"Exactly."
"And what do the dogs do?"
Cooper just looks at me.
And it hits me.
The dogs find people who don't have any body heat.
Vincent stays at the house on the beach, but he learns from a friend that the police are going through all his properties. His friend assumed the search had something to do with sale of his company-like the police were there to take inventory or something.
"They kept asking about equipment we'd use on set. Wanted to know if I knew of any other locations where they could find any. If I knew where you could be."
"What'd you tell them?"
"I didn't tell them shit. Besides, I have no idea where you are."
"I'm in Utah, officially retired."
"The board was stupid to get rid of you. You're the only one around here with a lick of sense."
"Thanks, that means a lot. So when I cash out and buy a yacht, you'll be the first one I invite on it," Victor lies.
Vincent worries that they might find him here before Keatyn comes back. What if the old man told someone? Vincent can't take the chance.
While Victor is sending the old man to his maker, Keatyn is sitting in her bed, unable to sleep.
I'm going through all the millions of emails I've gotten announcing January sales at all my favorite retail stores.
I delete them and go through my spam folder.
I'm bulk deleting crap emails when one catches my eye. I quickly click it.
RE: Warren Taylor Agency script request.
Keatyn- Sorry it took so long, but here's the script you requested for A Day at the Beach, the working title for the remake of A Day at the Lake. Please see attachment.
Cheers.
I'm just opening the script when a notification pops up telling me I have an incoming call from Brooklyn.
I immediately answer it, praying it's actually him.
That's he's overtaken Vincent and is free.
Or that Garrett found him.
I say a quick prayer then open my eyes.
To find Vincent staring back at me.
"You called yesterday?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah," I reply. My eyes are fixed to the screen, trying to scan the background for any possible clue or indication to where he may be keeping Brooklyn.
At the same time, I'm patting the bed, searching for my phone. I have to record this.
Put your hands where I can see them," Vincent orders.
I hold my hands up. "Why?"
"Because I need to know you're not recording this."
"Why, are you going to say something incriminating?"
"No, I was seeing what you wanted. You called me last night."
"I'm coming back to Malibu. I'm ready to make the movie."
He smiles a genuine smile, looking like the Vincent who I thought was my friend. "Really? When?"
"I'm flying in from New York on Sunday," I lie. "Where should I meet you?"
"I think you know."
"On the beach?"
He nods.
"I want to talk to Brooklyn."
"I'm afraid he's unavailable at the moment."
"Is he alive, Vince?"
"Yes, Lacy, he's alive. We're just waiting for you to join us."
I nod, end the call, and immediately open the script and read the ending.
While they are chatting, Vincent notices something hanging from her bedpost. It's a sash.
He takes a screenshot of it to blow up later. He starts to laugh at his own joke-about blowing it up later. Definitely foreshadowing.
After they hang up, he goes to the screenshot, blows it up, and easily makes out the words, Eastbrooke. A quick Internet search pulls up an Eastbrooke Academy in Connecticut.
And there on the front page is a video for perspective students, featuring her. He watches the video a few times, mesmerized by her.
Then he sits down and meticulously plans it all out. Just like an expensive movie stunt, the timing and execution of the plan is critical.
He draws a map with four circles on it symbolizing each bomb. One for Tommy Steven's set trailer in New York City. Bye, bye, step daddy. One at the country house in France. Bye, bye, whore and her little spawns. One at his grandmother's house. He stops and taps his pencil on the paper, second-guessing himself. He really doesn't want to blow up his grandmother's house. He glances at the lump lying on the mattress and knows he has no choice. Production has started, and he can't change the script. If Vince is going to win Lacy, the world must believe that Matt is behind all the destruction.
But in case he doesn't succeed or gets caught, he has to make sure there's no evidence tying him to any of it. So bomb number four will be here, set to go off later than the others.
His eyes flit around the room, each photo urging him to continue in his quest for love. All of the photos agree.
Lacy and Vince belong together.
Vincent watches the video a few more times, this time memorizing the faces of Lacy's friends along with their names.
He's setting the final pieces of his plan in motion when Matt wakes up from another drug-induced nap. "I know where she is."
Brooklyn blinks his eyes and watches the video playing on the screen. Keatyn is in it. At her school. What was she thinking doing something like that and putting it on the Internet?
"It's just a commercial she was paid to do," Brooklyn lies unconvincingly.
