(siren blaring)
(man) She shivers in the wind like the last leaf on a dying tree.
I let her hear my footsteps.
She only goes stiff for a moment.
Care for a smoke?
Sure. I'll take one.
Are you as bored by that crowd as I am?
I didn't come here for the party. I came here for you.
I've watched you for days.
You're everything a man could ever want.
It's not just your face,
your figure, or your voice.
It's your eyes.
All the things I see in your eyes.
What is it you see in my eyes?
I see a crazy calm.
You're sick of running.
You're ready to face what you have to face.
But you don't want to face it alone.
No.
I don't want to face it alone.
The wind rises electric.
She's soft and warm and almost weightless.
Her perfume a sweet promise that brings tears to my eyes.
I tell her that everything will be all right.
That I'll save her from whatever she's scared of and take her far. Far away.
I tell her I love her.
(gunshot through silencer)
The silencer makes a whisper of the gunshot.
I hold her close until she's gone.
I'll never know what she was running from.
I'll cash her check in the morning.
(man) Just one hour to go. My last day on the job.
Early retirement. Not my idea.
Doctor's orders. Heart condition.
"Angina. " he calls it.
I'm polishing my badge and getting myself used to the idea of saying goodbye to it.
It. And the 30-odd years of protecting and serving and tears
and the blood and terror and triumph it represents.
I'm thinking about Eileen's slow smile.
About the thick. Fat steaks she picked up at the butcher's today.
And I'm thinking about the one loose end I haven't tied up.
A young girl who's out there somewhere. Helpless in the hands of a drooling lunatic.
Damn it, Hartigan, I won't let you do this. You're gonna get yourself killed.
You're gonna get us both killed. I won't let you. I'm warnin' you.
Let go of my coat, Bob.
You're draggin' me down with you.
I'm your partner. They can kill me, too.
I ain't puttin' up with that. I'm gettin' on the horn and calling for backup.
Sure, Bob. We'll just wait.
Sit on our hands while that Roark brat gets his sick thrills with victim number four.
Victim number four!
Nancy Callahan, age 11.
And she'll be raped and slashed to ribbons.
And that backup that we're waitin' on will just so happen to show up
just late enough for Roark to get back to his US Senator daddy.
Take a deep breath, Hartigan.
Settle down and think straight.
You're pushin' 60 and you got a bum ticker.
You ain't savin' anyone.
You got a great attitude, Bob.
Real credit to the force, you are.
Eileen's at home waitin' for you. Think about Eileen.
Heck, Bob,
maybe you are right.
I'm glad to hear you're finally talkin' sense.
Hell of a way to end a partnership.
Hell of a way to start my retirement.
Nancy Callahan. Age 11.
For all I know. She's dead already.
You've been a very good girl, Nancy.
- You've been very quiet. - (Nancy whimpers)
Don't be scared.
We're gonna be taking you home really soon.
But first, we're going to introduce you to somebody.
He's a very nice man.
Halfway to the warehouse where Weevil said they took her. And it hits.
Wicked spot of indigestion.
At least that's what I pray it is.
(man)... lighthearted and momentary digression.
The briefest indulge-ment in automotive pleasure.
(man #2) For cheap thrills. Such short-lived durability, Mr. Shlubb.
You would risk engender-ating ill will on the part of our employers.
Burt Shlubb and Douglas Klump -
two any-dirty-job-there-is thugs with delusions of eloquence.
This Jaguar you so pinheadedly covet -
temporarily remanded to our custody though it may be -
remains the property of the son of Senator Roark.
Gotta keep this quiet. Take 'em down fast.
A single dent, the merest scratch thereupon,
and the before-mentioned consequences of which I so recently made mention
shall surely be athwart us.
(heavy heartbeats)
(groans)
Catch your breath. Give your heart time to slow down.
But it won't slow down.
Get over it.
She needs you.
We're all done here, Benny.
Let's give them some time together. Give them some privacy.
Be with you in a minute, Lenny.
I'm just making sure they get along really well.
And what kind of beast couldn't get along with a precious little girl like this?
You must be awfully scared now.
But you've got nothing to be scared of.
(Nancy whimpers)
All we're gonna do is have a nice little talk.
That's all. Just a nice talk. Just you and me.
- (sobbing) - Don't you cry now.
Doctor said it'd be like this.
Just take the pill he gave you.
(grunts)
No need to play it quiet.
Not anymore.
Breathe steady. Old man. Prove you're not completely useless.
