TAMMY’S RANCH BROTHEL – PARKING LOT

(NIGHT CITY SOUNDS)

BOUNCER
You have a lovely evening, sir. Madam.

PEEPS
Madam? Where does he get off calling me madam? Do I look like someone who should be called madam? I’m only thirty… Okay, thirty-five… Seven.

JIMMY
Well, maybe it’s just that you’re not looking especially presentable at the moment.

PEEPS
Hello, pot, may I introduce kettle? Digging in open graves and climbing on rooftops doesn’t make anyone come out looking dapper.

JIMMY
Well, now what the hell do we do?

PEEPS
(ANGRY)
What do we do? Get the hell out of here! All I agreed to do is drive you out of town, and you drag me into a Coen brothers movie. I did not sign up for this!

JIMMY
But we’re so close to —

PEEPS
What we are close to is getting killed. I like you, but… no, scratch that. I don’t like you. You’re a self-centered, entitled little brat with no respect for anyone or anything. What’s my name?

JIMMY
What?

PEEPS
You heard me. What’s my name? My real name.

JIMMY
Um… Rachael. Rachael Leblanc.

PEEPS
Exactly my… Wait, that’s right. But my point stands. I’ve been working poker rooms fifteen years. You know how hard it is to get any respect as a woman player? I have to play twice as well as anyone else for people to stop assuming I got there out of pity.

JIMMY
But I didn’t —

PEEPS
And here you come, bit of online success, and you act like you own the goddamned town. Guess what? Poker world doesn’t owe you anything. You’re not special. You want respect? Earn it.

JIMMY
Whoa. I never said —

PEEPS
It oozes out of your every pore. You get it in your head to take down the system, play boy detective. Which, BTW, you are absolutely terrible at. Major intel dropped in your lap, and you still haven’t figured it out.

JIMMY
Wait a second. What major intel?

PEEPS
Seriously? You come in, ask about this Jasmine character, and in two minutes this pimp tells you A, she used to work there, doesn’t anymore, and B, that he’s worried about losing his license. Hangs a lantern on the fact they don’t do business off-site.

JIMMY
So… you’re saying Jasmine was breaking that rule.

PEEPS
Law, actually, seeing as how prostitution’s illegal in Vegas proper.

JIMMY
So Foghorn Leghorn in there wants to make crystal clear he has nothing to do with her, or anything she’s done.

PEEPS
Right. That line about entrapment means he thinks you might be a cop. Or a snitch.

JIMMY
So then how does Amber fit in —

PEEPS
You really are the absolute worst at this. Think about it. This Amber girl, who you’re so desperate to help, or avenge, or whatever. Where does she work?

JIMMY
Um… at the Emerald Club sometimes. Or at the Lyon Majestic, mostly.

PEEPS
And the guy after her saw her at the Lyon, right?

JIMMY
Um… yeah. I mean, the second time.

PEEPS
Christ, do I have to spell it out for you? Jasmine takes some off-the-books gig, figures she can make some extra, and heads to the Lyon Majestic. Clearly a big payday for her to risk her day job. Night job. Whatever. But that’s where things go horribly awry.

JIMMY
How do you —

PEEPS
Someone — the B team, if you will — does a half-assed job covering it up at the railroad junction, and our goon’s supposed to finish the job. Only he gets three-sheets-to-the-wind, loses his instruction sheet. And says too much to the pretty girl gyrating on his lap.

JIMMY
Um… yeah, I guess that makes sense.

PEEPS
Now everybody’s freaked, ’cause whoever the hell’s in room twenty-three seventeen has screwed everything all up, and they damn well need to fix things fast.

JIMMY
Slow down. Room… twenty-three seventeen?

PEEPS
The Post-It note you took off our hastily-buried corpse? “L-M two three one seven.” Lyon Majestic, room twenty-three seventeen. That’s where Jasmine was going.

JIMMY
Holy… Wait, did you know that the whole time?

