"Help!" "Oh, God, no!" "Stop!" "No." "Please stop!" "No!" "Stop it!" "Please!" " Put her down!" " Let me go!" "No!" "Kill her." "Who the fuck are you?" "Death." "Wait." "Please." "Please, don't." "Don't do it, please." "Traffic on the 101 extremely light heading into downtown Los Angeles." "You can expect clear skies with temperatures in the high 80s, city center... about 10 degrees warmer in the San Fernando Valley." "You're listening to KVLA, Los Angeles..." "Working hard?" "Hi, Erica." " Is this your design for the new art center?" " Yep." "Must be a charge to look at a building and know you designed it." "It is." " I did some new drawings." " Let me see them." " You feeling okay?" " Yeah, sure." "What do you think?" " Looks pretty good." " Yeah?" "Yeah." "Not great, but pretty damn good." "Hold on a minute." " Hello?" " How's it going?" "Everything's fine." "Erica's here." " Thanks for taking the time to work with her." " She's a pleasure." "Very talented girl, too." "Which reminds me... the article you wrote on battered wives." "Good story." "Yeah?" "Did you really like it?" "Did it make you angry?" "Absolutely." " Are you still coming over for dinner?" " Sure." " I'll be leaving here about 6:00." " Bye." " Be home by 10:30 p. m." " 10:30 p. m.?" " 11:00 p. m." " Mom!" "That's Randy." "Got to go." " When I say 11:00 p. m., I mean 11:00 p. m." " All right." "If I were you guys, and with me out of the house..." " I'd forget the movie and stay home." " Yeah?" " Get out of here." " Bye." " How are you doing?" " Great." "My man, what do you think I am, the Starvation Army?" "You don't pay, you don't play." " Come on." " Come on, JoJo." "I need..." "You heard what the man said." "You don't have any cash." "Go take a walk." " Hey, guys." " How're you doing, man?" " What's going on?" " Man, look at her." "Come on, let's have a little chat." " Be right with you." " Sure." "Meanwhile, we've got some business to discuss." " We do?" " Okay." "Thank you very much." "Let me go get Erica." "What have you planned for this evening?" "I've got some special gifts for you." "Just like I promised." "You're gonna love them." " Thanks." " Remember... there's just enough for you, so don't be telling your boyfriend." "Yeah, sure." "Movie starts at 8:30 p. m." "Two-hour movie." "That means we can get back here before Erica gets home." "Good." "What do you think about that boy Randy?" "He does well in school." "He's a nice kid." "Why?" "I was just worried about Erica." "I feel toward her like she were my own daughter." "That's nice." "She feels the same way about you." "She loves you." "So do I." "I love you both, but we'd better go, or we'll miss the beginning of the movie." "No, you are not getting out of this conversation that easily." "We've been going out for two years now." "And..." "You want a commitment." "Yeah." "I would like that." "Hello?" "Yes." "Oh, my God." " Randy, what's going on?" " Mrs. Sheldon?" "I'm Dr. Rosenblatt." " What happened to my daughter?" " She's had a cocaine overdose." " That's ridiculous." "Erica doesn't use drugs." " I'm afraid she did tonight." "Code Blue in Room 6." "Doctor, she's arrested with no pulse." " Did you give her Narcain and glucose?" " Yes, sir." " Four amps?" " No response." "You can't come in here." "You have to wait outside." " All right, we've got to shock." " Okay." "Everybody off?" "Clear." " Try it." "Continuously, don't stop." " One, two, three..." " Give me 300 watts." "Let's shock her again." " 360." "Everybody off." "Clear." "Continue." "She's still fibrillating." "Let's give her lidocaine, 75 milligrams, IV push... and we'll shock her one more time." "Come on." " Her pupils are dilated." " Don't stop!" "Keep it up." "Let me see that." "We lost her." "Mrs. Sheldon?" "I'm really sorry." "You bastard!" "Get your hands off me!" "Get out of here." "Man, it isn't my fault about your girlfriend!" "Maybe the stuff was too strong for her!" "Bullshit!" "You killed her!" "I didn't kill anybody, dude." "Nobody forced her to smoke it!" "That was her choice, smart boy." "We'll see what the cops have got to say about that." " What is this supposed to mean?" " You figure it out, smart boy!" "You gave her the special package!" "I'm going to the police, and I am going to tell them every goddamn thing I know!" "Read my lips!" "Cops!" "Policemen!" "And you're gonna die like she died." "Kiss your white ass goodbye, my man!" "Everyone!" "Stay in your cars!" "Somebody, cut the power!" "Jesus!" "Cut the power!" "What do you figure went down?" "JoJo was a dealer." "He gets into a hassle with this kid, Randy Viscovich." " Stabs him, and gets shot by another dealer." " Why?" "Who knows?" "These clowns don't need a reason to kill each other." " Sergeant Reiner?" " Yeah?" "This kid saw the guy who did the shooting." "Not his face, but the car he drove away in." "It was a blue Toronado." " Did you get the license?" " I got the last