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Traffic (2000)

by Stephen Gaghan.

More info about this movie on IMDb.com


FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY


EXT. COLUMBUS, OHIO - DAY

The state capital of Ohio.  It's an impressive building for
a city this size.

SUPERTITLE: COLUMBUS, OHIO - STATE CAPITAL

INT. OHIO STATE SUPREME COURT - DAY

In chambers striving for august, JUSTICES listen to a lawyer
MR. RODMAN, argue his case before the highest court in Ohio.
Mr. Rodman enjoys the sound of his own voice.

 			MR. RODMAN
 	This informant, paid by the police,
 	using taxpayers dollars to continue
 	his felony drug habit, was the link
 	which allowed police to raid a
 	private farm.  A working farm.  A
 	farm where honest Americans make
 	their living.

One particular justice, ROBERT WAKEFIELD, younger than the
others, is clearly bemused by this performance.

 			MR. RODMAN (CONT'D)
 	The government, in its haste, has
 	employed an army of criminals whose
 	allegiance to the truth is, at
 	best, questionable --

Judge Wakefield interrupts --

 			ROBERT
 	Mr. Rodman...it's too bad your
 	client didn't show as much sense in
 	choosing what he planted as he did
 	in choosing his attorney...

A polite chuckle from the justices --

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	Lately the only variation I'm
 	hearing in your argument is the
 	name of the client.  And you can
 	sit there all day arguing the ins
 	and outs of Illinois v. Gates, but
 	you aren't going to convince me
 	that this country has not sanctioned
 	the use of anonymous informants.
 			(MORE)

 									2.


 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 		(beat)
 	Furthermore, there is no sacred
 	protection of property rights in
 	the United Sates.  When you make
 	the decision to have marijuana on
 	your farm, whether it's one joint
 	or an acre of plants, your property
 	can be seized and your property can
 	be sold.

 			MR. RODMAN
 	I'm sorry the court finds my
 	argument repetitious.

 			ROBERT
 	Mr. Rodman, may I offer a piece of
 	advice?  The next time you argue
 	this point before this court,
 	regardless of my whereabouts, I
 	recommend you have something up
 	your sleeve other than your arm.

INT. ROBERT'S CHAMBERS - DAY

The office is marble and dark wood.  A young CLERK, black,
29, enters carrying an oddly-shaped gift.  They both look at
it.

 			CLERK
 	What do you think it is?

 			ROBERT
 	Depends who it's from.

 			CLERK
 		(reading the card)
 	Your friends at Warren, Putnam and
 	Hudson.

 			ROBERT
 	You can learn a lot about somebody
 	from this stuff.  Three categories:
 	you like me, you hate me, you want
 	something from me.
 		(re: the elaborate box)
 	Definitely third category.

 			CLERK
 	What would a law firm want from the
 	new drug Czar?

 			ROBERT
 	Depends on the state.

 									3.


 			CLERK
 		(checks)
 	Arizona.

 			ROBERT
 	Medicinal marijuana initiative.
 		(beat)
 	Or am I being cynical?

They both laugh.  Robert reaches up and pulls a bottle of
Scotch from a shelf.  He pours a couple of fingers in two
glasses.

 			CLERK
 	Maybe there's a book in it.

The clerk takes one of the glasses.

 			ROBERT
 	Not by me.

They toast and drink.

EXT. COURTHOUSE - DAY

Robert exits, trailed by a small group of reporters.  He
gets into a car being driven by two security TYPES.

INT. AIRPLANE - DAY

Robert sits in a business class window seat.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

An expensive hotel.  Robert Wakefield stands at the window,
looking at the view of our nation's capital.

SUPERTITLE: WASHINGTON D.C.

ON THE TABLE

the remnants of a meal.  It was a steak and a small caesar
salad.  The wine glass is half-empty.

ANOTHER ANGLE ON ROBERT

in front of the mirror now, trying on a dark, tasteful jacket.

CLOSER

On Robert in the same position, only now we are in HIS HOME.
It's daytime, and his wife BARBARA is helping him into this
same jacket.  As her hands dust the lint off his shoulders
we MATCH CUT TO:

 									4.


ROBERT

in the hotel rooms, making the same motions.  Satisfied, he
straightens, then turns to look at himself.

OMITTED

ANGLE ON ROBERT

back at the hotel room window now.  Reaches to the table and
lifts the wine glass.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. DIRT ROAD - DAY

This is the middle of nowhere.  Scrub cactus and dust and a
heartless sun.

SUPERTITLE: MEXICO - TWENTY MILES SOUTHWEST OF TIJUANA.

A broken down-looking Police Sedan is parked on the side of
the road.  It seems abandoned except there are TWO MEN inside.

INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

Two Mexican men, State Police officers, JAVIER RODRIGUEZ,
30's, and MANUEL "MANOLO" SANCHEZ, 20's, wearing jeans,
knock-off Polo shirts, and cowboy boots, wait patiently in
the car.

 			JAVIER
 	I had that dream again.

A long pause.

 			MANOLO
 	Which one?

Another long pause.

 			JAVIER
 	Where my mother's suffocating.

They continue to wait until there is the sound of a JET
ENGINE.  It grows LOUDER as it approaches.

EXT. THE POLICE SEDAN - DAY

The shadow of a large plane crosses the desert floor.  Then,
an old DC-3 flies fifty feet above the Police Sedan.

 									5.


INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

They watch the plane disappear over a small rise in the
desert.  They look at each other and wait some more.

EXT. MEXICAN DESERT - LATER

From the direction of the landing strip, a moving van
lumbers down the road, two TEENAGERS in the cab.

INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

Javi and Manolo watch the moving van approach.  Javi reaches
under the seat and picks up a bubble flasher.  He rolls down
the window and plants it on the roof.  He flips the switch.
Nothing happens.  He jiggles the wire and the siren BURPS
and the light flashes.  Manolo and Javi step from the car,
smiling.

EXT. MEXICAN DESERT - DAY

The moving van slows to a stop.  Javi approaches.  The
DRIVER unhurriedly rolls down the window.

 			DRIVER
 	Is there a problem?

 			JAVIER
 	No.  There's no problem.

The driver hesitates a confused beat then reaches for his
wallet.

 			DRIVER
 	Okay.  I see.  How much do you want?

The driver pulls a wad of bills.  Javi shakes his head.

 			DRIVER (CONT'D)
 	You want more than this?

Javi shakes his head.  The driver exchanges a look with his
partner.

 			DRIVER (CONT'D)
 	You want something else?

Javi smiles.  The driver gets out and walks to the back of
the truck.  He opens the rear door.  There are neatly-
stacked crates marked with a SCORPION logo and "911."  He
reaches into one of them and pulls out a tightly-sealed
package also with the scorpion stamped on it.  He turns to
see Javi with his gun drawn.

 									6.


Manolo, at the passenger side, has also drawn his gun and is
motioning the partner to move to the back of the truck.

 			JAVIER
 	Drop the package.  Put your hands
 	behind your head.  You're under
 	arrest.

The driver hesitates.  He starts to comply then looks at
Javi and Manolo.

 			DRIVER
 	I don't understand.  I think there
 	must be some mistake.

 			JAVIER
 	No, there's no mistake.

Javi motions to Manolo who cuffs both teenagers.  The driver
begins spewing OBSCENITIES under his breath.  Javi puts the
driver in the front of the Shadow.  Manolo follows in the
moving van.

OMITTED

OMITTED

EXT. DIRT ROAD - MEXICO - LATER

The truck follows the Shadow down a desert road.

Suddenly, from behind, four armored SUV's with tinted
windows appear, closing fast.

The SUV's force both vehicles off the road where they pull
to a stop.  A long beat as hot wind blows desert detritus
past the truck.

Finally, the SUV doors open and FEDERAL POLICE OFFICERS
surround them like a SWAT team.

The passenger door of the lead SUV opens and GENERAL ARTURO
SALAZAR, 50's, a squat, powerful presence in a perfectly
pressed uniform gets out and approaches Javi.

 			SALAZAR
 		(to Javier)
 	What's your name?

 			JAVIER
 	Javier Rodriguez.

 									7.


 			SALAZAR
 	Well, Javier Rodriguez, you've done
 	a very good job, but we'll take
 	care of it from here.

Javier stares into the implacable reflection of his
sunglasses.  In the distance, the DC-3 takes off and ROARS
over their heads.

 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 	We've been following these Narco-
 	trafficantes for some time but had
 	not been able to bring them to
 	justice.
 		(to his men)
 	Put the prisoners in the car.
 	Impound the truck.

The men follow Salazar's orders.

 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 		(to Javi)
 	One question.  How did you find
 	about this?

 			JAVIER
 	An informant.

 			SALAZAR
 	What is the name of your informant?

 			JAVIER
 		(beat)
 	It was an anonymous tip.

Salazar looks at Javi a beat.

 			SALAZAR
 		(to his men)
 	For a State Police officer, you're
 	very well informed.  Let's go.

MOMENTS LATER

Javi and Manolo watch the convoy of vehicles drive away.
Javier lights a cigarette.

 			MANOLO
 	Wasn't that General Salazar?

 			JAVIER
 	Yeah.

 									8.


 			MANOLO
 	What's he doing up here?

 			JAVIER
 	I don't know.  Something.

They start for their car.

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

EXT. DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE - DAY

SUPERTITLE: SAN DIEGO

Two men, RAY CASTRO, 30's, proud, ambitious, and MONTEL
GORDON, 40's, suspicious of everyone including himself and
always, always the smartest guy in the room, walk from a
Lincoln Towncar toward a dumpy office.  Castro is talking
under his breath --

 			CASTRO
 	No telltales.  Nothing to read.
 	Not touching my face.  Not even
 	blinking.  No giveaways.
 		(beat)
 	How're you feeling?

 			GORDON
 		(keyed up)
 	I feel good.

 			CASTRO
 	No more pissant basin league
 	bullshit for us, hunh?

 			GORDON
 	Nope.

Castro stretches his arms, swings them around.

 			CASTRO
 	Limbering up, gonna stay loose,
 	keep it all together.  Take this
 	motherfucker down.

They reach the door to the office.  Gordon looks at Castro,
then turns the handle.

 			CASTRO (CONT'D)
 	Showtime.

 									9.


INT. OFFICE, DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE - DAY

It's a cluttered, rundown working office unusual only in the
extent of its ordinariness.  A SECRETARY goes about her
business like a somnambulist.  CLERKS shuffle and file.

Castro switches into Spanish --

 			CASTRO
 		(in Spanish)
 	Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen.
 	We're looking for Eduardo Ruiz.  We
 	have a two o'clock appointment.

INT. OFFICE, DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE - LATER

In a back alcove, Castro and Gordon sit across a cheap table
from EDUARDO RUIZ, 40's, an entrepreneur in an expensive
suit and bad hairpiece.  They are waiting.

 			RUIZ
 	You ever buy a quarter ton?  Not
 	many people have.

Another "businessman" enters from another door and whispers
in Ruiz's ear, then leaves again.

 			RUIZ (CONT'D)
 	So, it's worth the wait, right?
 	What can I do?  Rent a Huey?  Have
 	an airlift?  It's not like you can
 	put it in a condom up some mule's
 	asshole, right?  How many peasants
 	would that take?  A line stretching
 	from here to Mexico City --

 			GORDON
 	Nobody said shit, Eduardo --

One of Ruiz's hands dips under the desk where we see a
handgun is holstered on the underside.

 			RUIZ
 	Relax.  We're waiting, that's it.

 			CASTRO
 	Hey, you want to hear a joke?  I
 	got a joke.  Why do women wear
 	makeup and perfume?

 			GORDON
 	Chill out --

 								10.


 			CASTRO
 	It's a funny fuckin' joke and it's
 	quick.  Why do women wear makeup
 	and perfume?

 			RUIZ
 	I don't know.

 			CASTRO
 	'Cause they're ugly and they stink.

Castro laughs uproariously.

INT. DEA SURVEILLANCE SPACE - DAY

ON FUZZY SURVEILLANCE VIDEO: Castro laughing.  Ruiz politely
smiling, one of his hands hidden by the table.

 			GORDON
 	Man, you never been close enough to
 	a woman to know how she smells.

 			DEA AGENT (V.O.)
 	What's his hand doing?  Watch his
 	hand.  Anybody?  I don't like the
 	hand.

IN THE OFFICE

The room is filled with crappy surveillance equipment.  DEA
AGENTS, in DEA logo'd outerwear, jiggle a monitor fuzzily
displaying the view from another hidden camera: Gordon and
Ruiz around the cheap table.

 			DEA AGENT
 	This is ridiculous this fucking
 	thing.
 		(taps monitor)
 	Look at this shit -- the first
 	television transmission.  I had
 	better shit when I was the AV guy
 	at junior high, swear-to-God.

 			ANOTHER DEA AGENT
 	Come on, Castro, pay attention.
 	Watch his damn hands.

ON THE MONITOR

Another "businessman" enters the office and whispers in
Ruiz's ear.

 			RUIZ (ON MONITOR)
 	Soon.

 								11.


Another AGENT peers out a window through binoculars.  HIS
POV: the exterior of the office where Castro, Gordon, and
Ruiz talk.

EXT. DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE, SAN DIEGO - DAY

A BLUE VAN makes a slow turn into the parking lot.

EXT. ROOF - DAY

TWO FBI AGENTS, in jackets reading "FBI," hide on an opposing
roof.  They look through high-powered binoculars.  Binocular
POV: the BLUE VAN turning into the plaza.

 			FBI AGENT #2
 	All right, here we go.  The blue van.

His binocular POV detects three unmarked cars discreetly
following the van.

 			FBI AGENT #2 (CONT'D)
 	Three unmarked vehicles.
 		(picks up walkie)
 	Three unmarked vehicles accompanying.

The unmarked cars split up and one turns into the parking
lot of a fast-food restaurant.  The other circles around the
back of a building.

 			FBI AGENT #2 (CONT'D)
 	It's local.  Local or Customs.  Oh,
 	man, I don't know.  Looks like the
 	cavalry.

 			FBI AGENT
 	This is our show.  Ah, man.  I
 	don't want to share this one.

INT. OFFICE, DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE - CONTINUOUS

Through the window Ruiz, Gordon and Castro watch the van
disappear into the bay of a storage unit.  A man is pulling
down the door behind it when three unmarked squad cars ROAR
into the lot, surrounding the unit, officers exit the cars
with their guns drawn --

Gordon and Castro stare in disbelief.

Ruiz FIRES the gun under the desk which hits Gordon full in
the chest, knocking him backwards.

Ruiz's men run into the room pulling guns.

 								12.


Castro dives and pulls his weapon, firing at Ruiz's men,
hitting both of them.  Ruiz bolts through another door.
Castro pursues, talking into his shirt collar --

 			CASTRO
 	Agent down.  Repeat, agent down.

Gordon gets slowly to his feet, shaking off the blast to his
Kevlar, and runs after them.

EXT. DEL MAR SELF-STORAGE - DAY

The DEA are shooting at the men inside the storage unit who
are shooting back.

From all over the stake-out location, DEA AGENTS emerge
firing their weapons.  An equal number of FBI AGENTS emerge
firing in return.  Nobody was aware of the other's presence.

It's CHAOS, a clusterfuck of law-enforcement zeal with three
competing sets of good guys shouting through BULL-HORNS,
GUNSHOTS and SCREAMING.

Ruiz breaks through the corner of the lot, cutting between
two buildings.  Castro emerges and chases him.

EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY

Ruiz runs out the back of the storage company.  He cuts
between parked cars, heading for The Fun Zone, a kiddie
restaurant.

INT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Castro enters The Fun Zone.  There's a cardboard cutout of
SPASTIC JACK, a beloved comedy figure who looks like a
rabbit version of Jar Jar Binks, promoting the "Special
Edition" glass: "Collect All Four."  There's an enclosure
filled with colored plastic balls.

The restaurant is empty except for a CLOWN filling out a
time card.  The clown stands.

 			CLOWN
 	Hey dudes, we're not open yet.

Castro makes a motion for him to be quiet and keeps moving
toward the room of colored balls.

Gordon enters the restaurant and follows him.  An ANIMATRONIC
BAND starts to play a SONG.

Gordon sees a half-hidden foot buried underneath the plastic
balls at the far end of the room.

 								13.


He takes careful aim and FIRES.

Ruiz SCREAMS and sits up.  Castro pounces on him, disarming
him, and roughing him up.

EXT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Castro and Gordon shove Ruiz into the sunlight.  They wait
while their eyes adjust.

 			RUIZ
 	Take me to the hospital.  I'm
 	bleeding to death.

Castro shoves him forward.

ACROSS THE PARKING LOT

DEA has opened the back of the van where a quarter-ton of
cocaine is spilling out onto the pavement.

 						CUT TO:

INT. GUEST HOUSE - AFTERNOON

A bong hit is expelled into the air.  In the living room of
a comfortable, preppy guest house, private school TEENAGERS
party and hang-out: cigarettes in ashtrays, beer and bong on
the coffee table, loud MUSIC.

SUPERTITLE: CINCINNATI, OHIO

The TV is on with the sound off.  The curtains are closed.
The four boys wear school blazers with their ties pulled
askew, the three girls' clothing are also identical.  Some
sit on couches, some on the floor.  They are stoned.

One intense-looking boy, SETH ABRAHAMS, 17, wild curly hair
and the attitude of a young Coleridge, and a girl, CAROLINE
WAKEFIELD, 16, really sixteen which means she looks about
12, pretty and flirtatiously irreverent, sit at a desk in
front of a Powerbook G-3 playing an on-line trivia game.
Seth speaks rapidly and precisely.

 			SETH
 	Father of Greek tragedy?  Anyone?
 	Okay, Aeschylus it is.
 		(hits keys)
 	His trilogy?  The Oresteia.  I mean
 	this is beautiful, can anyone stop
 	the Seth Machine?
 			(MORE)

 								14.


 			SETH (CONT'D)
 		(hits keys)
 	Score.  Thank you.  Madmax from
 	Omaha we own you.  And Tragedy is
 	closed out.

Seth leans over and snorts a line of coke from a mirror.  He
hands it to Caroline who effortlessly does one.

 			CAROLINE
 	Entertainment.  The Susan Lucci
 	section or Banal Love Songs of the
 	Nineties?

Seth looks at her.  He has a crush.

 			SETH
 	Banal Love Songs it is.
 		(hits keys)
 	Hey, you wanna try something?

She nods.  They both take a swig of beer.  He takes her hand
pulling her past the stoned people on the couch --

IN THE KITCHEN

Seth takes out a box of baking soda.  He tears off a square
of aluminum foil.  He takes out a spoon.  Caroline watches
as he dumps a small amount of cocaine into the spoon.  He
adds a pinch of baking soda.  He puts in a few drops of
water.  Stirs it around with the heel of a lighter.  Then
holds the flame under the spoon.

 			CAROLINE
 	What are you doing?

 			SETH
 		(concentrating)
 	Just watch.

He watches the substance in the spoon as it swirls and
bubbles, then separates... He pours the most viscous part
onto the aluminum foil, making four separate little puddles.

He quickly dismantles a ballpoint pen, making a straw.  He
hands it to Caroline.

 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	Inhale the smoke and hold it.

 			CAROLINE
 	What is this, like freebase?

 								15.


 			SETH
 	Not like.  It is.

He lights the flame under the aluminum foil.  The puddle
crackles and pops, then starts to smoke --

 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	Go...  Go!

There's a rush of thick grey smoke.  Caroline catches most
of it.

 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	Hold it.

She pulls it in deeper and holds... Suddenly her expression
changes... Her eyes lose their focus, her face slackens, an
almost sexual response.  Seth is watching her intensely.

 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	See... Now, you see.

Caroline slumps back against the counter.  Seth moves
against her, kissing her, running his hands over her breasts
and body.  She stares over his shoulder, holding it as long
as she can.

Finally she exhales --

 			CAROLINE
 	More.

The cloud of grey smoke from her lungs fills the room.

 						CUT TO:

INT. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE - DAY

The White House CHIEF OF STAFF meets with Robert Wakefield.
The Chief of Staff has the floor; he always has the floor.
This is a man you do not want to disappoint.

 			CHIEF OF STAFF
 	Until you officially take over the
 	office of National Drug Control
 	Policy, under no circumstances
 	should you speak to the press
 	unprotected, without going through
 	this office or having someone in
 	the room.  There are a lot of
 	interests in this town and, right
 	now, they're all scared of you.
 			(MORE)

 								16.


 			CHIEF OF STAFF (CONT'D)
 	The reason they're scared of
 	you...technically, you have veto
 	power over their budgets.  So think
 	about that: FBI, CIA, DEA, CUSTOMS,
 	TREASURY, ATF, DEFENSE, IRS, Radio
 	Shack and the DMV, they're all
 	gonna want to speak to you.  And
 	that's the good news... You'll also
 	be meeting Senators and Congressman,
 	each with a specially prepared
 	question.  Their question is
 	designed for one thing: to make
 	them look smart.  If you lecture
 	them, they won't think you respect
 	them.  If you respond with utter
 	humility, they will.  Remember,
 	this is about your respect for
 	them, and the President's respect
 	for them.  Speaking of which, as
 	soon as he gets back from Russia
 	and China, we'll get you in there
 	for some face-time, let the two of
 	you catch up.
 		(beat)
 	It'd probably be a good idea for
 	you to meet your predecessor.  I'll
 	have Jeff Sheridan take you over.
 	Also, four weeks from today you
 	will give your first official press
 	conference.  In it you will outline
 	the President's strategy for
 	winning the war on drugs.
 		(beat)
 	Okay, anything else?

 			ROBERT
 	I'll be sure to let you know.

INT. EXECUTIVE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY

Robert makes his way through a warren of hallways in the
endless corridors of the Old Executive Building alongside
JEFF SHERIDAN, 35, an enthusiastic government employee who
has found his place.

 			SHERIDAN
 	I just want to be clear about one
 	thing.  I used to work for him, but
 	now I work for you.  I'm not a
 	partisan person, I'm an issue
 	person.
 			(MORE)

 								17.


 			SHERIDAN (CONT'D)
 	In the next few weeks, if you allow
 	me, we'll get you well-versed on an
 	incredible array of issues.  The
 	most important of which, in my
 	opinion, being Mexico.  I know
 	everybody that you're gonna meet.
 	It's important that they like you.
 	It's not important that they like
 	me.  That's why I can help protect
 	you.

 			ROBERT
 	Like you protected Landry?

 			SHERIDAN
 	I see where you're going wit that,
 	but if I could just say something,
 	which is basically that a guy like
 	Landry is so autocratic he doesn't
 	know how to let himself be helped;
 	it's a point of pride to take every
 	bullet, no matter who fired it, or
 	whether it was even aimed at him,
 	which personally I think it very
 	self-defeating.  Now, don't get me
 	wrong, he's a man of enormous
 	integrity, but there's a political
 	component to this job that the
 	General just didn't have any
 	patience for.

INT. OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY - DAY

Robert and Sheridan enter the office of outgoing Drug Czar,
GENERAL RALPH LANDRY, 60's, buzz-cut, professional soldier
with a sense of humor.

Landry is putting some personal items in a box.

 			GENERAL LANDRY
 	Jeff, you want to excuse us for a
 	minute?

Sheridan nods and leaves.

 			GENERAL LANDRY (CONT'D)
 		(bemused, off
 		Sheridan's exit)
 	Functionaries.  Nice people, the
 	Schedule C's.  About twelve graduate
 	degrees apiece, but it seems
 	sometimes all they do is start
 	rumors.

 								18.


Robert and Landry shake hands.

 			ROBERT
 	You've done a fine job here, Sir.
 	The Office of National Drug Control
 	Policy is in better shape than when
 	you found it.

Landry tries to determine whether Robert believes this.  He
looks around the office as if the policy is hiding somewhere.

 			GENERAL LANDRY
 	I'm not sure I made the slightest
 	difference.
 		(wistful)
 	I tried...  I really did.

