Episode 1.4 "Mi Amigo Perdido Largo, Santo" written by Alex Kontoleon

Mraz Inc.
"Mi Amigo Perdido Largo, Santo"
Written by Alex Kontoleon

TEASER

FADE IN:

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME

The camera moves through the offices of Mraz Inc. everyone is busy, on the phone, typing away, looking at reports. Meetings are going in almost all of the offices. The office bristles with a life of its own.
We move around a corner, down the hallway, down another hallway, we arrive at an office. As we sneak past the slightly ajar door we see legal council, TAYLOR SHANN.
His office is a mess, stacks of paper piled high, a dry erase board with many half erased notes. He paces back and forth in the room, dressed in a button down shirt, braces (not suspenders), a tie, and a phone handset that he’s angrily talking into.


TAYLOR
It’s ludicrous! The Mayor’s Office won’t budge on this one. So I went downtown and talked to the Commissioner’s Office. They’re about as flexible as Peter North’s rod. So I went to the local Borough Chief, another stonewall!

Taylor pops the white lid off an orange plastic pill container, and knocks back a large pill with a glass of water. After taking a swig, he glares at the glass.

TAYLOR
(O.S. to secretary)
I asked for Diet Coke. This isn’t Diet Coke! It’s Pepsi! Might as well just give me water from a public urinal with extra benzene next time!
(back to Mraz)
Look Mraz, it’s nonsense, and you know I told you that. But we can not keep this up.
The law is not on our side on these indictments, and we’ve already got it bent as far as it’ll go. These Tac-Ops or whatever the hell you call them need to be rethought, or we’re not gonna have to worry about terrorists, we’re gonna get shutdown by the goddamn feds for multiple counts of breaking state and federal law. Are you listening? Are you even paying attention to the situation?

CUT TO:

EXT. NYC CITY STREETS - DAYTIME

MICHAEL MRAZ is walking down a fairly unpopulated street on his cell phone listening to Taylor. As he looks behind him, he spots the MAN who’s been following him for a few blocks now. Mraz looks back ahead, he spots a 2nd AGENT approaching him head-on. It’s clear as a bell to Mraz, it’s a setup, they’re gonna sandwich him. They’re gonna ‘try’ anyway. Mraz increases his pace faster so the enemy in front is closing faster then the one on his tail. Mraz is within 10’ now of the thug in front, he can see the glint from the brass knuckles the thug has ready to attack Mraz with.

MRAZ
Actually, I’m very attuned to the situation at hand.

CUT TO:

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME

TAYLOR
You better be or we’re gonna get our ass kicked!

CUT TO:

EXT. NYC CITY STREETS - DAYTIME

MRAZ
It’s a definite possibility.

CUT TO:

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME

TAYLOR
Do you have any idea what I even do for you all day here!? Listen, I spend all day on the phone, with lawyers. Lawyers, Mraz! The scum of the earth! While you and Souza and the rest of the Scooby gang are off having fun, I’m filing affidavits...

CUT TO:

EXT. NYC CITY STREETS - DAYTIME

Taylor is still talking, but Mraz has stopped listening. Mraz’s phone stays open and on in his hand, and we can hear Taylor still griping as Mraz makes his move.

Mraz walks right up the assailant, and as Mraz predicted, the thug goes to throw a punch. Mraz is all too ready for it. With a quick block, Mraz flips the thug’s arm and pushes up snapping his elbow. With a quick kick Mraz cracks the thug’s kneecap backwards. Still holding the arm, Mraz spins himself around the body, using it as a human shield between him and the other thug approaching from behind.
The second thug draws a revolver and fires,

POW! POW! The slugs only serve to put holes in his friend’s chest. Mraz pulls out his Beretta and fires back.

POW POW!! POW!! Two in the chest, one in the head. Mraz let’s go of his shield, and both dead men slump to the ground in unison.

Mraz checks both bodies quickly and efficiently, swiping any ID cards and their wallets. As he rifles through their stuff, Mraz starts paying attention to the phone again. Taylor has been jabbering away the whole time.

MRAZ
Hey, hey. Relax Taylor, it’ll work out just work out fine.

CUT TO:

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME

TAYLOR
Just get back here, please. I don’t want to get thrown in jail, okay? There are a hundred documents here that need your signature.

CUT TO:

EXT. NYC CITY STREETS - DAYTIME

MRAZ
On my way.

Mraz flips the phone shut. As he heads off, he notices a HOMELESS GUY a few feet away that must have watched the whole thing, he’s got a look of shock on his face. Mraz smiles at him, drops all the thugs’ cash into the homeless guy’s hat, except for $20 he saves for himself. The homeless man looks up with a big smile and waves. Mraz heads back to the office.

CUT TO:

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME

Taylor hangs up the phone annoyed.

TAYLOR
He just has no idea how dangerous my job is! (beat) Somebody get me that Diet Coke!

SMASH CUT TO:

MAIN TITLES.

FADE TO BLACK

END OF TEASER



______________________________________________________________________

ACT ONE

INT. MRAZ INC. – SITUATION ROOM - DAYTIME

Five men sit around a table. MARK SOUZA, EDDIE HANSEN-NELSON, MOUMIN GHANEM, ERIC DENAZIO, BRIAN “DUCKY” SMALLWOOD, all looking up at a presentation on the large flat screen TV that hangs on the wall. Pictures of faces and locations keep popping in and out on the screen. The Mraz Inc. banner ad spins in the lower corner. Everyone has a large case-book in front of them.

MARK
Let’s hear today’s Sit-Rep.

EDDIE
First one on the list - got a good tip that a wannabe Islamic terror cell, the Blood Rajadeem, has gotten its hands on some top secret material. Given all the chatter on it, we think it’s low yield nuclear. Dirty stuff, not refined. About a pound of it, we think.

Eddie looks to Moumin who nods in agreement.

MARK
Approximate yield?

