Hotline to Murder (33 page)

“Don’t tell them we broke into the
apartment.”

“I won’t.” He told the desk officer that
LAPD was going to the apartment building and suggested that this
was a good time to coordinate with them to search Nathan’s
apartment.

“How do you know this?” the officer
asked.

Tony disconnected.

“I hope it doesn’t get screwed up and the
evidence lost,” Shahla said.

“We can’t worry about that,” Tony said.
“We’ve got to find Nathan.” His shoulders slumped. “But how do we
find him?”

“Give me his cell phone number,” Shahla
said.

“Why?”

“I’m going to call him.”

“You’re what?”

“I’m going to call him. What else can we do?
We have to keep Nathan from killing Tina.”

***

Shahla took the cell phone and the piece of paper
with Nathan’s address and telephone numbers on it from Tony. Her
mind was moving faster than his. And it was going to take speed if
they were going to save Tina. But before she tried to call Nathan,
she had to call the Bonita Beach Police one more time.

She called, using redial. The desk officer
answered after two rings and said, “Bonita Beach Police.”

“This is Shahla.”

“Where are you?”

She wasn’t falling into that trap. “I’m only going
to say this once, so listen carefully. We believe that Nathan
Watson has kidnapped Tina. He belongs to the Church of the Risen
Lord. The church is on…” she looked at Tony and he said, “Brora
Street.” She repeated, “Brora Street, in LA. The minister is Luther
Hodgkins. The members think that they are going to ascend into
heaven tonight at midnight. We don’t know the location where they
are gathering, but it’s probably a local hilltop. We know it’s
somewhere near a bus line. We are hoping that Nathan is going to
take Tina there so that she will ascend with them.”

“Spell the name of the minister.”

Shahla spelled it. “Have you got that?”

“Where are you now?”

“Have you got all the information?”

“I want you two to come to the station and
stop playing detective. You’re going to mess this whole thing up.
Or get yourselves killed.”

Shahla disconnected and said, “He wants us
to come to the station.”

“You did that better than I could have,”
Tony said.

Shahla was pleased with Tony’s compliment.
But the hardest part was yet to come. She punched in Nathan’s cell
phone number. As it rang, she wondered if he still had the phone
with him. Or whether the number was disconnected. She should at
least get some kind of a message. Finally, voice mail came on. It
was Nathan’s voice. Shahla felt some relief.

“Nathan, this is Shahla,” she said after the
beep. “I-I have changed my mind. I feel in my heart now that you
are correct. The website of the church says that the ascent into
heaven is going to be tonight. I want to go with you, Nathan.
Please. Give me a call.” She recited Tony’s cell phone number.

“Did I put enough passion into my voice?”
she asked after she disconnected.

“That will get him if anything can. What
should we do while we wait for him to call back?”

“I saw a McDonald’s a couple of blocks from
here. Let’s get something to eat.”

***

Shahla ate her Big Mac with gusto and popped
each ketchup-drenched French fry into her mouth, separately, in
order to fully savor it. Since her brush with hunger, yesterday,
food had risen in her scale of importance. She hoped that this
newfound appetite wouldn’t make her fat. Tony was eating a more
sensible fish sandwich.

They were sitting in the car, parked outside
the McDonald’s. A Porsche wasn’t the most comfortable place to eat
lunch, but at least it was temporarily shaded from the September
sun by the fronds at the top of a tall palm tree, and the top was
down so they benefited from a wisp of a breeze.

Other people, young and old alike,
continuously streamed in and out of the restaurant, like bees at a
hive. The young ones looked like high school students. Apparently
this was a lunch hangout for a local school. Shahla remembered that
she should be in school. She felt a pang of conscience. She hated
to miss even one day.

When the cell phone rang, it startled her,
even though she was hoping it would ring. She had the Big Mac in
one hand and a couple of fries in the other. “Let me answer it,”
she said, desperately trying to free her hands without spilling
food all over herself and the car. She gave a quick swipe to her
greasy fingers with a paper napkin and pressed the talk button on
the phone.

