Code Name: Crescent: A Matt Preston Novel

by Paul Shadinger

  It was less than fifteen minutes later when Ambruster rolled up. I had secured us a table and as he walked by he asked me if I wanted something. I told him I had already ordered. Once he had his drink, he returned to the table and sat down. He took a sip, put his drink on the table and looked at me. “Why did you want to see me?”

  “You know that Bill has asked me to look for Kim. I know you saw her a few days ago and I was wondering if you would tell me where she is.”

  Ambruster looked at me for a few moments before he spoke. “Why are you asking me?” This was why I wanted to talk to him face to face. I could see from the look in his eyes and the way he sat in his chair he knew exactly where she was.

  “I know Kim looks up to you, that you’re almost her second father.” I watched as his face relaxed and I swear his eyes changed, somehow they were softer, more compassionate. “It seemed to me that if she needed a place to hide, she might go to you.” I paused a moment and then in a soft voice I asked again, “Do you know where she is?”

  Ambruster sat looking at me for so long I started to wonder if I was even going to get an answer. He took a sip of his drink and then looked down as he slowly sat it down. When he looked up he said, “Yes, but she’s safe.”

  I tried to sound as reassuring as I could. “I believe I have a place that might be a little safer than where she is, but I need to know where she is so I can judge if that’s true. Also, if I’m correct, I want to go and fetch her.”

  Ambruster leaned back in his chair and stared at me. “Why did Bill ask you to find Kim? Not to be rude, but what makes you so special?”

  I considered how much I wanted to share with Ambruster regarding my life, but I felt I had to at least put some of his fears to rest. “I’ve done a lot of strange stuff in my life. I’ve knocked around and Bill knows things about my past, about my time in the military. I guess he thought I might be able to find her, and even more important, perhaps help her.”

  Ambruster surprised me with his next question out of the blue, “Did you know she was raped?”

  Even though by now I was pretty sure she had been raped, it still saddened me to hear it for certain. “I heard she was almost raped, do you know different?”

  Ambruster looked down at the table and when he looked up at me he had tears in his eyes. “That asshole did actually rape her. I held Kim in my arms and she broke down and told me the truth. I don’t know why she’s telling people he almost raped her, maybe she’s too ashamed to admit the truth. I really don’t know. But she was raped and she wants to see him pay for it.” The man took a deep breath and his bottom lip quivered when he told me, “I want to find him and just beat the shit out of him.”

  “Ambruster, please don’t take this the wrong way, but this kid could really put a hurt on you without even trying.”

  Ambruster leaned back in his chair and a cold look dropped over his face. “Mr. Preston, I know you mean well, but that little punk is no threat to me, trust me.” Just the way he said it made my blood run cold. I had no idea what skills the man possessed, but I felt at that moment he was undoubtedly proficient in all different manners of violence. He continued, “The boy called her and told her he was going to kill her if she told anybody. He also told her when he was finished with her, he was going to come and rape and kill her mother as well.”

  As softly as I could, I asked him again, “Do you know where Kim is hiding?”

  “She’s safe.” He insisted.

  “Ambruster, I don’t doubt that, but I have a place that’s safer. But more than that, there’s also a nurse there who can help Kim. This nurse is a very good friend of mine and Kim needs a woman to talk to, a trained professional. The nurse’s name is Sharon and she’s a head nurse in the ER up at one of the hospitals on Pill Hill. Sharon can help Kim deal with her rape. Please let me take Kim to her.”

  Ambruster sat and sipped his coffee. I knew there was no point in prodding him for an answer, he had to decide on his own. Either he trusted me or he didn’t. Eventually he said, “I agree that Kim needs help. All I have to do is touch her and she shudders. She couldn’t stop crying the last time I saw her. It’s killing me to know how she hurts and there’s nothing I can do to stop the pain.” He took a deep breath and his voice was tight and strained. “Go and get her. Take her to your friend and see if she can help her. I’m worried about her.”

  Ambruster reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pen and small pad of paper. He wrote down an address and handed it to me. I could see the pain in his eyes and his hand was trembling as he passed me the paper. It was obvious he cared for her, and obvious he wanted to say something. I waited as I held the paper in my hand and finally he spoke. “Mr. Preston, it’s a dangerous neighborhood for a person of your color.” He grimaced as he continued, “I would advise you to be careful. Very careful. I know you will be, and I know you’re armed, but it’s just not a place where you’ll be welcome.”

  “Thanks for the warning. I hate to say this, but I’ve been in any number of places in my life I was not very welcome.”

  Ambruster said, “Sounds like both of us have led checkered lives.”

  I thought to myself, “So true, so true.” and I just smiled.

  Chapter 8

  KIM

  Several years ago I was vacationing on an island in the Caribbean called St. Kitts over New Year’s, which by the way, for them is their Carnival time. And during the festival, my lady friend and I had an excellent time. One morning around three AM as we were partying downtown in the main square in the capital city, we realized there was a huge crowd of people around us who were all partying with us. Normally no big deal, but there were hundreds and hundreds of black folks and the two of us whites. It could have made us a bit apprehensive but at no time did we feel any fear or concern for our safety. The entire time we felt as safe as if we were in our mothers’ arms. We were all there to do the same thing, have a good time and party.