What the hell? Go out with a bang.
He likes to hear 'em scream.
I've seen his victims and their twisted little faces.
All wide-mouthed and bug-eyed. Frozen in their last horrible moment of living.
No screams. Either I'm just in time. Or I'm way too late.
(grunts)
Ooh!
It's nothing. Barely a flesh wound. On your feet. Old man.
(Hartigan) Roark. Give it up.
Let the girl go.
You can't do a goddamn thing to me, Hartigan.
You know who I am.
You know who my father is!
You can't touch me, you piece-of-shit cop.
Look at you. You can't even lift that cannon you're carrying.
Sure, I can.
(screams)
Cover your eyes, Nancy. I don't want you watching this.
I mean it, baby. Cover your eyes right now.
I take his weapons away.
(screams)
Both of them.
(shrieks)
(groans)
Hell of a way to end a partnership.
(Bob) For God's sakes, don't make it any worse.
- Don't make me kill you. - Doin' fine, Bob.
Never better.
(Roark grunting)
I'm ready to kick your ass.
Keep him talking. Buy time.
Just a few more minutes. Just till the backup gets here.
Sit down and stay down. I'll kill you if I have to.
Keep his mind off the girl - skinny little Nancy.
He can't kill her once the backup gets here.
Run home, Nancy. Run for your life.
Hey. Don't listen to him. He's a crazy man.
- What a tough man you are, huh? - You stay right where you're at.
You shoot your partner in the back...
then you try to scare a little girl.
Maybe I'll pull my spare rod, plug you a couple of times, show you how it's done.
We could've worked something out, but you've blown that.
Sit down or I'll blast you in half.
- You're so slow, you'll never stop me. - Sit down!
You'll never be able to stop me.
(screams)
(sirens blaring)
I finally sit down. Just like you told me to.
The sirens are close now.
She'll be safe.
Things go dark. I don't mind much.
Getting sleepy. It's OK.
She'll be safe.
An old man dies.
A little girl lives.
Fair trade.
(man) The night is hot as hell.
It's a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town.
I'm staring at a goddess.
She's telling me she wants me.
I'm not gonna waste one more second wondering how I've gotten so lucky.
I want you.
She smells like angels ought to smell.
The perfect woman.
The goddess.
I need you.
Goldie.
She says her name is Goldie.
Three hours later and my head is feeling several sizes too big.
And that cold thing happens to my stomach.
And I realize Goldie's dead. Not a mark on her.
You'd have to check her pulse or notice those perfect breasts of hers
aren't moving like they would if she was breathing.
She was murdered and I was right here when it happened.
Lying next to her. Stone drunk. Just like she was.
Damn it. Goldie. Who were you and who wanted you dead?
Who were you besides an angel of mercy.
Giving a two-time loser like me the night of his life?
It sure as hell wasn't my looks.
So why the sleazy saloon?
Why the kindness. Goldie?
(sirens blaring)
The cops - they're telling me too much.
Showing up before anybody but me and the killer
could know there's been a murder.
Somebody paid good money for this frame.
No reason at all to play it quiet.
No reason to play it any way but my way.
Whoever killed you is gonna pay. Goldie.
(man banging on door) Open up, police!
I'll be right out.
(gunfire)
(sirens blaring)
I don't know why you died. Goldie.
I don't know why and I don't know how I never even met you before tonight.
But you were a friend and more when I needed one.
And when I find out who did it.
It won't be quick and quiet like it was with you.
It'll be loud and nasty - my kind of kill.
And when his eyes go dead. The hell I send him to
will seem like heaven after what I've done to him.
I love you. Goldie.
(sirens blaring)
(helicopter overhead)
(sirens continue blaring)
(latch squeaks)
Claire?
Now, don't worry, Lucille. I was just grazed.
- You got any beers around this place? - No way am I giving you any alcohol.
Besides, it's not what you came here for anyway, is it?
No.
Go ahead. You're worse without 'em.
Thanks. You're the best.
Lucille's my parole officer.
She's a dyke. But God knows why.
With that body of hers she could have any man she wants.
The pills come from a girlfriend who's a shrink.
She tried to analyze me once but she got too scared.
Haven't seen you like this in a while.
- Got in a fight with some cops. - Didn't happen to kill any of them, did ya?
Not that I know of. But they know they've been in a fight, that's for damn sure.
How the hell do you suppose I'm gonna square this with the board?
