Chapter 14: George Is Doomed

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The sky was bright, and the chimneys, which had quieted down during the night, started puffing out smoke again, one of them thicker than the others.

In front of the fireplace, Hawk was burning the clothes and other items that the two had changed out of, turning everything into ashes.

"Are you sure everything's cleaned up?" A strange-sounding voice came from the bedroom—Brandt's: "No evidence left behind?"

Hawk poked at the clothes to make sure they burned completely. "I cleaned thoroughly. Even if they find out it was arson, they won’t trace it back to us."

Brandt, now dressed, came out of the bedroom.

Hawk glanced over and nearly dropped the fire poker. He pointed at Brandt's mouth and asked, "What did you do?"

Brandt touched the cut on the corner of his mouth and winced in pain as he replied, "Talking too much might make me slip up. I don’t want to go to jail, so I used a thumbtack to cut myself. Every time I talk, the pain will remind me to keep my mouth shut."

Suddenly, Hawk felt like he'd trained Brandt too well. No—maybe he had toughened him up.

After dumping the ashes in a public trash can, the two left for the hotel, where they had a quick meeting with Catherine and Eric. Catherine would later head to the airport to await the arrival of Castle Rock Entertainment and Rob Reiner.

Hawk and Brandt went across the street to a fast-food joint with glass walls, picked a spot by the window, and waited for the Crystal Cinema to open while eating. Brandt only ordered a glass of milk with a straw.

During this time, Hawk made a few calls to Larson and the four deputy leaders, while Brandt called Lewis and Damian, inviting them for breakfast.

Within fifteen minutes, the two arrived.

The four of them hadn’t finished their breakfast yet when the Crystal Cinema owner showed up to open the doors.

Remembering how they were cursed out as "worthless pieces of crap" the previous night, Brandt muttered, "That damn piece of..."

Before he could finish, his cut pulled painfully, and he quickly shut up.

Across the street, the cinema owner opened the doors and discovered there was no power. He calmly went to the electrical room to check the fuse box, but there was still no electricity after some tinkering.

Unable to find the issue, he called for repairs.

He then went to the tool shed out back to start up the generator, which hadn't been used for over a year, only to find that it wouldn’t run.

“Great,” he muttered, kicking the machine in frustration. “Can’t trust anything from those Indian companies! Just a year and it's already broken!”

Without power, there’d be no screenings today, and the film crews would surely cause a scene. All the money he made from booking private screenings would go down the drain.

The first movie on the schedule this morning was Lemon Street, so the owner quickly pulled out the director’s phone number.

George was having breakfast when he got the call about the power outage. He flipped out, dropped his utensils, and rushed to the cinema.

More anxious than the owner, George barged into the building and shouted, “How did the power go out? When’s it coming back?”

The owner shrugged. “I don’t know. I checked everything. We’ll have to wait for the power company.”

George yelled, “Where are the repairmen? Are they here yet?”

“They were eating breakfast when I called,” the owner said helplessly. “After they finish, they need to clock in at the office, attend their morning meeting, and then they’ll come over.”

George slammed the counter with his fist. “Damn it! Damn it!”

He glanced at the clock, trying to calm himself. “There’s still time.”

The owner didn’t want to breach their contract either, so he kept calling, trying to speed things up and find a backup generator. But nothing was working.

George went outside, pacing up and down the steps while making calls.

He had spent a fortune getting a middleman to connect him with Castle Rock Entertainment, but now there was no way to screen the film. This would get him blacklisted by Hollywood buyers.

Across the street, Hawk and the others finished their breakfast.

Looking at the Crystal Cinema through the glass, Lewis said, “You’ve treated us to two meals. It’s only fair we return the favor.”

Young and full of loyalty, Damian confidently added, “We’ll keep an eye on them. It’s our duty to protect Park City.”

Hawk said softly, “There’s something else, a small task, but it comes with some risk.”

He kicked Brandt lightly.

Brandt took out some cash he’d prepared and handed it to the two, pointing at his sore mouth without saying a word.

Hawk said, “Can’t let you take risks without getting something in return.”

Lewis and Damian exchanged glances before pocketing the cash. "A little risk isn’t a big deal."

Hawk pointed at George Hanson, the guy wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who was on the phone at the cinema entrance. “Wait for my call, then find the right moment to tell him something…”

“Too easy,” Damian grinned, thinking the money was well-earned.

Hawk said, “Leave it to you guys.”

Once they left, Hawk took Brandt to the Mountain Peak Pizza.

Brandt barely spoke due to the cut on his mouth, only talking when absolutely necessary.

When they arrived, members of the theater troupe were starting to gather. Larson and the four deputy leaders were there too.

The burly, bearded man approached and slapped Hawk on the shoulder. “You still owe me a cup of black coffee, buddy!”

“I’ll go grab you one,” Hawk said, and brought him a cup of coffee from Bill.

