Goosetav and Hart
Di Federico Badodi, Gennaio 2020
Chapter 1, “The last supper”
*Brooklin, outside at night. In front of a restaurant, crime scene. Hart and Gus walk slowly towards the scene from behind the camera. Camera rises, title*
HB: “Well, this was unexpected. Smells like something big, and I bet my hat our client’s husband’s in there. Among the bodies. Let’s go check it out, shall we?”
G: “Honk!”
HB: “Sergeant Manetti! What’s on the menu, if I may?”
SM: “Detective Hart! Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised to see you here on a crime scene. On a massacre, to be more specific. You may, of course. Your license is well known and respected although-“
HB: “Not another single word boy. I may pass on the fact that you called me Detective -and on your bad humor about the reason I’m not one anymore- just because you’re one of my best friends. But don’t even start with the same old story about how I should come back, and blah blah…”
SM: “Actually I wasn’t about to. I was just trying to say that, though being a licensed freelancer, dragging a civil bartender goose on crime scenes and incredible car chasings with guns and all of that doesn’t really fit your figure. And sometimes can be questionable to involve him in these matters… But hey, whatever floats your boat. Hi, Gus! How are you doing?”
G: “Honk!”
SM: “Fine as well thanks. Didn’t mean no offense there, you know. It’s well known that you’re more perceptive than him, most of the times. Must be all the alcohol you feed him at the bar!”
HB *Noticeably upset*: “Manetti, don’t test my patience too long. I still have my revolver and yes, my hands shake sometimes for the whiskey. So yeah, don’t do that.”
SM: “Ok killer, I was just trying to relieve the atmosphere here. I’ve been around for an hour and we still haven’t finished counting the bodies. It takes a lot of intel to put the pieces together, find out who’s arm is this, who’s leg is that… Guess what, here comes the man!”
HB: “Hallelujah, I was starting to think I’d end up adding one on the list of the corpses. Because you are boring me to death!”
SM: “Didn’t have to explain that, I got it. Man, look at him. He’s pale as my wife when she pretends to be sick so we don’t have sex. Gonzales! What’s the verdict?”
DG *Saluting Manetti* “Sir, thirty-five bodies Sir. Twenty-seven customers and eight members of the staff. Hello Gus. Hello, detective Boyle”
HB: “Just Hart. No survivors?”
SM: “Just one, the restaurant owner, Mr. Conese. But he’s in no condition to say anything right now. He was carried away to the nearest hospital by helicopter and it will be a miracle if he didn’t die on its way. Haven’t had any feedback yet. He was shot six times and lost most of his juice. Vital parts must have been missed. That guy has guardian angels.” *He signs himself the cross rapidly*
SM: “How come you end up right here right now anyway, Hart? Incidental, I bet!”
HB: “Totally incidental.”
*Manetti smiles maliciously*
HB: “Had to change a tire as well on my way here. Cursed hedgehog had the great idea to run under my car. Makes me wonder, what if… Nah, whatever. Let me in 10 minutes in the name of the good old days?”
SM: “I’ll let you in ten minutes for the sake of my mental health, couldn’t stand you pestering me for hours as you do. And because I’m in charge here at the moment. With the situation ongoing in the mainland, a slaughter in a restaurant is not quite on top of the list for the bosses. Anyway, the department’s detective will be here in less than half an hour so be quick and be discrete.”
Narration: “While speaking they both step inside, rising the yellow CS stripes over their heads and bowing slightly. Gus waddles after them.”
Narration: “Before they enter, Hart tosses a cigarette to Gonzales, winking at him. Gonzales smiles and thanks him with a wave of a hand, then lights it up and starts smoking, inhaling slowly and deeply”
Chapter 2, “The light of the city”
*Moving car, night, inside back seats perspective, Hart and Gus sitting front sides*
Narration: “After a brief time inside the crime scene, Hart and Gus head back home, with more questions than when they came.”
HB: “So… What do you think about it?”
G: “Honk!”
HB: “I know. Gives me the shivers. Either the lady tried to frame us, or John did. He wasn’t there, we were late and people were killed. Approximately by the time we were supposed to be there, sitting at our table, eating and waiting for John Wells to show up and see with who he was. Someone wanted us both dead, pal. I’m getting used to it, but you’re just a bartender. You shouldn’t be here, why do I always drag you into these messes?”
