kinda rubbery. it was better yesterday.
i don't know.
couldn't sleep. whattaya got?
yeah. lemme talk to him.
and how are you guys doin'?
hayden, this is red garnett. we worked together a few years back. mind if i come in? the yelling inside stops and the door opens a crack. hayden, 35, distraught, peers out.
leave it to the p.d. they got a three- ring circus out there and not one cup of hot coffee. you mind? hayden mulls it over, then opens the door.
appreciate it. jus' what is it you want, hayden?
what'd they suspend you for?
you love her? love the kids?
you don't wanna shoot her.
naw, hayden, i don't think so. i think you love her. you know what else i think? that you'd like a way out of this whole mess.  that's where i come in.
hits the spot. hayden starts to sob a bit. red hands over a handkerchief which hayden accepts.
okay. you ready? hayden nods, they stand. red picks up his hat, sticks it on his head, opens the door and holds it for.  hayden, transfixed by the multitude of lights outside. he gulps.
we'll walk out together, okay? hayden steps back, looks at red, then reaches behind his back, underneath his shirt and pulls out a .22 pistol.
lemme have it, hayden. hayden points the gun at red, freezing him.
yeah. hayden smiles.
i understan' your concern, johnny.
cons are creatures o' habit. like old coyotes, they'll crawl back into familiar holes. uh huh.  yeah.  sure yer' right. listen you go back to bed and i'll call you in the a.m. with an update. i'll have the files by then. say hullo to the mrs.  red sighs, puts the phone back in the hook and stares at it until it rings again. 20 int. perry house - night 20 the clanging wind up alarm clock reads 5:30 and gladys opens her eyes and gently quiets it with a touch. she groans and rises, not happy but used to the daily ritual required of her.
yes, johnny, i do understand that.  the jabbering on the other end of the phone line continues as red's eyes squint to read the files.
keeps staring at the photo, oblivious to the phone conversa- tion he's "not having".
huh?
yeah, johnny. jus' thinkin' is all.
yeah.  clear as a bell.  mi' sabe. red hangs up the phone, takes a draw on the coffee mug and looks again at the file. he seems lost in time.
who?
reminded me it's an election year. red turns his attention to sally.
you drink before noon?
good. last one i had was on a liquid diet.
secretary.
adler.  what is this? adler searches the messy desk for something.
who sent?.
 'to work with state law enforcement officials in all affairs where penal matters coincide with those of the state police.' it don't say nuthin' about.
in the first place, miss gerber.
in the first place, sally, it ain't a 'penal escape situation.' it's a manhunt. fancy words in a circle don't help much.
a nose like a blue tick, a medulla with an antenna and one helluva lot of coffee. and with that he's out the door.
listen up, i'll only say it once. at approximately ten o'clock last night two inmates over to huntsville, robert 'butch' haynes and jerry david pugh, escaped through an air shaft, grabbed a prison employee's car and got out through the main gate. at approximately 1 a.m. we believe they robbed a market outside of cut-n-shoot and killed the store's owner.
was when they left the prison. sally and adler enter the room and stand beside the lectern observing. red notices them.
long as christmas eve to a kid. haynes was doin' 40 for armed robbery and pugh was ridin' 20 hisself for manslaughter and assorted parole vios.
 lemme' finish, billy. this mornin' another hostage was taken.  from a private home in madisonville. a boy, age 8. grabbed him out of bed.
yer' askin' if they're preverts. well, one is.
texas rangers as the criminal investigation arm of the d.p.s. share responsibility with the f.b.i. due to the kid being taken. but i doubt they're out of bed yet. a few chuckles.
officially i can only say we have a full manhunt team on their trail and we'll proceed with due haste.
unoffically? i'm gonna' hunt 'em like the rabid dogs they are.
that's all i've got but i'd like to introduce ya' to miss sally gerber. she's straight from the governor's office. knows all about psychological profiles and the like. you probably have some questions for her. red steps back and to one side. sally is taken aback but then warms to the idea and steps to the podium for her first press conference, ready to take on the tough questions, to show off a bit, but.
look, fellas, i got work to do. and he heads out the door, followed by sally's eyes and every reporter's in the room, who commence once again to yell out questions and mob after the chief. every reporter, that is, except one. he's near the back of the room and he smiles and raises his hand. sally, unsure what to do, looks to him.
so i hear.
fine piece of machinery.
we'll take it.
guvner' hisself told me this manhunt was top priority.
who are you?
not anymore. bradley. bradley, 35, glasses, moves to the truck and gets in. suttle shrugs and steps out. saunders stops suttle and turns to red.
you know how to operate the gadgets?