three numbers." "It was 226." " So, that's all you remember?" " I ain't a fucking detective." "You are." "Come on." "Nice kid." " So, Phil, go play detective." " Right." "Hello?" " Mr. Kersey." " Yes?" " Did you get my note?" " Who is this?" "I think we should meet, to discuss something of mutual interest." "I'm not going anywhere until I know who this is and what the hell it is you want." "If you refuse, I'm going to tell the police everything I know." "And I know quite a lot." "Do I have your attention now?" "Good." "If you'll take a look out your window, you'll see a limousine parked out front." "I'm looking forward to our meeting." "Mr. Kersey." "Good evening, Mr. Kersey." "Or should I say Mr. Vigilante?" "Listen." "If this is about blackmail, you're wasting your time." "This place must be worth more than what I could make the rest of my life." " Do you have any idea who I am?" " Should I?" "Does the name Nathan White mean anything to you?" "You own a newspaper." "It's not your money I'm after, Kersey." "It's your professional skill." "I want you to kill someone for me." "My wife died in a car crash 10 years ago." "My daughter Lisa became my whole life." "Last year, she started college." "Things were going wonderfully well." "Then suddenly, everything changed." "Her grades went downhill, she dropped out of school." "You see, she started using cocaine." "Three months ago... she died of..." "I know about your friend's daughter, Mr. Kersey." "I also know that you shot the pusher who sold her the drugs." "But I ask you, sir... what about the people behind him?" "How many children do we let them destroy... before we say, "Enough," Mr. Kersey?" "How many?" "I've spent a small fortune... buying information on the major drug dealers in Los Angeles." "I'll give you money, weapons, names, anything you want." "They're all murderers, Kersey." "From the smallest street-corner pusher to the fat cats at the top." "Anybody connected with drugs deserves to die." "They have to be stopped, Kersey." "I need a few days to think about this." "When Michael died, Erica was only five." "I made a promise to her... that no matter what happened, she would always come first." "I let her down." "I was too involved with my work to see what was going on." "You've got to stop this, and now." "I know how you feel, because I've been there." "You think you should have done something different, but that's not so." "It's not true." "It's not your fault that Erica died." "It's those damn drugs." "I'm so angry." "I feel so helpless." "I wanna do something." "I don't know what to do." "You're a writer." "Write about it." "Let people know about drugs, just keep pounding on it." "What was the story you wanted to do?" " Drugs." " Karen, you know every single..." "I know I'm personally involved." "But that's why I have to do it." "I wanna find out why she died." "I wanna find out who's responsible." "Trouble is that nobody cares." "Everybody uses drugs nowadays." "It's not just the street junkies anymore, it's everybody." "Rich people, middle-class people, doctors, lawyers, secretaries." "It's the new American way of life." "They don't wanna read about it." "They already know about it, and they don't care." "If they don't care, we have to make them care." " Come on, Karen." " Pat, this is important to me." "All right." "But every step of the way, let me know what you're doing." "I don't want the cops finding your body in an alley somewhere." " You're sure you wanna do this?" " Yes." "I just hope you've got a strong stomach." " What paper did you say you were with?" " Tribune." "You just wanna see the ones that are drug-related, right?" "Right." "Eighteen-year-old male." "He died when his freebasing pipe exploded in his face." "Did you wanna see the body?" "Nineteen-year-old male." "Robbed a liquor store to get money to buy drugs." "Seventeen-year-old female." "Died of a stroke from repeated cocaine use." "Thirteen-year-old little girl." "She was selling herself on the street to support her habit... and one of her customers slashed her throat." "Thirteen years old?" "Oh, God." "They're all children." "Yeah." "That looks good." "Here you go right here, my man." "You guys have a good time tonight." "Enjoy yourselves." "You know where to come back to if you want some more." "Hello." "Looks like you're gonna have a party tonight." "Came to the right place for your hors d'oeuvres... because I got the primest prime that money can buy." "I don't want that." "I want information." "Brake's on the left!" "What kind of information?" "Who does what?" "Who sells what?" "Who works for who?" " What do you want it for?" " Does it matter?" "You're no cop, so you must be a reporter." "Is that it?" "If you're not interested, I'll just go someplace else." "I didn't say I wasn't interested." "The kind of information you're talking about is gonna cost more." "A lot more." "How much more?" "This will