G: “Honk!”
HB: “Well that doesn’t make me feel better.”
G: “Honk! Honk!”
HB “See? This is why I bring you along. So we have a restaurant full of bodies, and not any restaurant: a top class Italian gourmet bistro with thirty seats top and twenty-seven bodies. On Saturday night. Considering our friend in a coma, that would be an empty table for two. That booking was never claimed! You fucking genial goose. Agatha hired us to stalk her husband, just the day after her husband hired me to find out what she was about!”
G: *Honks disappointed*
HB “No, I DIDN’T do this kind of things. I’m broke. I need money to pay your booze pal. If I can get two birds with one stone I fucking do it. No offense.”
G: “Honk, honk!”
HB: “My thought exactly. One of them wanted us dead, or both. But why? They paid me in advance more than half the price and they can very well afford it. Wells inc. is the wealthiest company in the state. But then again… why would they hire an ex cop in misfortune and a bartender goose when they can afford the best private eyes? I have to dig deeper into it. Oh- we’re at the bar. I’m dropping you here pal, thanks for the hand. You lived up to your name once again!”
Narration: “Gus leaves his partner’s car and walks to his bar’s door. Hart toots while leaving and Gus honks back.”
*sound of car stopping, rain falling, keys tingling*
Narration “Hart Boyle walks up the stairs of his palace. He liked to do it rather than taking the elevator. It helped him think. Little did he know that it might have saved his life as well!
HB (To himself) “Something doesn’t feel quite right…”
Narration: “Hart notices his flat’s door is slightly open. Alarmed but steady, he draws out his trusty six-gun from the black leather coat and turns on his torch. Without a shade of hesitation in his eyes, he kicks the door open and rapidly explores the room moving the torch light around with quickly but methodically. Then turns on the light.
Girl: “Please… please don’t shoot, Mr. Boyle!”
Narration: “A blonde girl, shouldn’t have been more than twenty years old, Hart judged, was getting up from behind the couch in the middle of the room. Hart loved that couch and the thought of hitting it with a stray shot was more than enough to keep him from shooting. Besides, the girl was pretty.
Mascara tears were all over her cheeks, her make-up ruined for good.”
HB: “Who are you and what are you doing here? And how do you kn-“
Narration: “seeing the girl nervously look to her right, Hart rapidly ducks, fractions of second before the mysterious hand in the dark corner of his kitchen pulls the trigger and shoots to kill. The bullet misses its target ending up in the bathroom’s wall. Hart puts his back by the wall side of the kitchen door, sheltering from the shooter. Seconds pass in silence. Hart lifts a hand in direction of the girls as if to order her not to make a single movement or a single sound.
A couple more seconds, the almost inaudible sound of a step and the revolver fires. One bullet. One body falls.
Hart inhales and exhales for a few seconds, deeply. Then sheathes his gun and turns to the unexpected guest that still had the privilege to breathe”
HB: “Well. Do you mind explaining me, now that we settled this matter, who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house? Not necessarily in this order!”
Narration: “The girl is the face of scare itself. Either she’s terrified to death or she’s an Oscar winner, Hart thinks. She was shaking less than before, still crying, but however somehow she looked untamed, fierce.
Hart liked it and that was the thing he feared the most.”
Girl: “My name is Melissa Wells. I… I came here to look for my father. I heard there was a shootout, a massacre at the restaurant he was supposed to be dining tonight and… well…“
Narration: “Melissa makes a long pause, while Hart gives her the looks of a hound. A hunter, and a questioner by profession.”
MW: “Listen Mr. Hart, I came here because I knew you were on his tracks. And if I know my parents I bet he called you to stalk my mother as well. Of course you didn’t accept the latter offer…”
HB: “Of course.”
MW: “So my only hope was to find him here. Or to find answers. I didn’t want to show up on the scene because we are a famous family and paparazzi would have given me hell… You were my best hope. You are.”
HB: “Oh for the… And how did you get in? What happened here?”
