. In the bottom, there is an old, yellowing photograph. Fraser lifts it out, looks at it.
TIGHT – THE PHOTO
of a woman taken at a distance. She has turned away from the camera in mid-motion as if not wanting to be photographed, leaving her features blurred and indistinct. But her long, dark hair, and the slightly regal bearing leaves little doubt that this is Fraser’s dark lady.
FRASER
as he sits there staring at the photo, we….
FADE OUT.