 			ROBERT
 	There are a lot of encouraging
 	statistics.  The work's just
 	started, but I intend to see it
 	through.  You've got my word on that.

 			GENERAL LANDRY
 	You're here for two years, three
 	maximum.  What'd they promise you?
 	Court appointment?  What?  District?
 	Appeals?
 		(checks Robert's reaction)
 	Not Supreme... Supreme?

 			ROBERT
 	I've come in to do a tough job and
 	that's what I'm going to focus on.

General Landry SIGHS.

 			GENERAL LANDRY
 	When Kruschev was forced out, he
 	sat down and wrote two letters and
 	handed them to his successor.  He
 	said "When you get into a situation
 	you can't get out of, open the
 	first letter and you'll be saved.
 	And when you get into another
 	situation you can't get out of,
 	open the second."  Soon enough this
 	guy found himself in a tight place.
 	So he opened the first letter.  It
 	said, "Blame everything on me."  So
 	he blamed the old guy and it worked
 	like a charm.
 			(MORE)

 								19.


 			GENERAL LANDRY (CONT'D)
 		(beat)
 	He got into another situation he
 	couldn't get out of, so he opened
 	the second letter, which read, "Sit
 	down and write two letters."

They stare at each other a beat.  Then Landry smiles.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. MANOLO'S STREET, MEXICO - DAY

A cinderblock house.  Kids and dogs in the street.  A face
we recognize as Manolo's peers out of a curtain into the
street.

INT. MANOLO'S KITCHEN - DAY

The ceiling is stained, the floor sags.  A cheap radio plays.
Manolo is at the door.  Javi sits at a dinette table.

He talks to Manolo but watches Manolo's wife, ANNA, 20's, a
nice-looking, ostensibly demure young woman, as she moves
around the kitchen.

 			JAVIER
 	Relax.  If they were going to kill
 	us they would have done it in the
 	desert.

 			MANOLO
 	They wouldn't do it in front of all
 	these people.  They'd send someone
 	later, when we're alone.

Manolo tenses, and throws open the window.

 			MANOLO (V.O.) (CONT'D)
 		(yelling out the window)
 	Away from the car.  Now!

MANOLO'S POV out the window as KIDS play in the car, sitting
behind the wheel.

 			JAVIER
 	Even if that were true, they're not
 	going to come to your house where
 	you're waiting for them.

 			ANNA
 	He's right.  They'll do it when
 	you're walking somewhere, make it
 	look like street crime.

 								20.


 			MANOLO
 	Shut your fucking mouth.  Nobody's
 	talking to you.

Anna sets a cup of coffee in front of Javi and stares at him.

INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

Javi and Manolo cruise through the streets of Tijuana.

 			JAVIER
 	If you want her to stay out of it,
 	then stop telling her everything.
 	You should learn how to keep a
 	secret.

 			MANOLO
 	She's nosy.  She hears me on the
 	telephone.

 			JAVIER
 	Anyway, I don't think we'll ever
 	see them again.  Everything's back
 	to normal.

EXT. TIJUANA STREET - DAY

Tourist hell.  A cacophony of street venders, panhandlers,
and vehicular traffic.  Javier and Manolo are speaking with
a flustered young American TOURIST COUPLE.

 			TOURIST WOMAN
 	You're a police officer.  Aren't
 	you going to take a report or
 	something?  Don't you want to know
 	what kind of car it is?

 			TOURIST MAN
 	It's a Brown Ford Explorer --

 			TOURIST WOMAN
 	It was right here.  It's been
 	stolen.  I want to file a report.

 			MANOLO
 	Please.  Filing a report will not
 	help you find your car.

 			JAVIER
 	The police won't find your car.

 			TOURIST WOMAN
 	But you're the police.

 								21.


Javier pulls out a note pad and scribbles a number.

 			JAVIER
 	Call this man, he'll find your car
 	for you.

 			TOURIST MAN
 	I don't get it --

 			TOURIST WOMAN
 	How will this guy know who has our
 	car?

 			JAVIER
 	The police will tell him.

There's a beat of confusion.

 			TOURIST MAN
 	Why will they tell him but they
 	won't tell us?

 			TOURIST WOMAN
 		(getting it)
 	Because we pay him, stupid.
 		(to Javier)
 	Right?  And he pays the police.
 	And then our car appears.

 			JAVIER
 	Yes.  Better than filling out
 	forms, right?

The man reaches in his wallet and offers Javier a twenty.
Javi waves him off.

Javier and Manolo walk back to their squad car when two
SUV's come to a stop in front of them.

Javier and Manolo exchange a look.  The doors SLAM and
FOOTSTEPS approach.

 			OFFICER (O.S.)
 	Javier Rodriguez.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. LA JOLLA GOLF AND TENNIS CLUB - DAY

A ladies luncheon in the Nancy Reagan Dining Room overlooking
a putting green.  The bejewelled WIVES of successful men
yammer at one another around tables with rich flower
centerpieces.

 								22.


SUPERTITLE: LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA, JUST OUTSIDE SAN DIEGO

One wife, HELENA AYALA, 32, ex-model, with a sweetness and
intelligence that almost contradicts her beauty, stares out
the window at a small BOY, 5, using a putter as tall as he
is.  Helena is six months pregnant and radiant.

A waiter brings Helena's starter course.  Her friends, NAN
DOBBS, early 40's, post Junior League, a little tipsy,
STEWIE and ALEX, same League, watch her --

 			NAN
 	Duck salad?

 			HELENA
 	Mmm.

Nan can't believe it.

 			NAN
 	Helena, you never order duck salad.

 			HELENA
 	Well, that's true.  I don't.
 		(re: her belly)
 	I think someone else is asking for
 	it.

 			NAN
 	Well, he's got good taste.  Isn't
 	it the most wonderful thing you
 	ever tasted?  I mean ever.

 			HELENA
 	It's delicious --

 			STEWIE
 	They're the most marvelous little
 	creatures.  Canard.  They fly,
 	swim, walk.  And so cute with their
 	babies marching along behind.

 			NAN
 	Looking for a nice sauce ala orange.

Everyone laughs.  Helena is by far the youngest in her crowd.

 			ALEX
 	It's a very fatty bird.  All that
 	winter insulation.  Just like me.

 			NAN
 	You mean all breast, just like you.

 								23.


 			ALEX
 	You're bad --

 			NAN
 		(singsong)
 	Jealous, that's all --

 			HELENA
 	I've heard... I can't remember
 	where... That it's full of that
 	good kind of fat, the kind you're
 	supposed to eat --

 			STEWIE
 	Unsaturated fat --

 			TWO WOMEN IN UNISON
 	Polyunsaturated.

 			HELENA
 	And now there's a good cholesterol
 	and bad cholesterol.  Everything
 	they tell you completely changes
 	every other week.  I don't know why
 	they think we should listen at all.

 			NAN
 	What I know is ducks, as cute as
 	they are, were designed by God to
 	be eaten.

Nan reaches for a taste and the other women lean forward
also, a sea of inanity swirling around Helena's salad.

EXT. COUNTRY CLUB PARKING LOT - DAY

Helena buckles her little boy, DAVID, 5, into the front seat
of her Mercedes.  He won't let go of his putter.

 			HELENA
 	I'll put this in the back.

 			DAVID
 	No --

 			HELENA
 	All the professionals keep them in
 	the trunk.

 			DAVID
 	Not Tiger Woods.

 								24.


 			HELENA
 	Especially Tiger Woods.
 		(sharing a secret)
 	... Actually, he keeps his on the
 	back seat.

She pulls the putter away from the reluctant boy and sets it
on the back seat.

EXT. HOTEL - DAY

A modern high-rise on the waterfront playground of San Diego.

Helena passes the hotel in her car.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

A standard room looking out at the water which is dotted
with sailboats and cruise ships.  The bed is covered with
hi-tech surveillance equipment.

The equipment salesman, LONNIE, 40's, who makes a fetish of
gadgetry, explains the finer points of operation to FRANCISCO
"FRANKIE" FLORES, 30's, sallow, watery-eyed, in expensive
clothes.

 			LONNIE
 	Gates, Myrhvold, Bezos.  I sell to
 	all those guys.  Why?  Because the
 	technology to intrude has reached
 	the masses.  Your competitor, your
 	ex-spouse, adversaries, stalkers,
 	they're at the local electronics
 	store right now, and they're gonna
 	be intruding on you not only
 	through your telephone, but your
 	fax, cell phone, pager, cable TV,
 	Musak, windows, walls, air
 	conditioning ventilation, modem,
 	and internet connection.

He walks over to the bed and the sexy equipment --

 			LONNIE (CONT'D)
 	Nobody has these babies, no way,
 	not the shiznit.

Frederico picks up a piece of equipment.

 			FRANCISCO
 	I want to intercept cell phone
 	calls, digital and analog.  And
 	locate the source of the call.  I
 	need databasing capability, to
 	cross-reference calls and numbers.

 								25.


Lonnie lovingly picks up a laptop computer with a sleek
device attached to it --

 			LONNIE
 	Your Cellular Secretary, friend
 	across all the digital wireless
 	spread spectrum.
 		(beat)
 	So, Francisco, what do you do?  You
 	a PI?  Private security?

Francisco looks at Lonnie coldly.

 			FRANCISCO
 	Assassin.

 			LONNIE
 		(not missing a beat)
 	Assassin, okay.  Let's get you
 	started in surveillance.

EXT. GEORGETOWN BROWNSTONE - NIGHT

The house takes up most of one of the nicest blocks.  PEOPLE
enter and party VOICES drift out.

SUPERTITLE: GEORGETOWN, WASHINGTON, D.C.

INT. GEORGETOWN BROWNSTONE - NIGHT

A power cocktail party in full swing.  This is where most of
the business in Washington gets done.

Robert, scotch in hand, listens to a smug PHARMACEUTICAL
LOBBYIST explain the world.

 			PHARMACEUTICAL LOBBYIST
 	We in the legal drug business, and
 	I mean Merck, Pfizer, the rest of
 	my very powerful clients, realize
 	this isn't a war with a traditional
 	winner and loser, but an organism
 	at war with itself, whose weapons
 	of mass destruction happen to be
 	intoxicants.  And if you want a
 	body count look no further than
 	alcohol which racks up 80,000 kills
 	a year.  Cocaine manages a measly
 	2,000.  Same for Heroin.  But, the
 	big daddy is Big Tobacco which
 	kills 380,000 each year, which, by
 	the war, is more people than have
 	been killed by all the illegal
 	drugs in the last century.

 								26.


 			ROBERT
 		(faking it)
 	That's very interesting.

The lobbyist smiles.  Robert sips his drink.

ANOTHER ANGLE ON ROBERT

in another room.  Listening to STAN, overweight advocate for
the United States Council of Chambers of Commerce.

 			STAN
 	It's time, Robert, to choke some
 	honesty out of these rural
 	legislators; get'em to fess up that
 	it's pretty much Prisons or Casinos
 	in terms of their choices for
 	economic growth.

ANOTHER ANGLE ON ROBERT

listening to ETHAN, earnest advocate of harm reduction.

 			ETHAN
 	What's the difference between
 	Prozac and Ecstacy, you ask?  One's
 	a mattress and the other's a
 	trampoline.  Molecules don't have
 	morality.  Really, think about it:
 	some molecule changes the way a
 	serotonin re-uptake inhibitor
 	works, it's not suddenly a bad
 	molecule; it's just a molecule.  My
 	theory: America has a real fear of
 	short, intense experiences.

Robert turns away --

 			ROBERT
 		(under his breath)
 	Like you.

ANOTHER ROOM

Robert at the bar getting another scotch.  A secretive man,
TIM, 40's, nerdy, sidles up beside him and whispers furtively
in his ear.

 								27.


 			TIM
 		(whispering)
 	Chemicals?  Some say problems,
 	others say solution.  Imagine a
 	cloud that when it rains prohibits
 	the growth of poppies or takes the
 	THC out of marijuana.  Imagine a
 	pill that eliminates any
 	psychological craving, from Dilaudid
 	to Dove Bars.  Law enforcement
 	hasn't let science sit on the
 	sidelines.  Addiction is no more
 	relevant than polio or the Black
 	Plague.

Tim slips away into the crowd.  Robert moves away from the
bar.

ANOTHER ROOM

An argument is breaking out between an ECONOMIST and an
UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE with Robert as the audience.

 			ECONOMIST
 		(to the undersecretary)
 	You're not battling traffickers or
 	dealers, but a market, and the
 	market contains a paradox: if you
 	arrest traffickers, you raise
 	prices, and you also raise profits,
 	which brings more traffickers into
 	the business.

 			UNDERSECRETARY
 		(to the Economist)
 	Back in the real world, we're
 	talking about Mexico and not John
 	Maynard Keynes.  We will spend 18
 	billion dollars this year on this
 	"war," and the question on the
 	table every year is do we certify
 	Mexico as an ally or not?

Another man, RUSH PHILLIPS, a middle-aged powerbroker,
overhears, then joins and Robert is encircled.

 			RUSH PHILLIPS
 	You want to make a difference, hit
 	the users. You don't jeopardize our
 	financial markets by some
 	hypocritical stance on drug
 	consumption.  We're snorting it,
 	why penalize Mexico for supplying it?

 								28.


 			UNDERSECRETARY
 	Mexico, don't talk to me about
 	Mexico --

 			ECONOMIST
 	It's the stick of law enforcement
 	that creates the carrot of huge
 	profits... That's economic truth --

 			RUSH PHILLIPS
 	Addicts don't vote; they don't have
 	PACs; they don't spend soft money,
 	that's political truth --

 			UNDERSECRETARY
 	We're locking them up and
 	consumption is falling --

 			ECONOMIST
 	The price of coke and heroin has
 	dropped and purity has increased.
 	All this law enforcement has
 	achieved is kids can get better
 	stuff, cheaper.  In economic terms,
 	you can forget it; this is not a
 	winnable war.

 			RUSH PHILLIPS
 	Christ, you want to decertify
 	somebody, take Pakistan or Columbia.
 	We don't need them for anything.

 			ECONOMIST
 	If you manage to seize an
 	inconceivable 50 percent of all
 	drugs coming into this country,
 	you'll still raise the price of
 	coke and heroin less than 3 percent
 	which won't affect drug use at all.

 			RUSH PHILLIPS
 	Why are we calling this a war at
 	all?  You don't declare war on your
 	own people.  Addiction is a little
 	worm that gnaws a house apart from
 	the inside.

MICHAEL ADLER, about Robert's age, and as successful, but in
a different way, approaches, catching Robert's eye through
the arguing demagogues.

 								29.


 			UNDERSECRETARY
 	We need Mexico for these reasons:
 	number one -- Defense; two --
 	Trade; three -- Tourism; then, way
 	on down the line, comes Drugs.  The
 	President knows this.  Why's he
 	holding everybody's feet to the fire?

 			MICHAEL
 		(solemn)
 	Mr. Wakefield, there's a situation
 	that needs your attention right away.

Robert looks at Michael, squints, looks closer, then follows.

 			RUSH PHILLIPS
 		(oblivious)
 	One in sixteen Americans is of
 	Mexican descent.  Mexico our third
 	largest trading partner...

ANGLE ON ROBERT AND MICHAEL

on the back porch.

 			ROBERT
 	You're looking pretty good for an
 	old guy.

 			MICHAEL
 	My work keeps me young.

 			ROBERT
 	Which part, getting terrorists
 	loose on bail or freeing convicted
 	murderers on technicalities?

 			MICHAEL
 	The worst serial killer in history -
 	who?  Gacy - right?  Killed forty
 	two people.  Our government killed
 	fifty thousand in Vietnam and lied
 	about it every day.

 			ROBERT
 	Michael, you represent drug dealers,
 	not civil libertarians.

 			MICHAEL
 	We kidnapped Noriega out of Panama.
 	Is that covered in your Constitution?
 	Because it isn't in mine.

 								30.


 			ROBERT
 	Noriega is a criminal.

 			MICHAEL
 	Noriega was head of a sovereign
 	nation who made the mistake of
 	doing business with the U.S.
 	Government.  So, no, I don't have a
 	problem waking up every day and
 	fighting our government, fighting
 	people like you, trying to keep
 	this system a little bit honest.

 			ROBERT
 		(amused)
 	Last I read your clients were
 	chopping people up with chainsaws
 	and delivering illegal narcotics
 	into this country.

 			MICHAEL
 	I hope when you were on the bench,
 	Judge Wakefield, you didn't handle
 	the presumption of innocence in the
 	same fashion.

 			ROBERT
 	If I ever return to the bench,
 	Counselor Adler, I hope I have the
 	pleasure of hearing your arguments.

 						CUT TO:

INT. HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM, SAN DIEGO - DAY

Eduardo Ruiz lies in a hospital bed, handcuffed to the
railing.  His bandaged foot is held aloft by a sling and a
tube drains the wound.  He is tugging on the handcuffs as
Castro and Gordon enter the room.

 			GORDON
 	You planning on going somewhere,
 	Eduardo?  You don't like it here?
 	This is the best situation you're
 	going to have for a long, long time.

 			RUIZ
 	I am a legitimate business.  Fishing
 	boats.  Tuna.  Check it out.  Tax
 	records, everything --

 			GORDON
 	Listen you motherfucker, you tried
 	to kill me with a fucking cannon.

 								31.


 			RUIZ
 	You can't visit me here.  I want my
 	lawyer.

 			GORDON
 	The amount of coke we got on you
 	means capital punishment in some
 	states.

 			CASTRO
 	Move 'em to Texas, fry 'em up.

 			GORDON
 	We got you on tape making the deal.
 	We got you bragging about the
 	quality.  We got you bragging about
 	your business.  We got you.

A NURSE appears in the doorway.  Gordon goes to the door and
shuts it in her face.

 			GORDON (CONT'D)
 	One chance here, Eduardo.  Make us
 	believe you got a boss.  No boss,
 	it's all on you.

 			RUIZ
 	It's a death sentence.  I'll never
 	make it to the trial.

 			GORDON
 	We can protect you.

Ruiz looks at them in disbelief.

 			CASTRO
 	Who do you work for?

 			RUIZ
 	This is coercion.

 			GORDON
 	That's a big word for a fisherman.

 			CASTRO
 	Who do you work for?

Gordon and Ruiz stare at each other.

 			RUIZ
 	I know another word... Immunity.

 						CUT TO:

 								32.


EXT. AYALA HOME - LA JOLLA - DAY

A starter castle high in the hills near Mount Soledad, an
exclusive neighborhood with views of the ocean.  Joggers jog
to the SOUNDS of tennis and Jacuzzis gurgling, and lawn care
equipment operated by Mexicans.

Behind the Ayala gate we see David playing with his golf
club on the lush lawn.

Workers set-up the party under the direction of a
professional party planner.

A BMW 740il with tinted windows pulls into the driveway.

 			DAVID
 	Daddy!

The window lowers and we see CARL AYALA, 40's, handsome,
charismatic, second generation American, in expensive,
conservative clothes, covering his cell phone as he greets
his kids.

 			CARL
 	Hello.  Hello.

He goes back to his phone call, pulling around to the garage.
David goes back to his game.

INT. AYALA DINING ROOM - DAY

There are MAIDS in the house and a COOK in the kitchen.  The
large rooms are filled with fine art.

Helena Ayala sits at the dining room table with plans, bills
and receipts spread before her.  Carl enters and paces
around the room, continuing his cell phone conversation.

 			CARL
 		(into phone)
 	I'm sorry, Jonas.  I don't care if
 	that is the price you have gotten
 	in order countries.

Helena watches her husband pace as he talks.  He can't help
it, but a portion of this call is theatrical, for an
audience's benefit, which in this instance happens to be his
wife.  Helena's expression of annoyance resets itself into
love.

 								33.


 			CARL (CONT'D)
 	This is America, a different
 	country.  I am Carl, a different
 	man.  So you see, everything about
 	our situation is different and I
 	believe the pricing will be
 	different, too.
 		(beat, listens)
 	You're a reasonable man... So take
 	the weekend to think about it.

Carl clicks off the phone, turns to Helena.

 			CARL (CONT'D)
 	Every day with this guy is like
 	starting all over again.

Carl winds down and finally becomes present in the room with
his wife.  He looks at her.  She looks back.

 			CARL (CONT'D)
 	Hi.

 			HELENA
 	Hi.

 			CARL
 	What's up?

 			HELENA
 	Just watching you.

 			CARL
 	I got that.  How was your day?

She pushes the topiary away from her.  Suddenly, she seems
tired.  Carl comes over and puts his hand on her pregnant
belly.

 			CARL (CONT'D)
 	You all right?

 			HELENA
 	I keep feeling like I'm forgetting
 	something.

Her husband watches her, then wraps his arms around her.

EXT. AYALA HOME - DAY

Carl and Helena step out on the front porch of their home
and watch David play with his golf putter.

OUTSIDE THEIR GATE

 								34.


An unmarked police car rolls up and stops behind the wall.
Another arrives and another and another.  OFFICERS in DEA
jackets exit the cars.

There is MURMURING, then SILENCE.

Helena slowly turns to look at her husband.  He doesn't look
at her.

 			HELENA
 	David, come inside --

Suddenly, POLICE and DEA enter the front yard.  Gordon and
Castro enter the yard and move quickly up the drive to Carl.

 			CARL
 	What is this?  What is going on?

 			GORDON
 	Mr. Ayala?

 			CARL
 	That's right.

 			GORDON
 	You're under arrest for violation
 	of Federal Narcotics laws.

Gordon and Castro spin him, cuff him, and without emotion
begin pulling him from his yard.  David is trying to get to
his father.  In a kind of shock.  Helena trails after him.

Castro drags Carl into the street toward the open door of
the cruiser.  He pushes him down into the backseat.

 			GORDON (CONT'D)
 	We have a warrant to search your
 	home, Mrs. Ayala.

Gordon hits the side of the cruiser and it pulls away.  Carl
looks at his wife through the window.

Gordon and Castro head up the driveway toward her house.
Helena is left standing in the street.  NEIGHBORS, who have
appeared in front yards and at the ends of driveways, stare
at her with suspicion.  David approaches and holds onto her
leg.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

 								35.


INT. SALAZAR'S HEADQUARTERS - ANTEROOM - DAY

Javi and Manolo wait in Salazar's anteroom.  A ceiling fan
swirls the air.  After a moment the door opens and an AIDE
motions to them.  They stand.

 			AIDE
 		(to Manolo)
 	Not you.  You.

Javi goes into the room.

INT. SALAZAR'S OFFICE - DAY

The office is Spartan and military.  Salazar and Javi sit
facing each other.  Salazar looks at a piece of paper.

 			SALAZAR
 	Javier Rodriguez.  Twenty-nine
 	years-old.  Graduated from
 	Montessori school.  Five years as a
 	beat cop in TJ.  Three years with
 	the State Police.  Parents died
 	four years ago in their apartment
 	from carbon monoxide poisoning
 	because they could not afford to
 	fix their gas heater.  Your sister
 	works in a Maquiladora in Juarez,
 	making designer blue-jeans.  On the
 	police force three years, you
 	currently make 316 dollars a month.

Salazar crumples the piece of paper and tosses it in the
trash.

 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 	That's your past.  I want to talk
 	about your future.  Would you be
 	willing to do something for me?

 			JAVIER
 	If I can.

 			SALAZAR
 	I'm trying to bust the Tijuana
 	Cartel.

 			JAVIER
 	What is it you want me to do?

 			SALAZAR
 	A small thing.  Nothing really.

Javier thinks about this.

 								36.


 			JAVIER
 	Does this offer include my partner?

 			SALAZAR
 	Only if he can be trusted.

 			JAVIER
 	He'll do what I say.

Salazar slides a folder across the desk.  Javier opens it
and sees a black and white surveillance photo of the
informant.

 			SALAZAR
 	His name is Francisco Flores.  He
 	is a killer and gun smuggler for
 	the Tijuana cartel.  I need to
 	speak with him.  I need you to find
 	him and bring him to me so that I
 	can speak with him.

INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

Manolo faces Javier.

 			MANOLO
 	This is fucking crazy.  Instead of
 	killing us, he sends us on a
 	suicide mission.  Do you know who
 	Frankie Flowers is?  He's a psycho-
 	cokehead-hitman.  A faggot.  He's
 	killed fucking who knows how many
 	people.  You'd need half the force
 	to get close to him.  And you can't
 	get their help because he lives in
 	fucking San Diego.

 			JAVIER
 	Then I guess I'm going by myself.

 						CUT TO:

INT. AIRPLANE - DAY

Robert Wakefield sits in business class.  He twists the cap
off a mini-bottle of bourbon and pours it over a cup of ice.
He empties a second bottle into the cup, then swirls it
around on the ice.  He takes a sip.

INT. AIRPORT GATE - DAY

Robert exits with his briefcase and hanging bag, two SECURITY
MEN trailing him.  He sees Barbara and Caroline, his wife
and daughter, waiting by the their station wagon.  They wave.

 								37.


INT. CAR - DAY

On the way home from the airport.  Caroline drives carefully
with Barbara in the front seat and Robert in back.

 			ROBERT
 	What's it like?
 		(thinks)
 	Imagine you're being accosted by a
 	swarm of beggars in the heart of
 	Calcutta, except the beggars are
 	wearing $1500 suits and they don't
 	say "please" or "thank you."

 			CAROLINE
 	What about legalizing everything?
 	Has anybody talked about that?

 			ROBERT
 	Fine -- legalization.  Okay,
 	forgetting all of our international
 	trade agreements, legalize
 	everything today.  The Government
 	inserts itself into all drug
 	transactions.  The U.S. becomes a
 	giant pharmacy.  Our borders are
 	mobbed, lines of people from here
 	to Europe wanting to smoke, snort
 	and shoot themselves into oblivion.

 			BARBARA
 		(lightly)
 	Like a Grateful Dead Concert.

 			ROBERT
 	Drugs begin pouring out of America
 	into every other country in the
 	world.  Canada is completely
 	overwhelmed.

 			CAROLINE
 	What if every country legalized at
 	the same time?

 			ROBERT
 		(smiles)
 	Somehow, I don't see that happening.

INT. WAKEFIELD DINING ROOM - EVENING

From the hallway we see Robert and Barbara and Caroline
having dinner.  A family tableau.  We hear Barbara talking,
the murmur of the days events.

 								38.


In the room, Barbara continues her dinner table thoughts.
Robert has a good deal of reading material stacked on the
table.

 			BARBARA
 	So you know we put the case before
 	the arbitration panel, none of whom
 	had any expertise.  Superfund is
 	just one of those words.  People
 	stop paying attention.

 			ROBERT
 	That's frustrating.

 			BARBARA
 	It's so frustrating.

There is wine on the table and Caroline is allowed a glass.
Her parents watch her take a responsible sip.

 			CAROLINE
 		(to Robert)
 	Did you meet the President?

 			BARBARA
 	Honey, your father knows the
 	President.

 			ROBERT
 	As it happens, the President of the
 	United States, my new boss, the
 	leader of the free world, has me
 	penciled in for some "face time".

 			CAROLINE
 	Will we get invited to the White
 	House?

 			ROBERT
 	I don't know.

 			CAROLINE
 	How long's the job?

 			ROBERT
 	It's a presidential appointment
 	so... until I quit or get fired.

 			BARBARA
 	Czar for life, just like a real czar.

 			CAROLINE
 	That makes mom the Czarina.  I'm a
 	Czarette.  Like Anastasia.

 								39.


Caroline thinks about this.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	None of my friends can fucking
 	believe my dad is the actual Drug
 	Czar.

 			BARBARA
 	Caroline --

 			CAROLINE
 	Sorry, but I mean, come on.

Robert doesn't know if she's putting him down.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	It's great, daddy.  It's just
 	amazing, that's all.

They all look at each other.  Caroline sips her wine.

 						CUT TO:

INT. SAN DIEGO JAIL - DAY

In the intake area of a busy San Diego precinct, Helena sits
on a bench and regroups.  Detectives move past her.
Handcuffed criminals are separated, bagged and tagged.

A beautifully dressed man, ARNIE METZGER, 30's, super-
lawyer, knows everyone from the top of the system to the
bottom, slick but likable, smart and ruthless, too, separates
himself from a DETECTIVE he's gladhanding and approaches
Helena.

 			ARNIE
 	Helena, I'm so sorry --

 			HELENA
 	Arnie, thank God.

Metzger sits, giving her a hug.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	Can you please tell me what on
 	earth is going on?

Arnie looks at her as if to say, "do you really not know?"
Then, he speaks quietly with his hand in front of his mouth.

 			ARNIE
 	I understand.  You're upset.  You
 	want to know what's going on.
 	That's good.

 								40.


 			HELENA
 	Why are you talking like that?

 			ARNIE
 	Listen to me carefully.  First of
 	all, Carl isn't here.  DEA's got
 	him and they'll hang on to him
 	until arraignment, which will
 	probably be tomorrow.  So here
 	you're wasting your time.  Are you
 	with me?

He checks to see if this is registering.

 			ARNIE (CONT'D)
 	Good.  From now on I want you to
 	expect that every word you utter
 	will be tape-recorded, that the
 	movement of your lips is being read.
 	Got it?

 			HELENA
 	Arnie, this is crazy.

He makes eye contact with her.

 			ARNIE
 	Got it?
 		(she slowly nods)
 	Good.  Do not discuss anything over
 	the telephone.  Do not talk to the
 	neighbors.  Stay out of your yard.

 			HELENA
 	What is he being charged with?

 			ARNIE
 	I don't know, but under no
 	circumstances would I talk about it
 	here.  I want you to go home and
 	relax the best you can.  Continue
 	your life as if nothing has happened.
 	That is very important.

 			HELENA
 	Arnie, I feel like Alice stepping
 	through the looking glass.

 			ARNIE
 	That's a very apt analogy, Helena.
 	Now, go home and be with your
 	children.

 								41.


EXT. BUILDING PARKING LOT - DAY

Helena exits.  Her expression is set as she drives.  She
turns a corner in the shopping district, passing

JAVIER AND MANOLO

who are walking down the street.  Tourists, drunk Marines
and the homeless piss away another day.

We follow them into a bar with blackened windows and a
discrete sign.

INT. BAR - DAY

This is a place where men come to meet men.  And it's
already lively even at this early hour.  Javier and Manolo
find a seat and wait.

LATER

Javi is working on his second beer when he seems to recognize
somebody.

ACROSS THE ROOM

Francisco "Frankie" Flowers has entered the bar.  Javi
watches him circulate through the room then settle at the
bar.  Javier finishes his beer, rises, and takes the empty
seat next to Francisco.  Manolo watches.

Very quickly Javi strikes up a conversation.  We don't hear
what they're saying but it doesn't matter because Francisco
clearly likes Javi.

Off Francisco's anticipatory smile --

OMITTED

OMITTED

EXT. MILITARY BASE - MEXICO - DAY

The back of a blue van opens and a blindfolded Francisco
falls onto the ground.

Surrounding him are Javi and Salazar, who watch as two of
Salazar's MEN drag Francisco away toward an abandoned
mission-style building.

 			SALAZAR
 		(clearly pleased with Javi)
 	I'm curious how you did this with
 	such economy.

 								42.


 			JAVIER
 	Everybody has a weakness.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. SOMEBODY'S PARENTS' MANSION, CINCINNATI - NIGHT

With its old-growth trees and manipulated shrubbery, the
large house is shrouded in the mystery of well-heeled
suburbia.  It is very late.

INT. SOMEBODY'S PARENTS' MANSION - NIGHT

Somebody's parents are out of town and the house feels empty.
Big empty rooms with expensive furniture nobody sits on.
Faint MUSIC echoes through the house.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

High ceilings of a 1930's kitchen.  Vodka bottles and
cranberry juice and limes are spilled across a counter.  ON
THE RHODES AGAIN by Morcheeba plays from a jam-box on a
counter.

Maybe ten TEENAGERS are partying hard in this kitchen.  It's
weird and disassociated, people wandering in and out,
playing with kitchen utensils, heavily fucked up.

There are drugs on a mirror on the eat-in table.  Caroline
and Seth and two friends sit around this table.  VANESSA,
16, almost pretty, is hitting a freebase pipe and holds the
hit.  FUCKED-UP BOWMAN, 17, super-preppy with a wan, Baby
Huey face, takes a slug of vodka.

They are jittery, sweaty, tweaked, fucked-up --

 			CAROLINE
 	All I'm saying, what I'm saying, is
 	it never seems like anybody ever
 	says anything that matters to them,
 	like we all look at each other and
 	nod with responses we've been
 	trained to make, not real responses,
 	just social conventions, phony,
 	fake smiles, surface bullshit... I
 	mean, we're all smart and do we
 	have any idea what each other are
 	like, really like?  Do I know what
 	Seth's afraid of, or Vanessa, or
 	fucked-up Bowman?

Everyone looks at Fucked-up Bowman who grinds his jaw
appreciatively --

 								43.


 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	... Probably, but do I ever say
 	this stuff, just say, "hey, I'm
 	uncomfortable in this crowd, I
 	don't know what the fuck I'm doing,
 	either?  I know you're afraid and
 	it's okay --"

Seth's words come quickly, they're riffing, totally in sync,
totally wired --

 			SETH
 	We act like we have all the answers
 	and we're totally invincible like
 	our parents seem and their parents
 	before them and it's fucking
 	bullshit --

Fucked-up Bowman takes another slug of vodka and almost pukes.

 			FUCKED-UP BOWMAN
 	For instance --

 			SETH
 	For instance I know you jack-off
 	thinking about Caroline even though
 	you're supposedly "in love" with
 	Vanessa.  Whatever the fuck that
 	means?
 		(a digression)
 	I mean, what is that convention,
 	anyway?  We're all these random
 	collections of self-interest, and
 	then we just decide that now we're
 	two people walking along --

Caroline expels a hit of rock cocaine --

 			CAROLINE
 	And Vanessa doesn't think she's
 	pretty so she does all these weird
 	fucking diets which is totally
 	about self-esteem.  And she's
 	beautiful.
 		(beat)
 	And that's not even fair.  Because
 	listen to me.  I'm fucking lying
 	right now.  This is exactly what
 	I'm talking about... I'm supposedly
 	talking about you, making some big
 	point about you, and it's really
 	about me.
 			(MORE)

 								44.


 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	So I should talk about me, not you,
 	not even the universal "you..."
 		(takes a beat)
 	Okay.  Okay, I'm worried I'm not
 	really smart or that I'm not nearly
 	as smart as people think I am, or
 	that my parents' expectations have
 	been way too high since I was five,
 	I mean who knows they're going to
 	Harvard when they're five, not that
 	I'm blaming them for anything
 	because everything's great, and I
 	may not even get in, but we all
 	feel this shit and we never
 	acknowledge it and if we can't
 	acknowledge it to the people we
 	care the most about then who will
 	we ever say it too and what kind of
 	life will that be?

They all look at each other with love.  This is an adventure
and they're having a connection --

 			FUCKED-UP BOWMAN
 	I jack-off thinking about Seth.
 	Everybody I know does.

Bowman does another huge hit of freebase.

 			CAROLINE
 		(disgusted)
 	Ach, that's what I'm talking about.
 	Sarcasm.  Always fucking sarcasm.
 	You're afraid and you think if you
 	admit it people will think you're
 	weak or won't like you --

 			SETH
 	We live our lives by these unspoken
 	rules that are handed to us.

They all look at each other, vibrating with the moment --

 			VANESSA
 	Let's be different --

 			FUCKED-UP BOWMAN
 	I can't feel my hands.

Bowman looks around, squinting, confused.  He's chalk white.

 			FUCKED-UP BOWMAN (CONT'D)
 	I'm serious --

 								45.


Suddenly, he clutches his chest and begins to twitch.  Puke
and foam come from his mouth.  He seizes and falls from the
chair.  Vanessa SCREAMS.

Seth and Caroline push the table aside to get a better look.
Other people in the kitchen slowly take notice.

 			VANESSA
 	He's blue.  He isn't breathing --

 			CAROLINE
 	Is he breathing?

Bowman's eyes have rolled back in his head.

 			SETH
 	What do we do?  Okay.  Fucked-up
 	Bowman's turning blue.  Doctor.  We
 	need a doctor.

 			VANESSA
 	Your dad's a doctor.  Call him --

 			SETH
 	He's a research doctor.  You're
 	dad's a doctor, too --

 			VANESSA
 	What kind of research?

 			SETH
 	Mapping the fucking pig genome.
 	We'll call your dad, he's a
 	neurosurgeon --

 			VANESSA
 	It's three a.m.  I'm not supposed
 	to be here.  I snuck out --

 			CAROLINE
 	Are you kidding...  I'm staying
 	with you --

 			SETH
 	He's gonna fucking die right here
 	on the kitchen floor --

 			ANOTHER KID
 	He can't.  My parents are in
 	Barbados --

OMITTED

 								46.


EXT. SUBURBAN HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ENTRANCE - NIGHT

The Taurus wagon races up to the emergency room of Suburban
Hospital.  The back door opens and Bowman tumbles out onto
the wheelchair ramp under the fluorescent lights.

The car screeches around the circle --

ACROSS THE PARKING LOT

TWO OFFICERS in a police car see the body tumble out of the
car.

The cop car wheels around and cuts off the egress of the
Taurus wagon --

INT. FORD TAURUS WAGON - NIGHT

Seth is behind the wheel.  Caroline and Vanessa are in the
back.  They stare out at the cops getting out of the cruiser.

 			SETH
 	Nobody has anything on them, right?

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

INT. TORTURE ROOM - BARRACKS - DAY

Francisco is strapped naked into a chair.  Duct tape covers
his mouth.  His face is bruised and swollen.  A cruel
TORTURER talks to him calmly while dumping chili powder into
a container of soda water.

 			TORTURER
 	We know Tijuana Cartel gunmen
 	killed our chief of intelligence,
 	Francisco.  We know you killed
 	police commanders in Tijuana and
 	Mexico City.  Why do you resist?

He approaches Francisco and begins shaking up the soda water.
He rips the tape off his mouth.

 			FRANCISCO
 	My father is rich.  He'll pay you.

 			TORTURER
 	Not the correct answer, my friend.

The torturer puts another strip of duct tape across
Francisco's mouth.

 								47.


 			TORTURER (CONT'D)
 	We know that you went after the
 	neighbor of General Salazar, a
 	simple alfalfa farmer.  His grand-
 	daughter was shot.  This is stupid
 	behavior, Francisco.

Francisco starts to squirm and whimper.  The torturer closes
one of Francisco's nostrils and sprays the pepper-laced
water into the other nostril.

It's like a bomb went off in Francisco's brain.  He SCREAMS
and passes out.  Blood and mucous oozes out of his nose.

INT. BARRACKS - MEXICAN MILITARY BASE - DAY

Javier stands guard outside a door, listening  to the
strangulated SCREAMS of Francisco.  He's sickened.

ACROSS THE COURTYARD

Manolo ignores Francisco's CRIES, while shooting the shit
with several of Salazar's MEN, who laugh appreciatively at
something he's said.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. AYALA HOME, SAN DIEGO - NIGHT

Valet parkers in uniform work the driveway.  The party is
ablaze and there are lights in the trees.  A Lester Lanin-
like band plays a STANDARD that drifts across the grounds.

EXT. AYALA HOME - NIGHT

A conservative monied crowd mingles.  Helena is talking with
a GROUP of rich people who include her friends, Nan, Stewie
and Alex, from the country-club, and their HUSBANDS.

 			STEWIE
 	This is fabulous, Helena.  What a
 	turnout.

 			HELENA
 	Thank you so much, but I had a lot
 	of help.

Helena circles away.  As Helena leaves, the women speak
their minds --

 			NAN
 	It's a turnout because it's a
 	spectacle.  Can you imagine?

 								48.


 			ALEX
 	I've met her husband, as nice as
 	they come.

 			STEWIE
 	It teaches me a valuable lesson...
 		(re: the nice house)
 	Apparently crime pays.

 			NAN
 	Silly, you knew that already.

ON THE STAGE

The band stops playing and steps aside as a man in a tuxedo
takes the microphone.  Behind the band is a huge "A.L.A. -
Adult Literacy Advocates" Banner.

 			TUXEDO
 	Hello. Thank you.  Thank you all. I
 	have the results of the silent
 	auction...

 						CUT TO:

INT. JUVENILE DETENTION, CINCINNATI - HOLDING CELL - MORNING

Caroline Wakefield lies on a bench in a grey-walled holding
cell.  She wears paper slippers and her belt has been
removed.  Even youth can't disguise her hangover.

INT. SOCIAL WORKER OFFICE - MORNING

Caroline is perched on the edge of her chair.  Across the
desk from her is a tired SOCIAL WORKER, 40's, who has been
assigned Caroline's case and is giving her the "exit"
interview.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	... How old are you?

 			CAROLINE
 	Sixteen

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	Live with your parents?

 			CAROLINE
 	Yes.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	Parents still together?

 								49.


 			CAROLINE
 	Yes.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	Do you work?

 			CAROLINE
 	I volunteer.  I read to blind
 	people.  One day a week for two
 	hours.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	In school?

 			CAROLINE
 	Cincinnati Country Day.

The Social worker looks up from her questionnaire and sees
Caroline for the first time.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	Private?

 			CAROLINE
 	Yeah.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	How are your grades?

 			CAROLINE
 	I'm third in my class.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	What's that mean?

 			CAROLINE
 	I get A's.  All A's.

 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	You do?  What else you do?

 			CAROLINE
 		(her college resume)
 	I'm a National Merit Finalist.  I'm
 	on the Hi-Q team and the Math team.
 	I'm in the Spanish Club.  I'm a
 	Thespian.  I'm Vice-President of my
 	class.  I'm on the volleyball team.

The social worker pushes the forms she's filling out away
and looks again at Caroline --

 								50.


 			SOCIAL WORKER
 	You wanna tell me what you're doing
 	here, Caroline?

INT. JUVENILE DETENTION - MORNING

A cold institutional lobby with hard plastic chairs and bad
lighting.  Government workers move behind thick glass
windows with tiny mesh screens cut into them for talking.

Barbara Wakefield sits on one of the uncomfortable chairs.
She's alone and has been crying.  There's the sound of
heavily locked doors OPENING and Caroline appears.

Barbara stands and wraps Caroline in her arms.

 			BARBARA
 	Oh, honey.  Are you all right?

Caroline begins to cry into her mother's chest.

EXT. JUVI JAIL - MORNING

It's an early morning as Barbara Wakefield escorts her
daughter from the bland government building.

 			CAROLINE
 	Did you tell Dad?

 			BARBARA
 	Not yet.

 			CAROLINE
 	Are you going to?

 			BARBARA
 	I don't know.

 			CAROLINE
 	Is this bad for him?

 			BARBARA
 	What do you think?

The streets are deserted.  Their Saab wagon sits forlornly
under grey skies in an uncovered public parking lot.

 						CUT TO:

INT. DAVID'S ROOM - NIGHT

Helena slips into David's room and quietly watches him sleep.

 								51.


INT. STUDY - LATER

Still wearing her evening gown, Helena collapses into a
chair, exhausted.  A TAP at the door startles her.

It's Arnie Metzger, who goes to the bar and pours himself a
strong one.  They sit opposite each other and neither speaks
for a while.

 			HELENA
 		(quietly)
 	I am on the board of my son's
 	school.  I had a fundraiser for
 	A.L.V. in my front yard.  I have a
 	right to know if my husband is a
 	legitimate businessman.

 			ARNIE
 	Of course he is.  I've known him
 	for twenty years and he doesn't
 	jaywalk...

Helena is relieved, but she's not looking at Arnie and when
she does she sees him shaking his head in a very definitive,
"No."

Arnie stands and continues talking as he walks to the
windows and shuts the blinds one by one.

 			ARNIE (CONT'D)
 	... Carl is a very important member
 	of this community and when we're
 	through suing the police and the
 	district attorney and the DEA,
 	they'll have to rename the public
 	parks for your husband.

The blinds are closed.  Arnie crosses to Helena and talks
very softly in her ear.  She's a beautiful woman and Arnie
manages to make this act seem both practical and
inappropriate.

 			ARNIE (CONT'D)
 		(whispering)
 	Your husband is very good at his
 	job...

Helena leans back and looks at Arnie.  He whispers more --

 			ARNIE (CONT'D)
 	Which is smuggling illegal drugs
 	into this country.

 								52.


EXT. AYALA HOME - NIGHT

Workers break down the party under the watchful eye of the
party planner.  The neighborhood is quiet.  There is a
telephone repair van parked up the street.

INT. VAN - NIGHT

Castro and Gordon have visual and audio equipment trained on
the Ayala home.  They both wear headsets.

GORDON'S POV: the blinds covering Helena's study glowing
peacefully.

 			CASTRO
 	They're whispering.  I can't hear
 	them, but I know it.  I smell
 	conspiracy.  I feel the lie
 	vibrating out of the home.

 			GORDON
 	She ain't in on it.

 			CASTRO
 	I have dreams about this, actual
 	dreams about busting the top
 	people, the rich people, the white
 	people.

 			GORDON
 	I'm telling you, she doesn't know
 	shit.

 			CASTRO
 	She knows Arnie Metzger.

 			GORDON
 	So does half of San Diego.

 			CASTRO
 	You want to make a wager on this?

INT. STUDY - NIGHT

The music is still playing.  Helena looks numb.  She motions
Arnie to her.  He leans in.

 			HELENA
 	If all our assets are frozen and
 	our "sales force" has scattered...
 	How am I supposed to survive?  I'm
 	giving birth in three months.  How
 	do I get through this?

 								53.


 			ARNIE
 	You're gonna get through it, but
 	the first thing we do is get
 	Michael Adler to represent Carl.
 	We get Adler and we beat this thing.

 			HELENA
 	How much do I pay him?

 			ARNIE
 	I suspect he'll accept his payment
 	in publicity.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. WAKEFIELD HOUSE - NIGHT

A large, well-maintained Colonial on Mockingbird Valley
Road, an upper-middle class neighborhood in the wealthy East
End of Cincinnati.  Leaves fall on the Saab wagon in the
driveway.

INT. ROBERT'S STUDY - NIGHT

Robert is looking at Caroline and he's not happy.  Barbara
is there, at a neutral distance from both of them.

 			ROBERT
 	Caroline?  How well did you know
 	this boy who overdosed?

She looks up beseechingly.

 			CAROLINE
 	He didn't hang around us.  He's
 	like one of those hippie kids.  I'm
 	not part of that group.  It was a
 	party in all these rooms.  His
 	girlfriend who I barely know was
 	completely hysterical... He's blue,
 	he's puking... We didn't want to
 	get in trouble, but what were we
 	supposed to do?
 		(beat)
 	I mean, what would you have done if
 	you had been us?

 			BARBARA
 	How well do you know this boy,
 	Seth, who was driving?  You know
 	the police have charged him with a
 	DUI and possession of marijuana.

 								54.


 			CAROLINE
 	He's a friend.  He's also like the
 	only one who was dealing with the
 	situation.  He'd definitely had a
 	few beers, but it's not like he
 	wanted to drive.  We didn't know
 	what else to do.
 		(beat)
 	It wasn't my pot.

She searches her parents' faces.  It has been a convincing
performance and she expects victory.

 			ROBERT
 	Okay, honey.  We understand.
 	You're mother and I have to talk.

Caroline is confused by this reaction.

 			BARBARA
 	Honey, we'd like to talk alone.

Caroline stands abruptly --

 			CAROLINE
 	Like always.

Caroline leaves the study and shuts the door harder than
necessary.

Robert and Barbara look at each other, raising their eyebrows
and breathing deeply --

 			ROBERT
 	I think she's lying.