There ain't no squaring it. Not this time.
This isn't some barroom brawl.
Or some creep with a gas can trying to torch someone.
Hey, hey. This is big.
- Settle down, Marv. Take another pill. - Hey, there ain't no settlin' down!
This is blood for blood, and by the gallons.
This is the old days and the bad days, the all-or-nothing days.
They're back. There's no choices left.
And I'm ready for war.
Prison was hell for you, Marv. It's gonna be life this time.
Ah.
Hell's waking up every goddamn day and not even knowing why you're here.
But I'm out now.
It took somebody who was kind to me getting killed to do it.
But I'm out. I know exactly what I gotta do.
(helicopter)
So you were scared. Weren't you. Goldie?
Somebody wanted you dead and you knew it.
So you hit the saloons. The bad places.
looking for the biggest. Meanest lug around and finding me.
Well. I'm gonna find that son of a bitch that killed you.
And I'm gonna give him the hard goodbye.
Walk down the right back alley in Sin City...
- Leave your hands off Nancy. ... and you could find anything.
That coat looks like Baghdad.
So does your face. Take off!
(yelling)
He's new here, Marv. He didn't know.
Kadie's is my kind of joint.
Nancy's just getting started with her gig. But already the crowd's breathing hard.
Plenty of nights I've drooled over Nancy.
Shoulder to shoulder with all the other losers like me.
But that's not what I'm lookin' for tonight.
What'll it be, Marv?
A shot and a brew, Shellie, and keep 'em comin'.
Sure, honey. You take it slow, now.
(man) Most people think Marv is crazy.
He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century.
He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield.
Swinging an ax into somebody's face.
Or in a Roman arena taking a sword to other gladiators like him.
They'd have tossed him girls like Nancy back then.
Show's over, dickwad. Drink up.
Now, that's one fine-looking coat you're wearing there.
Your killin' days are over, you over-the-hill, do-gooder son of a bitch.
I love hit men. No matter what you do to them. You don't feel bad.
- Take it off. - What?
A fine coat like that, and you're bleeding all over it.
All right, it's all yours. Oh, God!
It wasn't you losers who killed Goldie.
The guy who did that, he knew what he was doing.
So tell me, man. Who sent you?
I don't hear you giving me any names.
So I guess when I shot you in the belly I aimed a little too high.
(screams)
You keep holding out on me like this, and I'm gonna have to get really nasty.
It was Telly... Telly Stern passed me the order.
He runs the tables over to the Triple Ace Club.
Thanks again.
(gunshot)
Then the damnedest thing happens.
For a second. I smell the angel smell that belonged to my Goldie.
Just need my medicine. Is all.
Bastard.
You're gonna pay for what you did to me.
Feel like talking, Louie?
How many got paid off for the frame, Louie? Huh?
How many for the kill?
It was Connelly. He set me up.
He'll never talk.
I don't know about you, but I'm havin' a ball.
Connelly talks. They all talk.
(man) And what have been your sins, my son?
(Marv) Well, Padre, I don't want to keep you up all night,
so I'll just fill you in on the latest batch.
These here hands of mine, they got blood all over 'em.
You're speaking figuratively.
When I need to find something out, I just go out and look for somebody
that knows more than me, and I go and I ask them.
Sometimes, I ask pretty hard.
By way of a "for instance", I killed three men tonight.
Tortured 'em first.
You might say I been working my way up the food chain.
First two were minnows - small-time messengers.
But it was Connelly, the money man, who fingered you, Padre.
(whispering) Dear Lord, man, this is a house of God.
Just give me a damn name.
- Roark. - You really are pushing your luck, Padre,
feeding me garbage like that.
It can't be that big.
There's a farm at North Cross and Lennox.
It's all there. Find out for yourself.
And while you're at it,
ask yourself if that corpse of a slut is worth dying for.
Worth dying for.
Worth killing for.
Worth going to hell for.
Amen.
His keys say the padre drove a Mercedes.
Or at least that's what they're passing off as a Mercedes these days.
Modern cars - they all look like electric shavers.
(tires screeching)
Goldie.
Goldie!
It couldn't be Goldie.
It's my own fault. And nobody else's. That I got confused.
I've been having so much fun I forgot to take my medicine.
That wasn't Goldie back there.
Goldie's dead.
And that's the whole reason that I've been doing what I've been doing.
When you got a condition. It's bad to forget your medicine.
The cold thing. It creeps into my gut and tells me one more time it won't let go.