MW: “When I arrived here that man dressed in black with a black balaclava was waiting in front of the elevator. He surely didn’t pass unnoticed… and he knew it. He pointed a gun at me and forced me in, after picking the lock. He said he would deal with me later. But then he must have heard you getting up the stairs so he rushed in and told me to get behind the couch, and distract him for the few seconds he needed. I knew you would get the signal from my eyes…”
Narration: “Her eyes were blue greenish, and her hair was black. She wore a tight top with a generous neckline, that generously showed her firm and plenty breasts. Her jeans shorts were a bit ragged on the lower edges, and her long and beautiful legs ended in a pair of black leather boots. She was temptation itself and he could have been, if not her father, at least her uncle. But he didn’t think about it a lot in that moment.”
HB: “I see. For the future, don’t rush in a man’s house without warning. Especially if the man is a trigger happy alcoholic ex coop that is sadly famous for having killed 9 man with six bullets in a shootout.”
Narration: “A shade crosses Melissa’s eyes. Was it fear? Or was it something else? By that time, Hart couldn’t say. Where was Goosetav when he needed him the most?”
HB: “Anyway, let’s get to the point of your visit and then let’s get you out of here. Your father wasn’t at the restaurant tonight, not at the time of the shootout and I doubt he was ever there. I’ll have to question the owner about it, as soon as he wakes up – if, he wakes up from his coma”
Narration: “the eyes of the girl lighten up and a smile start running on her lips. If ever Hart had a doubt on the truth about the saying that a smile is the best way to make you look better, that night the doubt vanished. He also learned that it’s always too early to say that something cannot get even more beautiful than it is. Tears began running again from her eyes.”
MW: “Oh… that is.. that is… Thank you! Thank you sir!”
Narration: “Melissa instinctively runs towards Hart and hugs him, her face against his wide chest, her dripping tears soaking his black shirt.”
HB: “Hey… it’s ok girl, it’s ok. Don’t hug me so tight, I’m not yet forty and you’re a girl in a man’s house, what would people think? Now let’s get you up on your feet and presentable for the world, we have to get you home. Go and was your face, the toilet’s there. I’ll see if I can find out something about our dead friend there. Then I’ll call Manetti, and see if I can keep you out of this thing. I suspect it’s all about me, somehow.”
MW: “Thank you, thank you Mr. Boyle! I’m sorry for… I’m sorry for everything, for being here, for not being strong enough to fight. I could have been… I don’t even…”
HB: “Oh for God’s sake, don’t you start all over again. Go!”
MW: “Ok… Mr Boyle?”
HB: “Hart.”
MW: “Mr. Hart? Can I… can I have a shower?”
HB: “Of… of course, Melissa. Make yourself at home.”
*Scene: Hart turns around and goes to his bedroom. Melissa walks towards the bathroom. Hart removes his jacket. He wears now only a white shirt and the shoulder holster. Hart sits on his bed and takes a bottle of Famous Grouse from the bedside table. On the bedside table lies a glass, a pack of cigarettes, a book entitled “The rivers of…”. The rest of the title is covered by the glass. The glass is removed but the book’s title isn’t shown, camera goes back to Hart. Shower sound starts.
Hart pours whiskey in the glass and drinks it all in one sip. Then takes out a cigarette, the lighter, opens the balcony door and goes on the balcony. He lights up the cigarette and inhales a few times while massaging his head.
High pitched scream comes from the bathroom.
Hart quickly turns around and runs towards the bathroom. He notices a very thin trail of blood on the floor.
Hart unsheathes the gun from the holster and kicks the bathroom door down with the gun ready to fire.
Hart’s point of view: Melissa stands naked, paralyzed by fear. A man dressed in a black suit holds a gun to her right temple. The man shelters behind the naked girl. His other hand is pressed against his side. Blood drips slowly between the fingers. The man is in great effort but very steady.
HB (Screaming): “Let her go! Let her go now you son of a bitch! You came here for me and you know how shoot. Let her go, now! I won’t repeat it one more time.”
*Scene: The man stares at Hart and starts to grin. Then he is serious again. Points his gun at Hart and shoots.*
Narration: “Hart realizes the mysterious man’s intentions as soon as his grin fades off, and by the light in his eyes. He dodges the bullet right in time.”
