REINDEER GAMES

Gabriel turns with Ashley, wrapped together. Moving slow.

                        GABRIEL
           All those letters are about to
           pay off, baby ... all those letters...

                        ASHLEY
           To all those cons...

                        GABRIEL
           Searching for a money man...

                        ASHLEY
           We musta written what, twenty of
           'em? And they were before this guy.
           One, two letters apiece, ten to the
           racetrack guy in Leavenworth--

                        GABRIEL
           --till he fucked his parole--

                        ASHLEY
           --plus the forty to Mason ... how
           many letters is that?

                        GABRIEL
           That's a book, baby.
                 (presses closer)
           That's a book of love.

They kiss again. Gabriel strokes her wet hair:

                        GABRIEL
           I can't take watching you touch him.
           I can't take his hands on you.

                        ASHLEY
           One more day, baby. One more day
           to Christmas.

                        GABRIEL
           I've been doing good, though.

                        ASHLEY
           Didn't have to hit me so fucking
           hard. Didn't have to throw me
           outta the goddamn truck.

                        GABRIEL
           Didn't have to send me down a fucking
           mountain.

                        ASHLEY
           What, he should see me help you
           catch him?

ON RUDY

still in the shadows, welling with betrayal.

                        ASHLEY (o.s.)
           He's shown us the setup, he's drawn us
           the map, he's helped us do the plan.
           He wants a gun, give him a gun. Take
           the bullets out, whatever, but give
           him the gun. The more manpower-we've
           got in there, the better. He won't try
           and make his move till the money's in
           hand.

                        GABRIEL (o.s.)
           He'll be dead when he does.

BACK IN THE POOL

Gabriel and Ashley rock slowly, coupled, in the water.

                        GABRIEL
           Y'know something, baby? if you were
           my sister? I'd still want to
           wake up Christmas morning with you...

                        ASHLEY
           Mmm, baby. And I'd still want to
           be the tinsel round your tree...

And as their words turn to moans and murmurs...

IN THE SHADOWS

Rudy is gone.

INT. FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY - NIGHT

Rudy strides a corridor, eyes dead ahead, passing a stairwell on
his way toward the "Exit" sign posted above a door. He's almost
there, marching fast--

                        RUDY
           Here's my present to you, truck
           drivers--

AS THE EXIT DOOR OPENS

                        MERLIN (o.s.)
           Where the hell's Gabriel?

--and Rudy dives to the stairwell, out of sight just as Merlin and
Jumpy stride back inside.

                        JUMPY
           With his girlfriend. Making up
           for "Nick" time. I'm going down
           to the bar, you want something?

                        MERLIN
           Get me a brew. I'm gonna check
           on our convict.

They separate, Jumpy down the hall, Merlin to the stairs--

INT. STAIRWELL

Merlin trudges upward, while Rudy steps from hiding one flight
down.

Checks the hall for Jumpy, then races out--

EXT. PARKING LOT - NIGHT

Rudy slams out the side door, scrambling straight for the same
Blazer. He jimmies the lock again, leaps in, tears free the
engine panel and searches for ignition wires like a pro.
Stripping the plastic, trying to spark contact--

                        RUDY
           Catch, dammit, catch! Like riding a
           bike, it's like riding a bike!

But there's nothing. The engine won't start.

INT. STAIRWELL

Merlin reaches the second floor, steps into the hall.

EXT. PARKING LOT

Rudy jumps from the Blazer, looks at the lot, the highway, the
woods. His own footprints in the dusting snow.

                        RUDY
           How far you gonna get, Rudy...

Realizing the answer, Rudy looks to his room's window. Forced to
race back. He tries clambering the wall, standing an shrubbery,
but he can't reach. He whirls, desperate.

And his eyes find the Blazer.

INT. SECOND FLOOR HALL

Merlin ambles the corridor. Approaching Rudy's room.

EXT. PARKING LOT

Rudy-flings open the Blazer door, slams the emergency brake down.
Forces the gearshift into "Reverse."

INT. SECOND FLOOR HALL

Merlin reaches Rudy's door. Searches his pockets for the key.

EXT. PARKING LOT

Rudy darts to the front of the Blazer, slipping and sliding on
asphalt ice. He drops to his knees, pushing on the front bumper.
The wheels start to move.

INT. SECOND FLOOR HALL

Merlin finds a room key. Puts it in the lock. Turns the handle but
the door won't open. Merlin checks the key.

                        MERLIN
           My room.

EXT. PARKING LOT

The Blazer starts to roll backwards, toward the snowy shrubs
ringing the building. Headed for the empty parking
space below Rudy's window. Rudy keeps pushing. The Blazer
picks up speed, rolling on its own.

INT. SECOND FLOOR HALL

Merlin searches his pockets again, finds the right key.

EXT. PARKING LOT

The Blazer rolls toward the building. Rudy scrambles to his feet,
runs after it, leaps his left foot onto the bumper, the right foot
onto the hood, then onto the roof--

--getting two roof-steps worth of running start--

--as the Blazer slows to a rest against the snowy shrubs--

--and Rudy dives into the air, torpedoing himself right through
the window to his room-

INT. RUDY'S ROOM

--where he crashes headlong to the floor, turning a somersault and
landing sprawled across the carpet.

