One Tough Nut

Hey there, crime kids. Happy Monday. 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 41 of WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, homicide detectives Bernie Keko and Aya Meir get 'up close and personal' in their police cruiser. Meanwhile, private eye Carrie Love grills the widow Gay Flender about her husband's murder ...


EXT. SANTA MONICA - CUL DE SAC - NIGHT
Bernie’s undercover cruiser is parked
at the end of the street behind a garbage dumpster.
The car is ROCKING.

INT. UNMARKED CAR - CONTINUOUS
Bernie and Aya are making love
in the back seat. It’s animal.

He SHRIEKS with pleasure, COMING.
Aya WAILS like a banshee.

Like howling dogs,
they climax together.

Silence.

BERNIE
Wish I had a cigarette.

AYA
I’ve got some. Hold on.

Aya pushes herself up.
Her blouse is open.
A splendid view.

She leans over the seat,
grabs her purse.
Pulls out a pack.

BERNIE
(takes one from her)
I shouldn’t.

AYA
(lights his, then hers)
Neither should I.
(exhales)
So what exactly did Carrie do?
Why was she suspended?

BERNIE
She cracked up her car,
smashed into a seven-eleven,
blood alcohol level twice the legal limit --
and her DATE for the evening
was the CHIEF’S sixteen-year-old DAUGHTER.

AYA
Wow. That explains alot.
(dreamy)
So -- what do we do now?

BERNIE
We get the fuck over
to Gay Flender’s joint.
If Lipshitz finds out --

AYA
No. I mean about us.

BERNIE
Us?

AYA
(hurt)
Yeah. US.

Bernie leans in.
Softly kisses her.

BERNIE
Tell you what.
Let’s crack this case,
then go away somewhere.
Maybe -- Cabo?

AYA
I’d love that.

BERNIE
(drinks her in)
You’re not such a tough nut after all.

PUSH IN ON Aya.
Eyes dancing with mischief.

AYA
Tell anyone and I’ll fucking kill you.

INT. FLENDER RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - AT THAT MOMENT
Gay and Modi sit on the couch.
Nikki, in a chair beside them,
Jenny tying her wrist,
Nikki’s gun in her waistband.

Carrie stands at the bar,
holds a gun on them.

She DOWNS a shot of something brown.
Wipes her mouth. Pours another.

CARRIE
Make sure you tie it good and tight.
She’s got double-chromosome strength.

MODI
Made for a man,
strong enough for a --

CARRIE
CAN it.

Jenny starts tying the other wrist, as --

NIKKI
Wait a minute. My asthma,
I need to take my medicine.

CARRIE
Hurry it the fuck up, then.

Nikki reaches into her bag
with her free hand.

Pulls out the coke snifter.
HONKS a large hit in one nostril.

Then the other.
She smiles maniacally.
Eyes bright, blink-blinking.

NIKKI
Thanks. I needed that.

JENNY
(SNATCHES it way)
That’s not medicine, that’s COKE.

A geyser of brownish-green viscous fluid
ERUPTS from her mouth.

Bubbles down her chin.
Eyes go glassy.

She goes into CONVULSIONS.
FALLS over in the chair.


BLOOD gurgles out Nikki’s nose.
Her eyes roll back.

Body SPASMS, a death rattle.
Lights out.

Jenny feels her wrist. Looks up.

JENNY
She’s -- dead.

GAY
Look what she did to my CARPET.

MODI
Now you can redecorate --

CARRIE
There will be no redecorating
where YOU’RE going.
(to Gay, gun at her head)
Okay, we’re gonna play Russian Roulette,
except I’m not Russian --
and this gun is fully loaded.
So tell me, NOW --
why did you FRAME ME?

GAY
I didn’t frame you -- we --
(looks at Modi)
Called it off.

CARRIE
Called what off?

MODI
We ordered a hit on Harvey.
But we -- called it off.
We changed our minds.

CARRIE
And you expect me to believe that.

GAY
It’s true.
We screened DOUBLE INDEMNITY,
and it scared the shit out of us.
Then Harvey disappeared,
and I hired you to find him.
Why in the FUCK would I frame you?
That drunken tryst we had? Please.
I’ve had better sex with my fist.