flight 710 cabo san lucas, now boarding gate 12, first class only.
the usual things. i'm a flight attendant with cabo air.
i doubt it. who's your friend?
would i mind? do i have a choice?
suspicion of what?
go ahead.
not saying anything at the moment.
if i were to tell you "no it isn't"
i'm not saying another word.
arrest me.
okay, let's go.
i'm not a loser.
help yourself.
my pocketbook.
beauty products.
that's my diet shit.
yeah?
what the fuck is that shit?
you planted that shit on me.
look, that shit ain't mine.
i'm tellin' you, i don't know nothin' about that fuckin' shit.
you tell those guys they'll have to do one helluva lot better than that before i'll even say 'hi' to them.
who's side are you on?
what if i plead guilty?
if i don't cooperate?
when is that, your honor?
okay.
are you really a bail bondsman?
can i see your i.d.?
who put up my bond? ordell?
can we stop for cigarettes?
i don't think so.
couldn't we just stop at a seven- eleven?
i'd love one, but not there.
is it dark?
that doesn't sound dark.
'cause i look like i just got outta jail, that's why. you droppin' me off at home, right? there's a place by me.
you gain weight?
that's why i don't quit. if i can't fly anymore, i'm gonna have a bitch of a time gettin' my brand.
davidoffs. i get 'em in mexico. they're hard to find here. i was locked up with the last two getting legal advice from a woman who was in for bustin' her boyfriend's head open with a baseball bat.
she was more helpful than the fuckin' public defender. i don't know - i guess what i need is a lawyer, find out what my options are.
you're not tired of it?
so far i've been told i can cooperate and get probation, maybe. or, i can stand mute and get as much as five years. does that sound right?
shit.
sure.
yeah, but that's not what this was about. they were fuckin waitin' for my ass. they knew i had that money, they even knew the amount. the one who searched my bag, from l.a.p.d., dargus, hardly even looked at it. "oh, i'd say there's fifty thousand here. what would you say?" but all they could do was threaten me and hand me over to customs, and i could tell they didn't want to do that.
i had 'em too. i burnt those two starky and hutch motherfuckers down. then their asses lucked out and found that coke.
who gave me the money and who i was giving it to. and some guy they found in a trunk with his head blown off. said it was him who told them 'bout me.
that's him. how do you know 'em?
ordell pick up his bond?
the federal agent kinda half hinted ordell might of done beaumont.
i didn't?
ray nicolet with alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.
it was the other guy who busted me.
i have a pretty good idea. ordell aint no bootlegger and i doubt he's smugglin' cuban cigars. so that only leaves one thing an a.t.f. man would be interested in.
i used to bring over ten thousand at a time. that's the legal limit, so i never brought more than that.
with ten thousand? nine.
it's all in lock boxes in a mexico bank. but he's got a problem. he's - what do you call it when you got money, but don't have cash?
that's it. he's cash poor. he kept on me till i finally said okay. i'll bring whatever fits in a nine-by- twelve envelope. i got paid five hundred dollars, and his friend, mr. walker, in mexico gave me the envelope.
whatever it was had to fit in my bag and not hit you in the face if the bag was opened. this ain't solvin' my problem. i gotta figure out a way to either keep my job or get out of trouble. i'm of today, but if i can't leave the country i'm out of a job. and if i don't got a job, i can't hire a lawyer.
yeah, if i cooperate.
but if all i can give 'em is ordell's name - i don't really know shit about what he does or how he does it - that don't give me much to bargain with.
i think maybe i have more options than i thought.
i was expecting you. come in.
i got some vodka in the freezer.
yeah.
sure.
for what?
the same guy who put me in, thanks a lot.
it wasn't mine.
they asked.
i said i wanted to talk to a lawyer.
you're not asking the right questions.
beaumont livingston.
and they asked if i knew mr. walker.
i didn't tell 'em anything.
they told me.
what do you think it is?
you thought right.  now take your hands from around my throat, nigga.
shut your ass up and grab the wall!
the cops didn't try and strangle my ass.
well, i ain't playin with you. i'm gonna unload both these motherfuckers, you don't do what i tell you. understand what i'm saying?
i said, you understand what i'm saying
go sit over in that chair.
shut your raggedy ass up and sit down.
put both hands behind our head.
i gotta tell you to shut up one more time, i'm gonna shut you up.
way i see it, me and you only got one thing to talk about. what you willing to do for me?
let's get realistic, baby. sooner or later they're gonna get around to offering me a plea deal, and you know that. that's why you came here to kill me.
