(Flash over to the woods somewhere near the Buchanan
Lodge…John had sent a mass message by radio to his officers to approach the
lodge silently without lights or sirens. He further instructs them to park
their squad cars outside of the patch of trees and cover the short distance to
the lodge on foot and armed. Patrick is armed with his own weapon, prepared to
assist.)

JOHN: (quietly) “Thornhart, I need you to stay out
of this as much as possible.

If anything happens to compromise this, we’ll lose
our case against this woman. I can’t lose this case.”

PATRICK: “I understand.”

JOHN: “Let’s go.”

(The camera flashes to inside the lodge…Brad has been
assigned to supervise Jack, and he’s tormenting Jack with threats of shooting
him. Jack is scared and weak, tied to a chair.)

BRAD: “Your days are numbered, rich boy. When Troy and
Mayor Finn get back, they won’t have any use for you anymore.”

JACK: “What exactly do you think they’ll need YOU for
after they get rid of me? Did you ever stop to think about that?”

BRAD: (angrily) “Shut up, Manning! You don’t know
them! They’ve always kept their word to me, and they always protected me!
That’s far more than I can say about YOU.”

JACK: Of course they took care of you, Kozinski! They needed
you! What use will you be to them once I’m gone?”

BRAD: “You’re talking like you know all about that. I
wonder why, hm? Could it be because that’s what you did? At least they
gave me something I could use while they took care of me.”

JACK: “What did they give you, Brad? A reputation in
prison? And now you’re an accomplice in a crime? Do you think they’re going to
protect you after this is over? They’re gonna toss you aside…”

(Brad puts his gun against Jack’s temple.)

BRAD: “SHUT UP! SHUT UP or I’m gonna blow your brains
out!”

JOHN: “FREEZE, KOZINSKI! Put the gun down and step away
from him with your hands in the air! DO IT!”

(Brad doesn’t move right away. Jack is breathing hard and
fast in his fear.)

JOHN: “Brad, don’t make me shoot you. PUT THE GUN DOWN!”

BRAD: “I’m not going back to prison, man!”

JOHN: “We can work something out, Brad, but not if you
kill him. Don’t be stupid!”

BRAD: (quickly turning the gun on John) “Don’t call
me stupid!”

(Jack quickly leans into Brad and knocks him down,
causing the gun to fall a few feet away from him and dispense a round. John
quickly takes Brad into custody while the other officers work rapidly to free
Jack. The officers take Brad to the squad car.)

JOHN: “You alright, Jack?”

JACK: “I..um..yeah, I’m okay. How’s Starr and Natalie?”

JOHN: “They’re fine. And I know quite a few more people
who are going to be happy to see you. Let’s get you back there.”

JACK: Lieutenant, I think you need to get to Commissioner
Buchanan’s house.”

JOHN: “Why? What’s going on, Jack?”

JACK: “I pretended to be knocked out when Troy MacIver
thought I took this drug he gave me. I heard him talking to Mayor Finn. They
said it was time to move on with their plan to separate Matthew’s parents.”

(John barks commands to his officers to head to Bo and
Nora’s, then he sends Jack out with the officers and places another call.)

JOHN: “Hi, it’s me. I need your help. I have to tend to a
call and then I’m going to come by to see you. Okay, see you then.”

(The camera fades to black as John races away from the
lodge.)

(Flash back to the hospital, Todd has returned to Viki
to inform her that Blair is okay. He stops short when he spots her talking to
Clint and their sons.)

CLINT: “Viki, I have to head back to the office for a
little while. I was supposed to leave some papers with the accountant so the
quarterly report could be filed and tomorrow morning is the deadline. I’ll be
back soon. Kevin is coming with me to hold down the office affairs so I can
return here.”

VIKI: “Okay, darling. And where are you two going?”

JOEY: “Rex and I are going to check in on our wives and
the kids.”

VIKI: “Oh yes, yes. Those poor women probably could use
the help with the children. If anything changes, I’ll call you. Oh, do me a
favor and check in on Jessie, will you? She went to Robert Ford’s house.”

JOEY: “Okay, Mom.”

(Clint kisses her and they leave. Todd approaches her
and she smiles.)

TODD: “Hey, Vick. I just wanted to let you know that Blair
is going to be just fine. The doctor said she was shot in the shoulder and the
bullet went straight through. He gave her a pint of blood and stitched up the
wound.”

VIKI: “Oh, that’s wonderful! I wonder who would do such a
thing?”

TODD: “I have no doubt that it was the mayor or one of her
goons. Right now, I want my wife and daughter to recover, and I really want to
find my son. It’s killing me imagining what they’re doing to him…I feel so
damned USELESS!”

