Highwaymen (2004)

Sure I can't give you a ride home?
Thanks, Boone.
Alex is picking me up.
But it's nice of you to ask.
Well, it's late, it's cold.
You think it's a good idea.
to wait here alone?
I could wait with you.
I'll be fine.
Good night, Molly.
Good night, Boone.
Hey, Alex. Thanks.
No problem.
Alex? Take it slow tonight?
Why?
I don't know. It's late.
I'm not as alert as I'd like to be.
You're a passenger.
How alert do you have to be?
What's he doing?
Winking.
He's getting over.
Alex!
Are you all right?
Shit.
Molly?
Molly, are you all right?
Yeah.
Stay here. I'll go get help.
Stop! I need help!
No! Oh, please!
Alex!
Get back here!
Possible hit and run. Multiple...
Officer on scene not involved.
Requesting supervisor.
Hold it! Hold it right there.
Tunnel's closed.
This is an emergency lane.
Will Macklin. Traffic investigator.
T.I. coming through!
Work fast, guys.
Keep going. Come on, good job.
You're good. Go ahead.
Jimmy.
Will.
What happened?
We got a mess.
You remember how it was.
Great to be
young and stupid on a
Saturday night.
We got three vehicles,
four bodies.
Nothing ticking but their watches.
White female, early 20's.
Talk about a hard-on.
You got a filthy mind, Jimmy.
You ought to transfer to Vice.
Horse trailer must've gone in first.
That's why the animal's here.
First on the scene was
that guy there with the dogs.
But he didn't call it in.
Who did?
Wouldn't leave his name.
Came in on channel nine.
Nine? A CB?
People still use them?
This look like a souvenir shop?
Hey! Hey, we got a survivor here!
Hey! Up here!
Let's go!
Come in.
Molly?
Will Macklin,
state traffic investigator.
She's already said
everything she has to say.
Not to me.
It's okay.
I'll be right outside.
Please, sit.
You must feel that we
don't do our job very well.
For something like this
to happen to you. Twice.
This isn't the same.
No, of course not.
The other was worse, I'd guess.
Losing your family like that.
I've seen it take down grown men.
You must've been a tough
little girl.
I was just wondering...
What?
If it wouldn't skew what you saw.
Shade your thinking a little.
It shades my life.
So it's conceivable
you got things wrong?
He saw her. He toyed with her.
He killed her,
and then he came after me.
Don't suppose you know anything
about skid marks?
No.
Rubber on asphalt is like
ink on paper.
Tires may not know how to spell...
but the marks they leave
are a language just the same.
And what do they say?
There were a lot of people in that
tunnel trying to avoid one another.
One guy doing just the opposite.
It almost sounds like
you believe me.
What are you going to do about it?
Molly...
I'm not a homicide detective.
I don't even carry a gun.
Just a measuring tape and a pencil.
I've never made an arrest
in my life. Never shot anyone.
You said the vehicle was big,
American maybe...
old, possibly green.
What else can you tell me about it?
Filthy.
Okay. Let me start
by confessing...
that I've never actually
been in an accident.
But I know what you're thinking,
feeling.
You're saying to yourself,
"Why me?"
Yes, well, it didn't just
happen to you.
In America, 300 of us are
seriously
injured in a motor vehicle
accident... every hour.
That's over 8,000 of us a day.
That's over three million a year.
The person next to you,
take their hand.
Take it. Go on, take it.
That's it.
I want you to do something for me.
I want you to say...
I am not alone.
Say it with me.
I am not alone.
Good. Again.
I am not alone.
What happened to me
happened once.
Pardon?
Not 8,000 times a day. One time.
I understand what you're feeling.
Excuse me.
See? That's what happens
when we put up the barricades.
I am not alone.
I am not alone.
Sorry.
About what?
About whatever brought you here.
How did yours happen?
Hit-and-run.
Me, too.
Did they catch the person?
No, they didn't.
I have to be somewhere.
Can I give you a ride?
Somebody's meeting me.
What about later?
It's kind of a bad time.
I didn't say we'd enjoy ourselves.
You promise?
We'll be pitiful.
I'll be back next week,
and if you're here then, we'll see.
It wasn't an accident, Molly.
He knew what he was doing.
What are you talking about?
He drives a 1972
Cadillac Eldorado.
Pepper green.
I believe you know the car.
If you know something about
what happened to me.
Take it to the police.
They can't help us.
You don't think I've
tried that before? No police.
Did he take something of yours?
