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TRANSCRIPT:
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DDA David McNorris and Detectives Joel Stevens and Bobby 'Fearless' Smith are at the Santa Monica Bay docks as a cooler is lifted out of the water.

David:   All right, go easy with that!  We need it clean.

The cooler is lowered onto the docks.

David:  Okay, fellows, we've got two hours.  Two hours until we're due in court.

Fearless:  And who's counting?

Fearless and Joel unstrap the cooler.

Fearless:  Look at that.  Bullet holes.

Joel:  Yeah, it's her.

They open the cooler and look inside.

David:  Ahhh, hell! 

He walks away, as Joel and Fearless stare at the anchor laying inside of the cooler.

 

DAVID MCNORRIS

David McNorris enters the courthouse. 

Written above the doorway: 

LET US HAVE FAITH THAT RIGHT MAKES MIGHT

In the courtroom, Joel, Fearless and Andrea watch the proceedings.

Melanie Sloane, Julia's sister, is on the witness stand:  My sister wasn't depressed about breaking up with Robert.  She was glad.  She was relieved.  But, then, she didn't return my calls.  So, I went to her apartment and that's where I found her diary.  It was all about Robert - about how he had started following her, since she left him; calling her at all hours.  He'd sit in his car outside of her apartment.  She was scared of him and then...she vanished.

David to Melanie:  Thank you.

David to the Judge:  The night that Julia Sloane disappeared, she and Robert Colson fought at a restaurant.  The next morning, a sales clerk from Big Five Sporting Goods helped Colson buy a cooler.   The same cooler that was found three weeks later at the bottom of the Santa Monica Bay,  sunk with an anchor and riddled with bullet holes.  Jay Colson, Robert Colson' brother and only alibi, owns a boat.  A boat missing its anchor.  A boat with coordinates on its Global Positioning System that led us to the exact spot to where that cooler was dumped.

Robert Colson:  Objection!

David:  Objection?  Defendant has counsel.

Robert Colson:  Counsel has second chair.

David:  Who, also, happens to be the defendant.

Judge:  Mr. McNorris...

David:  Your Honor, if Mr. Colson wanted to forgo counsel and represent himself in this case, he should have said so at his arraignment.

Robert stands up, but the Judge waves him away.

Judge:  Mr. Colson has stood in my courtroom for over two decades with an impeccable record.  There's not an attorney in Los Angeles more familiar or respectful of the letter of law.

Robert:  While the people, Your Honor, come to this preliminary trial with nothing.  No body, no weapon, no eyewitness to this supposed crime.

Judge:  You did promise me a body, Mr. McNorris.

David:  We're still looking, Your Honor.

Judge:  Well, you keep looking and I'll rule.  I see nothing here to bind this matter over to trial.  I order the charge of first degree murder dismissed and Mr. Colson discharged, immediately.

Robert Colson smiles as he shakes his attorney's hand.

David McNorris and Andrea Little walk out of the courthourse together.

Andrea:  So, now it's the cops' fault?

David:  Even the great David McNorris can't turn garbage into gold.

Andrea:  You can, when you try.

David:  You see...to win a case, you have to win the prelim first.  It's a little trick that I learned in law school.

Andrea:  Robert Colson just got away with murder, David.  He has all the money and connections in the world and he thinks he can dump some poor girl in the Bay and walk away clean.

David:  I didn't say I was through with this.

Andrea:  So, you're going to fight him?

David:  This case.  Not because it's personal.

Andrea:  Well, I just hope that you're not afraid that if you go up against a defense attorney as good as Colson, you'll lose.

David:  Do you know what Marcia Clark is doing now?

Andrea:  No.

David:  Right.  Because no one does.  In the real world, you take on a high-profile case like this, you better make damn sure you win it.

Andrea:  You didn't always need a safety net, David.  Certainly not the first time you kissed me in broad daylight, where anyone could have run back to tell your wife!

She walks away, as David remembers...

Flashback to outside the courthouse.  David walks over to where Andrea is standing and gently pulls her hair away from her face.

David walks into the police station and is greeted by several officers as he wanders around looking for Joel and Fearless.

David:  Bad luck today, huh, fellows?

Joel:  Luck?  Any other suspect would be sitting on his ass in county jail.

David:  Are you keeping those boards up because you think we missed something?  Cause, let me tell you - I think we missed something.

Fearless:  'We', counselor?

David:  Yeah, we, Detective.  Unless that was some other DA who got his ass hand to him today in a prelim, something a summer intern should sail through.

Fearless:  Yeah, well, my partner is thinking along the lines of a full confession.

David:  That would be sweet.  However, Colson would kill himself, first.

