Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay

Post by **LtBroccoli** » Fri Jul 10, 2026 2:58 am

Teaser: Detective George Lewis uncovers a terrible conspiracy involving First Union Holy Church. His work takes him head to head with some of the most dangerous people he's ever run into, and has no choice but to work with some of his worst enemies.
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The author of this story has read and accepted the rules for posting stories. They guarantee that the following story depicts none of the themes listed in the Forbidden Content section of the rules.

The following story is a work of fiction meant for entertainment purposes only. It depicts nonconsensual sexual acts between adults. It is in no way meant to be understood as an endorsement of nonconsensual sex in real life. Any similarities of the characters in the story to real people are purely coincidental.
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Index:

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Title: Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay
Author: Lt. Broccoli
Chapter Tags: I will add tags as I post episodes.
Content Warnings: Add here further content warnings you would like to make your readers aware of.
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Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay

A Screenplay by Lt. Broccoli

Author’s Note: This story is fictional. All persons and places are made up. The events did not take place, nor ever take place in this world. This story contains descriptions of rape, violence, bigotry, going to church, drug use, and sexual violence involving minors. The author does not condone any of those activities.

This story is a continuation of the Harbor City Universe and features many characters and events that take place in other stories. Please see my page in the Author’s section for links to those stories. They are not required reading but do illuminate the backstory. The events depicted take place in two main time periods. The modern day events take place during the early chapters of “Pharma” and the flashbacks occur after “Bob and the Mean Girls” and during “A Dish Best Served Cold”.

This story was written in a screenplay format and was modified for viewing on this forum. It is also very long. This will be split into several episodes to facilitate ease of reading. Episodes will vary in length, but will usually be between 20-40 pages long, but some will be longer for story purposes. Those pages are based off of standard screenplay formatting. There’s a thread for how to read a screenplay in the Book Club, but here’s the short version. A slugline like EXT. GEORGE’S BACKYARD - DAY tells where the scene takes place and what time of day or night, and whether it is inside, outside, or some combo. The names are BOLD to help with reading since formatting margins doesn’t work well on web forums. Parenthesis after the name indicate a special direction. The two most common are V.O. for Voice Over like narration and O.S. for Off Screen, where the character is still in the scene but not in view of the camera. Text underneath a name is dialogue, and if there’s something inside of a parenthesis those are instructions for the actor on how to deliver the line. Actions are described through text. Occasionally there may be a camera direction like “Zoom in on the phone screen” or “Pan left across the room.” If a character name is ALL CAPS in descriptive text, this is the first time they appear on screen. This is done to track when a new character appears. It’s also done for things like sound or visual fx. It’s weird at first, but after a bit you’ll get the feel for it. This is how movies and TV have been written for over a hundred years.

I will add tags as I post episodes.

Many of the acts depicted in this story could land yo ass in prison. Don’t fucking do’em!

Episode 1 - The Barbecue
Fade In:

EXT. GEORGE’S BACKYARD - DAY

In a suburban backyard, a barbecue takes place. Several young children run around playing in the yard. Older children and teens hang around another picnic table. About a dozen men and women sit around another table under a sunshade.

Manning the grill is GEORGE LEWIS, a bald white man in his late 40’s with a little bit of a gut. He’s dressed in a pale blue polo shirt, cargo shorts, running shoes, and blue and green Harbor City Whalers ball cap. George throws a couple meatless burger patties on the side of the grill.

Walking over to the grill carrying two beers is XAVIER HARRISON. Xavier is a large black man, easily standing 6’4” and could be confused for a football lineman. Xavier wears a green polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Xavier hands George a beer and takes a look at the grill.

XAVIER
(shouting)
What’s that?

GEORGE
Veggie patties.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Who’s the veg head?

GEORGE
I don’t know, this many people there’s bound to be one.

George takes a sip of beer.

GEORGE
When you getting that hearing aid?

Xavier looked at George for a moment, making sure he heard him right.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Hearing aid? Another week or two. What, don’t like a large black man yelling at you all the time?

George and Xavier laugh. They each have a sip of beer.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Thanks for inviting us.

GEORGE
No problem, dude. Glad you guys could come.

George looks over at the table under the sunshade and sees his wife, LIZ LEWIS, a white woman in her mid-40’s with brown hair and glasses. She’s dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt with a funny graphic about cats on it.

Next to Liz at the table sits SERENA HARRISON, a good looking younger black woman in her mid-20’s. She’s similarly dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt. Her shoulder length hair is tied back with a scrunchee. As Liz and Serena chat, a little black girl about 4 years old, TATIANA HARRISON, runs over to them. The little girl says something to Serena. She grabs the little girl’s hand and gets up, walking to the house.

Xavier takes a hard look at Serena’s ass as she walks near them.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Thank God for yoga pants.

Serena shakes her head.

SERENA
You’re loud enough to wake the dead.

TATIANA
I gotta pee, Mommy.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Love ya, babe.

Serena and Tatiana walk into the house. George laughs. Xavier turns back to George at the grill.

XAVIER
(shouting)
How long you think on the burgers?

GEORGE
I don’t know, first batch will be ready in about 10 minutes. You can wait.

Xavier looks around the yard, sipping his beer.

I/E. CARLY’S CAR - DAY

CARLY GRASPPER, A young brunette woman with blue eyes drives a late model silver Toyota Camry. She’s looking through the windshield, trying to find an address. Beside her in the passenger seat sits DEREK BOGGS. They’re driving through a residential area, in what looks like a nice suburb.

DEREK
Y’know, you could’ve used GPS.

CARLY
No, I couldn’t.

DEREK
Bullshit, you gotta smartphone.

CARLY
It’s not that.

The car comes to a stop sign. Next to it is a street sign. One direction says Terrace View Drive, the other direction says Terrace View Court. Carly hits the turn signal and turns the car right onto Terrace View Court.

DEREK
Then what?

Carly turns to look at Derek briefly before putting her eyes back on the road. Derek is a good-looking man with short, dirty blonde hair. His blue eyes are concealed by aviator sunglasses. Derek is rocking the couple-day stubble and a ‘Harbor City Whalers’ blue and green hoodie. His light blue jeans and white sneakers cap off the ensemble.

CARLY
It’s just, it’s complicated.

DEREK
Well, care to make it uncomplicated?

CARLY
I’m new here. Not just at work, but to this city, this town, everything here. I just moved down her last week. I don’t know anything about Harbor City, but now, now I have to know everything.

DEREK
So...

CARLY
So, that’s why I’m not using my GPS. Could I get to George’s place without thinking? Yes, about twenty minutes ago. But I need to get a feel for this city, and you know what the best way is to get that feel?

DEREK
Get lost on the way to a barbecue?

Carly turned to Derek and glared at him, then back at the road.

CARLY
It’s to explore.

DEREK
That’s a fancy word for getting lost, right?

CARLY
If we’re so lost, then what’s that?

Carly pointed to a nice post-colonial looking house with the address 1066 Terrace View Court. Several cars filled the driveway and parked in front of the house, including a couple unmarked Ford Police Explorers.

DEREK
Drug deal gone bad? George brought work home with him?

CARLY
It’s the right place.

EXT. GEORGE’S FRONT YARD - DAY

Carly parks her car on the street behind a newer SUV. The two get out of the car and walk toward the house. Derek lets Carly take a step ahead, partly because he’s her plus one, and partly to check her out.

Carly’s long, brunette hair is straight, pulled back into a ponytail. She’s petite, maybe 5’ on a good day. She’s dressed in a pair of jean shorts that end right at the top of her pale legs. She wears a green and yellow ‘Humdinger Hornets’ hoodie. Black and white checkered Vans adorn her feet. Her purse is a little larger than one might expect for a young girl.

Derek pulls his eyes off her legs when she catches him checking her out. She stops and stares at him until he looks up. He knows he’s busted. She shakes her head and laughs as they keep walking.

EXT. GEORGE’S BACKYARD - DAY

Carly and Derek circle the house, and are greeted by the smell of food grilling. George and Xavier stand by the grill.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Oh, shit, look who’s here!

George turns, seeing Carly and Derek.

GEORGE
Welcome, drinks are in the fridge, help yourself. X, can you get me two clean plates?

XAVIER
(shouting)
Sure, send the black guy to go do kitchen work.

GEORGE
(laughing)
Dude, shut the fuck up and get some plates.

XAVIER
Yes massa.

GEORGE
Mother fucker.

George keeps his eye on the grill as STEVEN, one of George’s neighbors come over. Steve is a middle-aged man, dressed like he just came from the golf course. George looks up and sees him stop on the other side of the grill.

STEVEN
Everything okay?

GEORGE
Yeah, everything’s fine. What’s up?

Before Steven can say anything, Xavier returns with the plates in one hand. Behind him, Derek and Carly emerge from the kitchen, both with bottles of beer in hand. Steven looks at the three, but his attention goes to Carly, the very young looking woman drinking a beer.

STEVEN
Umm, is she old enough to drink?

George looks to Carly and smiles.

GEORGE
Hey Carly, Justice Jones would like to see some ID.

CARLY
Really, I’m getting carded at your barbecue?

Carly shakes her head, and pulls a wallet out of her purse. She opens it and flashes the contents in front of Steven’s face. His eyes go wide.

It’s a police badge.

GEORGE
Justice Steven Jones, let me introduce you to Officer Carly Graspper, Chester County Police Department. She’s one of my two newbs. Just transferred down from Humdinger with the new Chief.

Carly put her badge back in her purse and extended her hand.

CARLY
Please to meet you, Justice.

Steven grabs her hand and shakes it.

STEVEN
Oh, please, call me Steve while we’re here. I, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.

CARLY
It’s okay. When I met George, he thought I was 12.

GEORGE
She took down that psycho Marine on the train earlier this week by herself. Derek there is from rail, helped her bring him in.

Steven was shocked, but in a good way.

STEVEN
Impressive. Is Derek the other new member of your unit?

George shook his head.

GEORGE
No, that would be Black Mountain standing next to me.

Xavier looked quizocally for a moment, then put the plates and his beer down. He extended his hand to Steven.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Officer Xavier Harrison. Good to meet you, sir.

Steven jumped back a bit, scared a little by the large screaming black man in front of him.

STEVEN
Likewise. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the yelling?

Xavier squinted at the judge, then looked at George. George cupped his hand and quickly tapped it over his own ear twice. Xavier nodded.

XAVIER
(shouting)
A little deaf, sir. Flashbang went off next to my ear a couple months back, right ear’s been kinda messed up ever since. Should be getting a hearing aid soon.

STEVEN
(shouting)
Okay! Good to meet you, son. We’ll catch up soon.

Xavier and Steven stop shaking hands. Steven walks back to the table with most of the adults around it.

EXT. GEORGE'S BACKYARD - DAY INTO NIGHT

Time passes. Dinner is served, everyone has a good time, little kids run around, the older kids hang out. George introduces Carly and Derek to the crowds. The high school boys hit on Carly, but she shoots them down.

It’s getting dark, and one by one more and more people leave until only a handful remain. George, Liz, Xavier, Tatiana, Serena, Carly, Derek, and five more kids.

Caleb is a 16-year-old boy and George and Liz’s oldest. He’s about George’s height at 5’9”, but has dark hair like Liz. He’s in very good shape for his size. He’s laid back, usually sticking around the edge of the conversation, waiting to say something. He’s wearing gym shorts, Nike Air Jordan’s, and a black hoodie with a small Nike logo on it.

Charlotte, or Carly for short, is a 10-year-old girl with long red hair and brown eyes. She is George and Liz’s youngest. She’s just a hair under 5 feet tall. She has a precocious air to her, paying attention to everything around her. She’s wearing a pink zip-up hoodie, gray jeggings, and a pair of white sneakers.

Jenny is 14, with dirty blonde hair that’s more brown in the colder months. She has braces and blue eyes. She’s really pretty when she smiles and is growing into a beautiful young woman. She was wearing shorts and a tank top that showed off her well-developing breasts until she threw on a blue sweatshirt.

Vincent is 13 and is George’s nephew. He has a head full of light brown hair and blue eyes. He’s tall for his age, already standing more than 6’ tall. He’s gangly, like he’d be the right height for his weight if he were a foot shorter. Like Caleb, he’s wearing shorts and a hoodie with a pair of Nike Air Jordans.

Emma is 6, a pretty little blonde girl with blue eyes like her brother Vincent. She is George’s niece. She’s a head shorter than Charlotte, but dressed similarly in light grey jeggings, a t-shirt, and a pink jacket.

When everyone else has left, the group take the party inside.

INT. GEORGE’S DINING ROOM - NIGHT

A large dining room table extends off of the kitchen. The walls of the room are warm earth tones. A china hutch sits in one corner. Several portraits adorn the wall. Most of them are of the family in holiday portraits or of the children from picture day. There’s a couple pictures of George and Liz from their wedding day, and baby pictures of Caleb, Carly, Vincent and Jenny. Next to the pictures of Vincent and Jenny are a couple pictures of George and his family at a wedding on a beach. All of the men are wearing light, short sleeved beach shirts and chinos. The woman in the picture looks a lot like George, but with light brown hair that has been kissed by the sun. In the pictures, she is very, very pregnant. Her husband is a tall, lanky man that is obviously Vincent’s dad. One group picture shows George standing in the spot normally reserved for the father of the bride.

George, Xavier, Carly, and Derek sit around an oval, dark wood table. In the background, Liz and Serena talk in the kitchen, each holding a drink. Liz has a glass of wine while Serena holds a hard seltzer. The kids can be heard from the adjacent living room watching a movie.

George sits at the ‘head’ of the table, with Xavier to his right. On George’s left sits Carly, with Derek right next to her. The cops sit around the table, telling war stories.

CARLY
So, I had just started a shift on my new team. I was assigned to catch child molesters in the park. They picked me because, well...

GEORGE
You look like a kiddie fucker’s wet dream?

CARLY
I wouldn’t put it THAT way, but yes. When dressed the right way, I look very young. There was a rash of attacks and abductions in Humdinger and they needed someone to go undercover. I was volunteered for the job. I’m on the job less than a week and we get a big break.

Carly takes a sip of beer before continuing.

CARLY
I bust a perp who was trying to pull me into the woods for a little private time. We bust him. While he’s in the box, some very high-priced lawyer shows up. Like, this guy couldn’t count high enough to pay the retainer. Something was fishy, so he leaves but we put a tail on him. We track him back to some swanky hotel. We bring him back in a couple days later when he tries another move in the park. Son of a bitch didn’t learn his lesson. By this point, we have that hotel under surveillance. He never goes back. Once he gets bailed out, same lawyer, we find him the next day floating in the river. Turns out the hotel was ground operations for a pedophile slave ring, and this guy was one of their recruiters. I get used as bait to get in, and as soon as I’m in the club, the officers downstairs do their raid. Big problem though, I’m buck-ass naked.

DEREK
What?!

CARLY
Yeah, naked as the day I was born. They stripped me and were getting ready to do whatever the hell they were gonna do when the alarms go off. I have to fight my way out, disarm two guards, and run through the hallways looking for the mastermind of this whole operation. And, like I said, I’m naked. Not like I could hide a gun anywhere.

