Chapter 18…

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Two days later

"I hurt…" Charlie groaned as he tried to sit up on his bunk. He couldn't and Joe had to help him up. "Do you know where Frank is?" he asked.

Joe shook his head. He closed his eyes tiredly for a minute, trying to think of anything that might help him. "I'm not sure."

"We've come for Charlie," the man said. He smiled as he got the keys out of his pocket. He was wearing a white sweater and Joe was positive he had not seen the man before. At least if he had seen the man, the man had been different somehow.

But if he had not seen the man then why was the man so familiar? Why did he remind him of someone so much? He just couldn't put his finger on it…

"Leave Charlie alone," Joe ordered him angrily. "You've hurt him enough."

"He's had two days to recover," the man protested. He had had enough of this guy's bickering and complaining, always wanting what was best, he didn't want any more resistance from this guy. He just wanted him to shut up.

However, he couldn't do that right away, he had to punish Charlie.

The man stepped into the cell despite Joe's protest. He gave Joe a look and whispered in his ear, "If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll make you wish you were dead in a way you never thought was imaginable."

Joe shuddered as the man cuffed his hands to the cot and turned to Charlie. "Well, now. Where should we begin?" he asked. He picked up his bat and ordered his men to hold Charlie up.

Whack! Whack! Whack! The man hit Charlie about twenty different times with the baseball bat before his ribs cracked. Charlie moaned from the pain. Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he gasped in shock.

"L-Larry?" he quivered, very upset about his friend's betrayal. Suddenly, he gave out from under the man's arms.

The man slammed him back down on the mat and turned to Joe, who was handcuffed to the bed. He had decided to take a different, more direct, but not so direct approach with Joe. He ordered his men to leave and started to take off Joe's sweater.

Joe's face paled. He had an idea of what was coming next, and he didn't like it…

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"Do we have a location from Fenton yet?" David asked Don. He was concerned for his friend. Don hadn't slept for almost two days, and he knew he probably wouldn't until Charlie was found.

Don sighed and ran his fingers through his hair "This guy is a freaking lawyer, I mean PI, or whatever the hell you wanna call it, damn it, he knows his freaking stuff way to well. I don't understand – how could this have happened?"

"I stopped by the house," Colby said breathlessly. He held up a stack of paper. "Look at the top one."

Meet Risked at Ten pm today. If I'm not there, he kills the boys. Remember Risked Lake?

"Damn," Don swore. "Our deadline just got shorter."

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