be the last time we meet in my home." "From now on, we've got to be extremely cautious." "There are two major drug organizations in Los Angeles." "One is headed by a man named Ed Zacharias." "The other by two brothers, Jack and Tony Romero." "Between them, they control 90% of the narcotics traffic in southern California." "Can you believe that?" "According to my sources, the pusher you shot works for Ed Zacharias." "This is everything you'll need on the Zacharias and Romero organizations." "Photos, biographies, everything." "About a year ago, Jack and Tony decided to invade Zacharias' territory." "It was the beginning of a gang war." "Zacharias stepped in, quickly negotiated a truce." "But you can take it from me, the fuse was lit." "It's getting shorter." "I'll handle this my own way, no interference from you." "All right." "I'm gonna need a few things." "You said you could supply me with weapons?" "This is the man to talk to." "He'll give you everything you want." "Dr. Gruer, call for Line 2." "You're not going to believe this." "I just talked to forensics." "They did a check on the 9-millimeter slug that killed JoJo Ross." "You know, I could never do these damn puzzles." "It matches the slug found in the body of the mugger shot downtown two years ago." " So?" " He was killed by the vigilante." "Come on, Phil, the vigilante retired years ago." "Looks like he's back." "You're telling me it was him in the Toronado?" "Just came over the computer." "There are 28 blue Toronados in the state with the last three numbers 226." "Nine of them are in L.A." "Jesus." "Vigilante." "Let's check him out." "Send a copy to Michael Eddy, and a copy to David Boston." "I'm Sergeant Reiner." "This is my partner, Sergeant Nozaki." "How can I help you?" "We're talking to a number of people in this area as part of a routine investigation." "Could you tell us where you were last Tuesday evening... between 7:00 p. m." "And 9:00 p. m.?" "Tuesday, I leave here about 6:00 p." "M... and with the traffic and everything, I get home about 6:45 p. m." "So, you were at home that night?" "As far as I remember, yes." " Could someone confirm that?" " I was alone." "I see." " Do you own a gun, Mr. Kersey?" " No." " Are you married?" " No." "Divorced?" "My wife and daughter are dead." "I'm very sorry." " Car accident?" " No." "Well, that's about it." "Sorry to have bothered you." "So, what do you think?" "I think we better find out a little bit more about Mr. Paul Kersey." "Ed Zacharias grew up in New York's South Bronx slum tenements." "Took to the streets running errands for the Mob when he was 12." "Graduated to numbers, and was recruited by the Mafia." "Committed his first murder when he was 19." "Charming, delightful fellow." "Loves his work, and indulges his fantasies." "All right!" "I said, no cake." "There wasn't supposed to be a cake." " You're full of shit." " Happy birthday." "Come on, Ed, blow the candles out." "Watch this." "Let's go, boss." "Suck it up." "Let's see what you got left in there." "Let's go for it." " Champagne." " We're going to need some more ice." " I'll get it." "They want champagne." " Okay." " How was the candle?" " Better than the cake." "Shit." " Who invited them?" " I did." "It's my party, remember?" "Jack, glad you could make it." "Still playing babysitter?" "Happy birthday." "Should I call the bomb squad?" " That's funny, Eddy." " It's Alex." " Ferrino, hold that." " Right." "Hello." "What?" " Where's Vincent?" " At the tennis court." " Find him, bring him to the game room." " Sure." "Jack, Tony." "I wanna talk to you." "Alone." "What's this all about?" "Somebody killed one of my pushers a couple of nights ago." "A guy named JoJo Ross." "I was wondering if maybe... you knew something about it." " We didn't touch your errand boy." " Why don't you shut up?" "Just knock it off!" "I'm telling you, Ed, we don't know a damn thing about this." "You know, Jack, I'd hate for trouble to start between us again." "A lot of people could get hurt." "You understand what I'm saying?" "Yeah, we're not looking for trouble." "We wanna keep the peace." "Good." "Very good." " How're you doing, lad?" " Okay." "You know these fellows." " Jack, his little brother, Tony." " Hi, Tony." " How're you doing?" " Okay." " How about a drink?" " I'll have a screwdriver." " Nick?" " Sure." " How was Colombia?" " Terrific." "The women had great tans." "Tits out to here, flopping all over the..." " You ought to go down there." " I know." "Vincent, I talked to Alex." "He said you were right." " The shipment was light." " I know." "I told you." "I knew Rodriguez was skimming us." "You can't trust any of them Colombians." "Yeah, I know what you mean." " You want me to take care of it?" " No." "Don't worry about it." " I'll take care of that fuck personally." " All right." "Rodriguez was not skimming." "You were." "Like I said, I don't like trouble." " What are you doing in