Josh fell silent as he finished cooking his wiener to his satisfaction and ate it off the fork. Tony felt frustrated that the opportunity to get Josh’s alibi had apparently been lost. If he asked again, Josh was sure to get suspicious. Josh brought his glass of wine over to the table and sat down.
He said, “Was Joy one of the girls that was here the day you had the Hotline people over when I was out of town?”
The question startled Tony. He had never told Josh that he had invited the class over and had hoped he wouldn’t find out. He said, “What are you talking about?” still trying to maintain a bantering tone.
“Don’t pull that shit with me. Rob told me all about it. He said the pool was full of young babes in bikinis. He and some of the other guys who live here sat around the pool, drank beer, and watched. But you did it behind your old roommate’s back.” Josh affected a hurt look.
Watched. Ogled. Tony remembered that well. Rob was a neighbor. Since the pool was in the common area, he couldn’t exactly drive them away.
“They particularly mentioned a tall, gorgeous blonde,” Josh continued. “Stacked.” He placed his hands around imaginary breasts. “I kind of figured that might be Joy.”
“It was Joy,” Tony conceded. “In fact, that was the only time I ever saw Joy.”
“You’re one up on me. I have to live with the pictures we got from her parents. But I’m still pissed that you left me out.”
“I didn’t want you ravishing all of them. My reputation is that of a good guy, and I can’t let them know I have you for a roommate. They’d probably kick me out of the Hotline.”
“That might be the best thing that could happen. I don’t like what you’re turning into.”
Josh kept score of all the beautiful girls he saw, dated, bedded. It was a contest for him. Still, he had no reason to kill one.
“In a theoretical sense, I can understand the attraction,” Josh said, as if analyzing a movie. “A beautiful but unobtainable girl. If you can’t have her, then nobody can have her. Kill her while she’s still perfect. Then you’ll have a memory that nobody else can have. Forever.”
Or did he have a reason to kill her? Tony remembered something-the missing underwear. He needed to search the drawers of Josh’s dresser. But he would have to be more careful the next time he went into his room.
CHAPTER 16
As Tony entered the Hotline, office he saw two people in the listening room. Young people on the four-to- seven shift. He signed in. It was only Wednesday, and he wasn’t scheduled to work again until Friday, but he had decided to come in tonight because curiosity had gotten the best of him. He had called the office and talked to Gail, who had told him that Nathan was working the seven-to-ten tonight. Tony had decided to work with him.
Tony said hello to the two as he went into the listening room. He recognized their faces, if not their names. He admired the listening skills of the girl as she finished up a call. These kids were good. They certainly didn’t fit one common stereotype of teenagers: egoists who ignored the rest of the world. Older generations might not approve of their clothes, their tattoos, and their piercings, but they had to admit that at least these particular youths had compassion. They cared.
Nathan arrived right on the dot of seven. Tony watched him as he signed in. He admired Nathan’s tall, blond good looks and compared them to his own shorter, darker appearance. But there was something different about him. Tony realized that it was the first time he had seen Nathan wearing short sleeves. Well, they had been having hot weather-hotter even than in August. But this was typical in Southern California.
Nathan came into the listening room. He showed surprise as he said hello to Tony.
“I wasn’t doing anything tonight,” Tony told him, “and I couldn’t stay away. I thought I’d keep you company.”
“Good. Kyoko was scheduled to work, but I don’t think she’s going to show. I was going to work anyway, all alone if necessary. Who cares about the rules? I’m not afraid.”
After Nathan got himself something to eat and they each took a phone call, Tony had a chance to start a conversation. He said, “Tell me about your church-what is it, Church of the Resurrected Jesus, or something like that?”
“Church of the Risen Lord. What would you like to know?”
Tony noticed, as he had before, that Nathan didn’t look directly at him when he spoke.
“Well, how did it get its name, for one thing?”
Nathan finally looked at him, for a moment, as if he were trying to find out what he was driving at. “Are you a Christian?”
“You mean, as opposed to being a Jew or a Muslim? Yeah, I guess I’m a Christian.”
“That didn’t exactly sound like a wholehearted religious endorsement. Anyway, you know the story, right? Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Sure.”
“Okay, well the deal is that he’s coming back to get us. And take us with him. At least some of us.”
“The true believers.”
“Uh huh.”
Tony figured he had better ask his next question carefully. “Who are the true believers? Are they just the members of your church?”
“Well, there may be some others who got it right,” Nathan hedged.
“How many members does your church have?”
“I don’t know. A couple hundred, I guess.”
“Isn’t it going to be awfully lonely in heaven?”
Nathan looked upset. “Are you scoffing at my religion?”
“No, no, just trying to find out the truth. When is it going to happen?”
“When is what going to happen?”
“This…Ascension, or whatever you call it.” He had almost said Day of Judgment, but that would have been quoting Reverend Hodgkins, and Tony didn’t want Nathan to know that he had actually gone to the church.
Nathan clamped his mouth shut, reminding Tony of a baby Gila monster named Franklin that he had tried to raise when he was young. But Franklin, who may have missed his mother, wouldn’t eat and died of starvation. Reverend Hodgkins had also clammed up when Tony had asked him the same question. They must be pledged to secrecy. Well, what did he care? Let them have their silly little secret. However, he was still curious about other things.
“What are you doing to prepare for this day?” He wasn’t sure Nathan was going to answer this question either. After an embarrassing silence, Tony said, “I mean, are you selling all your things, divesting yourself of your worldly possessions, as it were?”
“Why is this any of your business?”
Nathan was getting hostile. It was too late for Tony to pretend he wanted to join the church. Besides, if he said he did, he would actually have to go to a service, and he figured if he attended a service, the roof of the church would fall in. Retribution from the Lord. It had been a long time since he had attended an actual church service. And the roof had looked pretty shaky anyway. But he shouldn’t have let his skepticism show.
Tony said, “Well, if you have a good car, I might want to buy it from you.” That was a flat-out lie. There was no way he was going to trade his Porsche for any other car on the road.
“I’ll let you know.”
Tony had a more serious reason for his questioning, but when he brought that up, he was sure it would further upset Nathan. However, he felt it was his duty to at least try to warn him. He said, “Are you…that is, are you expected to give your money or your possessions to the Church, by any chance?”
Nathan was glaring at him now, but Tony felt he had better finish what he wanted to say. “Have you at least considered the possibility that this is a scam-a way to get all your money? That the people who are running the