“Hello, this is Sa…Shahla.” She had almost
given her Hotline name of Sally.

“Are you alone?”

Shahla felt a chill as she recognized the
voice of the Cackling Crucifier. Or was it Nathan? It was both of
them. Tony was right; the Crucifier and Nathan were the same
person. She had never heard Nathan’s voice on the phone before.

“Yes,” she lied.” She looked at Tony and put
her finger to her lips.

“I hear noises in the background.”

“I’m in the parking lot of a restaurant.”
Stay as close to the truth as possible.

“Where is your maniac boyfriend?”

“He…had to go to work.”

“You’re using his phone.”

“He…he lent it to me. I left mine at
home.”

“You said you wanted to be part of the
Ascension.”

“Yes.” She clamped her mouth shut so she
wouldn’t be tempted to say anything more. She had to find out how
much information Nathan would give her before she started asking
questions and made him suspicious.

“You haven’t given up your worldly
possessions.”

“Can’t I…that is, can’t you take me as
your…guest?” She couldn’t bring herself to use a stronger word,
such as concubine.

“Is that what you want?”

No. “Yes.”

“How can I trust you?”

That question was unanswerable and might
lead to her babbling. She remained silent, with an effort.

“Will you still feel the same way
tonight?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll see.”

Shahla was afraid that Nathan would hang up.
She said, “There is one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If you take me, you have to let Tina
go.”

Silence. Had he already killed Tina? Was
this in vain? Shahla could hardly breathe. Beside her, Tony had
cocked his ear and was staring at her, as if he wanted to snatch
the phone. She put up her free hand to forestall him.

“That might be arranged.”

Shahla exhaled. “Let me speak to Tina.”

More silence. She wanted to yell into the
phone. Only her Hotline training prevented her from doing that.

“Shahla?”

It was Tina’s voice, soft but unmistakable.
“Tina, are you all right?”

“My hands and feet are taped. He says if I
scream, he’ll tape my mouth too. He…he’s got a knife.”

She was crying. Shahla had heard Hotline
listeners cry on the phone, and she knew the sounds well. At least
Tina was still alive. “Are you in the car?”

“Yes.”

“Answer yes or no. Do you know where you
are?”

“No.”

“Did you travel on the 405 to get where you
are?”

“Uh…yes.”

“Do you see any hills close to you?”

There was some confusion on the other end of
the line. Then Nathan’s voice said, “So you know she’s all right.
I’ll call you later to make sure you’re still interested.”

“Nathan, wait.”

There was a click and the silence that
signaled a hang up. Shahla turned to Tony. “You may be right. They
may not be far from here.” She filled him in on the rest of the
call.

“You did a good job.”

“That isn’t going to save Tina.”

“It helps.” He patted her shoulder. “Let’s
do some exploring.” He started looking at the
Thomas
Guide
.

Shahla was glad Tony was with her. He would
keep his cool. He would prevent her from going off like a rocket
ship.

CHAPTER 37

One of the reasons that Tony was driving
around was to show activity. He hoped that they—especially
Shahla—would see activity as progress. In any case, it was better
than sitting in one place and waiting for Nathan to call again.

Tony and Shahla explored the open areas
adjoining La Cienega Boulevard. Tony hadn’t realized how many
grasshoppers pumping oil still existed in the middle of Los
Angeles. They sat on various levels of the hillsides, bobbing their
heads up and down with a regular beat, oblivious to the city that
had grown up around them.

But the most logical place from which to
ascend into heaven seemed to be the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation
Area. Tony remembered that there had been a Los Angeles county
supervisor named Kenneth Hahn, one of the five powerful people who
governed one of the most populated counties in the nation.

The spacious park had amenities to suit
various tastes. Some people fished in the lake and others picnicked
on the grass of the urban oasis, sheltered from the traffic and
noise. But what caught the eyes of Tony and Shahla was the
hillside. It was steep, and it had a ridge that extended for some
distance along the north side of the park. But the first trails
they saw that led to the ridge appeared to go straight up.