"You knew where she was and didn't tell me," Vincent states.
Brooklyn pulls himself up to a sitting position and nods defiantly.
Vincent smiles at him, surprised at the boy's willingness to endure pain for someone he cares about. But it's something he understands all too well. "You love her," he says.
Brooklyn nods again.
"You will be reunited soon. I'm going to get her."
"You won't succeed," Brooklyn snarls back. "She has security, body guards. The school is a fortress."
"You should pray that I succeed," Vincent says calmly.
"Why?"
"I've calculated how much time it will take to bring her back and included some leeway. If I succeed, you will be reunited with her, and filming will commence. But if I don't-" Vincent pauses dramatically.
"If you don't, what?"
Vincent shows him the bomb. "You will burn."
He gives Matt a larger dose of medication than he has before, hoping it won't kill him. As he's shoving the needle into his arm, Matt attempts to fight back.
This surprises Vincent, who reels backwards and drops the syringe. Matt jumps on top of him, beating him with his tied together hands.
Pure rage blurs Vincent's vision. He will not let this little worthless piece of shit get between him and Lacy. He pulls them both up off the ground. Matt comes at him, but Vince hits him on the back of the head with the briefcase that the bomb will go inside. Matt crumples to the ground.
Vincent looks up at Lacy on the wall. "It's just you and me now," he says.
He throws Matt onto the mattress, finishes giving him his shot, and takes the bomb and the briefcase out of the safe room, locking it behind him.
He gets the bomb's timer set, checks to make sure the old man is still dead, and feeds the dog. The dog kisses his hand.
He pats the dog's head. "Don't worry. I'll be back."
Vincent's flight to Connecticut is filled with turbulence, and he hopes it's not a forewarning of things to come. Keatyn calls Garrett at the same time Vincent lands.
Even though it's late, I call Garrett.
"I just got the new script!" I tell him.
"Keatyn, what time is it there?"
"I don't know. Late. Were you sleeping? Did I wake you?"
"I was taking a quick nap. It's okay. What did you learn?"
"Well, first off, Vincent changed the name of the movie to A Day at the Beach. He added a bunch of special effects things that I sort of skimmed over but-have you ever seen the original?"
"It's been quite a few years but, yes."
"So, in the original, Vince was the killer. He had a major crush on Lacy-Mom's character-and it was his house on the lake. At the end, you figure out he's the bad guy because he tries to kill Matt, who is Lacy's boyfriend. You think Matt is dead and Vince is being all creepy and trying to get Lacy. You find out that he wants Matt gone because he wants Lacy to go on a semester abroad with him. But Matt staggers back up, kills Vince, saves the day, and rides off with the girl."
"How is the new script different?"
"Well, first of all, it's set on a beach, not a lake. Vince now has a dog, which is a classic writer's trick for making a bad character more lovable. The big twist, though, is that Vince kidnaps Matt, kills everyone, frames Matt for the murders, has him arrested in front of Lacy, and when the police take him away, Vince professes his love to Lacy and they kiss. The end. The bad guy gets the girl. Bring on the sequel."
"And you think his script translates to real life?"
"Yes, I think Vincent thinks the movie is real life. He told me he had the dog and he had Matt."
"So you think he's going to kill people and set Brooklyn up to take the fall?"
"Yes."
"And then he's going to ride off into the sunset with you?"
"Something like that, yes."
"Do you still think he'll kill you?"
"If he does, I think he'll kill himself too. Just know that no matter what the evidence looks like, Brooklyn didn't do it."
"Got it. Now get some sleep."
As soon as Vincent had found out where Keatyn was, he called Hondo and asked him for help in figuring out the school's weakness. Hondo told him it's the same everywhere, even at the White House. They have to get food and supplies in and out. That's how you'll get in.
He promises to have more information the following morning, and when he calls Vincent, who is pacing in his hotel room, he has good news. Through his contacts, he was able to discover that a produce company has a delivery scheduled for today. He just has to get control of the truck.
Vincent hijacks the truck at its stop before Eastbrooke, kills the driver then tosses his body into a dumpster. The back of the truck is almost empty as the school is his last stop of the day. Vincent tosses the rest of the produce crates into the trash on top of the man. Then he makes his way to the school.
The next afternoon, Keatyn is in her room, packing a few things in her backpack.