Collateral Part 2

Collateral Part 2

INT. TAXI
Max drives into a back alley. Vincent checks his pc and gun.


VINCENT
Stop here. Hands on the wheel, at 10 and 2.


MAX
Why?

VINCENT
Because I say so.

LENNY
[radio] Max. You out there,
you son of a bitch?

Vincent asks Max.

VINCENT
Who is that?

MAX
That's Lenny. Just dispatch.

LENNY
I know you're there. Answer the call.

VINCENT
What happens if you don't?

MAX
He just keeps calling.

LENNY
Max, answer.

VINCENT
Don't blow it.

MAX
Lenny, what's up? It's me.

LENNY
Just got off the phone with the cops.Desk sergeant called to check
if you brought the cab in.

MAX
Yeah, so?

LENNY
So aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed
the goddamn cab?

MAX
No. No, I got crashed into. I didn't...

LENNY
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.

Vincent urges Max to tell Lenny.

VINCENT
It was an accident.
You're not liable.

MAX
It was an accident. I'm not liable.

LENNY
I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your pocket.

VINCENT
Tell him to stick this cab up his fat ass.

MAX
I can't. That's my boss.

VINCENT
So?

MAX
I need my job.

VINCENT
No, you don't.

LENNY
You still there? I'm talking to you.

VINCENT
He's not paying you a damn thing.

LENNY
Who the hell is this?

Vincent thinks about what to say next, checks the front of the taxi.

VINCENT
Albert Riccardo, Asst. U.S. Attorney. A passenger in this cab
and I'm reporting you to the DMV.

LENNY
Let's not get excited.

VINCENT
How do I not get excited, listening to you try to extort a working man?
You know goddamn well your collision policy and liability umbrella
will cover the damages. What are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?

LENNY
I was just...

VINCENT
Tell it to him.

Vincent gives the radio to Max.

VINCENT
Here, tell him he's an asshole.

Max hesitates.

VINCENT
Go ahead.

MAX
You're an asshole.

VINCENT
Tell him he pulls this shit again,
you'll stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.

MAX
And next time you pull any shit...
I'll have to stick this yellow cab
up your fat ass.

Then Vincent goes away.

MAX
Shit!

INT. BUILDING

Clarke is watching TV and Phone rings.

[on TV]...where a man wants his wife
back or a boyfriend-girlfriend thing.
We hear, "Get your protective order. "
[man] A protective order's
a tool we use,
but often times it's just
a piece of paper to the stalker.

CLARKE
Yeah?

CLARKE'S ASSISTANT
Mr. Clarke, there 's a notary here.

CLARKE
Did he identify himself as a notary?

CLARKE'S ASSISTANT
Yes, he did.

CLARKE
All right, sure, send him up.

WOMAN ON TV
Or shoots them? That happens too often.

MAN ON TV
But we use it as a tool. I say a lot of times,
in this situation strangers may write or call.
But how often, in fact, are stalkers people that the recipient
of those affections knows?


[honking]



MAX
Hey, I'm in the cab!Hey!Shit. Down here in the alley!Shit.



[honking]



MAN
Hey, hold up.



Men are coming to MAX.



MAX
Oh, man, yeah.Yeah, right there.I'm in the cab, man, I'm stuck.Thank you.
Thank you.Hey, look, I got to get out of here.



MAN
What's up? What's going on?



MAX
This guy tied me up,but he's in this building,doing wild shit.I need to get out of here.



MAN
You all tied up in there, huh?



MAX
Get me out so we can call the cops.



The man points a gun to MAX.



MAN
Give me your wallet.



MAX
Are you kidding me?



MAN
Do I look like I'm kidding you?Listen, don't you see that my hands are tied to the steering wheel?



MAN
I don't care what they're tied to.I'll fuck you up.



MAX
Don't shoot, man.



MAN
Then get your ass up.Fuck.What the fuck else you got in here?Jackpot.



The man opens the door of the taxi, and steals a briefcase.



MAN
Thanks, for real. Bop!



Vincent comes out. He sees the man with his briefcase.


VINCENT
Yo, homey.That my briefcase?



The man walks back toward Vincent.


MAN
This yours? Yeah, it is. Why, you want it back? How about your wallet?

What else you got for me, huh?



Vincent kills them.



MAX
Fuck!



VINCENT
Where's the button? Under the dash? Mind getting it? You attract attention, you're

going to get people killed who didn't need to be. You understand?



MAX
Yeah.



VINCENT
Yeah? But, hey, new news...We're ahead of schedule. Like jazz?