 			BARBARA
 	Me, too.

 			ROBERT
 		(reaching a decision)
 	We'll ground her, clip her wings a
 	bit.  School and scheduled
 	activities and that's it until
 	further notice.  This has to be
 	handled delicately.  Dan Kelly, in
 	the District Attorney's office,
 	will probably help us out, quietly.
 	Christ, this could be embarrassing.

 			BARBARA
 	Honey, this is difficult, but we've
 	all had our moments.  I tried --

 								55.


 			ROBERT
 	Stop.  You experimented in college.
 	I don't want to hear about that.

 			BARBARA
 	Should we take the quotes off
 	experiment and call it what it is?

 			ROBERT
 	This is different.

 			BARBARA
 	Why?

 			ROBERT
 	To begin with, she's only sixteen
 	years-old.

 			BARBARA
 	I think she has to find out for
 	herself, on her own.  We have to
 	allow her space --

 			ROBERT
 	Space for what?  To O.D. like that
 	other kid?  I will not send the
 	message that this type of behavior
 	is okay with her parents.  Because
 	it isn't.  Correct?

 			BARBARA
 	We don't want to push her away.
 	These are growing experiences.

Robert looks at his wife, then it dawns on him.

 			ROBERT
 	How long have you known about this?

No response.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 		(yelling)
 	How long have you known?

 			BARBARA
 	Six months.  I found some marijuana,
 	that's all.  And a little pipe
 	about two inches long.  I talked
 	with her.  She said her friends
 	smoked pot and drank --

 								56.


 			ROBERT
 	Explain to me how you could think
 	that I shouldn't know about this.
 	Explain to me how this wouldn't be
 	relevant to me.  As a parent.

 			BARBARA
 	She asked me not to.

He leaves the room.

INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT

Robert is in the hallway, at Caroline's door.  He opens it
and we get BLASTED WITH MUSIC.

Caroline is sitting in a rocking chair with headphones on.
She faces the window and moves back and forth, back and forth.

Robert calls her name, but the SOUNDTRACK is drowning him out.

He calls again, this time apparently loud enough for her to
hear.  She takes the headphones off - the MUSIC stops - and
turns to look at him.  Or rather, she looks right through
him, as though he didn't exist.  Robert is so taken aback by
the coldness of her gaze that he doesn't speak.

She turns away from him and puts the headphones back on.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. MILITARY BASE - MEXICO - DAY

Javier and Salazar walk across the base.  Salazar is feeling
ebullient and it shows.

 			SALAZAR
 	You watch and learn.  I earn his
 	trust.  Then more pain.  Then I
 	appear with kindness.  Within a
 	week he will follow me around like
 	a dog.

 			JAVIER
 	But will he be house-trained?

 			SALAZAR
 	When he loves me like a father, he
 	will never tell anyone he was here.
 	He will freely give the names of
 	his superiors.  Then we get them
 	and they too will give us names.
 			(MORE)

 								57.


 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 	And eventually somebody will get us
 	to Juan Obregon and the cartel will
 	fall.

They enter the barracks.

INT. CELL - MEXICAN MILITARY BASE - DAY

It's pitch black in the cell.  There's a human in here, but
we can't see him.

Suddenly the door is thrown open and light floods in,
illuminating a very broken Francisco Flores.

The figure of Commander Salazar fills the doorway.

 			SALAZAR
 	This is shameful.  A disgrace.
 	Francisco Flores --

Francisco cowers in the corners --

 			SALAZAR
 	It's all right, son.  It's all
 	right.  Salazar is here.  You're
 	among gentlemen, now.  This shameful
 	treatment will stop immediately.
 		(calling out)
 	Guard!

A GUARD appears in the doorway.  Francisco is spooked.

 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 	I want to know who is responsible
 	for this treatment.

 			GUARD
 	Yes, sir!

 			SALAZAR
 	We aren't barbarians.

 			GUARD
 	Yes, sir!

 			SALAZAR
 	Bring this man a change of good
 	clothes.  Has he eaten?

 			GUARD
 	I don't know, sir.

 								58.


 			SALAZAR
 		(to Francisco)
 	You will dine with me from now on.

Francisco moves closer to Salazar already feeling safe in
his presence.

 						CUT TO:

INT. COURTHOUSE, SAN DIEGO - DAY

A packed courthouse.  Carl is at the defense table.  He
doesn't look at Helena who sits in the gallery next to Arnie
Metzger.

The PROSECUTOR is finishing his argument --

 			PROSECUTOR
 	This is a man who heads a large
 	criminal organization with
 	international contacts we can only
 	begin to understand.  Our case
 	against him is very strong.  He is
 	not a flight risk.  His flight is
 	assured.  The people ask that your
 	honor denies bail.

The prosecutor sits.  Carl's defense lawyer, MICHAEL ADLER,
from the Georgetown party, stands and speaks.

 			ADLER
 	My client is no more a flight risk
 	than your Honor or the able
 	prosecutor.  He is a pillar of his
 	community, a family man with a wife
 	and child in La Jolla, the community
 	where he has made his home for over
 	twenty years.  As our defense will
 	quickly show, my client is guilty
 	of nothing more than being a handy
 	target for an admitted criminal.
 	Therefore we ask that you release
 	Carl Ayala on his own recognizance.

Adler sits.  The JUDGE makes a quick decision.

 			JUDGE
 	I'm gonna deny bail.

The judge SLAMS his gavel.  The crowd is on its feet.  Carl
tries to get a glimpse of Helena.  They make eye contact.
Reporters from the press gallery are yelling for Helena.
Arnie ushers her away.

 								59.


EXT. COURTHOUSE - DAY

Adler, Arnie, and Helena push through a crowd toward her car.
There are several reporters there who ask questions --

 			REPORTER
 	Mrs. Ayala, were you aware your
 	husband is the largest cocaine
 	smuggler in America?

 			ADLER
 	Alleged, people, alleged.

Helena gets into her car and slams the door.  Adler faces
the reporters.

 			REPORTER #2
 	Mrs. Ayala is it true your husband
 	has ordered a hit on Eduardo Ruiz?

Adler is in a role he relishes.  Helena drives away.  We
move up to Gordon, who is watching from the hotel window
across the street.  He speaks into a walkie-talkie, and a
car down below pulls out to follow Helena.

 			ADLER
 	Carl Ayala sits on the board of the
 	Children's Hospital.  He is heavily
 	involved with Adult Literacy.  He
 	has a small boy and another child
 	on the way.  If you spread this
 	kind of innuendo, you can expect
 	legal recourse.  Are we clear on
 	this point?

 						CUT TO:

INT. GOVERNMENT BUILDING - EARLY MORNING

The marble government corridors are empty.  No one is in yet.
One office has lights on.

INT. A.D.A. KELLY'S OFFICE - EARLY MORNING

Robert Wakefield talks with an Assistant District Attorney,
DAN KELLY, 40's.

 			ROBERT
 	I appreciate you coming in so early.

 								60.


 			A.D.A. KELLY
 	Judge Wakefield, it's an honor to
 	handle it for you.  Consider it
 	gone away.  She's a minor; it
 	probably would've expunged on her
 	18th birthday anyway.

 			ROBERT
 	Still, this was a sensitive issue
 	for me and I wanted to thank you
 	personally.

 			A.D.A. KELLY
 	Like I said, open container, P.I.,
 	Misdemeanor possession.  Easy to
 	make it disappear.  For you, poof,
 	it's gone.

A.D.A. Kelly thinks a moment, then tries for tact.

 			A.D.A. KELLY (CONT'D)
 	One thing bothers me...  That kid
 	they dropped off had coke and
 	heroin in him.  Serious amounts.
 	He's lucky he lived.  So I gotta
 	ask: what's your daughter on?

 			ROBERT
 	I don't know what you mean.

 			A.D.A. KELLY
 	I mean, did you ask her?  What kind
 	of drugs has she tried?

Robert is silent for a beat.

 			ROBERT
 	I... I don't really know.

 			A.D.A. KELLY
 	Is she in any kind of therapy...
 	professional help?

 			ROBERT
 	No, of course not.  She's one of
 	the top students at her school.

 			A.D.A. KELLY
 	Well, I hope it stays that way.

INT. ROBERT'S CAR - EARLY MORNING

Robert in his car, thinking.  The streets are empty.  He
picks up the cell phone.

 								61.


 			ROBERT
 		(into phone)
 	It's Robert.  Wipe your schedule
 	clean for the next three days.  I'm
 	tired of talking to experts who
 	never set foot outside the beltway.
 	It's time to see the front lines.

INT. CAROLINE WAKEFIELD'S BATHROOM - MORNING

Caroline sits on the toilet in her private bathroom.  She's
not going to the bathroom, it's a seat and she's wearing her
pajamas.  She's reading a magazine.  The exhaust fan is on.

There are pictures of her and her friends on the walls:
goofy pictures from camp, from school, a collage she's made
with cutouts from magazine pictures and copy.

On the sink next to her is a little square of well-charred
aluminum foil; she's done many hits.  She leans over and
picks up a small piece of crack cocaine from a small pile in
her soap dish.  She drops it on a clean place on the foil.
She picks up a lighter and the tube of a ball point pen
she's turned into a straw.

She heats the bottom of the foil.  The crack "crackles."
She chases the smoke across the foil.  A huge hit.  She
leans her head back, her eyes roll back, she tries to focus
on the magazine, on anything, she stares up at the ceiling.
She holds it as long as she can then blows it toward the
exhaust fan.

Caroline looks at her watch.  It's 7:20.  She stands
suddenly, unsteadily.  She looks at herself in the mirror.
She's really high and indecisive.  She looks around wildly.
She sees the shower.  She turns it on.  She drops her pajamas.

She goes back to the foil and hits another piece of the
rock, taking another really big hit.  She crushes the foil
and flushes it down the toilet.  She hops in the shower.

IN THE SHOWER

The water streams over her face.  After a long beat she
finally exhales the smoke of the hit through the water and
steam.  She's in ecstacy.

It's almost time to leave for school.

 						CUT TO:

 								62.


EXT. LA JOLLA PLAYGROUND - DAY

Helena reads a book, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, and
keeps an eye on David, who is playing on the monkey bars.

ACROSS THE ROAD at a careful distance is the ubiquitous
telephone repair van.  On the roof a parabolic mike swivels
around.

INT. TELEPHONE REPAIR VAN - DAY

Castro and Gordon watch Helena via a small surveillance
monitor.

 			GORDON
 	You should see little Montel play.
 	Little Montel is the next Maradona.

 			CASTRO
 	Maradona is a cokehead.  Hand of
 	God, my ass.  We're wasting our
 	time here.

 			GORDON
 	He won.  He was a winner.  That
 	bothers you.

 			CASTRO
 	Winners don't do coke.  Or haven't
 	you been reading the bumper stickers?

Gordon looks at the monitor --

 			GORDON
 	What do we have here?

ON THE MONITOR:

David kicking a soccer ball with an older strange man,
TIGRILLO, Latino, 40's, fit and tough looking.

The man is very good.  He juggles the ball and bounces it
off his head and David follows him away from the center of
the playground.

EXT. PLAYGROUND - CONTINUOUS

Helena notices David moving away while playing with the man.
She follows, then begins to jog after them.

 			HELENA
 	David, come back here this minute.
 	David!

 								63.


As she closes distance the man stops juggling the ball and
abruptly picks up David and begins swinging him around by
his arms.  David is having fun as Helena approaches.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	David --

 			DAVID
 	We're playing!

The strange man swings David up so that he's under his arm.

 			STRANGE MAN
 	Yeah, this is fun.

 			HELENA
 	Please put down my son.

The man holds David.

 			STRANGE MAN
 	Shouldn't let your kid wander off
 	with strangers.

 			HELENA
 	Thank you.  That's a valuable
 	lesson.  David, come on.

The strange man holds David tighter so that he's no longer
having fun.  He begins to wriggle --

 			STRANGE MAN
 	Mrs. Ayala --

This gets her attention --

 			STRANGE MAN (CONT'D)
 	Your husband owes a lot of money.
 	Enough that snapping this kid's
 	neck wouldn't nearly cover it.

David begins to cry.  Helena looks around wildly for help.

 			STRANGE MAN (CONT'D)
 	You better come up with it in a
 	hurry or your kid is going to
 	disappear, and he won't turn up
 	until the evening news.

He drops David who runs to his mother.

 			STRANGE MAN (CONT'D)
 	You get exactly one warning.

 								64.


The strange man moves away across the field.

 			STRANGE MAN (CONT'D)
 	The first payment is three million
 	dollars.

He continues walking away.

INT. TELEPHONE REPAIR VAN - DAY

Gordon and Castro stare with rapt attention.

 			GORDON
 	Are you getting this on tape?

 			CASTRO
 	I love my job.  I love it.  The
 	next time I'm having a bad day you
 	gotta remind me of right now and
 	I'll get over it.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. BARRACKS - NIGHT

Javier and Manolo stand guard outside the front door of the
dining hall.  Javi smokes a cigarette.

 			MANOLO
 	A group of us are going out tonight.

 			JAVIER
 	Who?

 			MANOLO
 	Guzman, Tomas, Esteban --

 			JAVIER
 	Your new friends.

 			MANOLO
 	Yeah.  It should be fun.  You wanna
 	come?

 			JAVIER
 	Not this time.

INT. DINING HALL - BARRACKS - NIGHT

Francisco and Salazar eat at a beautifully set table.  They
are waited on by military officers who serve perfect flan at
the end of the meal.

 								65.


 			FRANCISCO
 	In my home I have B&W speakers.  I
 	recently purchased a compact disc
 	burner.  I can make my own cd's,
 	with whatever music I like, as if I
 	bought them at the store, only I
 	don't have to pay these crazy prices.

 			SALAZAR
 	We have much in common.  We both
 	attended school in the United
 	States, and both of our fathers are
 	engineers.

 			FRANCISCO
 	I got into stereo equipment when I
 	was a kid.  Some people don't
 	notice the difference but it is
 	very important to me.

 			SALAZAR
 	Of course it is.  Have some more
 	wine.

A soldier pours another glass of red for Francisco.

 			SALAZAR (CONT'D)
 	Now, Francisco, my friend... I must
 	know where these men are who killed
 	my captains.  Not where they were
 	last week, but where they are
 	today, and better still, tomorrow.
 	You are clever.  You can predict
 	where they will be, can't you?

Francisco begins to weep.

Salazar slides a pad of paper toward Francisco who slowly
begins writing.

EXT. TIJUANA NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

Manolo and Javier pound on the front door of an apartment.
A MAN opens the door and they grab him.

EXT. TIJUANA STREETS - DAY

A MAN walks down the street.  Two SUV's pull up in front of
him.  He starts to run.  Salazar's men jump out and chase him.

Francisco is in the backseat of one of the SUV's, watching.

 								66.


EXT. TIJUANA - DAY

An SUV pulls up to a curb.

INT. SUV - DAY

Javier and Manolo and Francisco sit in the SUV.  Francisco
is weeping.

 			FRANCISCO
 	I can't go home.  I don't want to
 	go.  Please don't make me.

He looks beseechingly at them.

 			JAVIER
 	It's not our decision.

 			FRANCISCO
 	I'll be killed.

 			JAVIER
 	Stop complaining.  Nobody knows
 	what you've been up to.

They push him out of the SUV.

 						CUT TO:

INT. SAN DIEGO JAIL - DAY

Castro and Gordon sit with Eduardo Ruiz in a conference room.
They are recording his statements.

 			RUIZ
 	Carlos, I mean Carl, started out in
 	the family connection business:
 	real estate in Tijuana, fishing
 	boats out of Ensenada, hydroponic
 	raspberries.  He met up with the
 	Obregon brothers of the Tijuana
 	Cartel who were interested in two
 	things: entering society and using
 	his fishing boats.

 			GORDON
 	So you pay off our customs officials?

 								67.


 			RUIZ
 	In Mexico law enforcement is an
 	entrepreneurial activity, this is
 	not so true for the USA.
 		(condescending)
 	Using regression analysis we made a
 	study of the customs lanes at the
 	border and calculated the odds of a
 	search.  The odds are not high, and
 	we found variables that reduce the
 	odds.  We hire drivers with nothing
 	to lose.  Then we throw a lot of
 	product at the problem.  Some get
 	stopped.  Enough get through.  It's
 	not difficult.

 			CASTRO
 	You'd think he wasn't sitting here
 	facing life in prison.

 			RUIZ
 	This has worked for years and it
 	will continue to work for years.
 	NAFTA makes everything more
 	difficult for you.  The border is
 	disappearing.
 		(pointing at them)
 	You people are like those Japanese
 	soldiers left behind on deserted
 	islands who think that World War II
 	is still going on.
 		(with total disdain)
 	Let me be the first to  tell you,
 	your government surrendered this
 	war a long time ago.

 			GORDON
 		(to Castro)
 	This attitude's not gonna help him
 	any, is it?

 			RUIZ
 	I got greedy.  I decided to bring a
 	little in on my own and somebody
 	tipped you off.  That was my
 	mistake.  Carl would never be so
 	stupid.

 			GORDON
 	He hired you.  That was a mistake.

 								68.


 			RUIZ
 	Carl and I were friends from
 	childhood.  He was loyal, that's
 	not a mistake.

EXT. TIJUANA - SAN DIEGO BORDER CROSSING - DAY

Car after car, an unending multi-lane stream of vehicles
moving into the U.S.  Any of these cars could be carrying
drugs.

INT. CUSTOMS CONTROL BOOTH - DAY

On an elevated walkway, this booth commands a view of
everything.  Robert and Sheridan listen to an OFFICIAL give
the spiel.

 			OFFICIAL
 	The busiest land border crossing in
 	the world.  Over forty-one thousand
 	vehicles per day, twenty-two
 	thousand pedestrians on foot.  I
 	think we do a pretty good job but
 	we know a lot of drugs are still
 	getting through.

 			ROBERT
 	Any idea how much?

 			OFFICIAL
 	I've read official estimates but I
 	wouldn't bet my house on them.
 	I've heard the entire cocaine
 	supply for the United States can
 	fit into four tractor-trailers.
 		(gestures to the traffic)
 	At least a half-dozen of those cars
 	right out there are carrying a load
 	of dope, with drivers employed by
 	people who don't give a damn if
 	they're caught or not.

 			ROBERT
 	What do you look for?

 			OFFICIAL
 	We ask questions and measure the
 	answers.  When something doesn't
 	ring true, a fact that doesn't make
 	sense, a slight hesitation, then
 	it's off to secondary for a closer
 	look.  Before NAFTA we had about
 	1.9 million trucks a year.
 			(MORE)

 								69.


 			OFFICIAL (CONT'D)
 	Now it's almost double.  Pretty
 	soon there'll be Mexican truck
 	companies that will have as much
 	freedom in crossing the border as
 	American truck companies.

 			ROBERT
 	Any way we can do it better?

 			OFFICIAL
 	Sure.  More money in intelligence
 	on their side of the border.  So we
 	have a better idea who we're
 	looking for.  More dogs.  More
 	people.  Supposed to be getting
 	some giant x-ray machines to run
 	the trucks through.  Outside of
 	martial law that's about the best
 	you're gonna do.
 		(beat)
 	But, I should tell you, there are
 	two things that really have us on
 	edge right now.
 		(beat)
 	In the last six months seizures
 	have tripled, even though we're
 	pulling over the same number of
 	cars.  What does that tell you?

 			ROBERT
 	That triple the amount of stuff is
 	going through.

 			OFFICIAL
 	Right.  But, that's not the biggest
 	problem.  One of our Intel officers
 	picked up information from DEA that
 	traffickers have come up with a
 	process, a chemical process, to
 	turn coke into something else.  It
 	doesn't smell like coke.  It
 	doesn't look like coke.  And what's
 	worse, it doesn't react to field
 	test.  It could be anything.  Maybe
 	it's already happening.  I mean,
 	how would we know?

Robert looks out at the border activity.  It's anarchy.

 						CUT TO:

 								70.


INT. AYALA STUDY - AFTERNOON

Helena is on the floor surrounded by papers.  She's made
piles of certain things: articles of incorporation,
shipping/transfer documentation, bank statements, credit
card statements.  She holds a telephone to her ear --

 			HELENA
 		(to phone)
 	Yes, hi Jenny, account number 4168
 	2245 3173... I need a cash advance.

Helena walks into her kitchen.  It's serene in the afternoon
light.  She fixes ice-cold lemonade and fills two plastic
cups.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	What's the largest amount I can get?
 		(listens)
 	Okay, I guess that'll have to do.

Helena hangs up the phone.  She takes the two cups of
lemonade to the front door and steps outside.

EXT. AYALA HOME - AFTERNOON

Helena carries the cups down the driveway.  She presses a
button and the gates swing open.

INT. TELEPHONE REPAIR VAN - AFTERNOON

Gordon and Castro listen to their headsets.  Suddenly --

 			VOICE (O.S.)
 		(over their headsets)
 	Okay.  She's coming out.  She's
 	leaving her property.  Okay, she
 	seems to be heading for the van!
 	She is approaching the van!

Castro and Gordon looks at each other.

 			GORDON
 	What do we do?

 			CASTRO
 	I don't know.

There's a KNOCKING at the door of the van.

 			GORDON
 	What do you think she wants?

 								71.


 			CASTRO
 	She's your girlfriend.  Open it,
 	talk about your kids.

Gordon opens the door.  Helena is standing there with the
lemonade.

 			HELENA
 	I so hope I didn't startle you.  I
 	thought you might like some cold
 	lemonade.

 			GORDON
 	Uh... Thank you.

She hands the cups to him.  Helena gathers herself.

 			HELENA
 	I know this is a difficult situation
 	and you're only doing your jobs.  I
 	don't bear you any ill-will, but I
 	do have a small favor to ask.

 			CASTRO
 	You want to ask us a favor?

 			HELENA
 	A man threatened my children.
 	These charges have attracted a lot
 	of attention and it seems to be
 	bringing all the nut-jobs out of
 	the nut jar.
 		(beat)
 	Would you keep an eye out for
 	anything out of the ordinary.  I
 	don't know what else to do.

 			GORDON
 	Of course, we will.

 			HELENA
 	Thank you.

They shut the door to the van and sit for a moment.

 			CASTRO
 	It's probably poisoned.

Gordon takes a big sip of his.

 			GORDON
 	It's good.  Not too sweet.

 						CUT TO:

 								72.


OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

EXT. TIJUANA STREET - MORNING

This is a questionable neighborhood pushed up against the
edge of poverty.

Anna hurries across the street.

EXT. JAVI'S APARTMENT BUILDING - MORNING

Anna walks up the stairs of a rundown building.  She passes
two PROSTITUTES loitering in the stairwell.

She knocks on a door and Javi, half-dressed for work,
answers.  He's surprised to see her.

 			JAVIER
 	Anna.  What's wrong?  What do you
 	want?

 			ANNA
 	I can't find Manolo.

 			JAVIER
 	He's not here.

 			ANNA
 	He never came home last night.  Was
 	he with you?

 			JAVIER
 	No.

He lets her into the apartment.

INT. JAVI'S APARTMENT - MORNING

A small, clean room with a partition for the sleeping area.

 			ANNA
 	I'm worried.  Last time he was out
 	late, I went through his clothes
 	while he was asleep.

She pulls out a plastic packet with the scorpion insignia
and 911 stamped on it.

Javier thinks a beat.

 								73.


 			JAVIER
 	I'll find him.

EXT. ALLEY - TIJUANA - DAY

Javi slams Manolo against the side of building.

 			JAVIER
 	What the fuck are you doing?
 	You're supposed to be at work.
 	Look at you.

Manolo is sweaty and crazy-eyed.

 			MANOLO
 	It's no problem.  I was just with
 	everybody we work with.

 			JAVIER
 	Oh, really.  General Salazar was
 	there?

 			MANOLO
 	No, but a lot of other people.  You
 	should come.  You should come out
 	with us.