DUCKY
A pound of uranium? Give or take...same as a million gallons of gasoline. Put a nice crater in the ground, level a handful of buildings. The problem with dirty bombs though is the fallout, not the initial explosion. The area would be unusable for decades, maybe longer.

MOUMIN
And the real problem is that the Islamic terror cell, White Light, apparently has a way to get the stuff into the United States, and has enough idiot members willing to carry out the glorious mission of taking the stuff into the heart of a major city.

EDDIE
Apparently they’ve got some got some fancy technology they got from the Iranians...

MOUMIN
Who bought it from the Russians...

DUCKY
Who stole it from Area 51...

EDDIE
To keep the package completely undetectable.

Ducky produces a pair of goggle-type sunglasses from his blazer.

DUCKY
So...I developed these sub atomic nuclear spectrometers.
They operate at 28 nanometers, should be able to see the reflective proton grids that are keeping the uranium from giving off its decay signature. That way they can’t hide it from us when we pinpoint the holding location.

MARK
Good. Let’s build a Tac-Op on the holding pen, take these guys out, and capture the uranium, and get rid of it. How soon can we go in?

ERIC
What if it’s not uranium?

EDDIE
What if you had a brain? Imagine the things you’d say!

ERIC
Hey!

MARK
(again)
How soon can we go in?

EDDIE
It’s not that easy. We don’t know the movements of either group.

MARK
No intel at all? What about SCRAT-SAM?

EDDIE
Nothing.

MARK
Mossad? MI-5?

MOUMIN
No news.

MARK
Interpol?

EDDIE
Nope.

MOUMIN
All we know is they’re gonna try and bring the package through the Southern border. We haven’t gotten any leads from other resources. But...umm...

Moumin has been dreading giving this piece of news to Mark.

MOUMIN
Mraz said he got a call with intel about the situation though, he’s leaving in a few hours to check it out.

Mark throws his pen down in frustration. He knows who the intel is from.

MARK
Dammit.

ERIC
(clueless)
What?

MARK
Santo...

CUT TO:

INT. MRAZ INC. – HALLWAY - DAYTIME

Mraz and LAUREN KEATING are walking down the hallway. Keating is handing Mraz a passport and some travel documents. Mraz has changed and has a suit bag slung over his shoulder. As they walk down the hallway people are showing Keating pieces of paper. She either waves them away, or slides anything important into her folio as they’re walking.

Her attention remains on Mraz the whole time.

KEATING
It’ll be nice down there. Warm weather. Sandy beaches.
I wish I could go with you.

MRAZ
It’s not a tropical vacation, ya know. By the way, I got these ID’s off two guys from this morning. Get Souza to run them, see what comes up. And give him this $20, I owe him for beers.

KEATING
So, how do you know this Santo character again?

MRAZ
We go way back, Santo and I.


KEATING
Can you trust him?

MRAZ
No. But he’s got no love for the Empire that’s for sure.

KEATING
(rolls her eyes)
Anyway, here’s a new PHON-IQ from Ducky. World phone, with GPS, a secure line to the office, and two secure channels for two-way radio comm.

Keating hands Mraz a new cell phone. He trades it with his old one.

MRAZ
What would we do without Ducky, huh?

Keating stops him in the hall, playfully serious.

KEATING
What would we do without you, Michael Mraz?

Mraz plays along, pulls her in close.

MRAZ
Everyone’s world would crumble into anarchy and disarray and misery, no doubt...

She looks up at him a bit too hopeful, Mraz laughs it off not taking any of it seriously. He plants a quick kiss on her forehead.

MRAZ
Hold the fort down while I’m gone.

KEATING
OK.

Mark walks out of the office and sees Mraz and Keating together.

MARK
No kiss for me?

MRAZ
No time for tongue, plane’s taking off in 30min. It’ll have to wait till I get back.

MARK
Say hi to your ‘buddy’ for me.

Mraz not looking back turns the corner with a wave and leaves the office. Mark and Keating are still looking down the hallway where he’s gone.

KEATING
You sound jealous...

MARK
Cautious. I sound cautious. Somebody around here needs to be.

CUT TO:

EXT – EL DORO AIRPORT, MEXICO – RUNWAY - DAYTIME

The sleek twin engine tan & white private jet taxis to a stop toward the end of the runway. Waiting at the base of the runway is a MAN with a beard, a white button down shirt, khakis, and aviator sun glasses, hands in his pockets, and a wide smile on his face, EDUARDO SANTO. He stands next to a jeep filled with men in camouflage fatigues and wielding M-16 rifles. As the loud whine of the turbines begins to slowly lessen as the engines power down, the door to the plane snaps open and out emerges Mraz carrying his bags.

SANTO
Mraz! My long lost friend!

MRAZ
Santo...

Mraz sticks his hand out for a handshake, Santo laughs and pulls him in warmly for a hug. Mraz gives in and hugs him back. The body language tells it all – these guys are old friends.

SANTO
A handshake is for associates or acquaintances, Mraz. We are friends.

MRAZ
We were friends. Till someone decided the wrong side of the law paid better.

SANTO
Always a stickler for the facts, Mraz. So, how’s the business?

MRAZ
Booming. You?

SANTO
Doing well. Could always be better though, mmm? That is why you are here.

CUT TO:

INT. SANTO MANSION - EVENING

The opulent estate of Eduardo Santo is a quiet place. It is filled with statues and paintings along every wall. Santo leads the way into the huge house, telling some joke to Mraz, who is focused not on the joke, but the furnishings and surroundings. They pass a MAID cleaning the game room en route. Finally they reach the back room, Santo’s study. A large mahogany desk dominates the room, a small lamp, a computer, and a marble chess board sits on top of it. Standing behind the desk and off to the side is a thin man in a dark blazer and slacks, DIEGO GARCIA. There are a few other small items in the room, a few plants, a plasma TV hangs on the wall, a few comfy couches and chairs.

