Hotline to Murder
safety,” Rasa said.
“Where’s your car? And what are you doing with crutches? You didn’t have crutches on Monday.”
“Long story,” Tony said. “But it can wait. Right now, we want to know whether you were planning to go to Nathan’s church service tonight.”
Shahla looked from one of them to the other, as if they were conspiring against her. For a moment, Tony thought she would explode, and then as he watched in admiration, she deliberately got herself under control. When she spoke, she was completely collected.
“You two look like parents, sitting there in judgment.”
“One of us is your parent,” Rasa said. “But we are both concerned about you.”
“Let me tell you the reason I want to go,” Shahla said. She paused, perhaps for effect. “The police have not solved Joy’s murder yet. I think everything should be done to solve it. Nathan is a queer duck. Being a queer duck is not enough to go to the police with. I want to see if I can get enough information about him to make it worthwhile to go to the police.”
“Tony says church is far from here and in dangerous part of town.”
“How do you know?”
Tony said, “Because…I’ve been there.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I haven’t told you everything.” Tony held up his hand, as if to ward off her anger. “I talked to the minister. I didn’t get all the answers I wanted. I agree with you, there is something strange about it. And about Nathan, for being a part of it. Which is all the more reason you shouldn’t go. I’ll tell you what I’ll do; I’ll go to the service tonight.”
“I’m going with you.”
“There is no need for that. I can handle it.”
Shahla took a visible breath, again appearing to calm herself down. Then she said, “There is a good reason. You are on crutches. You have helped me. Now I can help you. It isn’t safe for you to go alone on crutches.”
Rasa nodded. “Shahla has good point. But if church is in dangerous part of town, neither one of you should go.”
“It isn’t that dangerous,” Tony said. “Nathan goes there. I would be all right.”
Rasa turned to Shahla. “What is your homework situation?”
“I worked for two hours after class and before cross-country practice. I only have a little more to do.”
“You do rest of homework while I make dinner for all of us. Then you may go to service. But I want you back by ten.”
“Agreed,” Tony said, before Shahla could say anything.
This was the second night in a row that Tony had been invited out for dinner. He could get used to this. He helped Rasa in the kitchen while Shahla showered, changed her clothes, and finished her homework. He and Rasa chatted about her job as a nurse, and he told her about Bodyalternatives.net. She was intrigued with the concept, especially for weight loss, and said that she had several patients she would refer to his company. Tony gave her a bunch of his cards.
When dinner was about to be served, a boy of ten or eleven materialized from a stairway that led to the basement. Tony hadn’t even known he was in the house. Rasa introduced him as Kirk. He had Shahla’s coloring and a slight build. Tony shook hands with him and said, “Hey, Kirk, glad to meet you. What do you do in the basement, plot the overthrow of the world?”
“Yeah, stuff like that. I play computer games and surf the net.”
“I hope you don’t go to any of the bad sites.”
“Aw, Mom got some computer geek to put a lot of controls on the computer to keep me out of those sites. I haven’t found a way to get around all of them yet.”
“Good. It can be dangerous out there.”
“Yeah. Right. Say, are you Mom’s boyfriend?”
Rasa overheard and said, “Tony works with Shahla on the Hotline.”
“You’re too old for Shahla. And I’d say you’re too young for Mom.”
Kirk was still trying to figure out where Tony fit in when Rasa called them to dinner.
CHAPTER 25
“There’s something else I haven’t told you,” Tony said as he and Shahla drove to the church. Actually, there were several things he hadn’t told her, but he figured it was better to spring one at a time.
“How can I ever trust you again?” Shahla asked, but in a way that told Tony she wasn’t serious—or at least not completely serious.
Shahla was wearing a fairly modest dress, which was her version of what to wear to church, along with a light jacket against the chill of the evening. She wore her hair in a bun. She looked
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