VIKI: “I understand that, Todd. But you might want to stop
feeling that way as of this very moment.”

TODD: “And why would I want to do that?”

VIKI: “Because feeling useless isn’t going to help the
person who just came in behind you.”

(Todd turns to see a bruised Jack standing beside his
police escort. He runs over to his son and hugs him tightly.)

TODD: “Jack! Oh my God! Oh my God! Are you okay, son?” Are
you okay?”

JACK: “I’m okay now, Dad. I’m so glad to be back.”

(He looks around )

TODD:   “What is it,
son?”

JACK: “Where’s Mom?”

(Viki and Todd exchange a glance that Jack notices.)

JACK: (panicked)“What happened to Mom?”
TODD: “She was shot, son.”

JACK: “What? Who shot Mom? Is she …”

TODD: “No, no, no, Jack, wait….she’s going to be fine.
Come on, I’ll show you. I’m sure seeing you is going to speed up her recovery,
and your sister’s.”

(Viki smiles as the men walk off. The camera follows
Todd and Jack to Blair’s closed room door.
He instructs Jack to wait outside for a minute. Jack agrees.Todd
goes inside and sees Blair sitting up in bed. He walks to her.)

BLAIR: “Todd? Is everything okay?”

TODD: “Yes, Blair. But there’s someone here to see you.
Are you up to it?”

(Her eyes widen in confusion, but something about
Todd’s calm attitude keeps her silent.)

BLAIR: “I guess so.”

TODD: (to the door) “You can come in now!”

(Jack enters and Blair’s eyes widen in tearful
disbelief. Tears spill down her cheeks as Jack races into her arms and hugs her
tight.)

BLAIR: “OH MY GOD!! Jack, my baby! You’re alright! My
baby! Thank you, God! Thank you, God!”

JACK: “I’m alright, Mom. It’s okay. I’m home now.”

(The camera zooms in on the two of them hugging, Blair
sobbing and rocking her son back and forth and Todd smiling through tears as he
looks on. The camera fades out.)

(Fade in to John. He is at the courthouse. The camera
follow him down a row of offices and show him knocking on a door. Judge
Fitzwater opens the door and guides him to her desk immediately.)

FITZWATER: “You said you were in a hurry, lieutenant. I
assume that’s because of what the news is buzzing about? You found Jack
Manning?”

JOHN: “Yes, but it’s more than that. Finn has recruited
MacIver to go after Bo and Nora. I need a warrant to search her house and look
for anything that will help us establish an origin for her plan. Anything that
she used to establish a connection with the rest of her little participants
will make sure that they go down as well. The warrant has to include permission
to run the LUD’s to her corporate and private phone numbers as well.”

FITZWATER: “You’re dancing on a thin jurisdictional line,
McBain. This sounds more like federal territory.”

JOHN: “Even the Feds need to build on a local police
investigation first. We already have solid evidence that she master-minded
Jack’s kidnapping. She became a civilian the minute she made that decision. I want her to go down properly
and without any loopholes. Besides, I want to do that for you and your family.
She needs to be brought to justice for that. I know that it’s not the same, but
at least she’ll pay for something.”

(Fitzwater smiles and signs the warrant.)

FITZWATER: “Thank you, lieutenant, for caring and
remembering. But do this for those you can save. Then what happened to
me won’t be in vain.”

(John thanks her and runs off with the warrant.
Fitzwater sits down at her desk and picks up a picture of herself and a younger
man. The camera zooms in to enhance the inscription written on the bottom of
the frame: “Congratulations, Mom! The world couldn’t have picked a more fair
and caring judge. Love, Michael.”

She wipes a tear from her eye and looks out into space.
A flasback of her son dressed in a formal suit and waving to her as he’s about
to get into his car starts to play out in her mind in slow motion. The camera
flashes briefly to a formally dressed younger Fitzwater standing on the steps
of a catering hall. She’s smiling and returning her son’s wave. She’s about to
turn back into the catering hall when a car screeches loudly and she watches in
horror as a masked man rushes out of the car and shoots her son in the chest.
She screams and starts to run toward him. The man lifts his mask briefly and
flashes a triumphant grin in her direction before running back to his partner
and speeding away…

Fitzwater snaps back to the present and picks up the
photo again, wiping away tears.)

FITZWATER: “Yes, lieutenant…make sure she doesn’t make
someone else’s son a victim.”

(The camera zooms in on Fitzwater and then fades to black.)

 

Back to OLTL Fan Fiction - Script 34 - Part 1