Joel:  Not from Robert Colson.  From his brother, Jay.

Joel picks up a photo of Jay Colson and pins it to the board.

David:  Are we sure Jay helped him?

Joel:  It was his boat.  He helped him.

David:  Hmmm.  You really want this one, don't you, Detective?

Joel:  Robert Colson is a murderer.

David:  That he is.  But, what if you squeeze him as hard as you can and he still refuses to pop.

Joel:  We're going to squeeze his wife, we're going to squeeze his kid and we're going to squeeze him.  He'll pop.

 

RAY

At the mall, Ray calls out to a woman (Vivian Colson).

Ray:  Excuse me.  Excuse me.  Excuse me, Mrs. Colson!  Ma'am, I need to see what's in that bag.

Vivian hands him the bag:  Proud of yourself?  Harrassing women in department stores?  You're all so pathetic.  Parking tickets cover my car.  I can't drive a block without a moving violation.  I can't even cross the street without one of you trying to attack me.

Ray looks through the purse:  Yeah...jaywalking.

He hands the purse back to her:  Where did you dump it?

Vivian:  Screw you.  I didn't dump anything!  If you don't stop hounding me and my family, I will not only sue you, fat boy;  I'll sue the LAPD and the City Council and the damn mayor!

She walks away as Ray says:  I'm not fat.  Just big-boned.  I have my mother's child-bearing hips.  It doesn't help.

At the police station.

Fearless:  Well, don't sweat it, Tom.  I mean, sometimes, things just don't go your way, man.

Tom:  But, the kid was ready to do the the deal, his Dad shows up and burns it.

Joel:  What about you, Ray?

Ray:  I thought I had her.  I saw her lift the blouse, saw her stuff it in her bag.  She must have dumped it on the way to the door.

Joel:  Well, we can't let up on this one, all right, guys?  Keep at it.

Tom and Fearless walk away.

Ray:  The worst thing is, we know she's a chronic shop-lifter.  Six incidents in the last couple of years.

Joel:  Yeah, should be like taking candy from a baby, huh?

Ray:  Ought to be.  But, now, she knows we're watching.  So, she's not going to lift a finger, now.  Frankly, Detective, if what we want is to get to him through her, why don't I take that blouse she almost lifted today, throw it back in her truck and be done with it?

Joel:  No.

Ray:  Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought you wanted this.

Joel:  We get her the right way or we don't get her.

Ray:  She's done it, herself, a million times.

Joel:  I said, no, Ray.  In fact, I'm going to forget you said it, at all.

Ray:  Or not.

Ray walks away.  Joel follows him.

Joel:  What's that supposed to mean, Ray?  Hmmm?  Ray!

Ray:  It means if another cop came to you with this suggestion, you'd think about it.  But, because it's me, you've already got your opinions.

Joel:  Yeah, I've got my opinion, Ray, and planting evidence is not going to help that.

Ray:  Planting evidence?

Joel:  Yeah, planting evidence!

Ray:  We're not going to charge the woman.  We don't want the woman!  It's a tool.  Ask anybody in this station.  But, you know, what the hell.  I envy you - this fairly-tale world you live in.  That's fine.  Meantime, Colson's out there walking around in his Gucci loafers, while his girlfriend turns into a 100 pounds of fish food.  But, if that's the way you want it, you're made of tougher stuff than me.

Ray walks away.

Outside Jay Colson's house.  Ray, dressed in civilian clothes, walks up the driveway.  He pops the lock on their SUV with a Slim Jim, opens the back and tosses in the blouse Vivian Colson lifted earlier.  He closes the door and walks away.

 

FEARLESS

Flashback to the docks.  Fearless and Joel open the cooler.  Joel looks at Fearless as David says, "Ahhh, hell!" and walks away.

Flashback to the courtroom.

Judge:  I order the charge of first degree murder dismissed and Mr. Colson discharged, immediately.

Joel to Fearless:  There's no way in hell this is over.

As everyone stands up in the courtroom, Robert Colson smiles smugly at them.

Fearless and Joel are on a stakeout, watching Robert Colson and his brother Jay as they talk.

Fearless:  Would have figured you for a rabbit's-foot man.

Joel:  Huh?

Fearless indicates the beads in Joel's hand:  Chinese love beads.

Joel:  Yeah, they're an art project for Willie's kindergarten class.  He made them for Kelly, but I told him I'd hold on to them for her.

Fearless:  How's Kelly doing?

Joel:  She's good.  She's spending time with her sister, you know.  They're pretty close.

Fearless watches Robert and Jay Colson through a pair of binoculars:  You got your heart set on this one.

Joel:  The guy's a murderer walking around like a free man.