- it's okay. i forgive you. now, let's say if i tell on you, i walk. and if i don't, i go to jail.
one hundred thousand put in an escrow account in my name, if i'm convicted up to a year, or put on probation. if i have to do more than a year, you pay another hundred thousand.
all your money's in mexico.
i been thinkin about that, too, and i got me a idea.
i'll talk to the cops tomorrow and tell you if it's on.
you want your gun, don't you? come in. i'll go get it.
max, i'm sorry. i was afraid if i asked to borrow it you'd say no. you'd have to. would you like some coffee?
i am. have a seat.
i felt a lot safer having it. my milk went bad when i was in jail.
thanks, but i have my own now.
what, i couldn't hear you?
let's just say i got one, okay?
yeah.
want to hear some music?
i couldn't wait till i got home last night and wash my hair.
i got a few. but i can't afford to start all over again. i got too much time and money invested in my records.
i don't buy new stuff that often.
uh-huh.
the delfonics.
'74, i think.
i called in sick this morning. as far as the airline knows, i'm still available.
i don't know yet. 'm going to talk with dargus and nicolet today. do what you suggested. offer to help and see what happens.
i want to talk to them first. i know more now about ordell's money.
it's a lot of money. about a half-a- million dollars. all of it in cabo in safe deposit boxes and more comin in.
he told me last night.
he came by.
we talked.
he had his doubts at first. but he's always trusted me an wants more than anything to believe he still can.
he needs me. without me all that money is just gonna sit over there in cabo. sugar?
maybe, but 'm the only one he's ever used. he can't trust his other people. they're crooks. he can try bringing i in himself, but ordell sure don't want to go through no customs line. either he recruits another cabo stewardess, or he continues to trust me. i made him feel he still can.
same way i been don', but first they got to let me go back to work.
if i get let off. otherwise, fuck 'em.
i ain't goin' to jail, and i ain't doin' that probation thing again.
how do you feel about getting old?
i'm asking how you feel. does it bother you?
really?
how'd you feel about it?
it's different with men.
my ass ain't the same.
yeah.
i just feel like i'm always starting over. you said how many bonds you wrote?
well, i've flown seven million miles. and i've been waitin' on people almost twenty years. the best job i could get after my bust was cabo air, which is about the worst job you can get in this industry. i make about sixteen thousand, with retirement benefits , ain't worth a damn. and now with this arrest hanging over my head, i'm scared. if i lose my job i gotta start all over again, but i got nothin to start over with. i'll be stuck with whatever i can get. and that scares me more than ordell.
take your time.
can i smoke?
i need permission to leave the country so i keep my job.
i need it tomorrow. if i don't show up for work tomorrow, i'm fired.
if i'm working, i can help you.
help you get ordell robbie.
you never asked me if i did or not.
'course i do - i deliver money for him.
he sells guns.
no.
he told me. besides, why else would an a.t.f. man be after him?
short of wearing a wire, i'll do everything i can to help you throw his ass in jail. and in exchange for my help, i need permission to leave the country and immunity.
can you do it or not?
the cockatoo inn.
it's right on hawthorne boulevard and manhattan beach boulevard. it's red brick.
it's a cockatoo.
i'm fine.
i do okay.
i don't think so, but it don't really matter. they know i'm meeting you.
i told them.
they already know it's you.
look, the only way i can get permission to fly is if i agree to help them. which is what i have to appear to be doing. so i give them something they already know. you.
i told them you got a half a million dollars in mexico, and you want me to bring it here.