  This morning as I drove through the Central District, or the “Ghetto District” as some might refer to it, I wished I could have made the same statement. The deeper I got into the neighborhood over Capitol Hill, the more I felt I was intruding. Driving down some of the back streets, I thought I saw a lot of hostility on the dark faces of several of the men standing on the street corners.

  When I found the street I was looking for, I was happy to see there was nobody standing around. I pulled up in front of the address and parked my truck. I debated leaving the windows down a crack for Beanie, and I decided she needed the air more than I needed to feel secure nobody was going to try and break into the truck. I knew my fears were probably unfounded, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I was someplace I really didn’t belong.

  The house looked clean, but it was badly in need of a coat of paint. The lawn needed to be mowed and there were two bicycles on the front porch. An old car sat on bricks in the driveway and I walked around it as I stepped up to the front door of the house where Ambruster had said Kim was and knocked. I could hear noise inside, but nobody came to open the door. I knocked again and still nobody came to greet me. I stepped off the front stoop and moved around to the back of the house. As I rounded the corner, I saw somebody carefully shutting the sliding glass door. I waited for her to get the door shut and when she turned, I recognized her from the photos I’d seen; it was Kim Tate. She looked at me and I saw fear flit across her face. As she turned to run, I spoke to her in the gentlest tone I could muster at that moment. “Kim, please stop. Don’t run. All I want to do is talk to you.”

  She spoke to me with perfect diction. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Matt, and I’m a friend of your father’s. He asked me to see if I could find you and Ambruster let me know where you are.”

  Her dark eyes flashed. “I thought I could trust him.” She stared at me for a moment and then asked, “What do you want?”

  “First off, you can still tr
ust Ambruster.” She scowled at me and I quickly continued, “He told me because he was worried about you. Secondly, I’m begging you not to run from me. Call your mom and ask her about me, or call your dad. Honestly, I just want to talk to you. I promise I won’t hurt you, actually I think I may be able to help you.”

  “How are you going to help me?” The skepticism was evident in her voice.

  “Your father is concerned about your well being.” I felt that was the best response I could offer.

  “I doubt that,” she snarled.

  Her hostility surprised me. “Why do you say that?”

  “He has his new bride.” The way she said the word ‘bride’ made it sound like a swear word. “He’s just like all the rest of the men I know, thinking with his cock. He has this new wife with her big plastic tits and all she wants to do is fuck him for his money—”

  I broke in, “I don’t mean to make light of anything, but it seems like you have a lot of hate stored up for both your father and his… ah…” I searched for the best word, “his new mate.”

  “Ha, good word for her! I know my mother isn’t the easiest woman to live with, but he was still a shit about the way he left her.”

  I didn’t know much about how Bill’s divorce went, other than a couple of comments about how he was paying dearly for his freedom. But since I knew he had some multi-million years when he was playing ball, and not counting all of the various endorsement deals, I didn’t think his ex-wife was too bad off. I asked Kim, “Doesn’t your father pay any alimony?”

  “Yeah, and he gives me money too. But it seems like now that he has this new wife, I don’t count.”

  I was getting a little tired of her attitude. “If he didn’t care about you, why do you think he asked me to find you? When he asked me to find you he was actually crying.” My voice had risen in volume. I stopped and took a breath. “Do you think he’d be so worried if he didn’t care?”

  That question seemed to stump her. She looked at me and then I saw a couple of tears running down her cheeks. She hung her head and I could barely hear her. “I don’t know what to do, I’m so scared.” A sob and then her shoulders started to shake.

  As gently as I could, I said her name and I extended my arms and invited her to come over to me. She looked at me for a moment and then slowly stepped over. I carefully put one arm around her and I felt her body tense. I lifted my arm and she reached up and took it, placing it back on her shoulder. I could feel her shoulders shake. A sob escaped from deep inside her and she buried her face in my chest.

  I didn’t know what else to do so I just stood with one arm resting lightly on her shoulder and let her weep. When she looked up at me she noticed my wet shirt. She touched the wetness and looked back up at my face with a sheepish grin. “I’m so scared. Sorry,” she gave a slight hiccup and then continued, “I didn’t mean to get you all wet.” Even with tears in her eyes she was a beautiful young woman. “I just don’t know where to turn or what to do.”

  As we stood there, for the first time I really had an opportunity to look at her. Her eyes were almost black and almond-shaped. Kim’s mother was of Asian descent and the combination of ethnicities had made her a very lovely lady.

  “I think you had this stored up for a long time. Can we go someplace and talk?” I wanted to talk to her, but I also didn’t feel comfortable in this neighborhood.

  “Yeah, just a minute.” She walked over to the sliding door and opened it. She called into the house that she was leaving and would be back later. As she passed me she said, “Let’s go.”

  When we approached my truck, there were three young, very large black men standing between me and the driver’s door. The one in the middle had his arms crossed over his chest, trying his best to look menacing. I asked, “Can I help you, gentlemen?”