 			JAVIER
 	Go home.  Get cleaned up.  Get to
 	work.  Salazar is heading down to
 	Mexico City next week and I'm not
 	getting left behind.  Don't fuck
 	this up.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. COFFEE KIOSK - TIJUANA - DAY

Javi buys a cup of coffee.  He turns.  Two men, who will
come to be known as AGENT HUGHES and AGENT JOHNSON, are
standing close.  Agent Hughes speaks without looking at him.

 			HUGHES
 	The word going around is you're not
 	that happy in your work.
 		(beat)
 	Maybe we can help.

Hughes sticks a business card in Javi's pocket.  Javi
watches them walk away.  It's all done so smoothly and
quickly, it's over before Javi even knows what happened.

 								74.


EXT. WEST END - CINCINNATI - DAY

It's the bad part of urban Cincinnati in the daylight:
projects and blighted row houses.  Seth and Caroline walk
with a slouched, alert air.  In their mind's eye they are
prep-school gangsters following a familiar route.

 			SETH
 	You know my dad takes eight red
 	cold pills every day?  He and my
 	mom have cocktail hour every night,
 	from six to seven, set your clock,
 	two bourbons --

 			CAROLINE
 	Maybe we could show up and smoke a
 	little rock with them to unwind --

 			SETH
 	Yeah, then some dope to take the
 	edge off at the end of a long day.

 			CAROLINE
 	Have you done your homework, honey?

 			SETH
 	Yes, mom --

 			CAROLINE
 	Then here's a little bump.

They turn down a street with a lot of activity on it.

 			SETH
 	Drugs weren't even a problem until
 	a hundred years ago when the white
 	men in power declared them a
 	problem.  Opiates.  But, who was
 	using 'em?  Chinese immigrants.
 	Slave labor.  And the darkies up in
 	the inner cities dancing to them
 	evil rhythms of ju-ju music.
 	People on the fringe.  Artists.
 	Decadent rich people.  And who got
 	scared?  White men in power.  Who's
 	scared today?  White men in power.
 	If J.P. Morgan and John D.
 	Rockefeller ever admitted using,
 	it'd be a whole different story.

TWO YOUNG STREET DEALERS fall in step with them.  One talks
without moving his lips --

 								75.


 			STREET DEALER
 	What you want?

 			SETH
 	911, and the come down.

One dealer hurries ahead toward the doorway of a falling-
down building.

 			STREET DEALER
 	How much?

 			SETH
 	Two hundred of C, hundred of the
 	other.

The dealer looks them over.  He looks behind them down the
street.

 			CAROLINE
 	Come on... We've been here before.

 			STREET DEALER
 	Then, let's see your money.

Seth and Caroline are suspicious.  They carefully show money
they both have in their front right pockets.  The dealer
feints like he might grab it.

 			STREET DEALER (CONT'D)
 	Up the steps.  You the experts.
 	You know what to do.

They hurry up the steps into the dingy brownstone.

INT. ROW HOUSE - DAY

They step into the narrow foyer between the outer door and
the inner door.  There are three other PEOPLE waiting
nervously.  An older JUNKIE shoots them a crazy look --

 			JUNKIE
 	What are you two, about twelve?

 			CAROLINE
 	Fuck off.

They wait.  Finally, the first dealer appears in the inner
door and lets them through.

 								76.


INT. FIRST FLOOR CORRIDOR - DAY

They wait in a line in the narrow, poorly lit corridor.  At
the end of the hall a hatch in a door slides back and the
drugstore is open.  People buy and leave.

Seth and Caroline approach.  In the hatch is a hardened
dealer, 20's, named SKETCH, which is tattooed on his forearm.
He checks out Caroline's body.

 			SETH
 	Caroline, give me your money.

She hands over her money to Seth who pays and gets the
drugs: gram baggies of rock stamped with a scorpion and
"911," and wax-paper bindles of heroin, also labeled, "911."

Caroline has been watching the transaction.  Sketch makes
slow eye contact with Caroline.  After a beat --

 			SKETCH
 	Goodbye... Caroline.

Seth and Caroline make their way out of the building.

 			SETH
 		(under his breath)
 	Yeah, right.

EXT. BUILDING - DAY

Seth and Caroline hold hands as they hurry down the steps.
The lookout speaks without moving his lips.

 			STREET DEALER
 	Now, get the fuck out of here.

Caroline stops suddenly.  She pulls Seth to her and kisses
him hard.  There's no better moment than the one right after
scoring before you start using.

EXT. VILLA ELAINE - DAY

A flophouse of the seediest variety: wino in the doorway,
prostitute taking care of business, everyone fresh out of
institutions and graveyards.

INT. VILLA ELAINE - DAY

They approach the front desk which is behind six inches of
glass.

 			SETH
 	We'd like room 205.

 								77.


 			DESKMAN
 	Then you hand me twenty-eight
 	dollars.

INT. ROOM 205 - VILLA ELAINE - DAY

They enter and the light bulb goes out.  Seth fumbles his
way to the mini-fridge, which he opens, throwing feeble
light across the floor.

They check out the decrepit room: the sloping mattress, the
black and white television bolted to the bureau.  The mini-
fridge.  Caroline bounces on the bed.  They are teenagers.
Seth prepares the drugs by the light of the mini-fridge.

 			SETH
 	I love this place.

Seth dumps the drugs on the bedside table.  From other
pockets he extracts aluminum foil, lighter, tube.  She
trails away watching him fix the first hit.

 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	Did Courtney Love play Nancy in Syd
 	and Nancy?

 			CAROLINE
 	I think so.  If she didn't she
 	should have.
 		(checks her watch)
 	I've only got maybe an hour.  Then
 	volleyball practice is over and I
 	have to be home.

 			SETH
 	Why?  Nobody's there.

He prepares the first hit.  She does it and lies back.  He
does one.

 			CAROLINE
 		(blowing out the hit)
 	The maid... They ask her what time
 	I get back.  She spies for them.

Seth starts kissing her.  They try to get into it, but both
of them are thinking about the drugs.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	I wish we could stay here.  Just be
 	here forever and ever.  Make it a
 	little home.

She leans over to snort a tiny line of heroin.

 								78.


 			SETH
 	I want to have sex and do a hit
 	right as we're coming.

Caroline's distracted by the line she's snorting.  After a
while...

 			CAROLINE
 	Okay.

Seth begins undoing her jeans.

 						CUT TO:

INT. EPIC BUNKER LOBBY - DAY

SUPERTITLE: EL PASO, TEXAS

Robert and Sheridan listen to the official tour of the EPIC
center delivered by the SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE, 40, a
sincere weight-lifter with a sincere crew-cut.

 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	... Over 200 DEA field agents, a
 	budget of almost 100 million
 	dollars and state of the art
 	communications equipment make the
 	El Paso Information Center the Drug
 	Enforcement Administration's
 	flagship for the 21st century.

INT. EPIC BUNKER CAFETERIA - DAY

A huge lunchroom.  Long plastic institutional tables and
agents minding their own business,

Robert, Sheridan, and their Epic Guide walk through.  They
pass a wall of black and white head shots --

 			ROBERT
 	Who are these guys?

 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	Agents who died in the field.

EXT. BINOCULAR POV - DAY

of large mansion with manicured grounds.  The back lawn is
filled with children, balloons, a merry-go-round, and pony
rides.  It's a sumptuous children's birthday party.

 								79.


 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	That house, that you see from the
 	DEA headquarters, belonged to
 	Porfirio Madrigal -- the Lord of
 	the Skies, largest trafficker in
 	Mexico.

ANGLE ON ROBERT

looking through the binoculars.

 			ROBERT
 	He died in a liposuction surgery,
 	right?

 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	Right.  Now it's used by somebody
 	from the Juarez Cartel, one of his
 	lieutenants...  Who knows?
 		(beat)
 	Every damn day there's birthday
 	party.  At first I thought they
 	must have three hundred children,
 	then I realized they're taunting us.
 	Three miles away and we can't touch
 	them.  Ha, ha, ha.

BINOCULAR POV: a child running in circles holding a clutch
of colored balloons.

 			ROBERT
 	Who do we interface with on their
 	side?

 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	What do you mean?

 			ROBERT
 	I mean, who runs interdiction on
 	the Mexico side?

 			SPECIAL-AGENT-IN-CHARGE
 	I don't know.  I don't think
 	there's any one person.
 		(thinks)
 	See the problem is the Juarez
 	cartel owns everything and
 	everybody, all the property on the
 	Mexican side, sometimes all the
 	property on both sides.  Warehouses,
 	transportation, even tunnels.  It's
 	very organized.

 								80.


EXT. TRAMAC - DAY

Robert, walking with purpose, leads his group to their plane.

INT. MILITARY JET - DAY

Robert and Sheridan and several DEA, Law Enforcement, and
Military Officials.  It's a nice plane, used for important
people and Robert has the best seat.

 			ROBERT
 	I want everyone thinking out the
 	box for a second.  What are we
 	gonna do about Mexico?
 		(silence)
 	Come on, guys.  Out of the box.

The men on the plane just stare at him.  Finally the REP
FROM DEA leans forward.

 			REP FROM DEA
 	Unlimited funds?

 			ROBERT
 	Unlimited.

 			REP FROM DEA
 	From a DEA standpoint we need a
 	vetted task force and matching
 	funds.  And cut the red tape on
 	getting them equipment and training.

Robert turns to the others.

 			ROBERT
 	Come on.  I want to hear from
 	everyone: FBI.  Customs.  Treatment.
 	Is there anyone from treatment on
 	this plane?
 		(no one answers)
 	Then I want an answer for why there
 	isn't anyone from treatment.
 		(beat)
 	Look, we know we have to bust one
 	of these cartels, Juarez or Tijuana,
 	not just as a symbol, but hell yes,
 	also as a symbol - they are
 	symbols - and there's nothing wrong
 	with sending a message.  That's why
 	when Carlos Ayala hired Michael
 	Adler lead defense, I flew Ben
 	Williams to San Diego to prosecute.
 			(MORE)

 								81.


 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	Because he's the best we have, he's
 	our symbol that we're serious about
 	putting the top people away.
 		(beat)
 	So, as of right now, this flight
 	only, consider the dam on new ideas
 	thrown open.

Still, no one else says anything.  They watch Robert
impassively.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	If I'm not mistaken, we got DEA,
 	Pentagon, U.S. Attorneys office,
 	about a billion dollars of budget
 	right here.  So what are you people
 	waiting for?

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

EXT. SAN DIEGO OFFICE BUILDING - DAY

Establishing shot of a tall glass building in the downtown
skyline of San Diego.

INT. ARNIE METZGER'S OFFICE - DAY

Helena and Arnie enter his office.  The furniture is sleek
mid-century modern, and the view of the harbor is
extraordinary.

 			ARNIE
 	On a clear day you can see Mexico
 	City.

Arnie stands very close to Helena and looks at her profile.

 			ARNIE (CONT'D)
 	This place is swept twice a day.  I
 	learned that in Miami in '85.  Then
 	the U.S. shut down the whole
 	Caribbean, but it's a big game of
 	wack-a-mole.  Knock it down in
 	Miami, it pops up here.  And San
 	Diego is so much more relaxing.

 			HELENA
 	Arnie, I need money.  Somebody
 	threatened my children.  They want
 	a first payment of three million
 	dollars.

 								82.


 			ARNIE
 	Helena, if I had it I would give it
 	to you, but I don't have that kind
 	of money.

 			HELENA
 	Arnie, help me.  Doesn't anyone owe
 	us money?

 			ARNIE
 	Yes, I told you before, there are
 	people who owe you money but
 	they're not paying.  There's too
 	much heat on Carl.

 			HELENA
 	Please.  Tell me who Carl sells to.

Arnie thinks.

 			ARNIE
 	Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you.
 	You do not want to come into
 	contact with these people.  Only
 	Carl knows who they are.  That's
 	his real asset.  Ruiz doesn't know
 	them.  They don't know Ruiz.
 	Church and State.

 			HELENA
 	What about legitimate businesses?
 	We own a construction concern, real
 	estate --

 			ARNIE
 	Laundromats for the washing of
 	money.  Unfortunately, Carl had
 	only one successful business.

 			HELENA
 	Don't you have some good news?
 	Isn't there something positive you
 	could say.

There isn't.  Helena looks Arnie in the eyes.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 		(vulnerable)
 	Sometimes I wonder what I'll do if
 	Carl doesn't get out.  I'm not very
 	adept at being on my own.  I've
 	always had a man in my life.  Always.

 								83.


 			ARNIE
 	I remember when I first met you:
 	little Helen Watts from the wrong
 	side of somewhere.  I had a feeling
 	even then that your survival
 	instincts were pretty well honed.

 			HELENA
 	I'm glad you think so, but I'm
 	picturing a debt-ridden, thirty-two
 	year-old mother whose ex-husband is
 	being compared to Pablo Escobar.
 		(beat)
 	And I'm wondering who would want to
 	be with someone like that?

It takes a great effort for Arnie not to answer.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

INT. ARMORED SUV - MEXICO - DAY

Javier and Manolo ride through a nice neighborhood in Mexico
City.  Javi isn't familiar with the roads and drives
cautiously.

A young lady, ROSARIO, early 20's, sexy and vulnerable,
rides in the back of the SUV.

 			ROSARIO
 	You two don't like me, do you?

Manolo laughs and looks her up and down.  Javi watches her
in the rearview mirror.

 			JAVIER
 	We don't have an opinion on you.

 			ROSARIO
 		(to Javi)
 	Maybe it's because I'm getting an
 	apartment nicer than anything
 	you'll ever see in your life?

 								84.


Javi says nothing.

 			ROSARIO (CONT'D)
 		(re: the neighborhood)
 	I can't believe the old man kept
 	his promise.

 			JAVIER
 	The General is a man of his word.

 			ROSARIO
 	They will say anything to get what
 	they want, but then you remind
 	them, it's always tomorrow,
 	tomorrow, tomorrow.
 		(beat)
 	Occupational hazard, I guess.

Javi just looks at her in the rearview mirror.

 			ROSARIO (CONT'D)
 	His friend is giving us the
 	apartment so it's not like he paid.
 	It's more like a favor.

Javier pulls the SUV to the curb in front of a beautiful
colonial-style apartment complex in the verdant neighborhood.

EXT. VERDANT NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

Birds are chirping.  Javi waits in the car as Manolo takes
the young lady's bags from the vehicle and carries them up
the walkway to the arched doorway.  He knocks on the heavy
wooden door.

 			ROSARIO
 	You don't have the keys.  Oh that's
 	perfect.  Are you an idiot?

Manolo knocks again.  They wait a long beat.

 			MANOLO
 	There's supposed to be someone here
 	to let you in.

Finally, the door swings open and a BODYGUARD is standing
there.  Rosario SQUEALS and sweeps past him into the vast
space.  The bodyguard motions for Manolo to put the bags
inside the door.

Manolo sets the bags down and sees another MAN standing a
few feet away.  The man wears sunglasses.  His complexion is
strange and his neck is bandaged.

 								85.


The body guard escorts Manolo back outside where he hears
Rosario's happy LAUGHTER drifting down from an upstairs
window.

INT. SUV - DAY

Manolo gets into the truck.  He's shaken by what he's just
seen.

 			MANOLO
 	Madrigal's alive.

 			JAVIER
 	What?

 			MANOLO
 	Porfirio Madrigal is not dead.  I
 	just saw him.

A long beat as Javier considers this.

 			JAVIER
 	This is why Salazar is so interested
 	in cleaning up Tijuana.  Madrigal,
 	who's supposed to be dead, owns him.
 	And Madrigal is making a move on
 	Juan Obregon.

Javier calmly drives away.

 			MANOLO
 	Javi!  Come on.  Don't pull this
 	you don't care bullshit.  This is
 	incredible information.  It must be.
 	Javi --

 			JAVIER
 	We keep our mouths shut.

 						CUT TO:

INT. BARBARA'S CAR - NIGHT

Barbara drives Robert home from the airport.  There's a
sense they've been silent for a while.

 			ROBERT
 	I think we may have found our
 	Mexican Drug Czar.  It's this
 	General, Salazar.  At least I'll
 	have somebody on the other side I
 	can talk to.

 								86.


 			BARBARA
 	Does this mean you're going to be
 	gone more?

A long silence.

 			ROBERT
 	Possibly.

Another silence.

 			BARBARA
 	You might want to pencil in a
 	little face-time with your daughter.

 			ROBERT
 	Barbara --

 			BARBARA
 	Because I'm at the edge of my
 	capabilities, Robert.

 			ROBERT
 	The first thing we have to do is
 	present a unified front.

 			BARBARA
 	If you start in on the war metaphors
 	I'm going to drive this car into a
 	fucking telephone pole.

 			ROBERT
 	Look, I'm as worried as you are --

 			BARBARA
 	No, I don't think so.  Leave me
 	alone, give me money.  That's what
 	I get from our daughter.  She has a
 	way of shutting me out that seems
 	very familiar.

 			ROBERT
 	Yeah, well, she has a way of self-
 	medicating that probably seems
 	familiar, too.

She looks at him, stung.

 			BARBARA
 	I'm not the one who has to have
 	three scotches just to walk in the
 	door and say hello.

 								87.


 			ROBERT
 	I have a drink before dinner to
 	take the edge off my day.  That's
 	different.

 			BARBARA
 	Oh, it is?

 			ROBERT
 	Yeah, because the alternative is to
 	be bored to death.

EXT. WAKEFIELD HOUSE - NIGHT

He car pulls into the driveway.  Robert gets out.  Barbara
doesn't.  He looks back at her.

 			BARBARA
 	Why don't you go in and tell your
 	daughter how bored you are.

She puts the car in reverse and drives away.  He stands for
a moment, steaming.

INT. WAKEFIELD HOUSE - NIGHT

Robert Wakefield steps inside his home.    It's very QUIET.
He checks the mail on the hall table.

INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT

Robert walks down the hallway.  He steps into Caroline's
bedroom.

INT. CAROLINE WAKEFIELD'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

Robert stands outside her closed bathroom door.

There is nothing, then from the other side of the door, the
faint sound of a lighter CLICKING.  AGAIN and AGAIN, then a
COUGH.

INT. CAROLINE WAKEFIELD'S BATHROOM - NIGHT

Caroline sits on the toilet.  Glamour Magazine on her lap.
She's wild-eyed and paranoid.  The exhaust fan is running.
The aluminum foil is on the sink.  The last little bit of
heroin in a wax-paper bundle sits beside it.

She's listening hard for any SOUND in the house.  What she's
wondering is if someone is outside the door listening.

She puts a piece of crack on the foil and listens hard once
more before lighting it.  She does the hit.

 								88.


And seems to feel better.

Suddenly there's a POUNDING on the door.  The VOICE of her
father muffled through the solid wood.

 			ROBERT (V.O.)
 		(muffled by the door)
 	Caroline.  Open this door
 	immediately.

Caroline is up like a shot.  She looks around.  The POUNDING
on the door gets stronger.

She crumples the foil and drops it in the toilet.

The bathroom door SOUNDS like it's about to cave inward.

 			CAROLINE
 		(faking the best she can)
 	Who is it?  I'm going to the
 	bathroom.

She's coping now, full parallel process mode: she dumps the
last heroin on the back of her hand and snorts it, checking
her nose in the mirror as she reaches for a can of air
freshener which she sprays into the air.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	One minute.

She takes the remaining crack, lighters, tubes, little
smudgy druggy bits of paraphernalia and carefully places it
all in a hiding place above the bathroom cabinet.

She pauses a beat, then opens the door, and tries to brush
by her father while avoiding his eyes.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	Excuse me --

Robert grabs her by the arms.  He pushes her against the
wall and looks at her pupils.  He looks at her fingernails.
The blister on her thumb from working the lighter is red and
irritated.

 			ROBERT
 	You're not going anywhere, young
 	lady.

She stands there; she's very high.

Robert sniffs the air.  He throws open cabinets, searching
for drugs.  He sees the smudge mark on the counter left by
the charred aluminum foil.

 								89.


 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	Where is it?  Where are the drugs?
 		(yelling)
 	Where are they?

 			CAROLINE
 	Fuck you.  I wasn't doing anything.
 	You're like the Gestapo.

Robert KICKS the cabinets.

 			ROBERT
 	Fuck me?  Oh, okay.  Fuck me.  Fuck
 	you.

Robert is losing it.  He throws stuff around the bathroom

and then, for the first time, looks up.  He sees the long
light in the box atop the medicine cabinet and it dawns on
him.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	I'm going to ask you one time to
 	tell me the truth so that I can
 	help you.

She just stares.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	Okay, young lady, that's it.

 			CAROLINE
 	Like I give a fuck.

Robert reaches above the medicine cabinet and pulls out a
charred spoon.  It confuses him.  He throws it into the sink.

He pulls out another spoon.  He pulls out crumpled bindles,
rolled up, encrusted dollar bills, exhausted lighters, a
pill bottle, an empty pint of vodka.

The detritus of drug addiction keeps on coming, filling up
the sink.  Robert stares at it, the amount and complexity
has him momentarily baffled.

 			ROBERT
 	What is wrong with you?  What?
 		(beat)
 	You're going away.  You're getting
 	help somewhere.

 			CAROLINE
 	You can't make me.

 								90.


 			ROBERT
 	Oh, yes I can.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

INT.  - SAN DIEGO - DAY

Javier drinks toward downtown.  He's sipping a Burger King
soft-drink.  On the seat next to him is a shopping bag from
Target.  He takes an exit.  Javier pulls into the underground
parking lot of a fancy office tower.

INT. POLICE SEDAN - DAY

Javi drives down to the third floor underground.  He pulls
into a parking spot next to a white sedan.  He slides open
the cargo door of his van.

The cargo door of the sedan opens.  Javi quickly gets into
the sedan.

INT. SEDAN - DAY

Special Agents Hughes and Johnson welcome Javi.

 			JAVIER
 	Where are we going?

Hughes sticks out his hand.

 			HUGHES
 	Special Agent Hughes, Drug
 	Enforcement Administration of the
 	United States.

 			JAVIER
 		(ignoring the niceties)
 	Where are you taking me?

The agents exchange a look.

 			JOHNSON
 	Somewhere safe.

 			JAVIER
 	Where?

 								91.


 			JOHNSON
 	A place we have, that we know is
 	protected.

 			JAVIER
 	No.

 			HUGHES
 	It's really safe.

 			JAVIER
 	Not for me.

 			JOHNSON
 	Okay.  Where would you like to go?

EXT. SWIMMING POOL - HOTEL - DAY

Javi and Agents Johnson and Hughes stand in the middle of
the shallow end of a large swimming pool.  KIDS in waterwings
splash nearby.

 			JAVIER
 	It's important that we work together.
 	Mexico.  America.  One hand washing
 	the other.

 			JOHNSON
 	We agree.

 			JAVIER
 	So... maybe you tell me about your
 	informants in our operations.

 			JOHNSON
 		(confused by this)
 	We thought maybe you'd have that
 	kind of information for us.

 			JAVIER
 		(feigning surprise)
 	This is a very different proposition.

Johnson and Hughes exchange a glance.

 			JOHNSON
 	We pay for that kind of information.

A fat kid in an inner-tube floats behind them.

 			JOHNSON (CONT'D)
 	Is that what you're talking about,
 	Javier?

 								92.


Javi makes eye contact with one agent, then the other.

 			JAVIER
 	Ten years ago Tijuana had no drug
 	problem.  Now it is epidemic.
 		(beat)
 	Ten years ago America takes a
 	hammer to Pablo Escobar, a hammer
 	to the Miami drug trade, and you
 	allowed everything to move to my
 	country.  You dumped the problem at
 	our feet.  Now, drug use is epidemic.
 	Now, the treatment centers are full
 	and get no state money.  They
 	survive on donations and what they
 	get for building doghouses to sell
 	to the U.S.
 		(beat)
 	We need lights for the parks so
 	kids can play at night.  So they
 	can play baseball.  So it's safe.
 	Everybody likes parks.  Everybody
 	likes baseball.
 		(beat)
 	What I'm talking about is I would
 	like to see somebody take an
 	interest in Tijuana.  That's what
 	I'm talking about.

