Rush Hour

Carson, Miranda and Colonel Lee hurry back in. Disgusted, Carson throws his jacket on a chair.

CARSON

Wasted trip: Witnesses say he was working alone, and he was a vicious son of a bitch. Old news.

COLONEL LEE

(to Ambassador Han)

And our car was stolen.

AMBASSADOR HAN

I felt safer when I was the Ambassador to Libya.

SABATINI

Image enhancements came back.

POV OF PICTURES

The CIA technicians have enlarged and enhanced every part of the fax deemed significant, in individual blowups.

BACK TO SCENE

Colonel Lee is standing right beside Carson, leaning over to look at the pictures. Carson looks at him, irritated.

CARSON

We going steady?

SABATINI

The sun position tells us the windows are facing northeast.

(beat)

Here's the best – look at the glass on the prints hanging in the background. There's a reflection of a reflection, out on the street: the corner of a billboard.

CARSON

Looks like the wheel of a car.

MIRANDA

We talked about these billboards, when we were car shopping! Four-door... they make a wagon, too.

(beat)

Something Japanese... God, what was it? Toyota... Mazda... Honda... You thought it had no character.

CARSON

I thought that about all of them. C'mon, think, dammit!!

MIRANDA

You think!! You were there, too!

They're stumped, and bitterly frustrated. To Sabatini:

CARSON

Call the outdoor advertising companies. Get the location of all the billboards for Japanese cars within our search parameters.

Meanwhile, Dave and Robbins are calling car alarm shops:

DAVE

(into phone)

... Peerless Auto Security. We need to know whether you've sold a large quantity of these components to any one customer, or whether you'd had any stolen recently...

EXT. P’YÒNGYANG, NORTH KOREA – ESTABLISHING – DAY

INT. WORKERS' PARADISE HALL – GENERAL KAI'S OFFICE – DAY

General Kai stands in hushed conversation with the Army Major Operative and another trusted AIDE. The PHONE buzzes; the others leave the room before General Kai picks it up.

INT. WORKERS' PARADISE HALL – OPERATIVE'S OFFICE – DAY

Behind closed doors, the Operative LISTENS to the phone call with an EAVESDROPPING RECEIVER. What he hears stuns him.

CUT TO:

EXT. WORKERS' PARADISE HALL – ROOFTOP – DAY

The Operative is in his hiding spot with his uplink device.

OPERATIVE
(urgently; into device)

... Missile heading to L.A. has a Kipchak Warhead! Repeat: missile is Kipchak equipped! It was switched by order of –

A GUNSHOT rings out (OFF SCREEN), and the Operative's chest EXPLODES in blood. He pitches forward... but presses the "transmit" button on the uplink device before dying.

On screen it says UPLINKING... (without scrambling)... then another GUNSHOT destroys it.

Angry, General Kai steps INTO FRAME and kicks the Operative over with his foot.

INT. BACHELOR APARTMENT – LOS ANGELES – DAY

Mrs. Han and Joy sit motionless. Sam, on the other hand, is trying not to squirm. Mrs. Han looks at him, angry.

MRS. HAN

He asked you if you had to go...

The family becomes aware of a shrill SOUND, (OFF SCREEN), distant at first, but growing increasingly louder... The sound-level meters all begin to creep upward...

EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING – CLOSE – DAY

A team of GARDENERS has arrived on the property for their weekly mow, blow, and go. They have lawnmowers, edgers, blowers – it's as NOISY as an aircraft carrier during takeoffs.

INT. BACHELOR APARTMENT – DAY

The SOUND is getting louder, and louder...

JOY
Oh, my God...

The meters are hovering just below the red...

SAM

Pivots his head and looks at the tiny microphone, no bigger than a pencil eraser, attached neatly to the headrest.

He begins chewing his wad of GUM... leans in toward the microphone, his head obscuring what he's doing...

He moves back and we see he's SEALED the front of the mic with a small piece of the gum.

And his meter drops to zero.

WIDER

Sam tilts his head forward and bends his wrist upward so he can get the rest of the gum out of his mouth. Then, while keeping pressure on the armrest with his elbow, he moves his hand over to Mrs. Han. They can't quite reach each other...

He FLICKS the piece of gum and she catches it.

Meanwhile, the NOISE increases. The two meters peak into the red... the yellow WARNING LIGHT begins to flash...

Mrs. Han quickly puts the gum in her mouth, bites it in half, and cautiously passes the remainder over to Joy.