Sin City

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.

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.

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

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.

Light-hearted and momentary digression

The briefest indulge-ment in automotive pleasure

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

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

All we're gonna do is have a nice little talk

That's all. Just a nice talk Just you and me

Don't you cry now

Doctor said it'd be like this.

Just take the pill he gave you.

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.

It's nothing. Barely a flesh wound. On your feet. Old man.

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

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.

Both of them.

Hell of a way to end a partnership.

For God's sakes, don't make it any worse

- Don't make me kill you - Doin' fine, Bob

Never better

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

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.

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 mercyy,

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?

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.

Open up, police!

I'll be right out

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.