*Scene: Hart takes shelter behind the wall, on the right side of the door*
Man in black: (He speaks with a numb and broken voice, almost metallic) “S… stop… shooting… now, cop, or… I… will… paint your bathroom’s wall… with…”
HB: “Her brains, yeah, I know the drill, spare me the hour-long painful speech. Who are you? What do you want from me? Did John or Johanna send you after me? The girl’s their daughter so you’d better be careful with that gun, Eugene!”
Eugene: “How… how did you… whatever. You fool. I… w… want nothing of you. Now please shut up… ”
*He turns to Melissa*
E: “You… Close the door. Slowly. No funny business. Boyle… don’t… try to be a hero if you d… don’t…” (He spits blood coughing)
HB: “A billionaire girl’s grey matter all over the wall, I got it. Relax. I’m closing the door but if you hurt her you’re not getting out of here alive. And not quickly.”
*Scene: Melissa slowly closes the door.
Bathroom inside: Eugene moves from the girl’s back to her side while still aiming at her head*
E: “Tell me… Melissa. Where… where’s Orso? Why.. why didn’t you… come… b-back” (he screams in pain)
MW: “O… Orso? Did he send you?” (Her voice shakes)
Scene: *Hart silently exposes his revolver’s cylinder. Extracts a blue bullet from the magazine on the right side of the holster. Puts the blue bullet in an empty chamber. Then silently puts the cylinder back in, blue bullet on top. Indistinct speech in the bathroom. Hart aims at the wall and waits.
Narration: “As Eugene rises his voice for a moment, Hart’s eyes shine and he pulls the trigger.”
*Blue light comes out of the gun. Wall is pierced. Camera looks through the hole. Eugene stands still with a big cauterized hole in his head. After a few seconds he falls dead. Hart goes in and throws the cigarette butt in Eugene’s head.
Melissa stands up still, with a shocked expression on her face follows Hart’s movements with her eyes*
HB: “This time he should stay down. No more bad ideas passing through your head eh?”
*He kicks the body*
HB: “Yeah, not the big guy anymore, no more Mr. Bad Mysterious guy eh? More like Mr. <<my brain didn’t even paint the walls because I was shot with a particle projection bullet>> guy!”
*He looks at Melissa*
HB: “But enough with that already… Are you ok? I’m sorry I didn’t… I… I’ll fetch you a towel and then…”
MW: “You saved me. You saved me twice tonight, as a matter of fact.” (her voice is sweet and a little detached)
HB: “… and then we’ll talk a while. How did the guy know your name? Who was he, did you know him? And who in the name of the lord is Orso?”
*Melissa puts a hand behind his head and gives him a long, soft kiss on the lips, her eyes are closed. Then she retracts slowly while staring in his eyes*
OPTIONAL SEX SCENE
HB: “Ok, ah… You’re in choc, you are naked… your hair is wet and… and your lips are sweet. But I… I’m not yet forty, you know, and I’m made of flesh, and well… you… you look good and-“
*Melissa kisses him like before but a little longer*
HB: “And I could be your dad. Or your uncle! Or both!”
MW: “That would be weird” (smiles)
HB: “You know what I mean girl. What’s the wicked game you play? We have a body on the floor, that belonged to a guy who was pointing a gun at your head seconds ago!”
MW: “Yeah. And I’m… I’ve got quite the adrenaline rush, I guess. And you’re sexy. And I know I am. And I know there’s a body on the floor but no, I don’t know the guy but if you don’t do something about it I’ll start dripping on him”
HB: “But you’re barely wet.”
MW: “I’m not barely wet at all you moron!” (screams between her teeth)
*Melissa grabs Hart’s hand and puts it between her legs, while kissing him and pushing him against the bathroom’s mirror. She starts rubbing and moaning, driving Hart’s hand with hers. She abruptly stops and makes a step back. She gives hart a fierce look*
MW: “Do I have to do it all for you or did you learn how to take off your clothes and fuck a naked twenty-two years old naked girl in your bathroom that just put your hand between her legs to show how much she’s dripping to get fucked, in your not-yet forty years?”
