EXT. 6TH AVENUE
There’s a city crew at work here outside the office building, breaking up pavement. Charlie crosses the street.
INT. 6TH FLOOR HALLWAY
From the elevator, Charlie makes his way down along the corridor to Sylvie's office. The door’s unlatched, but it’s blocked by something on the other side …
CHARLIE
Sylvie …?
INT. JACOBS DETECTIVE AGENCY
Crewcut’s just inside the doorway, lying face down in blood. There’s blood on the door-knob, as well, and a trail of it where he’s dragged himself across the carpet. Squeezing through and shutting the door behind him as the jack-hammers knock off for a few seconds, Charlie steps over the body. In the relative silence, he hears something, a dull buzzing sound, and keeps trying to determine where this is coming from as he crosses the room. But the jack-hammers start up again.
CHARLIE
Sylvie?
From where he's standing he can't see her. There's blood on the wall behind her chair and a big, splintered hole through the front panel of the desk, but no sign of Sylvie until he comes around to the other side and discovers her there on the plastic floor protector.
CHARLIE
Oh my God, oh Jesus …
He wants to embrace her, but there’s just too much blood, too much smell of blood. It’s all he can do - and this only by holding his breath - to free the finger hung up in the Beretta’s trigger guard. And that’s when he spots the bank bag pushed all the way forward in the desk’s kneehole. To lay hold of it, however, without kneeling in blood, he has to stretch himself almost flat, and he feels he’s going to pop holding his breath so long. But he manages it. As he pulls back, swinging the bag up into the swivel chair, the computer disk falls out of his pocket.
CHARLIE
Gaines … Oh my God! Oh God! Oh
goddamnit, Sylvie, I’m so sorry, I ...
The link between the diskette and Gaines, between Gaines and Sylvie’s death, are suddenly as clear cut as the one between the wire transfer and the bagful of money. And in that instant nausea’s swept away by clarity, by connections being made.
Using a piece of stationary, he picks up the diskette and wraps it, drops it into his jacket pocket. He also takes the Beretta and the box of ammunition he finds in one of the drawers, and adds them to the canvas bag where, in addition to all the packets of hundred dollar bills, there's an envelope with his name on it.
Inside, on a single folded square of notepaper, is a typed list of the telephone numbers he asked Sylvie to check out; also the End-Line Number. The area code is a surprise.
CHARLIE
But that's Canada. (BEAT – Another
connection made:) Toronto.
Once again he hears that faint buzzing sound. It lasts only a few seconds, shuts off, then starts up again ... Coming from the dead man. From the pocket pager on his belt. Charlie unclips it and uses a corner of the man’s shirt to wipe blood off the glass of the readout where a number’s displayed.
Now Sylvie’s telephone starts to ring. He freezes, looking at it there on the desk, waiting for the answering machine to kick in, but the machine's not on, and the phone keeps ringing.
EXT. BEEKMAN PLACE
It’s still raining ... Standing under the apartment house awning with a cell phone to his ear, the Blond Man, frustrated by unanswered ringing at the other end of the line, angrily cancels the call. He’s making another when a cab pulls up.
INT. CAB - MOVING
The Blond Man’s still on the phone
BLOND MAN
Doorman hasn't seen him and he’s
not downtown, so maybe he went to
pick it up himself ... So where is he
then?
INT. HOTEL BEDROOM - DAY
The Executive Secretary’s on the bed, wriggling into pantyhose, when Gaines exits the bathroom. The television’s on.
TV VOICE
The dollar, picking up from where it
left off yesterday, continues to gain
ground, even in the face of growing
concerns that other nations will ...
GAINES
(Switching off the TV) ... eat crow.
Standing in front of the mirror, he centers the knot of his tie and fusses with the black armband he’s wearing.
GAINES
Not very festive, is it? (BEAT) Poor
ole Charlie ...
Breaking the loosely stitched thread holding the band in place, he slips it off.
GAINES
You don't have to hurry back to the
office on my account, you know.
She puts off getting dressed and leans back into the pillows as he blows her a kiss and crosses to the door, opening it.
SECRETARY
Hope you've got an appetite now.
GAINES
At ten grand a plate, I better have.
SECRETARY
So who's it for, Republican, Democrat?
Which one?
GAINES
What's the difference?
