Gene Baird writes

A Father's Love - Part 3

EXT. RUN DOWN HOURLY INN - HOURS LATER

Rain outside of an older looking hotel for five seconds and SGT Foster going into a room. And then instantly into the room as he walks through the door and removes his coat after having purchased a 9-mil from a local store, along with ammunition. Foster grabs a prepaid cell phone out of his pocket and dials. The audience can hear the ringing and beeps as seven buttons are pushed.

FOSTER

            Come on! You stupid son of a bitch…answer the damn phone.

INT. SPLIT SCREEN SHOWING BOTH MEN. FOSTER ABOVE

SCOTT

            Hello.

FOSTER

Are you aware of what has happened? My daughter is gone, taken from my house. Regina is dead. I saw her….. She was lying on my side of the bed. Her hand folded under her head so it could rest on them. Her neck sliced open by some fucking prick. What do I do? I cannot live without my family. I fight for their security and this shit happens while I’m away. Fuck this!

SCOTT

Actually I am aware, buddy, and I’m trying to figure out how to get more information regarding the case. Did the police tell you anything? Anything at all?

FOSTER

           
          No!

SCOTT

Okay, they probably won’t because they are aware of your background. And I don’t blame them. They think you’ll go after the guy or guys on your own.

FOSTER

Well why do think I called you, and on a prepaid cell phone? I didn’t buy this gun and these bullets to improve my aim.

SCOTT

Have you though this through? You seem to be running with it because you still have a combat adrenaline rush attitude.

FOSTER

You’re damn right I am. And of course I thought it through! It doesn’t take that long to figure out what the hell has to happen here. By the way, I did hear the cops saying something as I walked out.

SCOTT

          
         What?

FOSTER

         
          They said something about fingerprints.

SCOTT

That’s great, maybe they’ll find him. They’ll probably run the finger prints on the national database and figure it out. One thing I can do is use my sources to check the findings of recent searches in the ASIS database for you…to see if there is an update. But I will not divulge any more information than that.

FOSTER

       
         Give me what you can! I’ll call you tomorrow. And, Scott?

SCOTT

          
         Yes?

FOSTER

Any help you give me is between us. But I’m gonna kill that fucker, then his parents, his kids, his pet hamster, and the hamster’s kids too. I don’t give a rat’s ass who I have to put down to find my daughter. She will not join her mother, not yet.

SCOTT

          
          Understood but remember, I will not be helping you that way.

INT. FOSTER IN BED – MORNING

Phone ringing in a dark room while Foster wakes to answer it. Foster wakes quickly after two rings and turns on light. He grabs the phone and presses a key (beep sounds), while he looks at the number depicted on the phone’s screen.

FOSTER

Recognizing the number

            Yeah, what’s up Scott?

SCOTT

            Well, the search in the database wasn’t fruitful. No fingers turned up as a match.

FOSTER

But, Scott, that means those are the killer’s prints. Remember that I lived on the base. Anybody on the base or neighboring should be on that system.

SCOTT

            Reggie, I’ve gone as far as I’m prepared to go on this.

FOSTER

So that’s it, huh? No help? What if this was your family? Wouldn’t you want me to do anything and everything I could? Damn it, Regina’s death cannot be rectified by the courts, and I can only avenge her. But my daughter might still be alive. Do you want her to end up a sex crimes statistic? Scott, listen to me, nothing was taken from the house. Whoever this was, well, he knew what he wanted. He wanted my daughter. She’s your damned niece Scott. Doesn’t that mean something???

Foster breaks down crying on the floor after falling out of the bed.

          Don’t you remember holding her on the beach while she laughed? Fuck this, you      help me or so help me god I’ll kill more god damned people than a little bit. Do you understand me? I have a fair amount of ammo and heater to put holes in a lot of shit, and you know I don’t miss. Get me the information, I need your help to save your niece.

SCOTT

           What are you saying? I want to help, but I can’t.

FOSTER

           My ass you can’t.

Foster hangs up the phone and the screen moves to Scott’s face looking down. Images of him and Reggie as kids begin flashing through his mind. Then, he sees his niece as a baby, being handed to him by Reggie, images of Reggie trusting Scott with his child. The family entrusts each other with their lives. Then Scott’s head pops up straight, his lips slightly pucker out, and he nods his head yes, realizing that the right thing to do isn’t right but must be done if he cannot find another way of getting the job done.

FADE OUT to the sound of dial tone and black.

INT. SAME ROOM – LATER THAT DAY

FADE IN to the sound of rain against the glass outside of Foster’s room and the sound of the phone ringing.

FOSTER

           What did you decide? You gonna help?

SCOTT

           What do you think? Of course I am. I thought about it and realized that the national data base only includes people who have been caught or convicted of a felony. I think there are about forty seven counties that do not submit their lower offenders’ prints to the archive. I can have a friend send the prints, electronically, from the database to those agencies. Then wait for activity on the system. But there is more. I’m not sure that I should share it with you.

FOSTER

          You do realize what I’m prepared to do, right? I’m sorry, bro, but I will not allow my four-year-old daughter to be overlooked due to a book, a law, black and white, or you. And once I’m done with all of you, I’ll do myself as well. I don’t think I should nor could live on with the knowledge that I didn’t do everything I could. Apparently you don’t feel that way. I’m sorry to hear that.

SCOTT

        OK OK. Look, they found a bag -that they believe to have been her bag--down at the train station.

FOSTER

        Hmmmmm. I think we need to visit that station.

SCOTT

            Why? The place is probably crawling with cops, and they probably searched it by now.

FOSTER

            Yeah, that means all the obvious stuff is gone. I’m guessing someone else found the bag. The cops didn’t. I’m going, you coming?

SCOTT

            I’ll meet you there.