Ticking Clock (2011) Movie Script

Whether your computer's ready or not,
there are only 318 days till the year 2000.
A group of corporations concerned
about the problems
related to the Y2K computer bug
have convened...
No. Don't cry.
Don't cry. Hey.
Everything's gonna be okay.
Hi. Everything's gonna be okay, pal.
Come here, come here. Yeah.
That's a good boy. Okay, don't cry.
She can't hurt you any more.
It's over. Come here.
No one's gonna hurt you ever again.
My name is Louis Hicks.
I'm an investigative reporter.
I cover stories of killers and criminals.
Their lives are dark, without hope.
I try not to let it affect me, but it's hard.
- Hey! Gordo! Two shots.
- No!
- Yes, yes.
- No, no, no, no.
- I got to work in an hour.
- Just one, just one.
- No, no.
- One shot, old-school.
- One. One shot.
- There it is.
- To Louis.
- Yeah.
All right, now you do something for me.
Let me buy you breakfast.
Too late. I already ate.
Breakfast of champions.
How's work? Any compelling
real-life stories I should know about?
Not today.
Well...
How's work for you, huh?
You working on the book?
Always. Always working, Gordo.
So, speaking of which,
what's up on the work front?
Are you gonna take the university thing?
Me, an adjunct professor?
I suspect a few ethics questions remain.
Louis, you're a good writer.
You're a good investigator. Maybe...
Maybe this teaching thing
is what you need to put it all back together.
You know? You know,
show them that you can hold down a job,
stay in one place, a little stability.
Hey, maybe get more visitation time
with Adam.
That would be nice.
How often you get to see him?
Weekends. Yeah. Most weekends.
Louis, pal, I worry about you.
Come on, the truth is, you don't do so well
on your own, you know?
What are you trying to say, Gordo?
Oh, God. The natives are getting restless.
- There it is.
- I got to go.
Thanks anyway, Gordo.
What would you do without me?
Can I get the cheque, please?
- Hey!
- Hey.
I thought you were coming over later.
Yeah, I just thought we should talk first.
You're wearing your wedding ring again?
I'm sick of this, Louis. I'm sick of it!
Felicia, wait.
I'm done waiting! I'm done!
Maybe your wife can handle it, but I can't.
Can't believe that son of a bitch! Whatever.
You want to go back to your wife, fine.
Good luck. I'm done, done!
You've been crying.
You prosecuted Sampson Raines
for those murders last year.
Was it fun, Felicia?
Making all those headlines? I bet it was.
A lot more fun than taking on
a low profile child abuse case,
which got zero media coverage.
The boy! Are you the boy's father?
No. No, I'm not, Felicia.
I'm his guardian angel.
Let's see...
"Felicia Carson, single, lives alone,
dies today."
See? It's written.
So, it's gonna have to happen.
Felicia?
Felicia?
Felicia!
911. What's your emergency?
I need an ambulance, 717 Oak Lane.
Are you hurt, sir?
No, there's so much blood.
Is someone else hurt? I need more specifics.
Hey!
Stay out of it!
Felicia Carson, Assistant District Attorney.
It's gonna be a long night, fellas.
Well, well, look who it is.
No, no, let him through.
Louis Hicks. What's the matter?
Work a little slow?
Glued to your police scanner again?
I was the one that found her. I called it in.
- What were you doing here?
- We're friends.
Friends? What happened to your head?
There was somebody inside the house
with her.
When he saw me, he took off. I chased him.
We got into it,
and he slammed me into a dumpster.
- I'll sign for it. Just get her on the bus.
- Okay.
You chased him, he slammed you.
Where'd he go?
I don't know. I lost him. Man, I just...
He... It's like he just vanished.
Vanished? How?
You know, he was there,
and then he was gone.
So, what happened next?
I just passed out.
Louis, what the hell happened to you?
Hold on there. Come here. Let's get an ID.
This your friend?
Pretty girl. It's a shame.
Load her up.
She was a good person.
Who would want to do this to her?
An Assistant DA? Someone she put away,
someone who wants attention,
maybe random.
Does this look random to you?
No, it looks crazy, serial crazy.
When was the last time you saw her?
- I don't know. Around 6:00.
- Tonight?
- Yeah.
- Where?
Outside her office building.
How long you two been together?
Two months. Maybe more.
We met on a story.
Sampson Raines murders.
I remember the case.
What I wrote in that article
was nothing personal.