MAX
Sorry. What?



VINCENT
Jazz. You like jazz?



MAX
Not that much.



VINCENT
Guy told me about this place off Crenshaw. Leimert Park. All the

West Coast greats played there. Dexter Gordon, Charlie Mingus,

Chet Baker. Like that. Come on, finish up. I'll buy you a drink.



EXT. RAMONE'S APARTMENT

Fanning and Richard are investigating the broken glass on the street

outside Ramone's apartment with other police.


RICHARD
What's your informant's name? Ramone?



FANNING
Ramone Ayala. Supposed to meet him in Bellflower last night.He doesn't show up, I roll here, find this.



RICHARD
How long you been working this guy?



FANNING
Four months. He's a low-level player. Part of a distribution network that hooks up to Felix.


RICHARD
Felix Reyes-Torrena? Feds are all over him, don't want us anywhere near it.

FANNING
Since when's LAPD working for the Feeb?

RICHARD
They'll just take our stuff,
build their case, take the credit.
What's the point?

FANNING
The point is my guy flew out a window.
So if my Cl flies out a window,
he's got Felix's handprints on his ass.
That makes it mine.

RICHARD
Is there a crime here? A homicide?
You got a body?

FANNING
Just a bunch of broken glass.
And blood.

WOMAN
Down here, in the glass. Here's some more.
And there's some spatter patterns
over there and over here.

WOMAN
Richard?

RICHARD
Yeah, it's me.

FANNING
Ramone went through that window...splat.
Glass here, then tires rolled over it.

RICHARD
Maybe he jumped.

FANNING
Sure. He's depressed so he jumps four
stories out of a window onto his head.
"That feels better." Picks himself up.
"Now I think I'll go on with the rest of my day."

POLICEMAN
Come on, man. Hey, Ray! Catch.

FANNING
Recent?

POLICEMAN
You can still smell the cordite. Old guy across the alley watching TV
says he saw a cab earlier tonight with two guys walking around the hood.

FANNING
Description? He see anything?

POLICEMAN
Kind of saw. Guy's got glasses
like Coke bottles.

RICHARD
There are 4,000 taxicabs in L.A. County. You got anything else?

POLICE MAN
That's it.

RICHARD
Okay. Keep knocking. Let's keep knocking.

FANNING
Remember that Bay Area deal? Oakland? Cabby drove around
all night, killed three people, then put the gun to his head.

RICHARD
He flipped out. So what?

FANNING
So that Oakland detective never bought it. Cabby had no
criminal record or history of mental illness. Pops three people,
then himself? Anyway, that detective always thought
there was someone else in that cab.

INT. JAZZ CLUB
Max and Vincent are listening to a jazz band.

MAX
I never learned to listen to jazz.

VINCENT
It's off melody. Behind the notes. Not what's expected.
lmprovising, like tonight.

MAX
Like tonight?

VINCENT
Most people, ten years from now, same job, place, routine.
Everything the same. Just keeping it safe over and over.
Ten years from now. Man, you don't know where you'll be
ten minutes from now. Do you?

Vincent calls out to a waitress.

VINCENT
Who is that on the trumpet?

WAITRESS
That's Daniel, baby, he's the owner.

VINCENT
He's terrific. Would you be so kind as to invite him over after his set?
I got to buy him a drink.

WAITRESS
Sure thing, darling.

Daniel sits down with Vincent and Max and begins to talk.

DANIEL
Now see, I was about 19, bussing tables right here.
The money wasn't shit, but that wasn't the point.
It was about being around the music.
And I was. Take this one night. July 22nd, 1964.
Who you think walks through that door?

A waitress says goodbye to a customer.

WAITRESS
Bye, baby.

DANIEL
Miles Davis. That's right.

VINCENT
In the flesh?

DANIEL
I'm talking about through those doors,
the coolest man on the planet.

VINCENT
Jesus.

DANIEL
Anyway, he had been recording a session up at Columbia, up
on Vine. So Miles comes through that door. Before you know it,
he's up on the bandstand, jamming with the band.

VINCENT
I mean, it had to be...

DANIEL
Oh, it was scary. I mean, the dude was so focused, man.
Plus, he was kind of a scary cat anyway. Everybody and their
mama knew you don't just come up and talk to Miles Davis.
I mean, he may have looked like he was chilling, but he was absorbed.
This one young, hip couple, one of them tried to shake his hand one day.
And the guy says, "Hi, my name is..."Miles said, "Get out of my face,
you jive motherfucker. Take your silly bitch with you."

