PART IX BEKON SETS A TRAP

"So what's our next move, Penny", Cindy asked as the Buick headed north on the Bayshore Highway.

"While you were out doing whatever you did with that biker guy, I purchased a house."

"That's nice", Cindy said as she sunk down in her seat and looked straight, "By the way, that 'biker guy' is a sweet and gentle man."

"Cindy", Penny replied, "I know that you are at a severe time in your life, but you must realize that the least people we talk to, the better."

Penny stopped at the Lawrence Station Road signal light to make a left turn.

"We're heading toward Lakewood Village", Cindy scowled, "Isn't this a little run down for us?"

"The house only cost us $10,000", a bargain even in 1957 prices", Penny stated, "It's a new house and it will take about ten years for the neighborhood to become dilapidated. We'll be long out of here by then."

Their car pulled into their new home on Lakemuir Drive. As they both got out, Cindy took a look around.

Penny pulled the keys from her purse and unlocked the door to a fresh smelling empty house.

"My", Cindy declared in a condescending tone, "It has a fireplace."

"There's a furniture store out on Stevens Creek Road that was recommended by the sales office", Penny said.

With that, the two women left in the Buick.

Sidney Bekon rose out of the bushes with a newspaper in his hand. Looking around, he noticed a man across the street washing his car. The man briefly looked at him then continued his task. Bekon walked up to the front door and inserted the newspaper into the door knob. He then causally walked around the corner to his Thunderbird and left.

Several hours later, Penny and Cindy returned. Cindy opened the trunk and pulled out two sleeping bags, giving one to Penny.

"Looks like we're going to have to rough it tonight, kiddo", Cindy said with a grin.

As they walked up to the door, Penny pulled lifted the newspaper from the knob.

"Sunnyvale Standard", Penny said as she read the newspaper heading, "I didn't know the papers were free."

"Let me see", Cindy requested, grabbing the paper.

As she looked at the publication, Cindy gasped at the sight of something terribly shocking.

"What's wrong?" Penny asked.

Cindy didn't say anything. Penny shrugged her shoulders and unlocked the front door.

Later on that night, Cindy sat on the brick fireplace platform and just gazed at a particular newspaper article.

On the front page, there was a picture of her mother Nancy, as she looked during these years. The story indicated that she was staying at a Mountain View hotel in search for some rare American Indian artifacts found in an old burial ground near Mission Santa Clara.

Cindy put the newspaper in her purse.

Penny warned Cindy that contact with her mother could create a dangerous paradox in time. However, Cindy felt that if she met her mother at this stage of her life, she may be able to stop the chain of events that lead to her alcoholism and early death. The next day, Cindy called a taxi and snuck out the house while Penny was still a sleep. She instructed the driver to take her to the address written in the newspaper article.

It was a row of buildings at the end of small downtown shops that included a pharmacy, hardware store and movie theater. The address indicated it to be an upstairs apartment. Cindy paid the driver, got out and looked at the address she wrote on a piece of paper from the article.

She opened a door to an old two story building that lead to a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs, apartment 2B was located right at the end of the hall. She knocked, but nobody answered. Going against her better judgment, Cindy slowly turned the knob. The door creaked open into a small one room apartment with a rather rancid smell. A small kitchenette with a stove and refrigerator was off to the side. An RCA Victor television set, sporting a small round screen, sat against the opposite wall. On a table next to the window, a laptop computer sat with the screen on.

"Wait a minute", Cindy thought, "What is a laptop computer doing here in 1957?"

Out from a shadow, Sidney Bekon appeared.

"Long time no see...Cindy", Bekon said.

"It's you!" Cindy gasped.

"I never got to properly thank you for that little smack you gave me back in eighty six."

"Get out of my way, you little twerp", Cindy demanded as she pushed Bekon aside. As she tried to make her way out of the door, it was locked.

"You're not going anywhere, my dear", Bekon said in a giggle.