grab a seat. suttle sets himself in the passenger seat of the truck. sally emerges from the building, ticked off, carrying an armload of file boxes, and makes a beeline for red. saunders gently touches red's shoulders; a final plea.
tell john that miss gerber here checked me out on it. red whistles and the engine revs. red closes the door as the motor home pulls away. saunders runs beside the passenger side window and yells in to suttle, who stares out the window.
you comin' or not? she hesitates only a moment before walking straight to red, grabbing back her file box and entering in front of him.
all right. push the roadblock on 288 north by 50 miles. kaiser calls in the instructions.
hell, i dunno'and neither do they. they're jus' happy to be out. it's a high speed sunday drive to them.
somethin' eatin' at you?
you got somethin' to say, spit it out.
we don't have a dilemma. and neither do they. they'll keep one hostage.  and get rid of one, if they haven't already.
if there's a snafu, who's john q. public more likely to give a rat's ass about -- an innocent boy or a goddam bureaucrat. red wipes the water off the spoon on his shirt and walks to his office in the back. adler, bobby lee and kaiser chuckle lightly at their boss's snubbing of the female upstart in their midst. sally's face glows a bright red.
call me red.
i'm hell-bent on one thing. you hang around long enough you'll find that out. til' then a tough backside and a sense of humor will get you through a lot.
awful. arthur godfrey says it keeps ya' young, but i'm not sure it's worth it.
this yer' first time out of an office? she refuses to answer.
thought so. what'd ya' expect ya' signed on for? adler, bobby lee and kaiser all watch the discussion, smiles on their faces. sally abruptly closes the door.
didn't ask that. asked what you expected.
i happen to like the governor, hunt quail together every year. but deep down he and i know that win, lose or draw this is my ship, not his.
 bullshit. responsibility lies with the one that loses sleep; the one with the most ulcers. this mess turns bloody -- and it might -- all it's gonna cost the governor is a few votes! me, i'm the one that's.
tell ya' what. you think i'm makin' a wrong turn you speak up. might not agree, but i'll listen. as far as stepped on toes and wounded pride, i'll buy everyone a drink when we head for home. not until. i got more to worry about. that sound fair to you?
well okay then. sally turns, about to leave.
so who's the other one?
if yer' one brain, who's the other?
we got a positive i.d.?
least now we know who's in charge.
sooner or later he'll get on a main road. we don't got the manpower to roadblock every farm to market.
let's sit tight. he'll turn up.
what kinda' shape's it in?
beef up the i-20 roadblock. adler gets more news through the headsets.
no. adler looks quizzically at red and pulls off the headphones.
tell 'em what i said.
i don't want some half-ass sergeant york taking pot shots with a deer rifle. adler puts the headphones back on. bobby lee smirks a bit.
the third eye pugh's sportin' on the way to the morgue shouts otherwise. sally flashes red a look back. bobby lee rises and moves past red on his way to the toilet.
yeah. i gotta' hunch.
you got the keys to this thing?
get me a crowbar. you might wanna' wait in the boat.
well.
 there's our bureaucrat.
it's sure nice to know the boy's in good hands. sally straightens herself, ready to bite back, but red's face is soft. he offers a handkerchief. she takes it.
gallows humor, sally. without it we'd all be heavin'.
holy jeezus, they're a team.
how'd ya' kill him?
turn this thing around! adler jumps on the radio to the truck.
holster that firearm and get yer ass back inside! bobby lee thinks it over, shakes his head in disgust and holsters his piece.
what?
don't tell 'em that. 112 int. governor's office - day 112 a large group of very serious advisors sit and stand in a circle around the governor's desk. across from governor connally sits a nervous, near tears gladys perry. an aide on the telephone, turns to the governor.
tell 'em to come and get it.
yeah. adler moves to set down the mike and topples a cup of coffee. it spills on the floor. suttle grabs a towel to wipe it up but realizing the futility of keeping the airstream clean, he simply throws it aside.
what?
tell 'em stand by. we got the best seat in the house right here. have the southern roadblocks call in the dogs and move north. check every road, every farm from san angelo to sweetwater.
well goddam, shout at amarillo. tell 'em we got a notion he's headed their way. adler gets right to it.
truth is i wish he'd cross the border so we could turn this over to the feds. nobody in the room expected to hear this.
i got work to do back home. red rises and stretches, walks to the open door and stares out at the late afternoon light.
i'm hungry. this thing got any food?
that so?
how you take your steak, sally? bobby lee and sally both look up to see red standing in the doorway.
a woman after my own heart. she takes this opportunity to slide between red and bobby lee on her way into the main room. as she goes.
i'll just wipe its ass, herd it through and you can cut off a hunk. how'd that be?