GEORGE
How in the fuck did this happen?! That’s like every OpSec rule gone right out the window.

CARLY
It gets better. I find the woman leading this whole job. It’s the mayor’s Chief of Staff. And he was in on the whole thing.

XAVIER
(shouting)
No fucking way!

CARLY
Way. That’s why we moved down here. Do you have any clue how many bridges you burn when you bust the Mayor balls-deep in a 13-year-old boy on the eve of announcing his bid for Governor? Even with all the evidence in the world, there were so many of his allies that were going to make life a living Hell for us. So, when Captain Cartier accepted the position in CCPD of Deputy Chief, he asked me if I wanted to join him. My bags were packed before he finished the sentence.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Damn! What about you, Derek? Any good stories from life on the T?

Derek takes a drink of his beer.

DEREK
Nothing like that. Most of what I see on transit are drunks on the bus, crazy people off their meds, or the occasional flasher. That ex-Marine was one of our biggest cases of the year, just glad it was Carly he went after. Gotta be honest, never saw a pussy judo flip before.

CARLY
Well, it had the virtue of having never been tried.

GEORGE
They teach that move down at Parris Island, X?

XAVIER
(shouting)
No, sir, they do not teach pussy fu at Basic.

Xavier takes a drink, then looks at George with a little more focus.

XAVIER
I gotta ask. How did you know I was a Marine when you first met me? I never told you but you somehow knew.

George took a sip of his glass of red wine. Just as he’s about to speak, he takes another sip.

GEORGE
Well, you carried yourself like ex-military. That’s pretty obvious, most cops are ex-military nowadays but SWAT is almost exclusively ex-Special Ops. You weren’t round around the middle or bitching about hemorrhoids, so that hat ruled out Air Force. You didn’t introduce yourself as Seal, so that ruled out Navy. That left Rangers or Marines. I thought Rangers for a minute, but I caught a brief glimpse of your necklace. Although, calling a HOG’s Tooth a necklace doesn’t do it justice.

CARLY
A what?

Xavier pulled a small green string out of his shirt. Hanging on the string was a bullet, pulled out of the casing.

XAVIER
(shouting)
HOG’s Tooth. They say...

Xavier takes a drink and then adjusts to his inside voice.

XAVIER
They say that every sniper has a bullet with their name on it. This one here says Xavier Harrison. I took mine in Fallujah. He was 150 yards out when I found him. One of us wasn’t going home that day, and I made damn sure it was him. Squad I was overwatch for found him with an extra hole in his scope and eye. Last thing he saw was a 7.62 round up close and personal. The HOG stands for Hunter of Gunmen.

GEORGE
After seeing that, and how you have a photographic memory and are better at judging distances than any man has a right to, that meant sniper, and a damn good one. By process of elimination, I figured Marines. But one question. Were you going up against Star Wars stormtroopers? How in the fuck did they not hit yo’ giant ass?

George and Xavier laugh.

CARLY
Okay, we’ve told our stories, George. What about you? What’s your big case?

GEORGE
We don’t need to go there. It’s kind of a long story.

CARLY
C’mon. I told you how I was naked and arrested the Mayor. Least you can do is tell us about one of your cases.

GEORGE
They’re all kind of fucked up, and I’m not nearly drunk enough.

DEREK
Has to be better than Martha the Lizard Queen holding a bus driver hostage with an epipen.

GEORGE
Well, there is a case X and I are working on, if it’s what we think it is, it could be the biggest of my career, could account for a couple hundred attacks over the last decade. It’s-

George is cut off when the front door of the house opens. Kids yell from the Living Room.

EMMA (O.S.)
Mom!

ANGIE (O.S)
Hey!

CHUCK (O.S)
What, no love?

JENNY (O.S)
Hey Dad.

ANGIE and CHUCK HARTMAN enter the Dining Room. They are the couple from the beach wedding. Angie is a very good looking woman with brown hair with blonde highlights and blue eyes. She’s about 5’7” tall with a figure that doesn’t quit. She’s dressed in a little black cocktail dress.

Her husband Chuck stands well over 6 feet tall. His hair is short and gray, along with his beard. He looks out of place wearing a suit and tie.

Emma follows her parents into the Dining Room. George stands up and hugs Angie.

GEORGE
You’re looking good tonight. I didn’t know we had a dress code.

ANGIE
Hey bud. How many you have?

GEORGE
Just a few, you?

ANGIE
Same.

GEORGE
Hey Chuck.

CHUCK
Sup. How were the kids?

GEORGE
They were amazing. Emma tried to perform surgery on the neighbor’s dog, now they have a cat.

EMMA
DAD! Uncle George is fibbing!

CHUCK
You sure about that?

Emma gives her dad a dirty look, then he smiles and hugs her.

CHUCK
I’mma get a drink, you want one hun?

ANGIE
Some wine.

Chuck enters the kitchen, Emma dragging along on him.

GEORGE
What’s the occasion?

ANGIE
Work thing for Chuck. One of his clients had some big party. Was a lot of fun, great chance to get out. What about you guys?

Angie grabs a chair and pulls it up to the table, in between Carly and George’s seats. Carly squeezes back, letting her in.

GEORGE
Oh, you know, just shooting the shit. Work stories.

ANGIE
All cops?

GEORGE
Yep.

George turns to the people around the table.

GEORGE
Everyone, this is my cousin Angie, might as well be my sister. Angie, this is everyone. The tall lanky guy is her husband Chuck.

ANGIE
Hi.

CARLY
I’m Carly, Carly Graspper. Just started working with George.

Angie and Carly shake hands.

ANGIE
Good to meet you.

DEREK
Derek Boggs, Transit Police.

ANGIE
Hello.

Derek and Angie shake quickly.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Xavier Harrison, I’m George’s new partner. Sorry, little deaf.

Angie jumped back, then laughed and shook his hand.

ANGIE
Good to meet you.

Chuck returned to the Dining Room, carrying a glass of red wine for Angie and a beer for himself.

CHUCK
Here ya go.

ANGIE
Thanks. It’s a porkfest.

Chuck’s eyes looked around the table, catching the reference.

CHUCK
Okay. I’ll be in the kitchen talking with Liz.

Chuck leaves the room, keeping his eyes on everyone at the table. Angie gives him a smile, letting him know she’ll be okay.

ANGIE
Sorry, he gets weirded out when he’s in a roomful of cops. Brings back bad memories.

DEREK
What kind of memories?

GEORGE
He grew up in Veneto.

DEREK
Ah, okay.

Xavier nods in understanding. Carly looks confused.

CARLY
Veneto?

DEREK
It’s um, uh, it’s...

XAVIER
(shouting)
It’s one of the roughest ghettos in Harbor City. Pretty rough place for a white boy to grow up.

CARLY
Wait, go back, you’re cousins, but her kids call you Uncle George?

GEORGE
It’s, a bit of a long story.

CARLY
What’s the short version?

George takes a sip of wine.

GEORGE
Short version, we’re both only children who grew up a block away from each other. Both of our families were, let’s just say-

ANGIE
Pieces of shit.

GEORGE
Yeah, pieces of shit. Her dad and my dad were brothers, Grandma was an abusive narcissist and they picked up on her tricks. They continued the cycle until they both joined a religious cult in the 90’s, dragged our families into it. We both got away, but they shunned us. We had to rely on each other to survive and pretty much the only blood family either of us has left.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Is that why you studied that Dark Triad thing?

GEORGE
It started as that, but expanded from there. Part of me thought if I could figure out how a sociopath thinks, I could figure out my parents. Instead, I learned how to put bad guys in prison and left them to rot in their own mess.

George takes a sip of wine.

GEORGE
So, Ang, how was the party?

ANGIE
It was great. I met some new people there, including Chuck’s GC.

CARLY
GC?

ANGIE
General Contractor. We own Hartman Construction, and we’re on a big job right now. You ever heard of Pharma? They’re a pharmaceutical company out of Australia. They’re building their new North American HQ here in Harbor City, and we have the contract for everything happening below ground.

CARLY
Everything?

ANGIE
Everything. Sewage, foundation, electrical conduits, all of it. Really big contract. Tonight I met some of his co-workers like the General Contractor, some guy named James. He’s an Aussie, wasn’t as big of a dick as described but Chuck said he’s an acquired taste. They started talking about Bo- a mutual friend of theirs.

GEORGE
Mutual friend? I already don’t like him.

Angie shakes her head, then takes another sip of wine.

ANGIE
It’s not like that. I don’t think. They were talking about holidays on the lake. Which, by the way, he said we can use any of the lake houses at any time. We could all stay for the weekend.

George gives his cousin a look that could kill.

GEORGE
You know how I feel about him.

ANGIE
C’mon, the kids would love to spend the weekend up there. My kids would love to have their cousins come up to visit their Uncle Bob.

GEORGE
I don’t trust that son of a bitch as far as I could throw him, I don’t care how many lake houses he has now.

XAVIER
(shouting)
Oh, hol up, is this the Asshole up by the lake?

ANGIE
You’ve already told your partner about what happened?

GEORGE
No. Just that there’s an asshole I don’t like up by Lake Hiawatha.

ANGIE
It’s been a long time, can’t you let this go?

GEORGE
No. Not really.

ANGIE
I’ve forgiven him, and he hurt me a Hell of a lot more than he hurt you.

GEORGE
I should’ve been there to keep that from happening in the first place.

ANGIE
Seriously? You hate him because you couldn’t protect me? You hate him because he’s my ex?

GEORGE
No. I hate him because he’s a liar, a thief, a rapist, and a murderer. The fact that he’s your ex-husband is just icing on the hate cake.

ANGIE
What about Chuck?

GEORGE
What about him?

ANGIE
You don’t hate him like that. He did the same shit that Bob did, but you don’t hate Chuck.

GEORGE
Chuck’s a good husband and an even better father. You straightened his ass out. If you hadn’t, I’da shot him myself.

The other three cops at the table are staring mouths agape at what they’re seeing.

CARLY
Okay, you need to tell us what’s going on.

GEORGE
Sorry, it’s a long story, and I’m not nearly drunk enough to tell it.

Xavier gets up out of his seat and walks into the kitchen.

XAVIER (O.S)
(shouting)
Hey Liz, where the booze at?...George won’t tell a story unless he’s drunk...Yeah, some asshole named Bob.

George cringes, hearing X yell from the other side of the kitchen.

XAVIER (O.S)
(shouting)
Might need more wine, too.... Hi Chuck, I’m Xavier... What about Bob?...He’s your brother?...Yeah, I think George really hates him....What about that union? Oh, shit, did you say First Union?...What’s that got to do with this?...Ask George. Okay. Thanks Chuck, thanks Liz, Luvya babe.

Xavier returns, carrying a bottle of wine, a bottle of scotch, and few rocks glasses. He places the glasses on the table and pours a little into each glass before sitting down.

XAVIER
(shouting)
No more excuses George, we want a story.

George grabs the glass and takes a sip. Everyone else at the table takes one as well. George sighs in resignation.

GEORGE
Fine. But like I said, it’s a long story. The reason why I hate this guy named Bob so much ties into the biggest case of my career, involves Angie and a few friends, and by the time it was all said and done, had a casualty count well into the fifties. It ruined any shot I had with the FBI, and buried any chance that Angie’s parents would ever speak to her again.

George takes a long sip of wine.

GEORGE
You want a story? Here’s the story of how I helped take down First Union Holy Church.

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To Be Continued. If you enjoyed this, feel free to like it and check out my other stories in the link below.

Post by **LtBroccoli** » Sat Jul 11, 2026 2:09 am

Chapter Tags: Nosex, Police Procedural
Content Warnings: Police investigations into off-screen child abuse. And money laundering, don't forget money laundering.
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George Lewis meets his new partner Janella Jenkins follow up on some random tips, that unravel into a hornet's nest.
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Episode 2 - 9th Circle of Hell

INT. GEORGE’S KITCHEN - NIGHT
Liz and Serena stand in the kitchen as Chuck looks through the fridge for a beer. He finds what he’s looking for and opens it, then takes up position in the kitchen across from Serena and Liz.

LIZ
How was the party?

CHUCK
Not bad. Always feel weird at these fancy parties, like I’m pretending to be someone I’m not, y’know?

Liz nods. Chuck takes a sip of his beer. Liz turns to Serena

LIZ
Oh, Serena, this is Chuck. He’s basically my brother-in-law.

CHUCK
Nice to meet you.

Chuck extends his hand to Serena. She takes it and they shake.

SERENA
You too.

CHUCK
So what do you do?

SERENA
I’m a nurse. You?

CHUCK
I’m in construction. Wife and I run an excavation company, do pretty much anything involving dirt, shit, and rocks. So what kind of nurse?

SERENA
ICU nurse.

CHUCK
Cool.

SERENA
You not hanging out with the other guys?

CHUCK
Nah, not a big fan of cops. Besides, it sounds like they goaded him into telling a story.

LIZ
Which one?

CHUCK
The big one.

Liz shakes her head. Serena looks puzzled.

SERENA
Wait, which story?

CHUCK
The First Union story.

SERENA
I’m sorry, you said First Union? You mean-

CHUCK
Yep. One in the same.

SERENA
Shit, I wanna hear this.

Serena makes her way over to the edge of the kitchen by the dining room so she can get a better vantage point.

INT. GEORGE'S DINING ROOM - NIGHT
George looks around the table at everyone’s faces. X and Derek are shocked. Carly is confused, and Angie is resigned to whats about to happen. Serena is leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. George waves her over.

GEORGE
Might as well pull up a seat, could be here for a while.

Serena grabs a chair and squeezes in next to Xavier.

XAVIER
You were on the First Union case?

George nods.

XAVIER
Fuck.

CARLY
Wait, what’s First Union? It sounds like a bank.

XAVIER
Nah, it was a church.

ANGIE
More like a cult. Take the worst aspects of Christianity, Scientology, and Jonestown, but without the good taste to commit suicide.

GEORGE
The story starts in 1995. My part in this starts in 2003. That’s where I pick things up, and I’ll flash back to previous events when I found out about them. Everything I tell you tonight stays here. I’m not proud of everything that happened. I was either involved in everything directly, investigated it, spoke to those involved, or pieced things together. There’s too many names to change, and those not already dead or in jail are dealing with their own demons.

INT. CHESTER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT BULLPEN - DAY
The year is 2003. A younger, fitter man with a head of red hair and a clean-shaven face enters the Detectives Bullpen. It’s a series of desks where various police officers do their work. The man in his late 20’s is wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and a blue tie. This is a younger George Lewis. He walks over to an office in the middle of the bullpen. It has a glass door on it which reads Daniel Smith, Captain.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Back in 2003, I had just graduated with my PhD and was assigned to the Sex Crimes department. I was transferred over from Homicide where I’d spent the previous year. Before that, I was on Vice for a year.

George knocks on the door. No answer. A hand taps him on the shoulder, he turns. There’s a light-skinned black woman with shoulder length hair standing behind him. This is JANELLA JENKINS.

JANELLA
Excuse me, who are you and why are you looking for the Captain?

GEORGE
George Lewis, transfer from Homicide. You?

George extends his hand and she takes it. Her expression is blank as she reads him.