here?" " I was just using the toilet." "Step out here." " What's your name?" " The name is Leo." "Well, Leo, you look like a pretty smart guy." "If you keep your mouth shut about this, you could make yourself some money." " Yeah, right." "I don't know nothing." " Good." "Since you're here... why don't you help them carry out the body?" "Ed Zacharias' organization functions on the concept of fear." "His main enforcers, Danny Moreno, Art Sanella and Jack Stein... were expensively recruited to execute this policy." "They are efficient, always work together, and have a preference for Italian food." " Gino." " Good afternoon, my friends." " Are we too late for lunch?" " We're always open for you, Mr. Moreno." " Nice seeing you, Mr. Stein." "Mr. Sanella." " How are the wife and kids?" "They're fine." "Come this way." "I'll show you your table." "Thanks." "Kid, watch the water." "You're getting it all over me." " I'm sorry, Mr. Sanella." " Kid, get back in the kitchen." " Afternoon, sir." "What can I do for you?" " The name is Jack Kimble." "I represent Sawtelle Winery." "It's a new winery, located up there in Napa Valley." "I have a sample of the first pressing here." "Thought maybe you'd like a taste." " Have a glass handy?" " Sure." " You ever been up in Napa Valley?" " No, never been." "Spend most of my time out and around the beach." "Beautiful country." "Ought to take a trip up there sometime." " I will." " Tell me what you think." "Not bad." " Let's see what your customers say." " No, I don't think that's a good idea." "They'll love it." "Gentlemen." "It's your lucky day today." "Bottle of wine on the house." "Not bad." " Don't I know you from someplace?" " I don't think so." "Yeah." "I know your face." "Did you ever live in San Francisco?" " I'm from Idaho." " I got a brother in Idaho." " What city?" " Boise." " I know you." "I never forget a face." " What the hell?" "What the fuck is going on?" " I put the word out on the street." " And?" " Nothing." " Bullshit." "Somebody's trying to push us out." " Maybe it's the Romeros." " No." "They wouldn't dare." " Who else could it be?" " I don't know." "That's what I pay you for." "To find out what's happening." "So, do your job, or I'll get somebody else." "The head of the Romeros' street-dealing operations is Max Green." "Numerous arrests for pimping... child pornography, drug dealing, murder." "No convictions." "Witnesses against Max have a habit of disappearing." "He is a resident of Vegas... but when in L.A., he operates out of a video rental store on the West Side." "Look, I don't care if his dog brings him in, as long as he gets here." "Now, you tell Ferrari I want the goddamn shipment here by Friday... or I'll cut up his balls and make him eat them." "You got that?" "Good." " What do you want?" " You." " I didn't do nothing." " No, you just sell drugs to children." "Come on, it's a business." "I'm only a supplier." "I don't make the kids use drugs." "It's their choice." " Lf you don't do it, someone else will?" " That's right." "That's exactly right." " How many?" " How many what?" "How many children have you killed with this shit?" "Six people dead in 48 hours." "We got a gang war on our hands here." "Maybe we could stand back and let the hairballs blow each other away." "Bodies all over the place don't make good press... and there's an election coming up." "We could run one of these suckers for office." "The Romeros lost three men this afternoon." "Maybe they'll strike back." " Who's their best shooter?" " Frank Bauggs." "Okay." "Stake him out." "See what happens." "Maybe we'll get lucky." "Lieutenant, Phil and I have been after the vigilante, and we're getting close." "Forget the vigilante." "This case has priority." "Who does that punk Zacharias think he's playing with?" "Doesn't make sense." "Why would Zacharias hit us?" " Because he's trying to start a war." " Somebody's knocking off his men, too." "I don't believe that for one minute." "You know what I think?" "I think Zacharias did it himself, and he's trying to pin it on us." "He's playing us for suckers." " He wants our territory." " I don't believe that!" "Because if there's war, he loses as much as we do." "Come on, Jack, wake up!" "Zacharias is trying to jack us up." "It's either him or us, and I say we blast him." "The number-one hit man for the Romero brothers is Frank Bauggs." "One conviction for assault with intent to kill." "Served easy time." "Those who know his reputation for violence would be surprised to learn... that he's got a trained baritone voice." "He is an upwardly mobile super-achiever, and lives in a condo on Wilshire Boulevard." "If you can get to his phones, we'll have our leads." "Goddamn it." "Will you hurry up?" "We're gonna be late." "My zipper's stuck." "That's because you eat like a damn horse." "Drop some weight, why don't you?" "Drop dead, why don't you?" "For Christ's sake, will you come on out o"