Rush Hour

CARSON

Fingerprint it.

(to Walther)

He's not gonna tell us where to find the hostages...

(looks at watch)

Meaning we got exactly 80 minutes to figure it out for ourselves.

WALTHER

Figure it out?! With what?!

CARSON

(ignores him; into radio)

Miranda! We need a copter, pronto!

(to Robbins)

Get back to his van. There were no plates, but check the VIN, look it over, then meet us at the Consulate.

Robbins is still trying to process what just happened.

CARSON

(continuing)

Go!

CUT TO:

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – AMBASSADOR HAN'S OFFICE – DAY

The clock reads 3:50 PM. Carson, Miranda, Robbins, Sabatini, Ambassador Han and Colonel Lee are all TALKING at once.

CARSON
(to Walther)

... Scrounge us some bodies: National Guard, State Troopers, CHPs, local PD's, meter maids –

WALTHER

– They're gonna search the whole city in a goddamn hour...?!

CARSON

Look, I don't need you to tell me how fucked we are!

WALTHER

Fuck you!! Every time you're on a case something explodes!

Carson looks like he's going to explode. Before he can reply:

MIRANDA

Stop! The clock's running! Arguing is a luxury we can't afford!

(looks at Carson)

What's done is done. There'll be plenty of time to point fingers later.

Carson would love to get into it, but he lets it slide. He looks Sabatini, wandering aimlessly with Javal's severed hand.

SABATINI

I need some fuckin' ink!!

Carson grabs one of the expensive pens from Ambassador Han's desk, SNAPS it in half, and hands it to her.

In the b.g. she stands at the credenza, inks the hand's fingers and thumb and rolls them onto a piece of letterhead paper.

AMBASSADOR HAN

This is impossible! How can you even begin to find them?

Good question. All eyes go to Miranda.

MIRANDA

Well, the normal procedure is to negotiate with the perpetrator...

Her head is spinning. She looks at Carson.

CARSON

Let's take stock. We've got a picture of where he hid the family, and recordings of his calls –

MIRANDA

– That's right! We can send them to our experts for analysis...

CARSON

(to Ambassador Han)

Same with his fingerprints. But that means we need high-quality image and data transmission. We can piss away ten minutes coptering this shit to our offices in Westwood, or we can use your surveillance equipment.

COLONEL LEE

There is no surveillance equipment. This is a diplomatic facility –

CARSON

– You want to play games, fine.

He turns to go. Ambassador Han turns to Colonel Lee.

AMBASSADOR HAN

Take them upstairs.

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – SURVEILLANCE ROOM – DAY

In the converted attic, several North Korean ESPIONAGE AGENTS monitor military and police frequencies, downlinks from remote wiretaps and surveillance units; short-wave, cellular, etc. Their equipment, being of Chinese and Iranian manufacture, is hardly cutting-edge technology.

Colonel Lee and Ambassador Han enter. The Espionage Agents are surprised when Carson, Miranda, Walther and Sabatini follow. Walther looks around, amazed. Carson grabs a pair of headphones.

CARSON

South Korean Consulate's just down the street – want to take a listen?

Colonel Lee pulls the phones away from him.

Carson takes the page with the fingerprints from Sabatini. The Espionage Agents back away from her and Javal's hand.

CARSON

(continuing; re hand)

Shitcan that thing, will you?!

She looks around. Then, shrugging, she tosses it into a wastepaper basket.

CARSON

(continuing; to Colonel Lee)

Got a digital scanner?

COLONEL LEE

Analog.

CARSON

(looks equipment over)

You might want to drop a few bucks at Radio Shack and get with the decade.

(into radio)

Dave – get in here. Bring your computer, a city map, and the tapes of the ransom calls.

DAVE (V.O.)

(thru radio)

On my way...

He's also HEARD, faintly, through the laser eavesdropping unit by the window. Carson notices, but doesn't comment.

MIRANDA
(to Colonel Lee)

Colonel, you saw the perp. Describe him to the Ambassador, see if it's anyone he knows.

Colonel Lee begrudgingly obliges. Carson dials a phone.

CARSON

(into phone)

This is Carson in L.A. There's a set of prints coming over. Narrow the search criteria: Male, thirties, Caucasian... French, Belgian, Swiss, maybe Canadian. Try kidnappers and bombers first. We need an answer in fifteen minutes.

EXT. HOOVER BUILDING, WASHINGTON, DC – DAY

FBI headquarters, with the Washington Monument in the b.g.

INT. HOOVER BUILDING – FINGERPRINT LAB – DAY

A TECHNICIAN, wearing thick glasses, sits in front of a high-resolution computer monitor.

FINGERPRINT TECH

(into phone)

That yellow air out there finally rot your brain?! It's impossible!

CARSON (V.O.)

(thru phone)

Dazzle me.

