ACT TWO
SCENE ONE
FADE IN:
INTERIOR: OLD TRAILER HOUSE
Night. A single lightbulb in a lamp with no shade. No curtains at the filthy window. A rusty old iron bed frame. Stained mattress with no sheets.
Erin sits on the bed, huddled against the headboard, frightened, naked. She is chained to the bed by one wrist. Her hair is a mess. Mascara rings her eyes. Her lower lip is split and bloody.
She is very aware of the camera and the director of the scene. She tries to cover as much of herself as she can. She is crying softly, trying to hide her face.
DIRECTOR
Look at the camera, bitch. Say your line.
She shakes her head, still hiding.
DIRECTOR
Say it! You want me to make you?
She shakes her head and looks at the camera.
ERIN
Help me.
FADE OUT
ACT TWO
SCENE TWO
FADE IN:
EXTERIOR: THE HORSE PARK AT EQUESTRIAN ESTATES-SUNSET
Wide open spaces on three sides. Trees and a canal at the back of the property. A paved road curves past the front. No one in sight, but the cops are there, hidden.
A black car approaches and parks at the gate. Bruce Seabright gets out of the car and looks around. He looks pissed off and nervous. He thinks it's a trap.
He's right.
He opens the trunk and takes out two large blue duffel bags. He heaves the bags over the gate, then climbs over, picks the bags up, and looks around again. He's looking for a sign, for a person. Maybe he's even looking for Erin, though he would be just as happy if he never saw her again.
He starts walking up the drive toward the building, reluctantly. He has the expression of a man who will wet his pants at the first sudden loud noise.
Halfway to the building he stops and stands and waits. Slowly he turns around in a circle. He wonders what will happen next. He sets the bags down and checks his watch.
6:05 P.M.
Darkness is closing in. The security light comes on with a loud humming sound. The voice, the same mechanically altered voice from the phone calls, comes over the loudspeakers.
THE VOICE
Leave the bags on the ground.
BRUCE
Where's the girl?
THE VOICE
Leave the bags on the ground.
BRUCE
I want to see Erin!
THE VOICE
In the box. Ring one. In the box. Ring one.
BRUCE
What box? Which ring?
He is agitated, doesn't know which way to turn. He doesn't like not having control. He doesn't want to leave the money. He looks at the two rings nearest the building and chooses the one to his right. He takes the bags with him and goes to stand at the corner of the ring.
BRUCE
What box? I don't see any box!
He stands there, impatient. It's getting darker by the second. He stares for a moment at the judge's booth-a small wooden shelter-at the end of the ring, then goes toward it.
BRUCE
Erin? Erin!
He circles the booth cautiously. Someone might jump out and shoot him or stab him. Erin's body might fall out onto the ground.
Nothing happens.
He inches toward the door, pulls it open, jumps back.
Nothing happens.
BRUCE
Erin? Are you in there?
No answer.
