Clint Cleveland: Dockside Detective (M/M)

[bigsmile21]

Clint Cleveland, Private Eye, had been in worse situations. Not much worse, sure, but he wasn’t about to let these brutes toss him into Lake Erie chained to two 10 lb. weights. He’d just woken up when the car stopped, and he banged his head against the trunk lid. His hands were roped tight behind his back, and he couldn’t move his feet. He was still wearing his heavy jacket, khaki slacks, and worn brown shoes from when he’d been asking around the Leather Stallion Saloon bar last night. He’d been approached by a man earlier this week convinced his boyfriend had been kidnapped somewhere close to the bar. Clint took up the case, missing persons being his specialty.

He must have rubbed the wrong feathers. Clint could smell a lie no matter how ugly the face, and the bouncer had recognized the man in the photo after Clint showed it to him, even though he said otherwise. After some exchanged words, Clint found himself being tossed into the trashcan in the alley. His coat now had unfinished pizza slices on his lapels. Clint half-considered taking a bite but figured he could get himself something tastier after he finished this job. He looked up to see an open window and could hear the club’s music thumping rhythmically. He stood, righting the trashcan, and used it to reach then tumble through the window.

Back in the present, the car trunk opened, and Clint quickly shut his eyes, feigning sleep. It would be easier to work on escaping if the brutes didn’t think they’d need to rush. They lifted him unceremoniously out onto the street, and he could hear the lapping water of Lake Erie. They were at one of the docks, and through squinted eyes he could tell it was still dark outside. There was one lonely lamppost on this dock, and a short deck leading out to the water. The thugs looked around before pulling out an additional length of chain. They sat him up against the bumper of the car and looped the chain around a set of lifting weights.

Thinking back to what lead up to this, Clint could recall dropping into the club from the alley window straight into the men’s bathroom. Unfortunately, right on top of a man at a urinal, knocking him to the floor. The man was wearing blue denim jeans and a black sleeveless shirt and had short dark hair. Clint was glad the man had finished his business and dragged him into the closest stall with a door. The detective washed his hands and opened the bathroom door, instantly bombarded by a wave of music. He started moving around the dance floor. It was a modest size for the cramped buildings in the city. The patrons wore everything from flashy shirts to simple jeans and shirts like his friend from the bathroom. Some men wore leather chest harnesses over black long-sleeved shirts, while others had harnesses over bare skin. None of them looked like the missing man, however. After gazing around the main room for a few minutes, Clint opted for a different approach. He’d start dancing around small groups of three or four men, getting smiles from them after they welcomed him into their perimeter. Then he’d pull out the picture of his client’s boyfriend, at which point most of the men would give him an inquisitive look, then shake their heads that they didn’t recognize him. A few of the men appeared offended by his approach. Clint felt a little bad for leading them on, but he had a job to do. A big hand clasped down on his right shoulder, and he turned to see the bouncer from out front. Behind him was the man he’d dropped down on top of in the bathroom. The man’s hair was matted, and Clint realized leaving him on the bathroom floor of a club wasn’t the politest way to treat a new friend. Clint didn’t have time to apologize, as the bouncer clocked him right across the jaw. Clint’s vision went dark.

After the brutes clicked two different padlocks onto the chains, Clint decided it was best to start stirring. He’d need time to get his hands to the bobby pin in his belt loop, and even more time to work free the locks. Maybe he could stall the brutes. Hired muscle usually liked gloating over him once they’d thought they had him done for.

“Look who’s finally awake,” said Brute 1, “Boss said you been sniffing around where you don’t belong.”

“Usually we just toss out trouble with the trash,” said Brute 2, “But that picture of yours got the Boss…agitated. Says you got to go.”

Clint could see the water now. It was dark and still. He wouldn’t be able to kick more than a few times before the weights dragged him down below. He started heaving in big breaths.

“Aw, fishy’s scared of the water,” said Brute 1.

“Fish aren’t afraid of water, you idiot. He’s a cat, as in ‘curiosity killed the…’” said Brute 2. The first thug looks on blankly for a second before sheepishly nodding his head that he got the reference. The first thug picked up Clint’s upper body while the second grabbed his legs and the weights.

The detective had fiddled his fingers to the back inside part of his leather belt, finding the frayed bobby pin which had saved him so many times. Great for handcuffs, great for cutting into ropes, and great for padlocks, granted he could reach them. The panting he’d done was firstly for show, to draw their attention away from his hands; secondly, he needed to expand his lungs in order to brace for the upcoming dip. The water would be cold which would shock the air out of his lungs if he wasn’t careful. Fortunately, it would be dark enough to hide his movements underwater. If he could cut into the rope before he even got into the water, he could focus on popping the padlocks open, hopefully under the two minutes he was comfortable holding his breath. After a few moments of no air bubbles, the brutes were very likely to drive off. Clint felt weightless for a second as the brutes chucked him a few feet out from the dock. Then gravity took over and he started plummeting towards the water.

[Deleted User 2162]

Excellent story. Detectives in distress is a favorite for sure.

[MaxRoper]

Most detectives seem to spend a large proportion of every case bound and gagged. Apparently your guy is no different. Perhaps I should look into detecting as a new career.

Well done! Is there more?

[bigsmile21]

Have a few more ideas planned for pics, so hopefully Clint Cleveland will be a recurring character. Always open to new ideas if you'd like to send some source material my way!

[Johnsnow]

Topic moved as me and XTC agreed that the text was enough to be considered a story.

[bigsmile21]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for the future!

[Johnsnow]

No problem at all. Keep up the good work I really like where this story is headed