Fearless teases him:  And we've never seen that before.

Joel smiles.

Fearless:  You know how love beads started?

Joel:  Something tells me it's a story, Fearless.

They laugh.

Fearless:  An old Chinese tale about a guy who's wife died and in his grief, he went to go to see the Holy Man.  And he asked him, what magic do you have to bring my wife back?  And the holy dude, he said, bring me the magic beads from a home that's never known sorrow.  So, the grief-stricken guy goes off, comes to a mansion and says, I'm looking for a home that's never known sorrow.  And the folks there say, phht, you got the wrong place, pal.  And they begin to describe to him all of their tragedies.  And the guy thinks to himself, I better stay here and help these folks since I know more about sadness than anybody.  So, he stays and comforts them.  Then, he goes on to find the beads.  But, every house that he comes to, from cardboard boxes to palaces in Bel Air, every home has a story of sorrow.  So, it turns out that the guy is so busy helping other people with their heartbreaks that he forgets about his own grief and the search for the magic beads.

Joel:  Lucky guy.

Fearless:  Lucky beads.

Joel:  Yeah.

Fearless watches the Colson brothers through the binoculars:  And, God knows, this guy's got his own pile of woes.

Joel:  Colson?

Fearless:  Brother Jay.

Joel:  Yeah.  Well, we gotta do what we gotta do.

Fearless:  Yeah, I'd say it's working.  Yeah, it looks like that boy's ready to roll.

Joel:  Yeah.

Fearless and Joel are in their car outside of Jay Colson's house.

Joel:  We can't follow him forever.

Fearless:  Yeah, I doubt we'll get 24 hour surveillance.

Joel:  It won't hurt to ask.  I'm going to check on this other thing.

Joel gets out of car.

Fearless:  Do you really think it's going to be there?

Joel:  If it isn't, I'll buy one, myself.

Joel walks up the driveway to the Colson's SUV and opens the back of it.

Fearless on radio:  Control, this is W33 Smith.  I need Sergeant Deakins at City Central.  Request for additional surveillance.

Control:  Connecting to City Central.  Hold on.

Joel gets the blouse of the SUV, stuffs it in his pocket and heads back to the car.

Fearless notices a red car coming slowly down the street.  It stops in front of Colson's house.

The driver calls out:  Hey, Jay!

Joel turns to look at the car and the driver shoots at him.

Fearless:  Oh, no!

As the car drives towards him, Joel fires several shots before the car hits him.

As the car drives away, Fearless fires at it, shattering the rear window.  The car comes to an abrupt halt and the horn sounds continuously.

Fearless runs to where Joel is lying on the ground:  Joel!  Joel!  Hey, man!

 

ANDREA

Flashback to the courtroom.  Andrea is taking notes.

Robert Colson:  Counsel and I contend these charges are 'smoke-and-mirrors', Your Honor.

David  McNorris points to Robert's attorney:  Even though, First Chair seems to be suffering from a gag order.

Robert:  Objection.  These are simply tactics by the prosecution.  Going so far as the Trib story this morning about a former client of mine.  No doubt planted by the prosecution, itself.  

David:  Objection!  (He glances at Andrea.)

Robert:  Unsubstantiated.  Fine.  But, we've all done this long enough to know that when you try your case on the front page, it's because that's all you've got.  (He turns to look at Andrea.)

Andrea and her mother (Ellen Little) are having dinner at an upscale restaurant.

Ellen:  I'm just surprised, that's all.  I seem to recall the last time you joined us here, you called this place a feeding trough for corporate thieves and trust fund cripples.

Andrea:  I was young.

Ellen:  That was two years ago.

Andrea:  You're not having a Manhattan?

The waiter brings a drink to the table.

Ellen:  Oh, thank you, Tito.

Waiter:  You're welcome, Ma'am.

Andrea:  I hadn't seen you in a while.

Ellen:  Now, that is sweet!  I thought, perhaps, you picked the club  because it had something to do with your story on Susie Colson's boy.  Or didn't you know he has dinner here every evening at 8:00.

Andrea:  So, what did you think of the piece?

Ellen:  I think it accurately captures your enthusiasm for watching someone of our standing being dragged through the mud.  You always did love that, even when you were little.

Andrea:  It's my job to ask questions, Mom.  A 30-year-old girl is dead.

Ellen:  I don't recall a single question in that piece.  And she's missing, isn't she?  Or did I read that wrong?

Andrea sees Robert Colson enter the club:  Excuse me.  I need to use the powder room.

Robert sees Andrea standing nearby, talking on her cell phone:  What a coincidence!  Except, I don't believe in coincidence.

Andrea:  I'm doing a piece on the prelim.  I wanted to get your side.