Of course not.
Wait here.
I'll get someone to take a full statement.
I'll help any way I can.
The department
appreciates your cooperation.
See you later, Gordo.
That guy's a real prick.
Hey, he took what you wrote about him
pretty hard.
You think?
I broke up with her tonight, Gordo.
I can't help but think, you know, if I hadn't,
you know, she was upset,
her guard was down.
This is not your fault. Come on.
Let's get somebody
to look at that head of yours. Come on.
Coming!
Hey, buddy! I missed you, man!
- Can I borrow your laptop?
- You know where it is.
Gina?
Morning, Louis. Did you forget?
No, no, I just had a rough night.
Of course. Let me guess, you were busy
researching a really hot story.
What's that supposed to mean?
Are you gonna take your son to the park
this morning or not?
Louis, you made a huge deal about
how important every weekend is to you now.
Yes. Yes, I am.
Fine. Look, I was gonna run some errands,
- but if you're a mess again...
- No! No! I'm not a mess!
This, this, this is a mess.
Morning, Hicks. Miss.
Missus. Mrs Hicks.
Detective Becker, this is my wife, Gina.
What can I do for you?
I wanted to follow up on a couple of things
from the Carson murder last night.
Murder?
Felicia Carson, an Assistant DA,
was murdered in her home last night.
Your husband found the body.
Someone I knew was killed last night.
I'm sorry. A woman you knew?
A source. From the last Journal piece.
My apologies for the early morning.
I just wanted to get right on it.
Wouldn't want to be accused of sloppy
police work in another true-crime article.
Okay. Adam, honey, let's go.
But I want to see Dad.
Yeah, I know, baby. Not today.
Daddy's busy.
Gina, wait.
But I want to watch the policeman.
- Adam, now, please.
- Gina.
Look, this is a bad time. Why don't
you give me a call later this afternoon?
What gave that away?
Hey. A woman is dead.
Good day.
Gina.
Gina!
Gina, wait a second.
I'm sorry, but I was involved.
You are always involved,
just never with the people who matter.
Are you serious? A woman was killed.
- What? A woman that you were fucking.
- I wasn't fucking her.
Besides, we've been separated
for six months.
Yeah, and I noticed
that you're still wearing your ring. Nice.
Stop it.
Listen, I saw the guy who did this,
and I chased him.
Save it for the goddamn book, Louis!
I don't care any more!
I'm sure it'll be great.
Especially a firsthand account.
I mean, you knew the victim intimately.
I don't know. God, I don't know. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I just want to come home.
No. You can't do that.
You can't do that to me, not like this.
You seriously
need to get your shit together, Louis.
Gina, wait.
Hey, buddy.
Sit back, baby.
Shit.
He's gonna kill more of them.
Hi. You've reached my cell.
Can't come to the phone right now,
but leave a brief message
with your phone number,
even if you think I have it.
I'll get back to you as soon as I can,
unless I forget.
Wait for the beep. You know what to do.
Louis. What's going on? You okay?
We got to talk. Can I come in?
Yeah, yeah, of course.
Come on. What time is it?
I went back to where I lost the guy.
You did... What the hell for?
You're gonna love this, Gordo.
You're gonna love this.
I got his journal, and he's gonna kill again.
I got names. I got dates.
Wait, from what? From this journal?
Yes. And that's not all I got.
I got a print.
Louis, this is evidence.
You're gonna give it to Becker.
Screw Becker. No, I can't trust Becker.
I need you to run it for me.
Becker's in charge on this.
Look, any and all evidence
you've got to turn in.
You promise you run the print,
I'll turn the journal in first thing.
Give me the damn thing.
- Can I go back to sleep now?
- Okay. All right.
Hey! Thank you, Gordo.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, it's not nice
to read someone's private thoughts.
How'd you get in here?
I knew that I had recognised you.
You used to be quite a writer.
You had a genuine empathy
for the outsiders, for the outcasts.
I try to understand people
without judging them.
Why they do what they do.
Why are you doing this?
I'm just putting things right.
Are you interviewing me?
For your next book, perhaps?
You want to be interviewed?
The truth is, you won't be writing
any more books, Mr Hicks.
My journal, please.
This interview is over.
You just ruined a perfectly good jacket.
Get your hands in the air!
Hold on, hold on!
- Put the shovel down!
- There's a guy and a gun!
- Put the shovel down!
- On the ground! Now!
- It's my house!
