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The Hollow Point (2016)
Hey, Ken.
What's up? You're getting skinnier on me. Yeah. Where's my money? Your friend was late four hours last week. And he's late again today. So... Go have a talk with him. The talk is happening right now. You're going nowhere until clive gets here. Ahh. Never seen no speed limit on this road, sheriff kilbaught, so I... So I made a... A modest estimate. Never been anything modest about your modesty, clive. This truck don't go a mile over 50, sheriff. Now, you were driving a different truck this morning. I've been watching you the last few weeks, driving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Now, we both know there ain't nothing in this town worth taking a second look at. Yeah. That against the law now, sheriff? Okay, come on, out. Even your mama thinks you're a piece of shit. You don't belong here. You got me thinking. Two trucks... Hauling the same junk in the same day? I mean, what's garbage like you doing with garbage like this? Come on, open her up. It's the only job i can get, seeing as how people are so damn discriminant... Against those who have paid their dues. Discriminant? Hell of a word there, clive. But it ain't your word. What did you do with the other truck, huh? You're gonna start walking-- hey. What you got there, boy? You spit that out. Spit it out! You spit that out! Huh? Come on, get up. Get up! What? Is it the stew-maker? Hear the cartel has a guy, dissolves people in acid, puts them in a barrel, makes them soup. Is that who I'm waiting for? Is it you? My job is to place a call at 7:30. And if you don't make the call? You get put on a list. And if you get put on the list... It's unfortunate. But if clive isn't here in the next 15 minutes, soon enough, I'll be talking to a dead man. Well... If I'm already dead... You're a dead man! You ain't doing too good a job at staying gone. You know, sometimes... I can't get through an entire day without hearing all kinds of rumors getting told about you. Like what? I don't know. One of my favorite ones is the one about you getting murdered on Indian Ridge. Well, they have the decency to bury me, at least? Can't say. Don't really keep track of the rumors I didn't start. Got any rumors about me being made sheriff? Sheriff kilbaught ain't gonna like you coming back. Well, he's gonna find he ain't got much room to argue. Maybe I don't like you coming back. You know I always told you, you deserve better than this. Marla. Welcome home, Wallace. Hey, how come that thing always stayed broken? Don't got a phone connection at my ma's old house anymore. Marla was good about looking after it, but... Use that one. You ever hear anything about me getting murdered? Yes, sir, i believe I have. They shot you in the throat. - Throat? - Yeah. - No kidding? - Mm-hmm. Heard you was mouthing off like you used to, and somebody just shot you right there how you stood. Well, Jerry, ain't you gonna welcome me back from the dead? Asshole. Armor-piercing. They call them "cop killers." Why is that? On account of them killing cops. Do you need it for, like, DNA? Forensics lab is two weeks and 150 miles away from giving half a shit about this town. Bet you no one's told you that. Yeah, yeah. Yep, don't let that worry you none too much. You know, are you lonely for a car? I get lonely when I don't have a car. But I'm not lonely anymore, 'cause at Diaz motors I've got plenty of friends. Ahh. You don't got to knock. I know what you're after. Come on in. Yeah? You are scared shitless. What did you know about that? There's just the matter of this job you come to do. Six reported incidences of harassing motorists, two with brutality. Then there's you, crossing the line. No, that ain't it. It's been a long time coming, Leland, the way you've been running things. If you ain't scared of what needs to be done, then you ain't got no clue why you're here. I got sent here to replace you. Maybe a day too late, but replace you nonetheless. You got sent here because it's your punishment, Wallace. Taking your statement, is all. You fetch me some water, would you? Hmm? Hm. You have no idea what that... That boy clive was threatening to bring. These horrible people doing immoral things, and now they're creeping across the border, threatening to make the boogeyman a real thing. It's enough to give you a good start. It'll make you want to wait for all the bad things to come get you. I don't regret what happened. Takes a willing hand to punish horrible men. They're building a case, le. They're gonna