Everyone laughs.

DANIEL
You know? That was Miles, man. That's the way he was when he was
in his musical headspace. Fierce.

VINCENT
But did you get to talk to him?

DANIEL
Better than that. I played for about 20 minutes.

VINCENT
Unbelievable. How'd you do?

DANIEL
How'd I do? You really ain't shit playing next to Miles Davis.
But he carried my ass.

VINCENT
What'd he say?

DANIEL
He said one word: Cool.

VINCENT
Cool? That's it?

DANIEL
Yeah. That meant, "Good, but not ready."
It meant, "Look me up when you are."

VINCENT
Did you?

DANIEL
No. I got drafted and got into some other things.
And by the time I got back to music, season had passed.
You know, I was born in 1945, but that night was the moment
of my conception. Right here in this room. Crowd's not here now.
Well, jazz ain't the draw that it used to be.

Vincent changes his tone and gets serious.

VINCENT
What a great story. I got to tell the people in Culiacan
and Cartagena that story.

Daniel gets worried.

DANIEL
You know the folks in Culiacan and Cartagena?

VINCENT
Afraid so.

DANIEL
Just when I thought you were a cool guy.

VINCENT
I am a cool guy with a job I contracted to do.

MAX
Come on, give the dude a pass.

Vincent is annoyed.

VINCENT
I'm working here.

MAX
You're the one talking about improvisation. You like the guy, how he plays.
Let's just play a little jazz.

VINCENT
Improvi... That's funny coming from you.

Vincent looks at Daniel.

VINCENT
How's this? I'll ask a question.

DANIEL
What question?

VINCENT
A jazz question. Now, you get it right, we roll.
You disappear tonight.

DANIEL
If I walk out of here tonight, I will go so far away,
it'll be just like I was dead. And one more thing: These people
and their rep here, Felix...Well, you tell them I'm sorry.
You tell them I had to. They laid a grant of immunity on me.
It was either play ball or go back inside. And I'm not going back inside.

VINCENT
Yeah.

DANIEL
Lay it on me.

VINCENT
Where did Miles learn music?

DANIEL
I know everything about Miles.

VINCENT
Then let's have it.

MAX
Music school. He got into music school, right?

DANIEL
His father was a dentist, east St. Louis.
Invested in agriculture, made plenty of money.
He sent Miles to Juilliard School of Music, New York, 1945.

Vincent shoots Daniel in the head. Daniel dies. Max is shocked.

MAX
Man.

VINCENT
Dropped out in less than a year, tracked down Charlie Parker
on 52nd Street who mentored him for the next three years.

Max runs out of the club.

EXT. STREET
Vincent catches up to Max.

VINCENT
Hey.

MAX
No, I'm done. Find you another cab.

VINCENT
Max.

MAX
Leave me alone. I'm collateral, anyway.

Vincent punches Max in the stomach. Max grunts.

VINCENT
I am not playing.

MAX
You played him, man. He got the answer right...
...would you have let him go?

LENNY ON RADIO
102. Max.

VINCENT
What is it with this guy?

Vincent picks up the radio.

VINCENT
You hassling my driver again?

LENNY
Who are you?

VINCENT
The same guy you talked to last time.

LENNY
Max's mother's driving me crazy.
Put him on the line, please.

VINCENT
Hang on.

Vincent hands the radio to Max.

VINCENT
Carefully.

MAX
Yeah?

LENNY
Your mother's calling. "Why didn't you show?
Are you all right? Where are you?"

VINCENT
Show for what?

MAX
Tell her I can't make it tonight.

LENNY
I'm not related to you. Tell her yourself.

VINCENT
Show up for what?

MAX
She's in the hospital.

VINCENT
You visit every night?

MAX
Yeah. What's the difference?

VINCENT
You don't show up, it breaks routine.

MAX
So?

VINCENT
So people start looking for you, this cab.
That's not good.

MAX
I'm not taking you to see my mother.

VINCENT
Since when was any of this negotiable.

INT. HOSPITAL
Max is walking ahead of Vincent.

VINCENT
Two paces ahead, one to the left.

Vincent stops in front of the flower stand.

VINCENT
Flowers?

MAX
It's a waste of money. Won't mean a thing to her.

VINCENT
She carried you in her womb for nine months.
People buy flowers. Buy flowers.

Vincent buys some flowers.

VINCENT
Excuse me. Keep the change.

INT. ELEVATOR
Vincent and Max get in an elevator. Fanning also gets in.

