Exit Strategy

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Hump Day. 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 6 of THE HEISTERS, Kelsey continues to set up the robbery with her co-conspirators. We then flash forward back to the present, where Kelsey meets with two of her heisters to let them know that the cash from the job was stolen ...


INT. SHITTY MOTEL ROOM
Kelsey looks at Ronan. Narrows her eyes.

KELSEY
How many people on the job?

RONAN
We figure two more. Muscle.
Drivers. So that’s six.

She nods slowly. Thinking.

RONAN
So whaddaya think?

KELSEY
What makes it low-risk?

RONAN
Well, we gotta way in.
We just need to take care of
the traffic jam afterwards
so we can get out.
There’s always a traffic jam
at these things.

KELSEY
How do we get in?

RONAN
The box office is old-school.
It’s got a gate.
You climb up over it and get in.
Piece a cake.

KELSEY
So we just walk up to the box office --

RONAN
No, no, no.
Here’s the beauty part.
We go in the night before.
Then wait until the morning.
The box office opens at seven,
and the concert starts at nine.
It’s one of those all-day things.
You know, like a festival.

KELSEY
I see --

RONAN
We just need help figuring out
the exit strategy.

Kelsey sips her beer.
Leans back against the pillow.
Closes her eyes.

A clock TICK-TICK-TICKS.
Everybody watches her. Thinking.
She opens them. Sits up.

KELSEY
Ambulance. We rig up a fake one
and rescue somebody.

Ronan, Ludo and Chick exchange glances.
Big smiles.

CHICK
The woman is a GENIUS.

KELSEY
Hey. Why do you think
I make the big bucks?

EXT. THE INTERNATIONAL MOTEL - DAY
A piece of shit flea bag
on the wrong end of Pico.

Flags from around the world
painted on white cinder block.

A real dump. You can practically
smell the urine on the page.

INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR - MORNING
Kelsey walks down the hall.
Stops at a door.

Knock-knock-knocks softly. Pauses.
Then twice. Stops. Then once again.
The door opens. She goes in.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - MORNING
Shades drawn. Dark.
A smoky haze drifts in the room.

Pizza boxes and beer cans
litter the joint.

Chick sits at a table playing solitaire.
Ludo motions Kelsey to come in.

LUDO
I don’t like it.
It’s too soon for us
to see each other.
Something fucked up.
I can smell it.

CHICK
(SNAPS down a card)
Don’t get your wife-beater in a twist.
Let’s hear what she has to say.
She wouldn’t have come over here
and risked everything if it
wasn’t important, right?

KELSEY
No shit.
(beat)
You gotta beer?

LUDO
We drank ‘em all.

CHICK
I got -- scotch?

Kelsey nods. Chick gets up.
Goes to the mini-bar.

Pours two fingers in a glass.
Walks over to Kelsey.
Hands it to her.

KELSEY
Thanks.

She downs it.
Looks at the glass. Sighs.

LUDO
So?

Pause.

KELSEY
Somebody jacked the haul.

LUDO
What the FUCK?

KELSEY
I went out for --

LUDO
You went out? You WENT OUT?
Where the FUCK did you GO?
Holy FUCKING SHIT.
What the fuck were you DOING?
How could you --

CHICK
(hisses)
HEY. Calm the FUCK down and let her
tell us what the fuck HAPPENED.

LUDO
YOU calm the fuck down, ASSHOLE.
The money’s GONE.

Kelsey sighs. Goes to the bar.
Freshens her drink. Sips it.

CHICK
But maybe we can fucking
GET IT BACK if you let her
TELL US WHAT HAPPENED.
(pulls out his gun)
So shut the FUCK up and
stop acting like your version
of what you think a tough guy
is supposed to ACT like.

LUDO
What the fuck is THAT
supposed to mean?

CHICK
It means you’re not
acting like a PROFESSIONAL.
It’s hotheads like you
that’ll get us killed,
in jail, broke -- or a
combination of all three.

Tears form in Ludo’s eyes.
He takes a step back.

PLOPS onto the couch.
Head in his hands.

LUDO
If I don’t get the money --
the bank’ll take the RESTAURANT.

CHICK
(looks at Kelsey)
Tony Soprano he’s not --