lock you away. You come here to get my statement? Huh? Expecting me to say I'm innocent? I was gonna make that boy walk. I was gonna put him on that back road, leave him to the boogeyman to rip him apart, or return him to whatever ungodly dirt he came from. And if the road couldn't do it... I'd do it myself, 'cause sometimes that's just what you got to do. Well, you've done enough. Ah. Welcome home, Wallace. Asshole. Ken mersey didn't go home last night. He's been reported missing this morning. Boys need stupid things to do. That's how their mamas wire them. Well, his mama wasn't no electrician. Explains the dim bulb. It's not like you to be so funny so early. Well... I always figured Ken mersey liked you a whole lot more than you liked him. Maybe he just don't want to show his face. He's missing, I'm worried. It doesn't have to be so black-and-white, Lilly. For fuck's sake. All I'm saying is that... Maybe he's gone because he wants to be gone. This ain't hardly about Ken, is it? This is about Wallace coming back. Hey, do you want to take care of this? Oh, Jerry, you're just aching for coffee, aren't you? Here. Drink up. There's plenty more. That's an awful shame about kilbaught. Old sheriff kilbaught is a violent dinosaur going the way of his kind. How about yourself? I'm good on coffee. Uh-huh. Spent a good five months figuring out smuggling routes up in Indian Ridge. Kept on hearing about peculiarities and such. Catapults and back-alley breast implants. Even heard about a submarine once somebody took the time to build by hand in their garage. Mm. And these brass bastards, they buy fear and panic, which makes them a whole lot cleaner than money. You can speculate all you want about where they came from or where they're going, but the real concern here is, what's gonna happen if this bullet don't make its destination. So... You found just the one? Shit. You still alive? Someone's calling looking to speak with the sheriff! He sure rushed my gate in a hurry. I called you because the plates came back. They were registered to a used car lot over in your jurisdiction. Diaz classics? Yeah. Showed up as stolen. I called it in. It took 40 minutes. Anyway, they chased him all the way out to the 24, lost him out there on a back road before your guy went in after him. What guy? I don't know. I couldn't flag him, but I saw him. I saw the tan uniform. I figured I'd just call your partner in the morning and check in. Was me and the old man. As of this morning, got to be just me. Dispatch, we have a code 32 off carrion road. Burning pretty good, by the smell of it. I think I found us Ken mersey. What the hell happened to you, Ken? Where'd you get off to? Shit. Well, that's everyone that's come in. Closest thing to a molotov cocktail these folks have seen is a broken air conditioner. Sorry about that, deputy. But I don't believe your friend is here. Didn't say he was a friend. And it's sheriff. Is Ken in there? Is he okay? Don't give me that look, Wallace. Surprising, is all. Ken mersey is a good man. He looks after me. Oh, Wallace, stop it. What do you know about the truck? He bought it. He told me to fix it up and sell it to shep. You know he was smuggling ammunitions across the border in that truck? That's a lie. Well, whatever he ain't telling you got him in trouble last night, got him confronted. By who? Still sorting that out. But whoever that may be, I ain't gonna tell you that Ken mersey don't got his own consequences coming to him. Ah, fuck. You bring him home, Wallace. They got your commercial on TV up in Indian Ridge. It's 4:00 in the morning, but it's TV nonetheless. You trick-or-treating? Was wondering if you knew anything about Ken mersey going missing. Yeah, what kind of trouble he got? The considerable kind, i guess. Ooh. Really taking yourself seriously in that uniform, ain't you? Don't mind going after an old drinking buddy like that? As far as I can see, he's under arrest. Ah. If he's still alive. How do you take your coffee? I don't. Well... No sales being had. No maintenance or repairs being had. It's just a whole lot of nothing. I haven't had a real need for Ken in the garage. What about the stolen truck? Trucks. He took them with. He didn't say anything. He just...Went. That don't sound like him. People have a way of changing on you, I guess. I guess. I want the trucks back. That's why I only reported one. I wanted him to know, you know? I didn't really want Ken to get into any sort of trouble, knowing his mama and all. Ken was cutting armor-piercing slugs into scrap engine parts not 