- On the ground!
- It's my house! There's a man inside!
- On the ground, sir!
- There's a man in there with a gun!
- Up against the wall.
- There's a man and a gun.
- Now! Now! Move it! Move it!
Just relax.
- There's a guy inside.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Clear!
Bedroom clear.
Bathroom clear.
Louis Hall, architect, Louis Barnes,
sales representative,
Louis Hayes,
Community Brotherhood Project.
You're a man of many faces.
I'm an investigative reporter.
An investigative reporter.
And you recognised him?
It's the same guy.
This accurately matches your description?
That's him. That's definitely him.
Fine. Circulate it.
Okay, so, your door was locked,
no sign of forced entry.
How'd he get in?
I don't know.
I see.
And you say he came in here
looking for a journal, his journal?
Yes.
Which you should've turned in.
And you obviously know
that withholding evidence is a crime.
All right. Let me get this straight.
A killer, who only you saw, breaks in here,
steals the only proof you have
of his existence.
You think I made this up?
I broke my own window?
I put these cuts on my face?
A security guard at the Federal Building
saw Felicia arguing with a man after work.
Would that be you?
Yes.
What were you fighting about?
Am I a suspect here?
I don't know. You tell me.
I mean, at 6:00, you two were fighting,
and at midnight, she's dead.
Listen to me.
He plans to kill again.
More people are gonna die, a lot more.
I mean, I saw names,
dates, surveillance photos.
I mean, we got to figure out a way
to stop this guy.
"We"? "We" got to figure it out?
It's not enough for you
to write about these nut jobs?
You got to get in on the action, huh?
I just don't want to see
any more people hurt.
But don't you?
I mean, doesn't that make for a better book?
I mean, it's a hell of a career comeback.
The Killer Who Can't Be Caught:
Personal Interviews by Louis Hicks.
Get out of my house.
Spoken like a truly innocent man.
Hey!
Geez. Look how big he is.
- How old is he now? What, six?
- Seven in a few weeks.
They grow up before you know it.
You don't know the half of it.
You get anything off that fingerprint?
Yeah. One hit. Nothing very useful.
"James Keech, Caucasian male,
height, 4'7",
"residence, Trinity Home for Boys,
no known family, age 11."
Yeah. He's a kid popped up
on the state welfare database.
- Yeah.
- An orphan in some group home
up in Brooksville.
Not your guy, huh?
About 30 years too young.
I don't get it. It doesn't make sense.
I know how you feel.
I'm sorry about Felicia.
What's your point?
You need to stay away from this, Louis.
You're too close to it.
Becker's really got it in for you.
And when he kills again?
He's planning two more victims
in the next three days.
We're on it.
Let Becker do his job.
Right. 'Cause he's just so good at it.
I got to go. I'm just trying to help.
Thanks anyway, Gordo.
Shit.
Victoria Ihling.
April 19th.
Anne Brighton.
April 22nd.
Felicia.
Felicia Carson. Anne Brighton. Vicki Ihling.
What do you have in common?
- Hello? Hey!
- Kayla, Louis Hicks.
Listen, you still doing DNA matches
for Uncle Sam?
Yeah.
I'm doing another story.
I might need a favour.
Anytime.
Great. Thanks.
- Jax! Louis Hicks.
- Hey, man.
I might need you to run some names
for me.
You got to help me, Louis.
Listen, I'll tail him for a few days,
and I'll get some pictures taken.
Son of a bitch! I know it!
I know she's cheating on me!
I know, I know. We'll take care of it, buddy.
Listen, you got something for me?
Yeah, right. Okay.
One of these is the needle
in the proverbial haystack.
There's over 30 Anne Brightons
in the metro area alone.
But Victoria Ihling, there's just two hits.
One of them deceased, and the other one,
God bless her,
is one of those who likes to spread her life
all over the Web.
I mean, these women,
they put it out there for everyone to see
and then they complain
about stalkers, you know?
What do I know?
You did good, buddy. You did good.
Anytime. Anytime, Hicks.
But you owe me one.
Yes.
Hi. Vicki Ihling, please?
Louis Hicks with the Journal.
Yes, and I'm writing an expos on
animal rights abuses in the food industry.
Yes, ma'am.
I wanted to ask you a couple of questions.
I will see you later.
Miss Ihling.
- May I help you?
- Louis Hicks.
We spoke on the phone this morning.
How did you know where I work?