JANELLA
Janella Jenkins, Sex Crimes. Welcome to the 9th Circle of Hell. I’m your new partner. C’mon, I’ll show you around.

Janella leads George around the office, checking out various places like the evidence area, files, and such.

XAVIER (V.O.)
Wait, Cappy was your partner?

GEORGE (V.O.)
X, shut up and let me tell the story. Anyway, I worked with Janella on several cases, but no one really should ever want to work investigating pedophiles all day.

George is working on a computer, but a closer look shows that he’s actually browsing for a new job with the FBI.

GEORGE (V.O.)
I had just graduated with a Doctorate in Criminal Psychology, I was ready to move on with my career. I’d applied to a few jobs in other fields, but at the time I really wanted to go to the FBI. Even had an interview. But then things started getting a little weird.

Time passes. George and Janella are sitting at their desks across from each other, reviewing case files that were unloaded earlier in the day. Janella is lost in concentration reading a file when George notices her ‘working face.’

GEORGE
You see something?

JANELLA
I swear I’ve read this report before. Here, tell me if this sounds familiar. “Hillside Police Department received an anonymous tip that a juvenile girl was molested and raped by clergy at a local church. When officers arrived at the house of the alleged victim, the parents claimed that they never made any allegations. Police declined to follow up further.”

Janella looked up and faced George.

GEORGE
That sounds very familiar. Is that the same case file from last month?

JANELLA
No, last month’s file was a boy. No, wait, last month was a boy and month before was a girl.

GEORGE
Three months straight with the same type of complaints that all went nowhere? And that’s just what we’ve seen.

George gets up from his desk and heads to the file cabinet. Janella follows him a step later.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Keep in mind, this was in 2003, back in the days of stone tablets and when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Most of our files were not digitized yet.

George starts flipping through the filing cabinet, looking for a group of files. Janella looks over his shoulder.

JANELLA
What are you thinking?

GEORGE
This doesn’t make sense. And neither does this filing system. Is this by date, by precinct? Here it is...

George pulls out a series of folders. Case files from Hillside Police Department. He holds about two dozen of them in his hands.

GEORGE
All the cases handed to us by Hillside PD for the last year. Notice something unusual right off the bat?

JANELLA
Why are there so many?

GEORGE
Exactly. Hillside is an Upper Middle Class to Upper Class neighborhood. Hillside PD covers a few boroughs that range from slightly shitty to gated. Even then, there’s only like 30,000 people in that town. Why are there so many unresolved sex cases?

George takes the folders and the two of them sit back down. George splits the pile in two.

JANELLA
We’re looking for other cases that fit this pattern?

GEORGE
Yep. Anonymous claim of underage sexual assault by church members.

George and Janella skim through the files. Out of the more than 2 dozen they looked through, 10 of them fit the pattern. They put those ones to the side.

JANELLA
10.

GEORGE
That’s just the last year.

JANELLA
Not year, 6 months. We don’t have any of those reports from early last year. First claims came in shortly before Christmas last year and have been pretty steady ever since.

George sat back in his chair and did the math in his head.

GEORGE
So about every other week, our tipster is calling Hillside PD claiming that a priest diddled a kid. No mention of the church in the report, but every time the officers showed up, the parents said ‘no, and go away.’ Was it the same cop for each visit or different ones?

JANELLA
Different ones. You thinking they were spiked?

GEORGE
Not if they were all different reporting officers. There’s something else here. Feel like taking a drive?

George stood up and grabbed his keys, coat, and flip phone. Janella grabbed her stuff and the pair left the bullpen.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
George is driving an unmarked green 2002 Ford Crown Victoria police car. Janella rode shotgun. They’re driving through suburban areas.

GEORGE (V.O.)
We went on a drive to follow up on these reports. I gotta say, I miss those Crown Vics. The Explorers are nice, but those Crown Vics have a special place in my heart.

EXT. SUBURBAN FRONT YARDS - DAY
George and Janella visit ten different houses. Most of them have no one at home. The few that do have someone home tells them that they don’t know what they’re talking about.

At the next to last house, George and Janella walk down the driveway back to their car when George stops and notices a Lexus in the driveway with temporary tags on it. He marks down the license plate before getting in the Crown Vic.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
George starts the car but instead of pulling out, he enters the license plate of the Lexus in the squad car computer.

JANELLA
What are you thinking?

GEORGE
Something’s not right. And not just the whole no one is home and those that are are telling us to politely fuck off.

The screen comes back, showing that the car was purchased by the owners of the house. George went back through the previous address, pulling up the vehicles owned.

GEORGE
Hmm...

JANELLA
What Hmm?

GEORGE
Last house has a brand new Lexus, too. Can you look up the last couple houses, see what cars they each own? I’m gonna drive to the next house. It’s on the edge of Hillside in one of the rougher parts of the town. Used to be a trailer park. Parts of it are being developed but not too fast.

George drove while Janella went through the computer, marking down her findings.

JANELLA
Well, your hunch was sort of right. Every one of those families just bought a new car, but not all Lexuses. Or Lexi. What’s the plural of Lexus?

GEORGE
Rich fucks?

JANELLA
There are a Rich Fucks of Lexus, but some houses had other vehicles. Every one of them has a car or truck with temp tags or a new registry on it.

GEORGE
Don’t suppose it shows the dealer who sold the cars?

JANELLA
Nope. You have a way of finding that out.

GEORGE
Probably. We’re almost at the next house.

George drove the Crown Vic down a back road, stopping in front of a small group of trailer homes. They stop in front of one trailer that is in pretty good condition for a double wide and has three cars parked in front of it. Two of them are late model sedans in various stages of repair, and one of them is a newer Chevy Silverado 2500 Duramax.

GEORGE
We need that license plate number and the dealer. What’s the plate frame say?

JANELLA
Batey Automotive Group.

GEORGE
Let’s circle back, I’ve got a feeling.

George revisited the houses they went to earlier, looking for the new cars. Each of them either had a license plate frame or a decal from Batey Automotive Group on it.

JANELLA
You’re on to something, George. What is it?

GEORGE
We have 10 houses that each had anonymous claims of child sex abuse, 10 sets of parents denying anything happened, and 10 households each with a brand new or new to them vehicle in the driveway, all from the same dealership.

JANELLA
You think they were bought off with the cars?

GEORGE
Maybe. We’ll need to look at the financials, but the one that was the biggest red flag was that pickup. That was a Silverado 2500. Diesel. That shit ain’t cheap. $100 that truck is worth more than that trailer. They could have possibly saved up or bought it for work, but that trailer screams shitty credit. Plus, they had two other beaters in the driveway. But we’ll see what the financials say.

INT. CHESTER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT BULLPEN - DAY
Time passes. George and Janella sit at their desks, looking over the financial records from the owners and their vehicles.

GEORGE (V.O.)
It took a few days and some convincing, but we were able to get some basic financial records. We had the title and lien info from the DMV, and tax records from the owners.

GEORGE
This doesn’t add up.

JANELLA
What, 10 people each paying off their brand new cars free and clear 4 months after purchase doesn’t seem normal to you?

George glares at Janella as she mockingly smiles back.

GEORGE
The pickup driver’s truck costs more than he makes in a year, but the loan was paid off within 4 months. A couple of them I could see this making sense, but look at some of these families. Why buy a car and swallow that depreciation when they could lease and write it off? Buying is a stupid financial move because the tax rules for leasing are better. The people that could afford to buy them are smart enough not to, and the ones dumb enough to pay them off right away shouldn’t have the money. And they were all financed through the same bank, Hillsdale Financial.

JANELLA
Lay out what you’ve got so far.

George leaned back for a moment, before leaning forward and reengaging Janella.

GEORGE
We’ve got some nasty priest diddling kids at a church. He gets caught, makes a deal with the parents. He’ll leave little Timmy or Tammy alone going forward and buy their silence with a new car. Someone finds out about this deal and goes to the cops, but the parents are already bought off. Someone from Batey signed the paperwork and worked with someone from Hillsdale to finalize the loans. But why wait four months?

JANELLA
Finance deal or a spliff?

GEORGE
Huh?

JANELLA
If the dealer had some special going on where they could get financing bonuses, they don’t get paid on those if the loan gets paid too fast. Last car we bought, dealer begged us to not pay off the loan before 3 months because of the special interest rates we got. He made a couple grand that way.

GEORGE
So they wait for months and then pay off the loan, and pocket the money on the backend. Hillsdale pays off the loan, but who pays Hillsdale?

JANELLA
The church.

GEORGE
The church. And there’s a strong likelihood that the person on the loans at Hillsdale and the one calling the shots at Batey on these deals go to that same church.

JANELLA
Good, now which church?

George and Janella each look through the tax records they have, seeing if anyone claimed any charitable deductions to a church.

GEORGE
No, no, no. Here, got one. That church is...

George’s voice trails off. He stares at the tax form in front of him, his face going slack.

JANELLA
The church of?

GEORGE
FUHC.

JANELLA
The Church of Fuck?

GEORGE
No. Well, yes. Maybe. F U H C. First Union Holy Church. And, yeah, fuck is right.

George shook his head.

JANELLA
What’s wrong?

GEORGE
Long story short, I used to go to that church. My parents dragged me to that place at least twice a week every week until I was 16 and was old enough to be ‘too busy’ with work. Fuck, I shoulda seen this coming.

JANELLA
Was it really that bad?

GEORGE
When I confronted my parents and told them I didn’t believe in their God anymore, they chose their cult over their only child. We haven’t spoken more than a few words here and there in almost 5 years. There’s hundreds of reasons why I’m an Atheist, but at the top of that list is the shit they pulled and taught. They teach this thing called Prosperity Gospel. It takes the worst elements of the Greed-is-Good 80’s and ties it in with the most hypocritical teachings from the Bible to convince their followers that Jesus wants them to be greedy, selfish, sloven, lust-filled fuckers and that anything they do is okay because they’ve already been saved, as long as they keep paying to help the ministry.

JANELLA
I, I don’t know what to say.

Janella thinks for a moment before continuing.

JANELLA
Does finding out that this church could be connected to some child abuse allegations make you think this is more or less likely to be true?

GEORGE
More. Definitely more.

JANELLA
Why’s that?

George took a sip of coffee.

GEORGE
The leadership is a cult of personality built around a family of narcissists and sociopaths who love to use their holier-than-thou personas to attack anyone and anything in the church they don’t like, and are so good at it they can turn parents against children and vice versa. Leader of the cult is, or at least was, the Reverend Charlie Daniels. He used to go by Charles back in the 1970’s back when he was a used car salesman, but was too much of a sleaze-ball for that profession. One day he claimed that he had a vision, and decided to become an Evangelical preacher. He changed his name to Charlie to draw in people who thought he was the country singer. Perfect rubes for his con. He started playing fast and loose with the teachings and the rules but his shtick stuck and drew in a lot of high-rollers that bankrolled his church, and even more people who wanted to be rich and saved above all else. His family runs basically every part of the church and in the last 20 years they’ve grown to be one of the largest churches in the state. The nexus of wealth and power rests with the Daniels family. His wife, Susan, is the quintessential schemer. Machiavelli would be proud. They have twin sons, Jason and Jacob. I went to school with them. Two faced manipulative shits who grew up surrounded by so much dysfunction and abuse they see people only as toys. Then there’s Natalie. Think Queen Bee Psycho that would be equally at home in a prison yard commanding the inmates or in a royal court spreading gossip. They could easily afford private school, but wanted to appear down to earth and humble in that regard, but really Charlie is shrewd. He used their experiences as the ‘proof’ he needed to build his own private school. They’re pulling in more money from that school each year than they do in donations, but have to spend enough of it to look legit. That’s why Saint Hilary’s has become such a powerhouse in sports recruiting recently.

George stopped to take another sip of coffee.

JANELLA
That doesn’t answer the child abuse allegations. You think they’re capable of that?

GEORGE
Possibly. Wouldn’t be surprised. There were rumors, back when I went there, that Reverend Charlie had his favorite sheep in the flock, and he was very hands on with the children’s Sunday School program. Nothing definitive. Plus, and this is very speculative, but I once heard a story about how they would pick a specific girl or boy to be their ‘chosen one.’ This chosen one would never be the same after spending time with the Daniels family. I knew one of these girls, she even lived with me for a short time, but never talked about what happened. Then one day, she disappeared. Only a couple people knew where she went. The scale is crazy, but with as big as the church has gotten, I put nothing past them.

George looked at the tax records again, taking a hard look at the names. He looked up Janella, locking eyes with her.

GEORGE
What’s the play? What do we have?

Janella looked at the stacks of folders in front of them before responding.

JANELLA
Not enough, that’s what he have. 10 shady financial deals involving new cars, all tied to anonymous tips about child abuse where the possible common factor is that they all go to the same church. And since we were shot down by the parents at each house, it’s unlikely they’ll answer any questions if we come back.

GEORGE
That leaves verifying they belong to the church and verifying the claims. First part can be done any Sunday morning, if we knew who we were looking for. The second part...

George grabbed his keys and stood up, getting his stuff.

JANELLA
Where we going?

GEORGE
Hillside PD. I want to talk to the cops that worked these reports and the dispatcher that recorded these claims. I wonder if there’s anything we can gleam from them.

JANELLA
Let’s go.

George and Janella grab their stuff and head out.

INT. HILLSIDE PD - DAY
George and Janella are inside a small suburban police station, talking to several officers. An older man seems to be in charge.

GEORGE (V.O.)
We talked to the officers at Hillside PD, at least the couple that were in the office. We heard the same story from each of them. They’d get this report of child abuse, show up, and nothing. It wasn’t until we talked to the secretary, a woman named Anna, that we got some more info.

George and Janella are sitting around a small table in a break room, talking to an older woman in her 60’s. This is ANNA. She’s holding a cup of coffee with both hands.

ANNA
I’m not sure how much more I can tell you about those leads that the officers didn’t tell you. She’s always so nice over the phone. Even if what she’s saying is so horrible, what she’s accusing the church of doing.

GEORGE
She?

ANNA
Oh, yes. It’s a woman, young woman. Never leaves a name, never a phone number, and every time we try to trace her number, it goes somewhere crazy. Never the same number twice.

GEORGE
Are they local numbers?

ANNA
No, no. They’re all over the country, but it’s always the same voice. Too bad she uses the non-emergency line, those calls aren’t recorded like the 911 calls. Otherwise I’d let you listen to her voice. So sweet, but so full of pain and paranoia.

GEORGE
How do you mean?

ANNA
She sounds like she’s trying to say something important, something meaningful, but she’s afraid to say it out loud.

JANELLA
Almost like she’s trying to lead you somewhere and hopes you’ll see it once you’re there.

ANNA
When you put it that way, it makes sense.

GEORGE
The reports that we saw never mentioned a church by name. Was it First Union?

ANNA
Yes, it was. At least we assumed as much.

GEORGE
Wait, she didn’t mention the church by name either?

ANNA
No, hun. They’re the biggest church around, everyone knows that the people she named go there. We never had to put the church name in the report. It wasn’t needed.

JANELLA
Did she ever mention the clergy members by name.