SANTO
...and so the donkey says: “But! I am the sculptor!”

Santo laughs at his own joke. No reaction from Mraz.

SANTO
The donkey...a sculptor... you see because...ah well, they can’t all be gems, eh? Come. You remember Diego?

A curt nod from Mraz, returned by Diego. Santo and Mraz might be pals, but it’s clear there’s no love lost between Diego and Mraz. Santo moves behind his desk and sits, Mraz relaxes on one of the sofas, Diego stays in his position.

MRAZ
Alright Santo, I put up with the eight hour plane flight, the bumpy ride to your mansion, your dumb jokes. What do you have for me?

SANTO
What do I ‘have’ for you? Hmmm? That is what you want to know? That is not of interest to me. What you ‘want’, that is of interest to me.

MRAZ
Really?

SANTO
Yes.

MRAZ
And what do I want?

SANTO
You want success and privacy. You want to go about your crime fighting business... and to be left alone to do so.

MRAZ
You figured that out all by yourself?

SANTO
(unphased)
Perhaps there is something of value we could both trade? The famous win-win scenario Americans love so much? Mmm? Yes?

MRAZ
Like what?

SANTO
Operation: Living Hand, perhaps? We could start there.

MRAZ
How do you know about that?

SANTO
Perhaps I could even illuminate you about your trouble with the Blood Rajadeem? Mmm?

MRAZ
How the-

SANTO
I know about many things, my friend. Operations run by your CIA, the defunct KGB, the Al-Qaeda Mujahdeen terror cells, and several other, uh... private operators. It is my business to know. After all, if one is to stay a step ahead, one can not afford to be ignorant, mmm?

MRAZ
What do you want?

SANTO
My needs are small, Mraz. And they fit in line with your, how do you say, aspirations?

Santo opens up one of the drawers of his desk, and throws a manila folder on the desk in front of Mraz. Mraz picks it up and opens it. It’s full of recon photos, notes, police records, your standard Tac-Ops file.

SANTO
Carlos Stinger. Small time gun-runner, drug runner. Increasingly less small time, and more big time. He too, it seems, has... aspirations. I’d like them cut short. And so would you, Mraz, since he is auditioning to work for a mutual annoyance.

MRAZ
You get what you want, but your hands stay clean? You’re starting to sound as mercenary as Souza.

SANTO
Think of it as you get what you want, my friend. My benefit is ancillary.

MRAZ
Where can I find him?

DIEGO
Carlos and his band have a campsite a few miles west of a bordertown near Guadalupe. Small operation. Forty, perhaps fifty men. There is a map of the compound in the file.

MRAZ
You expect me to use my hands to take this guy down?

SANTO
Anything in my toy chest is at your disposal, my friend. I have enough weapons in my basement to take over Kuwait. Just like the old days, hmm? Now, you had a long flight. Maria has prepared the guest room so you can rest now, and for later as well, since you will be staying a night or two.

MRAZ
Oh really?

SANTO
Yes. You can’t move on Stinger for a day or so. Plus, I do not get to see you very often, Mraz!

MRAZ
I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.

SANTO
We still have to finish that bottle of tequila from last time, and many old times to remember together.

MRAZ
I don’t like to be hungover when I’m laying waste to a camp full of terrorists.

SANTO
I do not like paying taxes, but we all have our crosses to bear. Go get changed for dinner. Maria is making her special Paella for you tonight, it is excellent.

Mraz knows when he’s been beat. He gets up with his bags and heads upstairs to the second floor of the mansion. Santo and Diego stay in their respective places as Mraz leaves.

DIEGO
I want to wiretap him.

Santo shakes his head.

DIEGO
Let me post a guard to his door.

SANTO
Your concerns are pointless. Mraz isn’t going to do anything.

DIEGO
Why do you trust Mraz?

SANTO
Because he has earned my trust.

DIEGO
He hasn’t earned mine.

Santo plays with the pieces on the chess board that sits on his desk.

SANTO
Mraz is playing in a dangerous world, Diego. He thinks he is the rook, or perhaps the knight is more suiting. But in truth... he is just a pawn. Just a pawn.

DIEGO
And what are you?

SANTO
Just a pawn as well. But, with the chance to be King.

DIEGO
Does he know?

SANTO
He knows what he needs to know. Nothing more.

DIEGO
So he doesn’t really understand what you’re sending him to do?

SANTO
No. Not yet.

Santo opens one of the drawers in his desk and takes out a different folder. This doesn’t have the feel of a Tac-Ops file, but more of a large, official-looking, scientific research paper. Written in large letters across the front of the document it says: “The Chemical Properties of Polydichloric Euthymol”. As Santo leafs through it – we can see large chemical equations and charts and graphs imbedded among the seemingly endless pages of text.

DIEGO
Does he even know what Stinger’s operation is transporting?

SANTO
Sources tell me Mraz and his agents think it might be nuclear. Everything is ‘The Happy Mushroom’ with Americans ever since Reagan.

DIEGO
There is nothing nuclear about polydichloric euthymol.

SANTO
True. It is not radioactive, but polydichloric euthymol has the potential to bring quite the holocaust...no?

CUT TO:

INT. RIDGEWOOD COUNTRY CLUB – DAYTIME

ANDREA DAVIS, a classy, sophisticated woman wearing an expensive Laura Ashley dress and pearls sits at the head of a table filled with six men of various ethnicities, some with turbans, all in three piece suits. In front of them are opulent chocolate desserts, and a copy of the research paper we just saw Santo flipping through a minute ago.

ANDREA
Polydichloric euthymol. Tasteless, odorless, colorless. It’s a hybrid super-amphetamine, created by Dr. Hyams Spota in the early 90’s, part of a now defunct bio-weapons program under DARPA. It’s more physiologically and psychologically addictive then cocaine. Side effects include but are not limited to heart attack, seizure, hallucinations, stroke, extreme paranoia, psychotic breaks, complete nervous system collapse.

