Hotline to Murder

sick about you. Then this morning I read in the paper that you had escaped from a kidnapper.” She got up and gave Shahla a big hug.
    “I’m fine,” Shahla said. “And Tony’s my bodyguard.”
    In her relief, Patty gave Tony a hug, too. He had no objection.
    “We have reason to believe that Nathan may be mixed up in this,” Tony said. “I’m going to call Detective Croyden.”
    “Nathan?” Patty looked surprised. “I don’t know him very well because he usually works nights. But he always seemed kind of quiet and shy. I guess you never know about people.”
    Tony knew the number at the Bonita Beach Police Station by heart. When he was connected to the desk officer, he asked for Detective Croyden. The officer informed him that Detective Croyden would not be in today.
    “All day?” Tony asked in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine Croyden not working.
    “He will be back tomorrow. Can anybody else help you?”
    “How about Lieutenant Stone?”
    “She will be in at three.”
    “I’ll call back.” He hung up. “Damn. There’s no point in trying to tell the story to somebody who doesn’t know what’s going on.”
    “There may be another person working on the case,” Shahla pointed out.
    “Yeah, but I don’t know that person, and they don’t know me. Why should they believe anything I have to say?”
    Tony stomped out of that room and into the listening room where Tina was writing a call report. When she saw Shahla, who had followed him in, she reacted much the same way that Patty had.
    “Shahla.” Tina stood up and gave Shahla a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
    “Don’t I get one too?” Tony asked.
    Tina gave him a who-is-this-guy look.
    Shahla laughed. “Tina, this is Tony. Tony, this is Tina.”
    Tina was a cute brunette, dressed in jeans and a Stanford sweatshirt with red lettering on a white background. At first glance she looked something like Shahla.
    Tina offered her hand saying, “I’ve heard about you.”
    Tony took it and said, “Nothing good, I hope.”
    Tina shook her head. “Nothing.” She turned to Shahla. “Look at all the hang ups I’ve gotten this morning.” She pointed to the board where hang ups were recorded. “I can understand the masturbators hanging up on guys, but why are they hanging up on me? I’ve got a sexy, feminine voice.”
    The girls weren’t supposed to like getting those calls. Tony asked, “Did you hear anything in the background before the hang ups?”
    Tina shook her head. “Maybe a little breathing. Then a click.” She looked at her watch. “Ten o’clock. I’ve got to get to class.” She picked up a book she had been reading, said goodbye to them, and walked out the door.
    But, presumably, her class wasn’t at Stanford University, almost 400 miles away. She probably attended a local community college and hoped to transfer to Stanford.
    Tony went over to the desk by the window and looked out at the parking lot. He saw his car sitting undisturbed. He loved that car. He could stand and gaze at it for hours. Shahla joined him at the window.
    “What do we do now?” she asked.
    “Maybe I should go pay Nathan a call.”
    “We. Whither thou goest I will go. You’re my bodyguard, remember?”
    Tina had just come out of the back door of the building and was headed toward her car, which was parked not too far from Tony’s. Another car came cruising down one of the aisles toward her.
    Shahla caught her breath and said, “That looks like the kidnapper’s car.”
    It was a silver compact. A Chevy, Tony could see from the logo—the bloated parallelogram of Chevrolet. Probably a Cavalier. The door opened when it came alongside Tina and a man jumped out and grabbed her. Exactly how Shahla had described her ordeal.
    Tony didn’t wait to see any more. He ran out of the listening room. He paused at the door to the administrative office and yelled at Patty, “Call 911. A man is trying to kidnap Tina. Silver Chevy Cavalier.”
    Before she could say anything, he ran past the closing outer door into the hall. Shahla had preceded him and was already at the top of the stairs.
    “Wait for me,” he yelled. But she didn’t wait. By the time he had reached the top of the stairs, she was already out of sight, going down the second level between the floors. Tony couldn’t go as fast as Shahla—that had already been proven—and he had to be careful of his knee. He prayed she wouldn’t get herself into trouble. But he also prayed that Tina