ANNA
Nope, but it’s not like there’s a long list of hundreds of names to go through. But it didn’t matter, none of the parents would even let us talk to their kids. They said these were all lies and to leave them be.

GEORGE
Is that church still run by the Daniels family?

ANNA
Yes, they do. They’ve been going strong for a long time now. Ever since they started their television show, they’ve been even bigger stars in their corner of the world.

GEORGE
They have a TV show now?

ANNA
Yes hun. They record a few services a week, air them on Christian Broadcasting Network. They have a full production company and everything. They produce so much they’re syndicating out some shows. They hire on outsiders to do the tech work, but almost every decision is made by the family.

George finishes his coffee and pulls a card out of his wallet. He grabs a pen and writes down a phone number on the back.

GEORGE
Ms. Anna, can you do me a favor?

ANNA
What is it, hun?

GEORGE
Next time she calls, and there will be a next time, can you give her this number? It’s my cell phone. Could you do that?

George hands her the card. She smiles and slides it away.

ANNA
Sure thing.

GEORGE
We have to get going. Thanks for the time, ma’am.

ANNA
Anytime.

George and Janella stand up to leave.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
George and Janella drive back to the precinct.

JANELLA
What are you thinking?

George sits quietly for a moment, thinking as he drives before responding.

GEORGE
Anna’s a part of that church. One of the parishioners. I don’t think she believes or wants to believe the accusations, and I wonder if she’s burying something. As soon as I gave her my number, I knew that she’s gonna give it to her church elders. Then again, if this informant is as paranoid as Anna says, she might be too afraid to speak openly. But that’s not what’s bugging me.

JANELLA
What is it?

GEORGE
Why the paranoia? Why make nearly a dozen accusations and not once let your voice be recorded? Why only call on the non-emergency line? Why not call 911?

JANELLA
She knows the calls are recorded. If she knows that, then she’s afraid someone will recognize her voice.

GEORGE
And if she’s afraid of being recognized, then she knows, or at least believes, that someone either in the police force or the church would recognize her. She knows that someone on the police force would share that call with the Daniels family. They’d tear it apart until they found out who she was, and would track her down. Which leads to the next part, the spoofed phone numbers. She’s hiding her numbers to protect herself. She either has some spoofing tool, a bunch of burners from across the country, or is some phone phreak genius.

JANELLA
But if she’s going to all this trouble, why go through Hillside PD if she thinks they’re in on it?

GEORGE
Most of the parishioners live in the surrounding suburbs. Hillside, Ambrose, Hillside Estates, that’s where most of them live. Ambrose has its own police force.

George’s eyes go wide with realization. He immediately turns on his turn signal, indicating a left turn. Janella looks at him as he turns the car into a side street.

JANELLA
Where are you going?

GEORGE
Ambrose PD. I’ve gotta feeling.

George does a three-point turn and drives at a clip down blind turn back roads. Janella looks more than a little nervous.

JANELLA
What’s the rush?

GEORGE
Since we’ve worked together, I’ve never seen a file from Ambrose. When I lived there, people always complained about how the cops were too lazy. Turns out they’re understaffed. Heavily understaffed. They have 4 full-time officers and 4 part-timers they share with a couple other townships. We never see any reports from them because they’re too far behind on their work. But the officers in Ambrose don’t get the kind of support or tax money or gifts those in Hillside get. They don’t have time to give a shit about some church in Hillside. So if we want unredacted reports, we go to Ambrose. Our tipster has called there, I’ll bet on it.

EXT. AMBROSE PD - DAY
The Crown Vic pulls into the parking lot of a small municipal building and parks by a side door. George and Janella exit the car. The door says “Ambrose Police Department”. George and Janella enter.

INT. AMBROSE PD - DAY
The entryway is poorly lit and cramped. A main reception desk sits empty. At the back of the room sits a second desk. A man in his late 30’s sits behind a desk, dressed in a blue police uniform. He looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, and his receding hairline is outlined by the dirty blonde hair on his head. His name is JON.

George and Janella walk toward the desk. He barely looks up, eyes filled with contempt.

JON
What can I do for you?

George and Janella pull out their badges and show them to Jon.

JANELLA
Detective Janella Jenkins, Chester County Police Department. This is my partner, George Lewis.

Jon looks at the badges for a moment, then stands up on wobbly legs.

JON
Officer Jon Good, Ambrose Police.

Jon extends his hand, George and Janella take turns shaking it. Jon steadies himself with his left hand on the desk.

JON
What can I do for you?

GEORGE
We’re following up on some calls, and we had some questions.

JON
Look, I don’t. I don’t have the time to send those case files over. I know we’re supposed to send you county mounties our extra caseload. We don’t have the staff for that.

Jon’s voice raises a bit. George lowers his, and moves his right hand up and down slowly, palm down, almost as if he’s soothing a child’s head.

GEORGE
It’s okay. We’re not here to bust your balls on that. Y’all are short staffed. Always have been, always will be.

Jon’s shoulders relax a bit, then he sits down. He motions for George and Janella to sit, but there are no chairs. George sits on Jon’s desk while Janella takes up a relaxed pose.

JON
What kind of case?

GEORGE
Ever get any calls on the non-emergency line about child abuse cases? Specifically sexual in nature and involving clergy?

JON
Oh, you mean the kiddie fucking priests over at First Union? I got a call or two about those.

George and Janella looked at each other, then back to Jon.

GEORGE
Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re looking into. How many-

JON
We’ve had a couple calls about that in the last few months. Same woman each time calls them in, mentions that she has information that a child was sexually abused by at least one of the priests over at First Union Holy Church. No name on the tip, different phone number each time. She names a different kid, sometimes goes into detail about the types of sex acts performed but sounds pretty disturbed about them. Which I’m glad she is, cause that’d be kinda fucked if she wasn’t. We take the info, then go to the house. Either no one is home when we check, or the parents are tight-lipped about the whole thing. But there’s something else, too.

GEORGE
What’s that?

JON
The kids. They’re not all kids. Not anymore.

JANELLA
What do you mean?

JON
When this woman calls in, she has the details of what happened, but doesn’t always give us the right time. One time I talked to a kid that corroborated what happened, but it was so long ago he wasn’t a kid anymore. Shit happened back in the early 90’s. He was like 10 or 11 when it happened, no he’s in his early 20’s.

GEORGE
Mind if we see those files?

JON
Nah, I’ll get those for you. But, mind doing me a favor?

GEORGE
What is it?

JON
I can’t leave the desk unattended. It’ll take me a few minutes to get that. Plus, we have some files for you to take back to Harbor City. You watch the desk for a few minutes, I’ll get you what you want.

GEORGE
Sure.

Jon stands up from the desk and walks a crooked line back through a door behind his desk. George motions for Janella to take Jon’s chair, but she waves him off. George moves around the back, and is taken aback by the smell of booze coming from this side of the desk. George returns to his spot at the front of the desk.

At least a half hour passes before Jon returns, a stack of files in his arms. A ‘Chain of Custody’ form sits on top of the stack.

JON
Here. Sign.

George grabs a pen off of the desk. He can almost taste the whiskey on Jon’s breath. George signs the form. He pulls out a card and writes a number on the back of it.

GEORGE
Thanks. Here’s my card. If our tipster calls back, give her this number.

JON
Yeah.

George grabs the stack of folders. Janella steps forward to help him as Jon controls his fall back into his seat. By the time George and Janella get to the front door, Jon is snoring in his chair.

INT. CHESTER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT BULLPEN - DAY
George and Janella are back at their desks, going through the files from Ambrose PD.

GEORGE
Half of these don’t belong to us, the other half are piss-poor at best. We have a few folders related to this case, but they’re pretty sparse. Still more than Hillside gave us, or did.

JANELLA
How is it that a drunk is more helpful in this case than the nice old church lady?

GEORGE
Drunk doesn’t give a shit anymore. He just wants to punch out, drink, and sleep. He doesn’t seem like the type to protect a corrupt church.

George flips through a file and stops.

GEORGE
Here it is. Brandon Calhoun, age 25. Anonymous tip reported that Brandon was taken by the clergy of First Union Holy Church to the residence of one Charles Daniels. There, Brandon, age 11, was forced to perform oral, vaginal, and anal sex on an underage girl who was 10-years-old. He was threatened by Charles Daniels and the eldest children of Charles with violence towards him and his parents if he did not perform with the girl. The elder Daniels recorded this with cameras. This was not the first nor the last time he was forced to perform in such a way. He later discovered that the name of the girl was either Darcy or Marcy or Stacy or Lacey. She was also a member of the church. He performed with her a few more times, always in front of a crowd. He also reported other incidences of rape by the Daniels family and their friends where Brandon was both the victim and assailant. These attacks continued until he stopped going to the church in 1994 at age 14.

George looked up at Janella.

GEORGE
That’s some pretty damning shit right there.

JANELLA
Any mention why this didn’t go anywhere.

GEORGE
Says here that the victim declined to press charges, and due to the Statute of Limitations, no action could be pursued. Victim wanted to put this chapter behind them and move on. There’s a note in the file that mentions Brandon’s issues with drugs and alcohol over the past several years. They’re worried that even if they could go to trial, his testimony might be brought into question.

Janella looked at George for a long, hard moment before speaking.

JANELLA
Let’s say you’re piecing this case together. What do you need, where do you go next?

George took a sip of coffee, then thought for a moment. He took another sip before talking.

GEORGE
I need victims, witnesses, and evidence. Brandon’s statement talks about being filmed in front of a crowd. We need the crowd and the girl he filmed those scenes with. If those tapes still exist, we find out who made them and nail their asses to the wall. If the owner is different from the maker, we put the screws to him something fierce until he flips. Also, we have a potential cover up involving multiple parties. That’s conspiracy. We can go after Batey and the bank quick, but without the crimes they’re covering up, all we’ve got is money laundering and some other financial crimes. But we need proof. As far as next steps, we need to put our names out there, flash our hand that we’re looking into something. We did that with the visits and the cards earlier today. My guess is that we’ll get something from the church before too long.

GEORGE (V.O.)
My guess was right.

INT. CHESTER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT BULLPEN - DAY
Time passes. A few weeks have passed since the last conversation. George and Janella arrive at their desks for the day when the Captain, DANIEL SMITH, steps out of his office.

DANIEL
Jenkins, Lewis, in here.

Lewis and Jenkins approach Smith’s office.

INT. CAPTAIN SMITH’S OFFICE - DAY
Captain Daniel Smith, a heavyset balding man with a mustache, sits behind a messy desk, just getting back into his seat. The walls are covered in various commendations and awards for the precinct and division.

George and Janella sit down in chairs across from the Captain’s desk.

DANIEL
Here.

Daniel passes a manila envelope over to Janella.

JANELLA
What’s this?

DANIEL
That came in late yesterday, delivered from some fancy law firm, letter’s inside. It’s a deposition from one Natalie Daniels. Name ring a bell?

GEORGE
I know her. Natalie Daniels, early 20’s, daughter of Reverend Charlie Daniels of First Union Holy Church.

JANELLA
We haven’t talked to anyone at the church directly about this investigation. We’re not even sure there’s much there, why did she send in a deposition?

DANIEL
That’s what I wanted to know. Me and a couple of the boys from night shift watched this last night after it came in. The letter gives a quick version of events, but the short of it is that she’s claiming that she was attacked and raped and would like us to investigate it, and any and all communication going forward involving Natalie or the Daniels family should go through their attorneys.

JANELLA
That doesn’t make sense, they’re not suspects. We don’t have a crime yet.

GEORGE
It makes a little sense.

Daniel and Janella look at George.

GEORGE
They’re a family of narcissistic sociopaths. I don’t put anything past them, including projection or just trying to muddy the waters. Cap, you saw it, what was your impression?

DANIEL
I thought she was full of shit. She couldn’t keep her story straight, and just bounced around all over the place. One minute she’s raped in a camp, another in a hotel room, another it’s some random bedroom, another is a living room. The events don’t make sense either, the attackers change, it’s a goddamned mess. It’s an hour of your life you won’t get back. Watch it and let me know how much this screws up your investigation.

George and Janella get up and leave, closing the door behind them.

INT. CHESTER COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT BULLPEN - DAY
George and Janella walk through the bullpen and go into a conference room.

INT. CCPD CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
George and Janella sit at one side of a conference table. They insert a VHS tape into a videotape player and press play. On the screen, NATALIE DANIELS, a gorgeous woman in her early to mid 20’s, sits at a table in a conference room. She’s dressed in a conservative suit, and her straight blonde hair comes down past her shoulders. Her blue eyes contrast with her skin, and her makeup is subdued. It’s not like she needed much to begin with.

NATALIE
My name is Natalie Daniels, and I’m 24 years old. I reside in Hillside Estates, and I work with First Union Holy Church.

George watches the video, and blinks.

INT. THE ZONE - DAY INTO NIGHT
George opens his eyes, he’s in an amorphous room. It’s dark except for a spinning light highlighting some action 20 feet in front of him. George walks forward to get a better look.

GEORGE (V.O.)
A little background on how I work. When I’m investigating a crime, I go into The Zone. It’s where I see everything that happened, where I put myself in the scene, where I go to tear apart the stories and events to get to the truth.

As George gets closer to the action, the lights swirl and change. Loud music picks up, climaxing into a cacophony of noise. His attention is drawn to a voice as snippets leak through the music.

George sees a young woman, laying on a bed. It’s Natalie. She’s naked, bound to the headboard of a bed. She’s very good looking, with a full bosom that’s at least a 34C cup and a smooth, toned body. A man whose face is obscured is laying between her legs, thrusting into her. She’s crying.

NATALIE (O.S)
He pulled my shorts and underwear off. He began to rape me as three women in masks helped him.

George looks up, and sees three young women, all naked, wearing party masks. They help the man assault Natalie. The lights around the scene have a slightly brown tint to them, and what sounds like rock music plays overhead.

The lights spin and twist. The room changes. Natalie now lays on a bed, bound and gagged in a hotel room. The lights have a purple tint to them. Hip hop music leaks out a little bit from the mix of music.

NATALIE (O.S)
They lied to get me in the room, told me that we were there to help families in need. I was forced to strip for a camera, then tied down. My friend was attacked first. She was raped by almost a dozen guys. Black, white, Mexican.

George looks at the bed again. Another woman is tied on the bed, being raped by several men of different races. Natalie now sits upright in a chair, watching the events and struggling.

NATALIE (O.S)
It was a cheap hotel in Veneto. We were lost, no idea how to get there. Once the gang bangers were done with their fun, they forced me to join in.

Natalie is dragged to the bed and forced at gunpoint to have sex with an unnamed young woman.

The lights flash again. A hint of red is in the air. Natalie is held down on a couch. She’s dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. One man holds her hands down while the other cuts her clothes off.

NATALIE (O.S)
They held me down as they cut my clothes off. I tried to scream, but they slapped me. Again and again. I saw the train go past. After cutting off my panties, the first one shoved them in my mouth. He pushed himself into me. The train went past again.

George looks out the window, seeing a train move past. The sound of classical music permeates the air. He looks down at the couch again, but something is off. It looks like Natalie, but not quite. He looks to the rest of the living room and sees Natalie, sitting in a chair across the room, watching her own rape. He can hear jazz music in the background.