Sorry. Your webpage. I'm a reporter.
I'm on a deadline.
I just had a few more questions.
You know what? I'm in kind of a rush.
It'll only take you a couple minutes.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee or...
You know what? Why don't you give me
your card, and I'll call you?
Better yet, I'll call you.
- Tomorrow morning fine?
- It's fine. Bye.
- Sorry to have bothered you.
- Okay, thanks. Have a good day.
You, too.
No, come on. No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no. Come on.
Please don't. Please.
Come on. No. Come on. No. No.
- Everything all right?
- It's fine. Fine, thanks.
Doesn't sound fine.
Piece of cake.
- There you go. You're all set.
- I don't know how to thank you.
I do. Dinner tonight. And you're buying.
On a teacher's salary? I don't think so.
I guess it's on me then.
All right, that's more like it.
Anne Brighton, please.
Deceased? Sorry for your loss.
Hello. May I speak to Anne Brighton, please?
I see. Did she leave a forwarding address?
- Hello?
- Hi. Is Vicki home?
You must be Louis.
I'm Shelly, her roommate.
Nice to meet you.
Sorry. Vicki's not here.
She's not?
No. She told me to tell you that she's sorry,
but she couldn't make it.
Why is that?
Tell you the truth, she's very insecure.
She panicked. She got nervous
about going out with a guy she just met.
Well, can you at least tell me
where she went?
She's gonna kill me.
The Griffin Room. It's about eight blocks
that way. You turn left on 3rd.
Hey! Hey, wait!
- Hey, there.
- How you doing?
I'll have a... I'll have what the lady's having.
You got it.
Hi.
- Is this seat taken?
- It is now.
It is a crime how we treat our teachers.
So, where do you teach?
Washington Elementary.
Really? I knew someone there.
- A teacher?
- No, a student, actually.
- A little boy.
- Who?
A little orphan boy.
He played a bit rough with a stray cat.
Teacher told on him.
Sent him back to his group home.
Yeah. He didn't much like it there.
Hey, you all right?
I have to go to the restroom. Excuse me.
- Hey!
- Hey!
It was a mangy, old stray.
No one was going to miss it.
It was a fucking cat!
No.
No.
God, please.
You're too late.
He's got a gun!
Look, I can't talk right now. I got
a whack job with a gun down at the Griffin.
Gordo! It's me!
I know who the hell it is.
I can't talk right now. I got to go.
No, no, Gordo, no!
It's me they saw with the gun!
I tried to stop him!
What are you talk... What? Who? Who?
The same guy that killed Felicia. I tried...
He murdered again!
He's gonna kill another one in 48 hours.
Louis, where are you?
I... I...
I can't stop him.
Every time I try, he just disappears.
Where are you? I'm gonna come get you.
I can't come in! I can't!
They won't believe me!
Louis! If you run, I can't help you!
Louis!
Damn it!
Hicks, police! Come on out!
Hicks!
- Bedroom clear!
- Clear!
- Clear!
- Clear!
To the right!
Backyard clear.
Nobody home.
No, he's not crazy at all.
He'll claim he was tracking the killer,
re-creating his diary.
Jesus Christ. Could there be more?
Other unsolveds?
You know, Hicks warned
that there would be other killings.
I'm on it.
Hey, Marty. Louis Hicks.
Hey, buddy.
Remember that thing
I kept your name out of?
Yeah.
You said to call
if I ever needed to borrow one.
Four door okay?
Brother, as long as it's got four wheels,
I'm good.
In local news,
a woman was brutally murdered
in the Griffin Room bar downtown.
Eyewitnesses report seeing an armed man
flee the premises on foot.
Police are urging anyone with information
leading to the capture and arrest
of the suspect
to call the urgent...
- Hello?
- Hey, Hicks? Kayla Pierce.
Hey.
I ran the DNA sample.
And?
And the blood on the cloth and the blood
off the kid's prints, they're an exact match.
What kid?
Right.
It's an exact match? Are you sure?
Well, as far as I can tell.
Could a father and son
have the same DNA?
Well, all men have a copy
of their father's Y chromosome,
but this is more than that.
I mean, this looks like the same person.
Or I guess it could be a twin,
but it would have to be an identical twin.
I mean, a fraternal twin wouldn't do.
Is there room for error?
There always is. It's not a perfect science.
I mean, normally, DNA are compared
at only a few spots along the sample.
I could run more tests.
That'd be great, Kayla. I owe you one.