Javi starts to get out of the pool.

 			HUGHES
 	Javi, You want to come see us
 	again, you're going on the box.  No
 	more of this water-wing bullshit.

INT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY

Javier gets out of the DEA sedan and back into his.  He
drives away.

INT. SEDAN - DAY

Agents Hughes turns to Agent Johnson.

 			JOHNSON
 	You wanna tell me what the hell
 	that was all about?

 			HUGHES
 	He's got something.  We just have
 	to be patient.

 						CUT TO:

 								93.


INT. JAIL VISITATION ROOM - DAY

Helena and Carl each hold a telephone receiver as they stare
at each other through a thick pane of meshed glass.  Helena
is barely holding it together.  It's hard for Carl to see
her like this.  After a beat --

 			CARL
 	How's David?

 			HELENA
 	How's David? How's David? He's
 	terrific, Carl.

 			CARL
 	Helena --

 			HELENA
 	We watched his father get dragged
 	away by federal agents.  I don't
 	even know how to begin to tell him
 	where you are or when you're coming
 	back... Or if you're coming back.

She can't even look at him.

 			CARL
 		(beat)
 	We'll get through this, I promise.
 	I'll make it up to you --

 			HELENA
 		(snapping)
 	How?  Supportive letters from
 	prison while I'm being kicked out
 	of our home?
 		(beat)
 	Do you have any idea what is
 	happening out here?  Our credit
 	cards are maxed.  The people at the
 	bank, you should see their faces
 	when I walk in there.  I have a
 	letter from the government telling
 	me that anything I sell from our
 	house will be taken against an
 	income tax lien.  Our friends are
 	behaving like the crowd at a public
 	hanging.  Nobody will help us.
 	Nobody will take us in.  Nobody
 	wants anything to do with us.  So
 	tell me, Carl, how you're gonna
 	make it up to me.
 			(MORE)

 								94.


 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 		(losing it)
 	Tell me again how we'll get through
 	this, and maybe while you're at it
 	you can put your hand up against
 	the glass so we can have a tender
 	moment of connection.

 			CARL
 	Helena --

 			HELENA
 	Tell me what to do, Carl.  I need
 	guidance, not a fucking platitude.
 		(beat)
 	I'm not bringing a child into the
 	kind of life I grew up with.  I
 	won't do it.  I want our life back.

Carl looks at his wife as if he is trying to weigh her.  He
thinks, then leans forward --

 			CARLOS
 	I built our house and I don't want
 	to lose it.  Every stone, every
 	brick, every board.
 		(carefully)
 	My business... That would take a
 	lot of private study...
 		(he blinks)
 	That you don't have time for.  I
 	suggest you look into the Coronel...
 		(he blinks again)
 	Into selling it.  If you can
 	stomach it, you should look into it.
 	That painting is very valuable.

 			HELENA
 	I don't understand.

 			CARLOS
 	Look into the Coronel; otherwise,
 	there is nothing to do.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. SERENITY OAKS - DAY

A peaceful wooded campus with a unobtrusive sign reading,
"Serenity Oaks Treatment Facility."

 								95.


INT. MEETING ROOM - SERENITY OAKS - DAY

There are sayings on the wall: "Easy Does It;" "Let Go and
Let God;" "Turn it over;" "One Day at a Time..." "H.A.L.T. --
Hungry?  Angry?  Lonely?  Tired?"

Caroline, wearing a thick, woolly sweater, and the other
PATIENTS sit around on beat-up couches and chairs in a loose
circle.  It's a mixed BUNCH: trucker meth-head, rocker dope-
fiend, yuppie crack-head, fat, thin, rich, middle-class, and
all white.  Caroline is the youngest.

MARTY, 40's, an overweight alcoholic, finishes his "share."

 			MARTY
 	... So it was my birthday an my ex-
 	wife was getting remarried and I
 	was in some church basement telling
 	a bunch of strangers how it was a
 	good day because I didn't have to
 	eat out of a dumpster.  That was
 	enough to send me out on big one.
 		(beat)
 	I've been thinking a lot about the
 	first step: that I came to believe
 	I was powerless over alcohol and
 	that my life had become unmanageable.
 		(beat)
 	See my disease tells me I don't
 	have a disease.  That I'm fine.
 	That it's my birthday and I can
 	have one little drink, then one
 	little line, then one little
 	Valium, then two more fat lines,
 	then two more 10 mil Valium... Six
 	months later I wake up in a sober
 	living house in Philly.  And I'm
 	from Dallas, people.
 		(beat)
 	It's a disease -- an allergy of the
 	body and an obsession of the mind.
 	I know that now.  So my name's
 	Marty and today I'm a grateful
 	recovering alcoholic who didn't eat
 	out of a dumpster.  Thanks.

And Marty looks to Caroline who didn't relate to one word he
said.

 								96.


 			CAROLINE
 		(slowly, very nervous)
 	Hi.  I'm Caroline.  I'm not sure
 	I'm an alcoholic.
 		(beat)
 	I mean I don't really like to drink.
 	For someone my age it's so much
 	easier to get drugs than beer.  I
 	don't know, this is really weird
 	and I'm really nervous...

People in the room nod encouragingly.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 	I guess I'm angry.  I mean I think
 	I'm really angry about a lot of
 	stuff, but I don't know what exactly.

She blushes, and stares out the window.

 						CUT TO:

INT. AYALA LIVING ROOM - AFTERNOON

Helena follows an ART APPRAISER through her formal living
room as he inspects paintings and makes notations.  He is
very excited and moves quickly from one to the next.

 			ART APPRAISER
 	Tamayo.  Carrington.  A simply
 	wonderful collection of Mexican
 	Modern.  Give me three months.  I
 	know several collectors in South
 	America, very discreet.

 			HELENA
 	I don't have three months.

 			ART APPRAISER
 	It takes time to find the proper
 	collection.

 			HELENA
 	How much will you give me in cash?
 	Today.

The appraiser taps out some numbers on a calculator and
shows the figure to Helena.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	You must be joking.  That's a
 	fraction of their value.

 								97.


 			ART APPRAISER
 	I'm sorry, but that is the figure I
 	can get today.

Helena turns her back.  She walks to a window and looks out,
then surveys the contents of her beautiful home.

 			HELENA
 		(snapping)
 	Get out.  Get out of my house.

Helena turns and sees David in the doorway.  She goes to him.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	It's all right.  We're have a
 	disagreement, that's all.

The art appraiser passes them on his way out.

INT. AYALA MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT

Helena wakes up in the middle of the night with a start.
Her eyes are wide open.  She has had a thought --

She climbs out of bed and quickly puts on a robe.

INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

Helena walks quickly and quietly down the hallway.  She
passes David's room.  She opens a door at the end of the
hall --

INT. CARL'S PRIVATE STUDY - CONTINUOUS

Helena enters the room.  She hits a desk lamp and we're in a
very comfortable and masculine upstairs study: bookshelves
holding hundreds of art books; comfortable chairs; MacIntosh
stereo; discreet flatscreen HD TV.

Helena stares at a painting on one of the bookshelves.  It
is "Boy with a Hoop," a small portrait by Rafael Colonel.

She goes to it and looks from different angles.  She reaches
out and jiggles the oil.  Nothing happens.  She looks behind
the painting at the backing.

She notices that one corner is not glued down.  She picks up
a letter opener and pries the paper back.  An envelope slips
out.

Inside the envelope: neat, thin strips of paper dense with
information in a miniscule type and a magnetic key card.

 						CUT TO:

 								98.


OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

INT.  HELICOPTER - DAY

Robert and Sheridan ride in the back of the chopper.  Each
looks out his own window.

A newspaper on the seat between them shows a front page
photo of General Salazar, exultant, and the headline reads
in Spanish, "Salazar Named Chief of Anti-Narcotics
Operations."

EXT. MEXICO CITY - DAY

Establishing shot of a military helicopter landing on the
roof of an office building in downtown Mexico City.

INT. HEADQUARTERS, FEADS, - MEXICO CITY - DAY

Robert Wakefield and General Salazar stroll through the new
headquarters where boxes are still being unpacked.  Javier
and Sheridan trail along behind them.

 			SALAZAR
 	I recruited the best men in Mexico
 	for my task force and put them
 	through a rigorous screening
 	process.  Not only physical, but
 	also psychological.

 			ROBERT
 	I'd like to bring you up to
 	Washington, walk you around our
 	side of things, and share some of
 	the information we've been able to
 	develop on your cartels.

 			SALAZAR
 	That would be very helpful to me.
 		(beat)
 	Also, I received the offer from DEA
 	and the FBI to train some of my men
 	at Quantico.  I think this will be
 	extremely useful, a good way for us
 	to absorb some of your methods.

INT. SALAZAR'S I.N.C.D. OFFICE - DAY

The office hasn't been decorated yet.

 								99.


 			SALAZAR
 	I've been too busy to completely
 	settle in.

Salazar proffers a chair and they sit next to each other
like Brezhnev and Nixon.  PHOTOGRAPHS begin SNAPPING pictures.
After a few moments, Salazar waves them away, and they lower
their cameras and leave.

 			ROBERT
 	You've been making very good
 	progress against the Tijuana cartel.

 			SALAZAR
 	Yes, I am confident that Juan
 	Obregon will be taken into custody
 	before the end of the year.  But,
 	you must understand that it is very
 	difficult because of corruption in
 	the police force.  We get a tip
 	that he is one place, then we get
 	there and he is already gone,
 	having been warned by someone on
 	our side.

 			ROBERT
 	Hopefully the exchange of training
 	methods and information between our
 	countries will help with this
 	problem.

 			SALAZAR
 	Yes, I hope so as well.

 			ROBERT
 	Let me ask you a related question.
 	We've talked about the supply side,
 	but what about demand?  What is
 	your policy for treating addiction?

 			SALAZAR
 	Addicts treat themselves... they
 	overdose and then there's one less
 	to worry about.

Robert cannot respond.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. SERENITY OAKS - WALKWAY - DAY

Caroline ambles alone down a walkway at the treatment
facility.

 								100.


She looks through the trees that surround facility and
notices cars going by.

 						CUT TO:

INT. LOW-RENT HOTEL - DAY

Gordon and another DEA AGENT escort Ruiz up the stairs of a
large, older hotel.

 			RUIZ
 	This is ridiculous.  Why is there
 	no elevator?

 			GORDON
 	When the DEA gets into the narcotics
 	business, then we'll stay at the
 	Four Seasons.

They walk down a hotel hallway.  Two more AGENTS stand
outside Room 407.  Gordon opens the door and they enter.

INT. SUITE OF CHEAP HOTEL ROOMS - DAY

There are more AGENTS inside and old food and coffee
containers.  Gordon gives Ruiz a tour.  There are several
rooms.  A bored Castro sits at a table staring at a Scrabble
board.

 			CASTRO
 	Eddie, how you like your new home?
 	I hope you hate it as much as I do.

Ruiz looks around with disgust.  He's accustomed to finer
places.  He goes to a window and looks out.

RUIZ'S POV: of the Federal Court building not far away.

 			RUIZ
 	This is not what my lawyers
 	negotiated.

Gordon pours himself a cup of coffee.

 			GORDON
 	Fuck your lawyers.  You aren't
 	getting any cappuccino or Biscotti
 	either.

INT. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE - DAY

A packed, tense courtroom listens to testimony from a
government witness, FRANK, 50's, very matter-of-fact and
truthful.

 								101.


 			FRANK
 	He first came to me in January.
 	That would've been nineteen eight-
 	seven.  He wanted to rent warehouse
 	space along the harbor.  I didn't
 	ask too many questions; I'm a
 	businessman also.

INT. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE - DAY

Another witness, MRS. BERRY, 40's, pedantic on the stand --

 			MRS. BERRY
 	I told Mr. Ayala there were
 	irregularities in his tax return.
 	And I couldn't represent him unless
 	we could explain this...

INT. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE - DAY

SHEILA, 38, a mousy secretary, is on the stand.  Carlos sits
at the defendant's table listening raptly.  Gordon and
Castro sit in the back watching Helena who pays close
attention to the witness --

 			SHEILA
 	I was the company secretary from
 	1991 to 1994.  I supposedly worked
 	for all six companies.  But... they
 	weren't... I mean, it was just one
 	empty office with a desk and a
 	telephone.  We never sold anything
 	the whole time I was there.
 	Sometimes people came and got paid.
 	I don't really know what we did.

 			PROSECUTOR
 	Did Mr. Ayala say where the money
 	came from?

 			SHEILA
 	No, and I didn't ask.

 			PROSECUTOR
 	Where do you think it came from?

Carl's lawyer, Adler, is on his feet --

 			KAUFMAN
 	This speculation --

 								102.


 			PROSECUTOR
 	I'll rephrase.  Did you feel like
 	you were engaged in a legal
 	enterprise?

Sheila is reluctant to answer.

 			SHEILA
 	No, not really.

Helena catches Carl's eye and they share a grim moment.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

INT. CARL'S UPSTAIRS STUDY - DAY

Helena sits at Carl's office desk.  On the desk in front of
her are the lists she found and an encrypted cell phone.

Helena picks up the phone.  Her hands are shaking.  She is
crying as she dials.  A voice on the other end answers.

 			FRANCISCO (V.O.)
 	Who is this?

Helena gathers her courage, then...

 			HELENA
 	A friend... of Carlos Ayala.

There is a long pause.

 			FRANCISCO (V.O.)
 	Yes.

 			HELENA
 	I'm on a special phone, may I speak
 	freely?

 			FRANCISCO (V.O.)
 	You may speak.

 			HELENA
 	I have a job for you and I don't
 	have much time.

 								103.


EXT. BOTANICAL GARDEN - DAY

Helena watches David look at the wide variety of plants and
flowers.  All around them a GROUP of 3rd graders, in
identical T-shirts, enjoy a field trip.

 			FRANCISCO (V.O.)
 	I love this place.  Don't turn
 	around.

Behind her Francisco Flores takes a photo with an instant
camera.

 			FRANCISCO (CONT'D)
 	You were followed by the police,
 	but they won't hear us over the
 	children.  I want to use a bomb.

 			HELENA
 	You're kidding.  Can't you shoot
 	him or something?

 			FRANCISCO
 	I don't really like guns.  You
 	shoot someone in the head three
 	times and some doctor will keep
 	them alive.

 			HELENA
 	When will you do it?

 			FRANCISCO
 	I don't know.  Eduardo Ruiz is the
 	only real witness against Carl.
 	The security is very tight.  There
 	may not be a way.

 			HELENA
 	There's always a way.  If people
 	get to the Pope or the President,
 	you can get to him.

Francisco laughs.

 			FRANCISCO
 	Careful... You're sounding like
 	your husband, Mrs. Ayala.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

 								104.


INT. JAVI'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Anna sits in the living room, staring.  She appears too
upset to speak.  The apartment is cleaner.  There have been
other changes.  There's a new rug.

 			JAVIER
 	What?  What is it?

 			ANNA
 	It's very hard for me to come and
 	tell you this.

Javier just watches her.

 			ANNA (CONT'D)
 	It's Manolo.  He's going to do
 	something stupid.  I'm worried that
 	he'll get himself killed.

He keeps watching.

 			ANNA (CONT'D)
 	He's saying he's going to talk to
 	the Americans.  Become an informer.
 	He says they pay a lot of money.

 			JAVIER
 	Why does he need money?

 			ANNA
 	He has debts.  He has gambling
 	debts.  He owes a lot of money.

 			JAVIER
 	How much?

 			ANNA
 	Nine thousand dollars.

A long beat.

 			JAVIER
 	What is he planning on telling them?

 			ANNA
 	Well, you know, he's going to say
 	about Madrigal... and Salazar.

Javier just looks at her.

 						CUT TO:

 								105.


INT. ROBERT'S OFFICE IN WASHINGTON - DAY

Robert is on the telephone, listening.  He is not happy.
Sheridan watches him.

 			ROBERT
 		(into phone)
 	Nobody saw her leave?
 		(beat)
 	Yes... I understand.

He hangs up.  He stands and reaches for his jacket.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	I have to go.  I have to go home.

INT. WAKEFIELD KITCHEN - NIGHT

Robert and Barbara sit at the kitchen table.

 			BARBARA
 	Should we bring the police into this?

 			ROBERT
 	No, not yet.

EXT. WEST END STREETS - DAY

Robert drives through the streets in his Cadillac DeVille.

INT. DEVILLE - DAY

Robert rides in glum silence.  He looks at passersby who are
almost all black and almost all stare back at the white man
in his Cadillac.

A group of young men stare threateningly as he rolls past.

On the street, in the lee of a Brownstone staircase, a deal
is going down.

ROBERT AND SETH ABRAHMS - DAY

sit in a coffee shop.

 			SETH
 		(genuinely surprised)
 	She's not at that place you sent her?

 			ROBERT
 	She snuck away.  And we haven't
 	seen her.  She hasn't come home.

 								106.


 			SETH
 	Oh, man --

 			ROBERT
 	She hasn't called you?

 			SETH
 	I tried to talk to her when she was
 	up there, but they wouldn't put me
 	through.
 		(beat)
 	I'm surprised she hasn't called.

ANOTHER ANGLE ON ROBERT IN THE CAR - DAY

He turns a corner and is suddenly in a drive-thru drug
market.  Dealers, HUSTLERS, run at the windows from both
sides, signaling.

 			HUSTLERS
 	What you want?  Rock?  Rock?  Hey,
 	what you want?

ROBERT AND SETH - DAY

in the coffee shop.

 			ROBERT
 	Can you tell me anything?  Do you
 	have any ideas?

 			SETH
 	I don't know what to say.

 			ROBERT
 	I'm not the police.  I don't care
 	about experimentation.  She's a kid.
 	I'm worried to death.

 			SETH
 	You won't say anything to my parents?

 			ROBERT
 	I don't give a fuck about your
 	parents --

 			SETH
 	We sometimes went downtown to score.

 			ROBERT
 	What?

 								107.


 			SETH
 	The West End.  We buy it off the
 	streets.
 		(beat)
 	I can stop, you know, and she can't.
 	Two people, really similar, we can
 	talk about anything, but for me
 	it's like a weekend thing, then I
 	get my shit together, and for her
 	it's different --

 			ROBERT
 	You don't know what the hell you're
 	talking about.  You're a cocky
 	seventeen year-old and you don't
 	have a clue what the stakes are.
 	You don't know the value of the
 	life you've yet to throw away.  And
 	neither does she.

ROBERT IN HIS CAR - DAY

It is surrounded.  Robert stares.  A face presses up against
the window.

 			FACE
 		(through the window)
 	What do you want?

 			ROBERT
 		(through the window)
 	What do you mean, what do I want?

 			FACE
 	Rock or dope, man?

 			ROBERT
 	I don't want anything.

ROBERT AND SETH

 			SETH
 	Hey man, I'm sorry.  I'm just
 	trying to help.

 			ROBERT
 	You want to help?  Stay the fuck
 	away from her.

ROBERT IN HIS CAR

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	I'm looking for my daughter.

 								108.


The dealer looks at him with disgust, turns his back, and
waves everyone else away.

Robert slams his fist against the steering wheel.  He slams
it again and again.  He stops and pulls away, just as

AT THE INTERSECTION

behind Robert's car, Caroline crosses the street toward
Sketch's house.

INT. SKETCH'S BEDROOM - DAY

A single candle lights the room.  Caroline is underneath
Sketch the drug dealer.  He is pounding away.  As she
clutches his back and holds on, her expression is both
surprised and druggy, and SOUNDS escape her mouth that she
wouldn't believe she could make.

There's a KNOCK on the door.  Sketch continues his business.
The KNOCKING is more insistent.  Finally, he stops and gets
up and goes to the door.  Caroline lies back.  She's in a
bed with black sheets in a room with nothing else in it but
a dresser and some duffle bags.

Sketch opens the door --

 			SKETCH
 	What the fuck do you want?

SOMEBODY outside says something.  Sketch walks over to a
duffle bag and extracts some product.  Caroline's eyes are
glued to it as Sketch hands it through the door.  Sketch
sees her staring at the drugs.

He comes back to bed.

 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	You want some of that?

Caroline nods.

 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	What you gonna do to get some of
 	that?

 			CAROLINE
 	Please --

 			SKETCH
 	What you gonna do?

She turns her back to him, pouting.  He laughs.

 								109.


 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	Maybe a taste.

He reaches over beside the bed where there is a small tray.
On the tray is a rig, spoon, several powders, and an eye
dropper.  He pulls the candle over and rapidly fixes a
speedball.  He pulls the fluid into the neck of the syringe
and holds it up the light.  It has Caroline transfixed.

 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	Feed this to you like a little bird.

He squirts the tiniest amount of fluid into the air.  It
arcs in the candlelight.

 			CAROLINE
 	Don't --

 			SKETCH
 	You want this?

She nods.

 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	This is the Express train.  Baby
 	turnin' pro and getting down in a
 	big, big hole.

Her concentration is entirely, hypnotically focused on the
syringe.

Sketch moves the syringe toward her lips.

 			SKETCH (CONT'D)
 	Kiss it.  Kiss your new mommy hello.

Caroline moves her mouth toward the side of the syringe, her
lips part.

Sketch pulls the sheet back, exposing her legs.  He grips
one powerful hand around her ankle and squeezes... Veins
stand out on her foot.

He slides the needle into the largest vein and slowly
depresses the plunger.

Caroline watches, then her head tilts back, then forward,
she GROANS, sexually and slumps against the pillows, her
eyes half-open, her lips twitching.

Sketch puts the rig back on the tray, then admires Caroline's
beauty for a second before starting to fuck her again.

 						CUT TO:

 								110.


EXT. HOTEL - DAY

Gordon and Castro and two other AGENTS escort Ruiz out of
the hotel and usher him into a waiting cruiser.

They pull out in a caravan and move through the streets
toward the courthouse.

EXT. COURTHOUSE PARKING LOT - DAY

The cruiser pulls into a fenced and gated parking lot.

Gordon, Castro and Ruiz, walking with a limp, cross to the
building entrance.

As they push inside, Francisco Flores, in a conservative
grey suit passes them going outside.

The parking lot is empty of people.  The guards at the gate
talk about something distracting.

Francisco passes by the cruiser and drops his keys.  Kneeling
down he extracts a small, powerful, magnetized bomb from his
jacket.  He attaches it to the underside of the vehicle,
stands and walks toward the guard gate.

INT. COURTROOM - DAY

The court is filled to capacity.  Helena and Metzger watch
from the gallery.

The JUDGE bangs his gavel.  Adler is on his feet.

 			ADLER
 	Your honor, it has come to our
 	attention that your honor, while in
 	private practice, previously
 	represented the town of Seal Beach
 	in their stop-work suit against the
 	Police Department of Seal Beach.
 	We believe this disqualifies you
 	from hearing this case and we
 	therefore move for a temporary
 	suspension while this is
 	investigated.

The judge is surprised to hear this.

 			JUDGE
 	Mr. Adler, this is a most unusual
 	motion.

 								111.


 			ADLER
 	Nonetheless, your honor, we feel
 	that our client deserves every
 	fairness afforded under the law.

 			JUDGE
 	If this is in any way designed to
 	delay the testimony of Eduardo
 	Ruiz...

The judge considers.

 			JUDGE (CONT'D)
 	We'll recess until 9:00 am Monday
 	morning.  And I'll see counsel in
 	chambers.

He slams the gavel down again.

EXT. COURTHOUSE - DAY

Gordon, Castro, other AGENTS and Ruiz come down the rear
steps of the courthouse and walk across the street toward
the parking lot.

 			CASTRO
 	Remember when we sat on that mob
 	guy, that chef, for like six months?

 			GORDON
 	Oh, man, I've never eaten so good
 	in my life.
 		(to Ruiz)
 	Why don't you develop a useful skill?