INT. NORTH KOREAN CONSULATE – SURVEILLANCE ROOM – DAY

Carson clicks off the phone, then, as he dials another number:

CARSON

(to Walther)

We got one of the best sound guys right here in town...

(into phone)

Newman in Audio Analysis...

DAVE (O.S.)

Newman's gone.

WIDER

Dave comes into the room.

DAVE

He quit, couple weeks ago. Opened a bed and breakfast in Wyoming.

Carson looks at Miranda and hangs up the phone.

DAVE

(continuing; looks around)

Damn... they get HBO? I'd sure like to see the fight tonight.

CARSON

Get those tapes transferred to a sound guy. We need ambient and background analysis, the whole enchilada.

DAVE

Enchilada – you saying that because I'm Mexican?

CARSON

No... 'cause you're fat.

MIRANDA

(picks up Javal's fax)

Photo enhancement... Isn't there some amazing tech with the LAPD –

DAVE

– Bronsky. Transferred to Seattle PD a month ago.

CARSON

Jesus H. Christ...

SABATINI

I'd send it to Langley. Let the CIA earn their keep.

CARSON

Do it.

Carson tosses Javal's bloody, unlabeled prescription bottle to Miranda. She looks it over, runs her finger inside, tastes the dust on her fingertip.

MIRANDA

Given his behavior, this orange residue... I'd say Desoxyn, 25 mg Amphetamines.

CARSON

Any significance?

MIRANDA

It's consistent with the lone wolf scenario: A handful of these is pure bravery-in-a-bottle, 'til the psychosis and paranoia kick in.

(beat)

We could check pharmacy records, on the remote chance he got them legally... if we had a couple of weeks, that is.

CARSON

(to Sabatini)

Get the Bureau on it.

MIRANDA

Forget it. It's a waste of manpower.

CARSON

Look, goddammit, you start skipping no-chance-in-hell leads, we can all quit and go to the beach right now.

Sabatini looks at them – which will it be? Miranda frowns and nods her okay, then spreads the L.A. map out on the table.

CARSON

(continuing)

He grabbed the family at 8:30. The last certain visual we had was just before his van went into the alley on La Cienega at 8:42. He called the Consulate at 9:30.

MIRANDA

That gives him about fifty minutes to get to his location, move and secure the hostages, and activate his time bomb.

CARSON

He probably waited a while to pad the time – he wanted us know the family was still alive...

(sotto; re Koreans)

... So these crazy bastards wouldn't throw a premature shit hemorrhage, but he didn't want to call too soon, either. I say they're within 15 to 20 minutes, via surface streets, of where we last saw them.

He draws a circle on the city map: Beverly Hills to downtown, Hollywood to Inglewood.

MIRANDA

The most densely-populated part of the L.A. basin. This narrows it down to about 200,000 dwellings.

A beat while this sinks in.

MIRANDA

(continuing)

He was traveling west –

CARSON

– Bet he doubled back.

MIRANDA

C'mon, that's total conjecture –

SABATINI

(re Carson)

– I'd trust his instincts when dealing with maniacs. He is deeply disturbed.

MIRANDA

You're telling me?

INT. WHITE HOUSE – CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY

Everyone is smoking. Their tension has increased tenfold since we last saw them. The President, SEEN through the video setup, is pacing on Air Force One.

SECRETARY OF STATE
... North Koreans have gone ballistic, accusing us of botching the ransom drop on purpose.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

They're still harping on that "American plot" nonsense.

PRESIDENT

(thru video link)

Meaning?

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

They say the death of the Premier's niece and her family would justify immediate retaliation.

PRESIDENT

(thru video link)

Are they out of their fuckin' minds?! What kind of retaliation?

Everyone in the room looks at one another.

CIA CHIEF

They're threatening to pull a Saddam Hussein: remember the Scuds he lobbed at Jerusalem during Desert Storm?

(beat)

They're talking about firing a missile into Los Angeles –

PRESIDENT

(thru video link)

– A goddamn WHAT??

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

Best guess is an AS-15, medium-range cruise – their version of our Tomahawk, launched from offshore.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

The AS-15 is gyro-guided. It will find the city, but it's not too accurate beyond that.

VICE PRESIDENT

Still, for their purposes it's perfect: Hit somewhere in L.A., take out a city block or two...

SECRETARY OF STATE

To the eyes of the world it's a measured response – like what Reagan did to Qaddafi. But actually striking at an American city would be a huge psychological victory for them.

PRESIDENT

(thru video link)

I don't believe I'm hearing this!

(beat)

So if we know it's coming, we can knock it out of the fuckin' sky!

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

These weapons fly subsonically, below radar... we don't have the defenses in place... If we'd had the time to deploy a string of Patriot anti-missile batteries across the coast –

PRESIDENT

(thru video link)

– You're saying we got all this lousy hardware and can't stop one goddamn missile??