You owe me a lot more than that, handsome.
See you.
Trinity Home for Boys.
Now move on! Go!
- May I help you?
- I sure hope so.
They said to speak to Polly,
second office on the left.
Come in.
Hi. I'm Polly, the overworked
and underpaid social worker.
Louis Hayes. I'm with
the Community Brotherhood Project.
- Mr Hayes, have a seat, please.
- Thank you.
I'm here on behalf of one of your kids.
James Keech?
Why is that?
Well, we run a corporately sponsored
Big Brother outreach programme.
James' name came up
as a possible candidate.
James? Really?
You seem surprised.
Perhaps someone applied on his behalf?
No. No living family.
Where did you say you worked again?
Community Brotherhood Project.
Part of the mayor's
new joint-outreach initiative.
Right. Yeah, I've heard of that.
Don't you think
James could benefit from some guidance?
Yes, of course. He's a very bright kid.
Aptitude scores, especially in math.
Well, when he cares enough
to apply himself.
It's just... I'm not sure that he's ready.
His social skills aren't terrific.
He can be a handful.
I think there are other kids that would
be much more suitable...
Well, it sounds to me like this is the one kid
that would benefit most from our mentoring.
May I take a look at his file?
You know, it's just words on paper.
Come with me.
I have to warn you,
he's been returned by every foster family
we've managed to place him with.
And he's getting to that age where,
well, let's face it,
even the best of them
get less adorable as they get older.
Let's just try and stay positive.
See if the kid's not due for a change of luck.
I like your attitude.
I wish the rest of my colleagues
thought that way.
- You wait here. I'll go get him.
- Of course.
James? There's a gentleman here
from the Community Brotherhood...
Come on. He's very nice.
- James, this is Mr Hayes.
- You could call me Louis.
James, Mr Hayes is our guest.
Hi.
Can you give me a moment
alone with him, please?
Sure. I'll be right over there.
Hey, buddy, how old are you?
What the fuck you want, mister?
- Well, I asked to meet you.
- What for?
Well, I run a Big Brother programme.
We go to group homes, take kids on trips.
You know, stuff like that.
- Why?
- Just for fun.
Is there anything special you'd like to do?
Really?
Try me.
It's what he wants.
And how am I going to gain the boy's trust
if I can't deliver?
Look, Mr Hayes, I have to ask.
Why this child?
Well, couldn't you ask that
of any one of them?
That's a good point,
but he's had a very tragic childhood.
Both his aunt and mother
were murdered four years apart.
- How?
- Horribly.
His mother was torn apart.
Dissected and left in a bathtub.
The police found him, a baby,
in the apartment with her.
He had been there for hours with the body.
If someone hadn't called in
an anonymous tip,
he might not ever have survived.
- They ever catch the killer?
- Not as far as I know.
James went to live with an aunt.
It was a less than ideal situation.
Drugs, domestic abuse.
He went into foster care, and right after,
the boyfriend killed the aunt
and killed himself.
- Some sort of murder-suicide thing.
- And the father?
There is no father.
Take a look for yourself.
The lot across the street had a camera.
- You see anyone else?
- No.
There were witnesses outside.
Nothing landed but the window he shot out.
Bartender said he saw her
talking to another guy.
Okay, then find me that guy.
Because right now,
the only guy is right there.
And guess what?
The last victim was dissected.
Same MO as his ex-girlfriend.
Do you think that's a coincidence?
No, but I think you're being
a little too personal on this one, Ed.
Come on, it's Hicks. I know the guy.
He's not a killer.
Fine. Let's just get your boyfriend
off the streets,
so he doesn't get himself into more trouble.
Yes, may I speak to Anne Brighton, please?
My condolences.
Sorry to have bothered you.
They're beautiful, aren't they?
They're killers.
No one's gonna want to mess with them.
I guess not.
What do you want to be
when you grow up, James?
I don't know.
- Astronaut.
- Really? That's cool.
Are you angry at somebody, James?
I get angry, too, sometimes.
Hell, I might even want to get even
with the person who made me angry.
Yeah, I could hurt them really bad.
You could,
but then you'd be as bad as they are.
I bet if some guy were trying to kill you,
you'd kill him first.
Protect my family. Yeah, I guess I would.
Yeah.
I probably won't be an astronaut.
Don't say that, James.
You could be anything you wanna be.
- I'm really good at math.
- See? There you go.