i don't give a damn who you work for. you're here for one reason and one reason only.
yeah. yer' in my office. the hot line phone rings.  bobby lee flinches first and moves back into the main room. red follows.
nuthin' as impolite as callin' at the dinner hour.
figger to give 'em another hour of shuteye, then grab the patrol cars and head for the panhandle.
too many. red turns to her. they both know he's divulged something.
they got a file on me, too?
just caus' it's written down don't make it true.
yeah, well, that's definitely the worst of it. red uncorks his thermos and refills sally's mug. she takes a sip and almost chokes on it.
the file don't tell ya' that, too?
i got a ranch i never visit, nieces i hardly know, a tackle box full of dry lures and a dog that figures he's the owner and i'm the pet. could have a point, he's there more.
liked to have wet those lures. maybe a new dog. how'd you get into.  whatever the hell it is you do?
that explains your mouth. sally smiles.
what's yer' husband think about all this?
yer' not careful you'll wind up jus' like me. old, tired, with nobody around to love ya'.
it's crazy ain't it?
goin' without sleep chasin' after a three time loser and casper the friendly ghost?
bite your tongue.
what's your file say about him?
there are murderers i'd trust with my mother and petty thieves i wouldn't turn my back on. your precious files are wrong.
hayne's old man was a career criminal with a soft spot for whores. one way or the other he beat the hell outta' every person he ever crossed, screwed or fathered. judge sends junior home with the old man and you can bet your last dollar that within a year he'll have a rap sheet as long as yer arm. i know kids who did gatesville, made it through, shaped up. hell, one's even a priest. sally realizes she's opened an old wound.
-- this job ain't about files and books and second guessin'. ya get one shot and ya call 'em like you see 'em.
in texas the bottom line is who ya' know and what they owe ya. that's how i do my job and how you got yours. he turns to walk inside.
i bought the judge a t-bone and told him to send the boy up. told him it was the right thing to do. he went along right down the line. red disappears. sally just stares after him, her face once again soft.
let's head on over towards amarillo. we'll cross him there or wave goodbye at the border.
how far?
get on the radio and tell whoever gets there first to play it nice and easy. sally gives him a look.
jeezus, who did that?
go ahead and chopper her in. after a moment of silence, sally turns to red.
yes, ya did.
funny thing. when the judge sent him away the kid stared at me. like he knew. not hard or mad like you'd expect. it was.  it was like he was forgiving me.
naw. for what's gonna happen today.
yeah. you got the area quadroned off?
you got him spotted?
you got any problem with me handling this one?
let's head on down there. bradley, gimme' a megaphone.
yer' shittin' me.
butch, this is red garnett of the texas state police. a thin, knowing smile crosses butch's lips.
i know yer' hurt. we've got damn near 100 armed men here. take a look around and you'll see i'm shootin' ya' straight.
hate to tell ya', butch, but yer' headed the wrong direction. tell ya' what. you let the boy go and we'll talk about it. discuss it over a cold beer.
what do you think?
one thing's for sure. if he gets outta' here with the boy, we're right back to where we started.
all right, both of you, that's enough! from the trail of blood i got a feelin' it ain't gonna' make any difference. let's jus' concentrate on gettin' the boy out for now. bobby lee approaches with a leather case, bypasses red and goes straight to hendricks.
can you shoot off a hood? bobby lee nods. in the b.g., a helicopter circles, preparing to land.
bring her on over.
butch, we got the boy's mama here. she wants to say something. phillip is visibly stunned by the news. he crawls up to the crest of the creekside and squints, looking for his mom.
jus' push the button and talk normal. it squawks again.
here, i'll hold the damn thing. you jus' talk.
yer' doin' fine. we'll get another one.
well, find another one! red sighs and cups his hands around his mouth.
what?!
you hungry?
you heard him.
you all set?
you got yer'self a deal. candy's waitin'.
it's a deal!
what kinda' foolishness is that? she promises!
gimme' them things. adler hands over the binoculars. red takes a look.
come on. keep walkin'!
why the hell's he stoppin'? call for yer' boy to come! gladys, near shock, ad libs commands to phillip. "come on honey," "phillip, keep walking," that kind of thing.
stay on ready.
i seen it all now.
hell if i know.
butch! stop and let the boy go! put yer' hands up and let the boy go!!!
stop and put your hands on your head!
you clean?
keep him locked down. don't squeeze til' i say 'when.' red holds bobby lee's eyes until the young fed nods. then red unstraps his holster and moves between the cars.
i'm unarmed. toss your gun on the ground.
no.  not really.
i didn't say 'when.'
i don't know nuthin'. not a damn thing.