Guns for Hire - Script Forty Nine

AMC Multiplex Cinema, Springfield, Virginia, 7.15pm 27/03/17

With the film nearing its climax T-Bird slipped quietly out of his & headed back to the foyer, all thoughts of trying to slip the jury rigged knock out canister into Roseboro's purse.

AMC Multiplex Cinema, Springfield, Virginia, 7.16pm 27/03/17

Out in the parking lot Vrasten & Alex were becoming more & more frustrated, they'd been unable to raise T-Bird on the comm's unit so had no idea what, if anything, was happening inside, intermittently people had flooded into & from the cinemas main doors as films had started & finished but so far there had been no sign of T-Bird or Roseboro & her goons.

Having established the timing & overlap of the CCTV units covering Roseboro's runabout Alex decided to wait no longer, with Vrasten watching her back Alex casually meandered through the parked cars timing her passing of Roseboro's vehicle to coincide with closed circuit down time.

Crouched down next to the passenger door & in the shadow of the truck in the next space Alex spent the next several minutes trying to force the door lock & at the same time not setting off the anti-hijack system, bizarrely Alex somehow managed to disarm the systems trigger mechanism but without actually unlocking the door, in her earpiece she heard Vrasten's warning that T-Bird had just emerged from the cinemas main door.

Again Alex tried & failed to force the door, conscious that if T-Bird was on his way out Roseboro couldn't be far behind Alex scrabbled around to the back of the car & tried her luck with the trunk, this time lady luck smiled & the lock popped.

Under Vrasten's direction T-Bird eased between the parked vehicles & dropped the remote readied sleep canister into Alex's outstretched hand, as he did so Vrasten's voice echoed in their ear warning both that Roseboro & her gorilla were out of the cinema on route back to their ride. Quickly Alex dropped the trunk & pushed the remote unit through the central arm rest opening tucking the primed grenade under a coat that was lying across the rear seat, with only seconds to spare Alex clicked shut the trunk & feigning refastening her sling-back she stood, smiled & casually walked by.

AMC Multiplex Cinema, Springfield, Virginia, 7.24pm 27/03/17

As Roseboro & her goon climbed into their car T-Bird slipped behind the wheel of the hire car & pulled out into the flow of traffic leaving the Springfield complex one car behind Roseboro. Vrasten & T-Bird, on foot, weaved between the parked vehicles waiting the perfect moment.

Momentarily the gorilla stopped as a reversing Forbes SUV full of kids blocked their way, T-Bird didn't wait any longer, hitting the remote she headed for the passenger door, Vrasten, seeing Alex's reaction as well as the explosion of white smoke envelope Roseboro & her driver, guessed that it was now or never & went for the drivers door.

As both Vrasten & Alex reached the stationary vehicle both driver & passenger door were flung open, Alex, relying upon her inbuilt nasal filters didn't hesitate, taking a firm grip upon Roseboro's arm she acted out the role of concerned Samaritan in the eyes of the watching public, Roseboro, reacting badly to the inhaled gas retched before passing out.

Whilst Alex continued to play nurse & support the sickly looking leader of the AAAL Vrasten took no chances with the grunt, allowing Alex to attract the gaze of the surrounding cinema attendee's he held his breath & pushed the muzzle of his P-1135 needle gun into the neck of the dazed heavy & pulled the trigger putting two cc's of GHB direct into the external carotid artery, near immediately the goon began to snore.

Between the two of them Vrasten & Alex proved that no matter the stiffness of the human spine you could near fold a body in half as they bundled the unconscious & handcuffed grunt over the back of the driver's seat onto the bitch seat.

With Roseboro's car now almost clear of all trace of fentanyl Vrasten slipped into the now vacant driver's seat & with a nod to the confused spectators joined the queuing traffic leaving the parking lot, Alex then joined T-Bird in the hire car.

Interstate 95 Underpass, Springfield, Virginia, 8.19pm 27/03/17

On route back to the RV both Roseboro's & her gorillas phone rang, Vrasten ignored them.

In the safety of familiarity T-Bird & Alex bundled Roseboro into the RV making sure she was securely cuffed, gagged & out of view, Vrasten collected her purse from the car then print wiped the vehicle, finally he put another two cc's of fentanyl into the grunt to make sure he didn't attract any undue attention for the rest of the evening.

Whilst they waited for Vrasten to finish off T-Bird did his best to make Roseboro as comfortable as circumstances allowed, Alex on the other hand slipped the memory card from Roseboro's phone into her purse before stuffing the mobile into the gently sleeping gorillas pocket.

With the car wiped clean T-Bird fired up the RV & followed Vrasten & Alex in the RV as they headed out of Springfield.

Rent-A-Wreck, Route 66, Falls Church, Virginia, 9.23pm 27/03/17

With Roseboro out of view T-Bird watched as Vrasten & Alex returned the hire car to its allotted bay, after several minute haggling over alleged damage to the car they finally walked away deposit returned in full.

With business concluded they wasted no time in clearing the city limits & beginning the long journey home.

Gaithersburg, Virginia 10.14am 28/03/17

With T-Bird asleep & Alex behind the wheel Vrasten ran over what Alex had extracted from the data she'd pulled of the memory card from Roseboro's phone, it wasn't much & it certainly didn't incriminate Roseboro as the face behind the hits but then every little bit counted.

Glancing up at Roseboro he made sure that she wasn't asleep & began, again, to ask questions he'd already got the answers to repeating the techniques he'd used many times in the interrogation room.

Interstate 90, Perrysburg, Ohio 8.37pm 28/03/17

After several hours of good cop bad cop Roseboro was starting to crack at the edges, she hadn't yet delivered the goods but T-Bird knew it was only a matter of time, he just hated playing the bastard.

Eventually Roseboro couldn't cross her legs any longer, despite her pleading to use the bathroom T-Bird had refused, it wasn't pretty & the smell of piss & puke didn't make the RV a pleasant place to be but they desperately wanted a confession.

Interstate 80, Elkhart, Indiana 10.11am 29/03/17

Taking a break from the road Alex was just stretching her legs when her mobile rang, it was Uriel, without actually telling him exactly what they'd done she suggested Uriel arrange the $400K to ensure Loughner's cooperation & avoid hit number four on April the fourth, despite some whining Uriel promised to get things sorted & rang off but only the promise from Alex that everything was in hand.

Interstate 80, Joliet, Illinois 1.39pm 29/03/17

By early afternoon Vrasten had pushed things about as far as he was prepared to go, Roseboro, despite the lack of sleep & constant questioning was holding out far beyond what he'd have credited her with.

Interstate 80, Rockdale, Illinois 1.51pm 29/03/17

T-Bird finished fixing a sandwich for Alex & Vrasten, he could see Roseboro watching the sandwich, they given her only water since leaving Springfield some 36 hours or so earlier, it wasn't particularly that long but when you're not used to fasting it could feel like a life time.

Leaving his plate in full view he took Vrasten & Alex's plates to the front of the bus, Alex had just picked up a message from Uriel confirming that the money was ready to wire, he just needed the account details.

Sighing T-Bird asked Alex to pull off the highway when the next opportunity arose, preferably somewhere secluded, nodding towards Roseboro he suggested that with respect to Vrasten's progress it was time to bring matters to a conclusion.

Lake Macbride State Park, Iowa 3.32pm 29/03/17

Alex had waited until they were clear of Iowa City before she'd swung the RV off the Interstate following the signs for the Lake Macbride State Park on a side track that lead off into the hills, a couple of miles later with the RV tucked out of the way she & Vrasten went for a walk leaving T-Bird alone with Roseboro.

Sugar Bottom Recreational Zone, Lake Macbride State Park, Iowa 3.36pm 29/03/17

T-Bird smiled at her but said nothing, whilst serving in III MEF in Nepal & Burma in 2005 - 2009 he'd been a party to the Chinese-American combined operation to win hearts & minds of those who were undecided which way the wind was blowing, T-Bird's role had been dealing with those who picked the wrong side, the techniques hadn't been particularly politically correct, he'd learnt a great deal from his Red Army brothers.

Sugar Bottom Recreational Zone, Lake Macbride State Park, Iowa 4.49pm 29/03/17

When Alex & Vrasten returned to the RV they were a little unsure as to what they'd find.

