WIKTORIA’S TOWN CAR

SOUND: TOWN CAR ENGINE ACCELERATING

(MUTED SOUNDS OF DAYTIME LAS VEGAS IN THE BACKGROUND)

JIMMY
All right, Wiktoria. You’ve got me. So start talking.

WIKTORIA
James, I have no desire to “get you,” as you say. Would you like a drink?

JIMMY
A little early, isn’t it?

WIKTORIA
Eh. Such rules are for people who have more conventional schedules, yes?

JIMMY
Yeah, I guess that’s true enough. All right.

SOUND: DRINK POURING

SOUND: ICE CUBES RATTLING

WIKTORIA
I am not sure I trust someone who will not have a drink, no? I find they worry too much about their self-control. With you, now I do not worry so much. In any case, you will find this much better than the gówno they are stocking back at the Limelight.

JIMMY
I’m no expert, but I’ll take your word for it.

JIMMY (V.O.)
I got the distinct feeling Wiktoria was stalling. Or if not stalling, then building her resolve. Either way, if something had her scared, I was worried.

CRICK
I think we’re clear, boss.

SOUND: DRINKING

JIMMY (V.O.)
To be honest, I was glad for the drink. Up ’til now I’d been surprisingly calm. But now… now I was shaking like a leaf. I guess the adrenaline rush had worn off, and I was crashing. Hard. When it was going on it felt like… like it was happening to someone else, and I was just watching. It felt so fast. But now that I was finally sitting back, I kept replaying it in my head. Like it was in slow motion. Like the consequences of it all had finally caught up with me.
(BEAT)
Still, I had to play the person opposite me, so as hard as it was, I put my game face back on.

WIKTORIA
(DRINKING)
Aaah. Yes, much better. Now, you seem to believe I am behind the unfortunate matter of your vehicle.

JIMMY
That’s one way to put it. Another might be “killing my friend while trying to kill me.” Why quibble? You gonna tell me your goons didn’t plant the bomb?

WIKTORIA
I am not. I suspect one of them did exactly that.

JIMMY
Well that’s… I actually have no response to that.

WIKTORIA
I will say this was not done on my word. After recent events, hours must seem like days, but do you remember what I said to you at our last meeting?

JIMMY
I remember laughing boy Crick up there in the driver’s seat doing a drumbeat on my stomach. And then his buddy Watson trying to use me for target practice. Forgive me if the rest is a little fuzzy.

WIKTORIA
It is about Mr. Watson I wish to speak. But first I need to be reassuring you I do not wish you dead.

JIMMY
Funny way to show it, Wiktoria.

WIKTORIA
This is not nineteen sixties, James. Perhaps you think little of me, but I am a businesswoman. I will admit to an affinity for the old methods. But I do not go around killing people. Or having them killed.

JIMMY
That’s comforting. Not sure I buy it, but comforting.

WIKTORIA
Ah. Even so, it would not make sense. You owe a substantial sum, James. As I said last night, this money I intend to recover. And the likelihood of that diminishes much on your death. I very much wish you alive and well.

JIMMY
Really? Well?

WIKTORIA
Heh. Well enough, shall we say.

JIMMY
Okay, your logic is… all right, it makes sense enough. For the moment, I’ll table that. So what’s so important that you needed to grab me off the street?

WIKTORIA
I am of the belief that following your departure, Mr. Watson decided to take more direct action.

JIMMY
Him taking shots at me seemed pretty damned direct.

WIKTORIA
As I say, more direct.

JIMMY
Muscle-bound tool decides on his own to go plant a bomb in my car? Initiative seems a bit out of character for him. You know, from what I’ve seen.

WIKTORIA
You would be surprised. He can be resourceful. As can Mr. Crick. But no. I believe he was acting on someone’s orders.

JIMMY
Now you sound conspiratorial. Maybe I was assuming a bit, but still, I could see you having it in for me. But other than that, while I’ve ticked off a few people in my time, I don’t make any of ’em for car-bomb types. On top of that, pretty much nobody else even knew I was at the Limelight.