“If they have to climb one of these,” Tony
said, “only the fittest and healthiest are going to get into
heaven.”

They looked around some more and found an
official trail that snaked up the west side of the hill and then
went along the crest, according to a map they found at the
trailhead. It did not ascend as steeply as the others they had
seen. They decided to climb it and did so, slowly, to allow for
Tony’s knee.

The dirt path was wide enough for a
four-wheel-drive vehicle to navigate. They walked east along the
ridge and found several roofed shelters where hikers could receive
a temporary respite from the unforgiving sun that baked the brushy
hillside, parched from a summer without rain. They could see a
substantial sweep of the Los Angeles basin. It was like looking
over a calm sea—but the sea in this case was composed of
houses.

“I’ll bet this is beautiful at night,” Tony
said, “with all the city lights. You can picture millions of people
peacefully going about their business.”

“Or in some cases, not so peacefully,”
Shahla said. “Maybe we should have told the police that we talked
to Nathan and that Tina is with him.”

“If we told them that we talked to him by
cell phone they might try to call him. If they did, don’t you think
he would suspect that we’d tipped them off?”

“That
I
had tipped them off. You’re
not with me, remember? But you’re right. Of course, they may try to
call him anyway.”

“That’s the chance we have to take. But we
can be sure they’re working on it from the church angle. Maybe
they’ve found the good reverend.”

“And maybe not. Los Angeles is so big. How
are we going to find Nathan if he doesn’t call back?”

“If he comes here, we’ll find him. And this
looks like a logical place.”

Tony tried to exude confidence. Shahla
looked vulnerable. He placed a consoling hand on her arm. They held
each other for a while. Tony pictured a battery charger connected
to a cell phone to recharge it. In this case, both of them were the
chargers and both of them were the cell phones. They were trying to
recharge each other—with courage and hope.

***

It was 5:30 when the cell phone rang again.
Shahla and Tony had eaten more fast food a while ago. Shahla had
lost her appetite, but Tony said they needed to eat to maintain
their energy levels. She forced herself to swallow, but this time
the food was tasteless, and she realized that if Tina was killed,
the whole world might be tasteless for a long time to come.

They were sitting at a picnic table in the
Kenneth Hahn park, surrounded by the green grass. The grass must be
regularly watered or it would look like the brown brush on the
hillside. Tony was making notes. He said he was writing a plan of
action, in case Nathan didn’t call again. Shahla suspected he was
doing it primarily to try to keep his spirits up.

Shahla was holding the phone when it rang.
She activated it and said hello. Nobody answered and at first she
thought it might be a hang up. But there were noises in the
background. The line was still open.

“Nathan? Is that you?” There were times when
it was just too difficult to stay silent.

“Are you alone?”

She wanted to snap, “Of course I’m alone;
let’s get on with it,” but she forced herself to modulate her voice
and said evenly, “Yes.”

“Are you still…interested?”

“Yes. Where should I meet you?”

Silence. Had she pushed too hard? But acting
passively hadn’t gotten her very far.

“Have you got a car?”

“Yes. I can meet you anywhere.”

“You’ll have to give it up.”

“The car? If I’m going to heaven, I won’t
need it anymore.” It was difficult for her to speak those words.
She watched Tony’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. He was
showing signs of impatience again.

Nathan named the two streets of an
intersection and said, “Meet me there in an hour. Make sure you’re
alone.”

Shahla repeated them out loud so that Tony
would hear them. “Is that where the Ascension is going to be?”

“I’ll drive you from there.”

“What about Tina?”

There was a pause. Then Nathan said, “I will
release Tina at that time. Unless she wants to be part of the
Ascension.”

“Let me talk to her.”

She heard a click.

“Tony, he didn’t guarantee he’d release
Tina.”

“He’d better release Tina,” Tony said
grimly.

***

“The intersection he named is not far from
here,” Tony said, checking a page of the map book. Let’s
reconnoiter the area.” He got up and started walking back to the
car.

Shahla followed him. “He may already be
there. He’ll recognize your car.”