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THE TROUBLE-SHOOTER

THE TROUBLE-SHOOTER
By Val Chernyavskiy

GENRE: Thriller, Drama
LOGLINE:

A teenager from a dysfunctional family is charged with a serious crime, which he did not commit.
The police give the teenager an ultimatum, he must help catch a maniac who kills children, otherwise he goes to jail, and his sister to an orphanage.

SYNOPSIS:

John(14) and Sophia(17) grandmother Nancy(77) takes care of them. The teens have no mother, only a grandmother and a father. Ethan(49), John and Sophia's father, is a sick man. He lives apart from the children and Nancy. Ethan picks up garbage at landfills and stores it in his home. The children's benefits for the death of his spouse, Ethan spends only on himself. John befriends neighbor Xander (39), he has a criminal profession, solves any problems, takes no money. He does quid pro quo. Quentin(35) deputy sheriff hits Nancy, on the highway. Quentin takes advantage of Xander's favor. Xander handles the situation so that Nancy is hit by another car. John, skipping school, works on the street to feed himself and Sophia because Ethan doesn't need them. Xander invites John to work at the garage, doing car repairs. John stops by a construction site on his way to work to help the workers and satisfy his hunger. At this point, the teenagers steal tools from the construction site. The teenagers are attacked by guard dogs, all are killed, and John is seriously injured.

At the hospital, John is charged with robbery and trespassing on private property. Quentin found out, that John is Nancy's grandson, without gathering evidence he tries to arrest him, also Quentin found out, that John is Xander's friend. Quentin then issues an ultimatum to John. John has to help catch a maniac who kills teenagers, patrol the streets at night, and Quentin demands that John see his son Procruste (15) off after school. Otherwise, John goes to jail and Sophia goes to an orphanage. John agrees. John patrols the streets and sees Procruste off after school, fulfilling Quentin's ultimatum. John continues to work in Xander's garage. John tries to make contact with Ethan, but all to no avail. Ethan needs John as a wallet and nothing more. Quentin's wife, Barbara(31) a social worker, tries to improve John's life, she feels guilty about John. Sophia and her drank boyfriend, on a motorcycle, are hit by a truck. They die. The drug mafia wants Xander to go to jail. The drug mafia and police try to videotape Xander taking a large bag of money for safekeeping. John helps Xander avoid jail and teach the police and drug mafia a lesson. During a critical situation, Xander makes a request to Quentin, Quentin takes the bag of money. Quentin is afraid of John and Xander's friendship, afraid for his career. Quentin recruits John to be an informant and look for dirt on Xander. Procruste steals a bag of money from Quentin. Quentin discovers that his son Procruste is the maniac he is looking for.

Quentin is shocked, he doesn't know what to do. Quentin can't give the money back to the drug mafia, he gets killed. Procruste poisons the teenagers at the party, as well as John. John wakes up in the hospital. Barbara is in a coma due to nervousness. Xander, after breaking a baseball bat on Procruste, discovers where the bag of money is. Xander asks for John's help, to retrieve the bag and give it to the drug mafia. John agrees, but at the crucial moment, John betrays Xander and embezzles the money for himself. With Barbara's help, John sets up a car repair and sales business, lying to her about winning the money in the lottery. Barbara sets up the business in her own name. John steals her passport and stuffs her pockets with stolen credit cards and puts her on a plane to Mexico. Ethan found out about his son's success and demanded 2\3 of the income from the business or he would sue him for everything. John sends his father to a psycho-neurological hospital.

THE TROUBLE-SHOOTER

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