This is a bad place. This farm.
People have died here...
(growling)
... the wrong way.
I don't want to fight, pooch.
I got no gripe with you.
Easy, boy.
(dog whimpers)
No way I was gonna use my gun on you. Buddy.
It's whoever owns you I'm curious about.
Because there's blood on your breath. And I think I know what kind.
So I sniff around to see what's buried.
Here we go.
It's impossible. Nobody can sneak up on me.
I go blind. Not a sound. Nobody's that quiet.
Nobody except the one who snuck into that hotel room two nights ago.
It was you, you bastard. You killed her.
You killed Goldie.
It was...
I blew it. Goldie.
I found your killer. But he was better than me.
Too quiet. Too quick.
A killer born.
Why didn't he finish the job?
He keeps the heads. He eats the rest.
- Lucille? - It's not just that wolf of his.
The wolf just gets scraps.
Bones.
It's him.
He eats people.
- He cooks them like they were steaks. - Let's get you warm.
Just like they were steaks.
Now he's got both of us.
It's all right. Take a nice, slow breath.
Just look at the heads on the wall.
The heads on the wall.
Son of a bitch! He kept smiling that damned smile.
He made me watch him suck the meat off my fingers.
- He made me watch! - Oh, Jesus.
He made me watch!
Christ, I could use a cigarette.
Dames. Sometimes all they gotta do is let it out.
And a few buckets later. There's no way you'd know.
You've brought us some big trouble this time, Marv.
Whoever's behind this whole thing has his connections right in the department.
Any leads?
One guy I talked to told me it was Roark running the show.
Whoever it is, he knew I was checking out that hooker almost before I did.
- What hooker? - The one you've been obsessing over.
The dead one.
Goldie.
I didn't know she was a hooker.
Doesn't make any difference about anything.
- But I didn't know that. - She was high-class stuff.
She must have shown you quite a time.
Quiet. There's a car coming.
(man) Kevin!
All I've got is a face... and a name.
I'll see you later, Kevin.
Let's go.
They're done checking the house.
They're coming this way.
Bastards. I'll show them.
You're not gonna get either of us killed, Marv.
No, don't shoot! Please.
Listen to me. I'm his parole officer.
He's unconscious and unarmed,
so there's no need to kill him.
Captain, the target - there's no sign of him.
Here's a sign!
That there is one damn fine coat you're wearing.
I keep coming back to that cop I just killed and what he told me.
I was pretty steamed about what he'd done to Lucille.
So I took my time with that son of a bitch.
It wasn't till I showed him all those pieces of himself that he said it.
Just a name - Patrick Henry Roark. Man of the cloth.
Could've become president. But he chose to serve God.
Along the way. He happened to become the most powerful man in the state.
He's brought down mayors and governors like they were nothing.
He even made his rotten brother a US senator without breaking a sweat.
And here he's gonna get killed in the name of a dead hooker.
I'm getting used to the idea. More and more. I'm liking the sound of it.
Then it hits me like a kick in the nuts.
What if I'm wrong?
I've got a condition.
I get confused sometimes.
And with Lucille dead. I can't get my medicine.
What if I've imagined all of this?
What if I've finally turned into what they've always said I was gonna turn into?
A maniac.
A psycho killer.
Can't kill a man without knowing for sure you ought to.
I've gotta know for sure.
The merchandise is on display by the time I make my way to Old Town.
For an hour or so. I asked around about Goldie.
I don't get any answers. But I know I'm bound to.
Lucille said Goldie was a hooker.
And if she was. She has roots here -
friends. Maybe even family.
You can't be Goldie. Goldie's dead.
Ha.
Goldie. Yeah, sure, right.
I haven't eaten anything or taken my medicine for days now.
No wonder I'm seeing things.
Bastard!
(Marv laughing)
He's crazy.
Hit him again, Wendy. Harder.
Wait a minute. Why did she call you Wendy?
Because that's my name, you ape.
Goldie was my sister. My twin sister.
I guess she was the nice one.
Goldie and the other six - where are they?
What did you do to them?
You crazy goddamn broad.
Just take a look at this mug.
Would any of you dames let me get close enough to you to kill you?
None of you would, but Goldie.
And she only did because she thought I could protect her.
And I'll bet those cops didn't do a damn thing about those other girls, did they?
But as soon as they had me for a fall guy, they showed up, guns blazing.
But they didn't get me, and I've been killing my way to the truth ever since.