Robert:  This is a private club.

Andrea:  We're members, 30 years' standing.  Any comments on today's proceedings?

Robert:  I'm pleased with the outcome.  I think justice was served.

Andrea:  Your concern for Julia Sloane is touching.  I'm sorry...you were screwing her, right?

Robert:  Is this something personal with you?  Because you don't know me.

Andrea:  I know you.  I grew up with rich, spoiled boys just like you.  And anything that crosses your path, it has to bend to your will.  Because if it doesn't, you break it.

Robert:  Hmmm.  You want the truth?  I loved Julia.  And what I really want?  I want her to come back.

 

ROBERT COLSON

Robert and Julia Sloane are having dinner at a restaurant.

Robert:  We'll have a bottle of the Perrier Chalet.  We feel like celebrating tonight.  And the lady will have the Caprisi Salad, and Chilean Sea Bass for the entree.

Julia:  I'm not hungry, Robert.

Robert:  Oh, oh,...make it a green salad, then, with the chicken.  I keep forgetting we're trying to keep her in the zone.

Waiter:  Yes, sir.

Robert:  I'll have the Veal Chop with Marsala.

Julia:  I'm not on a diet any more.

Robert:  You should be.  I, only, say this because you're a beautiful woman and I want you to be happy.

Julia:  If you wanted me to be happy, you would stop calling me and following me.  I told you, I don't want this any more. 

Robert:  This is that shrink of yours talking.  Someting I intend to look into, when we get back.

Julia:  We're not going anywhere.

Robert: Oh, no, no...it's part of the surprise.  (He reaches into his pocket.)

Julia:  Robert, there is no surprise!  It took me months to say what I said, weeks ago.  This  relationship...it's not good for me.  It makes me feel bad about myself and I have a hard enough time with that, as it is.  I agreed to dinner, only, because I need you to hear me.  This is over.  You have to leave me alone.  I'm not going to change my mind.   Maybe, we should go.

She stands up, but Robert reaches out and roughly grabs her hand.

Robert:  We're going to stay here.  We'll have a nice dinner and then, we will go to my house.

Julia:  Robert, please!

Robert:  You left a lot of your things there.  I don't want them around any more.

Flash to Robert and Julia walk up to the front door of his house.

Flash to Jay Colson on the witness stand.

Judge:  You want to continue, Mr. Colson?

Jay:  Not much else to say.  Uh...Bobby stopped by after having dinner with Julia.  We watched the Sox.  He crashed on the couch, I sent him to the guest room and...uh...we had French toast the next morning.

Flash to Robert and Jay talking, as Joel and Fearless watch from a distance.

Jay:  It's not about me, any more.  Now, they're going after Vivian and Eddie.  Ever since I took the stand, they made it their mission to terrorize my family.

Robert:  Giving you a speeding ticket?

Jay:  Four tickets!  And look what they've done to Viv.  Humiliated her, pulled her over at every corner, searched through her bags.

Robert:  They didn't find anything.

Jay:  And Eddie.  Eddie can't hang out with his friends, now.  Do you know how long it's been since he had buddies?  We can't risk it because, maybe, one of them has a joint in his pocket or something.

Robert:  It's not Pakistan, for God's sake!  If you don't do anything, they can't touch you.

Jay:  I don't care about me.  But, if a man can't take care of his own family...

Robert:  Then, what?!  Besides, just waiting it out?

Jay:  The next cop that tries to hurt Vivian or Eddie - I'm going to shoot him.

Robert:  Shoot who?  The cop?

Jay:  They're coming after us, Bobby.  I got a right to defend my family.

Robert:  By shooting a cop?  Are you off your meds, again?

Jay:  Why does everybody keep asking me that?

Robert:  Because you sound like a lunatic.  Do you think you're smart enough to shoot a cop and get away with it?  The only time you ever fired a gun, you turned it on yourself and botched it.  Defend your family?  For God's sake, try releasing them!  Aside from me, Viv and that boy have been taking care of you for years.

 

VIVIAN COLSON

Vivian is upstairs in her bedroom reading a magzine.  She hears someone enter the house and calls out:  Where have you been?

Jay:  With Bobby.  Then, I took a drive.

Vivian walks downstairs and sees Jay loading a pistol.  She goes back up to the bedroom, picks up the phone and calls Robert:  Bob, it's me.  Pick up!  Jay's downstairs and he's loading a gun.  You just saw him and he's loading a gun!  What the hell happened?!  Bob!  Bob, pick up.

When there's no response, she hangs up the phone and hurries back downstairs.

Vivian:  What are you doing?!

Jay:  I'm going out.  I need to be alone for a while.