it's true, isn't it?
they know i'm delivering for you. i mention the half-million - they don't give a fuck about that - they want you with guns. so i say, well, if you want proof he's getting paid for selling them, let me bring the money in.
yes.
you don't have to. i told 'em you're real careful. you never pick up money yourself. you always send someone, and i never know who it is.
if you just listen, you'll see it's a damn good idea. the first time i do it they're lurking about. they see me hand the ten thousand to someone.
i don't know. one of your friends.
if you want.
the next trip, when i come with all the money, it'll look like i hand it to the same one i did before.
no, i give it to someone else first.
that's the idea.
can you cover that?
i was thinkin' the del amo mall. in the food court.
well, it's my plan. we're in this together.
i ain't your partner, i'm your manager. i'm managing to get your money out of mexico, into america, in your hands, and i'm managing to do all this under the nose of the cops. that makes me your manager, and managers get fifteen percent.
that's an agent. manager's get fifteen percent.
plus the same deal as before.
the money's in a broadway shopping bag. i get some food, and sit down here in the food court. then your girl comes - you got somebody yet?
who?
look, it's my ass facin' the penitentiary. you send some hard- headed roc whore, and she fucks things up.
don't forget your bag.
max.
surprise.
i know, ignoring me. what're you up to?
what'd ya see?
how was it?
oh, are you? does she know that?
does it happen to all men?
and annette's it for you?
that's a goddam man for ya. can't even be faithful to a fuckin' movie star.
who was your girl before annette?
yeah, she's the girl who drove the bus in "speed." she's cute.
why?
how old's annette?
i go back to work tomorrow.
they seem to like the idea.
yea, but i'm going to dress it up. put the money in a shopping bag and hand it to someone i meet here.
he always just picked it up at my place. but with a.t.f. involved, i want to stage it. you know, make it look more intriguing, like we know what the fuck we're doin'. then it's up to ray nicolet, the a.t. f. guy to follow the shopping bag.
right around here, in the food court.
i'm helping him bring his money into america. he loves the idea. you just missed him.
yeah, we were goin' over everything. that's why all the bags.
i know, i got your message. ray wanted to have dinner. he wanted to talk about the sting we're plotting. that's what he calls it. a sting. he's being real nice to me.
maybe. but i'm thinking it might be something like he wants the money for himself.
he's setting me up to make a proposition.
you don't propose something like that unless you're pretty sure the other person's into it.
not really. but i knew this narcotics cop one time. told me that in a raid, the whole package never gets back to the station. his exact words.
we weren't bullshittin' either, 'cause later he was suspended and forced to retire.
he tries to act cool.
what about you max?
no, i mean you, right now. not it you were somebody else.
you know where it came from. it's not like it's anybody's life savings. it wouldn't even be missed.
you're avoiding the question.
why?
when did you decide?
the day you got me out of jail?
wait a minute. after we were together you went and snuck into a guy's house?
what do you do when he comes home?
you do that?
did you do it that night?
and is that it?
i'm not sure you answered my question.
if you had a chance, unemployed now, to walk off with a half-million dollars, would you take it?
what if i've figured a way?
bye bye.  bye now.  goodbye bye bye.  bye bye.  goodbye
fine.
what are you doing?
i thought you were going to let this one through.
four thirty. i'm meeting a woman.
he wouldn't say. you gonna follow her?
but you're not going to stop her?
a broadway shopping bag.
think of it as money that shouldn't even be here. i mean does anybody have a right to it?
it may be evidence once they get their hands on it, but right now it's only money.
have a seat.
you're hungry?
put your bag on the floor, okay? under the table, right next to mine.
then when i leave, well, you know. what's your name?
go ahead, start eating.
would it bother you if i smoked?
sheronda, can i ask you a question? are you and ordell married?
do you live together?
not every day?
then you don't see him for a few days?
you know what's in the bag you're taking?
well, sheronda, it was nice talking to you.