So, go ahead, doll.
Shoot me now, or get the hell out of my way.
Aw, nuts.
OK, I'm glad we got all that sorted out.
- What the hell? - I tied those knots! That's my specialty!
You sat there and took it,
when you could've taken my gun away from me any time you wanted to.
Well, sure. I thought I might be able to talk some sense into you.
And I probably would have had to paste you one,
and I don't hurt girls.
I need a pair of handcuffs.
What style do you want? I got a collection.
Just give him the ones you got with you, Gail.
It was a farm boy named Kevin who killed Goldie,
but it was Cardinal Roark who was behind it, and I don't know why.
I know that sounds crazy.
No, it doesn't. Goldie worked the clergy.
Just like that. A whopper of a puzzle piece falls smack in my lap.
I'm too dumb to put the whole picture together yet.
But she fires up two cigarettes and hands me one. And I taste her lipstick on it.
And suddenly. My heart's pounding so loud I can't hear anything else.
I want to reach over and touch her and taste Goldie's sweat one more time.
But she isn't Goldie.
Yeah. Yeah. This'll do.
I'm also gonna be needing a dozen two-foot lengths of this rubber tubing...
and a spool of razor wire...
and a pair of those special gloves that'll let me handle the wire.
(man) Beefing up the old home security, huh?
(Marv) You can bet your ass.
(Wendy) She was my sister, so I'm in this one to the end.
But why are you willing to go up against Roark for someone you barely knew?
She was nice to me, gave me something I didn't even know existed.
I wasn't never even able to buy a woman.
You know, the way I look.
I take my mind off her and I crawl back inside myself.
It's almost killing time. And I'd better get sharp.
I check the list - rubber tubing. Gas. Saw.
Gloves. Cuffs. Razor wire. Hatchet.
Gladys and my mitts.
- We're close enough. Pull over. - Yes, Marv.
Keep the engine runnin'.
If I'm not back in 20 minutes, you get the hell outta here and don't look back.
Kill him for me, Marv.
Kill him good.
I won't let you down, Goldie.
Heading downstairs to the kitchen.
Getting himself a midnight snack. And I can guess what kind.
Come on, you son of a bitch.
Damn. He's slick.
(yells)
Is that the best you can do, creep?
That's right. Get personal. Get close. I can take it.
I got you, you little bastard. Let's see you hop around now.
I try to slow my heart down and breathe the fire out of my lungs.
My muscles make me a thousand promises of pain to come.
Let me do it, Marv. She was my sister. Let me finish him.
You wasn't supposed to come down here, Wendy.
Oh, but I want to...
I'm sorry. Kid. But I haven't even started with this creep.
And I don't want you watching the rest. It'll give you nightmares.
God, I gotta tell you, I'm good and bushed.
And it's not that fight of ours that did me in, either.
It's all that sawing and tying.
It's not as easy as it looks.
Could have been a real mess around here if I didn't have that tubing for tourniquets.
I gotta admit, there was a spurt or two,
to get the scent in the air, to get that friend of yours to come running.
Well, what do you know?
Look who's here.
Here he comes.
(dog growling)
That's a good dog.
He doesn't scream. Not even when the mutt's had its fill
and Kevin's guts are lying all over the place.
Somehow the bastard is still alive. Still staring at me.
Not even when I grab the saw and finish the job.
He never screams.
I put in a call to Kadie's and ask Nancy to get her clothes on
and meet me at her place. She says. "Yes. " like always.
Hey, Nancy, you got any beers?
Sure, Marv. Who's the babe?
There isn't much of anything Nancy wouldn't do for me.
Not since a year back when a frat boy roughed her up
and I straightened him out but good.
It really gets my goat when guys rough up dames.
So, what do you want me to do with her?
Well, your best bet is drive her all the way up to Sacred Oaks.
What about you? Are you leaving town?
Hell, no. I like it here.
(belches)
I hot-wire a parked cab and stay under the speed limit
so as not to get any attention.
My head starts to clear. Things start to make sense.
I owe you. Goldie.
I owe you one and I'm gonna pay up.
So. If going after Roark means dying. Win or lose -
hell. I'll die laughing if I know I've done this one thing right.
Quiet as a grave out here. No sign of target.
(man on radio) All right. Keep a lookout.
- Kevin? - What's left of him, anyways.
The dog ate the rest.
Oh, my God. You monster.
You demon.
Don't scream or I'll plug you.