 			CASTRO
 	Yeah, like turning into a beautiful
 	woman.

They reach the car.

 			RUIZ
 	Would you mind if today we walked?
 	It's one block.  I could use the
 	fresh air.

OMITTED

INT. FRANCISCO'S CAR - CONTINUOUS

Across the street, Francisco, encrypted cell phone to his
ear, watches from his own car as Gordon, Castro, and Ruiz
stand by their car without getting in, then walk away from
the car.

 								112.


 			FRANCISCO
 		(into phone)
 	They're not getting into the car.
 	What are they doing?  They're
 	walking right at me.

The men start across the street toward Francisco.

INT. HELENA'S CAR - DAY

Helena drives her car through downtown San Diego.

 			HELENA
 		(into phone)
 	You've got a gun.  Get out of the
 	car and shoot him in the head.

INT. FRANCISCO'S CAR - DAY

Francisco watches Ruiz and the agents walk up the street
toward him.

 			FRANCISCO
 		(into phone)
 	They're going to walk right past me.

 			HELENA (V.O.)
 	What are you?  A mouse?  Get out of
 	the car and do it.  This is your
 	chance.

Francisco watches the three men walk past his car.  He makes
a decision and opens his door.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Francisco steps from the car and mingles in with OTHER
PEOPLE walking along the sidewalk.  He follows them for few
yards, picking his moment.

He closes the distance to Gordon, Castro and Ruiz, pulling a
pistol from inside his jacket.  He takes careful aim from
twelve feet away and is about to shoot Ruiz when a bullet
hole appears in his chest.  He staggers, trying to squeeze
the trigger,

Francisco fires the gun once, wildly --

A TOURIST SCREAMS --

Gordon and Castro and Ruiz turn --

Francisco is looking down at the widening red splotch in the
center of his shirt, uncertain of what has happened --

 								113.


Gordon shoves Ruiz down into a doorway and fires three quick
shots --

Francisco spins around and drops on his face in the street.

Citizens run in all directions fearing a psychopath with an
NRA card coming off a bad week of day-trading --

Gordon and Castro with Ruiz beneath them scan the streets.

 			CASTRO
 	Stay here.  I'll get the car.

Castro runs down the street for the court parking lot.
Other AGENTS are running toward Gordon and Ruiz.

INT. OFFICE BUILDING WINDOW - CONTINUOUS

The STRANGE MAN who threatened Helena's children packs a
high-caliber rifle and scope into a briefcase.

He snaps the case shut and quickly exits the room.  We
notice a man on the floor with a bullet hole in his head
next to the open door.

EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

Agents surround Ruiz.

Gordon walks to the body of Francisco lying face down in the
gutter.  He turns him over with his shoe and sees his face.

 			GORDON
 		(to the other agents)
 	I saw this guy at the courthouse.
 		(beat)
 	The car --

Gordon takes off running, yelling for Castro.

EXT. COURT PARKING LOT - DAY

Castro has reached the car and gets in.

Gordon appears at the gate of the lot --

 			GORDON
 		(yelling)
 	No --

INT. CRUISER - DAY

Castro turns the ignition exactly at the moment he sees
Gordon yelling and waving his arms --

 								114.


EXT. COURT PARKING LOT - DAY

The cruiser EXPLODES.

Gordon hits the pavement.  Parts of the car begin raining
down around him.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

INT. SIDEWALK CAFE - SAN DIEGO - DAY

A fire truck and paramedic unit WHIZZES by.  Manolo sits at
an outdoor cafe table, waiting.  He can't help looking
around at the attractive people, but he's also nervous.

Suddenly two MEN, recognizable as Salazar's OFFICERS from
the desert drug bust, sitting at a nearby table, rise and
move to Manolo's table.

 			MAN #1
 	Manolo, how are you?

They take seats uncomfortably close to Manolo.

 			MAN #2
 	Manolo, have we interrupted?
 	You're looking around like you're
 	expecting someone.

 			MANOLO
 	No.  I'm looking for the waiter.  I
 	want to order.

 			MAN #1
 	What are you gonna have?

 			MANOLO
 	A steak.

 			MAN #1
 	Well, if you like steak, we know a
 	much better place.  We'll take you
 	there.

 			MANOLO
 	That's okay, really.

They each take Manolo by an arm.

 			MAN #2
 	Manolo, we should really be going
 	now, before it gets too crowded.

 								115.


INT. SUV - DAY

We're looking through the windshield as we approach the
Mexican border.  As the car slows, we pan to follow the
border official as he looks in briefly and waves us through.
We continue to pan to reveal Manolo in the backseat sitting
beside Man #2.

INT. SUV - DAY

We're in the desert.  There's nothing in any directions.
Javi is implacable.  Manolo understands what is happening.

 			MANOLO
 	I was going to feed them wrong
 	information.  Feed them lies to ...
 	it was for...

The men say nothing.  After a beat --

 			MANOLO (CONT'D)
 	Don't tell Anna I died like this.
 	Tell her it was something else.
 	Tell her it was official business.
 	Tell her that I died doing something
 	honorable.  Please, tell her that
 	for me...

EXT. DESERT - DAY

Javi and Manolo stand next to two freshly dug graves.

 			MAN #1
 	Turn around.

Javi hesitates before turning.  We're on Javi as we hear the
GUNSHOT.  Javi doesn't flinch.  Manolo's body falls into the
grave.

Javi stands there, waiting.

 			MAN #1 (CONT'D)
 	You got anything you want to say?

Javi shakes his head.  Finally, another GUNSHOT.  After a
beat, a hand reaches out of Javi's shoulder.

 			MAN #1 (CONT'D)
 	Sorry about that... we had to be
 	sure.

They walk back to the SUV.

 								116.


 			SOMEBODY ELSE
 	Are you sure you don't have anything
 	to tell us?

Javi says nothing, doesn't even acknowledge them.  We hear a
GUNSHOT.

 						CUT TO:

INT. AYALA HOME - DAY

Arnie Metzger is in Helena's living room.  The stereo is
loudly playing MOZART.

 			ARNIE
 	That was a stupid thing you did.
 	Incredibly stupid.

 			HELENA
 	I tried, Arnie.  And, I will
 	continue to try.

 			ARNIE
 	Have you gone crazy?  You are not
 	Carl.  You aren't as good as Carl.
 		(beat)
 	They are moving the trial to a high
 	security location.  The press has
 	gone berserk.  The jury will be
 	influenced.  Stay out of things.
 	Let us try to win the case.

 			HELENA
 	That is going to be rather difficult
 	when all the evidence is against us.

Helena steps closer to Arnie, close enough that her breasts
are almost touching his chest.

 			ARNIE
 	Helena, please.  This is out of
 	your hands.

 			HELENA
 		(softly)
 	I know I made things worse.  I know
 	that and I'm sorry, but Arnie I
 	need something from you.  Something
 	only you can help me with.

Helena looks searchingly into his eyes.

 			ARNIE
 	Helena --

 								117.


 			HELENA
 	I need an introduction to the
 	Obregon Brothers.

 			ARNIE
 	I can't do that.

Helena leans closer to him.

 			HELENA
 	I figured out what Carl was up to
 	and I need your help.  Will you
 	help me?

 						CUT TO:

EXT. LABORATORY RESEARCH FACILITIES - DAY

An establishing shot of a hi-tech company within shooting
distance of the Salk Institute.

INT. LAB FACILITY - DAY

This is a professional chemical lab that can be rented by
the month.  Long tables of lab and computer equipment.
Nobody has been here in a while.  There are toys - plastic
dolls, frisbees, hula hoops - on many of the tables.

Helena lets herself into the room.  She scans ledgers. She
looks over the equipment.

She picks up a twelve-inch high plastic Spastic Jack action
figure and a can labeled "solvent" and hurries from the lab.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. WEST END - CINCINNATI - NIGHT

Robert drives through the streets, searching for Caroline.
He doesn't find her.

INT. WAKEFIELD HOUSE - NIGHT

Barbara is waiting in the living room.  Robert enters.  He
shakes his head then stands silently for a beat.

 			ROBERT
 	About the other night, I'm sorry.

 			BARBARA
 	Me, too.

 								118.


 			ROBERT
 	God, I don't get it.  Are we
 	supposed to say to ourselves, be
 	prepared to lose her, be prepared
 	to lose our child?
 		(beat)
 	Why does this happen to someone?
 	How does it happen?

 			BARBARA
 	I don't know.

INT. CAROLINE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Robert is standing in the middle of her room.  He's not sure
what he's looking for.  Everywhere he looks: her personal
things, beloved objects from more innocent times, pictures.

Within moments a legitimate desire to connect with his
daughter has escalated into a search for clues.  He opens
her drawers, dumps little boxes, pulls things off of shelves.

He becomes increasingly unhinged, flinging things around her
room.  He tosses a stack of magazines.  A fashion magazine,
airborne, discharges some contents: a lighter, a plastic
tube and a piece of folded aluminum foil fluttering to the
ground.

Robert stares at the foil on the carpet.  It's charred on
the outside.  He picks it up.  And unfolds it.  There's a
dried milky white substance.

He picks up the tube and lighter and stares at them.  Then,
somewhat tentatively, he puts the tube in his mouth.  He
holds the lighter under the foil, then heats the milky
substance which turns translucent and disappears in a cloud
of smoke.  Robert sucks all of it in.

He waits a long time then exhales.  His eyes shut.  The tube
drops from his mouth.  He staggers and, overwhelmed by the
sensations, sits on the bed.  The lighter and foil fall from
his hands.

A moment later he opens his eyes and doesn't seem to know
where he is.  He looks at the room, confused.  He stumbles
to the door and shuts it firmly behind him.

 						CUT TO:

INT. MANOLO'S HOUSE - DAY

Anna is weeping.  Javier sits next to her.  He puts his arm
around her and she leans her head against his shoulder.

 								119.


INT. JAVIER'S SUV - DAY

Javi drives through the streets of Tijuana.  He brakes for a
stop sign and watches, trance-like, the pedestrians crossing
in front of him.  As the intersection clears he remains still.

A HONK from behind brings him back and he pulls forward
passing Helena Ayala who crosses going the opposite direction.
We stay with her.

EXT. TIJUANA - DAY

Helena walks down a nightlife street that is tawdry and
stale in the midday sun.

OMITTED

INT. CLUB PLATINUM - DAY

A shrewd Obregon Lieutenant, JUAN MARQUEZ, 40, sits at a
table opposite Helena.  The Strange Man who both threatened
Helena's child and executed Francisco sits in another chair.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Mrs. Ayala.  Thank you for coming.
 	I am Juan Marquez, I work for Mr.
 	Obregon.  I believe you know my
 	associate, "Tigrillo," the Little
 	Tiger.

Helena nods to Tigrillo --

 			HELENA
 	Yes, he threatened to kill my five
 	year-old son.
 		(beat)
 	I was under the impression I would
 	be meeting Juan Obregon.

 			MARQUEZ
 	No, this is not possible.  And I
 	thank you for coming down here,
 	though I suspect it's been a
 	pointless journey.

 			HELENA
 	Why do you say that, Mr. Marquez?

 			MARQUEZ
 	I hear these stories.  Your husband
 	in jail.  His business in chaos.
 	Various people fighting over the
 	scraps.

 								120.


 			HELENA
 	My husband is the victim of an
 	informer in your organization, not
 	ours.

 			MARQUEZ
 	That is not true, Mrs. Ayala.  Your
 	route is compromised.  Perhaps it
 	is time for me to deal with other
 	distributors in California.

 			HELENA
 	I don't think you're going to do
 	that.

 			MARQUEZ
 	You don't?  Listen to this woman in
 	a man's world, a very violent world.

 			HELENA
 	There are plenty of other suppliers
 	in Mexico.

 			MARQUEZ
 	But not in whose interest it is to
 	help you out of debt.

Helena reaches into her bag and pulls out the Spastic Jack
action figure.  She puts it on the desk.

 			HELENA
 	My husband had been working on
 	something he called, The Project
 	for the Children.  Are you aware of
 	this?

 			MARQUEZ
 	I don't know.  Perhaps I remember
 	something.

 			HELENA
 	We have the ability to change the
 	color, odor, and physical property
 	of cocaine.

 			MARQUEZ
 	You want to smuggle narcotics in Mr.
 	Espastico Jacobo.  That's nothing
 	new.

 			HELENA
 	Not in...

Juan Marquez is confused.

 								121.


 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	This doll is cocaine.

Juan picks up Spastic Jack and looks at him.  He bangs it on
the desk.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	Every part, from his ears to his
 	accessory belt, is high-impact,
 	pressure-molded cocaine.  Odorless.
 	Undetectable by dogs.  Undetectable
 	by anyone.

 			MARQUEZ
 	I don't believe you.

She takes out the "solvent" and puts it on his desk.

 			HELENA
 	Get a bowl.

INT. CLUB PLATINUM - OFFICE - LATER

Spastic Jack is slowly dissolving in a bowl of solvent.
Only his shoulders, head, and ridiculous ears remain above
the quicksand of milky glop.

Helena holds a mirror under the desk lamp.  She is drying
the paste.  She puts the mirror on the desk.  A white
substance has coagulated there.

 			HELENA
 	Try it.

Juan takes out a razor blade and chops the dried substance
into two white powder lines.  He hands a silver straw to
Helena.

 			MARQUEZ
 	You first.

 			HELENA
 	I'm six months pregnant.  I won't
 	do it.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Fine, then we don't have deal.

 			HELENA
 	Fine, then we don't have a deal.

She stands.  He watches her a beat, then smiles.

 								122.


 			MARQUEZ
 	Okay, okay.

He leans down and quickly snorts a line.  After a beat.

 			MARQUEZ (CONT'D)
 	That's good coke.

 			HELENA
 	It should be... It's yours.
 		(beat)
 	I want our debt forgiven.  I want
 	to be the exclusive distributor of
 	Obregon Brothers Cocaine for the
 	United States.  And I want the
 	principle witness against my
 	husband, Eduardo Ruiz, killed.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Perhaps... Perhaps... I'm afraid I
 	must first ask you to pass a test.
 	I asked the same of your husband
 	and he succeeded with flying colors.

Helena waits.  Juan Marquez reaches in his desk and pulls
out a quarter kilo of cocaine.  He pushes it across the desk.

 			MARQUEZ (CONT'D)
 	Take this back with you.  Deliver
 	it safely to Tigrillo in San Diego
 	and we have a deal.

 			HELENA
 	That's crazy.  My husband is on
 	trial for smuggling.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Exactly, and this is how I know I'm
 	not getting into business with the
 	U.S. Government.

She puts the quarter key in her bag and stands.

 			HELENA
 	You will help me with my other
 	problem.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Deliver that safely to Tigrillo in
 	San Diego.  And we have a deal.

Tigrillo escorts her out of the room.

 								123.


INT. CLUB PLATINUM - DAY

Helena follows Tigrillo.  As they pass the restrooms she
signals that she has to stop.

INT. CLUB PLATINUM - LADIES' ROOM - DAY

Helena goes into a stall.  She extracts the cocaine from her
handbag.

She looks at it, trying to figure out where it goes.  She
hikes up her skirt.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

Javier is hooked up to a polygraph machine watched closely
by a POLYGRAPH OPERATOR.  Hughes and Johnson watch as Javi
talks into a tape recorder on the table.

 			JAVIER
 	... And I have the electronic
 	serial numbers for their cellular
 	phones.  They change them every
 	twenty-four hours but I have a
 	contact at MexTel who can get me
 	the new ESNs within twelve.

Javi finishes talking and sits back.  Agent Hughes shuts off
the tape recorder and looks at the polygraph operator who
nods approval.  Hughes and Johnson exchange a look.  They
are dumbstruck.

 			HUGHES
 	That's good shit.

 								124.


 			JAVIER
 	Now that you have what you want,
 	let's talk about how I get what I
 	want.

 			JOHNSON
 	Oh, don't worry, Javier, you're not
 	gonna have any problems there.

 			HUGHES
 	I want to take a minute and talk
 	about what type of precautions
 	you're taking to protect yourself.
 	When Salazar and Madrigal go down,
 	they might send someone to see you.

 			JAVIER
 	You worry about getting me the
 	things that I want.  I'll worry
 	about myself.

There's a beat.  Javier seems discomfited.  The two agents
notice this and exchange looks.

 			JOHNSON
 	You should feel good about this.

 			JAVIER
 	I feel like a traitor.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

EXT. BORDER CROSSING AUTOMOBILE CHECKPOINT - DAY

Javi goes into Mexico.  Pan over to Helena's Mercedes.

INT. HELENA'S CAR - DAY

She inches the car forward towards the officer who selects
vehicles for inspection.  The car ahead of her passes
through and speeds away.  The OFFICER flags Helena and
directs her into the search facility.

EXT. CUSTOMS SEARCH BAY - DAY

Helena pulls into a search bay.

A CUSTOMS OFFICER watches Helena lower her window.

 								125.


 			CUSTOMS OFFICER
 	Please step from the car, Ma'am.

 			HELENA
 	I'm in a hurry --

 			CUSTOMS OFFICER
 	Step from the car, Ma'am.  This
 	won't take long from your day.

Helena gets out of her car.

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - CUSTOMS CHECKPOINT - DAY

There is a bank of video monitors showing the scenes all
over the facility.

ON THE MONITOR: Helena's car is on a lift three feet off the
ground.  Officers pour over the inside and undercarriage of
the Mercedes.

Nearby, A GERMAN SHEPHERD sniffs at the items that have been
removed from the car: bags, spare tire, cd boxes.

EXT. CUSTOMS SEARCH BAY - DAY

Customs OFFICERS approach Helena --

 			OFFICER
 	Ma'am, we have to ask you to come
 	with us.

She follows them toward the Customs building.

INT. STRIP SEARCH ROOM - DAY

A FEMALE CUSTOMS INSPECTOR accompanied by a female
SUPERVISORY INSPECTOR leads Helena into a sterile room where
there is no place to hide anything.

 			CUSTOMS MATRON
 	Ma'am, we have reason to believe
 	you may have illegal drugs hidden
 	beneath your clothing.  I need to
 	conduct a pat down search.
 	Supervisory Inspector Haig will
 	witness the search.

 			HELENA
 	You've got to be kidding me.  I'm
 	pregnant.  What if I refuse?

 								126.


 			CUSTOMS MATRON
 	This pamphlet explains the law and
 	your rights under it.  You're
 	welcome to read it first.  It says
 	we have the authority to conduct
 	this search.  Would you like to
 	read it first or shall we proceed?

EXT. FUNERAL SERVICE - DAY

Hundreds of DEA AGENTS, spouses, others stand around a grave
in a leafy cemetery in working class San Diego.

EXT. CEMETERY - DAY

The funeral is over and people are filing back to the cars.
Gordon walks away from the service when he is approached by
a mourning LUCINDA CASTRO, the mother of the deceased.

 			MRS. CASTRO
 	Montel... Oh, Montel.

Gordon hugs her.

 			MRS. CASTRO (CONT'D)
 	You know how much he cared about
 	you.  You do, don't you?

 			GORDON
 	Yes.

 			MRS. CASTRO
 	I know if he could have it back
 	somehow, he wouldn't do it
 	differently or have it any other
 	way.  He wouldn't.  He loved his job.

Another AGENT hustles toward him from the other direction,
the direction of the cars.

 			AGENT
 	Excuse me, Agent Gordon.  Mrs.
 	Castro.
 		(to Gordon)
 	Helena Ayala left Club Platinum in
 	Tijuana.  The Obregon Brothers'
 	place.  They stopped her at the
 	border but she was clean.  She's in
 	San Diego now.

Gordon runs for his car.

 						CUT TO:

 								127.


INT. ARNIE METZGER'S OFFICE - DAY

Arnie sits in his office, spacing out, admiring his view
when an ASSISTANT shows Helena in.  As soon as the door
shuts --

 			HELENA
 	Did you get it?

 			ARNIE
 	What are you thinking, calling me
 	at home with a message like that?
 	You've compromised me and our
 	relationship --

Helena sits confidently on his couch.

 			HELENA
 		(making fun of Arnie)
 	The place is swept twice a day.  I
 	learned that down in Miami in '85...
 		(hard)
 	Arnie.  I'm the housewife.  I
 	belong to the most exclusive
 	country club in La Jolla that
 	accepts Latinos.  Until recently, I
 	believed my husband imported
 	hydroponic strawberries, which I
 	donated at the school fair.

Arnie reaches into a desk drawer and pulls out a quarter-
kilo baggy identical to the one Juan Obregon gave her in
Tijuana.

 			HELENA (CONT'D)
 	It's the same stuff?  From the
 	rainy day stash?

 			ARNIE
 	It's the same.  What happened to
 	what they gave you?

Helena puts the bag in her purse.

 			HELENA
 	I'm desperate, but I'm not stupid.
 	I flushed it in the bathroom of
 	their godawful nightclub.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

 								128.


INT. ROBERT AND BARBARA'S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING

Robert sleeps in his clothes on top of the covers.  Barbara
is asleep beside him.  The phone rings.  Robert answers.
Barbara watches.

 			ROBERT
 	Hello.

 			SHERIDAN (V.O.)
 	I'm sorry... Did I wake you?

Robert looks at Barbara and shakes his head.  She gets up.

 			ROBERT
 	No, it's all right.

There's a beat.

 			SHERIDAN (V.O.)
 	Salazar's been taken down.  He was
 	working for Porfirio Madrigal.

 			ROBERT
 	What?  I thought Madrigal was dead.
 	I thought it was verified.

 			SHERIDAN (V.O.)
 	Apparently not.  Look, it's a shit
 	storm here right now.  When are you
 	coming back?
 		(beat)
 	I don't know what to tell people
 	any more.

 			ROBERT
 	I'll get there as soon as I can.

 			SHERIDAN (V.O.)
 	If we're moving the press
 	conference, we need to do it now.
 		(beat)
 	Are you all right?

 			BARBARA (V.O.)
 	Robert.

The tone in Barbara's voice causes him to look up.  She
holds an empty jewelry box.

 			ROBERT
 		(to Sheridan)
 	I have to call you back.

 								129.


INT. DINING ROOM - EARLY MORNING

The drawers and cabinets are open.  Barbara and Robert
assess what is missing.

 			BARBARA
 	The silver wedding cup.

INT. LIVING ROOM - EARLY MORNING

Robert looks at their home entertainment center.  Barbara
enters this room.

 			BARBARA
 	My Leica's gone.

 			ROBERT
 	So's the video camera.

 			BARBARA
 	At least she's alive.

Robert turns for the door.

 			BARBARA (CONT'D)
 	Where are you going?

 			ROBERT
 	She'll be at a pawn shop in an hour.
 	Ten minutes after that she'll be at
 	her dealer's.  If I find him, maybe
 	I find her.

INT. CLASSROOM - CINCINNATI COUNTRY DAY - DAY

The bored children of privilege, wearing their blazers or
uniform grey skirts, stare at a TEACHER behind a desk.

The door opens and Robert enters.  He finds Seth Abrahms in
the back of the class and walks straight to him.  Robert
grabs a fistful of shirt and tie.

 			SETH
 	Hey man, what are you doing?

 			TEACHER (O.S.)
 	Excuse me?  Excuse me?

Robert yanks Seth out of his seat.  The teacher is
approaching.

 			ROBERT
 	Seth has to be excused.  He's going
 	on a field trip.

 								130.


INT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Helena watches David play a video game.  They have finished
their lunch, a mess of pizza rinds.

 			HELENA
 	Come on.  Time to go.

The CLOWN tries to catch their attention with some mime, but
they ignore him.

EXT. THE FUN ZONE - DAY

Helena and David are pushing out the door.  The man walking
the other way past them is Tigrillo from the Tijuana cartel.
As they pass --

 			HELENA
 		(under her breath)
 	Women's room, stall two.
 		(loud)
 	Should we stop for ice-cream?

 			DAVID
 	Yeah!

Tigrillo disappears into the restaurant.