The lights flash again. Everything is bathed in a blue light. He looks around. Two men, nearly identical to each other, are fucking Natalie at the same time.

NATALIE (O.S)
I prayed and prayed for them to stop. Why aren’t they stopping? Why isn’t Mommy helping. Help, Mommy, HELP!

George looks around the room. It’s not a room, but a set. It’s supposed to look like a bedroom, but not quite. A little girl’s bedroom. George looks around, and sees Natalie standing by a camera, hidden behind the lights. He walks over to her and turns around. Natalie is watching two men, nearly identical men, rape a young woman, possibly a girl that looks like Natalie. George hears electronic music in the air.

The lights flash, the scenes mix, one into another into the next. There’s no rhyme or reason, they’re all mixing together into one loud, bright mess.

GEORGE
STOP!!!

Everything freezes. George looks around. For the first time, he sees it.

Four lights. Four songs. Four stories. Four attacks.

He blinks.

INT. CCPD CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
George opens his eyes. The deposition is almost over. Janella took notes, but they’re all over the place. George looks down at his notes. They’re a mess. The only thing he can make out is the number 4. There’s a knock at the door, right before Captain Smith enters.

DANIEL
So, crazy huh?

JANELLA
Her story sounds like a mess. Just one complete-

GEORGE
Four.

JANELLA
What?

GEORGE
Four. Four stories.

George turns to Janella and Captain Smith.

GEORGE
I need 5 more notepads, 4 pens, and a pencil. The pens need to be different colors. I’ll take a marker if we can’t get enough pens. I need to watch this a few more times.

Everyone sits in silence for a moment. George stops the tape and rewinds it. George has a look on his face that was sheer determination and focus. Captain Smith leaves, then comes back a moment later with a small stack of notepads and several pens and pencils. George sets up the supplies on his desk and starts the tape again.

The video plays.

George blinks.

INT. THE ZONE - DAY INTO NIGHT
George is back in The Zone. The music and lights are back. The scenes of brutality are back. The only difference is George. He looks calmer, more focused and relaxed.

GEORGE (V.O.)
It took until I finished the deposition the first time, but I realized that she was playing us with her story in a story routine. She told us four different attack stories. I had to unpack them.

George walks to the action. All of the scenes are clumped together, the music is blaring a loud, jumbled mess. George grabs and pulls at parts of the scenes and moves them around, separating them into four stories.

GEORGE (V.O.)
I saw four different stories. I spent the next several hours peeling them apart, like I was going through a car crash to see who was involved.

He pulls the camp attack and everything with a brown, sepia tone off to one part. The man, the young women in masks, the cabin, all of it. As George pulls it away from the rest, the color desaturates around him and the rock music stands out by itself. It’s some alternative music from the 90’s.

GEORGE (V.O.)
The first scene was the camp attack. Her story was that she was raped by a man and three women. She didn’t give any names, which was odd. No location, either. I’ve seen more than enough crime scenes to know how unusual this was.

Next up, he peels the purple away from the jumbled mess. The motel room, the gang-bangers, the people watching, and the two Natalies. He drags all the purple items until the light desaturates and the music settles into some rap from the mid-90’s.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Next up was a multi-racial gang-bang, but something was off from her story. I noticed it when listening to her and her point of view shifted. She started the attack on the bed, but it shifted to where she was watching everything until she was forced to join in.

George grabs all of the items in red light and pulls them off to the side. The couch, the two men, a Natalie on the couch being raped and another Natalie sitting in a chair. He grabs the window and sees a train going past, but he can’t place the type of train. The red lights desaturate and the jazz music fills the air.

GEORGE (V.O.)
The third scene was a home invasion. Once again, something was off. She started the story as if she was the one being raped, but again, she had too many details that didn’t fit. She said she kept seeing the train go past, but she was being held down on a couch. How could she see out the window? The only way that story made sense was that she was watching it.

Last up was the blue light. All that was left from the pile. George looks at the scene in front of him. Two men, nearly identical, are raping a younger, much younger version of Natalie while grown-up Natalie watches from a distance. Electronic music fills the air as the lights return to normal.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Finally, the bedroom that wasn’t a bedroom. She wasn’t the victim, a young girl was. She watched this and tried to pass it off as if she was the little girl.

George stepped back from the scenes and took a long, hard look.

GEORGE (V.O.)
I knew that Natalie was very manipulative and displayed tendencies toward the Dark Triad. To her, lying was as easy as breathing, but what if her lies had a basis in reality? Narcissists love to retell stories they heard or saw and make them the victim. And if she’s telling these stories, she had a reason.

George blinked.

INT. CCPD CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
George is back in the conference room, looking at his notes.

GEORGE (V.O.)
My problem was now two-fold. Figure out how much of her bullshit was true, and dive into her twisted mind to find out why she picked these stories.

Time passes. Captain Smith and Janella knock on the door before entering.

DANIEL
George, you almost...WHAT THE FUCK?!

Daniel and Janella see the wall is covered in pieces of notebook paper, each written in different colors. The pieces of paper are held up by pushpins and strings are tied between the different sections of the stories. George looks at the wall, barely acknowledging their entrance.

GEORGE
I gotta take over this room for a while. Welcome to the First Union Murderboard. It’ll look nicer after a while, I worked with what I had on hand.

George turns to the door.

GEORGE
Please, sit. I’ll walk ya through it.

Captain Smith and Janella sit down, taking in the chart along the wall.

GEORGE
So, I’ve just spent the last few hours watching Natalie’s deposition over and over, taking notes along the way. I’ve got good news and bad news, which do you want first?

JANELLA
The bad news.

GEORGE
The bad news is she wasn’t completely lying, so we can’t nail her for submitting a bullshit deposition.

DANIEL
What’s the good news?

GEORGE
She just admitted to a shitload of crimes. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Daniel looks at George like he just grew a second head.

JANELLA
I’m sorry, what?

GEORGE
It gets kind of crazy, but I just pulled apart all of her stories. She described 4 sexual assaults. The first in the deposition was a rape that took place in a camp or cabin of some kind. She was attacked by a group that consisted of one man and three women around her age. She didn’t say any names, locations, or times, but I get the feeling she’s hiding their identities. She implied that this took place within the last couple years, but that doesn’t feel like it lines up either.

George points at the notes in black ink.

GEORGE
That’s this first set of notes, in black ink. Now, the second attack-

JANELLA
Wait, if she knows, why didn’t she say who they were?

GEORGE
I’m getting to that. The second story is in the purple ink, thanks for that. That was a gang-rape in a Veneto motel that she either witnessed or was told second-hand. She started off acting like it was her story, but it’s not. Her point of view shifted too much, but it was the only one she gave a location and identified as many of the perpetrators as possible. She even admitted to being forced to take part herself, which tells me that whoever told her this story was in the room where it happened.

George moves to the third series of notes, written in red ink.

JANELLA
She mentioned a train a few times in her story. Veneto doesn’t have a train system.

GEORGE
The train is part of the third story, a home invasion she took part in as one of the invaders. I don’t think it took place in Harbor City. She mentioned seeing a train go past multiple times during this rape. What kind of train travels past houses or apartments that often?

DANIEL
An L.

JANELLA
What about the T? There’s some places it’s above ground.

GEORGE
Possibly, but the way she described the rest of the outside scene was cold, dreary, and flat. Tell me you found a flat part of Harbor City and I’ll call you a dirty liar. I want to say this might be more Midwest than anything, and about the only city in the Midwest that has an elevated train is Chicago. Maybe Detroit, but it wasn’t here.

JANELLA
So she took part in this attack?

GEORGE
And the fourth one, too. That’s in blue ink. A bedroom that wasn’t a bedroom, and cries of a little girl begging for mommy and praying for help. And two men that were nearly identical raping said girl.

Janella’s eyes lit up.

JANELLA
You said that Natalie had identical twin brothers.

GEORGE
Exactly. And we saw from that one statement earlier, and from other reports, that the Daniels family has access to a television studio and supposedly has one built into Reverend Charlie’s house.

JANELLA
But why these stories?

George thought for a moment before speaking.

GEORGE
Natalie is a master manipulator. I don’t doubt that she’s trying to do that here. Their family works on plans within plans within plans. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s using this to go after her enemies.

DANIEL
So you’re telling me that this woman pieced together the craziest deposition ever to come to this department, and it was all some great masterpiece in manipulation to hurt people?

GEORGE
Yep.

DANIEL
Do you even know how crazy that sounds?

GEORGE
Preposterous. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve looked at, and I work here.

Captain Smith leans back in his chair. Janella looks at the board.

JANELLA
Where do we start?

Daniel looks at her like she was nuts.

GEORGE
The only one of these attacks that has a time or a place we can get to is the motel gangbang in Veneto. I say we go check it out tomorrow.

JANELLA
Cappy, your thoughts?

DANIEL
I’m not buying it yet. Do a little work on this, but this isn’t your highest priority. Just see if there’s anything to work with.

JANELLA
Will do.

GEORGE
Cool. Something we’ll need to tear apart is who is her enemy in each of these stories. She picked these for a reason. We need to figure out those reasons.

DANIEL
Come up with some ideas, and how this all works together.

End of Episode 2
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To Be Continued. If you enjoyed this, please give it and the OG post a like. And feel free to check out my other stories in the link below.

Post by **LtBroccoli** » Wed Jul 15, 2026 1:26 am

Chapter Tags: Nosex, Crime Procedural
Content Warnings: Walk of Shame, One Time
-------------------------------------------------------------

Angie goes on a double date and George discovers this might be more than a wild goose chase.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 3 - Wing Woman

INT. GEORGE'S DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Back to present day, George takes another sip of wine. He looks around the table at everyone listening.

GEORGE
Now, before I go any further, I need to say that this isn’t all completely only my story. See, while then-Detective Jenkins and I were wrapping things up for the night and getting our ducks in a row for a visit to Veneto the next morning, SOMEBODY at this table had a rather important night.

George is staring at Angie.

GEORGE
And her story ties directly into this one, starting now.

ANGIE
Do you really have to?

GEORGE
Yes. How else am I going to explain how this shitshow turns into a clusterfuck without explaining how I got involved because you were involved?

ANGIE
Just don’t be a dick about it.

GEORGE
No promises.

INT. ALPHA OMEGA MARKETING - DAY
A trendy office space in downtown Harbor City, overlooking the bay. It was a converted cannery and still has a very industrial feel to it. Several desks sit in an early idea of an open concept workspace.

In one desk sits ANGIE LEWIS. She’s younger at 24 years old, and is dressed in a business casual sweater and slacks. Her clothes are fashionable for the time. Her hair has more of its natural curl to it.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Angie sat at her desk doing marketing shit when one of her friends from work came over. Carol or Candace or Constance.

ANGIE (V.O.)
Sherri. Her name was Sherri. And what do you mean marketing shit? Do you even know what that means.

GEORGE (V.O.)
You find ways to separate people from their money.

ANGIE (V.O.)
Listen, I’ll tell this part of the story, you pick up in the morning. Deal?

GEORGE (V.O.)
Deal.

ANGIE (V.O.)
It was April 2003. I worked at Alpha Omega Marketing down on the Main Shore. It was my first grown-up job out of college, and I’d been there a few years. I was working on a marketing package for one of the local hospitals. Pretty routine stuff. It was a Thursday, and I remember that I was off that Friday. They started some 9x9 schedule, and I was looking forward to a nice, quiet day off of doing nothing except sitting in my apartment, wearing sweats, and watching TV. That’s when Sherri asked if I could do her a favor.

Sherri, a taller, skinny woman dressed similarly to Angie, walks over to Angie’s desk. Angie’s head is glued to her computer screen.

SHERRI
Hey Angie, got any plans tonight?

ANGIE
Does nothing count as a plan?

SHERRI
Listen, are you free tonight?

Angie looks up.

ANGIE
Why?

SHERRI
So, I met a guy. He’s a friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing, and asked me out. But, I’m a little nervous because I’ve only met him once, and I tried telling him I was little nervous but instead I blurted out something about him bringing a friend and I’d bring a friend and I was gonna ask Lindsey but she’s working tomorrow and doesn’t want to go out and I’m sorry but could you do me a big favor and be my wingman tonight?

ANGIE
I’m not really looking to date anyone, and I don’t need set up with anyone.

SHERRI
It’s not that. I’m not trying to set you up on a date. It’s just, you know. I swear I’ll make it up to you. Just one or two drinks, then we all go our separate ways. Please?

Angie shakes her head in resignation.

ANGIE
Fine. Where is it and when?

SHERRI
It’s at 9PM at Scorchers, out in Pleasantview. Thank you so much.

Sherri gives Angie a quick hug.

EXT. SUBURBAN ROADS - NIGHT
A late model blue Ford Taurus drives down a road to a strip mall with a series of restaurants in it. One of them is a place with a gawdy sign that says “SCORCHERS”. Flames are drawn all over the building, with cartoons of chickens running around on fire.

ANGIE (V.O.)
Pleasantview is out in the sticks, so I made Sherri drive us out there. Least she could do for dragging us out there. When I first heard the name I thought it was a gay bar. Turns out it was a bar and restaurant that specialized in hot wings and spicy food. Not exactly the kind of place I’d pick for a first date, but it wasn’t my choice.

Angie exits the car, dressed in a nice black blouse, knee-length skirt, and black heels. Sherri is dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, heels, and a black and white blouse. The pair of women walk into the restaurant.

INT. SCORCHERS - NIGHT
Angie and Sherri make their way to the bar on the left side of the restaurant. The place is crowded and loud. Hockey and basketball play on the TV’s above the bar. Angie leans in to Sherri.

ANGIE
Where are they?

SHERRI
He said they’d be at the bar.

Sherri looks around and spots a young man, maybe 21 or 22, wearing a black short-sleeved button-up shirt. This is TODD. He waves, catching her attention.

SHERRI
There, let’s go.

Sherri leads Angie over to the bar. They walk over, making their way through the crowd. They get close to TODD. Sherri and Todd give each other an awkward hug.

TODD
Thanks for coming.

SHERRI
Never been here before. Where’s your friend?

TODD
He’ll be right back, he went to the bathroom.
(to Angie)
Hi, I’m Todd.

Sherri turns to Angie.

SHERRI
Todd, this is my friend-

CHUCK
Angie?

Angie turns. Standing behind her, from the direction of the nearest bathroom, was a very tall and lanky man with dirty blonde hair and a goatee. He smiled, looking down at Angie. She hesitantly smiled.

ANGIE
Chuckie?

CHUCK
Just Chuck nowadays. Howya doing?

TODD
I guess they know each other?

SHERRI
Maybe.

ANGIE
Doing great, you? What are you doing here? Haven’t seen you since...

CHUCK
Yeah, it’s been a long time. I’m here for a friend, playing wingman. You?

ANGIE
Same. Wingwoman, but same thing. How’s Granny?

Chuck shrugs a bit. Angie’s voice drops as a look of concern grows across her face.

ANGIE
What’s wrong?

CHUCK
She’s, she’s had some rough times recently. She had a cancer battle last year that almost took her, but she kicked it’s ass.

ANGIE
Hey, she’s still going. Next time you see her, tell her I said hi, I miss her.