He had the voice of an angel, yet he spoke only to me.
And he's dead now because of one stupid whore.
It's not a real good idea for you to talk about Goldie that way while I'm around.
When he came to me...
he was a tormented boy.
Tormented by guilt.
I tried to counsel him.
But the eating - it filled him with white light.
Tearful, he swore to me that he felt the touch of God Almighty.
What the hell do you know?
I know it's pretty damn weird to eat people.
He didn't just eat their bodies,
he ate their souls.
And I joined in.
They were all whores.
Nobody cared for them. Nobody missed them.
And then your Goldie almost ruined everything.
She stayed in public places.
And then with you.
You were so convenient.
You'd broke a man's jaw that very night.
Who would believe a thug like you?
Kevin killed her.
I ordered the police in for you. But you wouldn't be caught.
You wouldn't stop.
And now he's dead and you're here to...
eliminate me.
Will that give you satisfaction, my son?
Killing a helpless old fart?
The killing, no.
No satisfaction.
Everything up until the killing will be a gas.
Kevin...
we're going home.
You can scream now if you want to.
It's beautiful. Goldie. It's just like I promised. Only better.
And when his eyes go dead.
The hell I sent him to must seem like heaven after what I've done to him.
- (man) Freeze! - (man #2) Oh, my God!
(beeping)
(sighs) Jerks.
They should've shot me in the head. And enough times to make sure.
It's so stupid.
Everybody knows what's coming. But they go through the motions anyway.
What a waste of time.
Months fall off the calendar while I breathe and eat through tubes.
Night after night. I wait for somebody to come and finish me off.
After a while. I realize it's not gonna be so easy as that.
I'm on my feet for about ten minutes
before the cops kick them out from under me.
They don't ask me any questions.
They just keep knocking the crap out of me and waving a confession in my face.
And I keep spitting blood all over it
and laughing at how many fresh copies they come up with.
Then along comes this worm assistant district attorney who turns the recorder off
and says if I don't sign their confession. They'll kill my mom.
I break his arm in three places and I sign it.
From then on. It's the circus everybody wants it to be.
They nail me for the works - not just the people I did kill.
But even Lucille and the girls that Roark and Kevin ate.
And even Goldie.
The judge is all fire and brimstone when she hands down the sentence.
Midnight and my death are only a few hours away.
When I get my first surprise in 18 months.
My only visitor.
I'm ready for anything but that scent.
I got 'em for you good, didn't I, Goldie?
Oh, I'm sorry, Wendy.
I... I got confused again.
Just seeing you like this.
You can call me Goldie.
She smells like angels ought to smell.
The perfect woman.
The goddess.
Goldie.
She says her name is Goldie.
They fix me a pretty decent steak for my last meal.
They even throw in a brew. It's the first I've had since back at Nancy's.
Then they shave my head and fix me with a rubber diaper and get to it.
And it's about damned time. If you ask me.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... "
Would you get a move on? I haven't got all night.
You heard the man. Hit it.
(buzzing)
Is that the best you can do, you pansies?
He's gone.
(knock on door)
Forget it, man.
You can bang on that door all night if you want to.
There is no way in hell I'm letting you in.
I can't believe you're doing this to me, Shellie.
Everything we've shared - it has to mean something to you.
Ha. It meant plenty.
Plenty of lost pay on account of how nobody wants to flirt with a waitress
whose face is all purple and swollen up with bruises.
I know you're angry, baby.
And I forgive you for that without you even asking me to.
There's a difference between getting honked off
at a guy who's generally not so bad,
and finding out that you've been sweet-talked by a total jerk loser
who skips out on a wife that he doesn't even tell you about
every time he gets drunk, which is way too often!
Especially the kind of total jerk loser
who has to beat up on a girl to make himself feel like a man.
That hurt, Shellie.
It's one thing for you to play hard to get, but don't go trying to cut my nuts off.
I am impossible to get.
Do yourself a favor, Jackie Boy, and get help, like a shrink.
Get help and get lost.
Just open the door.
Go ahead and open the door, Shellie. I'll take care of this.
Just open the door and you'll see how wrong you've been about me.
Oblige him, Shellie. I'm ready for him.
No! If he knew that you were here with me, you don't know how bad this could get!
This clown's got a big, mean drunk on.
And he's got four friends out there in the hall,
breathing hard and just as drunk as he is.
Hey, I could swear I heard somebody in there with you just now.
Somebody! Jackie Boy, it's a regular African love fest in here!