HB: “No, well yes of course. Not exactly in these terms though. You look younger by the way”
*Hart takes off this clothes while speaking. Melissa looks at him licking her lips*
MW: “Maybe I AM younger. Who knows? Maybe I’ll send you to jail. But I swear it will be worth it…”
HB: “Keep talking. I’m naked enough now, let’s see if-“
*Melissa jumps on him, clutching him between his legs, and putting her arms behind his head while violently kissing him and biting his lips. He grabs her by the tights and begins possessing her, standing. He turns and puts her back against the wall. As he posses her, faster, she screams and moans loud, pushing the back of her head against the wall and looking up*
Narration: “Pleasure waves flood her, as she feels his flesh pushing inside her, then pulling out and in again, and again…”
HB: “What…” (he pants) “What do you think? Did you learn how to bend over and be a good girl in your maybe-less-than-twenty-two years?”
MW: (panting) “Let’s see…”
*Melissa pushes off of the wall and sets him free, returning to a standing position. Then slowly gets on her knees and starts practicing oral sex to Hart*
HB: “I was about to say that I asked you to bend over, not to kneel, but who am I can… oh… I can tell a gravy train when I see one.”
MW: “Hmm… (she stops to speak) I can tell the difference. But trust me… for now. Shut up and enjoy it”
HB: “don’t have to tell me twice. Ah…”
*As Melissa keeps practicing oral sex, Hart turns to look around at the holes in the wall. The special bullet pierced both the internal and the external wall. From the hole looking outside Hart sees Goosetav looking at him with a goosey expression. Hart widens his eyes in shock and signals him to go away waving a hand hidden behind his back*
MW: “What are you doing?”
HB: “Nothing babe, keep going, you’re doing great down there!”
*Melissa smiles and resumes. Goosetav honks*
MW: “What was that? Was that a honk?”
HB: “We’ve got cars in Brooklyn you know? Now stop being silly and bend over properly. I want to make you scream loud!”
MW: “You surely do…”
*Melissa turns around, facing the door of the bathroom, on the opposite side of Gus’ hole, and bends over to be possessed from behind. Hart starts pounding her holding her sides. As she starts to scream loud he turns to the hole through which Gus was still looking. Hart whispers animatedly to him*
HB: “I’m fine! Can’t you see I’m fine? Thanks for the interest but now it’s just not the time! You pervert goose!”
G: “Honk?” (whispering)
HB: “Not at all! Now go, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
*Goosetav goes away*
Narration: “As Hart looks again at the beautiful back of his guest, the girl, pleased but still in pleasure, turns back to him while still enjoying his ramming inside her”
MW: “Do you… ah… I did notice the goose you know?”
HB: “Oh.”
MW: “Yeah he… oh… he was there right from the start. I can be a bit of a show-off, you know… ah…I like it, Hart, keep going, stay inside me… Ah…!”
*Hart grabs her by the hair and pulls, having her rise in an almost-standing position. He keeps possessing her while grabbing her right breast with his hand and holding tight. She screams with pleasure. He bites her on the neck as he increases the speed a little, then he releases her hair as she leans on his chest, screaming and pulling her head back. He grabs both her breasts with his hands, she holds them with her own and then they both scream, reaching maximum pleasure.
They both stand still and silent a while, regaining their breath*
HB: “Melissa… I came inside you.”
MW: (panting) “Yeah, just once. We’re far from even… but for now… let me clean up this mess.”
*Melissa moves forward thus removing him from inside her. Then she crouches and cleans him with her mouth.*
HB: “I guess I made a good job, then. Another day, another dollar.”
MW: “Don’t you overrate yourself now… you’re… (she cleans her lips with a finger and then sucks it up clean) more than acceptable, for your age. Let’s have that shower now, for real.”
END OF OPTIONAL SEX SCENE
*Melissa sleeps face down with her head on Hart’s shoulder, and her right leg on his. He stares at the ceiling and then he looks at her*
Narration: “The lights of the city, coming in from the window, made her body shine, soft and smooth like silk, fresh like a summer night on the Tuscan hills. Peaceful as placid river. Suddenly she moans, like awaken by a dream where you fall from the chair. After a few seconds, she whispers to Hart, sleepy and sweet”
MW: “Hart?”
