While visiting in Charleston,SC this weekend, a friend of mine lost her cell phone partying downtown. She was noticeably upset on Sunday morning, especially since her husband was due back home that afternoon, and she did not want anything to be awry. In an attempt to check her voice-mail messages someone answered her phone. She was both elated and confused at the same time, given her still clouded mind from the libations consumed the night prior.  Instinctively, she quickly set up a meeting point to retrieve the phone and when asked about a "reward", I assisted her in saying $100.00. 

Given that her husband is one of my best friends, I couldn’t let her go down to the Waterfront Park on her own. The mission was simple, get the phone back with as few casualties as possible. We headed down to the rendezvous point to meet her phone’s captors.  Before arrival at the park, we received intel from our main headquarters in Mt. Pleasant, that the captors were wearing black pants, black hoodies, and were in a hurry because they had to go back to their mama. 

I wish the setting could be more ominous but upon arriving at the beautiful fountain on a day where the sunshine was bright and warm, we quickly spotted the captors. They were a group of "rose boys" disguising their ruse by diligently working their trade at the first set of picnic tables.  I sent my friend ahead with my phone to call her phone and set the trap. Using the 13 years of backyard ambushes with my neighbors as my experience, I stayed back and monitored.  The plan was simple, lure the boys further on the pier so they would only have one exit, past me. The call was made and …

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