- I'm no racist. - I mean, I got me all five starters,
and half the bench of the Basin City Blues keeping me company.
You feel like taking them on?
You are teasing me, baby.
Some of my best friends...
But you're really pushing my buttons.
And the whole time you've been doing me like this,
I've been too polite to point out that at any time I want to,
I could kick this damn door to splinters.
OK, baby, you know what I can do.
- You know what I can do. One, two... - All right, then!
All right. All right, all right!
Troops, make yourself at home.
You brought your whole pack with you?
None of these bozos got lives, they gotta hang out with you?
You're gonna love this, baby.
You're gonna call up some of your friends who work the saloon.
With you and the bunch of us, we're gonna hit every joint in town,
and it's gonna be great.
I ain't calling up nobody.
That's a man's shirt, and I'm sure as hell it ain't one of mine.
You got somebody's love stink all over you.
You've been with another man and you've been with him tonight.
- Who is he? - He's Superman.
He flew out the window just as soon as he heard you were coming,
'cause you scared him so bad.
(laughs)
(Jackie Boy) You think I have no feelings at all.
(Shellie) If you're gonna slug me,
just go ahead and get it over with, you sick bastard.
(Jackie Boy) There you go, lying about me again,
right in front of my friends.
I have never hit a woman in my life.
(laughter)
That's showing her, man.
You goddamn bastard. You goddamn coward.
- Baby, we're all here to have a good time. - Yeah.
- I gotta take a leak. - Oh!
Wish you'd dropped by earlier, Jackie Boy.
Then you could've met my boyfriend.
Could've seen what a real man looks like.
There you go, after my nuts again.
But I forgive you.
I'm a generous guy.
He is generous. But that temper of his...
You never should have picked on him like you did.
My temper you don't have to worry about.
Shut up and keep your hands to yourself or I'll cut your little pecker off.
Ooh. I've been told.
Hey, baby, I don't hear you making those calls.
Answer me!
Oh, I don't need this grief.
Hi. I'm Shellie's new boyfriend and I'm out of my mind.
You ever so much as talk to Shellie again, you even think her name,
and I'll cut you in ways that'll make you useless to a woman.
You're making a big mistake, man. A big mistake.
Yeah? You already made a big mistake yourself.
You didn't flush.
Troops, get outta here.
No questions, damn it. No questions.
Now!
(helicopter overhead)
(sirens blaring)
Dwight, what in the devil did you do to him?
I just gave him a taste of his own medicine.
I don't think he'll be bothering you again.
- How's your jaw? - I've been slapped around worse.
Dwight, he was from a while back,
before you showed up again with that new face of yours.
And it was only 'cause I felt sorry for him.
And it was only once.
I've done some dumb things.
Seeing as how I'm one of those dumb things,
I can't give you too hard a time about that, Shellie.
But this guy, he's a menace.
He might kill somebody if I don't stop him.
I'll call you later.
No, don't go!
Shellie shouts something I can't quite make out
over the racket of a passing police 'copter.
- Stop! - It sounds like "stop. " but I can't be sure.
It's a chance I shouldn't be taking. But I can't just go home and forget about it.
And let Jackie Boy and his pals find their fun.
They're a pack of predators and they're out for blood tonight - a woman's blood.
Damn it, Dwight. Damn it.
You fool.
You damned fool.
I cut my Caddy across the park
to pick up Jackie Boy heading like a bat outta hell up the hill.
I'm speeding.
That's a good way to get yourself noticed. And if you're a murderer with a new face
who's one fingerprint check away from the fast track to the gas chamber like I am.
The last thing you want is to get noticed.
(siren blaring)
I don't have nearly enough cash on me to bribe this cop. And even if I did.
There's always the outside chance he's one of the honest ones.
Do I try to talk my way out of this. Or do I take this cop down and risk it all?
Then Jackie Boy saves me a great. Big. Steaming pile of trouble.
Watch it, Jack!
(horns blaring)
Cops! They're right on our ass!
Not for long. Not where we're headed.
My gut tightens up.
Jackie Boy's leading us straight to Old Town.
The cop shuts off his siren.
He knows he's not the law. Not in Old Town.
The ladies are the law here. Beautiful and merciless.
If you've got the cash and you play by the rules.
They'll make all your dreams come true.
But if you cross 'em. You're a corpse.
Hey, baby. Hey, baby.
Hop in, sugar. We'll get you there.