WIKTORIA
It is a good thing not to have people wanting to kill you. Enjoy it. Me… I am not always so fortunate.

JIMMY
Wait — someone’s trying to kill you? That’s what this is all about? Actually, that does make more sense.

WIKTORIA
To kill me, or make things uncomfortable. Enough that I am made to disappear. I believe you were a simple target of opportunity.

JIMMY
What the hell’s that supposed to mean?

WIKTORIA
Think on the timing of events. I did not know you were at the hotel until you were seen last night. Crick and Watson were promptly sent to retrieve you.

JIMMY
Yeah, I’ve got that much.

WIKTORIA
After which we spoke, then you went on your way.

JIMMY
No thanks to your brute squad.

WIKTORIA
You were gone for perhaps… four hours, yes?

JIMMY
I guess so, more or less. Your point being?

WIKTORIA
I can say that Mr. Crick was with Mr. Watson for two hours of that time. Which would leave Mr. Watson with… let us say two hours to find your vehicle, obtain an explosive device, and install it.

JIMMY
Have to take your word for all that.

WIKTORIA
One does not go to the store and pick such an item from the shelf, James. No, the device had to already be here — and for the most ready to go — needing just to be installed.

JIMMY
And how long would that take?

WIKTORIA
Ha. You think little of my past, but believe me or no, I do not have direct experience in such matters. I suspect the time to be close, but possible, yes?

JIMMY
All assuming Watson is our guy in the first place.

WIKTORIA
Mr. Watson has gone missing since Mr. Crick was last in his company. That along with his overzealous pursuit of you — and some suspicion I have had as to his loyalty — leaves me confident of his betrayal.

JIMMY
(BEAT)
Okay, I’m sure someone of your renown might have made a few enemies, but that gets us nowhere if you don’t know who it is that’s trying to kill you.

WIKTORIA
Ah, you arrive at the point. Direct. I have strong suspicions. Are you familiar with Abdul Hazred?

JIMMY
“Benny” Hazred? Whoa, you’re saying the owner of the Royal Oasis is trying to have you whacked? Isn’t he like a bazillionaire? Just on the cover of Forbes last summer? No offense, but you’re getting an overinflated opinion of your reputation. Surprised if he’d even heard of you.

WIKTORIA
A theatrical term, “whacked.” But you are moving ahead. I do not suspect “Benny” Hazred, as you say. Not directly. But it would seem he leads investors seeking to purchase the Limelight.

JIMMY
Yeah, I think Will said something about that before he… well, before. I think his exact words were, “Supposed to be bunch of big-time investors coming through this week.” And then he mentioned Hazred.

WIKTORIA
Your memory serves you well. And yet curiously you claimed a flawed recollection of our discussion.

JIMMY
I’m a poker player. Observation, math and memory are tools of the trade. And my memory’s damn fine so long as people aren’t shooting at me.

WIKTORIA
As you say. For my own reasons, I am not positioned to relinquish my stake in the hotel. Not yet.

JIMMY
Good laundry is hard to come by.

WIKTORIA
Laundry. You are trying to make a “dirty laundry” joke, I think.

JIMMY
That or “money laundry.” I work with what I’ve got.

WIKTORIA
Hmm… Other than Hazred, the list of investors looking at the hotel is… tajemnica. Secret. I am not even certain of Hazred, but with him my sources are more confident. Still, I believe someone in this group is intent on ensuring my position is weakened. By any means necessary.

JIMMY
So, let me see if I’m following. One of these shady investors — who you don’t really know — is going after you for your share in the Limelight Hotel? Aren’t you being a little paranoid there? People killing each other for a business deal? Even in Vegas I think that’s a little more your world than theirs.

WIKTORIA
(LAUGHING)
Your innocence is refreshing. Paranoia is a valuable survival tool. Still, I agree this is very unusual. My share in the hotel is minuskuła. Enough for me to exert influence where necessary. But not to be of such consequence. Still, it would seem the most likely explanation.

JIMMY
At least from your perspective, I guess. So — not that I don’t appreciate the little lesson — why the hell are you telling me all this?

