conduct a prayer vigil and sing the praises of our Lord. Do not be late. Anybody who does not show up will be cast into the fiery pits and burned to ashes. You do not want to be among that number.” At the bottom, “Reverend Luther Hodgkins” was printed in larger, bolder letters.
“That’s tonight,” Shahla said.
“Time is running out,” Tony said. It was coming together. “That’s why Nathan isn’t driving his own car. He’s probably sold it and is driving a loaner or a rental. But if he wants to take another girl to heaven with him, he has to work fast.”
“Another? You mean Joy…?”
“Maybe it works something like the Muslim suicide bombers. They get seventy-seven virgins in heaven, give or take a few. Maybe Nathan has to collect his own.”
“You mean, if he kills them, he gets to have them in heaven? Tony, that’s horrible.”
“I know. We have to keep him away from you until tonight.”
“What happens at midnight when…nothing happens?”
“Hopefully, that will expose the Reverend Hodgkins as a fraud. But it would also help if Nathan has already been arrested. I wish we knew where this place was. But the good reverend is too clever to put it on the Internet. I suppose that the only ones who know it are those who have been faithfully attending the church services and giving willingly of their material possessions.”
“Should we tell Detective Croyden what we know?”
“Unfortunately, it’s mostly speculation. But we need to tell him something.” Tony tried to think. “We don’t have any reason to believe that Nathan has a gun or even knows how to use one. But if he did, he could shoot through my windows unless we kept the drapes closed all day. And we don’t want to feel like animals in a zoo. I suspect we’re better off somewhere else.”
Shahla looked out the window again at the pool she had run around to evade the kidnapper and said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Okay. We’ll first go to the Hotline office and find out Nathan’s address. I’m sure that Croyden already has it, but I want it for myself.”
CHAPTER 35
Tony had Shahla wait in the fenced-in patio behind his townhouse while he went through the wooden gate to the carport and carefully scanned it for anybody who shouldn’t be there. In fact, he saw nobody at all, although it was possible that someone might be hiding behind one of the other cars.
He quickly opened the passenger-side door of the Boxter and signaled Shahla to come out. She came, somewhat apprehensively, and once she had done her own look around, she scooted to the car, climbed in, and slammed the door.
Tony got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He was thankful for the purr that promised power, waiting to be called upon, that hopefully would keep them out of trouble today.
He compulsively checked out the other cars through his windows and mirrors during the short trip to the Hotline. He noticed that Shahla also kept swiveling her head. The usual mix of large and small vehicles filled Pacific Coast Highway, which was a grand name for a street like any other street, with traffic lights and congestion. Nobody looked suspicious, however; nobody seemed to have any particular interest in them.
Tony pulled into the parking lot of the shopping center where the Hotline building was located. He drove around to the back of the line of shops. The overflow parking spaces were located here. Here was where Joy had been snatched, and the park just behind the lot was where she had been murdered. Few cars were parked here at this time of the morning. Most were parked in front.
“We can keep an eye on the car from the window of the Hotline office,” Tony said. The window in the listening room overlooked the back parking area. Since Nathan had worked night shifts with Tony, he knew what kind of car Tony drove.
It would be easy to spot somebody loitering, since there were few cars and fewer people in sight. They went through the back door of the Hotline building. Shahla went toward the elevator, but Tony started up the stairs.
“If you’re a cross-country runner, you should be able to handle a couple of flights of stairs,” he said.
He started taking them two at a time. A shot of pain through his knee reminded him that he shouldn’t be doing anything this strenuous. Shahla flashed past him before he came to the first landing, and by the time he reached the third floor, she was standing there with her hands on her hips, not even breathing hard.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
At least she didn’t say it derisively. And because Tony had been forced to slow down to one step at a time, he wasn’t panting as they walked to the Hotline office. The door was unlocked. As they passed through the doorway into the first room, Tony could see Patty, the administrative assistant, working at a computer in the administration area. He rarely saw her since he worked on the phones at night, when she was going to school.
There was a girl in the listening room on the phone. Tony looked a question at Shahla.
“That’s Tina Rodriguez,” Shahla said. “She was in my training class. She’s in college.”
Shahla found a copy of the roster of listeners. Tony copied down Nathan’s address, his home telephone number, and his cell phone number. He had a Los Angeles address, which could be just about anywhere, but from the zip code, Tony figured that it wasn’t too far from the Church of the Risen Lord. His years of driving in Southern California on business had given him a good feel for the area.
Tony and Shahla walked into the office where Patty was working. She looked up and did a double take. “Shahla,” she exclaimed. “Are you all right? Detective Croyden called me at home yesterday and said that you were missing and did I know where you were. I was worried sick about you. Then this morning I read in the paper that you had escaped from a kidnapper.” She got up and gave Shahla a big hug.
“I’m fine,” Shahla said. “And Tony’s my bodyguard.”
In her relief, Patty gave Tony a hug, too. He had no objection.
“We have reason to believe that Nathan may be mixed up in this,” Tony said. “I’m going to call Detective Croyden.”
“Nathan?” Patty looked surprised. “I don’t know him very well because he usually works nights. But he always seemed kind of quiet and shy. I guess you never know about people.”
Tony knew the number at the Bonita Beach Police Station by heart. When he was connected to the desk officer, he asked for Detective Croyden. The officer informed him that Detective Croyden would not be in today.
“All day?” Tony asked in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine Croyden not working.
“He will be back tomorrow. Can anybody else help you?”
“How about Lieutenant Stone?”
“She will be in at three.”
“I’ll call back.” He hung up. “Damn. There’s no point in trying to tell the story to somebody who doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“There may be another person working on the case,” Shahla pointed out.
“Yeah, but I don’t know that person, and they don’t know me. Why should they believe anything I have to say?”
Tony stomped out of that room and into the listening room where Tina was writing a call report. When she saw Shahla, who had followed him in, she reacted much the same way that Patty had.
“Shahla.” Tina stood up and gave Shahla a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Don’t I get one too?” Tony asked.
Tina gave him a who-is-this-guy look.
Shahla laughed. “Tina, this is Tony. Tony, this is Tina.”
Tina was a cute brunette, dressed in jeans and a Stanford sweatshirt with red lettering on a white background. At first glance she looked something like Shahla.
Tina offered her hand saying, “I’ve heard about you.”
Tony took it and said, “Nothing good, I hope.”