20 feet from where you're sitting. Well, if he was doing any of the sort, it wasn't in my garage. There's no other place in town suited for that kind of...Activity. First off, how about his garage? Ken opened his own shop? Always get a ribbon for trying. Asshole. You're good right there, Wallace. What'd you get yourself into, Kenny? I took 250,000 to leave this place, to not belong in here, for just-- for just one night. It kicks a good bit of life into you. That cousin of yours, he's laid out on a slab. Kilbaught took his head clean off, and you ain't too far behind. I want to know where the bullets are coming from and who struck the deal. I want names, names I can hunt down and put away this side of the border. The cartel won't take this lightly. They'll send someone. What's coming, it ain't some butcher. It's punishment. You can't stop a thing like that. All that money you took can't buy the fact that now you got them coming after Marla too. She didn't know. They won't care. I only took my cut! What's this? Oh, you chicken shit, just go. Fuck me. Ugh! Aah! Kenny. Fuck. Aah! Aah! Aah! Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god. What the hell? Wallace? Wallace! Wallace... Hey, Wallace. What the hell happened to you, son? Huh? Who did this to you, boy? When it happens... When it stops... You can't feel it. It don't hurt. We got to get you some... Come on, Wallace. Come on, you're gonna be okay. How does that feel? About as good as it looks. If we fetch it, we can re-attach it. They do... Do that, right? Well, you got one of two options: Get used to it, or don't look at it. Hear that? What? That'd be me, slow-clapping you, if my clapping hand was still with us. Could have been a lot worse on you. I saw your friend when they brought him in. He ain't my friend. Way you saw him... Kilbaught was right about people like him bringing hell up into this town. The way I see it, Ken mersey got what was coming to him, getting his head cut off the way-- you said you were gonna bring him home. Marla... That's what you said to me, Wallace. Well, the hell with him. I know what I said. There was nothing to bring home. You're such a fuck. Shepard Diaz. History of misconduct, brutality, or any badges with that name? Uh-huh. Hang on. Shoot. Yep. Simon, yep. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Well, does the system make any note of tattoos or distinct markings and such? The neck. Yeah. Last known address? Wallace, I need to talk. Think I've done more than enough of that with you today. I'm sorry for snapping at you back at the hospital. Shit. Wallace... You should be back in that bed. You ran off without these. I don't want you to do this. It's not your job to punish me like this. I ain't punishing. Going out there and getting yourself killed? Yeah, what are you calling that? Please don't do this. You're all I got left. Wasn't too good at taking you away from this place, was I? No. Mm. You are tired, busted, and hurt, is what you are. Don't be mad. Got to thinking about that stolen jalopy of yours, which got me thinking about your ex-wife. Hm? Hm. I couldn't hold on either, shep. Never could. And I was captivated by my bride. I just couldn't tell which color was what on her. Didn't know why i never did bother. Anyway, she got to walking out on me. Hm. Been gone more years now than we was actually together. No... You can't win a woman back. That's something ugly beasts like you and me do not get to do. Oh, go fuck yourself, le. - Hey! - Fuck you, fuck you. Hold on there a second. Don't you go dwelling in dignity. Does not suit you. Doesn't suit us. She's half your worth, and she's gone. You haven't sold a car on that lot for ages. You got a face like a thumb, and you stuck it on a TV commercial. How dare you, hmm? I do must ask myself, how the hell do you keep this place afloat? Ahh. Come on, sit down, shep. Hmm? Sit. You are not an unfortunate man. You're an auspicious parasite, and I need you to tell me who's on the other side of that spook. You came in with your mind made up. What the fuck you want me to tell you, le? Huh? Can't ask you to trust me. Well, then don't. Shame on you. I had trouble finding the fix for it. But I found it. So what's this, then? It's only ever been three crosses that I remember. Who's the fourth? Could be the one waiting for me. "This god-forsaken road will bury us all somehow," was the way Ken said it. You look good with that promotion on you. You already got made sheriff. You got what you wanted. - Oh, yeah. - What about me, huh? Wasn't so much a promotion, like