INT. SECOND FLOOR HALL

The key in the lock, Merlin hears the crash--

INT. RUDY'S ROOM

--and as Merlin opens the door, he finds Rudy sitting calmly on
the floor, ankle-cuff locked once again to the bedframe. Spreading a
deck of cards out before him.

Starting a game of solitaire. He looks up.

                        RUDY
           Hey.

Merlin frowns, takes a suspicious look around the room. The
window's open. Rudy continues his card game.

Merlin watches him for a long time. Then pulls the door shut.

Once he's gone, Rudy collapses to the floor. Breathing hard, heart
pounding. The cards go flying.

INT. RUDY'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

The LIGHTS go out. Rudy creeps back to the window, checks
outside ... and stops still. In parking lot...

...a cigarette glow burns inside the Nova. From the driver's seat.
It's Merlin. Now watching.

Rudy steps back into the shadows. Closing window and watches
the falling snow. Caged again, after all.

                                                       DISSOLVE TO:

INT. RUDY'S ROOM - NIGHT - LATER

Pitch dark. Rudy asleep on the floor, as Ashley creeps back in.
Seeing he's asleep, she lies beside him, pulls a blanket over them
both, nestles into his body and kisses him.

                        ASHLEY
           Merry Christmas-Eve, my love. My love,
           my love. Merry Christmas-Eve...

Ashley closes her eyes. With a smile.

A moment later, Rudy's eyes open. Turning to look at her smiling,
sleeping face ... with a convict's vengeful stare...

INT. KNIGHTS INN LOBBY - DAY
CLOSE ON DESK CLERK

In a elfin cap, smiling cheerfully:

                        SMILING DESK CLERK
           Hello, gentlemen. And how can we
           help you on this holiday morning?

CLOSE ON GABRIEL, MERLIN AND PUG

Three grim faces.

                        GABRIEL
           Checking out.

EXT. KNIGHTS INN PARKING LOT - DAY

The three truckers stride to the Nova, where Jumpy guards Rudy and
Ashley. In the b.g., the Ice Fishermen are by their car, wondering
how the hell it switched parking spaces overnight.

Gabriel marches straight to Rudy and SLUGS him in the gut. Rudy
hits the snow--

                        ASHLEY
           Gabriel!

                        GABRIEL
           That's for the hundred bucks
           worth of pay-per-view.
                 (then KICKS him)
           And that's for the two hundred
           you took outta your minibar.

                        RUDY
                 (chokes, pained)
           You guys were paying for the room,
           I just figured--

Gabriel KICKS him again, then pulls a bandgun, points it at
Rudy's head. Ashley screams, rushes him--

--as Gabriel's gun SHOOTS a thin stream of water into Rudy's face.
It's a forty-five caliber squirt gun.

                        GABRIEL
                 (cruel smile)
           You wanted a weapon, convict? You got
           one.

Gabriel tosses the water pistol onto Rudy's chest. Jumpy and Pug
haul him up. With venom:

                        GABRIEL
           Merry Christmas-Eve.

EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY

The Motor City Monster cruises the snowy landscape, with Lake
Superior beyond. Pug drives the Nova in convoy.

INT. GABRIEL'S RIG

Gabriel hands copies of Rudy's sketched map to Merlin and Jumpy.
Rudy and Ashley are in the sleeper.

                        GABRIEL
           Commit this thing to memory. Every guard,
           every exit ... don't tape it to your
           fuckin, wrist: remember it. That's the
           Gospel right there. The Gospel. Matthew,
           Mark, Luke and John...

Rudy watches them studying his made-up map. Ashley strokes his
arm, gives a loving smile. Rudy stares at her.

He smiles right back.

EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY

The rig and the Nova blow by a roadsign: "Now Entering Powahachee
Indian Reservation Lands."

INT./EXT. TRAILER DAY - PREPARATION MONTAGE

The storage locker with the Santa suits SLAMS open.

Merlin's hands PULL automatics and shotguns from the weapons
chest. Pug's hands UNLOAD ammo.

A red-and-white Santa coat gets PULLED ON and BUTTONED UP.

Jumpy's hands apportion GUNS and AMMO on a picnic table.

Black Santa boots STAMP TIGHT in the snow.

A shoulder-strap ASSAULT RIFLE gets hidden under a Santa coat.

AMMO CLIPS are taped inside a fat black buckle-belt.

A HANDGUN gets tucked under a Santa hat.

And the rig's trailer doors come CRASHING SHUT.

EXT. LAKESIDE REST AREA - DUSK

Lake Superior shimmers in the dying light. The rig's in the empty
rest area lot. On a nearby bank, four men in Santa Claus suits and
one woman without sit scattered at picnic tables, guns at their
sides. Staring out at the lake.

RUDY AND ASHLEY

sit apart from the rest. Rudy in a red suit, black boots, cap in
hand. Ashley's head is in his lap, watching the sky.

                        ASHLEY
           Where should we go, Nick? When we're
           gone from here ... where should we
           go...