Excluded and Uninvited novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: Cal's Worst Night

He picked a hardware store parking lot on the north side, at four in the afternoon, between a pallet of mulch and a cart return.

Jo stayed in her rental with the engine running and her phone recording.

Katja waited at the far end of the lot with the truck.

I walked up alone.

The tall man was leaning on a dented Corolla with his arms crossed.

His nose was taped across the bridge and both eyes had gone yellow and purple.

He was younger than I had thought, maybe twenty-six.

"You hit hard," he said.

"You hit harder."

"I know. The pipe was my buddy. I told him to stop." He lifted his hand to his face and put it down again. "I'm sorry about that."

"Who are you?"

"I do commercials. I did a gas station ad last spring." He shrugged. "I do whatever pays. A guy offered me six hundred to be in a prank."

"Greg."

"He said it was for the channel. He said it was a harmless one."

"It wasn't."

"No."

He reached into the car and came out with a stack of paper folded in half.

"I kept the script," he said. "I don't trust people who pay in cash apps."

I took it.

The first page had a title in bold type across the top: "CAL'S WORST NIGHT."

Under it, a line in smaller type: "Format: hidden camera. Subject: Caleb R. Runtime: one take."

I read down the page, my thumb on the margin.

"INT/EXT. ALLEY, NIGHT. D leads C and W into the alley. C is relaxed."

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