Randolph and Payne (Subway Picture Prompt)

In class we were assigned to select one or two people from Bill Sullivan’s collection of photographs of people entering the subway and tell their story leading up to when the picture was taken.

Dr. Frank Randolph is private eye. He and his partner Ruth Payne have been working for the last ten years, exposing cheaters, and finding lost objects, people, and dignity. Randolph was the brains, Payne was the brawn. He is about five foot six, small, wiry, and always wearing a suit and fedora. She’s well over six feet and built like a linebacker, with frizzy hair and ever-present sunglasses. Payne doesn’t talk much, but Randolph talks too much, so it evens out.

A few days ago a woman burst into their office, almost in hysterics. She hired them to track down her cousin, who was trying to have her killed in order to claim her grandfather’s inheritance. It seemed like a fairly open and shut case.

They had taken the job, and Randolph left the woman in the office with Payne while he went to find them all dinner. When he returned Payne was holding her head groggily and their client disappeared. Next to his desk was a used stun grenade casing. Randolph helped his partner to her feet and poured her a stiff glass of bourbon. This was going to be harder than they thought.

That was three days ago. Today they are in a black Buick, trailing a man that they hoped would lead them to their missing client. The man’s cab pulls over and he climbs out. Randolph cuts off another driver in order to steal the last parking spot on the block. As the other driver curses at them, the two PI’s climb out of the car and follow their man down the street. They follow him for four blocks until he catches a glimpse of them in a storefront. He breaks off in a sprint. The two detectives chase after him. The man dashes down into the subway, with the two PI’s hot on his tail. He hurdles the subway turnstile and Randolph and Payne lose precious seconds swiping their passes.

The three push through the crowds, knocking bystanders left and right. The man is heading for a subway that is about to pull out of the station. He just reaches the doors when Randolph body checks him against the side of the subway. Payne grabs him and pins the man against a support pillar.

“Alright buddy,” pants Randolph. “Are you going to make this easy, or is Payne going to get to have some fun?”