EXT. BROADWAY
Charlie comes to the corner and stops - Where's he going? Shifts the heavy canvas bag to his other hand and, nervously checking behind him just as a bus pulls to the curb in front of him, turns back around to see what only a second before had been an ordinary street scene has now been replaced by a shiny, idealized vision of Niagra Falls. An advertisement on the bus’ side panel, it totally dominates his view. The rain continues.
CHARLIE
Edencroft …
When the bus pulls away again, he's on it, heading uptown.
INT. OFFICE BUILDING - HALLWAY
The Blond Man listens at the door before using a small battery powered device to trigger the electric lock.
INT. JACOBS DETECTIVE AGENCY
Unfazed by the bloody scene inside here, the Blond Man steps over the body and circles around to the other side of the desk where Sylvie now lies covered by a window curtain. He has a look at her, then goes to check out the closet, the kitchenette. He knows the money's probably not here and he doesn't waste much time on it. He goes back to Crewcut and, patting him down, finds what he's after: an incendiary grenade taped to his shaved leg. Leaving it there, he pulls the pin and exits.
INT. 6TH FLOOR HALLWAY
The Blond Man's through the exit door and on his way down the stairs before the thing blows, the office exploding into fire and broken glass.
INT. SEA CHANGE
Rigid with terror as she lies here on her back, unable to move, Maria has her eyes pinned upsidedown on a rat which has started down the rope from the headboard, turning back now as the boat tips.
Charlie, coming inside, sees the rat dart along the shelf and disappear. Maria’s hysterical, sobbing behind the duct tape.
CHARLIE
It's gone, alright? It's gone!
The unframed photograph of Edencroft lies on the chart table where he left it. Turning it over, he finds a photography studio imprint on the back-side, as well as: a telephone number. Comparing this with the so-called end-line number and seeing that both have the same 234 prefix, he needs time to sort things out. But he doesn't get it. Maria's wheezing, hyperventilating, and he gets caught up in her eyes, in the panic he finds there.
CHARLIE
You're alive! Sylvie's not. They killed
her. Henry, Sylvie ....
He squats down by the canvas bag, spilling packets of money as he digs out the Beretta.
CHARLIE
Because of me. And you.
After replacing the money, all but one packet of hundreds which he tucks into her purse, he removes a comforter from the bunk drawer. It’s as he’s covering her with this that he notices the scorched rope, as well as the burn blisters on her arms. On the TV is a rebroadcast of the Rodriquez report. He turns it off.
CHARLIE
You and Rodriquez. But now he's
dead, too.
He finds rain-gear in another bunk drawer, and then goes forward to the foc'sle, returning with a sailbag full of orange life preservers. He dumps these out, but there’s one caught up in a tangle of fishline which is also wound tightly around the sailbag grip. Has to cut it. Can't find his knife.
CHARLIE
Coffee ... Coffee and money. And
Charlie knows who's behind it. Well,
of course he does, he knows every-
thing, right, Maria?
From outside comes the frustrated cursing of someone trying to yank-start an outboard.
CHARLIE
Except I didn’t. I didn’t know.
Giving up on the fishline, he leaves the life preserver attached to the sailbag grip, fits the bank bag inside, and zips it shut.
CHARLIE
But that was then. This is now. Now
I do know.
He starts to free her, starting with the tape ...
CHARLIE
Didn't before, but I do now. Who
they are. Even where they are. It
wasn't staged, you know. I didn't
make that up. They're after you,
too.
When he's untied her, he picks up the sailbag and crosses to the open cabin door where he stands, looking out at the rain. Maria, stiff from having to lie so long in one position, rubs at the deep imprints on her wrists and ankles, watching him.
MARIA
That woman you saw me with, she
took care of me when I was little.
She’s from Columbia. She lost her
entire family down there. Children,
grand-children, everyone. (BEAT)
Charlie?
The rain beats down harder, and a wind kicks in, rocking the boat at the very moment that the balky outboard finally starts up, a coincidence of sound and motion that cues Charlie’s look to the key in the ignition, its chain loop tap-ping against the console. It's not going to work, he knows that, but he has to at least give it a try. So he does. Again and again and ...
CHARLIE
Needs a new switch. And I had one,
too. In my car. My fucking car!
MARIA
You could hotwire it, you know.
INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - DAY
Balloons crowd the ceiling, and there are posters of the smiling candidate all over the place. A band’s playing. Gaines, who has remained seated as others get up to dance, doesn’t know what to make of it when a waiter stops by his table to deliver a message printed on a gum wrapper. He puts on his glasses. And rises up out of his chair like a sleep walker.
EXT. HOTEL
The doorman points Gaines towards the taxi parked to one side of the drive-up, beyond which the rain’s still coming down hard. The rear door’s opened from inside. The Blond Man slides over.
INT. CAB - MOVING
The Blond Man takes his time rolling up a stick of gum.
GAINES
But I haven't had anything to do with
her for years, I ...
BLOND MAN
Where were you this morning?
GAINES
This isn't happening.
BLOND MAN
Where were you?
GAINES
What'd he say, what'd Tom say?
BLOND MAN
He's worried about you.
EXT. GAINES & FILCHER
The Blond Man stays with the cab as Gaines heads inside.
INT. EXECUTIVE SUITE
His Secretary slides a Tiffany’s catalogue under some paperwork when Gaines comes through on his way to the office.
SECRETARY
So how was it? (BEAT) That detective
called again. He'd like you ...
GAINES
Not now!
INT. EXECUTIVE SUITE - OFFICE
Gaines opens the wall safe and, removing the diskette Charlie gave him, puts it in the computer. Reading numbers off the folded fax sheet that came with it, he keys in the account access code and retrieves the file for cash reserves. The most recent entry shows a 6-figure debit, along with the time ( 7:51AM) and the date of the transaction. He picks up the phone.
GAINES
7:51? (Phone) Get me Security.
INT. CAB
Once again, the Blond Man’s ready with the door, opening it for Gaines when he comes back, visibly shaken.
GAINES
He's alive!
The Cabby's eyes are in the rearview, waiting for directions.
BLOND MAN
Just drive around.
GAINES
He's alive, he was here! 6:13! Enter-
red building at 6:13. They never put
a block on his goddamn key card!
BLOND MAN
But you have the disk.
GAINES
A disk, I have a disk. He must have kept
the original, the one you said was no good.
Not that that’d make any difference if in
fact he had been, and I quote, ‘taken care
of’ – yet another thing you said!
CABBY
Just drive around, huh?
BLOND MAN
That's right, drive around.
GAINES
Runs out of cash, and he can't go to
the bank because all his money's in
probate - he's supposed to be dead,
for godsakes - so he comes back here
where he knows he has access. And
doesn’t have to ask. Probably figured
nobody'd notice.
The Blond Man unpeels another stick of gum as the cab pulls out into traffic.
BLOND MAN
Figured wrong, didn't he?
GAINES
You think it was me. You think I'm
making this up to cover my ass. He's
alive, goddamn you!
EXT. HUDSON RIVER - DAY
The ‘Sea Change’ passes by at a good clip, her wake dying in the shallows where garbage bobs in a detergent froth.
INT. SEA CHANGE - MOVING
Charlie looks from the chart laid out before him to bluffs rising up on the eastern shore. The two wires sticking through the hole in the console are twisted together and held in place by one of Maria’s barrettes. It's no longer raining.
CHARLIE
So Rodriquez was your uncle. And
pure as the driven snow. Or was that
slush?
MARIA
He was a good man, an honorable man.
CHARLIE
He was a politician.
MARIA
Where are we going?
No response. Charlie continues looking out at the bluffs.
MARIA
Just because he was in contact with
Columbian authorities doesn't mean
he knew anything about what you
went through. I’m sure he didn’t.
Charlie uses matchsticks to plot distances on the chart, but he has difficulty making out the fine print; and keeps leaning back to compensate for his far-sightedness. Maria's watching him.
MARIA
I want to know where we're going!
He points to the photograph of Edencroft that’s now back inside the silver frame.
CHARLIE
There. Right there.
EXT. HUDSON RIVER
From here, high on the bluffs, the Sea Change looks like a toy disappearing round a bend in the sunlit river.
INT. GAINES & FILCHER - SECURITY
The Chicano Guard, seen earlier stationed at the security desk in the lobby, sits at a table with his Translator, both watching Gaines as he stops pacing long enough to relight his pipe.
TRANSLATOR
But he says if he put it down as 6:42,
then that's when it was.
GAINES
But that's not when it was. He made
a mistake.
The Guard’s response to this is heated and laced with profanity. The Translator takes his time before rendering it into English.