you said it yourself. ray wants ordell, he don't give a shit about the money. money won't convict him, guns will. yeah, sure, if it falls in their lap, they take it. if they know they got it, they'll look for it.  but if they don't.
that's what you do to go through with the shit you start. you rationalize. i can do this, max, i know i can. but i can't do it without you.
bends down to talk in the speaker.
it's jackie.
i need to talk to you alone.
i don't want no more fuckin' surprises. we do this the way i laid it out, or we don't do it at all.
sheronda passin' the money onto someone else, that's what the hell i'm talkin' 'bout.
i was there, i saw her do it.
i know, but i hung around, 'cause i figured you'd try an' pull some shit like this.
not when it's my ass on the line you don't. we do this my way or fuck it.
nicolet and dargus stop me at the airport and mark the bills.
it washes off. i tell them we're doing it the same way as before. they'll follow sheronda. i hate the idea of leaving her for a fall.
are you sure she don' know about the money?
what does she think she's gettin?
right, the one simone gives me. simone and i'll make the switch at robinson's. may. she knows what i look like?
designer clothes.
the fitting room. there's a sign over the door.
i have a hunch they'll be watchin' me. we can't risk switching bags out in the open or even in the dining area. that's why it has to be a woman, 'cause we do the switch in the fitting room.
where you gonna be during all this?
i gotta go.
ray, the a.t.f. guy.
if i wasn't, this wouldn't work. now once i deliver i'll have to trust you.
and a hundred thousand if i go to jail.
give it to the bail bondsman, max cherry. he'll take care of it.
he won't know where the money came from. only that it's money.
do you have a phone?
thanks.
oh, hi.
i'm waiting for the phone.
well, i guess i better look for another one, then. thanks, anyway.
sure.
killian's.
uh-uh.
how long you been with ordell?
what were you two fighting about?
that coke was yours, wasn't it?
he said he didn't know about it.
beaumont livingston?
kinda.
dreaming.
keep it between us girls?
i don't think so, but thanks for the beer.
ordell has a white guy working for him named louis.
this afternoon before i came here. he was with ordell at an apartment in hermosa beach. i don't know if he lives there, but i can find out.
not really.
what for?
i imagine shit needs to be done.
not yet.
white girl named melanie ralston. another girlfriend of ordell's.
it was her coke i got busted with. she knows everything, but she's not part of it, and she's pissed cause she's not part of it. ordell wouldn't even let her stay at the meeting. she tried to talk me into ripping off ordell.
i'm sure that was the idea.
i smiled and walked away. she also told me ordell killed beaumont.
uh-huh.
she didn't say.
uh-huh.
right. everything's the same, except one change.
i told them ordell's changed the amount he's bringing in.
oh, yeah. i got them thinking ordell's real nervous. they love thinking he's scared of them.
all he needed was a reasonable explanation.
right. everything's the same except one change. ordell thinks it's just too hot right now to bring in all his money. he knows you're watching him, and he's paranoid. he's keeping his stash where it is, but he wants to bring in fifty thousand for bail in case he needs it.
don't be so literal. ray believed it.
well, you know i'm not going to show him the whole amount. he'll see fifty thousand.
in the bag underneath.
he won't - i mean, he didn't the last time. he'll be expecting fifty thousand and there it is - on top.
not really. if he finds it, i say mr. walker put the money in, and i didn't know nothing about it. like the coke.
yeah, but i'm not in jail and i tried.
that's why you don't make a move till i come out of the fitting room.
well, a suit. there's one i had my eye on.
excuse me.
why, because i called you an asshole.
i didn't? oh, well, you're an asshole.
you said that the last time.
we could, if i'm not in jail.
are you saying i'm off the hook?
fifty thousand, like i said. he's pretty sure he's gonna need it for bail.
i was told ten thousand in each pack.
i never have. it's not my money.
mr. walker promised he'd never do that again.
ever been tempted?
uh-huh.
yes. all those things are true.
that would be one point of view.
how can i do anything if i'm being watched every second?
si.
in her honda, smoking a cigarette, looking cool as usual, driving to the mall. her car plays seventies soul.