Vivian:  You just were alone.  Jay!  Whatever you're thinking, it's wrong!  Whatever you have in mind, don't do it.  Do not do this to Eddie and me!  It is not what we want.  Do you understand?!  I love you.  Your wife and your boy love you, Jay.

Jay hears a sound from outside the house.  He looks out the window and sees Joel in the front yard.  He pulls out the gun.

Jay:  This is going to stop right now.

Bullets shatter the windows.

Jay:  Get down!  (He grabs Vivian and they fall to the floor.)

 

TOM

Tom is signing some forms at the police station.

A uniformed officer (Ben):  I need your serial number, social security, seals request sheet.

Tom:  No fingerprints?

Ben:  Hey, just a thumb.  After Rampart, be lucky you don't gotta piss in a cup.

Tom finishes signing the forms and notices a very large tennis shoe sitting on the desk.  He picks it up.

Tom:  What's this?  It's a joke, right?

Ben:  No, it's Shaq's.

Tom:  Shaquille O'Neal's shoe.

Ben:  It stinks of sweat, even.  I smelled it.  Ah, some Hell's Angel guy won it on Ebay, kept all his crystal meth in there.

Joel and Fearless enter the room.

Joel:  Hey, Tom.

Tom:  Hey.

Joel:  Are you ready for this?

Tom:  Yeah, I'm ready.  Piece of cake.

Fearless:  In your sleep, right?

Tom:  Yeah.  Yeah, I got it handled.  I got it handled, if that's what you mean.

Joel:  Just meant to be careful, that's all.

Tom:  Okay, thanks.

Joel:  And, hey, Tom.  Whatever happens, bring back all the dope.  Or Ben, here, will get ugly on you.

Tom:  Right.  Right.

Joel:  All right.

Tom:  Can't wait.

Tom leaves the room.

In Tom's apartment, he comes out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.  He sees his girlfriend, Mia.

Tom:  Hey.  What are you doing?

Mia:  Hi, baby!  (She walks over and picks up a joint.)

Tom:  No, no, no, stop, stop, not the pot.  Please!

He takes the joint and the bag   away from her:  Are you insane?  I'm a cop.

Mia:  A cop?  Umm, with a very cute butt.  (She jumps on his back.)

Tom:  Look.  Look, I'm not kidding, all right?  I'm not kidding about this.  They weigh this stuff.  They weight every stem, every bud.  How much did you take?

Mia:  One joint.  But, I could be lying.  Maybe, I stashed a little some place else.  You better frisk me, Officer.

Tom:  It's not funny, Mia.

Mia:  It is, if you're me, looking at you.  Fine, I'll do the frisking.  (She reaches under Tom's towel.)

Tom:  No.  No, knock it off.  I don't feel like it, right now.

Mia:  But, you do feel it like it, Tommy.  You always do.

Tom kisses her passionately, picks her up and swings her around.

Tom is sitting in a car, parked across from a school's soccer field.  Eddie Colson, Jay's son, walks over and gets in the car.

Tom:  I should charge by the hour.

Eddie:  Sorry.  My buddy's flunking Algebra.  I had to give him the answers before his test.

Tom:  You got the money?

Eddie:  Uh...it's not cash.  I got a check.

Tom:  What?

Eddie:  Kidding...uh...just kidding.  It happens when I get nervous, I guess.  Sorry.

Tom:  A lot of dope for a skinny little kid like you.

Eddie:  Yeah, well, it gets me into parties and stuff.  And if you're the guy with a big bag of pot, girls think you're so cool.

Eddie's cell phone rings.  He answers it:  Yeah?...What?...

He looks out of the car and sees his father at the soccer field.

Eddie to Tom:  It's my Dad.

Tom:  All right.  Tell him you'll see him at home.

Eddie:  No, I - I can't.

Tom:  Look, you want to do this or not?  Just get rid of him.

Eddie to phone:  Uh...Dad.  I'll be there in a while, okay?  (He hangs up the phone.)

Eddie to Tom:  I gotta go.  I'm sorry.  I gotta...

Tom:  Wait a minute.  What are you talking about?  Wait a minute...

Eddie gets out of the car.

Tom:  Aww, hell!

At the police station.

Fearless:  Well, don't sweat it, Tom.  I mean, sometimes, things just don't go your way, man.

Tom:  But, the kid was ready to do the the deal, his Dad shows up and burns it.

Joel:  What about you, Ray?

Ray:  I thought I had her.  I saw her lift the blouse, saw her stuff it in her bag.  She must have dumped it on the way to the door.

Joel:  Well, we can't let up on this one, all right, guys?  Keep at it.

