Charlie's Been What?

"What do you mean he's been arrested?" Don Eppes, Senior Field Agent for the F.B.I. looked at the phone in his hand as if he expected it to come to life at any moment. It was late, he was the only one left in the office and he was looking forward to getting home and watching something, anything, on tv.

Well, he had been looking forward to leaving...

"Well, uh, it's...it's kind of a long story." Dr. Larry Fleinhardt said from the other end of the phone.

"Larry...It's ten o'clock at night and I have yet to eat today. Before I hang up and let him sit in jail for a while, tell me what happened." Don said.

"Oh, my, it's ten o'clock there? That means it's..."

"One a.m. in Boston, where you are." Don told him for Larry was 'geographically challenged as Charlie liked to say.

"Oh, well, we're not in Boston right now."

"What? Why not?" Don asked. He groaned and slumped down in his chair. At the rate the conversation was moving, it would be morning before he found out what happened to Charlie.

"Well..."

"Larry, I need you tell me where you and Charlie are right now." Don cut Larry off, his patience was running out and he really didn't want to snap at Larry. He was a good person and a family friend, not to mention being Charlie's mentor and a brilliant physicist on top of it all. The fact that he was an airhead when it came to anything other than physics was part of who he was.

"Nantucket Island. It's off the coast of Massachusetts." Larry said, after a pause. "Right now I'm at The Harbor House. It's a nice hotel."

Don frowned, stood up, then sat back down. "Why are you there? Aren't you supposed to be at a conference in Boston?"

"We are. And what a great conference it is."

"So, how did you get to Nantucket?" Don was totally confused now.

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of disembodied voices could be heard.

"Larry?" Don called through the phone.

"Agent Eppes?" A woman's voice replaced Larry's .

"Yes, who's this?" Don's phone manners had gone right out the window.

"My name is Jennifer Wells. I'm one of the conference coordinators. I'm in charge of the entertainment."

She sounded young, younger than Charlie. Don swallowed, a nervous feeling starting in the pit of his stomach. What in God's name had Charlie done?

"Ms. Wells, where is my brother? What is going on?" Don demanded.

"Well...it's kind of a long story." she said.

"So I've been told."

"Part of the conference package are side trips around the New England area."

"And that's what my brother and Dr. Fleinhardt were doing? They were on a side trip to Nantucket?"

"Yes. They were part of group that was supposed to come over from Boston, do a little sight-seeing, spend the night and go back to Boston the next day."

"And?"

"One moment, Agent Eppes...Dr. Fleinhardt? Where are you going? Oh. You'll be in your room? Okay."

"Ms. Wells?" Don asked, determined to keep her attention on him.

"Ask at the front desk, I'm sure they'll be able to get you another one.

"I'm sorry, Agent Eppes but Dr. Fleinhardt couldn't find his room key."

"Ms. Wells just tell me what happened to my brother." Don stood and started to pace around his office.

"We went to dinner at The Rose and Crown. It's a really good restaurant. It's got a small bar on the side too."

Don groaned. The nervous feeling started to travel from his stomach upward. He had a horrible feeling he knew how the story was going to end.

"Unfortunately, and this was all my fault, the place is more bar than restaurant. There was an altercation in the bar that spilled out into the restaurant. The police were called and they just rounded up a whole group of people including your brother and couple of others from the group."

Oh, this just gets better and better. Don thought. "My brother was arrested for being in a bar fight?"

"Well, he wasn't in the fight. He was too close to the fight and got swept up in it." Ms. Wells sounded entirely too upbeat for the serious nature of the conversation and it was getting on Don's nerves.

"Where exactly is my brother now?"

"He's still at the police station. It's taking a bit of time to sort out who was involved and who wasn't."

"When do you expect him to be released?" Don asked. He rubbed a hand across his face in utter disbelief. He was not having this conversation. This was all some weird dream. He was going to wake up at any moment and wonder what he had had to eat before going to sleep.

"He'll be released when he can prove he is who he says he is."

"And when will that happen?"

"In the next couple of hours. All he has to do is show his driver's license and he'll be free to go."

Don groaned.

"Is that a problem?" Ms. Wells did not sound nearly as chipper as a few minutes before.

"My brother doesn't drive. All he has is a learner's permit but I'm assuming he has a state i.d. card. Whether he has it with him, is another matter."

It was a good thing that Alan, their father, wasn't there to hear the whole sordid tale first hand. He would hear about it soon enough.

There was no response from Ms. Wells but Don could hear voices in the background.

"Ms. Wells!" He called into the phone.

"Uh...Agent Eppes, the problems been solved." Ms. Wells came back on the phone.

"You mean Charlie's been released?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, he has." she replied.

For the third time, Don could voices in the background but couldn't make any specific voices. His frustration mounting, he was quietly planning whose head he was going to tear off first.

So help me God, if I have to get on a plane and go to Boston, I'm going to kick Charlie's ass all the way back here! Don thought. "MS. WELLS!" He yelled into the phone using his best F.B.I. don't screw with me voice.

"Hi, Don. I'm out. I'll explain when I get home, see you in a couple of days, bye." Charlie talked just long enough to give his brother the basics before hanging up.

Don stared at the phone receiver in utter shock and surprise.

"When I get my hands on him, he's not going to need a plane ticket back to California." he muttered, dropping the receiver back into its cradle.