Where's Charlie
1024 Words
Charlie West strained at the ropes that held him still. The noonday desert sun beat down on his tiny prison. He was in the shade, but the metal roof absorbed all the heat it could.
Which left him sweaty and thirsty as he struggled against his bonds. He'd overheard the guards talking.
They planned to kill Madison. He couldn't let that happen. She'd been innocent in all of this. He should never have sent her anything.
They never would have traced her to him. He cursed his stupidity.
Now he stood, bound, in a godforsaken island in the Middle East. One he'd never heard of before he'd met Madison's father. One he wished he still didn't know about. One he could die on.
He shook his head. “No." His voice came out dry and cracked.
The guards laughed outside in the shade of a palm tree. They ate fruit and drank bottled water while he starved and thirsted in an oven.
The rope on his right hand gave a little. Hope.
He struggled a little more as the rope became even looser.
He could save Madison.
***
If only Q had one of his brothers here as backup as he stalked around the house. The light was still good but wouldn't be for much longer. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye at the same time he heard a siren.
The alarm was still going off, informing someone that they had intruded on protected property.
A man was scrambling over the wall. Guess the alarm had been a deterrent. Going full tilt, Q raced after the intruder.
Q tripped on a rock and sprawled on the grass. The intruder was getting away. Back on his feet, he ran after the guy then jumped up, almost snagging his foot as the man scrambled over the wall.
Landing on one foot, Q fell again and then looked up at the empty wall.
No luck. He was gone. Relief and disappointment washed over Q. He'd wanted to catch the bad guy, but he'd never done the legwork in a case. He made the gadgets that helped his brothers. What a rush, but he understood why they liked what they did.
But when it came down to it, he was the nerd. He had no idea what he would have done when he caught the guy. Fear wasn't the issue. His lack of experience would've messed up the situation. Or at least lack of recent experience. He'd been out of the business of chasing bad guys for a few years.
If he were truthful, he'd purposely forgotten his training. He'd blocked it out because he never wanted to put himself in that situation again.
He hadn't trusted his instincts and people had died. He left all that behind when he left the military.
On the other hand, this case may make him remember it all. Even if he didn't want to.
Feeling defeated, he trudged to the house to find Madison in the kitchen. “Didn't I tell you to get somewhere safe?"
“I got worried."
He stared at her for a moment. Worried? No one worried about Q because he never did stupid things. Even as a child, he assessed the danger of every situation. And then made a safety device so his brothers wouldn't hurt themselves. He stood back and watch.
“He got away. Over the wall how he came in."
“There are motion sensors on the wall."
“You have police at your front door," he said as the bell chimed a theme from a well-known spy movie. He c****d an eyebrow at her.
“Daddy loved those movies. I haven't bothered to change it."
He nodded then followed her to the front door. He probably would have liked her father. Meeting him at the wedding didn't provide a chance to talk. On the other hand maybe he hadn't really wanted a chance to talk given the nutty things the man was saying. Something about a chosen one.
Two patrol cars with flashing lights parked on either side of his car. Jenson invited them into the foyer.
“Come in, Officers. I have to reset the alarm. It's in the kitchen."
The silence engulfed them.
“I'm Peter Quincy."
One officer pulled out a notebook. “Are you the owner?"
“No," Peter said and wondered how he would explain his presence.
“I'm the owner, Officer. Mr. Quincy is a friend of mine," Madison said.
She sat next to him on the sofa. Close. He could smell her perfume, but he assumed the officers got the hint that they were good friends. He never would have thought of that tack. She laced her fingers with his and her touch sent a tingling up his arm.
But he must sit still and pretend this was normal. Not act like he wanted to do the woman right there on the couch as soon as the officers left.
The Officers exchanged a glance. He knew what they were thinking. How could a nerd like him land an amazingly beautiful woman like Madison? To his chagrin, he knew he never could.
Well he had, but it was only one night. She'd chosen Charlie.
He turned his attention back to the conversation.
“Mr. Quincy went after the man," Madison said.
“That wasn't bright," one officer said.
“Probably not, but I couldn't just sit by and have anything happen to Madison," Q said.
The officers seemed to understand that. Their faces softened. They'd probably do the same for their wives. They nodded and didn't ask too many more questions.
“Did you get a good look at him?"
“No, sorry. He was already on the wall when I spotted him."
“Could you show us where he went over?"
“Sure."
Q stood and Madison followed, keeping her soft hand in his. He turned to her. “Will you be okay, sweetheart?"
That wasn't pouring it on too thick was it?
“You go ahead, honey. I'll put on a pot of coffee."
“No need for us, ma'am."
- Writer
