Motel Hell

Happy Thursday, 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 34 of THE HEISTERS, robbery/homicide detectives scope out the sleazy beachside motel where Kelsey shot and killed Kaspar ...


INT. VENICE MOTOR COURT HOTEL - FRONT DESK - NIGHT
Ren Rosen and Elwin Marr
speak to the NIGHT CLERK,
a small, thin slip of guy.
Typical fussy queen.

Meg Stark and Mart Volok
hang back and look around.

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Of course, detective.
I’ll help in any way I can --

ELWIN
We’re looking for a Hispanic guy.
He would have arrived here
in the last hour or so.

REN
He was probably very agitated.
Upset. Ring any bells?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Oh, yes. There was this
horrible-looking Mexican guy.
But he didn’t come to the desk.

ELWIN
You don’t know which room
he went to, do you?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
No. But he took the elevator
up to the second floor.

REN
How many rooms on the floor?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Ten, five on each side.

ELWIN
(to Ren)
Our luck it’s a small place.

REN
(nods, to the clerk)
Can we see the register,
see who’s in each room?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Sure thing.

He gets the register.
Opens it. Looks up. Realizes.

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Is this person -- dangerous?

ELWIN
Very --

REN
And the people he’s visiting
are even more dangerous.

GAY NIGHT CLERK
There won’t be a --
shoot-out or anything, will there?

ELWIN
(smiles)
We usually try to avoid that.

GAY NIGHT CLERK
(sighs)
Thank god for THAT --

He looks in the book.
Scans the room numbers
with his finger.
Looks up. Smiles.

GAY NIGHT CLERK
You’re in luck, gentlemen.
It’s off-season.
Only two rooms are occupied
on the second floor.

REN
Who’s in the first room?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
(looks, reads)
Yuri and Olga Chechnikov.
Russian tourists, I guess.

ELWIN
And in the second room?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
(reads)
Uh -- John Smith.

REN
Bingo.

ELWIN
Room number?

GAY NIGHT CLERK
Twenty-three. At the end
of the hall on the left.
It’s a suite.
Has two entrances.

Elwin looks at Ren.
Narrows his eyes.

ELWIN
Great. Two escape routes, no waiting --