Читать книгу Naked Ambition - Dan Roberts - Страница 7

IT HAD BEEN A LITTLE OVER twenty-four hours since Nick had last talked with his good friend, Zach Baker. That phone conversation had revolved around plans for an upcoming volleyball tournament and had ended on a positive note. Now, after having answered his cell phone’s ring, Nick heard a completely different tone in his buddy’s voice, one that was serious and solemn. Zach’s words were spoken with a sense of urgency as he said, “Nick, we need to talk. I can’t explain over the phone, but I gotta see ya soon. In person. Like fast!”

Nick was immediately puzzled by this request. The only response he could think of was, “Like how fast?”

“Tonight!”

“Where?”

“How about Zinn’s Dairy Bar? At our usual spot.”

“What time?”

“8:30”

Knowing that Zach’s call was extraordinarily out of character, Nick quickly agreed.

“Oh, and dude,” Zach paused a moment. “I’m bringing my dad along.”

With that said, Zach abruptly hung up.

ZACH’S INSISTENT WORDS WERE ROLLING around in the head of twenty-year-old Nicholas Blick as he drove north on Route 272. As his mind focused on the strained tone of Zach’s voice— an obvious indicator that something very serious was going on—Nick’s eyes momentarily glanced off to the west. The sun was setting; darkness was beginning to settle in. Nick checked his watch. It was 8:35. Damn, he said to himself, I’m late! With that thought in mind, his foot pressed down on the accelerator, bringing the speedometer needle up to the number 45, five miles faster than the posted speed limit.

Within minutes Nick pulled into the nearly full parking lot at Zinn’s, a popular gathering place for friends and families on hot summer evenings like this one. After getting out of his car, Nick walked toward two shadowy figures, indistinguishable because of the now dim light of dusk. Those two figures were at the prearranged meeting place, a picnic table located at the far edge of Zinn’s park-like property. As Nick approached, two men stood up—one young, like himself, and one older, in his mid-50s.

“Hey, bud,” Nick said looking toward the younger one. Zach returned the greeting in their usual way—with a knuckle bump. “Hey,” was Zach’s verbal response. Then, to the older man, Nick said, “Hi, Mr. B. How’s it goin’?”

The older man reached out his hand and said, “Hi, Nick.” Then, with a voice hinting of uneasiness, Mr. Baker said, “I’m really glad you were able to come on such short notice.”

As Nick shook the outstretched hand, he noticed that both Zach and his father wore somber expressions on their face. “So what’s up? I mean, what’s so important that we had to meet here—like this—now?”

Mr. Baker looked at Zach first, then back to Nick. “We have a problem that I think you could help us solve.”

“How?” was Nick’s reply.

“By saying yes.”

Hearing that, Nick’s eyes widened with surprise. Slowly, carefully, he said, “And just what do you want me to say yes to, Mr. B?”

“Nick, I want to hire you.”

Nick wasn’t sure he heard right. “You want to hire me? To do what?

“I need you to do some… some snooping around for me.”

“Snooping around?”

Mr. Baker nodded as he said, “Yes.” Then, after a short pause and a glance toward his son, the older Baker continued, “It was actually Zach’s idea. He thought of you when talking to me about this… this problem.”

Nick’s senses were now on high alert. While he was curious, he was also a bit wary. But he said nothing as he waited for Mr. Baker to explain.

“Zach told me about a situation that’s happening at the volleyball camp where he’s volunteering. After he filled me in on the situation I recognized how serious it was. Or could be, anyway. So serious that I thought about calling the police. But then I realized we couldn’t do that. At least, not yet.”

Nick, feeling frustrated, put up his hand and said, “Whoa. Slow down.” With his eyes darting back and forth between Zach and his father, Nick continued. “What’s this problem? And what’s so serious that you think you needed to call the police?”

The father and son looked at each other. Then Mr. Baker said to Zach, “Go ahead. Tell him the story.”

Zach took a breath. “Dude, this has to do with the volleyball camp I’ve been helping with. You know, the one sponsored by my father’s company?”

“Okay,” Nick said in acknowledgment.

“Well, there’s this guy who oversees it. He works at my dad’s company and was actually the one who had the idea to start the camp. I think I told you that it’s for boys twelve to eighteen who want to upgrade their skills in volleyball.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Well, over the last week I’ve seen some… some stuff going on that I’m not comfortable with.”

That got Nick’s attention. “Stuff? Like?”

“Last week, one night after practice, I saw one of the kids from the camp getting into this guy’s car. The guy who started the camp.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve had some uncomfortable feelings about this guy. He’s kinda been hanging close to this kid. Several kids, actually.” Zach looked down at the ground and then back up at Nick. “I don’t know, Nick, but I just felt something was funny about what I saw.”

Again, Nick noted his interest by saying, “Okay.”

“Anyway, I saw this other guy who’s helping out—his name’s Max—go over to the car and talk to the guy with the kid. So, thinking maybe I could hear something, I walked closer to the car.”

“And…?”

“Well, when I got closer I could hear them talking about how things went at practice that night. You know, talking about some of the plays and stuff. And then the guy inside the car—he likes to be called Coach—said something like ‘gotta get going.’ That’s when the other dude said, ‘Good thing you can take him home ‘cause it’s going to be dark soon.’”

“So, Max knew what was happening?”

Zach confirmed with a nod and, “Yeah.”

“So what happened then?” Nick asked.

“Well, Coach and the kid drove away.”

“What did you do?”

“I was just standing there when Max turned around. He saw me and knew I had seen what had happened. So he said something like, ‘The kid’s mother called and asked if someone could take him home.’”

Nick shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, that explained it. He had the mother’s permission.”

“Yeah,” said Zach. “That’s what I thought, too. So I felt better and didn’t think anything more about it. At least, not until this afternoon. That’s when I was out at the mall and that’s where I saw Coach with this same kid. They were walking to the parking lot, toward the coach’s car.”

“Anybody else with them?” Nick asked.

“Nope. No one else.”

It was then that Nick asked Zach the obvious question. “So, do you think there’s something weird going on with the coach and the kid?”

Zach’s reply was, “Yeah, I do.”

“And so do I,” said Baker, breaking into the conversation. “And it’s not just because of what Zach is telling you. For over a year I’ve heard some stories—rumors—about this guy at work.”

“You mean the coach?”

“Yes,” said Baker. “Those stories have all been, well, let’s say, hinting at his being interested in boys. Seems like most of his free time is spent with younger males. There’s even a rumor going around now that he has a fondness for skinny-dipping with young men. One of my co-workers said that he had heard that Herb... that this coach has a pool at his house and invites guys over in order to swim that way.” Zach’s father seemed uncomfortable as he said, “I mean, you know, naked. So when Zach told me about what he had observed, I immediately thought of what I’d heard.”

Nick followed up with Zach. “Have you seen any kind of unusual stuff going on between the coach and the kid? I mean like touching… or more”

Zach shook his head. “I gotta be honest and say I haven’t seen anything like that. But my gut feeling is that this guy has something special goin’ on with the kid.”

Still feeling frustrated, Nick looked toward Zach’s dad. “So, Mr. B, where do I come into this? I mean, I don’t understand what I can do.”

“Zach thinks you can get some information about this kid and the coach.”

“You mean, like find out if there is actually something going on?”

“Yes,” was Baker’s answer. “I think you could, Nick. Like I said, that’s what Zach came up with when we were talking about this earlier today. And I agree.”

Nick thought for a moment and then shook his head. “I don’t know, Mr. B. If you think the kid is in danger or something, then you need to go to the police. Or, at least, go to the kid’s parents. Even if you don’t have anything specific, at least you ought to tell someone about what’s going on.”

“Well,” Baker, taking a deep breath, said, “It’s a little more complicated than that, Nick.”

“Complicated?” Nick asked. “What’s so complicated about just talking with someone? Don’t you feel obligated? I mean, to the boy?” Nick’s assertive response was a bit surprising to both the father and son. Even to Nick himself.

Mr. Baker replied, “It’s not that easy, Nick. You see, the coach—his name is Herb Clarkson—is my boss.”

Suddenly, Nick saw how this additional information revealed the delicacy of the situation.

Baker continued. “So, I have to be really careful in handling this thing because if I come to the wrong conclusion and act on it, well, it could blow up in my face.”

“You mean, affect your job?”

“Well, yeah,” Zach interjected with a nod of affirmation. He might as well have added the word, ‘duh!’

Mr. Baker then clarified the delicacy of the situation. “Nick, this is a very sticky thing for me. If I don’t say anything and there is something going on with Herb and this boy then I’ll feel terrible. On the other hand, if I say something about this to the authorities, even to the parents, and it’s not true—or if we can’t prove anything—then my relationship with my boss is, well, it will be impacted. And that could put my job in jeopardy.”

“Yeah,” said Nick, “I can see how it would. But what can I do? I mean, specifically, what do you want from me?”

Zach broke in with, “Dude, are you kidding? You’re good at this. I mean, look at what you’ve done. You’ve solved two murders in just two years. Murders that the cops couldn’t solve. Or chose not to. And you did that before you were twenty years old. Obviously, you seem to know what to do or what to look for. So, why not you?” He then added, “Plus, you know volleyball and….well, with your background….” Zach left this sentence hanging in the air, but Nick knew what he was thinking. Finally, with a pleading look on his face, Zach said, “I just thought you’d kinda be a perfect person to bring in on this. You know?”

Nick’s eyes looked upward toward one of the parking lot lights that illuminated the area. He was thinking, trying to bring all the information he had been given together, to make sense of it.

Mr. Baker was next to speak. “Look, Nick, I’m asking you to help with this situation because I have to find out what’s happening or not happening in order to know how to respond appropriately. But I need to find out fast.”

‘Fast’ was given a timeline by Mr. Baker: two weeks. In those fourteen days Baker was asking Nick to come up with evidence needed to either convict or clear Herb Clarkson of inappropriate interaction with a minor. It really didn’t matter to Baker what the outcome was, he just needed it to be convincing enough that he would know what to do. That is, either do nothing if Clarkson was innocent of improper behavior or, if there was enough proof to show that he was in some way abusing an underage boy, then go to the authorities. The fee to be paid to Nick, suggested by Baker, was a base of five hundred dollars plus one hundred dollars a day for up to two weeks and any appropriate expenses.

“And I’m going to add an incentive bonus,” Baker had said. “I’ll give you another five hundred dollars if you can get the information I need by next Monday.”

Next Monday! That’s only seven days away, thought Nick. “Why by next Monday, Mr. B?”

That question was answered when Baker explained that the president of M/X Technologies was stepping down and next Monday the M/X board would be naming someone to take that position. He went on to say that Herb Clarkson, a highly respected engineer, headed up the Division of Product Development and Implementation, one of two vice-presidential positions in the company. It seemed that the present president, Jeremy Wilcox, son of one of the founders, favored Clarkson and had been grooming him for the top position for the last year. Therefore, it was assumed by most employees that Clarkson would be named the new president by the start of next week—next Monday.

“If Clarkson does turn out to be involved with this kid,” Baker said, “it will reflect very negatively on my company. But as bad as that would be in his present position, it will be even worse if he is the newly named president. That’s why I hope you can get what I need by next Monday. It’s as much for M/X Technologies as it is for me.”

To Nick’s question of how Baker thought the investigation would best be done, Zach spoke up. He told Nick that next week was the camp’s last week of classes. “The classes meet Monday through Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The staff is made up of volunteers like me. What I thought is that I could bow out and then you could step into my shoes.”

“You think this Clarkson guy will accept me like that?”

“Dude. I think there will be no problem. I mean, you’re a great player. And I know you did some coaching last year, right?”

“Yeah. Coached a high school girls’ team all season.” Nick then added with a smile, “They won second place in their division.”

“So that means you have had a police background check, right?”

“Yeah. I have a copy of my clearance at home.”

“Good. Then there shouldn’t be any problem.” Once that was said, Zach went on to explain the set up. “Here’s what I suggest. You present yourself as a high school volleyball player. Like sixteen years old. I’ll suggest to Clarkson that you take my place as an assistant coach. Dad will give you a good recommendation. And he’ll make sure Coach Clarkson knows you are under age. Then…” There was a pause. “Well, you have to make Coach believe that you want him to, like, take you under his wing. Talk with him. Confide in him. Do anything you can to get close to him.” Zach looked at his good friend and asked, almost as a plea, “You think you can do that?”

Nick, following Zach’s line of thought, said, “Sure.” That word ‘sure’ was said with an ease that belied the doubt that Nick had as to whether he could carry off being a high school student once again. To Nick the whole thing was pretty strange, even creepy.

Zach continued. “And then there’s the kid. His name is Jack. Get to know him, too. See if you can strike up a conversation with him. Maybe a quick friendship. And then let it go from there.”

Let it go from there. That was easy for Zach to say. The plan sounded simple enough. But, implementing it was not so simple. In fact, as Nick thought it over, he recognized that there were several substantial challenges to be overcome.

After a time of silence, Mr. Baker said, “So, Nick, what do you say? Are you in?”

Nick had already made up his mind. He looked at his buddy, Zach, and then at Zach’s father. “For you, Mr. B, I’ll do it.”

Baker replied quickly with a smile, a couple of firm pats on Nick’s back and a hearty, “Thanks, Nick. Thanks a lot!”

Zach’s response was a little less dynamic: a simple knuckle bump and “Dude, you da best.”