Chapter 13
May Contain Spoilers.
Beat Notes & Objectives “The Road Out”
The Road Out
I wanted Chapter 13 to do more than move Neal’s evidence into state hands. Wayne had to get there first and make us feel how close Cal, Della, and Neal came to losing everything they’d carried out of Chapter 12. The lighter gave Cal something to bargain with, but it was a bluff, and every minute Wayne stayed in that yard made the bluff harder to hold. I kept coming back to what Cal could actually see and hear: Earl at the service door, Della at the window, Neal taking the beating inside while Cal sat in Wayne’s truck. The craft problem was the inventory. The road book, phone, receipt, and guns all had to change hands in an order the reader could follow, but I didn’t want to stop the scene each time to account for them. I tried to make each object matter when somebody reached for it, hid it, or lost it. I reread the evidence route so many times I nearly wore it out, then went back through the prose looking for places where that tracking showed. The hard part was making it clear enough that a reader could follow who had what without ever feeling handed a list.
Evidence custody route.
Scene 1: Wayne Reaches the Road Barn
Cal, Della, and Neal wait for MBI with Neal’s road book, phone, and Cal’s receipt.
Wayne arrives first with Earl and Mercy. Their trucks block Della’s way out.
Neal hides the road book and takes up his shotgun.
Scene 2: The Bargain
Earl attacks the service door; Neal sets off the storm siren and stops him.
Cal bluffs that he can lead Wayne to the lighter found on Jude’s porch.
Della’s shotgun buys them room to negotiate, but Wayne forces all three outside.
Scene 3: Wayne Takes the Evidence
Mercy finds Cal’s receipt; Earl takes Neal’s phone but cannot find the book.
Wayne separates Cal and Della into the two pickups.
Mercy beats the book’s hiding place out of Neal. Wayne gets the book and leaves Neal alive at the office.
Scene 4: The Road Out Closes
Wayne and Earl start toward the gate with Cal, Della, and the evidence.
MBI arrives in an SUV and sedan, blocking Wayne’s chosen exit.
