Traffic by Stephen Gaghan 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