CHUCK
Definitely.

Chuck looks and sees Sherri and Ted standing behind Angie, confused.

CHUCK
You with them?

Angie turns and sees them looking at her and Chuck hitting it off. Chuck laughs.

CHUCK
Let’s get a table.

A beat.

Chuck, Angie, Todd, and Sherri sit around a table in the restaurant part of Scorchers. Each of them have a beer in front of them. Chuck and Todd sit on one side, Angie and Sherri are directly across from them. Sherri and Ted are talking, flirting, and having their own conversation as Angie and Chuck catch up.

CHUCK
So, how’d Sherri rope you into this?

ANGIE
She asked at the end of the work day. You?

CHUCK
Same. After lunch he asked if I could do him a favor.

ANGIE
He works with you?

CHUCK
Sort of. For me. He’s one of young guys on my crew. What are you doing these days?

ANGIE
I work for a marketing company, Alpha Omega. I mostly make brochures for hospitals. You?

CHUCK
I’ve got a real shitty job.

ANGIE
I’m sorry.

CHUCK
No, it’s great. I run an excavation company. A lot of our business is installing and replacing sewer lines.

Angie laughs, and grabs her beer. Chuck grabs his.

ANGIE
That is a shitty job.

She puts her beer down, her hand brushing against Chuck’s. He tentatively grabs hers. She doesn’t pull back. She smiles. He smiles back.

Time passes. Sherri and Ted go to the bar, then leave Scorchers. Chuck and Angie spend most of the night at their table, drinking beers and eating wings.

ANGIE (V.O.)
We spent most of the night catching up. We talked about everything. Well, almost everything. What was supposed to be one or two beers turned into quite a few more. As it was getting late, I didn’t realize how drunk I was until we got up to leave after midnight.

EXT. SCORCHERS - NIGHT
Angie’s having a hard time standing up straight. Chuck holds her up while they walk to his pickup truck, a lifted green 2001 Chevy Silverado quad cab. He’s not the most sober person in the world, but compared to Angie, he’s right as rain. He walks her over to his truck.

CHUCK
If you want, I can drive you home.

ANGIE
(drunk)
Naw, I live in Main Shore, there’s a lot of cops in the way. Besides, don’t you live nearby?

CHUCK
How about we go and hang out for a bit?

ANGIE
(drunk)
Your place is closer than mine. I just need to rest for a bit. Who knows, maybe we’ll think of something else to do.

Angie leans in for a kiss. Chuck deflects it, but she finds his mouth. They make out for a minute before he helps her into his truck. After getting her in the seat, he closes the door. By the time he’s in the truck, she’s passing out.

EXT. 2236 RIVER BLVD - NIGHT
Chuck’s truck pulls into the driveway of his house in Veneto. He exits, then helps Angie out of the truck and into the house.

INT. 2236 RIVER BLVD - NIGHT
Angie stumbles into the house. Chuck helps her up a flight of stairs and down a hallway.

INT. CHUCK’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Chuck helps Angie into his bedroom. It’s a small bedroom, decorated with old posters of cars, trucks, and sports figures from the 90’s. A very nice computer sits on a desk in the corner. Chuck’s bed takes up good portion of the small room. Once she’s inside, he leaves, making a quick trip to the bathroom.

Angie falls onto his bed, then pulls herself up. She takes off her shoes, then undoes her skirt and takes off her blouse and bra.

By the time Chuck returns, Angie is only wearing her panties. She tries to give him a ‘come hither’ look, but as drunk as she is, it comes off rather sloppy.

Chuck freezes at the door. On the one hand, here’s a beautiful woman naked on his bed down to fuck. On the other, she’s drunk as a skunk. He looks like he’s in physical pain. He shakes his head.

CHUCK
Fuck.

Chuck kicks off his shoes and unbuttons his shirt. He sits on the bed. Angie tries to undo his jeans, but he stops her, grabbing her wrists.

CHUCK
Angie, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but not tonight. Not like this.

ANGIE
(drunk)
What does that mean? You don’t like me like that?

CHUCK
You are very drunk.

ANGIE
(drunk)
Is it Bob?

CHUCK
No. Maybe a little, but no. It’s that...

ANGIE
(drunk)
What?

CHUCK
I’m not gonna tell you how often I dreamed about you, but I don’t want you to have any regrets. Not like this. Let’s just sleep on this tonight.

Angie starts crying, Chuck pulls her in for a hug. After a minute, she stops crying and they kiss again. He lays down on the bed, and they continue making out. Eventually, she puts her head on his chest, hugging him. The two lay in silence, holding each other.

ANGIE
(whispers)
Thank you.

CHUCK
For what?

ANGIE
For not being an asshole. Not talking about Bob. And not being an asshole.

Chuck kisses her on the head. A minute later, she’s snoring on his chest. He falls asleep right after.

INT. CHUCK'S BEDROOM - DAY
The sun is up, light is shining through the open window in Chuck’s bedroom. At some point throughout the night, Angie and Chuck ended up under the covers, sleeping in a spoon position, with Chuck as the big spoon.

ANGIE (V.O.)
As a parent, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve woken up and things were awkward. It’s just a way of life. But in my pre-mommy days, this was the most awkward wake-up of my life.

Chuck wakes up, the smell of coffee filling the air. He opens his eyes, focusing on the doorway. Two men stand in the doorway. The taller one is PAUL, skinny, rough, and hair starting to fall out. He’s in his mid 30’s and looks like he’s ready for a long day of hard labor. The shorter man is GARY. Similar look except his hair is almost completely gone. Both men hold a cup of coffee, looking at the scene on the bed.

PAUL
(singing)
The best part of waking up.

GARY
(singing)
Is pussy on your cock.

PAUL
C’mon fucker, wake up.

Paul grabs the covers and pulls them off, exposing Chuck and Angie, still wearing some clothes.

GARY
Time to work mother fucker! Let’s go, we’re burning daylight.

Chuck looks up at the two. Angie moans, then turns her head to Paul and Gary. It’s then when the two recognize who she is.

PAUL
Oh, shit, Angie?

GARY
Angie, is that you?

Angie’s eyes go wide as she sees the two men in front of her. She screams. Chuck grabs a sheet and covers her.

CHUCK
Fuck off, go downstairs! I’ll be down in 5.

Angie looks around the room, gathering her senses.

CHUCK
You okay?

Angie nods.

ANGIE
Yeah. Wasn’t expecting that this morning. Oh shit. Did we-

CHUCK
Fuck? No.

Angie sighed. Then looked nervous and spoke.

ANGIE
I didn’t mean it like that. Just-

CHUCK
It’s okay. You wanted to last night, but you were wasted. Let’s get dressed.

EXT. 2236 RIVER BLVD - DAY
Chuck and Angie stand on the front yard, both dressed. Chuck is in some work clothes while Angie wears the same clothes she had on the night before, plus a spare hoodie that Chuck let her borrow. Paul and Gary have climbed into the truck, waiting for Chuck to wrap things up.

Chuck holds Angie’s hands in his. She looks up at him, even in her heels.

CHUCK
You sure you’re gonna be okay? I can give you a lift, no problem. What am I going to do, write me up for being late?

Angie chuckled.

ANGIE
I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m not sure if I want to be in the truck with those two this morning. It’s already been kind of awkward with them.

CHUCK
You sure you don’t need a ride? Cabs don’t like coming out this way.

ANGIE
I’ll be okay. I can get a ride. I used to live here, I know this place.

Chuck steps a little closer.

CHUCK
How about this? I’ll drop off Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber, then I’ll call you. If you still need a ride, I’ll give you one. Sound cool?

Angie nods. Chuck leans down and kisses her. She kisses him back. Someone hits the horn on the truck. Chuck turns.

GARY
Let’s go Fucker!

CHUCK
Fuck you!

Chuck turns back to Angie.

CHUCK
I’ll call ya in a bit.

He gives her one more kiss before leaving. Angie watches as he gets in the truck and they leave. She sits on the porch, thinking of how crazy things are. She pulls out her cell phone and makes a call.

ANGIE
Hey, it’s me. Can you do me a big favor?

GEORGE (V.O.)
Is this where I’m taking over?

ANGIE (V.O.)
Yes, your turn.

INT. VENETO PD - DAY
It’s early morning in the Veneto Police Department. Several police officers hustle about. For a small town on a Friday morning, it’s busy.

George and Janella stand by a receptionist’s desk, and are pointed to an office down the hallway. They walk past a homeless man in his 30’s in a wheelchair.

GEORGE (V.O.)
We didn’t have much to go on, except a crazy story and a place. Veneto. I’ve had some previous dealings with the place as did Janella, but it’s always good to get the lay of the land before jumping in and swinging your dick around. Never know who you’ll hit unless you ask.

INT. OMAR HASKINS’S OFFICE - DAY
George and Janella sat in two chairs opposite a black man in his 40’s in a police uniform. He had Lieutenant’s bars on his collar. Even sitting down, he seemed tall. This was LIEUTENANT OMAR HASKINS, VENETO PD.

A secretary entered the room, bringing in 3 cups of coffee. Each of the officers took a cup.

OMAR
So, when my secretary said we had some county mounties from downtown coming in early today, I was a little confused. What can we do for you today? Officers?

JANELLA
I’m Janella Jenkins, this is my partner George Lewis. We’re from the CCPD Sex Crimes Unit.

OMAR
Damn, that’s some rough shit. I’d rather be on riot duty for five years straight than have your job for a month. I’ve seen a little bit of what you deal with, that shit gives me nightmares.

GEORGE
It’s, kinda fucked. But I look at the bright side. When we do our jobs, we put the worst of the worst in a box for a very, very long time.

OMAR
True dat.

Omar takes a sip.

OMAR
What brings you to the town that Harbor City tries to forget?

JANELLA
This is going to sound pretty crazy, but we’re investigating some serious crimes and one of them had a connection to Veneto. Problem is, we don’t have much to go on, and we were hoping we could get the lay of the land before we traipse all through your town.

GEORGE
We don’t want to fuck anything up you’ve got going on. Last thing you need is us going to a motel to ask questions about a gang rape while you’ve got undercover working a drug bust there.

Omar nods.

OMAR
That’s very thoughtful of you. Fortunately, we don’t deal with too many drug busts in this town. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass about the small time weed dealer, I want to nail the fucker that’s selling Vicodin and causing our OD rates to go through the roof. But I get your point. What’s the case?

George pulled a picture out of a folder. It was Natalie Daniels, taken from the deposition. He hands it to Omar, who looks at it closely.

GEORGE
Have you ever seen this woman around here? Her name is Natalie Daniels. She’s one of the scions of First Union Holy Church, and recently she submitted a deposition that included accusations of a gang rape in a motel here in Veneto.

Omar shakes his head and hands the photo back.

OMAR
Sorry, don’t recognize her. And I would need some details to try to narrow this down. It’s not that we don’t get rape cases around here, it’s just that very few of them are ever reported, even the craziest ones.

GEORGE
This one might fit that category.

George pulls a note out of the folder.

GEORGE
According to the accusation, there was a gang rape involving at least 2 women but less than 4, there were several male assailants of various races all wearing different gang colors, and at least 1 man who was forced to watch then participate. The women were lured down to this motel in Veneto after volunteering at a local soup kitchen. They delivered meals to the poor living in the motel, then were tricked into the motel room where the women were forced to strip in front of a camera while a white guy made them talk to a camera, giving their names and addresses. Then the whites, blacks, and Mexicans took turns raping one of the girls. Not much happened to the other girl, but it sounds like she was relatively spared. This would’ve happened at some time in the last ten years.

George slid the note over to Omar, who took a closer look at it.

OMAR
Why 10 years?

GEORGE
Natalie is 24. If she was younger, she would’ve made a point to say so. But she’s not exactly the most reliable witness I’ve ever had. It almost sounds like she was told this story, but the details were too weird to think it was made up. And if was made up, we can bury it now and get on with other work.

Omar looked at the note carefully, focusing on one section.

OMAR
Are you sure about this whole ‘every race raped me’ part?

GEORGE
Not sure her about her being the victim, but the race part seems to fit the whole narrative. Why?

OMAR
Our gangs hate each other. Really hate each other. There was a short time in the mid-90’s where they all got along, but that ended when various leaders got busted or shot. We had two years of peace from 95 to 97, then all Hell broke loose. You sure about this race part?

JANELLA
We think that part is accurate.

Omar reached under his desk and picked up three binders and a map. He unrolled the map, which covered his entire desk. He checked the binders, then placed them on three different sections of the map. One binder read ‘16 South’, another read ‘43SK’, and the last one, the one in the middle of the map read ‘2236’.

OMAR
Let me give you a quick rundown of Veneto’s gang war history. Back in the day, we’re talking the 70’s, this was a rough neighborhood, but it was mostly white. The Italians, the Hungarians, the Irish, and Russians all vied for different parts of the Vice around here. They carved out little niches. Starting in the 70’s, white people left and blacks and latinos moved in. The whites kept feuding with each other while the blacks stuck together and the Mexicans stuck together. For the most part, the blacks stayed down here, south of 19th street. The Mexicans stayed north of 40th street. The blacks formed a gang called 16 South, the Mexicans 43SK, 43rd Street Krew.

Omar points to the two binders at the ends of the map.

OMAR
The whites, on the other hand, were screwed. They were trapped on both ends and those that could leave left. That left a bunch poor white trash, hillbillies, old widows, and kids without dads. The old white gangs tried to pull together, but they were pretty fucked by then. Late 80’s and early 90’s, the map looks like this. Whites in the middle trying to survive and keep the peace. Eventually, that’s where 2236 comes in.

George flinches. Janella notices.

JANELLA
What’s 2236?

OMAR
The remnants of the old white gangs went underground. All that were left were their kids and a few old people giving instructions. Eventually, there were only a handful left. You can’t take part in a gang war when your gang consists of 6 soldiers, a couple girls, and a few retirees in wheelchairs. But they became peacekeepers of a sort. We looked the other way if it was gang on gang violence as long as no one died, but these guys would make sure it never came to that. They became the U.N. of gang warfare in the 90’s.

Omar took a sip of coffee, then opened the 2236 binder. The first page showed a mugshot of a woman from the 1970’s.

OMAR
It’s called 2236 because that’s where Granny lives. And her grandchildren, real and otherwise. 2236 River Blvd. Granny, also known as Anna Maria Cartucci, is a firecracker and a half. She was one half sweet little grandmother, one half murderous psychopath. Her husband died in the 80’s, and her boys are either dead or serving life sentences. She raised her grandchildren pretty much on her own.

Omar flipped the page. It showed a mugshot of a skinny man with black hair, a skinny mustache, and a rat tail haircut. A more recent mugshot shows the same man, but with more wear and tear on his body.

OMAR
Speaking of grandchildren, here’s Vincent Cartucci. Goes by Vinny. 34 years old but he’s fallen on some hard times. Been busted for everything from GTA to Possession with intent to Attempted murder. He was a serious badass who wouldn’t mind pistol whipping someone if they crossed him. He’s having some rough times now. Opioids.

Omar turns the page again, showing a tall, lanky man’s mugshot.

