Character Profile – Blake Franklin
Blake Franklin is the son of Kent and Martha Franklin. Kent is the Police Chief in Fort Worth, Texas, and Martha is a stay-at-home mom, raising Blake and worrying about Kent.
Blake was very active in athletics through his Little League years and was offered scholarships when he finished high school, but chose to focus on academics, knowing he didn’t have the size for athletics beyond college. Blake graduated in just under five years with a bachelor’s Degree in Emergency Management and a minor in Law Enforcement from Texas Tech University. He was just a few hours short of a dual degree when he graduated in May of 2007
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast at the beginning of Blakes’s Junior year. After graduation, Blake joined the Coast Guard and reported for training in Cape May, New Jersey in July 2007. His training was eight weeks of rigorous, physical training. Blake became a Rescue Swimmer, the toughest position to obtain in the Coast Guard – not unlike SEAL Training in the Navy with respect to water requirements which required another twenty-four weeks of training.
His first duty assignment was in Portsmouth, Virginia. 2008 was cursed with a very active hurricane season and Blake was part of a rescue team that operated during a hurricane to save lives of yacht owner, crew and family. One member of the family was lost at sea and Blake never forgave himself, though sixteen others were saved in a harrowing rescue. His guilt made it impossible to wear the Medal of valor awarded him.
Blake finished his last two years in New Orleans where his crew made frequent arrests of drug runners in the Gulf and on the Mississippi where his base port was located. Blake had one more rescue attempt during an active hurricane and, having the rank of Lieutenant, Blake was in command of the helicopter rescue team and a collision with the fishing trawler when it raised from a trough sent his helicopter spinning into the Gulf Coast. Blake saved the injured pilot from going under with the chopper and his entire team was rescued by another team and none of the trawler crew was lost. Blake was again awarded a medal of Valor.
A short while later, Blake completed his service with the Coast Guard and returned to his home in Fort Worth, Texas where, against his father’s wishes, he became a Fort Worth police officer. Blake served nine years on the force and had a spot-free record and was put up three times to take the Detective exam and he failed it each time. He would later discover the reason for his testing stumbles and it would add to the chilling divide with his father.
For Blake, the best thing to come from his repeated testing experiences was meeting the Testing Administrator at the Police Testing Center. Tristan Leach was a beautiful, young woman in the Human Resources and Development Division of the Fort Worth Police. Not long after Blakes third failure, he left the police force and Tristan left as well. Their reasons, unbeknownst to them, were similar.
During Blake’s first case, he met with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office to bring charges against a suspect, and while there, he bumped into Tristan who had taken a job in Human Resources with Tarrant County. They began dating soon after he closed his first case. They married two years later.
Blake’s second case resulted in a $2.5 million payout for rescuing a kidnap victim which prevented the necessity of a $25 Million ransom payment. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. The finders fee and the friendships developed during those early years of the Franklin Agency enabled a remarkable trajectory for the Texas Private Investigator. Working with people he loves and respects makes the job a joy and not a chore.
Watch for more profiles of the characters you love from Blake Franklin Investigations. Next up – Kegan Langley, the first Investigator to come to work with Blake in his new venture.