 

JAY COLSON

Jay enters his home, walks over and takes a gun out of  a drawer.  He starts loading it and remembers hearing his wife's voice:  That's not a job, Jay.  Bogus phone cards are not a real job.

Flashback.

Vivian:  That's not a job, Jay.  Bogus phone cards are not a real job.

Jay, picking up the cards which are scattered on the floor:  I'll take care of it.

Vivian:  Before Eddie gets home.  I mean it.  He has a hard enough time fitting in, without him thinking his father's out there hustling like some street thug.

The doorbell rings.  Jay opens the door.  It's his brother, Robert.

Robert:  I need your help.

Outside, by the Robert's SUV.

Robert:  We lost the case.  He went crazy, said he'd kill me.  I didn't think anything about it, because they shipped him off to San Quentin.  Then, he showed up at my door.

Jay:  You just shot him?

Robert:  I slammed the door in his face.  He broke in a window.  He came charging in.  By the time he found me in the den, I had the gun out.  It just happened.

Jay:  Aww, man.  Bobby!

Robert:  It's too late for the cops, Jay.  I wouldn't have them, anyway.  Do you know what cops do to defense attorneys?  Anything they can get away with.  It was him or me.  You're the only one I can trust, now.

Flash to Jay and Robert on a boat.  They push a cooler overboard.

Jay:  It's not going to sink.

Robert:  It's heavier than hell!  It's going to sink.

Jay:  It's a top-of-the-line cooler.

Robert:  It's going to sink.

Jay:  For God's sake, Bobby!  Do you know how much crap I've seen go over the side of a boat?  That thing's not going down.

Robert:  All right.  So, what do we do?

Jay:  We help it.  (He gets a pistol and shoots holes in the cooler.  Blood starts pouring out of the bullet holes.)

Jay:  God!  Oh, God!  I can't look at this.

Robert:  It's not going down.  Why the hell won't it go down?

Jay:  We got to weigh it down.  We got to bring it in.

Robert:  What?

Jay hands him the boat hook:  Here.  Use the hook to bring it back in.  I'm going to go get the anchor.

Robert:  What for?  We're not going anywhere!

Jay:  To weigh him down.  It's the only thing that'll work.

Jay and Robert count to three and lift the cooler onto the boat.  They drop it, the lid opens and Julia's body tumbles out.

Jay:  Oh, my God!  It's...Holy!  (He frantically scrambles away from the body.)

Robert:  We need to dump them separately.  You put the anchor in the cooler.  I'll take care of her.  Where's the fire axe?

Jay leans over and vomits into the ocean.

Flash to them returning to shore.

Jay, at the wheel:  That was no guy!  That was no damn guy, Bobby!  And then you drag me out here and you lie to me.

Robert:  Jay.  Jay!  Pull it together.

Jay:  Oh, screw you, Bobby!  I'm not together.  That was no guy.

Robert:  Has something very bad happened?  Yes, it has.  A terrible accident.

Jay:  Then, you should have called the cops.

Robert:  Right.  Like all the times I called the cops when you screwed up?  Drug deals, bad loans, stolen phone cards.  Fifty trips to the emergency room, your stomach pumped, your wrists gushing blood.

Jay:  I never did anything like this!

Robert:  You owe me.  You owe me your life!  And you know it!  Now, I need your help.

Jay laughs, a little hysterical:  Are you kidding?  You're going to need a lot more than somebody like me can give you.

Robert:  You're my family.  You're the only one I trust.  And you're right.  It looks bad.  This could be the end of me.  Is that what you want?  Huh?

Jay:  Gaahh!  Would you just tell me?  I just got to know.

Robert:  It was an accident.  An accident!  I would never have involved you in something like this if it wasn't.  That's God's truth.

Flashback to Jay on the witness stand:  Not much else to say.  Uh...Bobby stopped by after having dinner with Julia.  We watched the Sox.  He crashed on the couch, I sent him to the guest room and...uh...we had French toast the next morning.

Flashback to Jay and his son, Eddie, at the soccer field.

Jay:  Who's the guy in the car?

Eddie:  One of my buds.  Dad, what's the deal?  What are you doing here?

Jay:  What's he doing here?  What does he want?

Eddie:  We were talking.  He wanted to take me to Sally Grannett's party, tonight.

Jay:  Oh.

Eddie:  I thought you would be happy.  Friends, Dad!  Instead of you and Mom looking at me like I'm some shut-in freak.

Jay:  That is not the way we look at you.  But, these friends...you need to stay away from them for a while.  Just for a while.  There's some stuff that's going on.  People are watching.

Eddie:  People?  Are you off the meds or something?  I mean, what is all of this?