yes, you have a suit i've had my eye on.
this looks pretty good on me.
i think i'm gonna just get this for today. i'm in kind of a hurry. would you mind ringing this up while i change out of it?
thanks.
hi, melanie.
yeah, do you like it?
do you got something for me?
i put a little cherry on top. you're right. what the hell he ever do for us?
now be careful with that bag. you don't want it ripping open on you in the middle of the store.
i'm sorry, i just decided to stay in the suit - get out of that damn uniform.
oh, somebody left a shopping bag in there. looks like beach towels.
ray! ray! i need you! come out! she took the money.
melanie burst in the dressing room and took the money!
oh, somebody left a shopping bag in there. looks like beach towels.
gotcha, nigga.
i thought i did.
i got there early. i've had my eye on this suit - wait, let's start over. i got there early. the idea was to try on the suit, see if i liked it. if i did, get them to wrap it up, and change back into my uniform. that's what sheronda's expecting me to wear. go meet sheronda, give her the bag with fifty thousand, and go home.
because i didn't have it. ray, i swear, melanie came in and grabbed it. and someone killed her for it.
she didn't give me one. i told you before, melanie wasn't part of the plan. ordell must of told her to do it. she bursts in, grabs the shopping bag, and takes off. what am i supposed to do, go after her? i'm in my fucking underwear. i had to get dressed before i could do anything. so i put this back on 'cause could put this on faster than i could my uniform.
i had to. i was frantic. i didn't know what to do.
i went looking for you. i went straight to the bookstore, 'cause that's where you were last time, but you weren't there. how the hell else am i supposed to let anybody know what happened? you didn't tell me how to do that, did you? i knew i was under surveillance, so when i couldn't spot anybody, i started yelling.
not in the fitting room.
i didn't see him. i was in my underwear. if it was a white guy, it was probably louis. he kill melanie?
i have no idea.
if it'll make you happy.
i thought you were watching him.
so what happens now?
what about me?
do you think i took some of that money?
hello.
how'd you find out?
how does winston find him if a.t.f. and all the local police can't?
he's liable to shoot you.
ray wants him.
that's why a.t.f.'s gotta make the case. i'm their witness. they wouldn't have a case without me. if it's his word against mine, who are they gonna believe?
it never was, so i'm not gonna start worrying about it now. look, ray more or less believes my story, and he more or less doesn't care. all he really gives a shit about is getting ordell.
get ordell to come to your office.
uh-huh.
tell him i want to give him his money.
i've chickened out. i'm afraid of him. he'll like that.
ordell called and wants to meet me and i'm scared.
he's already there.
well, we don't let that happen, now do we?
i'll be here. se ya' in a bit.
mark.  .  he's got a gun!
remember when ray said you hoped you'd get him before he got me?
well, you did. thank you.
knock knock.
hey.
mark.  he's got a gun!
i got your package. it was fun getting a half-a-million dollars in the mail.
yeah, your fee. i had to figure that out, since there wasn't no note.
only this isn't a bail bond, max.
you worked for it - if you're sure that's all you want.
i'm leaving, i have my things in my car. why don't you walk out with me? i want to show you something.
come on, max. i won't hurt you.
i saw ray the other day. boy is he pissed he missed all the excitement.
he's on to a new thing. he's after a guy who owns a gun shop he says is "woefully and wantonly" selling assault rifles to minors. he says he's gonna take him down if it's the last thing he does.
i told him i might.
they've confiscated all his other stuff. but this one's sorta left over. the registration's in the glove box, the keys were under the seat.  what's a matter" haven't you ever borrowed someone's car?
i didn't use you, max.
i never lied to you.
we're partners.
do you blame yourself for helping me?
'd feel a whole lot better if you took some more money.
spain.
start off in madrid. ever been there?
i hear they don't eat dinner till midnight.
wanna go?
sure i can't twist your arm?
i thought you were tired of your business?
are you scared of me?
come over here.
i'll send you a postcard, partner.