What do you mean?
Are you missing something?
Something to remember you by?
He always takes a souvenir.
He took my picture.
If I can find you, so can he.
He's coming back, Molly.
You're his only mistake.
Eleven o'clock. Orchestra Hall.
I think you and I had better talk.
Son of a bitch!
Damn!
Traffic unit 4-8.
I've got a pursuit,
could use some backup.
Identify yourself.
Macklin.
Who?
Will Macklin. Traffic Investigation.
Shit!
Never mind.
The tunnel's coming up.
Maybe we should go around.
Let's go around.
Thanks, Boone.
Boone, can you move?
Hold it!
Come on!
Grab my hand!
Look at me! Now!
Cray...
you want another shot at me?
Have the girl out here
tomorrow night.
It's simple.
I want her, you want me.
Use her.
We'll be here.
Very good.
Another 100,000 miles of this,
and you'll be
just like me.
Let me out.
I have to help my friend.
Molly, your friend's dead.
And like I said before, no police.
Any sign of the girl?
Nada.
The guy in the Barracuda?
Well, his plates were stolen
three weeks ago in Indiana, and...
What?
He's missing a door.
Please.
What do you want with me?
You're not seriously considering
going back out there?
Not considering. We'll be there.
No, we won't!
I am not getting back in that car.
What happened to you?
He killed someone close to you,
didn't he?
Who did he run down?
Stop!
Am I going to die?
My wife.
He ran over my wife.
He always takes a souvenir.
He convinced them
it was an accident.
That she was standing in the road.
That he ran because
I went after him.
I did three years.
And he spent the next
They rebuilt him from
the ground up.
Then one day his bed was empty.
A month later, I got the first
of I don't know how many letters.
Press clippings of his accidents.
From all over the map.
Totally random.
Just like yours.
Most of them recent.
Most?
He'd been doing this for a while.
There've been nine women.
Three before Olivia.
Why didn't you tell the police?
I did.
But they're just hit-and-runs
to the police.
And usually a thousand miles
apart.
They don't have the imagination
to link them to one man.
Did you mean to hit him?
I didn't know much
about driving back then.
You know it's basic
obstacle avoidance.
You're not supposed to look at the
thing you're trying to avoid.
Or you'll drive right into it.
All I know is...
I was looking at him.
That door get over here yet?
Door?
Oh, yeah. You mean the '68, sure.
Check this out.
"For use in supervised
acceleration trials.
Not intended for highway use."
Barracuda. Super stock
Only about 50, 60 ever shipped.
The body's been acid-dipped,
but wait...
check this out.
There's no sound deadener.
Not what you call street legal,
but if you put her on a
drag strip...
she'll lay down some
serious rubber.
I'd love to get my hands
on the rest of her.
Yeah, so would I.
Something else.
Look at the tiny magnet on that
thing. It's designed for voice only.
Scanner, two-way radio, CB,
stuff like that.
That mean something to you?
Maybe. Someone I'm looking for
uses a CB.
Well, congratulations.
You've arrested his door.
Wally, can you hook me up with
a CB?
I got a nice 40-channel number,
single
sideband, voice lock,
dynamic squelch.
How's that grab you?
If that's a CB, I'll take it.
You've done this before.
A long time ago.
You're a doctor?
It's just what I was.
Here's a...
a shirt...
and...
some other things,
if you need them.
Thank you.
Could you turn around?
So what was he before all of this?
Insurance. He worked out of
a little bungalow in Oakland.
Mostly automobile coverage.
Dealing with smash-ups all day.
Could be where he picked up a taste for it.
Definitely where he learned
how to get away with it.
It happened to you, too.
A car did that.
When you were a kid.
Who was driving,
your mom or your dad?
Dad.
Did he make it?
What about your mom?
I can't drive because of it.
Can't get over the fear.
I'll screw up
and make another little girl
an orphan.
We have a lot in common,
you and me.
I can't go out there again.
He disappears for three,
four months at time.
I'd have to start over again.
I can't do it.
He'd be across the country
now if it weren't for you.
He killed two of your friends.
Without so much as getting
a speeding ticket.
I know what he did.
Then help me.
I can't.
There's something
I can't do either.
I can't let you go.
Will?
I'm here.
There are only 25
Hemi Barracudas still registered.
One model, matching description.
Owner of record...
Cray Renford James. Did three years
for aggravated assault.
Guess what he used for a weapon.
His car.
Cray?
Are you there?
I was thinking of heading
out west after this one.
