Beneath the Surface

Script Excerpt

FADE IN:

INT. LAKEHOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Rain streaks down floor-to-ceiling windows. MARGARET PRICE (62), silver-haired but sharp-eyed, sits alone in an armchair, a glass of whiskey untouched beside her.

The front door OPENS. Footsteps on hardwood.

ELEANOR (32), Margaret's daughter, enters. She's soaked, carrying a worn leather bag.

ELEANOR
You called. I came. What's so urgent it couldn't wait until morning?

MARGARET
(not turning)
Some things fester in daylight.

Eleanor stops. Studies her mother's profile.

ELEANOR
That's cryptic, even for you.

Margaret finally turns. Her eyes are red-rimmed but dry.

MARGARET
Your father left something for you. In his will. Something I've kept hidden for thirty years.

She gestures to a lockbox on the coffee table.

MARGARET (CONT'D)
I think you should sit down.

FADE TO BLACK.