A large man with a bald head came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his hand.

"I spent sixteen years in the joint because of you, Cindy Taylor", Bekon continued. "You broke my jaw and humiliated me. It's now payback time!"

Back at the house

Meanwhile, Penny was instructing the crew from the furniture store where to put their new living room set. Slowly, the house began to fill with furniture.

As day turned into night, Cindy hadn't returned. Her only clue was to contact Mario at the Moffett Field. After being switched around by base operators, she finally made contact.

"This is Mario", a gravely voice came from the other end.

"Mario", Penny said, "This is Penny Cest, Cindy's friend at the Bayshore Cafe.

"I left her at Colgan's in Mountain View", Mario answered. "Is she Okay?"

"I need you to come over here as soon as you can", Penny said.

"It'll be a while before my shift is over", Mario answered.

Penny gave him the address and instructions, but strict military rules forbidden him from leaving his assigned duties.

At dawn, Cindy had still never made it back and Penny was extremely concerned. The sound of a large motorcycle pulled up to the house. Shortly after, the door bell rung.

Penny opened the door to the brown haired man with sunglasses and a leather jacket.

"Something is wrong", Mario said as he removed the glasses. "Something happened to Cindy."

"Come in, Mario", Penny said, as they made their way into the living room.

Penny had only met Mario briefly in the cafe and still wasn't quite sure about him, suspicious that he may know something about her disappearance. Penny explained that Cindy hadn't come home.

"What happened on the date?" Penny drilled.

"Absolutely nothing", Mario insisted, "We went to a movie, watched the sun come up at the beach and I dropped her off at the hamburger joint."

Neither of them said anything.

"I'm not an educated man", Mario said as Penny looked into his eyes to read his sincerity, "but I know a good woman when I see her."

"I know you care about her", Penny sympathetically ansered as she put her hand on his arm, "She means alot to both of us."

"Maybe it's time to call the police", he suggested.

Penny got up and went over to the fireplace.

"We mustn't get law enforcement involved", Penny said.

"I don't understand", Mario said in bewilderment.

"You have to trust me on this one, Mario", Penny said as she opened the front door. He put on his sunglasses and got up.

"Call me if she returns", Mario insisted and left.

Penny went to the phone and dialed Dr. Betler's desert facility.

"This is Dr. Betler", a voice from the other end answered.

"This is Penny, doctor", Penny said, "We have a problem."

Penny explained Cindy's new friend Mario, her recent restaurant encounter with Sidney Bekon and her disappearance.

"The first thing we need to do is find out more about this Mario character", Dr. Butler suggested.

"How long will that take?" Penny asked.

"If it were the year 2002, I could probably have it for you in several seconds by your facinating descriptions of that thing you call 'the Internet', he explained, "but I am going to need to track this through the proper channels."

"I understand, Dr. Betler", Penny said, "but we need to clear Mario of any wrong doing."

Three days later- till no Cindy

As Penny arranged the furniture in the new house, there wasn't a sign of her technical assistant. It was obvious at this point that Cindy Taylor had fell victim to foul play or worse. As she began to place a picture on the wall, the phone rang.

"This is Dr. Betler, Penny. According to records, Mario Rackman was on the Battleship ZZZ during the Korean conflict five years ago. He is now serving his time at Moffett Field Navel Air Station in Sunnyvale California as a Navel Chief."

"Interesting", Penny replied.

"There's more", Betler continued, "Your man received a Purple Heart in 1953 for pulling 10 of his fellow sailors to safety as his ship went down."

"I knew that there was something special in that man that Cindy saw", she thought to herself.

"This guy may only be ranked as a chief, but he's got so much respect out there that even the Admiral looks up to him. The only reason he hasn't been promoted further is that he only has a high school education."

This satisfied any suspicions that Penny may of had with Mario. It was becoming more clear that Sidney Bekon might of had something to do with this.

NEXT: PART X WHERE IS CINDY TAYLOR