PEEPS
Not the whole time, maybe. But pretty quick, yeah. We did have a ninety-minute drive to get here, so’s I had time to think. Okay? Mystery solved. Curiosity satisfied. Now I’m leaving. You can either come with me, or our relationship is officially severed.

JIMMY
That was… that was pretty damned impressive.

PEEPS
Pfft. Pretty basic, you ask me. Not that anyone ever give me credit for being able to figure things out.
(BEAT)
You know… you know why people call me Peeps?

JIMMY
No, I just… that’s how I always knew you.

PEEPS
(WISTFUL, SAD)
Back when I was starting to play the pro tables, a bunch of guys… and it’s always guys… they figure there’s no way I could do so well unless I’m looking at their cards. I got accused of marking cards, palming, using a shiner to see reflections…
(BEAT)
I’ll never forget. One guy I’d just taken out calls me “Peeper,” and the rest of the table joins in. And then other people start calling me that. And I was stuck with it. Eventually got shortened to “Peeps.”
(BEAT)
I wasn’t cheating. I never cheated. I’m just… I see patterns. Hell, nine times out of ten I can tell you exactly what the guy across from me is holding.
(BEAT)
Really, they just couldn’t accept that a woman was beating them. I know that now. And so screw ’em. Let them call me what they want. I know the truth.

(A MOMENT OF SILENCE)

JIMMY
I’m… I’m sorry, Peeps. Rachael.

PEEPS
You wanna say that again?

JIMMY
You’re right. I haven’t… It’s just… you start to see things working out, and it’s easy to think that’s how things are supposed to be. And from there, it’s all too easy to take… shortcuts, I guess.
(BEAT)
I just… I need to see this through. Will’s dead, Wiktoria’s all beat to hell, and somehow everything here is connected, but I just… I don’t know how.

PEEPS
And…

JIMMY
And that’s it.

PEEPS
No, it goes, “And Rachael, I forgive your debt, since you’ve more than made up with your selfless heroics.”

JIMMY
No, I think I said everything.

PEEPS
Discount?

JIMMY
We’ll talk.

(THEY REMAIN SILENT FOR A MOMENT.)

PEEPS
Look, I have to get back. Hopefully these guys don’t know I’m connected to you, and I can get back to… Oh, you have got to be kidding me!

SOUND: CAR APPROACHING FROM DISTANCE

JIMMY
Jesus, they… they must have seen the bracelet.

PEEPS
Anklet.

JIMMY
Whatever. Quick! We’ve got to go!

SOUND: CAR DOORS OPENING, CLOSING

JIMMY
Wait! Don’t start the car yet.

PEEPS
Are you crazy? Starting the car’s kind of the first step toward escaping, no?

JIMMY
Far as we know, they haven’t IDed our car, or they would have pegged it back at the solar farm.

PEEPS
They could have checked the cameras. They do that.

JIMMY
That was just two hours ago. The place is closed, even if it weren’t still being built. And if there are cameras, they couldn’t have gotten the footage that quickly. I don’t think. They’re not here for us.

PEEPS
What are you talking about?

JIMMY
They did the same thing we did. Traced Jasmine back here, seeing if they need to worry about anything.

PEEPS
That doesn’t help if they see us here.

JIMMY
Just duck down a minute. Let’s see what they do.

SOUND: SUV SLOWING, STOPPING

SOUND: SUV DOORS OPENING, CLOSING

SOUND: FOOTSTEPS

JIMMY
Wait ’til they go in. Then we ease out all calm-like.

SOUND: DOOR OPENING, DOOR CHIME JINGLING (DISTANT)

JIMMY
Okay, they’re in.

PEEPS
You sure? Totally, absolutely, positively?

JIMMY
I’m sure. Go. Now.

SOUND: CAR STARTING

PEEPS
Here we go.

SOUND: SUV STARTING

JIMMY
Oh, crap, the driver was still in the car.

PEEPS
How did you miss that? You said you were sure!

JIMMY
It’s dark! I can’t see everything! Drive! Drive!

SOUND: CAR ACCELERATING

MUSIC: ACTION CUE