FANNING
Hold that elevator, please.

VINCENT
Floor?

FANNING
Five. Thanks.

VINCENT
Having a good night?

FANNING
Mezzo mezzo. You?

INT. IDA'S ROOM
Max goes into his mother's room. Vincent stays in the doorway.

MAX
Hey, Ma.

IDA
I've been calling and calling.

MAX
I got caught up at work.

IDA
Why couldn't you call me? I'm lying here wondering if something
terrible happened to you.

MAX
I brought you flowers.

IDA
What am I gonna do with flowers?

MAX
Cheer up.

IDA
How?By worrying that you spend money
on stuff that's just going to wilt and die?

Max turns to Vincent.

MAX
See what I mean? I didn't buy you the flowers. He did.

IDA
Who? Why didn't you tell me we had company?
What's your name? Sorry my son is rude.

VINCENT
No harm done, ma'am.

IDA
You paid for my flowers? They're beautiful.

IDA
Well, Max?

MAX
Mother, this is Vincent. Vincent, this is my mother, lda.

VINCENT
I am very happy to meet you,
Mrs. Durocher.

IDA
Oh, just call me lda.

VINCENT
Ida. I was with Max when he got the call.

IDA
You came here to see me?

VINCENT
It's nothing, ma'am.

IDA
Tell my son. You have to hold a gun to his head
to make him do anything. You must be one of
Max's important clients.

VINCENT
Client? You know, I like to think
of myself as his friend.

IDA
Max never had many friends. Always talking to himself
in the mirror. It's unhealthy.

MAX
How many times I got to ask don't do that?

IDA
Do what?

MAX
Don't talk about me like
I'm not right here in the room here.

IDA
What's he saying?

VINCENT
He says he's standing right here in the room here.

IDA
Yes, you are. He's sensitive.

VINCENT
I know. But I'm sure you're very proud of him.

IDA
Of course I'm proud. He started with nothing, you know?
Look at him today. Here, Vegas...

MAX
Mom, he is not interested in hearing about all that, okay?
I came to see you, I saw you, you look good, let's go.

VINCENT
I am very interested, lda. Please.

IDA
Limousine companies.

VINCENT
Is that right?

IDA
He drives famous people around.

VINCENT
Famous people. Limousine companies.
Now, that's quite an achievement.

IDA
What did you say your name was?

VINCENT
My name's Vincent, ma'am.

IDA
Visit again?

Max grabs Vincent's bag and starts running.

VINCENT
No, I'm just in town tonight.

IDA
When you come back.

VINCENT
Sure.

Vincent realizes Max is gone. He runs after him.

VINCENT
Max!


EXT. BRIDGE
Max runs to a bridge and throws Vincent's computer onto the street.
A truck smashes it. Vincent points his gun at Max.

MAX
Don't!

Max screams.

VINCENT
All my prep was in there. You are screwing with my work.

Vincent and Max are breathing hard.

VINCENT
Let's see what else you can do.

Max groans.


INT. MORGUE
Fanning talks to a medical examiner, who shows him some
bodies.

MEDICAL EXAMINER
Well, I've had four come in tonight. Maybe one's your guy.

FANNING
No, not Ramone. Let's see this one.

The medical examiner shows him another body.

FANNING
No, next.

MEDICAL EXAMINER
There's something funny about this, though.
These three all came in within half an hour of each other, right?
The kid and that last guy, both done by the same shooter, I think.

FANNING
Why do you say that?

MEDICAL EXAMINER
Wound pattern. Two in the sternum, one in the head.
This guy is shooting tight groups too, all right? Check this out.
Double taps are a couple millimeters apart.

FANNING
Let's see this one.

MEDICAL EXAMINER
See what I mean?

Fanning recognizes the body.

FANNING
Holy shit. Can I use your phone?
Come on, come on, wake up.

INT. RICHARD'S HOUSE
The phone is ringing. Richard is asleep. He wakes up and picks up the phone.

RICHARD
Hello.

FANNING
It's Fanning. I'm still down here at the morgue at Sisters of Charity.
John Does didn't pan out, but you'll never guess who's in the meat locker.

RICHARD
Who?

FANNING
Sylvester Clarke, criminal attorney turned lawyer criminal. Including Ramone,
who he represented, who's still missing. Both are in the exotic substances
business together. There's something going on, and I don't think the feds
know about it.

RICHARD
Stay on your cell phone. I got the ASAC's phone.
I'll hook up with you in 30 minutes.

FANNING
Good.