Jay:  I'm sorry, Eddie.  Okay?  I'm sorry as hell you have to have a Dad as screwed up as me. 

Eddie:  No, no, you're a fine Dad.

Jay:  Hey, I'm not fine, you idiot.  I know that.  But, even with all the bad stuff, there is only one thing that I know for sure.  And that is that I love you and your Mom more than anything.  If anything ever happened to you...Just stay out of trouble, okay?  Please!  Just be the great kid you always are.  Come here.  (Jay hugs him.)

Flashback to conversation between Jay and Robert.

Jay:  I don't care about me.  But, if a man can't take care of his own family...

Robert:  Then, what?!  Besides, just waiting it out?

Jay:  The next cop that tries to hurt Vivian or Eddie - I'm going to shoot him.

Robert:  Are you off your meds, again?

Jay:  Why does everybody keep asking me that?

Robert:  Defend your family?  For God's sake, try releasing them!  Aside from me, Viv and that boy have been taking care of you for years.

Back in Jay's living room.  As he loads the gun, he hears Robert's voice:  Try releasing them.  Try releasing them.  Try releasing them.  Try releasing them.

Vivian comes downstairs:   What are you doing?!

Jay:  I'm going out.  I need to be alone for a while.

Vivian:  You just were alone.  Jay!  Whatever you're thinking, it's wrong!  Whatever you have in mind, don't do it.  Do not do this to Eddie and me!  It is not what we want.  Do you understand?!  I love you.  Your wife and your boy love you, Jay.

Jay hears a sound from outside the house.  He looks out the window and sees Joel in the front yard.  He pulls out the gun.

Jay:  This is going to stop right now.

Bullets shatter the windows.

Jay:  Get down!  (He grabs Vivian and they fall to the floor.  He covers her with his body.)

 

JOEL

Joel is lying on the ground as paramedic Teresa Ortiz attends to him.

Teresa:  How many fingers?  How many fingers do you see?

Joel:  Three.

Teresa:  Good.

Joel groans:  Ahhh...I think I broke my nose.

Teresa:  Yeah, you did.  On somebody's windshield.  Do you remember that?

Joel:  Yeah. '99 Firebird.  It came right at me.

Fearless:  Yeah.  Don't you scare me like that ever again.

Joel:  Did you get the shooter?

Fearless:  I did. 

Joel:  Who is it?

Fearless:  We're running the plates now.

Fearless to Teresa:  Thanks.  I'm glad you're here.

Teresa to Fearless:  Yeah.

Teresa to Joel, as she check his abdomen:  All right, does this hurt?

Joel:  No.

Teresa:  How about this?

Joel smiles:  No.

Teresa:  What are you smiling at?

Joel:  I don't know.

Teresa:  Well, you scared your partner pretty bad.

Fearless is talking to other officers by the dead man's car:  An ID come back on this guy, yet?

Joel starts to sit up:  I gotta go.

Teresa:  No, wait.  Don't even think about it.  We got to get you to the hospital and  check you out first.

Joel:  You checked me out.  I'm fine.

Teresa:  Detective, please!

Fearless rejoins them:  The name's Carl Tuback, multiple arrests.  He's a gun for hire.  Colson helped him beat a murder rap back in '92.

Joel:  Yep, a hitman.  You were right.  W got to talk to brother Jay.  (He starts to sit up, again.)

Teresa:  No, no, no.  The only place you're going is to the hospital.

Joel:  No, no, I gotta go.  Just give me five minutes, okay?  I want this one.

Inside Jay Colson's house.

Joel indicates the shattered windows and other damage done by the bullets:  Is any of this not clear to you?  Your brother hired his hitman buddy to kill you.  To kill you, Jay!  Your own brother!  Wake up!  Robert Colson doesn't give a crap about you.  He doesn't give a crap about anybody.  What are you protecting him for?

Jay:  He didn't hire some guy.

Fearless:  You want to see?  Cause he's laying dead right out there in the middle of the street.

Jay:  You guys will say anything, do anything.  You don't care who gets hurt.

Fearless:  That's your brother you've got us confused with.

Jay:  After all the crap you put my family through!

Joel:  Do you want to know what I care about?  Julia Sloane.  Because she had her whole life ahead of her until that animal brother of yours snuffed it out.

Jay:  I have nothing to say.

Fearless lets out a deep breath.

Joel:  All right.  We'll...uh...see what you wife has to say.

Jay:  Okay, leave her alone.  She's out of this.

Joel:  She's way in.  We searched her car.  She's got a trunk full of bad phone cards.

Jay:  Those are my cards.

Joel:  Well, they're in her car.

Jay:  I put them in there because I was going to dump them.  Hey, that's the truth.  You wanted the truth.  That's it.  Those are not her cards.