BUYER#1
Why would anyone take it?

ANDREA
(ignoring the question)
Taken in very small quantities, the effects, good and bad, are limited. It’s more like a pleasant buzz and the feeling you have a lot of energy. And that’s where it gets really insidious. Consumed in large quantities, the body views it as toxic and purges it in a few hours. Consumed in small quantities it settles and stays inside muscle cells and fat cells. Over time, the body begins to ‘need’ a steady supply of it.On a cellular level, mitochondria can no longer function without it. Sudden withdrawal from polydichloric euthymol is lethal in 95% of cases within two weeks.

BUYER#1
You’re not making any sense.

ANDREA
You’re just thinking small, gentlemen. You are looking for ways to cripple the United States, are you not? But with the increased security at the borders, getting a nuclear weapon is less and less possible. Besides, a nuclear weapon only affects a few million people in the city you take out. But if you were to start infecting the food and water supply of the country with polydichloric euthymol, you could literally blackmail everyone in the United States. And if they didn’t pay and ignored you, you stop supplying the drug. But when people start dying, they’ll start paying attention.

Andrea opens a bottle of Evian water next to her and takes a swig.

BUYER#2
What kind of numbers are you talking about?

ANDREA
Production costs $1 million per cubic hectare to grow extract plants. That processes into one million tons of the base powder. It takes six months to get production up to the necessary volume to have an impact. You’d need 180 million tons per month. So we’re looking at $2.16 billion dollars in cost. Then there are the various transport logistics that need to be addressed. And I need to make a small profit, so let’s call it a nice round $4 billion dollars.

BUYER#3
You’re out of your mind. $4 billion dollars. Crazy woman.

ANDREA
You stand to make billions per month in blackmail from the U.S. Government. You don’t think it’s worth spending $5 billion once to make a $100 billion a year.

BUYER#3
You said $4 billion.

ANDREA
It’s $4 billion for everyone else, but since you decided it’d be cute to be rude and insult me, it’ll cost you $5 billion if you’re interested. (beat) I have small personal doses for you to inspect now, larger quantities will be available in a few days. Any other questions or comments, gentlemen?

Andrea reaches into her Gucci purse and puts down a small plastic vial with a reddish colored liquid in it on the table. The businessmen regard it with great interest.

FADE TO BLACK.

END OF ACT ONE



__________________________________________________________________________


ACT TWO

INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES – MARK'S OFFICE - DAYTIME

KRYSTAL
I don’t know what to say. Thanks!

MARK
Mraz needs someone with good Spanish experience, it’ll be perfect for you to go down there and help him out. And while you’re there he can show you the ropes.

KRYSTAL
I won’t let you down.

MARK
Get your tickets from Keating and get going.

KRYSTAL is beaming. Mark stands up from his desk and offers a handshake. Krystal takes his hand shake and pulls him close for a kiss on the cheek. Mark’s surprised, but smiles. Krystal exits hastily, passing ANDY who she also kisses on the cheek as she is leaving.

KRYSTAL
I get to go to Mexico with Mraz!

ANDY
I’m an accountant. I don’t get to go anywhere.

Krystal plants another kiss on Andy and keeps going. Andy knocks on the door, holding a thick pile of printouts.

ANDY
She’s real friendly. Got a second?

MARK
What’s up?

ANDY
That $25,000. Remember that?

MARK
How could I not?

ANDY
Right, well the dispersement trail for the money worries me. Here look.

Andy cluelessly drops the pile of accounting spreadsheets on Mark’s desk, obscuring his Tac-Ops files. Mark bristles at the intrusion, but focuses on what’s in front of him.

ANDY
OK - See here. This money. OK, watch the pony. An account here. One here. One here. One here. Washed into an omnibus account. Through the expense account. Back out through a different omnibus capital liability account. Commingled with funds here, then here. Now look at this, more accounts open, dispersements across, funneled back out, split into different seemingly payments, but add it all back up, and we’re back at the same number...only we’re not.

MARK
It’s a little more complicated then my checkbook.

ANDY
The hit on you wasn’t for $25,000. It was for $100,000.

MARK
That’s supposed to make me feel better?

ANDY
I suppose. But it’s more then that. OK. I’ve been looking at this for a while now.

MARK
Yeah?

ANDY
And the trail keeps getting more convoluted. Then I hit a real stumbling block. Every time I’d print out a new spreadsheet, I find new things. New monies. New journals. That’s when I realized there were new entries and new accounts opened just yesterday, money moving back in and out.

MARK
What do you mean?

ANDY
I think the system’s been hacked from the outside, but I can’t be sure yet, and I don’t have all the numbers added up yet. We might have a virus or a worm or something that’s messing up our records. Or-

MARK
Or what?

ANDY
Nah, it’s not likely.

MARK
I don’t care about likely. What?

ANDY
Someone’s actively making the journals. Someone who knows I’m onto them and is still trying to cover their tracks. Someone on the inside...But I don’t know yet! I’m talking out my ass right now. I need more time.

MARK
Get to the bottom of it. Fast.

CUT TO:

EXT. SANTO ESTATE – FIRING RANGE

Mraz, wearing sound buffer headphones, is playing with a host of toys, assorted pistols and rifles and machine guns. He picks one up fires off a few rounds, tweaks the sights, fires a few more rounds, cleans and clears the weapon. Then he picks up a new gun, repeats the process. From the target pattern, it’s clear Mraz is a hell of a shot. Every so often, a large man, TITO, comes out and replaces the targets.

There’s a tap on Mraz’s shoulder. He spins with the MP5 submachine gun he’s holding, ready for anything. A surprised Santo and Krystal laugh at him.

KRYSTAL
We give up! We give up!

SANTO
I do not think he likes us!

Mraz pulls off his headphones and drops the gun to his side. Mraz is angry, but it dissipates quick as he realizes how good Krystal looks. Krystal catches Mraz lingering and smiles. He brings back the anger to cover.

