Dirty Harry

Happy Tuesday, 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 16 of EXIT, gunman Danny Peel and dirty cop Vin Vargas have sandwiches with the hostages, but when screenwriter Casey Montana asks Danny what went down at the home invasion earlier that night, thinking it might be a good story for her next screenplay, Danny blames Vin for the carnage, and then things take a violent turn ...


INT. THE EXIT ROOM - EARLY MORNING
A big spread of food is on the table.
Everybody sits on the banquet eating sandwiches.

Vin’s there, too.
Looks like hell in greasy, filthy clothing.

CASEY
Ohmigod, this is so fucking good.

VIN
Boar’s Head.
I don’t eat that cheap shit.

HARRY
Righteous sandwich.
You know your way around munchies.

VIN
Great fucking weed.
Took the edge right off.

DANNY
(to Vin)
You really paid a homeless guy
to switch clothes with you?

VIN
Yeah. Gave him a hundred bucks.
There were so many cops around,
I had to disguise myself --
(takes a bite)
That’s what took me so long to get back.

DANNY
I gotta say I’m impressed.

VIN
What about the cop?
How long before they start looking for her?

DANNY
(holds up a walkie talkie)
We’ve got some time.
Now that we got her radio
we can listen to what’s going on.

VIN
I can tell you what’s going on.
Full media blitz, cops everywhere, choppers.

DANNY
We gotta come up with a new plan.
They’re gonna find the stolen car.

VIN
Yeah. We’re gonna need new wheels.

MIA
You can take my car.

DANNY
What kind of car do you have?

MIA
A Honda SUV.
Has tinted windows.

DANNY
I dunno.
There’s gonna be roadblocks.
I gotta think about it.

MIA
(to Danny)
While you think about it,
can I use your phone
to call the hospital?

DANNY
That offer was good
if you kept the cop away.

MIA
I tried, but she saw the blood.
It wasn’t my fault.

VIN
You were gonna let her use your PHONE?

DANNY
(to Mia)
Okay. Make it quick.
I’ll be listening.

MIA
Ohmigod, THANK YOU.

VIN
What the fuck?

Danny pulls out his cell phone.
Hands it to her.

Mia takes it, dials a number.
Relieved.

DANNY
Chill out.
Her mother had a stroke.
It’s not her fault you fucked up tonight.

VIN
WHAT?

DANNY
Shut up, Vin. I wanna listen.

MIA
(into the phone)
The UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica.
(listens)
Thanks.
(listens)
Yes, hi. I’m calling to get some
information on a patient of yours?
(listens)
Lucy Tanaka.
(listens)
Sure, I’ll hold.
(to Danny)
I’m holding --

DANNY
It’s okay.

MIA
(nods)
Yes? She IS? Thank god. Thank you.
(listens)
She’s going home tomorrow?
(listens)
Is my sister there?
Can I talk to her?

DANNY
Time’s up.

MIA
But I want to ask her --

DANNY
(GRABS the phone)
You found out your mother’s okay.
Can’t risk you talking to your sister.
She’ll be able to tell something’s up
by the tone of your voice.

VIN
I can’t believe you let her fucking do that.
Hostages aren’t allowed to make phone calls.

DANNY
You really are a pain in the ass,
you know that?

VIN
HEY. I risked my BADGE for you.
And what’s this bullshit about
‘I fucked up the job?’

DANNY
You DID fuck up the job.

CASEY
Wait a minute. Vin’s a COP?
DANNY
(nods)
A cop with a gambling problem.

VIN
Why the fuck did you have to tell her THAT?

DANNY
Cause it’s true?

VIN
I didn’t fuck up the job.
He was going for his piece.

DANNY
No he wasn’t.
He was reaching for his glasses.
He was blind without them.
(to Casey)
They were fucking when we walked in --
(to Vin)
And Dirty Harry here just HAD to go in,
guns blazing.

CASEY
Oh my god.
This WOULD make a great movie.

VIN
A MOVIE?
You can’t make a movie outta this
without our permission.

DANNY
I’m giving her mine.

VIN
WHAT?

DANNY
Gonna do something about it?

VIN
(stands)
Maybe.

DANNY
I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
Be the last mistake you ever made.
(chuckles)
One in a LONG line --
(imitates him)
Hello, honey?
I lost our mortgage payment at the track.

Vin reaches for his gun,
but Danny’s faster --
and SHOOTS him with the sawed-off, BOOM.

He FLIES backwards,
HITS the floor, THUD.
Blood starts PUMPING out of his belly.

Casey stares, wide-eyed.
Heart beating a mile a minute.