Hotline to Murder

how you looked for Nathan and Tina.”
    That was definitely the abridged version. Tony asked anxiously, “Will she be all right?”
    “She will be fine.”
    “Her shoulder and her eye?”
    “Her eye is not hurt, for which we are thankful. The cut on her shoulder is not serious. She can go home this afternoon.”
    Rasa was a nurse so she should know. They didn’t keep patients in hospitals very long these days, but it was probably just as well. From his own experience, he knew that a hospital wasn’t a good place to rest. As if to prove his point, a young lady bustled into the room and said that she had to take Shahla’s “vitals.”
    Of course this woke Shahla up. As soon as she saw Tony, she held out her arms for a hug. She gave him a surprisingly strong hug, considering what she had just been through. The nurse’s aide told her to calm down or it would affect her blood pressure and heart rate.
    Shahla tried to stay still until the nurse’s aide was through with her, but as soon as the woman left, she pointed to a television set attached to the wall and said, “We saw on the news that they found Tina, but I want to hear your side of the story.”
    “ You are most of the story,” Tony said. “After all, you stopped Nathan.”
    “Shahla is hero,” Rasa said proudly.
    “She certainly is,” Tony said. “But don’t you need your sleep now?”
    “I can sleep this afternoon at home. Besides, I feel fine. I’m going to school tomorrow. So tell me what happened after I left.”
    Tony told the story, answering Shahla’s questions. When Shahla had heard it all, Tony said, “I have a question. You know and I know that Nathan is no poet. So who wrote the poem about spaghetti straps?”
    Shahla was silent for a few seconds. Then she said, “I did.”
    “But…why?”
    “Because I wanted to make sure you stayed involved in the case. I needed your help to solve it. And I wasn’t about to leave it to the police. I placed the poem by the door when you were taking a call, so it would look as though somebody had slid it underneath.”
    “Without getting any fingerprints on it.”
    “Yeah. Wasn’t that clever? I held it with a napkin. I didn’t even get prints on the paper when I printed it with my computer.”
    “So our trip to Las Vegas was for nothing.”
    “Nothing?” Shahla’s face fell. “ Didn’t you enjoy it? At least until you hurt your knee? I am sorry about that.”
    Rasa looked from one of them to the other and said, “Did Shahla trick you?”
    Tony said, “I take full responsibility for my actions. And yes, I did enjoy the trip to Las Vegas.”
    “I have a question,” Shahla said. “We have been to Las Vegas together, we have eaten many meals together, I have even slept in your…house.” Tony was sure she had been about to say “bed.” “But it’s always been business. We’ve never had a real date. When are we going to have a real date?”
    “Uh.” Think, Tony. “When you’re eighteen.”
    “I’ll be eighteen on December twelfth. Okay, good, I’ll put it on my calendar.”
    “I’d better get going so I can catch up on my sleep. I suspect Mona will really be pissed if I don’t show up for work tomorrow.”
    “Give me a hug.”
    But instead of hugging him, Shahla pulled his lips down on hers and kissed him hard. When she finally released him, he gave a head-fake of embarrassment and looked at Rasa. She was shaking her head—but she was smiling. Dating Shahla wasn’t going to be the worst thing that had ever happened to him. And it definitely wouldn’t be boring.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    After spending more than a quarter of a century as a pioneer in the computer industry, Alan Cook is well into his second career as a writer.
    Run into Trouble is about a footrace along the California coast in 1969 during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? Drake and Melody, who worked undercover together in former lives, need to find the answer before all hell breaks loose.
    The Hayloft: a 1950s mystery and prize-winning Honeymoon for Three feature Gary Blanchard, first as a high school senior who has to solve the murder of his cousin, and ten years later as a bridegroom who gets more than he bargained for on his honeymoon.
    Hotline to Murder takes place at a crisis hotline in Bonita Beach, California. When a listener is murdered, Tony and Shahla team up to uncover the strange worlds of their callers and find the killer.
    His Lillian Morgan mysteries, Catch a Falling