JANELLA
What do they-

OMAR
I’m getting to that. Next up is Charles Hartman, aged 27. He’s Vinny’s half-brother, but all the parents are out of the picture. Goes by Chuckie or Chuck. He’s the only member of the 2236 crew without a felony charge as an adult. Busted him for possession a few times, simple assault. He’s calmed down now for the most part, works a lot and takes care of Granny.

Omar turns the page. Two men are featured on this page. One is a brunette male about 5’11” and one is a blonde man about 5’6”.

OMAR
Paul Jefferson Damato and Gary Milhouse Spencer. Paul and Gary, brothers from another mother. Both aged 37. Served time for assault with a deadly weapon and vehicular homicide when they ran over a dealer that moved in on their territory and beat his homie into a coma. They’ve been accused of everything from assault to theft to rape to hosting an underground fight club. They’re two of the sickest fucks I know. But the last one takes the cake.

Omar turns the page. George recognizes the picture immediately. It’s the mugshot of a man with longer brown hair, blue eyes, and a goatee. A second mugshot shows that he’s put on a little weight.

OMAR
This man is the worst of the bunch. His name is-

GEORGE
Robert Kuntzmann.

OMAR
You know him?

GEORGE
A little. It’s a long story. I’m sorry, please continue.

OMAR
Robert Earl Kuntzmann, 34 years old. Just goes by Bob. He’s been in and out of jail several times. His most recent stint was for bigamy of all things, but that’s only because he beat the murder and rape charges he faced. Curb stomped a pretty boy who got a little mouthy at a bar, then raped the boy’s girlfriend on the hood of their car while he bled to death. He’s been accused of jury tampering. I have a dozen murders I can attribute to him, but most of them are justifiable or he has enough wiggle room to get out. The fact that he was convicted for bigamy just makes me laugh my ass off. It’s like Capone with the taxes.

Omar takes a sip of coffee. Janella does the same. George tries to remain calm, but looks like he’s ready to rip Bob’s picture out of the binder and set it on fire.

JANELLA
What would they have to do with the gang rape in a motel?

OMAR
Hold on one second.

Omar flips through the binder a few pages, as he does, he goes past a few more mugshots, this time of young women. George recognizes them.

GEORGE
Whoa, could you go back?

OMAR
In a minute. Here it is. Back in August 1995, we had gang peace. For the first time ever, 43SK and 16 South’s leaders got along. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. I followed up on the rumors, and here’s what I heard.

Omar leans in and reads an old note, closely.

OMAR
“According to sources, PD, Paul Damato, was seen driving around high ranking members of both 43 and 16 throughout the day of Saturday August 12. Leadership of both gangs were seen riding together in Paul’s ‘busted ass van.’ The van was seen parked outside of the Roadside Motel throughout the entire night. In the late evening, a group of well-dressed white kids exited a van from VBC. Veneto Baptist Church. The group consisted of 2 girls, 1 boy, and 1 man, escorted by what looked like PD and GS, Gary Spencer. An unidentified black male assumed to be from VBC was with them. Everyone disappeared into a second story room for the remainder of the night. Leaders were driven back by PD after a couple hours while GS rode back with the kids in the VBC van.”

JANELLA
Holy shit.

OMAR
Unfortunately, I can’t verify any of this anymore. My source on this died with a needle in her arm years ago. She was pretty consistent with the info, until heroin took her ass.

GEORGE
That’s...literally the scene Natalie described. This just went from a wild goose chase to something significant.

OMAR
Two problems. This was 1995, past the statute of limitations. Also, that motel changed hands a few times since, it’s now a Best Western.

GEORGE
Still, it’s a starting point. The case is kind of crazy.

OMAR
You said you knew Bob from before. Mind telling me how?

GEORGE
Mind showing me those other mugshots?

Omar pauses for a moment.

GEORGE
I saw the mugshots of 3 girls in that binder. I know how old they were at the time, and we can’t do anything with that info. You show me what I think I already know, and I’ll show you why I hate Bob so much.

Omar nods. He flips back to the mugshots of three beautiful girls. George sighs.

OMAR
These were taken in early 1996. We got a call about a party nearby where a fight broke out between some girls. We brought them in, their parents wanted nothing to do with any of them. They spent most of the night in lockup. All charges were later dropped as a ‘simple misunderstanding.’ These girls basically lived at 2236 and in a nearby apartment from 1995 to 1999. First girl was Stacy Daniels. Her story was kind of messed up. Genius level talent and intellect, but was living in Veneto until she won emancipation from her parents. Next girl was Jennifer Tibault. Hung out extensively with the 2236 crew. Her and Stacy left around the same time. Rumor has it they were a thing. Last girl was Angela Lewis. Reportedly Bob’s main squeeze. They were a thing on and off for a while, but eventually she wised up and got out. I’ve seen Jen show up a few times in the last couple years, but that’s it. After 1999, they stopped showing up.

Omar took another sip of coffee.

OMAR
So, I told you about them. How did you know about them?

GEORGE
Do those records show who posted bail?

Omar looks at the mugshot records.

OMAR
Bail posted by...George Lewis, employed by Chester County Police Department.

GEORGE
Yep. Angie’s my cousin. All three of those kids come from nice backgrounds and have parents that chose their church over them.

OMAR
First Union?

GEORGE
Yep. For a while they were staying with me, but would also disappear elsewhere. That elsewhere was apparently 2236. Stacy and Jen left the city together, Angie went to Harbor City U and graduated a couple years back. She’s doing pretty well for herself, now that she’s out of this mess.

JANELLA
Can we get some copies of this? Not just the 2236, but the other binders too? If the part about the attack at the motel was correct, then the perps are in there.

OMAR
Sure thing. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll get you what I can.

Omar gets up and grabs the binders with him.

A beat.

George’s phone rings. He looks at it, furrowing his brow.

GEORGE
(to phone)
Hello? Hey...Sure, what is it?...Yeah, I’m at work, I should be able to in a little bit. What’s the address?...22WHAT?...Yeah, I’m still here. I’ll be there in a few minutes, I have to wrap up some things here...Yes, I’m goddamned mad...Not about needing the lift, where you’re at. I’ll see you shortly.

George hangs up the phone.

GEORGE
(muttering)
I’m gonna fucking kill her. I’m gonna fucking kill her, then him, then make it look like a fucking accident.

JANELLA
What’s wrong?

GEORGE
We have to make a little detour when we leave.

Omar returns to his desk and sits down with a sigh.

OMAR
My secretary is making copies for you, should be just a few minutes. I really hope this helps. I’d love to get them on something we can prove.

JANELLA
I take it you’ve had it with them around here.

OMAR
That doesn’t begin to describe the half of it. You know what my greatest dream is? It’s not winning the lottery or sleeping with a supermodel, it’s getting everyone in these binders out of my town for good. I don’t care if they’re in jail, dead, or just move, I want them gone. Then, I’ll have a day where I am bored. 100% bored. The perfect day for a cop.

All three of them smile.

GEORGE
I take it that there’s some things you know but can’t prove?

OMAR
Absolutely. For example, you see that homeless guy in the wheelchair on your way in?

George and Janella nod.

OMAR
His name’s Travis. Back in the summer of 1995, he got handsy with a girl in the park. Some men stopped him, and one of them shot him. We arrived on the scene and he was bleeding from the gut. Bullet severed his spinal cord, put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Only witness was the little girl, who was busy kicking Travis in the head while he bled.

JANELLA
Tough kid.

OMAR
It’s Veneto, we don’t fuck around with that here. Now, I heard a report about two white guys that matched Paul and Gary’s description entering the park before the gunshot and leaving right after. I also have a littering ticket for them from River Patrol. Shortly after the shooting, they were stopped in the river for throwing trash overboard. All River Patrol found were some mechanical parts like screws and springs, could’ve been from anything. We know they took Granny’s boat, the Ballbuster Deluxe. Her husband named it after her before he died. I know those two shot Travis. I know they committed attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, destruction of evidence, and illegal use of firearms, but all I can prove is that they littered. If you can help them not be my problem anymore, I’ll be forever in your debt.

There is a knock at the door. The SECRETARY opens the door.

SECRETARY
Everything is ready, sir.

GEORGE
Thank you very much, Officer Haskins.

JANELLA
Yes, this was a great help.

OMAR
Like I said, get them out of my hair, and it’s worth it.

The three shake hands. George and Janella leave.

EXT. 2236 RIVER BLVD - DAY
Angie sits on the steps of the porch. She’s looking at her phone. There’s an icon on it she’s not familiar with, it looks like an envelope. As she’s about to play around with it, the door opens behind her. She turns and sees GRANNY. Granny looks old and a little frail, but dragged herself outside on her walker.

GRANNY
Angie?

Granny moves a little closer to Angie. Angie smiles when she sees the old matron, then gets up and gives her a hug.

ANGIE
Hey Granny. You doing okay?

GRANNY
I’m fine. What brings you around?

ANGIE
I... came to see you.

GRANNY
Bullshit. Tell me it’s not Bob.

ANGIE
No, it’s not Bob.

Granny sighs.

GRANNY
Good. You deserved better than him. I love him, but he can be a real piece of shit sometimes. C’mon, let’s sit.

Angie helps Granny over to a porch swing, then helps the old woman sit down. Angie sits next to her.

ANGIE
You’re looking good.

GRANNY
Pumpkin, don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I look like shit. I feel like shit. And the only reason I’m still alive is I’m too stubborn to die.

ANGIE
I wouldn’t say that.

GRANNY
It’s okay. Cancer tried twice in the last 3 years to kill me, and failed. It’s not the first time someone tried to kill me, and won’t be the last.

Granny grabs Angie’s hand.

GRANNY
Now, why are you really here?

ANGIE
I, last night, I...

GRANNY
Spit it out Pumpkin, I don’t want to die of old age waiting for you to tell me that you fucked Chuckie.

Angie looks incredulous at Granny.

GRANNY
Please, I heard you two come in late last night. You were so drunk you slammed into the wall a couple times and didn’t notice it.

ANGIE
I didn’t fuck Chuck. Not that I didn’t try to, but we didn’t.

GRANNY
Y’know, he’s not mine by blood, but I love Chuckie like one of my own. In the last few years, he’s done more to take care of me than even himself. He works all day and spends most of his time alone with me. He’s a good egg. Just needs to get away from his brothers. They’re a bad influence on him. Was this a one-time thing, or...?

Angie shrugs.

ANGIE
I don’t know. First time I’ve seen him in years, and we just clicked. And I’m the dumbass that didn’t make sure that I got his number before he left. He said he has mine, and that he’d call in a little bit, but I’m not holding my breath.

Granny squeezes Angie’s hand tighter, then pats it with the other one.

GRANNY
I’ll make sure he calls you. Besides, I know he’ll call you. You’re wearing his lucky sweatshirt.

Angie looks down at the hoodie she’s wearing. Black, blue, green, with a Harbor City Whalers logo on it. She smiles.

ANGIE
Why didn’t he wear this a couple weeks ago against the Rangers?

The two laugh.

GRANNY
I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but you should really give him a chance. He’s a lot better than the other grandson of mine you were with. It’s not even a fair fight.

An undercover Crown Vic pulls up in front of the house. Granny looks at Angie.

ANGIE
That’s my ride.

GRANNY
Your cousin giving you a ride?

ANGIE
Yep.

GRANNY
He still with CCPD I assume?

ANGIE
Yep. Made detective a couple years back.

GRANNY
You take care, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

ANGIE
Doesn’t take much off the list.

The two laugh. Angie gives Granny hug.

ANGIE
Thanks Granny. I love you.

GRANNY
I love you too.

George exits the driver’s spot of the Crown Vic. Angie climbs down the steps. George opens the back door for her.

GRANNY
(smiling and yelling)
CHOKE ON A DICK, PIG!

GEORGE
(smiling and yelling)
GET FUCKED, GRANNY!

Angie shakes her head, then ducks as she climbs into the back seat of the unmarked police car. George closes the door behind her. He looks back to Granny, sitting on the porch, giving him the finger. He blows her a kiss, then climbs into the driver’s seat.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
George sits in the driver’s seat of the unmarked cop car. Janella is in the passenger’s seat. Angie sits in the back behind George. A stack of folders sit opposite of her.

George puts the car into drive as Angie looks around. It’s been a long time since she’s been in this part of Veneto. He is absolutely, eerily silent as he drives the first few blocks. Janella turns toward Angie, waving at her through the barricade between the front and back seats.

JANELLA
Hello. I’m Janella. Janella Jenkins, CCPD. George is my partner.

ANGIE
Hi, I’m Angie.

JANELLA
So, how do you two know each other?

GEORGE AND ANGIE
Cousin/Brother...Sister/Cousin.

George takes a deep breath, then lets it out. Angie leans forward as George tries to get himself under control.

ANGIE
By birth, we’re cousins. But we’re more like siblings. I’m sorry Janella, you’ll have to forgive Georgie. He gets a little worked up when my ex is involved. Even if he’s not in the same county.

JANELLA
Georgie?

GEORGE
I have one question, and one question only. Are you back with Bob? Cause if so, I swear to fuck, I will turn around, go back, and shoot him myself.

ANGIE
No. I’m not back with Bob. I haven’t seen Bob in a few years, and he wasn’t even there.

GEORGE
You shitting me?

ANGIE
No.

George looks in the mirror, then at Janella. She nods. George lets out another long-held breath.

GEORGE
Okay. So why the fuck were you at his house doing the ride of shame?

ANGIE
I had a date last night. No, not with Bob. It wasn’t even my date. I went on a double date with a co-worker who was a little weirded out about seeing this guy by himself, so it turned into a double date. I went to support my friend, and her date brought his friend and boss. Chuck.

JANELLA
Chuck?

GEORGE
You mean Chuckie Hartman?

George turns the car down a side street, driving past Veneto Baptist Church. He keeps driving.

ANGIE
It’s just Chuck now. He’s not the same lanky, perverted, annoying jerk he was back in the 90’s. He’s grown up, he’s more mature, and he has responsibilities.

JANELLA
Chuck’s related to Bob?

ANGIE
Sort of his little step-brother. It’s a long story.

GEORGE
Well, we’re in Veneto and you live on the Main Shore. We’ve got time.

Angie looks around the car and sees the folders sitting next to her. On the top one she can make out the label ‘43SK’. The one underneath it she can see ‘22’. The rest is covered up by the folder on top.

ANGIE
Why the sudden interest?

GEORGE
Well, not that’s any of my business when my little sister ends up in a house full of convicted felons after a night of drinking.

ANGIE
Fine. If you must know, we spent the whole night talking. We met at Scorchers in Pleasantview and talked for a few hours. 1 beer became a 6-pack and a couple shots. Sherri, my friend from work, left with her date Todd, and Chuck and I stuck around until closing. He lived a lot closer to where we were than where I live, so we came here.

GEORGE
D’ya fuck him? Not that it’s any of my business.

ANGIE
No, it’s not your business, and no, I didn’t fuck him. In fact, I tried to. I really fucking tried to. I haven’t been laid in months, it’s been almost a year since I’ve had even a halfway decent date, and here is this cute guy who’s into me. After a few drinks, I thought ‘hey, might as well.’ Well guess what he did.

GEORGE
What?

ANGIE
Nothing, that’s what. I’m lying there, naked on his bed, and he says he doesn’t want to take advantage of me while I’m drunk. And we spent the rest of the night cuddling until we fell asleep. That’s it. Name one guy who would be that upstanding to turn down a drunk, naked, horny woman on his bed. You can’t.

Angie starts to tear up a bit.

ANGIE
(crying)
And you know what’s really stupid? I left without getting his number. Finally meet a guy who’s not a complete jerk, and my stupid ass doesn’t even get his phone number.

George looks at Janella, motions for a Kleenex. Janella hands one to Angie.

GEORGE
I’m sorry Ange. I overstepped. You’re right, I get really pissed off with anything involving your ex. So, getting a call that you needed a ride from his crib, I was already in a bad place to begin with, and that just set it off. I’m sorry.

Angie wipes away some of her tears.

ANGIE
Apology accepted. You’re still a dick, though.

GEORGE
Copy that.

The car drives through Veneto, past an old motel. Angie looks around at the folders on the seat and sees the roundabout way they’re driving through Veneto to get back to the highway.

ANGIE
What were you guys doing in Veneto? You have a stack of folders over here with the names of Veneto gangs, we’re driving around this town like we’re tourists, and you picked me up a few minutes after I called asking for a ride. You had to be nearby, and these folders say you’re working a case.

Janella and George exchange looks.

GEORGE
We can’t go into details about anything that may or may not-

ANGIE
Bullshit, you’re working something, and it might be something big. Considering you know Chuck’s last name and his address, you were briefed on them.

GEORGE
You know I can’t tell you any details. But, you answer a couple questions for us, and I’ll let you make whatever connections you want. Deal?

ANGIE
That’s not much of a deal.

JANELLA
George, what are you doing?

GEORGE
Detective Jenkins, we have in our backseat someone who is uniquely qualified to give us an insight into the various aspects of this case. Someone with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of 2236 and other things of interest. Janella, you want to know how Mr. Robert Kuntzmann thinks and works? Who better to ask than the former MRS. Robert Kuntzmann? Angela Marie Lewis, who from 1997 to 1998 was Angela Marie Kuntzmann.

Angie is pissed. Janella is shocked.

JANELLA
Wait, when you said he was your ex, you meant-

ANGIE
Ex-husband, yes. We married in February 1997 and were divorced in August 1998. No, it wasn’t some whirlwind romance or I was knocked up, we got married so he could help with student loans.

JANELLA
Huh?

ANGIE
I’m going to try to make the story short. My parents cut me off after high school. We had a big falling out due to some crazy drama from the cult they belong to.

JANELLA
Wait, your parents are in a cult?

ANGIE
Might as well be. First Union Holy Church. The whole place is rotten from the core to the head. I didn’t want to play nice with them and go this new school that First Union was setting up, but they refused to sign my student loan paperwork unless I went. I agreed, but at the last minute registered at Harbor City U. The student loans and bills were already paid, George helped me out a lot my Freshman year, but it was putting a lot of stress on him. When it came for tax time, I couldn't renew my FAFSA as an independent even though my parents cut me off. Only way to get enough student loans to pay for college was to either join the Army, have a kid, or get married. I made a joke off-handed to Bob about this, and he said “What are you doing tomorrow?” Lousiest proposal ever.

George turns the car onto the Beltway on-ramp.

GEORGE
What she conveniently skipped over was how Bob got in the story in the first place. Her and Bob had been dating on and off for a couple years. Started when she was in high school. He was 26. Some real R-Kelly shit going on there.

ANGIE
Like you’ve said before, above the age of consent in this state.

GEORGE
Just cause it’s legal doesn’t make it right. Especially when I find out my little sister is dating a drug dealing gang banger.

JANELLA
Wait, how did you end up dating him? You grew up in Hillside near George, no where near Veneto.

ANGIE
Back in high school I spent a summer up at a bible camp, up by Lake Hiawatha. It’s run by First Union. I ran into him up there. He had a cabin up there on the lake. I snuck out of the camp, looking for anything to do, hoping that I’d misbehave so much they’d have to send me home. Instead, I met Bob. We hung out a bit, next thing I know, we’re sort of dating.

GEORGE
Code for fucking like rabbits.

ANGIE
Anyway, I thought it was just a summer thing, but we stayed in contact. I had my license, so I’d come down to Veneto to visit him, or we’d meet somewhere in the middle. We dated on and off. Sometimes it was great, others it sucked. One moment he’s a sweet teddy bear, next he’s threatening to kill someone or beating the shit out of a guy. Gotta be honest, seeing a grown man beat up someone for you was pretty thrilling. But he changed after we got married, like this suddenly changed our roles. Like, I’m supposed to cook and clean now even though I’m going to school full time and he’s working when he feels like it. He’d get really jealous about me hanging out with any guys after class. He was never like that before. Eventually, I told him it wasn’t working out. We had a few big fights, one of them got a little out of hand.

GEORGE
Out of hand? He threw a fucker out a second story window.

ANGIE
That fucker deserved it!

GEORGE
Well, let’s just say the shit hit the fan when a bunch of mail showed up at my apartment addressed to Angela Kuntzmann.

JANELLA
Your apartment?

ANGIE
I was staying with George through most of college. At least, that was my permanent address. I lived with Bob and Granny for a bit, but there was never enough privacy. It’s a small house and if Vinny wasn’t being a dick then Chuckie was being an even bigger dick. Then there was Granny. She’s interesting. She loves me, she loves Bob, but hated us together. Especially after we got married. Well, after I was officially an independent student, we no longer needed to stay married. We separated in June 1997, tried to make things work over the next few months, but by October I knew it wasn’t going to work out. I filed for divorce but he refused to sign the papers. I tried giving them to him, delivering them to him, he refused to sign.

GEORGE
He kept pulling this hiding and bullying bullshit. So I called up a buddy that does process serving and asked him to meet up. I put on my blues, and we served the fucker. Right in the middle of his kid’s birthday party.

JANELLA
WHAT?!

GEORGE
Baby momma was kinda pissed when Daddy got served divorce papers at their kid’s first birthday party. Considering he married her a few months before he married Angie.

ANGIE
I swear, I had no clue about her or their kid.

GEORGE
Not the most fucked up birthday party I’ve been to, but definitely in the Top 5. Had to pepper spray the clown on the way out when he tried to smash a bottle over my head.

ANGIE
That was Chuck.

George laughs.

JANELLA
No one pressed charges?

GEORGE
Considering I just dropped a nuke on that party, it got ugly quick. We got the fuck out of there in a heartbeat. Aside from his boys, no one there even knew about Angie. They thought it was some sick joke until they looked at the paperwork and saw the original marriage license between Bob and Angie.

JANELLA
Omar said that he served time for bigamy.

GEORGE
That was probably it.

ANGIE
Only times I saw Bob after that were in court to finalize the divorce. That was August 1998.

JANELLA
What about until 1999? Heard that you would hang out around there until then?

ANGIE
It wasn’t just me. Things got kinda weird after high school. I had two friends that I stayed with, Jen and Stacy. On and off from 95 to 99, we lived in Veneto. Jen was one of my classmates, and had a lot of problems at home. She only graduated because someone would drive her to school from 2236 every morning until she got her own car. Stacy, she went to Hillside High. She was a year behind us but graduated early and got emancipated.

JANELLA
How?

ANGIE
That’s her story to tell. She had a really fucked up life before she got out of there. Her and I went to HCU. I studied Business and Marketing, she was in the Dance and Acting program. She earned a full scholarship, maintained a 4.0 and even an MFA by the time she left in 1999. Went to New York after that, was on Broadway for a bit. Jen and Stacy were, well, they were lovers for years. They were even talking about going on a trip one day to get married as soon as it was legal.

Janella looked like she wanted to change the subject. George kept driving down the highway.

JANELLA
Can you tell me a little about the rest of the 2236 crew?

ANGIE
A little. By the time I was involved, it was only 5 people. Bob, Vinny, Chuck, Paul and Gary. Vinny is Granny’s actual grandchild. Bob’s parents were out of the picture early, and Granny basically adopted him. Vinny’s a jerk, but he’s our jerk. Was a big partier as a kid, finally settled down a while back but got injured on a construction job. Now, he’s struggling with painkillers. Chuck is Vinny’s little step-brother. Vinny’s mom married Chuck’s dad, but they disappeared as soon as Chuck was old enough to take care of himself. Paul and Gary, not sure how those two ended up in the mix. One day they weren’t there, next they were, like they’d always belonged. Those two are like twins, always thinking alike. Paul and Gary work with Chuck in his construction company. Bob, well, he wasn’t around. Don’t know, didn’t ask, don’t care.

Angie’s phone makes a beeping sound. She pulls it out of her purse.

GEORGE
You texting now?

ANGIE
What do you mean?

GEORGE
That sounded like a text alert. My phone has them. They’re nice, but not worth the cost.

ANGIE
I know, right. Like, I have unlimited minutes, and texts cost 10 cents each. Just call me.

GEORGE (V.O.)
Yes kids, there was once a time where people WANTED to talk on the phone and text messages cost money.

Angie played around with her phone for a minute until she got to the message section.

ANGIE
Baconton, backton, Cull Toon Tyl Jet. What the fuck is this?

GEORGE
Lemme see...

Angie passes the phone to Janella who passes it to George. He takes a quick look, then hands it back.

GEORGE
Back in town, See You Tonight, Talk To You Later, JT. Whoever JT is, they’re back in town and will see you tonight.

ANGIE
How?

GEORGE
I have some sources that use texts. Real pain in the ass, but it’s developing into its own language. Hey, wasn’t-

Angie’s phone rings. She doesn’t recognize the number, but she answers it.

ANGIE
Hello?

CHUCK (O.S)
Hey, it’s Chuck.

Angie’s voice lightens as she smiles.

ANGIE
Hey. So, this your number?

CHUCK (O.S)
Yep, one of them. You okay? You get a ride?

ANGIE
Yeah, I’m fine, I called my cousin, he gave me a lift.

CHUCK (O.S)
That’s the cousin that’s a cop, right? Granny called, said a one-time stopped by and you climbed in.

ANGIE
What’s a one-time?

GEORGE
You’re in it. Undercover cop car.

CHUCK (O.S)
Newer term. Look at the cops once to acknowledge them, but not more. Looking too much draws attention.

ANGIE
Oh, okay.

CHUCK (O.S)
I’m really glad to hear that you’re okay.

ANGIE
Thanks.

I/E. CHUCK’S TRUCK - DAY
Chuck is sitting in his green Chevy Silverado in a fast food parking lot.

CHUCK
Listen, I was wondering, what are you doing tonight?

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA
Angie sits in the back of the Crown Vic.

ANGIE
You asking me out? I thought guys were supposed to wait a few days, some weird macho guy code.

I/E. CHUCK'S TRUCK - DAY
Chuck squirms in his seat.

CHUCK
Well, normally yeah, but there’s exceptions for amazing and beautiful women you’ve known for a while. Plus, it’s more of a guideline.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
Angie’s smiling wide now.

ANGIE
Yes. Meet at my place, say, 7PM?

I/E. CHUCK'S TRUCK - DAY
Chuck grabs a pen and paper.

CHUCK
Yeah. What’s your address?

ANGIE (O.S)
823 Largeman Street. Apartment 205.

CHUCK
823 Largeman, 205. Got it. That’s right on the Main Shore, right?

ANGIE (O.S)
Yeah. I’m like a block from the action.

CHUCK
You okay if we meet there, then walk to dinner? There’s a great Peruvian place a few blocks away.

ANGIE (O.S)
Juanita’s? Been wanting to try that for a while.

CHUCK
Great, I’ll see you at 7.

I/E. CCPD CROWN VICTORIA - DAY
Angie’s grinning from ear to ear.

ANGIE
I’ll see you tonight.

GEORGE
Is that Chuck?

ANGIE
Yeah.

GEORGE
(yelling)
Treat her like a lady or you’ll be one!

Angie cringes a bit at George’s comment.

CHUCK (O.S)
That was George, right?

ANGIE
George says hi.

I/E. CHUCK'S TRUCK - DAY
Chuck makes sure he has the address right, and writes down her number just to be sure.

CHUCK
I’ll see you tonight.

ANGIE (O.S)
Bye.

CHUCK
Bye.

Neither of them hang up. They laugh.

ANGIE (O.S)
You didn’t hang up.

CHUCK
You didn’t either.

GEORGE (O.S)
Oh for fuck’s sake, you’ll see each other in a few hours, just hang up!

ANGIE (O.S)
Bye.

CHUCK
Bye.

Chuck hangs up the phone. He fist pumps the air a couple times. After a couple deep breaths, he makes another call. The phone rings a couple times before another man in his thirties answers. It’s BOB.

BOB (O.S)
Barrietta’s Brothel and Bakery, we got the best buns in town!

CHUCK
Sup fucker!

BOB (O.S)
How’s my favorite faggy brother doing?

CHUCK
I don’t know, I haven’t talked to Vinny in a couple days. Getting your quota of bear dick up in the woods?

BOB (O.S)
You know what they say, fuck the goats by the cliff so they push back.

The two men laugh.

BOB (O.S)
What’s going on?

CHUCK
I’m giving you a heads up, so you don’t hear it from anyone else first, I gotta date tonight.

BOB (O.S)
Well, it’s about time you came out of the closet. What’s his name? Is he a hairdresser or a dancer?

Chuck laughs.

CHUCK
Nah, dude. I only suck dick for work.

BOB (O.S)
C’mon, it’s not work if you love what you do.

CHUCK
Yeah. Giving you a heads up before you hear from anyone, I got a date.

BOB (O.S)
So?

CHUCK
With Angie.

Bob is silent for a minute. His tone drops when he comes back.

BOB (O.S)
Oh.

CHUCK
I ran into her last night at the bar. We were both wingmen for our dates, we got to talking, she came over.

BOB (O.S)
You fucked her?

CHUCK
Nah, she was too fucking drunk.

BOB (O.S)
Pussy.

CHUCK
Anyway, I wanted to tell you before word got around.

BOB (O.S)
Shit, how many people know?

CHUCK
You, me, Paul, Gary, Granny.

BOB (O.S)
Fuck. I don’t like this.

CHUCK
I wasn’t asking for permission, I was informing you of what was happening. It’s been a few years and she was two ex-wives ago.

BOB (O.S)
This is happening whether I like it or not?

CHUCK
Yeah.

BOB (O.S)
When did you grow a pair?

CHUCK
I don’t know. Maybe when I saw an amazing woman at the bar and said she’s worth pissing everyone off over.

BOB (O.S)
Don’t hurt her, don’t fuck it up like I did.

CHUCK
There’s no way I could fuck it up THAT bad.

BOB (O.S)
Fucker. Tell Granny I said hi, I’ll be back soon.

CHUCK
Later dude.

BOB (O.S)
Later.

Chuck hung up the phone. He started the truck and drove off.

End of Episode 3
-------------------------------------------------------------

To Be Continued...

Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay

Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay

Re: Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay

Re: Lake Hiawatha - A Harbor City Universe Teleplay