Joel:  They're hers, now.  Now, she's going to jail.

Jay:  Keep my wife and son out of this.

Joel:  Can't do that, Jay.  Only you can.

Joel and Ray enter a public restroom, where they find Robert Colson.

Robert:  L.A.'s finest.  To what do I owe this pleasure?

Joel:  Robert Colson, we're placing you under arrest for the murder of Julia Sloane.

Ray handcuffs him:  You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney.  If you can not afford one, one will be appointed for you by the court.

Jay Colson on the witness stand:  He needed my help, so I helped him.  He's my brother, you know.  But, when we got on the boat, I saw that it wasn't some guy who had threatened him.  It was Julia.  Julia Sloane.

David McNorris:  Did he tell you how he killed her?

Jay:  He said it was an accident.  But, it didn't look like an accident.

David:  Did he say where it happened?

Jay:  Yeah, he said it happened at his house.

Flashback to inside Robert's house.  He picks up a candlestick and hits Julia with it, at least three times.

At the police station, Joel walks into the locker room, carrying a blouse.  He hands it to Ray.

Ray:  When did you take it out?

Joel:  About an hour after we talked.

Flashback to Joel picking the lock of Vivian Colson's SUV.  He opens it and sees the blouse.

Joel:  Hello.

As he picks up the blouse, he sees a paper bag and opens it.  It's full of phone cards.  He closes the trunk, stuffs the blouse in his pocket and heads back to the car. 

Driver of red car:  Hey, Jay!

Joel turns to look at the car and the driver shoots at him.   As the car drives towards him, Joel fires several shots before the car hits him.

Ray tosses the blouse into his locker:  It's just a technicality, Detective.  But, you know, those phones cards...that could be ruled Illegal Search and Seizure.

Joel:  Yeah.  Except I had a warrant.  (He shows the warrant to Ray.)  So, I could get the blouse out of there.  The thing is...the blouse would have worked, Ray.  But, we're better than that.

Ray:  Yeah, don't I know it.

Joel turns to leave the room.

Ray calls out:  Detective, I just saw how bad you wanted it.  Next time, I'll know better.

Joel:  Yeah.

Joel enters his home and walks into the kitchen where his sister-in-law, Susan, is eating some cookies. 

Joel:  Hi.

Susan:  Girl Scouts came by.  (She offers him a cookie.)

Joel:  Thank you.  Is Kelly up?

Susan shakes her head:  It wasn't a great night.  She finally took a pill about an hour ago...thank God.

Joel:  Yeah.  How about Willie?

Susan:  Out like a light.

Joel:  He loves you...Auntie Susan.

Susan:  What choice does he have?  I'm going to go, now, okay?

Joel:  Yeah.

Joel walks into his bedroom, where Kelly is asleep.  He sits down beside her on the bed and gently caresses her face and hair.

Flashback to locker room.

Ray:  Detective, how come?

Joel:  How come what?

Ray:  How come you want it so bad?

Joel:  No reason, really.

Flashback to the police station.  Julia Sloane's sister, Melanie, is filing a missing persons report.

Melanie:  It's just my sister and I.  She's the only family I've got.  She wouldn't...she would never just leave without telling me.

Joel:  Right.  You, also, said your sister was battling depression.

Melanie:  Yes!  Yes, she was.  But...okay, two months ago, I would have had to consider that she could have killed herself.  But, a week ago, after she left Robert, she took me to dinner and she ordered champagne.  She said, this is a celebration to a new beginning.  And then, she thanked me for loving her and for being there for her.  And she said...uh...she said, for the first time in a long time, 'I feel like I can breathe'.  And she could.  You can tell with people you love, you know?  She really could.

Melanie begins crying and Joel, overcome with emotion, looks away.

Flashback to Joel and Kelly in bed together, drinking champagne.

Kelly:  Do you know what's sexier than being completely naked, with just your wedding ring on?

Joel:  What?

Kelly:  Nothing.

Joel:  It is sexy.

Kelly:  When I was a kid and so much bad stuff happened, I just didn't think it was possible to be so happy.

Joel:  I know.

Kelly:  You love me, don't you?

Joel:  I love you very, very much.

Kelly:  Mmmm, you're there for me.

Joel:  Um-huh.

Kelly:  And you're my family, now.

Joel:  Um-huh.

Kelly sighs with contentment:  For the first time in my life, I feel like I can breathe.  Does that make any sense?

Joel:  I'm going to make you breathe, Mrs. Kelly Stevens.  I'm going to make you really breathe.

They kiss...

Joel sits on the bed, looking sadly down at his sleeping wife.