[hr][center][color=deepskyblue][h2]Charlie Clark[/h2][/color][/center] [center]&[/center] [center][h3][u][color=chocolate]Blake Mitchell[/color][/u][/h3][/center]

[sub]Collab with [@smarty0114][/sub][hr]



Under normal circumstances, Blake would not have gotten involved in this matter; it really didn't affect her, being nothing more than a mere witness, but then again this was hardly in the realm of 'normal circumstances. The minor standoff was odd enough, throw in the unknown element of this young man with the keys, the sudden calling off by the attending officer, and the admission that there was an unwanted passenger in the limo...and Blake was now involved. She could very well be held accountable, or so she assumed. 'Say something, do something' as the saying went...and she was in the very capable position of doing something. 

What were private investigators for, if not attending to the matters the police don't have time for? Sure, this kid wasn't hiring her, but she was curious enough to see how this would play out...and if nothing else she might be able to get some sort of reward in the end. It wasn't all about money...but it did wonders for the motivation. 

[color=chocolate]"Well, now that you mention it...we're not too far away from a place that suits those specific needs."[/color] Blake responded with a half smile and a single nod. [color=chocolate]"I've got an office a couple blocks from here; it's got all the necessities. You got a car? Get in it and follow me. You don't have one? Hop in and I'll get you there. I wouldn't worry too much about your friend, by the way. Whoever was in that limo...if they wanted your friend dead...well...we wouldn't be going back to my office, would we?"[/color] 

Blake had hoped her words would be reassuring, but even she had her doubts. Hell of a way to start the morning, at any rate.

Charlie grinned wide. This was great. In a day that had held a long drive on a boring highway, and the kidnapping of his cousin, this was the first piece of really good news. [color=deepskyblue]"That's awesome! My car's right over there, so I'll just follow you,"[/color] he said, gesturing over at his car and shooting her a grin. He looked down both ends of the street, just like his mother had taught him, and ran across when he had a free space.

He opened the driver side door and hopped in, putting the key in the ignition as fast as he could, and turning. His car roared to life, and Charlie sighed in relief. He had half expected it to go up in flames the way his day had been going. He took a quick second to collect his thoughts, looking over at the woman. She was dressed well, in a pantsuit, so he assumed that she must be someone with some importance. Whoever she was, he didn't care. If she could help him find Claire, she could be a convicted felon. He flipped his blinker on to the left and motioned for her to lead the way, hands gripping his steering wheel. [i][color=deepskyblue]As far as mornings go, this has to have been the craziest[/color][/i]

Well the kid was eager, and that was good. Though too eager and that ran the risk of doing something that could get them both in trouble. But Blake would take eager. After he had gotten into his car, Blake drove ahead, signaling to him with a wave as she took the lead. True to her claim, her office wasn't terribly far, though it was terribly small, being a single building in the middle of a strip mall; but the real estate was cheap. [color=chocolate]"Really hope I cleaned the place..."[/color] Blake muttered as she pulled into a parking space and exited the vehicle. 

She didn't check to see if the younger guy was behind her, making the assumption that he very likely was, as she removed her key from the keychain in her pocket and opened the front door. Her name was proudly displayed on the window, due to a lack of a sign elsewhere. [color=chocolate]"Okay...here we are..."[/color] Blake flipped on the lights and breathed a quick sigh of relief; the office was clean...enough. Papers strewn about her desk on the backwall and an unemptied trashbin aside...it was plenty clean. Enough for a guest, anyway. 

[color=chocolate]"There's a phone on that desk there,"[/color] Blake pointed to the bare desk close to the entrance, meant for an assistant, [color=chocolate]"Uh...just got the one computer so lemme put in the boring password stuff and you can do what you gotta do, kid. Just keep me informed, yeah?"[/color] Blake crossed over to the far side of the room, dropping into her overly comfortable leather chair.

Charlie had followed the woman to her office, a small thing in the center of the town's strip mall. He read the sign above the office as he snatched his laptop out of the trunk of his car. [i][color=deepskyblue]A private investigator. Huh.[/color][/i] He followed her into the office, laptop bag swinging at his side.

Once she'd turned on the lights he set his bag on a chair, realizing that she also had a computer. A desktop would be faster anyway. After she'd entered the password he walked over and took a seat. His fingers began clicking away at the keyboard, going to a quick and easy website that he'd discovered a few months back. As long as you had the right cords to plug a phone into a computer, you could place a call and get a semi decent idea of where the phone was.