I said it was. Why wasn't I good enough? Good enough for you to stay? Can't... So how much money he take? Well, enough, i guess. You sound like you really care. They don't care about the money neither. They just got to decide if his death is enough. Simple as that. If they can find Ken in the middle of a back road, they're sure as hell are gonna find you. I've seen the man who killed him. I know his name, i know where he is. And what are you gonna do? You can't even write him a ticket. Kilbaught, he knew. There's no arresting anyone. Not anymore. I need a ride. Up here, on the left. You know you don't got to go. Call it a good cause, then. The only good cause you'll ever have is listening to me. We could go. Keep driving. I'd really like that. Oh, fuck! Get back, get back! Go on, put it down. That girl behind you ain't gonna like you with no pecker. Now put the fucking gun down. Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck are you? I'm the man looking for Samuel Gibbons. That'd be me. Is this you hiding him? Huh? Look, look, i don't know much, but just take whatever you want and go. Shut up! You're a cop? I work for county, same as you. Whatever the issue is here, you and I, we can sort it out. We can understand each other. How is it that they own you? I don't know what you're talking about. I know they own you. I swear to god, I don't know-- I don't know what you're talking about! I know they do, you son of a bitch, I know they do! Stop it! Stop it! - You're gonna take me to him! - Oh, my god! Now we're gonna make a liar out of you. Why are you helping him? Take me to him! You gonna take me to him now? I don't know what you want me tell you. I don't know! They're good at making threats. - Get the fuck away from him! - Get back. No. Just--just stop! They're efficient at getting their points understood. So maybe you had a gun held to your head. But I bet she ain't had a gun held to hers. No, stop it! You stop it, god damn it. Please, no, please, please. Stop, god damn it, please. Stop, stop. No. Shh. Shh. Stop him. It's okay. You're gonna be okay. What happens to her is because of you. Now, you tell me where he is! I swear to god, I don't know what you fucking mean. You know what he done. And that don't make you any better than him. Oh, my god. Is that the guy who killed Ken? I don't know. I was sure that he-- you were gonna kill him anyway? What is it with you, Wallace? You find the wrong guy, and then you won't stop. It ain't making you any better than what you're chasing after. Marla, wait. What a pair, huh? Yeah. What's that you said about good people disappearing? Was that... 'Cause there's no protecting them? Or you fail to protect them? Or you scare them away? One of those. All of those. Nearly killed an innocent man. Well, there's no getting him, the man you're after. Could be anybody. Because incidentally, he is anybody. Monsters hide in plain sight. And once you put enough money in a man's hands, he'll do almost whatever you want, and you can turn him into whatever you need him to be. Just like these boogeymen on the back roads. They're demons. And "demons" is only a way of calling their illness. - Ahh. - What's there to stop it, then? You go after the illness itself. Crumpled under the vest? Seor Diaz selling them crap. They're after shep. So shep was using Ken to smuggle shitty bullets into Mexico? Huh. Would you do it? Make a go at it for 250,000? That don't seem enough. No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't run if I knew I couldn't. I'd burrow down. Where? Put him on the back road, let the back road take him? What's different, then? What's changed? Shep owes your friend Ken mersey a death. Now, he'll pay for it, and he'll pay for it right, to us. You're making an arrest? That's why you're here. Helping restore me to the man I once was. He wasn't my friend. This guy, you sure he's here? Asshole showed me a wire receipt just before he shot me. Hey, stupid! Come on out! We know you're in there! Oh, shit! He's under the house! You gonna shoot? I was thinking about it, yeah. Fuck. Put it down, shep! Wallace! Wallace! Oh, shit. It's okay. It's okay. Easy. So...That hovel you've been squatting, what made you think of that place, huh? Might as well spill it, shep. The way you've been going about getting folks killed is only gonna get me madder. Some young filly on the side, huh? That was a long time ago, sheriff. Sheriff? Oh, no, no. I don't think there's any need for formalities anymore, not after you shot me. What the hell you mean by that? It's only me. It's