You could be a scientist
or a programmer, an inventor, even.
Yeah, right. Like I'll have a chance.
I live in a fucking group-home
orphanage, remember?
- Come on, man. Don't say that.
- It's true. You want me to lie?
No, I don't.
The penguins like it better when I lie.
- The penguins?
- Stupid nuns.
"No, Sister, I didn't break the window."
"Yes, Sister, I did my homework."
They're just...
James, let me ask you something.
You ever seen this man before?
- No.
- Are you sure?
- You really think I could be an inventor?
- Of course I do.
I could build a space ship
that travels really fast.
Like, faster than the speed of light.
So fast that it gets to where it's going
before it ever left in the first place,
ending up in the past.
- A time machine.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
I could go back to the past, fix my life.
What do you mean, fix your life?
No, I feel like such a ball head.
I don't know if that goes there or not.
So, how did it go?
It was
all right.
- Louis is pretty cool.
- Pretty cool.
Thanks.
You're welcome, James.
It was nice hanging out with you.
All right, James, time for dinner.
No, I want to show Louis something.
Come on.
This your bed?
So, you wanted to show me something?
I don't know.
I've never shown this to anyone.
It's secret.
But we're friends, right?
Yes. Yes, we are.
Promise not to tell anyone.
Especially the penguins.
Okay.
Cross your heart and hope to die.
I do.
Cross my heart...
Cross my heart...
...and hope to die.
...and hope to die.
Okay.
The reason I wanted to go to the zoo
is because
I make my own zoos.
They're personal and private to me,
but I'll show you them
if you promise you'll come back and visit.
Okay, I promise.
You're too late.
I made it myself.
No one helped me.
James, these animals are dead.
You hurt them.
You don't understand. I made this myself.
Forget it! I knew
I shouldn't have shown you! I knew it!
No, I'm glad you showed me. It's just...
Get out of here! Get out of here! I hate you!
Why'd you come? You're not my friend!
No, I am your friend. It's just, sometimes,
friends have to say things
that are difficult to hear.
Fuck you! Fuck you, fucker! I hate you!
- What's wrong? What's going on?
- He tried to hurt me!
- He tried to touch me!
- No. No, I...
He tried to touch me here,
like my other parents did.
- No. No, I didn't.
- Make him leave!
I know. This is just something he says
because he gets attention for saying it.
Now I really think you should go.
Do you know what he has in there?
You promised! You swore!
Hope to die! Hope to die!
No, I'm sorry, James. I'm sorry.
- You should go.
- I'm sorry.
It's okay. It's okay.
- Kayla?
- I ran more tests.
- And?
- I got the lab to myself,
but only for the next hour.
You've got to see this. It's insane.
I'm on my way.
Well, the tests were consistent.
The DNA and the bloody fingerprint
matches the blood on the cloth you gave me.
- So it's the same person?
- Absolutely.
But here's the crazy thing.
It's the cloth itself.
I've never seen a weave structure
like this before.
You should take a look.
Here, that's the sample you gave me.
Go ahead.
Okay, I can see it.
Now watch this.
When I apply the heat lamp,
the strands actually expand.
And when I take it away, they contract.
Cloth that reacts to temperature.
Is that military?
I have no idea.
But whoever invented this
could make a fortune.
Unless it hasn't been invented yet.
I could build a space ship.
Ending up in the past.
A time machine.
Thanks, Kayla.
Well, the tests were consistent.
The DNA and the bloody fingerprint
matches the blood on the cloth you gave me.
- So it's the same person?
- Absolutely.
I could go back to the past, fix my life.
Why are you doing this?
I'm just putting things right.
Oh, shit!
This is Gordon.
It's me, Gordo.
Where the fuck are you?
Man, it doesn't matter.
What matters is that I figured it out.
It's pretty insane, but I figured it out, Gordo.
Yeah. Right, right. Are you okay?
What if you thought a little boy was a killer?
What are you talking about?
We thought the fingerprint from the journal
was the killer's.
It's not. It's the kid's.
It matches because the kid is the killer.
The killer's DNA matches the kid's exactly.
The guy wears cloth
that hasn't been invented yet.
And the piece of paper from his journal,
well, it's dated 20 years from now.
It all makes sense. That's why
he's always one step ahead of me.
It's the kid's older self. Do you get it?
He's travelling through time,
and he's gonna kill again tomorrow, Gordo.
- You hear me?
- Yeah.
