A Little Help From My Friends

Happy Tuesday, crime slicksters. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where the girls are hot, the drinks are cold, and the hardboiled-pulp-noir action is non-stop, right here, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 32 of AFTERHOURS, gunman on the run Danny Peel tries to convince patrolman Luther James to help him escape by giving him half the loot ...


INT. AFTER HOURS CLUB - EARLY MORNING
The buzzer RINGS.

DANNY
Places, please.
Aim at the door.

MIA
Don’t I get a gun?

DANNY
Get behind the bar, Mia.

She frowns.
Starts walking toward the bar.

Danny goes to the door.
Leans into it.

DANNY
Come in nice and slow.

The door slowly opens.
In walks Sergeant LUTHER JAMES (20’s),
African-American, tall, good-looking,
holding his weapon in a two-handed grip.

Danny points his sawed-off at him.

LUTHER
Looks like a standoff, cop killer.

DANNY
Not quite.

Casey, Sky and Bettie come into view,
weapons aimed.

DANNY
I get by with a little help
from my friends.

LUTHER
Wait a minute.
Sky Masters?

SKY
Yippee-kai-yay, motherfucker.

LUTHER
And Bettie Blue?

BETTIE
Helter Skelter, baby.

LUTHER
(to Casey)
You’re that writer.

BETTIE
(nods)
The sword is mightier than the pen.

LUTHER
(to Danny)
You’re trusting your
hostages with guns?
What, they go Patty Hearst
on your ass?

DANNY
You’ll have to ask them.

LUTHER
Where’s my partner?
Show me he’s okay.

DANNY
(nods behind him)
In the corner there.
He’s out, but he’s okay.

LUTHER
(sees him, nods)
Where’s the money?

DANNY
Behind the bar in a duffle.
Feel free to count it.

LUTHER
How exactly do you propose
I get you outta here?

DANNY
In your car.
Take me to a motel
and you’re a rich man.

CASEY
I’m coming with him.

LUTHER
What?

CASEY
He’s gonna need someone
to check him in and then
go out for supplies and shit.

LUTHER
You’re gonna jeopardize
your career for him?

CASEY
You got that backwards.
He’s gonna save it --