The Gentleman Gunman

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 13 of EXIT, after dirty cop Vin Vargas leaves the club to go get food for the hostages, fugitive Danny Peel grills the celebrities about their personal problems ... and discovers that Oscar-winning screenwriter Casey Montana has just found her next story ...


INT. THE EXIT ROOM - EARLY MORNING
Easy sits in the corner of a banquet, in pain.
Chugs from a bottle of scotch.
We see a big, ugly scar on his arm socket.

Sky, Angel, Bettie, Casey,
Mia and Angel sit around him.

Danny and Vin sit at the bar,
facing them, guns aimed.

SKY
(whispers, to Casey)
Nothing like seeing a guy
getting his arm blown off
to sober you up.

Casey nods, in a daze.

DANNY
Not as much fun as
sitting at the bar, I know.
But your priviledges have been revoked.
(low, to Vin)
What did you do with his arm?

VIN
(whispers)
In the VIP room with the dead guy.

MIA
(to Danny)
Could I get some ice for his shoulder?

DANNY
No. Nobody moves.
Tried being nice and it didn’t work.

SKY
What if we have to go to the bathroom?

DANNY
Then you pee in your pants.

BETTIE
Shit.

DANNY
That, too.

VIN
I’m really hungry, Danny.

DANNY
Then do some more blow.

VIN
Nah. That shit fucked me up.
Stomach’s tied up in knots.
What if I go outside
and see what’s going on?
If the coast is clear
I could go get some food.

DANNY
Are you fucking crazy?
It’s too risky.

MIA
There’s a Pink Dot two blocks away.
He could go behind the stores in the alley.

VIN
Yeah?

DANNY
(looks at his watch)
It’s still dark out --

VIN
C’mon. Let me go take a look.
I’ll creep up the stairs
real careful like.
Nobody will see me.

Pause.

DANNY
Okay. But be careful.
(looks at the group)
I supposed you’re all hungry.

VIN
Are you kidding?
After the shit they pulled?
Let ‘em starve.

CASEY
I don’t see why the rest of us
should be punished for
Tango and Cash’s shenanigans.

Danny looks at her. Smiles.

DANNY
(to Vin)
What the fuck.
Get enough stuff to make
sandwiches for everybody.

SKY
I’m a vegan --

DANNY
You’re lucky you’re fucking ALIVE.
You’ll eat whatever grub you’re given.

VIN
You wanna feed them ALL?

DANNY
Why not. Good faith gesture.
Maybe the media will call me
‘The Gentleman Gunman’ or some shit.

VIN
You’re fucking crazy.

DANNY
Crazy like a fox.
If their bellies are full,
they might not get so desperate again.
(to the group)
Right?
(off their nods, to Vin)
Get a couple loaves of bread,
some cold cuts and chips and shit.

VIN
Okay.

He starts heading for the door.

DANNY
Be careful.

Vin nods.
Unlocks the door.

Slowly opens it.
Peers out.

Then leaves.
Shuts the door behind him.

CASEY
Thanks.

DANNY
Yeah, well -- I figure if things go south,
maybe they’ll go easier on me
if I treat you like human beings.

EASY
Right. Like blowing off my arm?

DANNY
You tried to grab my gun.
That was your fault, not mine.
I was giving you lines of coke, remember?

CASEY
You seem like too nice a guy to be --

DANNY
What.
A cold-blooded killer?
You surprise me.
As a writer you of all people
should know people are complicated.
(beat)
What I want to know
is why you’re all here.
You’ve got great careers, tons of dough,
and yet you’re hanging out
in an after-hours club
on a weeknight at five in the morning.
What’s up with that?

BETTIE
I was doing an Amy Winehouse
until you interrupted me.

DANNY
Makes sense.
Your last album tanked,
and I saw that video on YouTube.
Ouch.

BETTIE
Label’s gonna drop me.
My band won’t speak to me.
There’s nothing to live for.
Music is my life.

DANNY
Gonna make a hell of a ‘Behind The Music.’
(to Easy)
I think I got you figured out.
The press is going to out you, right?

EASY
He shoots, he scores.

DANNY
Wasn’t a detective for nothing.
(to Sky)
And you, Mr. HIV-positive.
Just found out?

SKY
Yeah.

DANNY
Then why come here?

SKY
Getting married tomorrow.

DANNY
So the wife doesn’t know.

SKY
What do you think?

DANNY
I think they should rename this place
‘The Hideout.’
(to Casey)
What’s your deal?
Looking for your next story?

CASEY
More like avoiding trying.

DANNY
But you found it, didn’t you.

CASEY
Maybe.

DANNY
If you live through this,
you’re gonna write about it.

CASEY
That’s what I’m thinking.

DANNY
Maybe Ethan Hawke here can play me.

CASEY
Nah. Too scrawny.
Thinking more of a George Clooney type.

DANNY
I’ll take that as a compliment.

CASEY
So why did you rob the dirty cop?
You know him?

DANNY
Know him?
He was my fucking partner.

CASEY
What did he do to you?

DANNY
If I tell you that,
you could testify against me
in a court of law.

CASEY
C’mon. I’m curious.
I wanna know.

DANNY
You know what they say about curiosity --

They stare at each other.
The buzzer RINGS.
Everyone looks --