A Play for Shadows

We open on a bank hold up gone wrong. Three men are exiting the bank with the alarms sounding. The three are, Case, Mason and Al, the leader. Mason runs to the car, followed by Case and the mortally wounded Al. They leap into one of the two cars the brought, hoping the other will slow the police, and race off. The police arrive moments later and then after speaking to a witness who tells them of the death of Tom, a young security guard, they too race off. In the getaway car, the three men discuss what their options are. Al decides that it is best if he is left to further delay the cops. Case, his friend, does not like this but agrees. The two remaining men, leave him on the side of a road with several guns, and after Case’s tearful goodbye, they leave him. As they speed off, Mason and Case now argue over what to do next. Finally, as police sirens sound in the distance, they race down a dirt road. Making sure they have weapons, the two men decide to hold up in a house for a few hours. The cops soon discover Al standing at the side of the road and he is killed in a short viscous shootout. Later in the evening, Case and Mason sit down in the house. Mason remembers something that Al said, about not having ties to the crime. So he suggests to Case that they get rid of the money. Case cannot believe what he is hearing until Mason explains they should bury the money and then lie low for a while. As they prepare to bury the money under house Case begins to come clean about many of his fears, old houses being one of them. Soon they are under the house where Case once again reveals his fear of spiders. Suddenly as they are preparing to bury the money far against the back wall, Case hears what he thinks are footfalls. Finally after a great deal of convincing, Mason allows him to go back up stairs. A few moments later, Mason hears what sound like gun shots, then Case appears at the entrance screaming that he has shot a woman. He finally convinces Mason to go and look. And upon his return confirms that Case has indeed killed a woman. They decide that the best course of action now is to leave, which they do with haste. Later that night on a deserted stretch of road, next to a lone gas station, Case notices a young woman hitchhiking. Amber mysteriously tells him that she has been waiting for him to come along and give her a ride. When Mason returns, he is understandably suspicious of Amber, however after some prodding, he agrees. Also realizing that the authorities might be looking for two men and not two men and a woman.
Mason continues to be wary of Amber, who is fairly ambiguous about her past. All she says is that she was married once. The three some finally decide after a few more hours driving to get a couple of rooms. Case and Amber go off to have dinner over Mason’s objections, during which Case spills a bit more information then he should about who they are and what they did. Later that evening, Mason is awakened by Amber, knocking at his door. She tells him that she would rather have a man then a little boy. Mason does not believe her but they consummate anyway. We then move to later in the night where AMBER is still with her lover and it turns out to be Case. Amber now convinces him that the money should all be his. Case agrees and dresses to return and fetch the loot, stealing a car for transportation. Back in Mason’s room, AMBER is deep into convincing Mason that he should leave Case out of the loop and get the money for himself. She also suggests that over dinner Case implied that he was going to take the money for himself. Thrown into a rage, Mason rushes off to stop Case from taking the loot. As he leaves, Amber watches from the window, fading in a thin air, laughing. As Mason arrives at the house, he finds that Case has already been there. And the money is gone. His rage even worse, Mason searches the house finally returning to the front driveway where he encounters Case. They fire at each other, Case is killed outright, with Mason mortally wounded. He struggles to his car and dies behind the wheel. Early the next morning, a man and Amber walk into the bank that was robbed with the money in hand. After graciously accepting the returned cash, the teller notices that the man with Amber, whom she refers to as her husband, bears a striking resemblance to the young security guard, who was killed only a couple of days before. The two smile and leave hand in hand. Back at the house, we finally see a wedding picture of Amber and Tom, who can now rest in peace.