- He's gonna kill again.
- Louis. Louis,
you know I'm here for you, right, pal?
I will always be here for you.
You son of a bitch.
What?
Tracing the call. You son of a...
Louis, Louis! You got it?
Not an exact pinpoint,
but we got the general area.
He's 20 to 50 miles up north on Route 14.
Let's go. Everyone, come on, get out there.
Let's go.
Fuck.
Hi. Sorry, but you're listed,
and I needed to talk.
Of course.
You've had a hell of a day.
He's a very troubled boy. Don't fool yourself.
- Can I offer you a drink?
- Yes, please.
Do you think people are born evil,
or does the world make them that way?
That's a big question.
I think people are basically good.
Evil's an accident.
An error. An error of growing up
that causes people
to make the wrong choices
for what they think are the right reasons.
So, you don't think people intend evil?
No. I've seen too many kids.
They wanna be good.
Then life just doesn't work a certain way,
and wrong choices
have a way of multiplying.
Even Hitler didn't think he was evil.
He thought he was saving the world.
Manson, too, in his own way.
But what if you could kill Manson or Hitler
when he's still a child?
No way. They're children.
They're not Hitler or Manson. Not yet, no.
You're talking about James.
He's had a troubled life,
but there's hope for him.
- He's just a child.
- People are dead because of him.
- Who? James?
- And more people are gonna die.
- What are you talking about?
- What's your name?
What?
- Your name. What's your name?
- Polly.
Anne.
Anne is my birth name,
but because of my sunny disposition,
my friends called me Pollyanna.
Polly for short.
It's a nickname that sort of stuck.
What is going on?
Why are you carrying a gun?
Anne Brighton. I have to stop this.
I'm sorry. Please don't go anywhere.
It's not safe. I have to...
Freeze! Police!
- Wait! Wait, wait!
- Get down! Get down!
He's gonna kill Polly.
- Down! Down! On the ground, now!
- Gordo! Wait, wait! He's gonna kill Polly.
Anne Brighton! He's gonna kill Polly.
- Get down! Now!
- Anne Brighton, she's next on the list!
Gun. Gun!
You don't understand!
I'm trying to save her life!
She's the one who called us.
Said you were acting all crazy,
threatening a child.
- You don't understand!
- Louis, Louis, calm down.
Louis Hicks,
you have the right to remain silent.
- Gordo, listen to me!
- Anything you say...
Anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law.
Listen to me, Gordo!
The boy and the killer are the same!
- You have the right to talk to a lawyer...
- The boy and the killer are the same!
...while being present!
- The boy and the killer are the same!
Louis...
Copy that. I'll tell her.
Okay, miss, you can relax.
We have him in custody.
Thank you. That's great.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Call me if you need me.
- All right.
- All right.
You betrayed me, Anne.
Polly. Anne. Whatever your name is.
You don't know it yet,
but you're about to betray the boy.
And I can't let you do that.
I'm sorry. You were like a mother to me.
- Time travel?
- Those things he said.
"You'll never write another book."
"I'm making things right."
He had a revenge fantasy as a child,
and now he's making it happen.
Listen, his next victim, Anne Brighton,
is April 22nd, today.
And you think this because an 11-year-old
told you he wants to make a time machine.
Check the date on the article.
It's more than 20 years from now.
Come on. My kid can make that
on her laptop in five minutes.
There's a cloth from his jacket
that hasn't even been invented yet.
- Where is it?
- Listen to me! You're not listening to me!
Listen to me!
Everyone connected to him is dead.
Felicia was the DA on his custody case.
Vicki Ihling was the teacher
that returned him to the orphanage.
The boy... The boy is the only thing
they both had in common.
They also had you in common.
Your lawyer's here.
Detective, I'd like a private conference
with my client.
Sure.
Thank you.
Did you mean it? When you said,
"Cross my heart and hope to die"?
I thought we were friends.
We went to the zoo together.
That wasn't so long ago, was it?
Now I'm all grown up.
And I get to fix the world, my world.
To make it a better place for that boy.
That boy who never meant to hurt anyone,
that boy who just wanted a chance.
A chance, a chance, a chance.
Random counter, root applied to...
You're insane.
Time travel is complex.
You have no idea how complex.
I have to choose the exact moment in time
to end someone's lifespan
so the ripple effect
has the specific impact I want it to have.
Do you know the sheer number
of calculations necessary?
It would blow your mind.
I thought we were friends.
