Burner: A Killing in Palm Springs

Three bullets to the victim’s face and hitman Joe McKay is gone. Client Marty Masur, a ruthless businessman, eagerly waits by his burner phone to hear that his hated ex-wife, Lenore, is dead. Black Police Detective Raynelle Goodpaster investigates while dealing with health and marital issues, and the perceived discrimination of her seemingly unsupportive white police chief. A shocking discovery! The victim was Marty’s beloved daughter not Lenore. Unhinged, he sets out to kill Joe, while Raynelle vows to the grieving Lenore that she will capture her daughter’s killer. Joe’s fatal error causes a crisis of conscience but he takes on another hit with callous indifference, by sending an arrogant human smuggler 150 feet off a San Bernardino cliff in his prized classic car! A perfect trap and a perfect murder. Marty tricks Joe by luring him onto the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway where, at 8500 feet above Coachella Valley, a gun fight breaks out, and Marty is wounded. Joe escapes and Marty winds up in the ICU where a vengeful Lenore visits him, and deviously ends his life. When she flees, she is killed by a big rig in a spectacular crash at the feet of the smiling 26-foot tall “Forever Marilyn” [Monroe] statue! The end of the road. After a harrowing car chase, Joe and Raynelle come face to face when his car breaks down. Unable to kill another woman, Joe tries to turn the gun on himself, only to be talked out of suicide by Raynelle, and she arrests him. A newfound self-awareness helps Raynelle face her personal crises in a more positive and healing way.