TRANSLATOR
6:42. The subject left at 6:42.
GAINES
So then how'd the subject manage to
get logged onto our computer at 7:51?
He waves the Translator off.
GAINES
Don't bother. Just tell him he no longer
works here.
TRANSLATOR
But, Mr. Gaines, he has a wife, four
small children …
GAINES
(Going out the door) Only four?
EXT. HUDSON RIVER - NIGHT
There's a glint of irridesence, things floating on the water, as the Sea Change passes by: a number of dead fish.
INT. SEA CHANGE - MOVING - NIGHT
When Charlie gives up on trying to read the chart and switches off the con-sole lamp, the only illumination is the glow of the instrument panel. Maria watches him from the bunk as he stands there, drinking coffee, smoking one cigarette after another, trying to figure out her cell phone. He keeps poking at the buttons.
MARIA
It needs to be charged.
CHARLIE
So how do I do that?
MARIA
You need a charger.
CHARLIE
Need a charger. I hate these things.
He pushes open the windscreen and, licking his fingers, wets his eyelids, the better to feel the breeze coming through.
MARIA
You've got to sleep sometime.
CHARLIE
Slept for a week, I'm not tired.
MARIA
. You smoke too much. And you drink
too much coffee.
CHARLIE
Need a charger.
EXT. DOCKS - TROY, NEW YORK - DAWN
Seagulls hunker down on the roof of the marina’s general store where smoke curls away from the chimney. The ‘Sea Change’ is at the fuel dock where a young Attendant is topping up her tanks; he’s eating a donut.
INT. SEA CHANGE
Maria pulls back when she catches the Attendant staring at her through one of the dockside ports.
INT. PHONE BOOTH
With the end-line number in hand, Charlie deposits enough change for his call. It's answered by a voice easily overheard.
PHONE VOICE
Lotus Foundation. Hold please.
Standby music. Charlie’s looking out at the sunrise.
PHONE VOICE
Lotus Foundation. How may I direct your
call? (BEAT) Hello? ...
INT. SEA CHANGE
When Maria hears Charlie out on the dock, she’s relieved she’s no longer alone. Even so, she avoids the Attendant who doesn’t have any change on him and has to go back to the store for it. Charlie comes aboard. He grabs a couple of towels.
CHARLIE
They've got showers here. Come on.
EXT. MARINA STORE – TROY, N.Y.
The Attendant exits with a gas receipt and change just as Charlie and Maria disappear around the side of the building.
Finding the Men’s Room in use, two men with kit bags and towels waiting their turns outside here, Charlie wanders back the way he came, passing by the Ladies’ Room where a fat woman is just now letting herself inside. A shower can be heard.
INT. LADIES ROOM
Washing her hair, Maria’s not aware that anybody else is in here until a toilet flushes and she has to jump clear of very hot water.
The fat woman’s on her way out the door before the toilet overflows.
Pressed flat against the shower side wall to avoid being scalded, Maria keeps her eyes shut against the shampoo lather as she waits for the water pressure to recover, but the toilet intake doesn’t shut off so there is no change in pressure and she can't get at the faucets because of the rope of steaming hot water that drops straight down from shower head.
EXT. LADIES ROOM
Charlie, heading back to the Men’s Room, hears Maria calling out for help. The door's not locked.
INT. LADIES ROOM
When he comes in, steam’s billowing from the shower stall and the floor's flooded. He pulls back the mildewed curtain and, wrapping his arm in the towel he has, gropes for the faucets and turns them off. Maria’s still got her eyes closed. He looks at her standing there, naked, vulnerable, and it takes a moment for him to think what to do next. Water continues to overspill the toilet.
CHARLIE
You can rinse off on the boat.
He wraps her in the towel left hanging on a peg with her clothing, and picks her up.
INT. DOCK STORE
The Attendant’s at the window when Charlie goes past, carrying Maria. The
Fat Woman behind the counter comes to see what he's gawking at.
EXT. SEA CHANGE
The engines idling as Charlie readies the aft line to cast off, the Attendant,
hoping for a glimpse of Maria, shows up with change for the gas, as well as a Parks Service brochure. He hands this over, but waits until the boat’s pulling away before he says anything, shouting to be heard above the engines.
ATTENDANT
S’not called the Erie anymore, in case
you're interested.
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