The Stuff of Pinup Dreams

Happy Hump Day, 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 1 of A DISH BEST KILLED, more than sparks fly when Hollywood starlet Haven Crayce and personal trainer Jett Targo meet cute at the marina walking their dogs.


EXT. MARINA - DUSK
A cool, crisp evening.
Magic hour tequila sunset
smears orange on blue water.

Wind whips through a line of
luxury sailboats gently bobbing.
A GULL flies by. CAW-CAW-CAWS.

CAMERA finds a HOUSEBOAT.
Ghostly. Shades drawn.
Old and peeling. Dark wood.
Brass fixtures.

We see the vessel’s name
on the stern in cracked,
gold cursive.
SAFE HAVEN, indeed.

A WOMAN (25) appears on the deck.
We GASP, as she is
heartbreakingly beautiful.

The kind that makes
you ache with longing.
A curvy cocktail
with mile-high legs.

Meet HAVEN CRAYCE. Blonde, blue-eyed.
The stuff of pinup dreams.

Right now she’s in a killer
black cocktail dress
and five-inch heels.

Pulls a JACK RUSSELL TERRIER
on a leash.

HAVEN
(puts on shades)
Come on, Buster.

And the dog TAKES OFF like a rocket.
YANKS the leash, as Haven
CAREENS down the gangplank,
heels CLACK-CLACK-CLACKING.

HAVEN (CONT’D)
Buster, GODAMMIT.

EXT. MARINA CHANNEL - PARK - AT THAT MOMENT
Another WOMAN (28)
walks a small, black DOG.
Tall and lanky, like a jock.

Pretty in that
clear-eyed Midwestern way.

Chestnut mane in a boyish bob.
Sweats, denim and leather.

Meet JETT TARGO.
Recent transplant from Kansas.

Buff, in shape, but there’s a
vague hint of wild Saturday nights.

Secret debaucheries.
She gives TINA a doggie treat.

JETT
Good girl.

They start ambling down the sidewalk.
Watching the boats in the channel.

It’s bucolic.
Then why does Jett look pensive?

HAVEN comes into view,
pulled by Buster. She stops.

Sees Jett. Lowers her sunglasses.
Gets a better look.

Jett sees Haven. Jerks to a stop.
If we could see up close,
we’d notice the hairs standing
up on the back of her neck.

HAVEN
Cute dog. What is she?

JETT
She’s, uh -- a Cocker Spaniel-
King Charles mix.
My neighbor’s dog.
I walk her sometimes as a favor.

HAVEN
Buster’s a Jack Russell.
(rubs the dog’s head)
Aren’t you, Mister Man?
(offers her hand)
I’m Haven. Haven Crayce.

JETT
(takes it, shakes)
Jett Targo. This is Tina.
(beat)
Haven Crayce. Sounds exotic.

HAVEN
Jett Targo. Sounds athletic.
Which way are you walking?

JETT
(points)
That way. We were -- going
to go look at the boats.

HAVEN
Great. Me, too.

JETT
You like boats?

HAVEN
Not really.
(beat)
I live on one --