Try our luck on one
of the superslabs.
The I-10, maybe the 70.
Past all those Pizza Huts,
all those chain cities.
And all those girls.
You know...
she takes a pretty good picture,
our Molly.
I wonder if she's thinking of me
as much as I'm thinking of her.
You should let me finish her,
Cray.
You know I'm going to.
Sooner... later.
With you... without you.
You know what the headshrinkers
call this?
Exposure therapy.
I know.
When the body does something
it doesn't want to do...
It tightens up.
You lose feeling
in your hands, your legs.
You can't steer.
You can't shift.
Turn the key.
Is that him?
No. His headlights are
like his eyes.
Only one works.
His body is his car.
Stop his car, stop him.
All we have to do is hustle
the slug right out of his shell.
What?
I'm not sure.
Listen.
Do you have her? Is she with you?
Yeah, she's here.
He's coming.
Delta D-Code...
Shit! Goddamn!
Running!
Renford James Cray!
Kill the engine.
Listen carefully, because I only
have time to say this once.
The fellow you're after drives
a '72 Cadillac Eldorado.
He's got a two-minute head start.
Step out of my way,
I make that time up, no problem.
Turn it off.
Three-minute head start!
I said turn it off! The only way
I'll find out what's going on...
...is to keep one of you
off the road... Move!
...long enough to fill me in.
Cray, pick up.
Pick up.
I know you're there.
Is she still alive?
I'm not sure.
Just tell me.
Let me check.
No! Rennie! Help...
Fargo!
Fargo.
Would someone please tell me
what the fuck is going on?
Yeah. First help me find
a radiator.
Shoot.
Do you have any idea where we're
going, or are you just driving?
Been tracking him for two years.
Yeah, I have some idea.
You're just driving.
He prefers major highways,
because he likes the speed.
With fall coming.
He'll stick pretty much
to the western, southwestern states.
He has a sixth sense for
hick towns with speed traps.
And manages to avoid them.
He loves tunnels and
drive-through restaurants.
He hates drawbridges, will go
miles out of his way to avoid one.
He used to stop for repairs.
But he's gotten good at taking care
of that himself.
He can patch a punctured lung
just as easily as a flat tire.
Why does he do it?
He just does it.
Isn't that enough?
No, man. If I'm supposed to help,
I need to know more.
His father had a little
auto insurance business.
He used to show his kid wreck
photos.
Bodies, smashed faces,
decapitations.
Kid collected them. Then he went to
work for his father.
Pretty soon that wasn't enough.
He started creating his own pictures
with the accidents he caused.
But why Molly?
How does he choose these women?
It's completely random.
He drives for hours playing
different
scenarios in his head until
he has to act.
Then he just looks for an opportunity.
You know, an empty highway...
or a woman by herself.
So a killer who leaves
no fingerprints, no DNA.
And he drives off in the
murder weapon.
And only you know about it.
And you.
Have you ever seen him?
Up close, I mean.
Twice.
Last night, and five years ago.
The day he killed my wife.
He looked exactly like what
he was.
A middle-aged insurance
salesman...
that no one would
pay attention to.
Ordinary face.
Forgettable.
Except you can't forget it.
Let me tell you something.
Outside that Caddy he is nothing.
Separate the mind
from the machine and...
And what?
We can go home.
What?
Not sure. Something.
GARAGE
It's morphine sulfate.
She's alive.
I don't understand,
how can you tell?
That's what he's telling us.
He's also telling us
where he's taking her.
Where?
About 400 miles or so.
Across a couple of states.
It's where he's going to kill her.
You know where we are?
I got it for a good price.
Insurance money.
You know what that is?
There's a lot of me
still in that car.
If you look close,
you can see bone.
Check the glove box.
Pictures.
This your wife?
Keep looking.
There. That one.
It was taken the day
he killed her.
For revenge,
he's going to do it again.
One thing about me
Fargo's always depended on.
What's that?
I come alone.
He'll be expecting me.
Won't be expecting you.
Is there a REACT unit
monitoring this channel?
This is a police emergency.
I'm at a motel somewhere
near the state line.
Towers Motel.
Anyone. Anyo...
I need to be sure of something.
You've been on this
highway a long time.
And that can change a man.
I need to be sure when the time
comes you can change back.
What are you asking?
We're here to save a life,
not commit homicide.
Right?
MOTEL OFFICE
Right there is good!
I said there!
Go. Go!
Who are you supposed to be?
Will Macklin.
State traffic investigator.