a list. It's a walking, breathing list, and it will follow you to hell. The guy they use, don't know where he's coming from, but he finds who they tell him to find. He is a butcher. Won't matter how far I get. Won't matter where I go. They're looking to make an example. You've been liquidating assets. I'm trying to buy my name off that forsaken list. I've given them everything that's not locked down on my lot. I've given them every buckskin I've earned, and it's still not enough. Who's wiring your money? My ex-wife's pension, few drops in a bucket. All her life amounted to, I guess. I need Ken mersey. If he made it back with that money and I get my hands on that money, I promise you, le, on my life, I promise you, I'll make all this go away. I'll even cut you in. All you do is let me walk on out that door. Let me make it right. How much you reckon that's worth? You stay another day in this town, and you're gonna answer for what you did. They'll put you in a cement box for what you did to clive. I'm offering you kindness. I'll mull it over. Fuck! So that's you leaving. Always known what's going on in my head, haven't you? Not by choice. Yeah, lucky you. Maybe some day, when luck can afford me. Yes, ma'am. You are sweet in small doses. Your picture. You deserve better. Wallace, please don't-- and I'm gonna keep telling it to you like that until you leave. I can't. Can't think of something nice to say to her. Lilly's a nice girl, and she was asking for a rosary, so I think i should get it. Okay. I'll go fetch it. Wallace, please stay. This place is... Scorched of life. It's a graveyard. Think about leaving. Do what you got to do, but... The only person that's gonna save you is you. Oh, sorry, i thought Lilly was in here-- it's you. What about me? Can't remember the last time I walked around with a picture of a girl in my wallet. Well...One that i didn't love to pieces, anyway. I don't know. Maybe I'm talking about a different Ken mersey. I know who you're talking about. The Ken mersey i got to know... Couldn't talk about anything that wasn't you. His share of the take was always your share of the take. I hear he does that. Always the church girls. No. Shit. Damn it. Lilly? Lilly? Slow down, heavy. We're stopping all cars tonight. What the hell is this? What in the hell you think it is? What the hell is that cock-skin doing with a gun? Now, now, now. You're gonna have to mind your manners around Jerry from here on in. He's been deputized. What is it you're doing here? Someone is coming to make something terrible out of shep Diaz and make an example out of this town. I reckon I'm here doing the same thing. By protecting shep or by getting him killed? Either way is fine by me. You are a mean dinosaur, Leland. Congratulations, Harry. Go get your gun. You've just been deputized. Here, you take this. And I'll take this. Go on, now. What the hell is this between you and him? What's that you call it? That might as well have been you out there dismembering people. He ain't hurting no one that don't got it coming. He took my fucking hand! We fall short of god's glory because of people like you. What about Marla? Because that's who he's off getting tonight. I seen the pictures, the spying you've been doing for him! God, that's how he knows where to find who he needs to find. If Marla dies tonight, I'm gonna make sure that falls on you. His faith is being tested, like I'm being tested. All right, where's he coming in from? It's the only way he knows. No, I need to know. So we can be together. Where's he coming in from? You expect him to come get you? Come and save you? I'm the one saving him. Ah. Well, you ain't gonna do too good of a job of that tonight. There's gonna be trouble like you've never known if you don't let him finish that list. What are you doing to her? There's only ever been three crosses. Someone's gonna come aiming to take Lilly out of here. You don't try to be brave. You let him do just that. He's gonna ask, and you tell him where Marla and shep went. I don't know where they went. The crosses down on carrion road. Tell him that, and don't get in his way, you hear? Where are you going? To protect this town. Dig faster, lollipop. It'll help you stay warm. I found something. See? I told you little hands go faster. Come on. This is just a third. This is nothing but his cut. He left my money behind. It ain't gonna be enough. Okay, there were other ones, some other jobs he did for me. Where does he keep his money? We're both on the fucking list. Lilly? Sorry, cap, we're... We're closed. Where is