MRAZ
Thought that’d be bright to sneak up on me at firing range? Not very smart. Could get you killed in the field.

KRYSTAL
I’m sorry, you’re right, I should have-

SANTO
When your lovely guest arrived, I thought you might want to know about it. It was my idea, Mraz. Not hers.

There’s an awkward pause, but Santo has a way to fix it.

SANTO
Come, let us go have some lunch. Maria has made a lovely salad. Tito, come on.

The giant man leaves the target area and joins the threesome heading back to the house.

CUT TO:

EXT. SANTO MANSION – POOL/DECK – NIGHTTIME

Tiki torches burn around the massive pool. Empty bottles of beer and wine are scattered about. A still unfinished 1/4th full bottle of Santo Family Gold Reserve Tequila sits on the edge of the diving board. Mraz and Krystal sit on large reclining chairs in their swimsuits. Santo in his swimsuit and a terrycloth robe stands behind a nearby tiki bar, where he is shaking away another cocktail. Mraz and Krystal are laughing hysterically at Santo’s story.

SANTO
...so there is Mraz, on stage with the woman. I believe her name was Tia?

MRAZ
You are such a liar!
(to Krystal)
This never happened.

KRYSTAL
More! More!

SANTO
Mraz had just eaten ‘the worm’, so his recollection is undoubtedly fuzzy. She was a beautiful, sensuous woman. Very sweet.

MRAZ
She was hot, but I was never onstage! It was you!

SANTO
AC/DC blaring in the background. On stage. She tells him to lie down, put the banana in his mouth.

MRAZ
(to Krystal)
We had a bottle of tequila each, he’s exaggerating.

SANTO
And then she squats down over him, and manages to, how shall I say this, kiss him with her ‘lips’.

Krystal snarfs her drink, Mraz can’t keep a straight face.

KRYSTAL
She got the whole banana up there?

Santo gestures the approximate size of the banana, his hands are easily a foot apart, maybe more.

SANTO
So then our good friend, Mr. Mraz, asks her if she can get anything else interesting up there. And she of course, like a decent woman, slaps him, and informs the room she is no common tramp and only does things like that for her husband.

KRYSTAL
A prude, to be sure.

SANTO
Of course 20min and $200 later, she was putting sausage links up there, but only because I kept paying her since I was greatly enjoying that Mraz was unable to breathe from laughing so hard.

MRAZ
You are so full of it, Santo.OK ok. Fair is fair. So Santo’s dating these twins. Beauty queens as I recall.

SANTO
You play dirty, Mraz.

KRYSTAL
Fair is fair!

MRAZ
Were they 18?

SANTO
They were 21. I dated them after you did, when they were 20.

MRAZ
Santo’s always been the ladies man, don’t let his attitude fool you. Anyway, twins, but they don’t know about each other. He pulls this off, somehow, for five months?

SANTO
Six.

MRAZ
When he gets invited to a big family party by both of them. Their father’s 50th birthday?

SANTO
They had planned the party for weeks.

MRAZ
How does he get out of going? He gets the father arrested for a trumped up drug smuggling charge day of the party.

KRYSTAL
What?!

SANTO
I had him released. He spent an hour in jail, tops.

MRAZ
So he thinks he’s off the hook. But when the girls come running to Santo for comfort after getting Daddy out of jail, they not only run into each other at his place, but into Sophia, the girl he had met that morning at the market.

KRYSTAL
Dog!

SANTO
In my youth, it is true I was perhaps less then perfect.

MRAZ
We done telling stories now?

SANTO
For now.

KRYSTAL
No! More!

SANTO
Get over here and give me a hug before I feed you to Tito.

Mraz and Santo hug and laugh. Krystal drains her cup. They all sit back and relax, still snickering and laughing and remembering.

KRYSTAL
So, all those women, how come there’s no Mrs. Santo?

The mood abruptly changes. Mraz and Santo stop laughing. Santo finishes off his cup and stands.

SANTO
All this tequila...I am not as young as I used to be. I am going to retire for the evening. I hope you both have a good night.

Santo gives a nod to Mraz and then leaves.

KRYSTAL
I didn’t know that was a bad topic.

MRAZ
You couldn’t have known, don’t worry. He’s drunk anyway, he probably won’t remember tomorrow.

KRYSTAL
What happened?

MRAZ
Santo used to be a cop, if you can believe it. A good one too. Part of the NARC unit down here. He had a big bust of some dealer, got a promotion. The drug dealer called his supplier from jail, and the supplier had Santo’s wife killed. So, after that, he lost it, went on a killing spree. Killed the supplier, a bunch of guys. Got fired from the force after he shot the cop who tipped off the guy where he lived. So no job, no family, he crawled into a bottle of tequila for a while. When he crawled back out, he decided if you can’t beat’em, join’em.

KRYSTAL
That’s awful.

MRAZ
Yeah.

KRYSTAL
To lose someone you love like that. God.

MRAZ
Now he’s just all alone in this big house. Him, Diego, and Tito and the maid, Maria.

KRYSTAL
I guess that’s why you don’t date inside Mraz Inc. Too dangerous, right?

MRAZ
What are you getting at?

KRYSTAL
I was just wondering if people dated, inside Mraz Inc. You know, if there was some attraction, between two people, who worked for you, if they could, do anything about it.

Mraz and Krystal are facing each other now.

MRAZ
It’s dangerous what we do. People die.

KRYSTAL
That’s why it’s important to act on feelings Mraz. We don’t know how long we’re here for.

MRAZ
Being attached to someone on a mission, you could make mistakes, not think rationally about the big picture.

KRYSTAL
It could help a mission too. Working with someone you know, someone you trust, someone who knows what you’re thinking before you do...

There is a pause.

MRAZ
I think...I’m gonna follow Santo to bed. We gotta get up tomorrow early. You comin?

KRYSTAL
Not yet. I’m gonna have one last swim.