Aw, sweetheart. I work the day shift and it's been a long day.
Besides, I don't do group jobs.
Get in the car, baby. We'll just talk. It'll be nice.
I don't do talk jobs, either.
Babydoll, I've had me one hell of a bad day.
I've been beat up every time I turn around.
But the day I get turned down by a hooker
when I got good, hard-earned cash to pay her with...
well...
there's only so much a man can take.
Go try the Alamo over on Dillon Street.
That's the Alamo, not the Amigo.
The Amigo's a fag joint.
Are you having a good time humiliating me like this for no damn reason at all?
That's far enough, Dwight. We've been on top of these peckerwoods
since they first showed up with that cop behind them.
Everything's under control.
Enjoy the show.
There's no use arguing with her.
The ladies are their own enforcers.
So, how's the barmaid? You know, the one that never shuts up?
- Not right now, Gail. - Ooh.
Wound up a little tight, aren't we?
That's your whole problem, Dwight. You worry too much.
That, and your lousy taste in women. These days, anyway.
Damn it, Gail. Not right now.
Those clowns down the way - they some of the barmaid's boyfriends?
One of them thinks he is.
He's outta control.
I followed them here to make sure he didn't hurt any of the girls.
Us helpless little girls.
All kinds of death is about to hit less than 20 yards ahead of us.
And still it's hard to take my eyes off her.
Us girls are safe as we can be, Lancelot.
Those boys in that Chrysler are one mistake away
from seeing what Miho can do.
And she's been aching for some practice.
She guides my glance upwards to the pixie perched on the roof's edge.
- Deadly little Miho. - (girl) You're running out of alley, cowboy.
Turn around. Save yourself and your buddies a ton of grief.
(Jackie Boy) You're a sassy little thing.
You ain't hardly in any kind of position to be making threats.
The trap is set. locked and ready to spring.
So what? They're scum. They deserve what's coming.
So why this rotten feeling in my gut that something is awfully wrong?
They haven't killed anybody I know about.
It got pretty bad at Shellie's place, but they didn't kill anybody.
And they won't.
Why this rotten feeling?
Something Shellie said. I can't place it.
OK, OK, OK. I sounded off a little more than I should have.
- I'm a little on edge. - Over the edge.
It's not a woman you need. It's a good night's sleep.
You couldn't handle a woman, the state you're in.
She's saying you ain't got what it takes, Jack.
You wanna see it?
You wanna see what I got? Huh?
I've seen all shapes, all sizes.
You seen this one?
Get in the car.
Oh, sugar, you just gone and done the dumbest thing in your whole life.
Oh, God, no!
This is crazy!
Out of nowhere, for no reason at all!
Go ahead.
- He's got the drop on her. - He's got squat.
He's dead. He's just too damn dumb to know it.
I got you right where I want you.
This is a career-ending wound, whore.
- And there's gonna be hell to pay. - Watch your step, Jackie Boy.
Yeesh.
This isn't funny.
Don't anyone laugh. I got friends you can't imagine.
Every one of you is gonna burn.
(Dwight) Hang it up. She's just playing with you.
- You're only making it worse. - You shut the hell up.
Don't pull the trigger. She blocked the barrel. It'll backfire.
I told you to shut up.
I can't see.
What's happening?
I can't see.
I can't hear anything.
For God's sake, Miho, finish him.
Yeah. Make it quick, will you?
She doesn't quite chop his head off.
She makes a Pez dispenser out of him.
Then it's straight to business - stretching the corpses out on the alley floor
and going through their pockets. Divvying up cash when they find it.
I'm fishing around in Jackie Boy's pants.
His wallet is packed.
Mastercard. Discover. Platinum American Express.
And nearly 300 bucks worth of twenties
that I'm not too proud to stuff into my own pockets.
Then I find an atom bomb.
Jackie Boy.
You son of a bitch.
There was a helicopter that kicked up such a racket.
- I couldn't quite make out what she said. - (mouthing)
I thought Shellie said "stop. "
She said "cop. "
Detective Lieutenant Jack Rafferty.
Iron Jack. The papers call him.
A goddamn hero cop.
It's held for years. The shaky truce.
The cops get a slice of the profits and free entertainment when they throw a party.
The girls get to administer their own brand of justice.
They get to defend their own turf. If a cop blunders into the neighborhood
and he's not shopping for what the girls are selling. They send him packing.
But they send him back alive.
That's the rules.
That's the truce.
The cops stay out.