Alan Cook - Hotline to Murder

“Tina is in the front seat,” Shahla said, sounding relieved, but without moving her lips. “She looks okay. I think Nathan saw me. He’s stopping. Now he’s parked at the corner.”

“All right, drive up behind him.” Tony’s heart was hammering. He wished he could play a more active part in this. He was afraid for both Shahla and Tina.

Shahla started the engine all right, but when she shifted into first gear and released the clutch the truck stalled.

“A little more gas, and then release the clutch very slowly.”

She tried again. This time the engine roared as the truck crept forward. Then suddenly it lurched ahead.

“Foot off the gas,” Tony yelled over the noise of the engine. “Depress the clutch and coast.”

Shahla got the truck under control and coasted slowly to a stop. She put it in neutral and set the parking brake. She made a move to open the door.

“Wait,” Tony said, softly. “What’s he doing?”

“Nothing,” Shahla whispered, speaking like a ventriloquist. Just sitting in the car.”

“Open the door, but don’t get out yet.”

Shahla did that. After a few seconds, she carefully stepped down to the pavement, moved around the open door, and was out of Tony’s sight. He gripped the crowbar hard with one hand and put his other hand on the handle of the passenger door, ready to open it and jump out of the truck. He strained his ears, trying to hear over the idling of the truck engine.

Tony heard engine noise from the other car. It was starting up. Did Nathan have Shahla? In a panic, he raised his head and looked through the windshield. No, Shahla was standing right in front of the truck. Something had spooked Nathan, and he had taken off.

Tony scrambled over to the driver’s seat and sat down. Shahla ran around to the passenger side and jumped in. Tony slammed the gearshift into first gear and took off after the silver car. It had immediately turned the corner and was heading back toward La Cienega.

“Call the Bonita Beach Police,” Tony said. “They can coordinate the chase. We’ve got to try to keep him in sight and give the police an opportunity to stop him.”

“What about Tina?”

“We’ll have to take the chance. As long as he’s driving, he won’t hurt her-unless he cracks up. And we won’t get too close to him”

Shahla got the Bonita Beach station on the line. She gave reports on Nathan, which were passed on to other units. “He’s heading north on La Cienega…he’s turned left…he’s turned left again…he’s disappeared.”

Nathan had lost them again, through a series of risky but clever left turns. When he was sure Nathan was long gone, Tony parked the truck, despondent. He and Shahla sat slumped in their seats, not speaking. A police car rolled by a few minutes later, but aimlessly, without direction.

“He knows you’re with me,” Shahla finally said. “I’m sure he won’t speak to me again.”

“It’s time for the faithful to gather,” Tony said. The sun had set. “Let’s go back to the park. That’s where we’ll find Nathan.” He said it with more confidence than he felt. Even if that was the gathering place, had they scared Nathan so much that he wouldn’t show up?

“It’s all we can do.” Shahla was really in the dumps.

They took the exit from La Cienega that led to the park. As they drove toward the entrance, they saw a police car parked across the road, completely blocking it. Two uniformed officers, one male and one female, were leaning against the car, shining flashlights at Tony’s truck to make sure he stopped. He did.

“Don’t get out,” Tony said to Shahla. He didn’t want them making any moves that might look suspicious to the police.

The female officer came to Tony’s window and said, “The park is closed.”

Tony said, “I’m Tony and this is Shahla. We’re the ones who spotted the kidnapper a little while ago. He’s with the group that believes they’re going to ascend into heaven tonight. We think they might come here.”

“That’s why we’re here,” the officer said. “We cleared everybody out at sunset. That’s when it closes, anyway. There’s nobody in the park. If anybody shows up, they have to go through us.”

“When we were here this afternoon, we found a couple of gates leading from the ridge into residential areas. Somebody must have keys to those gates.”

“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.”