Date With Destiny

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Friday. It's time once again to take a trip to the dark side, where your most violent fantasies become sins of the flesh, right here, where the hardboiled action is non-stop, at the coolest crime joint in cyberspace ... at That Killing Feeling.

In Chapter 5 of RIDGEWAY, we discover on a social media website that Cate in Los Angeles and Kayla in the Ozark Mountains are online lovers. Later that day, Cate checks out a possible new place to live ... in a decrepit, old trailer high in the Malibu bluffs ...


INT. CATE’S APARTMENT - DAY
Cate sits at an old workstation
working her laptop.

BOBBY, a black spaniel-retriever mix
sleeps at her feet.

ON THE SCREEN
We see a social media website.
A conversation scrolls down:

Kayla:
How was court?
Did you get the time you want?

Cate:
Yeah. Landlord gave me a month. Whoo-HOO.
(Found out they usually only give you a week.)
*Does crazy dance*

Kayla:
That’s great!
How’s the trailer hunt going?

Cate:
Looking at one in Malibu at three.
Wish me luck.
*sings* ‘Trailer for sale or rent -- ‘

Kayla:
You better get going.
‘Your date with destiny ... ‘

Cate:
Yeah.
Just wanted to give you the good news.
Will report back later, skipper.

Kayla:
I’ll be here. Waiting for YOU.

CATE
Smiles. Starts typing.
The lights flicker, then GO OUT.

CATE
Aw, c’mon. Not again --

EXT. MALIBU BLUFF - DAY
A small TRAILER parked at the top
of a bluff in the dirt.

The view of the ocean is breathtaking.
The trailer, not.

A mobile home would be a mansion
comparison. Whee-doggie.

A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE PICKUP TRUCK
climbs up the hill and parks.

and a SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
get out. Walk over to it.

CATE
This is -- really high up.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
Hauled it up from the other side.
No problem getting it down.

Acne-Scarred opens the door.
They go in.

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - DAY
Beyond sad. A tiny, threadbare couch
in the ‘living room’ area with
a chipped table and a tiny, ancient TV.

The stained, ripped rug completes
the picture of domestic shame.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
TV goes with me.

Cate nods. Goes to the ‘kitchenette.’
Grimy would be a compliment.

Looks at the hose coming in
through the window.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
Water’s not hooked up.
Run that from the house down the way.

CATE
Parking it in a friend’s driveway.
Guess I could do that.

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - BEDROOM - DAY
Just big enough for a small bed
and night table.

Cate squats down below the low ceiling.
Examines the filthy carpet.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
You can have the table.

Cate nods. Goes back down to the kitchenette.
Opens a door on the other side, looks into --

INT. SHITTY TRAILER - BATHROOM - DAY
Beyond crappy. Pun intended.
A stack of junk is piled up
in the shower and on the tiny toilet.

A fly BUZZES around the brackish water
in the clogged sink.

SCARY, ACNE-SCARRED GUY
Gotta commode outside.
(off her look)
Don’t worry.
I’ll clean all that stuff out.

PUSH IN ON Cate’s face. In shock.