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Thank God, Charlie thought, the bozo was finally leaving. His legs were getting numb from sitting in the car for so long, and he was getting really tired of pissing into a bottle. Surveillance sucked, but it was part of the job, and he had bills that needed to be paid. This assignment was proving to be a little more interesting than he had initially thought it would be. Interesting, but a bit scary too. This guy was up to some creepy stuff, more than just stealing secrets from Alphamax Corporation. He had some really weird friends - friends who belonged to some nasty, violent fringe groups. Once he had realized whom he was dealing with, he had been particularly careful – he even had back up this time. He was itching to get into Russell Franklin’s house, but he decided to wait just a few more minutes. He knew that he could be in all kinds of trouble if he got caught. Franklin was dangerous, and the if the cops caught him….he could lose his license.
 Ugh, but he was stiff. Charlie stretched a bit, looking around him to make sure that no one was observing his actions. The street was quiet; he had made sure that he parked as far away from the streetlights as was possible. Now seemed to be a good time to make his move. Crouching down, shielded by the hedge, he made his way down the side of the house to the back door. He waited for a few minutes. He didn’t hear anything. Now for the hard part. He was pretty certain Franklin didn’t have an alarm system, but having to come to know this guy, and the scary group that he hung out with, it was possible that the door had some kind of booby trap. Plus, his lock-picking skills were a little rusty. It had been awhile since he had to do this.
 Aha, he was in! Charlie looked around the kitchen; this probably wasn’t the best place to start looking for information. Turning on his flashlight, he made his way further into the house. Hmm, this chest of drawers looked interesting; Franklin must have left in hurry- papers were strewn all over the floor in front of the chest. Charlie picked one up. HOLY SHIT! This stuff was red-hot! He had to call the FBI, the CIA, the…Charlie’s mind went blank as he thought of other agencies he should inform. This stuff was way out of his league. He would just take a few pics of this documentation and…he felt an explosion of pain in his head and everything went black.
 "Wake up, you stupid dick. Wake up."
"Whhhattt?" Damn, it hurt, What had happened. Before the fog had cleared someone grabbed his head and shook it. Oh shit, it felt as if his head was going to fall off. He tried to focus his eyes. Ooops, he was in BIG trouble. Russell Franklin stood in front of him, smirking. Charlie tried to get up, and then realized that he was tied to a chair.
"You pissant little…MMMPHHHH!" Franklin slapped a hand over Charlie’s mouth, and squeezed his cheeks, tight.
 "Gee, it looks like Mr. Big Shot Private Dick isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. Do you think that I’ve got this far without recognizing a tail when I see one? You’re in big trouble, mister, bigger trouble than you’ve ever been in so far in your life. Just you wait."
Franklin removed his hand, and left the office. Charlie yelled at him. "You won’t get away with this, you creep. People know where I am, they’ll be here any minute!"
"Why don’t you shut your big mouth, big boy? I suppose that I’ll have to do something about it, won’t I? "
 He was helpless to stop Franklin from shoving a balled up rag into his mouth. Before he could spit it out a bandanna was tied around his mouth.
"MMMPHHH! GGGMMMSITALLMMOVER! MMMIGHTMMASMMWELLMMGIVEMUP!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, big boy. I’m really afraid. You have got a big mouth, haven’t you? I think you need a little something else to keep you quiet. Hmm, this should do the trick."
 "MMMNOOO! GGGMMHEELLLPPPPP!" Charlie whipped his head from side to side, but bound as he was, it was easy for Franklin to wrap length after length of wide red tape around his mouth.
"There, that should keep you quiet for a while. Now, I must say you have messed things up just a bit. I wasn’t quite ready to make move, not just yet. However, I will just pack up things, and I’ll be out of here in a jiffy. But first, I have a little present for you. How do you like it?"

 "MMMCHRISTMNOO! GGMMCANTMMBESERIOUSH!"
"Oh,yeah, I’m deadly serious. There are lots more where this came from. Fifteen minutes after I’m out of here, you’re going to be history. Little bits of you will be scattered all over the block."
Charlie was XXXX to sit in helpless silence as Franklin stuffed documents into a duffel bag. When he had finished, he sauntered over to the chair.
"It’s time to say good bye. Let me fix this timer. Yep, that looks good. I wish that I could stick around and be here at the end, but I’ve got friends waiting for me. Bye bye big guy."

Charlie struggled frantically against his ropes. Damn, there was no way he was going to be able to get himself free in 15 minutes. His hand brushed the jacket of his suit pocket. His cell phone! What a moron he was. In his panic, he had forgotten that he had told his partner what he was doing. If he could only get the phone out…….
 Charlie had no idea how much time had passed. He had finally managed to get a couple of fingers into his pocket, just far enough in to grasp his phone, but the damn thing kept on slipping out of his grasp. Finally, he managed to pull it out of his pocket. Please, please, don’t let me drop it, he prayed. Now, all he had to do was hit speed dial. Yes, it was ringing. Pick up, goddamn you, PICK UP!"
"Hey, Charlie, how’s the stake out going on? You need any help?"
"GGGGMMMYEEEEESSSSSHHHH! MMMHEEEELLLLPPPPPP!"
"Charlie, hey Charlie, you there/"
"GGGMMYEEEEESSSSSS! GGGMMMGETMMURMASSMOVERHERE!"
"Charlie? Charlie? What’s going on?"
 The phone slipped out of Charlie’s sweaty hand. Oh shit, now he was really screwed. He kept on yelling through his gag, jerking around in the chair, trying to get loose. Things weren’t supposed to end this way. He didn’t want to be blown up into little bits. He wanted the end to come peacefully, with a cigar in one hand, and a glass of brandy in the other. Preferably when he was about a hundred years old. He was too young to die!
The back door swung open.
"Hey, Charlie, I hope that I’m not screwing things up, but you sounded…HOLY SHIT! What’s that!"
Charlie slumped in the chair as his partner snatched up the bomb and disconnected the timer. He was going to nail that Franklin bastard, and then he was going to make Martin a full partner!

Charlie played by John
Photography by Caitiff