HB: “Yes, Melissa.”
MW: “Was that the bartender of the club around the corner? You know which one…”
HB: “Yes, it was Gus.”
MW: “I like that guy. Always has nice words for everyone…”
HB: “And it’s a lot apprehensive as well, as you see.”
MW: “Don’t be hard on him, he was worried for you! He couldn’t see a thing from that hole… And we sure screamed a lot!”
*They smile. Melissa slowly rubs Hart’s chest with her fingers*
Narration: “Melissa smiles and he smiles back. It was the first time he smiled in a while and it felt good, but dangerous as well.”
MW: “Hart?”
HB: “Yes, Melissa.”
MW: “The night is almost through. I can see the first lights of dawn.”
HB: “Very romantic. Are you gonna kiss me or tell me that you love me?”
MW: “I had something else on my mind, actually”
*Melissa crawls down to his groin*
HB: “Oh boy…”
MW: “This time you’re just gonna relax and enjoy it ALL.”
HB: “No objections, your honor.”
Chapter 3: You son of a bitch
*Day, Hart’s flat, inside. Hart wakes up startled and squeezes his eyes holding his head*
HB: (To himself) “Those fuckin’ dreams. Hope it has to do with that bottle of whiskey… and partially with the events of last night. Thinking of which…”
*Hart inhales from his nose, assumes a questioning look and sits on his bed*
HB: “Coffee. Mocha. It’s been a while…”
*Hart rises and wears his black night gown. He goes to the kitchen where Melissa is making breakfast*
MW: “Good morning sleeping beauty!”
HB: “Ok. Let’s make it clear. No, and no, you cannot live here” *Melissa laughs* “I’m sorry but I’m lone wolf.” *Hart smiles with the corner of his lips*
MW: “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m a lone wolf too, definitely!”
HB: “If you say so. Why just one plate? Don’t you like breakfast? It’s the most important meal of the day and all this sort of things…”
MW : “I already had breakfast…”
*Hart turns from smiling to puzzled, to a worried expression. He looks at the floor, then to the bathroom door. Bathroom door is open. Everything is clean and tidy, except for the hole in the wall. No cadavers.
Hart looks again at Melissa. Hart is dazzled and realizing, Melissa has a guilty and sad smiling look*
MW: “I told you. I’m a lone wolf.”
*Police station, inside, Manetti’s office. Manetti’s phone rings. He picks up after a few seconds of hesitation, and presses a button on the phone*
SM: “Hart… what in the name of the…”
HB: (cheerful) “Manny! Glad you picked up, as busy as you are! It’s good to hear you. I just wanted to check on my old friend, you know-“
SM: “Quit the recital Hart, I put the safe line as soon as I saw your number calling in… Besides… Manny? You didn’t call me like that since college times.”
HB: “I just wanted to be sure that you read the situation as it is: Serious. Damn serious.”
SM: “What’s going on now? Did you hit another hooker with your car while driving drunk, after dropping her from your car? I already told you, your money won’t appear floating out of her body…”
HB: “Will you stop with all those video game references, like if you had to prove that you’re younger than me, you Super Mario?”
SM: “Ok, ok, don’t get all nervous and grumpy, old man”
HB: “Shut up and listen. We have a D10 B35714 code.”
SM: “You jesting me now.”
HB: “Not a bit. We have two of them. One is in my flat. Yesterday night I had a fight and some sex. I mean, real wild sex, three times, like if I was some teenager.”
SM: “Happy for you. It’s not easy to get it done after a fight with an Altered. What happened? Are you ok now? Did it hurt you?”
HB: “The fight was with a human. I think I cannot say for sure. The Altered ate the body before I could check on him.”
SM: (after a few seconds of silence) “So help me get this right. You had a fight with a human in your house, you killed him and an Altered, that is now in your apartment, ate the body. And you had sex. I know I shouldn’t but I really hope you had sex with a dead body.”
HB: “If you never try you never know. Both the options. But no, it wasn’t the body. But this is not the point!”
