“Josh is still asleep.” He had come home even later than Tony.
“Well, wake him up. This is official police business. And I want to talk to him alone.”
That did sound official. Tony stepped back so that Croyden could enter. He pointed to the couch in the living room and said, “I’ll get him.”
As he went slowly up the stairs, still favoring his left leg, Tony dreaded what was going to happen. Croyden was carrying a briefcase. He could guess what was inside. He pictured Croyden whipping the panties out of the case and saying, “Where did you get these?”
Croyden hadn’t had time to perform any tests on the panties. But what could he test for? If there wasn’t any blood on them, how could a test connect them with Joy? Tony reached the top of the stairs and looked at Josh’s closed door. He was a grumpy riser. And being faced with the prospect of talking to the police would make his mood that much fouler.
Tony decided to go to his athletic club and work out, something he hadn’t done since his knee injury. Get good and sweaty. And not return for a while. He gritted his teeth and knocked on the door.
In fact, Tony didn’t return home until late that afternoon. After he finished his workout he went to his office to catch up on paperwork. He sometimes did that on weekends when there was nobody around to disturb him. It was peaceful, and he was very productive. He found that he really liked this job, and he wanted to do well at it. He was sure that what he did helped people. Just as the Hotline helped people.
Toward the end of the afternoon, he remembered that he had been going to tell the Los Angeles Police Department about the church scam. It would be a long drive to a police station near the church. And then back. And Croyden had been pessimistic about how much good it would do. He decided to skip it.
He hadn’t thought about Josh and Detective Croyden for several hours when he turned into the car park of his townhouse development. He had driven the Porsche for the first time in several days, and it felt good to be behind the wheel of the responsive car, even if he had to be careful shifting because his left knee was still sore.
As he drove down the row of carports, he saw that his was filled with large cardboard boxes. What the hell was going on? He saw Josh’s SUV, which had been backed into the adjoining carport, and then he saw Josh, methodically loading the boxes into it.
Tony stopped the Porsche outside the carport and got out, not bothering to close the door. He limped over to Josh, who had not ceased work, and said, “What are you doing?”
Josh placed a box carefully into his car before he replied. He looked at Tony and said, “Remember, I told you that I’d move out within thirty days? I’m well within that time period, I believe.”
“I didn’t think…I didn’t think…” He didn’t think what? “I didn’t think you’d really do it.”
Josh looked very cool. He said, “An agreement is an agreement. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do, although I’m almost finished. This is the last load. Then I’ll be out of your hair for good.” He picked up another box and shoved it into the car.
“Where are you going?”
“What do you care? I’m going; that should be all that matters to you.”
“It was Detective Croyden, wasn’t it? What did he tell you?”
“He didn’t have to tell me anything. When he showed me the panties that were a souvenir of my first affair in college, I knew the whole story. I knew that my buddy had double-crossed me. I knew he was trying to set me up- for what reason I don’t know. But it’s definitely time to make a break with the past. So sayonara, Noodles. It’s been fun.”
“But I didn’t remember the panties. I’m not trying to set you up. You know that.” Tony sputtered, not knowing what to say.
“After all we’ve been through together, you don’t trust your roommate. That’s what hurts the most.”
Josh shoved the last box into the back of the SUV and slammed the door down. He walked around to the driver’s side, pushing Tony out of the way when he tried to stop him. He climbed in, slammed that door, started the engine and pulled forward out of the carport. He took a left turn, then another, and disappeared around the row of townhouses.
Tony had just finished looking into Josh’s room and verifying that everything “Josh” was indeed gone when the phone rang. It was Rasa, Shahla’s mother. She was speaking rapidly and Tony had trouble understanding her.
“Could you repeat that?” he asked.
“It’s Shahla. She has disappeared.”
CHAPTER 29
“When did you last see Shahla?”
Tony tried to ask the question in an even voice, hoping that his example would help to calm Rasa down enough so that he could understand what she was saying. Upon receiving her call, he had immediately driven to her place, knowing that he would never be able to communicate with her by phone. When he had arrived, she had started talking as soon as she opened the door, so rapidly that he still couldn’t understand her accented words. He had suggested they sit down in her living room. She appeared to be a little calmer now as she answered.
“This morning. She came down about eight o’clock and had something to eat.”
That was better. The act of sitting had slowed the flow of words; they were now intelligible to Tony. He said, “And then what happened?”
“She said she was going to study with her girlfriend. Her girlfriend lives short distance from here so she walked.” And Rasa’s car was in the driveway.
“And she was supposed to come home at a certain time?”
“That is too much to ask. I told her to call me at noon and tell me where she was. She did not call so I called her cell phone. I got message.”
“Did you call her girlfriend?”
“Yes, I called girlfriend. There was no answer.”
“And you haven’t heard from her since.”
“No. I called again and again and always got message. She must not have phone with her. Otherwise she would return my calls.”
“What do you think happened to her?” As soon as he asked it, Tony wished he could withdraw the question.
Rasa sobbed, “I think Joy’s murderer has kidnapped her.”
He wasn’t used to all this emotion, except from the callers, and with them he had the safety of a phone line between them. At least Rasa didn’t say she thought Shahla was dead. But she did look close to collapsing. Tony reflected that in the days before cell phones, it wasn’t unusual for a teenager to be out of touch with her parents for several hours, or even all day. Now, parents expected instant access to their children. He didn’t know whether to be worried or not. If it weren’t for the fact that a murder had been committed…
“Let me try her,” Tony said. He pulled out his own phone. God. The world was being run by them. He called Shahla’s number and waited. It rang twice and went to voice mail. After the beep, Tony said, “Shahla, it’s Tony. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience.” He gave his number and hung up.
“What should I do?” Rasa asked wiping her eyes with a tissue.
She was looking to him for guidance. Because of the circumstances, immediate action was called for. And maybe it would get her to stop crying. “I think we should call the police.”
“Do you think police will help?”
“That’s their job.”