The bearded man chuckled. “You’re a good guy.”

Nearby, a little girl, about ten years old, asked Hawk, “If I go see the movie, do I get ten dollars too?”

“Of course!” Hawk reminded her, “But no talking during the movie.”

The girl nodded eagerly. “Okay, okay!” Then she pounced on her sister. “I’ll have ten dollars allowance this week!”

As more people gathered, the place got chaotic. Seeing that it was about time, Hawk told Larson and the others to split up and start leading people over.

At the Great Salt Lake Cinema, Eric was waiting at the door. When he saw the audience trickling in, he finally relaxed a bit.

He found Hawk and asked, “Everyone rehearsed?”

Hawk nodded. “Don’t worry. Everyone will stay focused on the movie. No one will leave early.”

Eric felt something was off. “Didn’t you say the audience would express their emotions?”

Hawk replied, “Getting immersed in the movie, focusing intensely on it—isn’t that the best way to express emotion?”

Of course, he had something else in mind. “The real show starts after the movie ends.”

Eric was already in too deep to back out now. He had no choice but to go along with Hawk’s plan.

Inside the theater, Hawk noticed that the audience was sitting too close together. He quickly called over Larson and the deputy leaders and instructed, “Leave the front two rows and back two rows empty. Spread the others out. We’re not here as a group.”

Larson had been observing and learning. “Makes sense.”

Hawk added, “Spread yourselves out in different areas and keep everyone in line. The key is after the movie ends—make sure they stay until I sit down. If there’s a rating section, don’t give all five stars. Three or four will do.”

The maximum score was five stars.

“No problem. I’ve got everything set,” Larson assured him.

Hawk retreated to the back row and observed for a bit as Larson and the others shuffled people around.

Many were sipping on coffee while they waited.

Hawk stepped out of the screening room and went to the concession stand, surveying the setup. He called Brandt over. “Call Bill and tell him to bring more of the same instant black coffee. Set it up at the concession stand.”

Brandt, grimacing from the pain in his mouth, made the call.

Hawk then found the cinema owner, Mason, and gave him a few more instructions.

Eric came running inside, telling Hawk, “The plane has landed.”

Hawk pulled out his phone and called Lewis. “Start the plan when you get the chance.”

Eric asked, “What plan?”

Hawk didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “I remember you have a camcorder. Can I borrow it?”

“Sure.” Eric immediately had one of his employees fetch it.

When it arrived, Hawk realized it was a nearly-new handheld camera—not a home model, but a professional one.

Eric gave Hawk a quick tutorial.

Hawk then told the cinema owner, Mason, “Provide a few temporary security agreements. I’ll get some guys to sign them. They’ll maintain order during the screening—for free.”

Eric chimed in, “Do what he says.”

Their patron had upped the payment today, so after a moment’s thought, Mason agreed.

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A vehicle with "Power Maintenance" painted on the side was parked in front of the Crystal Cinema, and two maintenance workers got out to inspect the equipment in the back. George let out a sigh of relief—he had just gotten a call from his agent, letting him know the plane had landed.

“There’s still time,” he thought, as he followed the workers to check on the situation.

Before long, the worst news came.

“The situation is very complicated. We need to conduct further inspections,” one of the maintenance workers said bluntly. “It won’t be possible to fix the problem in a short time.”

“How long will it take?” the theater owner asked.

“The fastest we can get it done is by the afternoon, but it could be tomorrow,” the maintenance worker replied.

George lost it. “What? The afternoon? What kind of work is this? It must be fixed in half an hour…”

The maintenance worker wasn’t having it. “Then you fix it,” he said, shrugging.

“Please hurry,” George said, barely keeping his temper in check. He turned to the theater owner and asked, “What about the generator?”

The owner, clearly frustrated, replied, “The generator is from a company run by an Indian group. I called their repair service, and they said there are too many machines waiting to be fixed. We’ll have to wait until next week.”

He was calm but firm, adding, “Your film won’t be able to play on time, but I’ll refund you in full.”

“Is this about the refund? Damn it! Damn it!” George felt his future slipping away. Just last night everything was fine—how did things go downhill so fast?

He wanted to say more, but noticed the owner was holding a stun baton, and he quickly shut his mouth.

“I’ll transfer the money to you,” the owner said.

George, feeling dazed, somehow found himself outside the cinema’s main entrance. The ringing of his phone snapped him back to reality—it was his agent calling.

He was about to answer when a young man suddenly rushed by, shouting, “You jerk! This is what you deserve!”

With a loud crash, George’s phone smashed into pieces on the ground where the young man had just stood.

Lewis, who had jumped down the steps, generously gave George two middle fingers.

“Eric Eason, we’re not done!” George shouted as he ran down the steps, jumped into a black car parked on the side of the road, and sped toward the Great Salt Lake Theater.

Things were falling apart here, but he didn’t care anymore.

But he definitely wasn’t going to let that bastard get away with it.