Stepping aboard the first thing that struck them was the smell, or rather the lack of it, any lingering smell of puke & piss was gone, Roseboro was wearing a clean pair of sweat pants & baggy T-shirt belonging to T-Bird, her hair was brushed & her face clean, although still restrained T-Bird was feeding her some toast & fresh coffee.

T-Bird acknowledged their return & muttered that that she'd tell them what they needed to know but just to let her finish eating first, with that he went to the RV's bathroom & could be heard showering as Alex turned the RV & headed back towards the highway.

Interstate 80, Des Moines, Iowa 5.52pm 29/03/17

Washed & scrubbed T-Bird offered to take a shift at the wheel so Alex & Vrasten could bottom things out with Roseboro then get some rest.

For the next thirty minutes or so Roseboro told them everything they wanted to know, she confirmed the hit arrangement, the victims names including the two yet to be executed, Payton Elijah Sawyer, a member of the National Conference of State Legislature, & Brayden Kisro, an advisor to the American Association for the Advancement of Science & Biotechnica, what she couldn't confirm was who would be victim number four.

Roseboro didn't offer any apology for what she'd done, indeed she was adamant in her political & religious views, however after half an hour she had clearly told them all there was to tell.

Interstate 80, North Platte, Nebraska 9.48pm 29/03/17

Armed with all the relevant information Vrasten put a call through to Uriel, despite the hour he picked it up immediately, his mood was significantly improved when Vrasten told him they'd not only got the proof he needed, a full audio/visual confession, but they got the backer in cuffs & were on route back to the land of milk & honey.

Delighted Uriel promised he'd come back to them first thing the next morning to confirm on the payoff once he'd passed on the details of the remaining two targets to Raymone Griffen his counterpart at Biotechnica.

Interstate 80, Salt Lake City, Utah 10.46am 30/03/17

Good to his word Uriel got back to them the next morning to confirm the payment had been authorised & the account details in which it was held, he also added that the targets were now in safe keeping just in case things went shit side up.

Interstate 80, Great Salt Lake State Marina, Utah 11.16am 30/03/17

Over the rest of the day Vrasten, T-Bird & Alex continued with the exhausting drive east, the way things were going they reckoned they'd be on home turf the following evening.

Interstate 80, Elko, Nevada 2.29pm 30/03/17

For maybe the twentieth time since she'd made her confession Roseboro half smiled at T-Bird as he held a glass of water to her lips, he was doing his best not to think about yesterdays exchange or the promised he'd half made to her after he got what he was after, for all his bullshit he hadn't liked what he'd had to do in the MEF & he was no keener on what he'd put Roseboro through 24 hours earlier, he just had to keep telling himself it was all for the best.

Almost belatedly Alex called the Bag Lady.

The conversation didn't take too long, Alex confirmed the payment details, the Bag Lady said she'd take from there & arrange the transfer with Loughner & make sure it was abundantly clear that the hit was well & truly cancelled, The Bag Lady still appeared to have some reservations about Roseboro being handed over to the authorities but then she was satisfied that her security protocols were good & nothing was traceable back to her, before hanging up she reminded Alex that a favour was still owed.

Interstate 80, Winnemucca, Nevada 8.28pm 30/03/17

With everything in hand Alex sat behind the wheel & watched the miles rattle past, whilst she couldn't really moan about how it had turned out, after all they'd cleared $400K plus expenses for their efforts, she still felt they'd, or more importantly to her, she'd lost out on part of the catch, it stuck in her gut that they'd just handed over Loughner's payoff without a whimper plus who knew what Roseboro might have paid to go free.

With a shrug she gave Vrasten a shout waking him up from his slumber, something which brought her some pleasure at least, to tell him it was his turn to take the wheel.

Washoe Lake Freeway, 6 miles North of Carson City, Nevada 11.14am 01/04/17

Eventually, despite her pleading, Roseboro realised that T-Bird had lied to her, he wasn't going to release her, as she was lead away by the uniformed NCPD who'd been waiting for them as arranged at Davis Creek Park just off the the Washoe Lake Freeway she tried to catch T-Bird's eye to tell him she forgave him.

Funny enough T-Bird had remained in the RV until the armoured meat-wagon had departed, he still felt like shit, he didn't smile again until Hercaclio & Elodia's girls wrestled him to the floor back at the farm.

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