Mraz gets up, steadies himself, gives a salute in place of a good night and heads off. Krystal watches Mraz leave. She gets up and slides into the pool.

CUT TO:

EXT. SANTO MANSION – DRIVEWAY – MORNING

Krystal sits in the jeep checking a map as Tito and Mraz load the last few satchels and weapons into the vehicle.

Once it’s packed up, the three drive off. Santo watches them from his window in the study as the car pulls away.

CUT TO:

EXT. MEXICO – ROAD - DAYTIME

The jeep speeds along a bumpy dusty road for several miles. As the day wears on it’s obvious there’s an awkwardness between Krystal and Mraz. She keeps busy looking at her Blackberry, back at the map. Tito keeps looking from Mraz to Krystal. He may be silent, but he’s not dumb.

Mraz’s eyes stay on the road, he’s all business, thinking about the job ahead.

CUT TO:

EXT. EL VIA PANCHO – ROAD – DAYTIME

Mraz turns the jeep off on a turn. They travel down this road a little further, the terrain turning away from the flat plains and more hilly, even slightly mountainous. After a bit, Mraz pulls off to the side. Tito gets out, takes a satchel and a large assault rifle out of the back of the jeep. He holds up his cell phone and gives Mraz a nod and heads off on foot up the hills. Mraz and Krystal, resume on the road toward STINGER'S compound.

FADE TO BLACK

END OF ACT TWO



__________________________________________________________________________________


ACT THREE

EXT. EL VIA PANCHO – ROAD – DAYTIME

The road winds for a bit, and then another villa, similar to Santo’s but not nearly as opulent emerges in the distance. Though unlike the open unsecured landscape of Santo’s place, there is a guard tower checkpoint and a large fence around this property. Mraz can see four silver oil-tanker, 18-wheelers parked away from the main house. Men wearing protective gear are surrounding the trucks, filling them with large hoses from an enormous orange shipping container that has Arabic writing on it. The house has a few guards milling about outside.

MRAZ
If Stinger’s a drug runner, why does he have guys in radioactive containment suits loading trailers?

KRYSTAL
Maybe it’s Meth? That’s pretty toxic, right?

MRAZ
You’d only need a facemask, not a full suit...

KRYSTAL
You think Stinger’s in league with the terrorists Mark found? The Blood Rajadeem?

MRAZ
(a grin sneaks up)
Santo might have just accidentally helped us. Let’s go.

Mraz punches the pedal on the jeep and continues speeding ahead. The checkpoint ahead has three GUARDS, one of them is already waving down Mraz to slow for the gate. Mraz complies and brings the car to a halt. Two guards draw guns, but Mraz and Krystal keep their cool.

GUARD
Quienes son usted? Que usted desea?

MRAZ
We’re here to see Carlos Stinger.

The guards don’t look happy Mraz is speaking English and they raise their guns at the jeep. Mraz’s hand drops to his pistol at his side. Krystal flashes a smile at the guard and unbuttons the top two buttons of her shirt to reveal more skin.

KRYSTAL
Tenemos un presente para Carlos. Una sorpresa.

Krystal bats her eyes, and gives a wink and a smile. The guard smiles back and nods, and motions the other to lower their guns.

GUARD
Gracias, señora bonita. Pase a través de la puerta.

KRYSTAL
(to guard)
Gracias, senor!

Mraz grimaces. The gate opens. Mraz drives the jeep onward toward the house.

KRYSTAL
So what’s the plan now?

MRAZ
We take out everyone who’s here.

KRYSTAL
That’s it?

MRAZ
Saving the world from terrorists doesn’t have to be complicated, you know. All these guys are killers, not nice guys.

KRYSTAL
So we’re just gonna mow down everyone?

MRAZ
Just cause it’s not complicated doesn’t mean we have to be a bull in a china shop. Let’s try to get inside as far as we can. If we can find Carlos first, maybe we can get his guys to give up without firing a shot. We’ll make our way to the kitchen, get ourselves some disguises and go from there.

CUT TO:

INT. CARLOS STINGER HOUSE – BASEMENT – DAYTIME

Mraz and Krystal are bound to chairs with ropes. Mraz is sporting a nice bruise or two across his face. A skinny man with a thin beard stands in front of them, CARLOS STINGER. Ten angry looking guards look on at the interrogation. Everyone in the room is covered in some sort of salsa.

STINGER
Considering your ‘antics’ in my kitchen...I have a hard time believing you are on a ‘goodwill tour’ from the U.N.? Could it be the small arsenal my men found in your jeep? Or because you showed up unannounced? Or maybe because I’m just not a complete idiot?

MRAZ
(to Krystal)
I told you we should have called first.

STINGER
Now, I don’t know who you are, or what you’re doing here, but if you don’t tell me the truth, after cutting off your hands, I will drop you in the middle of the desert with no clothes on and let the scorching sun compete with the scorpions for what will kill you first.

Stinger takes out a long barrel revolver and points it at Krystal’s head. Mraz doesn’t flinch. Krystal looks unsure. Stinger cocks the revolver. Mraz still doesn’t flinch.

KRYSTAL
OK, let’s see some of that Mraz magic I’ve heard so much about.

MRAZ
What time is it?

KRYSTAL
(confused)
Around 6:30. I guess. Why the hell does that matter?

Mraz closes his eyes and focuses. Serenity washes over his face.

MRAZ
Abracadabra.

BEEP BEEP! Mraz’s phone which is sitting on a nearby table with the rest of his and Krystal’s personal effects makes it’s presence known.

GUARD
Hey boss! He’s getin a message.

Stinger snaps his fingers, and the thug throws him Mraz’s phone. He flips it open:

STINGER
(to all)
“Saludos. Cuando puedas nos llamas, llama al celular de Tito. No te olvides. OK.”
(to Mraz)
What the hell kind of message is this? Who is Tito? Your contact? Is that who you’re working for?

MRAZ
I highly recommend we get down, right now.