As Helena pulls out of the Fun Zone parking lot, an unmarked
DEA cruiser falls in behind her.

 						CUT TO:

INT. ROBERT'S CAR - DAY

Robert and Seth are parked across the street from Sketch's
building.  They watch people, mostly white people, get what
they need.

 			SETH
 	I don't know, maybe we missed her.

 			ROBERT
 	I can't believe you used to bring
 	my daughter here, to this place.

 			SETH
 	Hey man, back the fuck up.  To this
 	place.  What's that shit?
 			(MORE)

 								131.


 			SETH (CONT'D)
 	Right now, all over this country, a
 	hundred thousand white people from
 	the suburbs are driving around
 	downtown asking every black person
 	they see, You got any drugs?  You
 	know where I can get drugs?  What
 	kind of effect you think this has
 	on the psyche of a black person, on
 	their possibilities?  If you sent a
 	hundred thousand black people into
 	your neighborhood, Indian Hills,
 	and they asked every white person
 	they saw, hey, you got any drugs?,
 	within a day, your friends and
 	their kids would be selling.  It's
 	market forces, man.  The product's
 	marked up three hundred percent.
 	You can go out on the street and
 	make five hundred bucks in two
 	hours and then do whatever you want
 	for the rest of the day.  You think
 	white people would still be going
 	to law school?

There's a beat.

 			ROBERT
 	You're starting to piss me off.
 	Get out of the car.

Robert and Seth get our of the car and walk across the street.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Robert and Seth stand in the dim, dingy hallway.  A JUNKIE
leaves.

 			SETH
 	You're gonna get me killed.

Robert shoves Seth toward the door.  Seth knocks.  The door
opens a crack and Sketch's face appears.

 			SKETCH
 	What do you want?

Robert moves around Seth.

 			ROBERT
 	I'm looking for my daughter,
 	Caroline.  She comes here.

 								132.


 			SKETCH
 	This is a business.  Get the fuck
 	outta here.

 			ROBERT
 	I need to find my daughter.  I'll
 	pay you.

Sketch pulls a gun and shoves it against Robert's cheek.

 			SKETCH
 	Who the fuck do you think you are?
 	Where the fuck do you think you are?
 	Why the fuck do you think I
 	shouldn't just put you in a dumpster?

 			ROBERT
 	I have money --

 			SKETCH
 	I got money.

 			ROBERT
 	I'll pay you a thousand dollars.  I
 	have it in my wallet.

 			SKETCH
 	I want your money, I'll take your
 	money.

 			ROBERT
 	Just tell me where she is.

Sketch pushes Robert back into the hall.  Sketch sees Seth
lurking there.

 			SKETCH
 		(to Seth)
 	Don't do that shit again.

Sketch slams the door in their face.

 			SETH
 	Great.  What a good idea.

EXT. STREET - DAY

Seth and Robert walk to the car.

 			SETH
 	Man, I'm telling you.  Don't do
 	this vigilante thing.  Either the
 	cops find her or she'll call you.
 	I promise.

 								133.


Robert looks at him, carefully.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. MANOLO'S HOUSE - DAY

Javier KNOCKS on the front door.  There is no answer.  The
shades are drawn.  The house is darkened.

 			JAVIER
 		(calling out)
 	Anna.  Anna, please.  Let me in.

He KNOCKS again.

 			JAVIER (CONT'D)
 	Come on.  You can't stay locked in
 	your house all day.

Finally, the door cracks open.  Anna has clearly not been
out of the house since the last time we saw her.

INT. MANOLO'S HOUSE - DAY

Javier sits opposite Anna.

 			JAVIER
 	I know this is a tragedy, but you
 	have to realize that good has come
 	out of it.

She looks at him.

 			JAVIER (CONT'D)
 	If Manolo hadn't gone and told them
 	what he did then Salazar and
 	Madrigal would never have been
 	brought to justice.  He did a great
 	thing for Tijuana.  He did a great
 	thing for Mexico.

 			ANNA
 	I want to believe you.  I really do.

 			JAVIER
 	You will believe me, because it's
 	true.

EXT. SKETCH'S APARTMENT - DAY

Seth walks up the steps and into the building.  A beat later
he reappears and continues down the street.

 								134.


Robert emerges from across the street and follows at a
guarded distance.

EXT. STREETS - DAY

Seth walks along the seedy neighborhood street.  He
approaches the Villa Elaine.  He turns up the steps and
disappears inside.

Robert follows him.

INT. VILLA ELAINE HALLWAY - DAY

Robert ascends the stairs.  As he enters the hallway he sees
Seth pounding on one of the doors.

 			SETH
 	Open the door.  Open the fucking
 	door, man.

A MAN'S VOICE comes from the other side of the door.

 			MUFFLED VOICE
 	Go away!

Robert closes the distance.  Seth pounds harder.

 			SETH
 	I know she's in there.  Let me talk
 	to her.

 			MUFFLED VOICE
 	I don't know what you're talking
 	about.  Go away!

Robert reaches the door.  Seth sees him.

 			SETH
 	I know she's in there.

Robert kicks the door in.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

Robert sees a middle-aged JOHN in his underwear and a dress
shirt.

 			JOHN
 	Hey, I haven't touched her --

Caroline is passed out on the bed.  Robert goes to her as
the John scrambles for his clothes.

She stirs and sees him --

 								135.


 			CAROLINE
 		(really out of it)
 	Hi, Daddy.

INT. ROBERT'S CAR - DAY

Caroline rides in the passenger seat.  She's come out of her
stupor and is now filled with ebullience.

 			CAROLINE
 	It's gonna be great...  I mean, I'm
 	okay and all, because, see, I met a
 	guy, he's in this pretty famous
 	band and...
 		(gets up confessional courage)
 	They've invited me to write lyrics
 	for them, I'm gonna be able to do
 	that and maybe sing, too... not at
 	first, but later.

Caroline gets lost in her grandiose vision.  Robert looks
over at her as she drifts off into a nod.  A moment later
she's awake and rambling again.

 			CAROLINE (CONT'D)
 		(sounding completely crazy)
 	I've been doing research for the
 	school paper, that's what I've been
 	doing, like on assignment kind-of,
 	I've seen some stuff you wouldn't
 	believe, but I'm gonna write it all
 	down into lyrics.  They think I'm
 	really good, everybody says so,
 	what do you think?

Robert fights back tears.  He reaches over and takes his
daughter's hand.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

OMITTED

 								136.


OMITTED

INT. CLUB PLATINUM OFFICE - DAY

Juan Marquez sits across the desk from Javi.  Tigrillo and
PABLO, 30's, are also in the meeting.

 			MARQUEZ
 	Salazar and Madrigal are no longer
 	with us.
 		(beat)
 	A feat none of these people could
 	get accomplished.

Juan nods toward Pablo and Tigrillo.

 			MARQUEZ (CONT'D)
 	You're going to be made the Special
 	Assistant to the new drug Czar,
 	which makes you a very valuable law
 	enforcement officer.
 		(beat)
 	I hope you like to travel because
 	we have plans for Juarez and El
 	Paso, Nogales, Sinaloa, Jalisco,
 	Michoacan...

Javi just stares at him for a long moment, then looks off.

 						CUT TO:

INT. ROBERT'S OFFICE IN WASHINGTON - DAY

Robert on the telephone.

 			ROBERT
 		(into phone)
 	How was she?

INT. BARBARA'S OFFICE - DAY

A cramped, messy office at the Environmental Protection
Agency.  Barbara is on the phone.

 			BARBARA
 		(into phone)
 	I'm really not sure.  She seemed to
 	recognize it wasn't Serenity Oaks.
 	It's a pretty hard-core facility,
 	but at least we know where she is.
 		(beat)
 	Maybe it's what she needs now.

 								137.


INTERCUT ROBERT IN HIS OFFICE

He holds the phone and doesn't say anything.

 						CUT TO:

INT. COURTROOM - EARLY MORNING

The court is searched carefully by a phalanx of OFFICERS.
Metal Detectors are checked.  Bomb sniffing German Shepherds
are led through the space.

INT. HOTEL SUITE - MORNING

The agents are unkempt and everyone is tired.  Ruiz moves
through a cluttered room in a bathrobe with a cup of coffee.
An agent shows him a morning paper --

 			AGENT
 	Big day.
 		(shows picture in paper)
 	You're a star.

Ruiz walks over and sits across from Gordon, switching off
the radio show he's listening to.  Gordon looks up from his
paper.

 			GORDON
 	Go shower.  You smell.

There is a KNOCK on the front door.  An AGENT goes to
answer --

 			AGENT
 	Who is it?

 			SOMEBODY (V.O.)
 		(through the door)
 	The Mafia.  I've got his breakfast.

The agent opens the door and is handed a breakfast tray.  He
puts the food in front of Ruiz who uncovers the sausage and
eggs.

An agent walking by tries to take a bite of sausage.  Ruiz
stabs it with a fork --

 			RUIZ
 	Fuck off.

Gordon watches the interchange --

 								138.


 			GORDON
 	Where's the love gone, Eddie?
 	You'll be testifying for at least
 	ten days.  What if we stop feeding
 	you?

Ruiz begins to eat hungrily.

 			RUIZ
 	You expect me to be grateful for
 	spending the rest of my life
 	looking over my shoulder.

 			GORDON
 	That thought makes me feel awful.

Ruiz pushes eggs into a piece of toast.

 			RUIZ
 	Can't you for a second imagine none
 	of this had happened?  That my
 	drugs had gone through.  What would
 	have been the harm?  A few people
 	get high who are getting high
 	anyway.  Your partner is still
 	alive.  We avoid having breakfast
 	together.  Don't you see this means
 	nothing?  That your whole life is
 	pointless?

 			GORDON
 	You're breaking my heart.

 			RUIZ
 	The worst thing about you, Monty,
 	is you realize the futility of what
 	you're doing and you do it anyway.
 	I wish you could see how transparent
 	you are.
 		(disgusted)
 	This food tastes like shit.

 			GORDON
 	So go shower already.

 			RUIZ
 	You only got to me because you were
 	tipped off by the Juarez Cartel,
 	who's trying to break into Tijuana.
 	You're helping them.
 		(beat)
 	You work for a drug dealer too,
 	Monty.

 								139.


Ruiz stands and heads for the bathroom.

 			GORDON
 		(yelling after him)
 	And shave.  You better look nice
 	and believable for the jury.

Ruiz disappears into the bathroom and slams the door behind
him.

 			GORDON (CONT'D)
 		(to another agent)
 	It's like having another wife.

The agent laughs.  There's another KNOCK on the door.

 			GORDON (CONT'D)
 	Who is it?

 			SOMEBODY ELSE (V.O.)
 		(though the door)
 	Breakfast.

Gordon and the agent look at each other.

 			SOMEBODY ELSE (V.O. CONT'D) (CONT'D)
 	Hurry up.  It's getting cold.

Gordon moves to the side of the door and pulls his gun.  The
other agent opens the door.

A MAN with a breakfast tray enters.  Gordon puts the gun to
the side of his head.

 			MAN WITH TRAY
 	I'm on your side.  God, you're jumpy.

Gordon is momentarily confused, then goes for the bathroom
door.

 			GORDON
 	Call an ambulance.  Hurry.

Gordon tries the bathroom door.  It's stuck.  He gets it
open a crack.  There's a body against the other side.  He
shoves.

INT. BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS

Ruiz is on the floor in convulsions.

 								140.


 			GORDON
 		(yelling)
 	Call the ambulance.
 		(to Ruiz)
 	Don't die on me.  You will not die
 	on me.  Do you hear me?  Don't you
 	die on me.

Ruiz's convulsions get worse, his claw-like fingers scratch
across the tile.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

INT. COURTROOM - SAN DIEGO - DAY

The court is packed.  Helena and Arnie watch from the
gallery.  The judge is at the bench.

The prosecutor rises --

 			PROSECUTOR
 	Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of
 	the jury...  Because of the sudden
 	death of Eduardo Ruiz, the people
 	have decided that at this point we
 	cannot continue our case against
 	Carl Ayala.

The court ERUPTS.  Reporters scatter.  Helena cheers.

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

INT. WHITE HOUSE OFFICE - DAY

Robert Wakefield enters the office of the Chief of Staff,
who looks up from what he's doing, which is reading Robert's
report, and is already mid-sentence.

 			CHIEF OF STAFF
 	Yeah, hi --
 		(waves Robert to a chair)
 	So I've got a copy of your speech
 	here...
 		(glances down, still reading)
 	It's fantastic... So, Robert, my
 	genuine thanks.  You're my choice
 	and you're gonna be great.  The
 	President is sorry he hasn't been
 	able to spend more time with you.
 			(MORE)

 								141.


 			CHIEF OF STAFF (CONT'D)
 	After the press conference he wants
 	to really sit down.
 		(an afterthought)
 	Oh, I got to the Post, too.  Don't
 	worry about that thing with your
 	daughter, it's not news; they're
 	willing to treat it as a family
 	matter, a personal matter.
 		(off Robert's stare)
 	Look, even if it came out, we'd
 	turn it into a qualification, I've
 	been in the trenches of this Drug
 	War, I have seen the face of the
 	enemy, etcetera.

Robert just stares at him.

 						CUT TO:

INT. JAIL CELL - DAY

General Salazar sits in the same grimy cell that housed
Francisco Flores.  He is sweating and his breathing is
labored.  A DOCTOR enters and gives him an injection,
explaining that it will calm him down.

EXT. DESERT OUTSIDE TIJUANA - DAY

It's a reprise of the earlier desert bust... a landing strip
in the middle of nowhere, a plane landing, SUV's approaching.

This time Javi is at the wheel of one of them.  News crews
are trailing behind him.

EXT. DESERT AIRSTRIP - LATER

Javi and Special Agent Hughes stand next to a giant mound of
seized cocaine, the same cocaine, in fact, Javi held briefly
at the beginning.  The same teenagers from the pickup truck
have been arrested.  The news crews get everything.

 			JAVIER
 		(to the press)
 	This seizure is one of the largest
 	seizures in Mexican history...  It
 	represents the first bilateral
 	effort of the American DEA and the
 	Mexican I.N.C.D.

INT. JAIL CELL - DAY

General Salazar lies on his side, eyes and mouth open.  He
is dead.  Javier looks at him through the doorway.

 								142.


 			JAVIER (V.O. CONT'D)
 	Today I'm very proud to announce
 	that Mexico, with the help of our
 	American partners, is finally
 	winning the war against narcotics
 	trafficking.

The PRESS begins shouting questions --

 						CUT TO:

OMITTED

INT. HEADQUARTERS, I.N.C.D. - MEXICO - DAY

Robert and Javi walk through the headquarters, a nondescript
government building.

Robert extracts photographs of the bust from a manila
envelope.  The crates of cocaine are clearly marked "911."

 			ROBERT
 	The cocaine brand, 911, is an East
 	Coast brand, a Juarez Cartel brand,
 	and you must know it usually comes
 	through into El Paso?

 			JAVIER
 	I'm aware of that.

 			ROBERT
 	So what's it doing in Tijuana?

Javi looks Robert Wakefield squarely in the eye.  He shrugs.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	Let me ask you a hypothetical
 	question: if Salazar worked for
 	Madrigal and the Juaraz cartel, and
 	he went out of power, would it mean
 	the Juarez Cartel is losing
 	influence?

 			JAVIER
 	It could mean that, yes.

 			ROBERT
 	That would probably mean the
 	Tijuana Cartel is gaining power?

 			JAVIER
 	It's possible.

 								143.


 			ROBERT
 	Is it possible to have a Drug Czar
 	in Mexico who isn't connected in
 	some war to one of the cartels?

Javi thinks along time before answering.

 			JAVIER
 	Yeah, it's possible... if you're
 	prepared to die.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. AYALA FRONT YARD - AFTERNOON

An outdoor party is going on.  Children and adults arrive
and mingle.  Caterers work the barbecue grill.  Waiters
serve food and drink on the rolling lawn.

Helena circles through the crowd greeting friends.  She
looks past her tree line and up the street where a telephone
repair van is parked.  She turns back toward her guests.
Somebody has raised a cup and everyone is CHEERING.

Helena drinks with her guests, then walks inside her house.

AT THE FRONT GATE

Montel Gordon walks through the gate and up the drive.  He
grabs a drink off the tray of a passing waiter.  He appears
drunk.

Montel follows Helena into the house.

INT. CARL'S PRIVATE STUDY - AFTERNOON

Carl hears the CHEERING outside and the sound of LAUGHTER.
He makes a cellular telephone call.

INT. ARNIE METZGER'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON

Arnie is in his office and answers the cell phone --

 			CARLOS (V.O.)
 	It's Saturday, Arnie.  You work too
 	hard.

 			ARNIE
 	Carl, I'm running late.  I'm coming
 	right now --

Behind Arnie in the office there is a movement of SHADOW.

 								144.


INT. CARL'S PRIVATE STUDY - AFTERNOON

Carl stands at the window looking at his guests while he
talks on the phone --

 			CARLOS
 	Don't bother.

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	What?

 			CARLOS
 	So Arnie, when were you going to
 	tell me about the 3 million dollars
 	we got in from San Francisco two
 	days after I got arrested?

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	I was just waiting for the right
 	time.

 			CARLOS
 	And you didn't feel like you could
 	trust my wife with this news?

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	I just didn't want to take a chance.
 	I didn't want to risk it.  It could
 	have been frozen along with
 	everything else.

 			CARLOS
 	You had it all figured out.  You
 	move into my house.  You raise my
 	kids.  You sleep with my wife.  It
 	was a good plane, Arnie.

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	Carl, that's insane.

 			CARLOS
 	So my wife is lying?

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	Carl, think about it, if I was
 	trying to rip you off, I would have
 	left town after Ruiz was killed.  I
 	wouldn't sit next to you in court
 	listening to the dismissal.

On the front lawn CHILDREN are lined up for the ice-cream
sundae bar that is being tended by a WAITER.

 								145.


 			CARLOS
 	Arnie, do think there's a difference
 	between a reason and an excuse,
 	because I don't think there is.

 			ARNIE (V.O.)
 	Carl --

 			CARLOS
 	Goodbye Arnie.

INT. ARNIE METZGER'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON

Arnie turns around and there are TWO MEN in his office.

INT. CARL'S PRIVATE STUDY - AFTERNOON

Carl hears MUFFLED GUNSHOTS over the phone.  He hangs up and
turns from the window.  Helena is standing there.

 			HELENA
 	Who was that?

 			CARLOS
 	Arnie.  He's not going to be able
 	to make the barbecue.

Carl and Helena share an embrace and a kiss.

 			HELENA
 	Come downstairs.  Everyone is
 	waiting.

Carl and Helena turn to leave the room and Montel Gordon is
standing in the doorway with his glass of champagne.

 			GORDON
 	Hello, Helena.  What a great party.

 			CARLOS
 	Who are you?

 			GORDON
 	Nobody.  I'm a nobody who arrested
 	you, but your wife is a murderer.

Gordon takes a sip of his drink.  Two SECURITY OFFICERS
appear in the doorway behind him.

 			SECURITY OFFICER
 	Hey, you can't be in here.

 			GORDON
 	I'm a cop.

 								146.


 			SECURITY OFFICER
 	I don't care.

 			HELENA
 		(to the guards)
 	Throw him out of here.

The security officers grab Gordon.  There is a scuffle.
Gordon falls to the floor by the window.  They are wrestling.
As they wrestle, Gordon reaches out and, unnoticed, affixes
TINY LISTENING DEVICE underneath the desk.

He continues to struggle with the guards.  Helena and Carlos
start from the room.

 			GORDON
 		(calling out)
 	You didn't win, Helena.  You lost
 	everything.  Tell your children a
 	nice bedtime story...  How you
 	killed my partner.

EXT. AYALA FRONT YARD - AFTERNOON

The guests watch as the guards eject Gordon from the premises.

Near the gate David has stopped playing to watch the action.

Then he goes back to playing with his toy: a Spastic Jack
figure.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. VERDANT NEIGHBORHOOD - MEXICO CITY - DAY

Javi and his convoy of armored SUV's pull up in front of the
beautiful house where earlier he deposited Rosario, Salazar's
former mistress.

Javier opens the front door and Rosario greets him by
throwing her arms around his neck.  They disappear inside.

 						CUT TO:

INT. WHITE HOUSE PRESS ROOM - DAY

The PRESS SECRETARY stands at the familiar podium addressing
the White House Press Corps.

Robert Wakefield stands to one side with Chief of Staff, his
lawyers, Sheridan and General Landry.

 								147.


 			PRESS SECRETARY
 	... a sterling reputation and close
 	friend of the President, recently
 	confirmed into The Office of
 	National Drug Control Policy... our
 	new Drug Czar, Robert Hudson
 	Wakefield.

Applause from the assembled PRESS.  The Press Secretary
signals and Robert walks to the podium.  He looks back to
the Chief of Staff; he stares out at the expectant faces and
television lights and camera flashes.

 			ROBERT
 		(reading his prepared speech)
 	The War on Drugs is a war on our
 	nation's most precious resource...
 	our children.  Sixty-eight million
 	children have been targeted by
 	those who perpetrate this war and
 	protecting those children must be
 	priority number one.
 		(beat)
 	There has been progress and there
 	have been failures, but where we
 	have fallen short I see not a
 	problem but an opportunity.

Robert is becoming increasingly uneasy.  He glances at the
Chief of Staff who bores into him.  He looks again at his
speech.  With great effort he continues.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	An opportunity to correct the
 	mistakes of the past while laying a
 	solid foundation for the future.
 		(a long, uncomfortable
 		beat)
 	This takes not only new ideas, but
 	perseverance.  This takes not only
 	resources, but courage.  This takes
 	not only government, but families.

Robert stops again as though the words are choking him.

 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	I've... I've outlined a ten-point
 	plan, representing a new bilateral
 	effort...

He can't finish.  Everyone stares at Robert.  The crowd of
reporters senses something is wrong.

 								148.


 			ROBERT (CONT'D)
 	I can't do this.
 		(beat)
 	If there is a War on Drugs then our
 	own families have become the enemy.
 	How can you wage war on your own
 	family?

He walks out of the room.  The crowd waits, expecting him to
return.

Robert walks down a corridor and out of the White House.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY

A beautiful spring morning.  He walks down to Pennsylvania
Avenue.  He hails a cab and gets in.  The cab pulls away.

INT. CHURCH BASEMENT - DAY

A twelve step meeting is in progress.  Caroline shares from
her seat.

 			CAROLINE
 	On the good days I feel like I get
 	it, like it all makes sense.  I can
 	stay in the moment.  I don't have
 	to control everything in the future.
 	And I believe everything is going
 	to work out fine.
 		(beat)
 	On the bad days, I just want to
 	grab the phone and start dialing
 	numbers.  I want to pull my hair
 	and run through the streets
 	screaming.
 		(beat)
 	But, thanks to the people I've met
 	in these rooms, people like Margaret
 	and Jim and Sarah, people who've
 	taught me how to listen, I'm pretty
 	sure I'll make it through today.

Caroline is finished sharing.

 			VOICE (O.S.)
 	Would you like to share?

We pan over to reveal Robert and Barbara sitting next to
Caroline.

 								149.


 			ROBERT
 	My name is Robert.  This is my
 	wife, Barbara.  We're Caroline's
 	parents.  We're just hear to listen.

 						CUT TO:

OMIT.

EXT. AYALA HOME - NIGHT

The house is dark and silent.  The van is parked up the
street.

INT. VAN - NIGHT

Gordon listens through a headset, his expression set.

 			CARLOS (V.O.)
 		(over a listening device)
 	We're back up and running.
 	Completely untouchable.  Completely.

 						CUT TO:

EXT. BASEBALL FIELD - TIJUANA - DAY

A bank of lights CRANKS on.  Then ANOTHER and ANOTHER.

In a wider shot we see an illuminated baseball field where a
children's pickup game is in progress.

In the crowd, Javi serenely watches the game.

 			THE END

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