she? Well, seems the poor girl got herself into an accident. Don't surprise me none. I'm sorry? I said it don't surprise me. She's a... She talks like she's the only one that's gonna be saved. Who's responsible? Ain't nothing responsible for an accident. I said, who's responsible? You best remind Lilly, there ain't no one walking this earth who is saved. Then you tell me what you see. What do we do now? This was Ken's dream. This is why he wanted the money. Jesus Christ. I really hate that I'm believing you, just let me tell you that. He died for that patch of earth. This just seems so fucking meaningless. Yeah, we'll all have a good cry about that later. You see that? You see that? Come here. Look. Hear that? - You hear that? - Someday somebody is gonna put a bullet in that fucking fat head of yours! You're just about 110 pounds of bummer, ain't you? Come on. Give me that. Now, look, baby. This money is part yours too. Do you want it or not? Well, go find something for us to break this ground. Go! Oh, god damn it. Oh, Harry. Where is he? He got away! Leland? Oh, god! Jerry? Jerry, where are you? Come on! You're not afraid of dying, are you? No! I'll get you there! Take me to Lilly! Hurry up! We don't have all night! Wallace, are you there? Wallace? Wallace! Wallace, are you there? Marla... Wallace, come get me. I can't. I saw your name on that list. He's coming through here to get to you. I'm gonna slow him down a bit so you can disappear. Wallace, don't... Don't... I always told you that you deserve better, Marla. But I never said i didn't love you. Wallace? Hey! What the hell you doing? Guthrie... That was his name, harland Guthrie. First man I killed. Now I'm old and numb, but that stinger's still in there, the kind of sorry that burns in you, for cutting the breath of one of god's own creatures like that. Seeing you with her, like harland looked at his wife, just days before he killed her. I've been wondering a lot about you. I've been thinking that, you know, if you... If you fail them... If shep goes on living like he does, then they won't hesitate to punish you. And they'll do to you what you've been trying to do to him. They will erase you. And they'll erase all memory of you, starting with her. With god by our side, who can be against us? Come the morning hour, you'll reckon it's better she dies by your hand than their cruel hooks. And then you'll be just like old harland. I'll make the same deal tomorrow, one just like it. Why don't you just leave with her? You ain't gonna make it. Neither are you. Time to add a few more crosses to carrion road. Come on, come on, come on, come on. All right. I think we're a minute into your time. You gonna try something stupid again? No. Oh, yeah, it's a fucking smelly zoo, isn't it? Don't worry, baby. We're gonna get you stinking too. Come here. All right. Two hands. Okay, come on. Grab it, two hands. Okay. Now, what you want to do is, you want to lift up. You want to put your shoulders into it, and you bring it down. Real good. Come on, baby. Let's go. You want your money, you got to earn it. Yeah, well, you can fucking keep it! Aah! God! God! Come back, you bitch! You're gonna finish off the list for me. First you're gonna cross out the girl, then the salesman. If you know the girl don't belong, why not let her go? Because it's not the true shape of fidelity. Shit! I see you. Say it again. Wallace... Only killing I'll ever see again... Is you killing me. And I don't even know your name. Wallace. You put this on yourself, son. You don't get to walk away from this place. Don't got to be this way. Don't let it take you, huh? Wallace? Give me-- give me the gun. Don't go down the path i did, Wallace. Huh? I see you. Good enough. It's gonna be all right. It'll be just fine. Now get out of here. I couldn't keep waiting for you, so... I like that you're here. After some thinking, I decided I'd come and get you. You know, keep driving. I like that. Get in the car. Buenos dias. Morning, stupid. How'd you find me? Patience. And I'm telling you, boy, when I get serious, I stay fucking serious. Times like these, you can't blame a guy for trying to turn a dollar. Come on. I keep hearing these stories about good people disappearing. If you're talking about that offer I made, that still stands. Is that right? All you got to do is let me walk out that door. Let me disappear. No such thing as disappearing, shep. There's only dying. As far as good people go... I don't recall meeting one that wasn't already dead. |
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