WIKTORIA
Ah. Again to the point. I promised you I would find a way to… direct your investigations. And I have something that might help.

JIMMY
Yeah, about that. I don’t know why you think I know people who would know about this kind of thing.

WIKTORIA
People? Who is talking people? I never said people.

JIMMY
You said… Wait, I’m lost here. What did you —

WIKTORIA
You are good with computers, yes?

JIMMY
Good with… I use computers, yes. I’m an online player.

WIKTORIA
So you can do… how do you say it… hacking, yes?

JIMMY
Wh… no, that’s not what I do. Not at all. Where the hell did you get the idea that I was some kind of computer hacker?

WIKTORIA
The situation you find yourself in with the online sites. Multiple user accounts, covering your tracks. These are not ordinary user activities.

JIMMY
Okay, so I can… I can make my way around a system. Occasionally. If the need arises. But that doesn’t make me some genius hacker. Especially since, hello, I got caught. Remember that little detail?

WIKTORIA
We do not have time to argue details. I have learned the investors have a particular interest in someone staying in a suite at the Lyon Majestic. I hear them refer to a “money man,” but that is all I have learned.

JIMMY
So is this “money man” the one with, I presume, the money?

WIKTORIA
It would seem logiczny. Logical. You go on to the computer to find out —

CRICK
(URGENTLY)
Boss, we got a tail.

JIMMY
A tail?

WIKTORIA
Ah, yes, I see. It appears my influence with the policja is not what it once was. I would not have expected them to be driving a Kia, but times change.

JIMMY
Wait, the cops are following us? You don’t think… Hey, I didn’t tell them anything!

WIKTORIA
(LAUGHING)
It would not surprise me if you had. It likely makes small difference. They will have me take the fall for the car bomb regardless of the truth. Your statement would have simply made this easier for them.

JIMMY
Well, I’m glad I sweated through that for nothing.

WIKTORIA
In any case, it would appear our time is limited. If, as I suspect, you wish to learn the truth of your friend’s death, then our needs would appear to coincide. And if we are both to move forward, what I require your assistance with is merely to —

SOUND: MASSIVE CAR CRASH

JIMMY
What the —

WIKTORIA
Aagh!

SOUND: PERSISTENT CAR HORN

SOUND: MUFFLED SHOUTS

CRICK
Boss. Boss! You okay?

WIKTORIA
Unnnngh…

SOUND: CAR DOORS OPENING, MUFFLED (OUTSIDE)

JIMMY
What the hell’s going on?

CRICK
Goddamn Hummer just T-boned us, dipwad! How’s Wiktoria?

JIMMY
I think she’s —

SOUND: AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE

SOUND: CRACKING GLASS

MUSIC: ACTION CUE

JIMMY
Aaah!

CRICK
Get down, dammit! Doors are armored!

SOUND: POLICE SIREN

MARSHALL
(THROUGH BULLHORN)
Put down your weapons and step away from the vehicle!

SOUND: AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE

SOUND: PISTOL SHOTS

MARSHALL
(THROUGH BULLHORN)
I’m serious! Don’t make me turn this car around!

CRICK
All right, cops got ’em busy. See if you can get Wiktoria out the far side!

JIMMY
What? Shouldn’t we just stay right here?

CRICK
I said we’re armored. Don’t make us a tank. They keep shooting and they will get through. Move!

JIMMY
You’ve hardly said three words to me that weren’t accompanied by a fist, and now you’re giving orders?

CRICK
Haven’t needed more than that to deal with a lowlife like you. Get wise. We have our roles — both know who and what we are. Right now, you want even a chance of seeing tomorrow, you will get moving and help Wiktoria. Some reason, Wiktoria wants you in one piece. But if she’s out of the picture, ain’t nothing keeping me —

JIMMY
Okay, okay. I read you.

SOUND: DOOR OPENING

JIMMY
(STRUGGLING)
Ugh! Come on, Wiktoria, can you help me out a bit?

WIKTORIA
Mmmmgh…

JIMMY
Crick, I can’t get…

CRICK
All right. Here, let me get her.

SOUND: STRUGGLING NOISES