  The one with his arms over his chest spoke, “What you want wit her?” He motioned towards Kim.

  “We were going to go and have a cup of coffee and talk. Why?” I replied.

  “She been cryin,” his dark face looked flushed with anger, “why?”

  “If she wants you to know the reason, I think she’ll tell you.”

  The man uncrossed his massive arms and took a step towards me. “Hey,” his hands were clenching and unclenching in frustration, “don’t give me no shit or I mess you up so bad…”

  Several plans went through my mind and I discarded them as quickly as they formed. I was getting worried and I wondered what I was going to do. Kim spoke up and asked them to just go away and leave us alone. The man in the middle whom I had considered to be the leader said, “Shut up bitch,” he glared at Kim, “we be helpin’ you.”

  “I’m okay,” she gave him a weak smile, “Just go away, please.” Her voice had a tone of worry in it now.

  I felt sure I could seriously hurt a couple of them, but I didn’t like the idea of having to deal with all three. The odds were not in my favor. Suddenly the cavalry came around the corner. A long, black, top of the line S-class Mercedes rolled to a stop next to the three young men. As the driver got out of the vehicle and opened up the back door, all three of the men who were detaining us stood with their mouths agape. From the back seat of the car emerged a diminutive man I was not unfamiliar with. He was a childhood friend of Sakol’s with a shady history that went by the moniker Mouse. I knew the miniature man’s real name was Steve Fox, but everyone knew him as Mouse, and he had been introduced to me as Mouse and all I had heard him called was Mouse.

  Mouse walked up to the large man in the middle who now had his arms folded across his chest again. “What’s the problem, gentlemen?” Mouse asked in a rich, deep voice that didn’t go at all with his size.

  “This honky was fuckin’ with a sister. He thinks he takin’ her with him,” the leader said to Mouse.

  Mouse stared at the big man until he uncrossed his arms and looked down. In a voice as cold as an Alaskan morning, Mouse said, “You know who I am. This ‘honky,’ as you call him, is a friend of mine.” Mouse glared at the larger man. After a short pause, he continued in the same cold voice he had started with. “A very good friend, and you are in his way. What are you going to do about that?”

  I noticed the other two black men who had been with the large man had disappeared. I hadn’t even seen them leave. The man who was left looked at me and spoke with a lot of respect in his voice now, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you knew Mouse. I hope I didn’t trouble you too much. Please accept my apologies, sir.” The man spoke now with no trace of ghetto in his speech.

  I wanted to let him save face so I tried to ease the situation. “I admire you watching out for your women. I understand you were just trying to protect Kim. Everything is cool, okay?” I could see no reason to make any more of an issue out of this than necessary.

  The large man just looked at me and then turned to Mouse. “I’m sorry for any inconvenience I might have made for you or your friend. I’ll be on my way.” The man never offered his hand to me and I was not going to make an issue out of that either.

  After the man left I turned to Mouse. “Thanks, I don’t know how that was going to turn out, but I do appreciate you stopping by. How did you know I was here?”

  Mouse laughed. “The right thing for me to say is I know everything that goes on around here, but the truth is I saw you and I had my driver follow you. I wondered what you were doing down here.”

  I motioned towards Kim and said, “This is Kim Tate. I know her father.”

  Mouse’s eyes opened wide, “Tate… you mean as in William Tate?”

  Kim asked, “You know my father?”

  “Hell yes—excuse my language—yes, I know who your father is. I’ve never had the privilege of meeting him but I followed his career very carefully. I thought he was one of the best to ever play the game. The day he retired was a very sad day for the game of basketball.”

  “Funny. Him bein
g my father, I never saw him that way. I mean I knew he was a famous player and all, but to me he was just Dad.”

  Mouse extended his hand and when Kim took it, he bowed. “It has been an honor to meet you, my dear. I’ll leave the two of you now.” Mouse looked over at me. “Matt, I would suggest you take her out of here as quickly as possible.” He winked at me and then climbed back into his limo. Kim and I got into my truck and we departed as quickly as we could. As we drove away Kim asked, “Who was that little man?”

  I replied, “Believe it or not that little man is actually a very scary little man. It’s a good thing he was there and that he’s on our side.”

  Once we were underway, Beanie crawled out from behind the seat and settled into Kim’s lap. Kim held Beanie against her face and Beanie tried to lick her. Kim laughed. “Is this yours?” she asked. I smiled. “I always wanted a dog. It just never seemed to be the right time to mother and father for me to have one. This is a really cute puppy. What’s her name?”

  I told her and we talked about dogs for a moment. I told her about my last dog and when she asked me what happened to BJ, I tried to keep the story brief. I almost got through the story before a tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. Kim looked at me with alarm and asked me if I was okay. I explained that most of the time I could keep the memories in check, but from time to time I really missed my old dog. For some reason seeing me upset about BJ changed Kim, and for the rest of our journey she just sat in the seat looking out at the passing scenery, petting Bean, who was overjoyed to have so much affection.