The wall next to Mraz explodes, pieces of wood and debris go flying everywhere. Through the smoldering hole walks Tito, a giant of a man, wielding his large assault rifle, now sporting a grenade launcher attached to the bottom.

Tito enters the room and starts firing at Stinger and his goons, who dive anywhere and everywhere looking for cover.

Tito fires the weapon with one hand, while his other hand unsheathes an enormous survival knife, and cuts Krystal and Mraz free. Mraz is out of his bonds first, and pulls a pistol free from Tito’s waist and begins to fire away as well.

Stinger’s men are dropping like flies, and Stinger can sense this situation has gone horribly wrong. He flies out the door. Mraz doesn’t miss a beat and takes off right after him. By the time Krystal is free, Tito has stopped firing, since everyone who hasn’t fled the room is dead.

KRYSTAL
You got a gun for me, big guy?

Tito shrugs, and hands her the large survival knife.

She shakes her head. Tito hands her his assault rifle, she takes it and the two head off after Mraz.

CUT TO:

EXT. CARLOS STINGER HOUSE

Stinger is running for his life, screaming in Spanish.

STINGER
Vaminos! Vaminos! Vaya al lugar de reunion! Vaminos!

The men loading the trucks snap into action, finishing loading up quickly, and getting the rigs moving. The rigs grumble and bellow smoke, and begin to pull away. Mraz is catching up to Stinger quickly. When he’s in range, Mraz fires a few shots, and Stinger stops running. He drops his gun. Mraz slows from a run and walks up to him. When he’s close, Stinger pulls out a new pistol! Mraz raises his gun back up in a flash! Stalemate?

STINGER
Before you and your friends kill me, the least you could do is tell me who wants me dead, eh?

MRAZ
I’m not here to kill you on someone’s orders.

STINGER
Oh really? You’re not just some hired assassin?

MRAZ
I’m not an assassin. My job is stopping criminals like you from helping assassins. Now where are the trucks full of uranium headed?

STINGER
Uranium? Ha! You think I have uranium in those trucks.

MRAZ
Don’t play dumb.

STINGER
All news to me, I’m afraid. There is no uranium in those trucks.

MRAZ
Then why were your men dressed in those radioactive suits? I’m not an idiot.

STINGER
They were bio-chemical defense suits, not radioactive suits.

MRAZ
So what’s in the trucks?

STINGER
It would seem whoever sent you here to kill me didn’t tell you the whole truth. I don’t work with terrorists. I move drugs.

MRAZ
Okay, so let’s hear what’s going on, maybe you’ll live.

STINGER
All I know is I got a call from someone based in New York named -

KRYSTAL
Mraz!

POW! POW! POW! Stinger drops to the floor dead. Mraz spins to see the smoldering barrel of Krystal’s assault rifle. Mraz looks back to Stinger who is spitting up blood.

MRAZ
What did you just do?

KRYSTAL
Shoot the bad guy?

MRAZ
Why?

KRYSTAL
I thought he had the drop on you. I didn’t want...I didn’t know...I was trying to protect you.

MRAZ
Before he told us who he was working for?

Mraz grimaces at Krystal paving the road to hell with good intentions.

MRAZ
Well we’re not gonna get any more information out of him. We gotta get going and track down those trucks before they get too far.

KRYSTAL
We came round the front. There are no vehicles left. Stinger’s guys took the ones they needed and trashed the rest.

MRAZ
We need eyes in the sky. We’re not gonna be able to get on them for a while.

KRYSTAL
Since they’re on the way already, why don’t we let them into the US?

MRAZ
You want to let the badguys get the nukes into the US?

KRYSTAL
If we confiscate the tankers on US soil, we can stall legally long enough to get look at them, if we can get there before the Feds. If we catch them down here in Mexico, if the Mexican cops or feds get involved, who knows what’ll happen to the stuff. You know the corruption down here.

Mraz nods in reluctant agreement. Mraz begins to search Stinger’s body, takes his cell phone back.

MRAZ
Tito, call Santo and get us a ride back to the US. Krystal, go back in there gather up any intel you can about Stinger and who he was working for. You have till our ride shows up.

Tito opens his phone to call Santo, Krystal heads into house, Mraz flips open his phone to call home.

MRAZ
Keating. Patch me through to Souza. I don’t care where he is.

CUT TO:

EXT. I-95 NEW JERSEY – HIGHWAY – DAYTIME

Moumin and Mark are flying down the highway in a black Dodge 1975 Charger, license plate ‘SPIZERUL’, chasing a grey cargo van. Moumin is behind the wheel driving like a fiend, diving in and out of traffic, staying close on the heels of the van. Mark is leaning outside the car, taking potshots at the van with his pistol. A cell phone rings, and Moumin flips it open.

CUT TO:

INT. MOUMIN'S CAR

MOUMIN
Bad time! What!? (beat) OK (beat) Souza! It’s Mraz!

POW! POW! Mark squeezes off two more shots before responding.

MARK
Bad time! What!?

MOUMIN
Says it’s important! (out window) Move it, lady!!

Mark swears a litany that is drowned out by the car horns of drivers Moumin is cutting off. Mark slides back in, grabs the phone. He reloads as he talks into the phone.

MARK
We’re a little goddamn busy right now! (beat) Brendan and some goons! This better be good!

CUT TO:

INT. CARGO VAN – DAYTIME

BRENDAN can’t believe his eyes as he looks in the rear view mirror, but sure enough Moumin and Mark are falling back, and with a squeal and some smoke, they cut off the highway, giving up on the chase.

BRENDAN
Giving up? Souza? Something’s not right.

CUT TO:

INT. SANTO MANSION – STUDY – DAYTIME

Santo sits at his desk on the phone. Diego stands at attention nearby.

SANTO
Excellent. I will send a chopper along shortly. Thank you for the update, Tito.

Santo drops the handset into the receiver with a satisfied grin.

DIEGO
How can you be smiling?