SM: “Well that’s reassuring. So you mentioned sex just to brag around as usual?”
HB: “Possibly. Are you sure the line is safe?”
SM: “Sure but safety is never enough. I’ll come by. Really want to see your guest.”
*Hart’s house. Doorbell rings. Melissa jumps on her feet and tries to run to the door. Hart stops her with his arm and she sits back. Hart opens the door. Mario Manetti is in plain clothes and looks worried*
HB: “Come in. Meet Melissa. She’s an Altered Beast, she’s also the foster daughter of John and Johanna Wells.”
*Mario kisses Melissa’s hand*
SM: “Nice to meet you, Melissa. I see you have no stationary evidence of the mutation… apart from your astonishing beauty that can only have super human origins…!”
*Melissa smiles , flattered, and blushes a little*
MW: “I have sharp teeth and a sesquipedalian lust!”
HB: “Yeah, and a classic education it seems. Sit, Manetti. I’ll sum up the situation for you: I was hired by BOTH Melissa’s foster parents to track them, gather information, find lovers, things like that. John’s tracks led me to the bistro massacre of yesterday’s night. I thought I was set up to be killed by one of them. And I would have been killed for sure if it wasn’t for that tire I had to change on my way.
Then, when I got home, I found the killer and Melissa. She though he was there for me, as well. But he wasn’t. He must have heard me coming in and rushed her in, to take care of me first and then question her undisturbed.
The Wells hired me, Manetti, because they knew that Melissa would come looking for me. She said she was worried about her father but you lied to me, didn’t you?”
*Melissa lowers her eyes, with a shade of shame*
HB: “It’s for what I did on the Bridge. The hunt, the shootout. It’s all linked. You must now, Mario, that Melissa and her brother Orso were adopted by the Wells not only out of charity and love, but for interest as well. Economic and scientific. They are Altereds of second generation, the one that made us close the bridges to the mainland and file records for every single one of them. They go berserk when they hunger.
They have immense genetic value, as you know there’s no trace of the work that made them possible, after the Bridge accident.
Orso is missing. Melissa wants my help to find him. He’s most likely still on the island but might has well have made its way through the checkpoints and have reached Mainland. He is smart, and strong. I fear he has something to do with the slaughter of yesterday’s night, but it’s too early to make suppositions.”
SM: “He could have gone there for his father. He might have followed your same track there, then went berserk, and… It sure looked like the job of an Altered.”
HB: “But bullets were fired. You don’t fire bullets if you can tear apart bodies with the same effort I put in reading the newspaper. As I said, it’s too early… It could be all a double or triple game of setups. You know what their parents are working on, in their labs. Orso is joining the Resistance, Manetti. A full grown underground association of Altereds and supporters. They want to seize the city, seize the public, the government. They want revenge but they don’t know a thing about men, about how to rule. About the sacrifices… and the bad decisions you have to take. They would be catastrophic. I’m not fond of Well’s ways of doing things, nor of the Police one, as you well know. But I live here, I like my flat, my paper, booze and so on. And on the other side, there’s Melissa’s people. They’re people, Mario. They make mistakes like us, cry and laugh. It’s not their fault if we made them… faulty. “
*Melissa frowns. Manetti grabs her harm softly. She smiles.*
I want to find Orso, make him reason, possibly find out something about all this mess, why a killer was sent after his sister just to find him. I want to bring him back here, to safety. He’s registered and has… or at least, had the sedative system on him. If he doesn’t want to go back home, I’ll just talk him out of this guerrilla thing, then he and his sister can start a new life wherever they want.”
SM: “Should have seen it coming. So let me get this straight, you want me to come with you on a blind mission, with possibly no gain, no safe way out, in the wilderness of Altered’s ghetto, with no Police cover, no hope of success, to find a stray spoiled rich altered kid of New York that wants to make a revolution?”
HB: “Yeah. And we bring Gus.”
SM: “Gus hates Altereds. They ate his family.”
HB: “He’ll fit just fine.”
SM: “Do we get to see you shoot, some car chasings, beast fights and Gus’ astonishing cunning for solving puzzles?”
HB: “Sure hope so.”
SM: “Hart. You son of a bitch, I’m in!”