Naked Ambition. Dan Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 СКАЧАТЬ