SANTO
What do you mean?

DIEGO
He’s getting too close. I don’t like it. He almost stopped the shipment. You weren’t supposed to let it play out like this.

SANTO
No no. Mraz likes his games. I wonder if he really remembers all the rules? Mmmm? We must be polite to our friends. All things in due time, Diego. For Mraz to play the hero, we must let him be heroic.

DIEGO
You’re jeopardizing the entire operation for this friend of yours.

SANTO
It is MY operation to jeopardize.

DIEGO
What will you tell the woman in New York if she catches wind of this? Nothing has transpired how you told her it would.

SANTO
Trust me. Let me handle it. Go find someone to get Mraz and the others at Stinger’s.

DIEGO
You are not being cautious enough, if this blows up in our face, you could lose everything!

SANTO
I know what I am doing. Get out of here! See that Mraz gets a chopper, let him take it. He can return it at his leisure.

CUT TO:

EXT. USA/MEXICO BORDER – HIGHWAY - NIGHTTIME

The four large silver tanker trucks from Stinger’s roll up to the border fence. The drivers show the US BORDER GUARDS their papers, the guards do a cursory check of the rigs, and then wave them through into the United States.

The lead DRIVER seems relived as the trucks pull away into the night.

CUT TO:

EXT. TENNESSEE – HIGHWAY – DAYTIME

The four silver tanker trucks are zooming along the highway, making good time. The highway is fairly empty, only the occasional passing car. The lead truck driver yawns and then looks in his rear view mirror, to spot a small black helicopter zooming down the highway, catching up fast. The chopper zooms over the convoy and then banks away into the sun. The driver wakes the guy next to him, and then they are looking everywhere for the chopper.

The terrain turns more hilly and mountainous and the driver thinks he’s lost the chopper. But as the road winds around a corner, there’s the chopper already on the ground, along with piles of sandbags, road cones, and road signs scattered all over the road. The drivers panic, hit the brakes. The trailers jackknife, smoke and skidmarks are left on the road as the trucks barely stop in time from hitting each other and crashing into the road block.

Mraz and the Tac-Ops group and Krystal step out from behind the sandboxes, with large assault rifles, walking toward the tanker trucks. The drivers are getting out with their hands in the air or on their heads.

MARK
Let’s get these trucks back up to New York. We’ll keep them in the warehouses in Bayonne by the docks.

FADE TO BLACK

END OF ACT THREE.

______________________________________________________________________________


ACT IV


INT. MRAZ INC. OFFICES - DAYTIME
Mraz is walking through the office. He passes Eddie

MRAZ
Everything is?

EDDIE
All good. The tankers are sitting in the warehouse. Eric’s on surveillance watching them. Warehouse security says no one’s even looked at the building funny in two days. Mark’s the only one with the code to get in or out.

Mraz pats him on the back, keeps walking, pokes his head in Taylor’s office.

TAYLOR
I told you, you stupid rednecks, you can’t get a warrant to search the trucks, cause they’re not covered under Interstate Commerce since they’re not domestic US transport. (beat) No Homeland Security can’t see them either under privacy statutes guaranteed by the new rider Congress passed under the Patriot Act. (beat) You can tap my phone all you want, you can’t see the trucks from my phone! (beat) Well, you just go ahead and have the IRS crawl up my ass with a microscope! (beat) Listen to me, you pretentious Harvard prick! Gonna be a cold day in Fargo before I even think about letting you indict my firm on some trumped up charge. You know you can’t prove it, so why don’t you stop making my ulcer bigger then it is, and go back to raping children, hmmm?

Mraz backs out, keeps walking, pokes his head in Andy’s office.

MRAZ
Any headway on the files we got from Stinger?

ANDY
You know what’s weird?

MRAZ
Hmmm?

ANDY
Santo had business connections with Stinger. There are transactions all over the place.

MRAZ
That’s not ‘that’ surprising. Santo never said he never dealt with the guy.

ANDY
As recent as the day before you went down there?

Mraz thinks it’s odd, but keeps moving, turns the corner, winds up at Mark’s office. Mark sits pouring over Tac-Ops files. The file on Santo is sprawled out, and he’s piecing one together on Stinger.

MRAZ
We ever figure out what’s in those containers?

MARK
Ducky’s got it in the lab. He’s synthesizing it now. Thinks it’s some kind of narcotic, something new, something real bad.

MRAZ
Good. I’m off back to Mexico.

MARK
You’re going back?

MRAZ
Santo said he’s only telling me about Operation: Living Hand in person. Plus it looks like he’s got a lead on the Blood Rajadeem nuke thing you’re onto, as well.

MARK
You want Krystal with you again? She came in handy.

MRAZ
No thanks. Not this time. I’ll be back soon. This’ll be a quick trip.

MARK
You shouldn’t trust him. I don’t.

MRAZ
You worry too much. We go way back Santo and me.

Mraz gets up and leaves, passes Ducky who is coming into Mark’s office.

MARK
What’s up?

DUCKY
Hey, can we run to the warehouse? My tests are inconclusive, I need more powder to keep working.

MARK
Yeah, sure, I need a break from this stuff anyway.

CUT TO:

EXT. BAYONNE – IRONSHIELD WAREHOUSE - DAYTIME

Mark and Ducky pull up in Mark’s car. Eric pulls up in his car. They arrive at the front large garage doors of the warehouse. Mark puts in the complicated numeric code into the key pad. With a beep and a click, a red light switches to green. Mark pushes the button and the door slowly opens. As light pours into the warehouse, something is very very wrong.

ERIC
Wait. This isn’t right.

The four silver 18 wheelers are not there. They look at the huge completely empty warehouse in shock. Mark is furious.

ERIC
They were here last night. We’ve had video surveillance the whole time. There’s no way.

MARK
(building to a yell)
Where are the trucks? Where the hell are the goddamn trucks!?

FADE TO BLACK

TO BE CONTINUED...