“We have units stationed at all the gates.” The officer spoke with finality.
“Have you found this Reverend Hodgkins? He’s the leader of the church group.”
“We know who he is. We’re on the lookout for him.”
The fact that they hadn’t found him wasn’t comforting. In fact, Tony felt uncomfortable about the whole situation, but he had run out of possibilities. If the parishioners couldn’t come here, where would they go? And more important, what would Nathan do with Tina?
After more conversation, during which the officer tried to convince Tony and Shahla that the police had the situation completely under control and there was nothing the pair could do to help, Tony turned the truck around and headed back toward La Cienega.
“Their uniforms look different than those of the Bonita Beach Police,” Shahla said.
And LAPD, which Tony had initially assumed they were. The uniforms were tan, not blue. “They must be sheriff’s deputies,” Tony said. “Which means that the park isn’t within the city limits of Los Angeles.”
“Police are police. If there is a way to screw it up, they’ll do it.”
“We won’t stop looking. If we can spot some of the church people, we might be able to find out what they’re going to do. And they may lead us to Nathan.”
It was unsatisfactory, but it was their only hope. Tony followed a route that went around the large park. Occasionally, a patrol car went by them. He didn’t spend much time in the residential area north of the park because he felt that was fruitless. They did investigate some open spaces on the other sides. Sometimes they had to get out of the truck and walk over the mostly bare ground, which was populated with the ubiquitous grasshoppers pumping oil. This took valuable time and didn’t produce any results.
Periodically, they called the Bonita Beach Police Station and asked whether Nathan had been spotted. The answer was always negative. They asked the officer on duty to call them with any new developments. By 11:00 they were sitting in the parked truck, waiting for the phone to ring, having run out of ideas. The gloom inside the cab of the truck was so thick that Tony was sure he could spread it on bread.
Then Tony’s cell phone did ring. Shahla grabbed it before Tony could move and said hello. She handed it to Tony. “It’s Detective Croyden. He wants to speak to you.”
Croyden? He had the day off. “Hello.”
“Schmidt, this is Croyden.”
“I didn’t think you were working today.”
“I was fishing, but I had to come in because of this mess. I got the word that you spotted Nathan earlier. We’ve had cars crisscrossing the area, but we haven’t seen him. We’ve got all entrances to the Hahn Recreation Area covered. Maybe he’s flown. What are you doing now?”
“Looking for the spot where this Ascension into heaven is supposed to take place. Have you found Hodgkins or any of his flock?”
“We’ve got units working on that too. LAPD and the sheriff’s office have been working together, but they haven’t been able to find this guy, Hodgkins. If you’re right about him, maybe he’s already taken off with the loot.”
“Except that the website said to bring cash tonight. But if there’s nothing happening tonight, maybe he’s gone.”
“And by the time he gets to Phoenix, the folks who trusted him will be crying. Anyway, we’re drawing a blank. Don’t do anything stupid, but if you find anything, call me immediately on this number.”
Tony wrote the number down and promised they would call Croyden if they spotted the believers. At least Croyden was asking for his help. Then he had a thought. He said, “Shahla and I would like permission to go into the park.”
“Why? There’s nobody in there.”
“Just a hunch. If nobody is there, we’ll come right back out.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“How could it be dangerous if nobody’s there? I don’t think we’ll be attacked by rabbits.”
Croyden was silent for a few seconds, apparently digesting this logic. Then he said, “All right, I’ll clear it with the officers at the entrance. But be careful. I don’t want to get my ass in a sling because you fell off a cliff.”
There was certainly nobody in the lower part of the park. The area was relatively flat and open, except for an occasional tree. A group of people would be easy to spot, even in the dark, because they would need some sort of light.
“If all the entrances are being watched, how could anybody get in?” Shahla asked.
Tony had been wondering the same thing to try to justify what they were doing. He said, “In a park as large as this one, there are probably ways to get in other than the official ones. Maybe Hodgkins found one.”
“If he did find an alternate way in, it probably leads to the ridge, near where those houses are.”
“Okay, we’ll go up the road to the east side of the ridge. It’s paved.”
Tony drove up this road. A locked gate blocked an additional loop of paved road that doubled as the ridge trail at that point. There was a gap between the gate and a tree that stood at the edge of a large grassy area, which Tony remembered as being shown on the trail map as Janice’s Green Valley. He squeezed the truck between the gate and the tree, utilizing the four-wheel-drive feature to navigate the rough terrain, and then climbed back onto the road and drove to the other end of the loop.
He shut off the engine, and they opened their windows. The night air was chilly, but not cold. They had put on sweatshirts earlier. Shahla was wearing one of his old sweatshirts that had shrunk with repeated washings. They could see city lights in the distance, blinking like stars. The lights were below them instead of above them, since the real stars weren’t visible. Clouds hid them. It was an upside-down universe. It was also a peaceful scene, as Tony had thought it would be when he had seen it that afternoon-too peaceful for the thought of murder.
“This is as far as we can drive,” Tony said. “But we can take the flashlight and walk along the ridge trail.”
They also carried the crowbar and box cutter as they started to walk west along the dirt path. It had some ups and downs but was fairly easy to follow, even in the dark. They had gone about a hundred yards when Shahla, who was in the lead with the flashlight, stopped. Tony stopped beside her.
“Listen,” Shahla said.
Tony listened. He could hear something other than the distant muffled noises of the city. “It sounds like singing.”
“It is singing. Remember, the church website said that they would sing until the Ascension. Tony, it’s them.”
Tony felt himself getting excited. “It sounds far away.” He looked at his watch. “We don’t have much time before midnight. I don’t know if we can get there.”
“Remember where the trail goes up to the other end of the ridge? Can the truck make it up that trail? If so, we can probably drive right to them.”
The western end of the trail was dirt, but it was wide enough for the truck. And the truck had four-wheel- drive. “Okay, let’s do it.”
They turned and walked rapidly back toward the truck, being careful not to fall on the rough trail. Once there, Tony drove the truck back around the locked gate and then accelerated down the hill.
“Should we call the police?” Shahla asked.
“There isn’t time for them to get here before midnight,” Tony said. “And the car they have at the entrance can’t climb the hill. Wait until we see what the situation is. And I’m going to need your eyes to help me drive up that trail.”
They arrived at the bottom of the trail shortly thereafter. Tony slowed way down as he started uphill, making sure to keep the truck in the center of the path. The trail became fairly steep, but with its four-wheel-drive, the truck didn’t have a problem with traction. He breathed a sigh of relief when it leveled off at the top of the ridge.
Tony stopped the truck and turned off the engine. Through the open windows they could hear the singing, much louder than before. But because of the hilly terrain, they still couldn’t see anybody.