Once he'd gotten all that set up, using a spare cord that was convenently located in his laptop bag, he searched for the license plate number. What came up was a page that led him to one Wesley Harmon. He dialed the number that was brought up by the website, a public records page on the landline, and waited as it rang. And rang. And rang. Finally the call went to voicemail, and Charlie was forced to clench his fists. In his fervor, he'd forgotten a rather important detail. He needed the person to actually pick up their phone to get a trace. He figured that Claire's phone was off or out of reach. This brought him back to square one.

Luckily, he was only back at square one for a brief moment, before he realized he was sitting in the office of a private investigator. He looked up at the woman, and began speaking. [color=deepskyblue]"So, you're a PI? I assume that means you know where most of the people in this town live? Including one Wesley Harmon?"[/color] he asked, concerned look on his face. With his computer skills currently useless, he was resigning himself to a good old fashioned stake out. [i][color=deepskyblue]Let's face it. You don't have much of a choice.[/color][/i]

The divide in age and ability was never more obvious than when Blake watched her new associate work wonders with technology. She knew enough to get her computer up and running and how to enter what information she needed...but this was on an entirely different level; and she was content to simply let the kid do what he needed to do. She'd only get in the way, surely. Her time was spent flipping through some of the papers she had left out, old cases, old headlines, it didn't matter as she would periodically shift her eyes in order to observe. 

By the time he was onto the phone call, Blake was just shaking her head; that kind of stuff could really put a hurt on her business...if ever she was hired to dig up dirt on cars, anyway. But there would be time to learn that sort of thing later; now that they...or rather the kid...had gotten close to discovering what was needed, the time for focus was at hand....and then she heard the name of the person that had been in the limo.

[color=chocolate]"I wouldn't say I know where they [i]live[/i] exactly...but I know enough to where people don't like talking to me."[/color] Blake pressed her index finger to the side of her forehead. [color=chocolate]"I'm good with memory which makes people all paranoid. But that's not the point. I know you didn't say Wesley Harmon, right? Kid, you must be new around here...the Harmon's aren't exactly people you wanna get on the bad side of..."[/color] Blake sighed as she came to terms with the fact that this was going to go one way. 

Either she told him to drop it...and she suspected he would just go off on his own anyway - anyone who would key a stranger's car and put this much effort into identifying it wouldn't be so easily dissuaded - or she told him what he needed to know and was thus responsible...partly, anyway. She knew what the right thing to do was...but she technically wasn't a member of law enforcement and didn't have to go through with anything at all... [color=chocolate]"Yeah, I know where the Harmon's live. I'll print out an address for you, but I gotta warn you...this isn't exactly the type of thing you do alone."[/color]  Blake took the reigns of the keyboard and pulled up a map of the town. 

[color=chocolate]"This friend of yours must be pretty goddamn important..."[/color] After a few swift keystrokes, the office printer whirred to life with a map of a more well off area of the town. [color=chocolate]"No guarantee you'll find him there...but that's as close as I can get you. You shouldn't do this alone, you know. It'll take more than keys this time."[/color] Blake merely offered a warning, she didn't want to sound as if she was offering to go with him.

Charlie looked up at her as she warned him off of going after Harmon. [color=deepskyblue]"I appreciate the concern, but I've got to do this. He's got my cousin with him right now, and quite frankly, I've spent a little too much of my short life standing around. In the past few months, it's been brought to my attention that I can do more than that. If you don't want to come that's fine, but if you do, I'm leaving now. Either way, I owe you one. You ever need someone who can get more dirt on someone than anybody could care to know, I'm your guy."[/color]

He could only imagine what this guy could be. Going off of what the woman had said, he was going to assume a gang leader of some sort. The way she referred to the Harmons as some sort of group tipped him off. [i][color=deepskyblue]"Great, I'm off to get myself into a fight with a gang. Should be a fun time.[/color][/i] He shivered, grabbing his laptop bag and walking out and towards his car, offering up a wave to his helpful new friend. He wasn't sure if it would be his last one or not.

So it was family, that made the kid's actions more understandable, if no less insane. But how far would Blake go for her own family? For Felicia? She might go against someone dangerous, much like the kid was preparing to do. But this wasn't her battle...she had just given him ammunition, metaphorically, and a target. Her plans involved hiding in bushes or up trees, not actually confronting or rescuing people. And yet here she was, running the scenarios around in her head, 

Still plagued with indecision, it was all Blake could do to return the wave from the doorway. She had the name, the plate number...if worse came to worst...she had what she needed to file a police report...anonymously. Blake waited until the kid's car had left the lot and headed towards the destination. [color=chocolate]"Dammit."[/color] 

Blake hit the lights and returned to her car. Curiosity killed the cat just as much as feeling responsible did. This was the kid's show...Blake was just shadowing along to be a spectator. The chance for compromising intel was too great to pass up...