EXT. BUSY SUBURBAN STREET - DAY JACK HIGGINS, 24, is walking along the street, deftly negotiating his way through the slower crowds. Having only got out of bed 15 minutes before he left for work, Jack didn't come across as your average professional; more like someone who had slept in his clothes and hadn't shaved for 3 days. Suddenly Jack stopped. A pained expression formed on his face. He rapidly scanned both sides of the street as he regretted the can of coke he bought for the train journey into town. He ran across the road to a small coffee bar and frantically banged on the window. He mouthed the word 'TOILET' to the bemused cleaner inside as she raised her hands and shook her head. As Jack turned to look for another refuge, an attractive girl walked past him. Forgetting that his bladder was about to burst, Jack immediately regained all his street credibility and composure and reached out his right hand to lean seductively on the wall - only to feel the face of the cleaner who had opened the coffee bar door. The girl smiled and walked on as Jack looked at his hand on the cleaners face. After a second he slowly removed the offending item. The cleaner looked less than impressed and pointed across the street a little further up. Jack turned to spy a public lavatory. He was saved!. He dashed across the road towards the toilet. INT. GENTS TOILETS - MOMENTS LATER Jack enters the room and surveys the area. 8 Cubicles, 4 on opposite sides of the room. 6 washbasins, 3 sets of 3 reversed onto each other, and to the left, a large area containing the urinals. He shudders as he investigates the cubicles. Surprisingly, he finds a relatively clean one with a solid lock and no peepholes. It's the disabled cubicle. He goes inside and nervously checks out the interior. Clean floor, walls. Empty bowl. Standard plastic seat - un cracked. Could be a winner. To make sure, Jack removes the 'Out of Order' sign from another cubicle opposite. He places it around the door handle, enters the cubicle and carefully locks the door to ensure the sign does not slip. INT. INSIDE TOILET CUBICLE He hangs his coat on the coat rack, unzips himself and sits down. He reaches forward to pull today's newspaper from his inside coat pocket, flips it over to the back sports pages and settles down to read. He feels a twinge of guilt using the disabled toilet, but it was the size of a small room and he likes the space. Jack heard the main door creak open, and within seconds, all hell broke loose. He could make out three dominant voices and one submissive. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Check the bogs ! Jack instinctively raised both feet, although unnecessary as the person checking apparently thought that pushing the cubicle doors constituted checking. A few moments later he saw his door shake and move as the person shoved as hard as he could. VOICE TWO (O.S.) This one's out of order ! Jack raised his eyes to the heavens, allowing himself a wry smile. With his legs still raised, he slowly inched his trousers back up, taking care not to rattle his keys, or loose change in his pocket. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Del, go watch the door! DEL (O.S.) What if anyone comes? VOICE ONE (O.S.) For fucks sake - you know what to do ! Jack managed to retrieve his trousers and do himself back up. Moving carefully, he managed to manoeuver himself into a position where he could lean forward and look out into the main toilet from beneath cubicle door. This was another advantage of the disabled cubicle, it was so big, you could manoeuvre reasonably freely inside without being spotted. Directly in front of him, about halfway in, was an individual on their knees. To the left of him about 10 yards away was another person, standing, facing the kneeling person. JACK (V.O.) Designer boots .. ! Standing in close proximity was a tatty pair of trainers. Making a run for it seemed, on the face of it, pointless. Jack sat back on the pan. One individual on his knees, two close by. Execution ?. Straight ahead robbery ?. Contract Killing ?. If it was a contract killing, Jack accepted that he would die as these guys never leave any clues. He scrabbled around in his pocket for a marker pen. JACK (CONT'D) Two choices Jack old son. Get the fuck out of here or die. The main voice spoke again. VOICE ONE (O.S.) OK, the bill should be on the scene in no more than two minutes. By then, we should have enough people. VOICE TWO (O.S.) What are we gonna do boss? VOICE ONE (O.S.) What do you think ? VOICE THREE (O.S.) Please -- don't hurt me. I'll keep quiet. Please. VOICE ONE (O.S.) I know you will darling. I know you will. Jack found the marker pen in his coat pocket and had drawn a basic plan of the toilets outside the cubicle, and placed each individual according to where they last were. He wrote 'Female', and underscored it, by the kneeling individual. Jack heard the main door creak open. DEN (O.S.) Boss, I've got 4 people. They're all stacked up outside. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Good. That will probably be enough considering the size of this place. Get back out there and keep an eye on them and tell me when the bill turn up. DEN (O.S.) OK boss Jack roughly sketched 4 matchstick men outside the main plan. What where they there for ?. JACK (V.O.) This can't be a simple robbery. They seem to have a plan. Suddenly, there was an explosion of screams and shouting outside. VOICE ONE (O.S.) What the fuck ! Stop her ! VOICE FOUR (O.S.) AARRGGH -- me Fucking balls! Suddenly, there was a single gunshot and the sound of a body falling to the floor. Jack recoiled in horror, slamming backwards into the wall. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Wait -- what was that ? Voice four just moans VOICE ONE (CONT'D) I thought I heard something. Check those cubicles again. VOICE FOUR (O.S.) (groaning) OK -- boss. Fuck ! Jack was panicking. They're gonna find me this time. One dead body -- two won't be a problem for them. He instinctively pressed himself as far into the corner of the cubicle as possible as he heard the opening and shutting of doors getting closer and closer. The door of the next cubicle -- open, pause, shut. The main door opens again. DEN (O.S.) Boss ! The bill are here ! VOICE ONE (O.S.) OK. This is it. Bring everyone in here. Kev, chuck her into that stall and lock the door. We don't want anyone getting nervous. VOICE FOUR (O.S.) OK boss. Jack scribbled 'Voice Four' out on the plan and replaced it with 'Kev'. Kev walked away from the cubicle next door. KEV (O.S.) Jeezus this bitch weighs a ton! VOICE ONE (O.S.) Stop complaining and hurry up! Jack held his breath as Kev came back to the cubicle and dumped the body of the female inside. The door pulled shut with a 'CLICK' as it locked shut. Jack leant forward and pressed his ear against the door as he heard the main door open. Den was ushering the four people inside -- but why? DEN (O.S.) Line up against that wall over there!. Anybody so much as looks at me in the wrong way -- I'll fucking blow your brains out ! As Jack was listening, he was convinced he could hear a low moaning sound. Was it one of the 4 outside ?. It certainly sounded far enough to be one of them. Jack recoiled in terror as an arm suddenly appeared below the cubicle. The woman was alive ?. Jack manoeuvered himself back into his crouching position and lowered his head down below the cubicle wall. Sure enough the woman was moving. In an attempt to turn herself over, her head dropped below the cubicle wall and Jack instinctively shot out a hand to smother her mouth. He held one finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet and she weakly nodded. He looked into the main area of the cubicle and noticed the bottom half of 4 bodies, sitting sideways on to the cubicle. Den, Kev and Voice number one were standing by the main door, in a circle according to the position of their feet. Jack turned to the woman. JACK (whispering gently) Lay flat on your back, with your body as near to the back wall as possible. I'll pull you through. The woman shifted herself into position. Each time she moved she gasped in obvious pain. Once she was in position, Jack reached through to grab her shoulders and started to slowly slide her underneath the wall of the cubicle. The woman turned her head to one side as he slowly pulled her through. Then she stopped. Something was preventing Jack from moving her any further inwards. He looked down and noticed what it was. He looked at the woman who also realized what the problem was and managed a weak smile. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently) This may hurt a little ... The woman wasn't exactly flat chested so it was a tight squeeze but he managed to slide her far enough in to sit her up against the wall. Crouching in front of her, he noticed she had a young looking face, with jet black hair - Jack thought early twenties. She was wearing dark green combat trousers and a black long sleeved T-shirt top. He noticed that the majority of the blood was on her left side, and after a quick examination, he determined that she had actually been shot in the arm - possibly falling in such a way that it would have appeared to have been a fatal wound. He started to tug at the T-shirt top when the woman lifted her hands to stop him. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently) I have to -- I have to see if I can stop the bleeding or you'll die. The woman's hands fell weakly to her sides. Jack eased the T shirt top up and immediately fell backwards into a sitting position. The woman was wearing a black bra. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently, looking shocked) S .. S .. Sorry. Jack covers his eyes with his left hand as he reaches forward to try and grab the T-shirt with his right. His right hand is shaking so much he accidentally brushes the woman's breast. He recoils his hand .. and falls back to a sitting position again. YOUNG WOMAN (whispering weakly) It's OK Jack crouched in front of her again. Both hands were now shaking badly as he eased the T-shirt top all the way off and immediately noticed the bullet wound in the woman's upper left arm. JACK (whispering gently) So what's your name ? YOUNG WOMAN (whispering weakly) Sarah JACK (whispering gently) Hello Sarah. I'm Jack. SARAH (whispering weakly) Hi. And thanks. And how long have you had an underwear phobia ? They both smiled. Jack blushed. He examined the wound as best he could, he was no first aider by any means. JACK (whispering gently) Well I think you're in luck -- it seems to have gone straight through. Jack took the T-shirt top and pulled hard at the sleeve, which began to rip. He did it slowly to minimize noise. Once he had removed one sleeve, he did the same with the other one. He eased the now vest like T-shirt top back over Sarah's head. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently) There you go. New fashion. Sarah smiled. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently) I'm afraid I've got to hurt you again Sarah nodded as Jack took one of the sleeves and tied it tight around Sarah's arm, above the bullet wound. He looked at her as if to ready her to brace herself and pulled the sleeve tight. Sarah winced in pain. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering gently) That should at least slow the bleeding. Jack used to other sleeve to try and soak up some of the blood on Sarah's arm. Dipping the other sleeve into the toilet water, they exchanged a smile as Jack carefully cleaned Sarah's arm without trying to move it too much. Suddenly, they both turned as they heard the main voice speak outside again. VOICE ONE (O.S.) That's right. We have hostages. If we don't get safe passage to the airport, we will send one dead body out each hour until we get what we want. JACK (whispering gently) What did they want with you? SARAH (whispering weakly) I'm not sure. I'm only a courier. JACK (whispering gently) Who do you work for?. What do you carry? SARAH (whispering weakly) I work for a bank. I don't carry anything important. Papers, parcels. Stuff like that. JACK (whispering gently) Perhaps it was something you had today. Perhaps you were actually carrying something important without realizing it - minimize the risk. SARAH (whispering weakly) It's possible. I've heard of couriers being given bearer bonds and blank stock certificates before. JACK (whispering gently) So this could be a robbery. And a big one at that. Sarah nodded. The main voice spoke up again. Jack accepted that he must be talking on the phone. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Look, it's quite simple. If you don't give us a car, we kill one hostage. If you don't give us a plane, we kill two hostages. If you try and follow us anywhere, we'll just kill everyone else. Do you understand? A brief pause. VOICE ONE (CONT'D) What's in it for us ? -- One hostage for what ?. I'm not an unreasonable man. Let me think about it. A loud 'click'. KEV (O.S.) Well ?. VOICE ONE (O.S.) They're gonna go for it. Make sure you and Den are ready. DEN (O.S) I'm sorted already boss VOICE ONE (O.S.) Good. What about you Steve? STEVE (O.S.) Ready as well. Jack reached up with his marker pen and crossed out 'Voice Two' on the wall and replaced it with 'Steve'. STEVE (CONT'D) Am I going first ? VOICE ONE (O.S.) Yes. Take your share of these and remember the meeting point STEVE (O.S.) OK. Here goes The outer door creaked open. VOICE ONE (O.S.) Good luck mate STEVE (O.S.) See you on the other side The door creaked shut. Jack sat on the cubicle and tried to figure out what they were doing. He noticed Sarah was getting drowsy, probably due to blood loss. JACK (whispering) Hey .. Hey you .. don't you fall asleep on me now, I need you to help me figure out what's going on. Sarah smiled weakly. SARAH (whispering) Sorry .. my mind .. was wandering JACK (smiling) It's OK One by one the familiar voices disappeared out of the main door, each being given a share of something by the main voice. Jack wasn't aware of any hostages actually being released either. Then it dawned on him. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering) Wait a minute ! Sarah looked up at Jack. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering) I've got it .. I know what they're doing. They're going out one by one themselves, with the police thinking they're hostages. They probably give false details and are sent on their way. JACK (CONT'D) (whispering) In the mean time, the police are left waiting outside like fools while that lot walk away free as birds. SARAH (whispering) I think you're right JACK (whispering) Well there's one slight spanner in the works. The door creaked open and then closed again a few moments later. There was silence outside. Jack lowered himself down to check outside and saw the lower halves of four people leaning against the opposite wall. JACK (CONT'D) They've all gone .. OK, this is it. Wait here and I'll send a doctor in for you. Don't you fall asleep on me now. Sarah nodded. Jack slowly opened the cubicle door, and turned to carefully shut it. He winked at Sarah as he closed the door and turned round to find a gun pointing in his face. DEREK Who the fuck are you ? Jack recognized the voice. It was voice one. The leader. JACK I'm .. er .. I'm .. Suddenly, from nowhere, Jack lashed out with all his strength and knocked Derek cold with a right hook. He dragged him over to the wall and propped him up in a sitting position. A female hostage reached into her handbag and pulled out a ball of wool. Jack grabbed it and started wrapping it around and around Derek's wrists. Correcting himself halfway through he wiped the gun clean and used Derek's hands to place a fresh set of prints on it. He finished wrapping the wool around Derek's wrists and stood up triumphantly. He noticed something sticking out of Derek's trousers and it suddenly hit him. The Bearer bonds !. Jack grabbed the bonds from Derek and nearly fell over. 10 bonds of 10 thousand pounds each. A hundred thousand pounds !. Jack realized that all the hostages were staring at him and he had another moment of inspiration. JACK (CONT'D) OK. You inherited these from a relative. Take them into any bank - they're completely untraceable. He walked along each hostage giving them one bond each - ten thousand pounds. JACK (CONT'D) I'd stuff them down your trousers as well if I where you. All the hostages started hiding the bonds under various items of clothing. Jack slipped the remaining six bonds down the back of his trousers and tucked his shirt in over the top of them. He ruffled his hair slightly and walked out of the toilet. CUT TO: EXT. OUTSIDE GENTS TOILETS A female officer noticed a main in a suit walking slowly out of the toilet. FEMALE OFFICER Over here sir !. Hurry ! Jack picked up the pace and dashed over to the female officer. FEMALE OFFICER (CONT'D) Are you OK sir?. Are you hurt? JACK Er. No. I'm fine. Thankyou. A male office signalled to the female officer and she motioned to Jack to stay where he was and walked away. Jack looked at the police standing around the public lavatory and realized that nobody was actually looking in his direction. He ducked behind a nearby police van and, checking again to see the coast was clear, walked away. FADE OUT: