Code Name: Crescent: A Matt Preston Novel

by Paul Shadinger

  I felt a little badly about wanting to sweep his problems under the rug. And now it seemed like with every question I asked, I was getting in deeper. “Where is Kim right now?”

  “Neither her mother nor I know,” he paused. “And that frightens both of us.”

  “Have you filed a missing person’s report?”

  Bill fidgeted. “Well, we don’t actually know if she is missing. Sometimes she shows up at her mom’s and spends the night, but she hasn’t been there for a few days. Kim hates my new wife so the only time I get to see her is when we have lunch or dinner. It isn’t so unusual for me not to see her very often. Besides, I live over in Bellevue, and Kim doesn’t come that way at all.

  “Both her mother and I have tried for several days now to call her but it goes straight to voicemail. I spoke to her about five days ago. Her roommate says she hasn’t seen her either,” Bill grimaced and he continued, “but then her roommate has a new boyfriend and she’s been hanging out with him a lot. Kim could have been back to her room and left without her roommate knowing.”

  I understood Bill’s daughter’s attitude about Bellevue. Between Seattle and Bellevue is a large lake called Lake Washington. When people refer to the east side everybody around here knows what the reference is. Bellevue is on the east side of the lake, it’s difficult to get to and a lot of people also call it the “evil side,” and because of the horrible driving conditions over there, I tend to agree. I took a deep breath and knew I was going to regret my next question. “So what do you want me to do?” I asked.

  “Matt, I’ve watched you. The other players respect you. You’ve always been a straight up person, someone you can trust. From what I heard about Ross Island and what you did, well, I thought if there was anybody who could poke around, it was you.”

  I was not happy to hear about any rumors about what happened up on Ross Island. I wanted to end this part of the conversation right now. I held up both hands, palms out. “I have no idea what you heard about Ross Island, but I’m telling you what you heard are probably some half-truths and some embellishment. Let me tell you this, I did some stupid things and I was really lucky that day. I could have just as easily been pushing up daisies right now, so if what you think happened on the island has anything to do with your request, please forget about it.”

  “Fine,” he paused, looking for the right words. “But you still, umm, well, you seem to know your way around, if you catch my drift? Please look into this for me,” he quickly added, “and Samara.”

  I knew I was going to regret this, but seeing this dark handsome mountain of a man humbling himself before me, how could I say no? “Oh shit, Bill. Give me her cell number and her address and I’ll check around tomorrow. Okay?”

  The next thing I knew I was wrapped in two arms of steel and the breath was being squeezed out of my body. “Thanks Matt!” Bill clapped me on the back. “Thanks. I owe you!”

  “Okay Tubs!” I tried to breathe. “Then how about letting go of me?” I managed to gasp. The pressure around my chest eased.

  We went back to playing cards, but the cards didn’t get any better for me and my mind wasn’t on the game anymore. I was trying to figure out how I was going to help Bill. Or should I say I was trying to figure out how to let Bill down without hurting his feelings. I really didn’t want to get involved in anybody’s family problems, even the famous Bill Tate.

  Trying to wiggle out of helping Bill wasn’t because of any time restraints on me. I’m semi-retired and life has been really good to me. Over the years my dad had bought a lot of real estate and one of his basic concepts is to never sell any real estate… ever! Due to his incredible forethought, I am able to live a very good life. That and one of my sister’s boyfriends once called me many years ago and told me there was going to be a new stock coming up soon and I had to put every dime I could get my hands on and purchase mass amounts of this stock. He assured me that it was going to make me one very happy camper. I did what he told me and he was right. I ended up being one very, very happy camper. Oh, the name of the stock? Some dinky little company called Microsoft. I purchased 1,865 shares on the day it was issued at $21 a share and over time it’s split nine times. Best forty grand I ever spent.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  It was late when I finally got back to my place and my puppy was ready to go outside. I opened up the back door and Beanie took off at a run down the walkway. I thought it was strange how Beanie stayed away from the spot where I had buried my last dog, Blackjack. It was as if she knew the spot was hallowed, somehow very special to me and she didn’t want to disturb BJ. I was grateful.

  Halfway across the vacant lot Beanie came to a stop, squatted down, and started to pee. It lasted a long time and I was so proud of her; she had held it in all evening. She was working out so much better than I could have hoped. Much better than things had with my kind-of-ex-girlfriend Sharon.

  I know, you ask what is a ‘kind-of-ex-girlfriend?’ I was still madly in love with Sharon, but the two of us living together just didn’t work out. It takes a lot to make a relationship work, and we both knew it, but for some reason, we just couldn’t. We still saw each other and dated, and just a couple of nights ago she had spent the night. I can hear you all now, just like a male, only thinking about sex! We do care for one another, but on a day-to-day basis, we rubbed each other the wrong way. We had never really sat down and discussed where things were with the two of us, we just lived in different places. I figured we were both too headstrong to live together. At work she was the head nurse in the emergency room at the local hospital. All day long she was in charge and when she came home, she found it difficult to give up control.

  As for me, I’ve been on my own for too long. I just can’t find it in me to check with anybody about what I want to do. When we finally decided to live separately, both of us were relieved. The sale I thought I had on the houseboat I had won fell through, and I was still stuck with it. A couple of weeks ago when it was obvious things were not working out between us, I offered it to her to use since her apartment downstairs had been rented. She moved in right away and really loved the houseboat.

  Beanie pawed at my foot, letting me know she was finished with her visit to the lot and we went back inside. Beanie went straight to the pantry and sat down, staring at the door. She was ready for her treat. She had been outside, done her duty and now it was time for a reward. She knew the drill and was always upset when I didn’t perform my end. I opened the fridge, removed a jug of orange juice and drank straight from the container. After I put the jug back in the fridge we headed off to bed. As I lay there trying to fall asleep, Bill’s request came floating to mind.

  I mulled it over, wondering why I’d ever agreed to try and help him. I guess seeing a guy cry is even more disturbing to me that seeing a woman cry and I felt I had to say yes. But what did I know about finding missing girls? As sleep drifted over me, I decided I’d spend a couple of hours tomorrow going over to her apartment so I could tell Bill I’d tried, but wasn’t successful.

  At least I could honestly say I had tried…

  CHAPTER 3

  KIM’S APARTMENT

  The next morning, weather-wise, was a little better than the night before. The storm had passed and the rain had stopped, but the pale, anemic sun trying to peek through the cloud cover was alas not having much success. I was standing in the vacant lot watching Bean explore, musing over what possibly could have happened overnight that she would feel it necessary to check out the lot in such careful detail. I decided to call the phone number Bill had given me for his daughter the night before. The call went straight to voicemail and since Kim would have no idea who I was, I could see no reason to leave her a message. Finally, Beanie finished with her inspection and started walking down the walkway headed back to my unit. I followed her.

  My coffee had finished percolating and I poured a cup, finishing it off with a good dollop of half and half.
After Beanie got her treat, I took my cup to the front room and curled up in my favorite chair. As I sat there, I thought about my conversation with Bill the night before, and I figured I had two ways to attack the problem. The first was to drive by the address Bill had given me and see what I could find. The second was to call my friend at the cell phone service and see if she could at least tell me the last time Kim had turned on her phone, and maybe even the location of her last call. I decided to try the apartment first.

  I finished my coffee and took the empty cup to the kitchen and rinsed it out. As I headed down to the garage, Bean was right at my heels and when I opened up the door to my truck, she jumped into the passenger seat and settled herself. Pulling out of the garage, I found myself glancing over at where Sharon used to park and I felt a small tug at my heartstrings. I really did care for her, but we seemed to keep pushing each other’s buttons and we just couldn’t leave well enough alone. As I pulled onto the street, I decided I was going to stop by the houseboat and see her tonight.

  Have you ever felt like somebody was looking at you? Maybe you were sitting in a restaurant and you just knew somebody was looking at you and when you looked over, they were. You didn’t know why you felt that way, but you did and you were right. When I pulled out of the garage, I got that feeling. When I looked left and right to pull out, there was nobody standing on the street, but there was still that creepy feeling I was being watched. I thought to myself, “But why? Who would be watching me?” All the way over to the U, I tried to figure what was setting off the alarm in my head.

  I remember from the days back in Nam, the times when things didn’t feel right and your instincts told you something was wrong. Those who developed those feelings and trusted them came home alive, those who dismissed them often went home in a body bag. It had been a long time since my internal alarm had gone off, and I wondered what had set it off this time.

  Kim’s apartment was located a few blocks from the U and when I parked the truck, I left the windows down a little so Beanie would have fresh air. I walked up to the apartment and knocked on the door, not expecting to find anybody there. I was very surprised when the door opened a sliver and an eye peeked out at me. The thing that surprised me even more was that it was a male. “Whadda ya want?” a voice growled at me.

  I could see no reason for any pleasantries. “I’m looking for Kim Tate,” I told the eye.

  “She ain’t here,” the eye replied, still no more friendly than when we started.

  The door moved a little as the eye started to shut it and I quickly asked, “Do you know where she is?”

  “No.”

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  The eye blinked and the voice replied, “Who the hell are you and why do I have to answer you?”

  “I’m a friend of Kim’s dad and her parents are worried about her. They’ve tried to call her without any success. They’re trying to find her. Let me ask you again, do you know where she is?”

  “No,” the voice said and the door started to shut again. I reached out and gave the door a swift, hard push. My action caught the person behind the door off guard and he fell backwards. I stepped in as the door swung open. Once inside, I realized the young man lying on the floor was naked. As he started to get up I could see he was a tall, scrawny kid and not very attractive naked, at least not to me. He growled at me, “Who the fuck are you to barge in here? Get out!”

  A voice came from the back of the apartment. “Who is it Bennie? Who’s here?” A young woman wearing only a pair of panties stepped into the room. Since she was Caucasian, I assumed she was not Kim Tate. She didn’t seem to be the least bit ashamed of standing in front of me wearing nothing but a pair of panties so sheer I could see her little trimmed strip of hair, as she just stood looking at me and asked, “Who are you?”

  “Hello, my name is Matt, Matt Preston. I apologize for busting in but I’m a friend of Kim’s dad and he asked me to try and locate her. Her parents haven’t heard from her for six days now. I assume you’re her roommate?” She nodded as she smiled at me. I waited for her to tell me her name and when she didn’t, I asked, “Do you have a name?”

  I got another quick smile as she responded, “Samantha, ah Samantha Pierce. My friends call me Sam.”

  I could tell she was not a boy kind of Sam. She had a reasonably cute body, small breasted with nipples hard from the cool air. I was just going to ignore the young lady who was all but naked and keep on with my conversation, but it was extremely difficult. I told myself to stay focused. “Do you know where Kim is?” I asked her.

  The young lady was making no effort to cover herself and the way she stood there looking at me, I wondered if she was perhaps stoned. Her dark hair was long and she had a pretty face. I thought her figure was pleasant overall but she was oh so young. Kind of cute but way too young. I swear I was never that young.

  She smiled briefly at me again and answered, “She left a few days ago. I have no idea where she went.”

  I started in with a barrage of questions, “Do you know if she’s okay? Do you remember the last time you saw her?” From the look on Sam’s face, she wasn’t following my questions. I decided to focus on just one question at a time. “When was the last time you saw her?”

  I watched Sam’s face as she thought over the last few days. “I think I saw her five nights ago. Me and Bennie have been hanging at his place but that was the night we came over cause I needed to get some things.”

  “If you don’t mind, how come you told Kim’s dad it was six nights ago? Do you remember which one it was?”

  Her face looked puzzled. “Bennie keeps me kinda busy and I lose track of stuff.” She giggled as she grinned at me as if I understood what that meant. I thought I did, but I really didn’t want to delve too deeply. She continued, “Now that I think about it, it was five nights ago. I stop by here during the day to get books and stuff, and once in a while it looks like things are moved around, but then Bennie might have moved things too.” Sam stood there for a moment and I could see she was thinking about something.

  “What is it?” I asked her.

  “Well like, Kim has a really neat sweater and a sexy bra that you wear under it and it sort of shows through, ya know. We trade stuff once in a while. I wanted to wear it the other day and I couldn’t find it. I know it was here last week, so I guess Kim is coming in and getting fresh clothes.” She was still again and then made a little jump which started things jiggling. “I’m sure some of the food is gone from the fridge cause Bennie hates what we have and I know there’s stuff missing.”

  “Does Kim have a boyfriend?” I noticed that Bennie was heading back toward the rear of the apartment, I hoped to put some clothes on. He had a skinny butt and the sight of him from this view was not any more attractive than his front.

  Sam paused for a moment, perhaps wondering what she wanted to say to me. “There was a guy she was dating, but she dropped him.”

  “Any idea why?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah. He tried to rape her. Besides that, he actually did rape one of Kim’s friends.” The young lady said it like it was no big deal. She was very matter of fact and the way she told me made my skin crawl. It seemed irrelevant to the roommate Kim was almost raped and another girl actually was.

  “Sam, you don’t seem to be very upset about it.” I really hadn’t planned on being so blunt, but her attitude bothered me.

  Sam shrugged her shoulders and the way things swayed forced me to concentrate. “Nothing I can do about it. I told her not to go out with him. I told her I knew girls who went out with him and they ended up regretting it. I told her he was nothing but trouble.” Sam frowned. “I’m not her mother. Shit, can you believe he even raped Kim’s best friend? He claims she wanted it. Kim caught the two of them together and she said it looked like rape to her. Kim told me she was going to try and do something about what he did to her and her friend. I told he
r to just forget it.

  “Anyway, the word around school is he’s done stuff like that more than once. The rumor is he likes his sex rough. But, he’s a player so the school looks the other way and it all gets swept under the rug. The women are told to keep still and that’s the end of it.”

  “Player?” I asked, and I was sure I had a puzzled look on my face.

  “Yeah, you know, like he’s a big time football star… a player. Where you been? I don’t know the position, but he’s supposed to be drafted next year. Anyway, like I said, I told her to stay away from him, but she didn’t listen.”

  “How long ago did Kim’s attempted rape take place?”

  “Couple of weeks ago or so.” Again she shrugged her shoulders.

  “Did she tell anybody else besides you?”

  Sam shook her head. Her standing there almost nude made it really difficult to keep my mind on what she was saying. “I don’t know exactly. I know she complained to his coach and some people at the main office like the men’s dean. Kim told me she was going to find a way to get even and see if maybe she could get him charged with something. She wanted to see if she could at least get him suspended from the team, but I kept telling her there was no point. Like I said, he’s a player. Can’t touch him.” Her wry smile seemed to say, ‘what are you gonna do?’

  “May I ask you another question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Was Kim doing drugs?”

  I thought there was a slight hesitation before she answered, “Nope. She tried some pot but didn’t like it. I even made some brownies and she wouldn’t eat them,” Sam paused and then her face lit up. “Hey, do you want a brownie? I got some in the fridge. Me and Bennie just had a couple and they’re really good.” She giggled.