Why are you doing this to me?
To you?
You don't get it, do you?
You promised that you'd come back for me.
You never did.
I waited and waited for months.
Do you know how long a month is
for a little boy waiting for his hero to return?
- I'm sorry, James.
- Don't you fucking call me that.
I ran away from that shit-hole orphanage.
I lived on the streets
until I was old enough to lie my way
into joining the army.
They've taught me how to kill
in so many different ways.
Then they sent me to school.
Turns out I had a real facility for math.
Worked on some classified shit.
You gave me that idea, you know?
You told me,
"You can be anything you choose.
An inventor, even."
Hey. You wanna see it?
I made it portable.
Nanotechnology.
Are you proud of me?
Time to go.
- Wait.
- Bye-bye.
- Wait!
- Okay.
See, you don't get it.
Every move you make,
I've already planned for.
Oh, no.
I probably should have
warned you about that.
The first jump
really messes with your insides.
I remember my first jump.
It was a sweaty, filthy evening 11 years ago.
I cut her heart out. Dear Mom.
Rest her soul.
I paid her back in advance
for a lifetime of misery.
She was the definition of shitty mom.
Addict, fondler.
Killing her didn't solve anything,
and they then sent me to live
with Aunt Carol,
who made my crack-whore mommy
look like a saint.
So, I offed her, too.
But I couldn't stop there.
You see, every time I fixed something,
something else needed to be fixed.
Time doesn't like to be messed with.
But that's when I figured it out.
You're the problem.
Each time I revisited this week in my life,
you were always there to mess things up,
so this time, I made you part of the solution.
The future, in black and white.
You see, you bring the boy here,
and he becomes a hero.
See, I never had a chance.
You're his chance, his only chance.
My chance. Now, go get him. He trusts you.
Not sold? Okay.
If you don't bring the boy back here
in 15 minutes,
I'm gonna gut her
and make her eat her own intestines.
You'd better hurry.
No. No! No, no, no, no, no.
What do you mean
you never saw them leave?
What the fuck did they do?
Beam up to the mother ship?
Like I said, when I came in the room,
they were gone.
Gone? They Houdini'd out of here, right?
That's what I'm supposed to believe?
That's bullshit! It just doesn't happen!
The social worker, she was on the list, right?
- She's next?
- Yeah.
But he kept talking about the boy,
so he might have
headed back to the orphanage.
Okay. Okay. I'll take a team there.
You take Maddox and go check on that girl.
- Louis?
- Hey, James.
What are you doing here?
I came back for you.
Yeah?
I'm gonna get you out of here.
Okay, come on.
Okay, buddy, get your shoes on.
Okay, go, go. Go, go, go.
I'm sorry I'm not what you thought
the future would look like.
Listen to me. I need you to stay in here.
- Why?
- Just trust me, please.
Where's the boy?
You let her go and I'll tell you.
Promise?
Cross your heart and hope to die?
Yes. Now let her go.
Hey, kid, it's good to see you.
Who is he?
My name is James, too.
Same as you. James Keech.
- Are you my dad?
- No.
I'm you, James, from the future.
You know how you wanted
to go back in time and fix things?
Well, you did it.
I'm you, just older.
- We're the same.
- No, you're not, James.
- You'll never be him.
- Don't listen to him. Listen to me.
- To us.
- Are you gonna hurt her?
But she's always been so good to me.
But you don't know the future. I do.
In a few days,
she's gonna find your private zoo,
and they're gonna lock you away
with crazy people.
They will do unspeakable things to you.
They will burn you, and cut you, and worse.
And I am not gonna let them do that to you.
Don't look at him. He's not your friend.
Go ahead, kill me. Nothing changes.
He still becomes me.
But if he kills you, he becomes a hero.
Welcome to the future.
What's happening? What's...
James? James!
James!
I'm so sorry, James.
I'm sorry, James. I'm so sorry.
I don't know why I remember, but I do.
Keech was right. Time travel is complex.
The one thing he could never predict
was his own death.
When his younger self died,
reality itself was realigned.
I woke up in a new world,
a world where the killer never came to be.
Where his victims lived their lives
never knowing
how close they'd come to their own demise.
In this new world,
those terrible few days never happened.
In this world,
a troubled boy never became a killer.
He got a second chance.
Then again, so did I.
Daddy! Daddy! You're home!
I missed you, buddy.
I'm taking the teaching job.
Welcome home.
THE END