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.”
“Well, maybe we can park a few blocks away and walk to it.”
“If he’s there, he’ll see us. It’s still daylight.”
True. But Tony was running out of ideas.
“Can we rent a car?” Shahla asked.
“There isn’t time. By the time we drove to a rental agency, did the paperwork, drove back…”
“Okay, what are we going to do? Call the cops?”
“The question is, what does Nathan do when he spots a police car? Stab Tina, figuring he’s going to be taken up to heaven even if he isn’t at the exact right spot at midnight?”
“Yeah, too risky. He’s unpredictable. What else can we do?”
What, indeed? He certainly wasn’t going to let Shahla meet Nathan alone. They exited from the park and started driving in the direction of the rendezvous, still discussing the issue. Soon they were going slowly through a residential neighborhood. A couple of hundred feet ahead of them a man came out of his house and walked toward a pickup truck parked in the driveway.
“Change cars with that man,” Shahla said suddenly.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. Stop, Tony.”
“He’s…” Tony hesitated.
“He’s what? Black? African-American. So what? You’re white and I’m mixed and we get along. It’s all one world, remember?”
He couldn’t do it. He drove past the driveway. Then he slammed on his brakes. He shoved the gearshift into reverse and backed up, stopping in front of the driveway. He saw the man, poised to climb into his truck, looking at him curiously. Probably thought he needed directions.
Tony got out of the car and walked around the front of it. How did one start? “Hi,” he said to the man. That was inadequate. “Uh, I was wondering if you’d like to change cars for a few hours.”
The man looked past him to the Porsche. If it had been an old VW beetle, the answer would have been obvious. But he looked interested.
“What’s the deal; is it hot?” he asked.
“No, no. I’ve got the registration inside. I’ll show you.”
“That’s okay,” the man said, as Tony took a step back toward his car. “But I mean, are you on the level?”
“Yeah.” He owed the man a fuller explanation. “We’re trying to find a guy, but if he sees my car, he’ll bolt.”
“I see.” The man smiled. “I’ve always wanted to drive a Porsche. I’m leaving for work. I won’t be back until morning. And I generally sleep until noon.”
“That’s okay. We can change back tomorrow afternoon. Do you know how to drive a stick?”
“This is a stick.” The man indicated the truck. “If you want to do it, I’m okay with it.”
Shahla was getting out of the Porsche. “Bring the phone and the map book,” Tony told her. “And our sweatshirts.” He walked up to the man and said, “I’m Tony.”
“Richard.”
They shook hands. Shahla came up the driveway.
“This is Shahla, my, uh…friend.”
They exchanged pleasantries. Tony and the man exchanged keys. And phone numbers. The man reached into the truck and pulled out a metal box.
“Tools,” he said.
He glanced at the bed of the pickup. It contained a coiled rope, a white tarpaulin and some other things.
“Nothing there I can’t live without for one night,” he said. “Okay. It’s all yours.”
He strode down the driveway and got into the Porsche. Tony watched apprehensively as he started it and drove away, waving as he went. He accelerated slowly, shifted smoothly, and seemed to be a good driver. Tony and Shahla climbed into the truck. It was somewhat messy inside, but appeared to be drivable. It was quite new. It had a remote for locking and unlocking the doors.
“You need to find a better way to introduce me,” Shahla said as he backed down the driveway. “‘My, uh…friend’ doesn’t cut it.”
“Sorry. I was going to introduce you as my sister, but then I thought there was no reason to lie.”
“Just ‘friend’ is fine. It’s the hesitation that hurts. We are friends, aren’t we? We’ll still be friends when this is all over, won’t we?”
“Of course.” Of course. Tony concentrated on getting to the intersection Nathan had named. Shahla watched the map and gave him directions. They approached from the south. Nathan had said the southeast corner. Tony stopped the truck a hundred yards from the corner. Nathan’s car wasn’t there. They were on a residential street with some vacant lots. The corner lot was vacant. Traffic was light. Nobody was outside.
Tony said, “I know you haven’t driven a stick-shift before, but you’re going to have to drive this from here to the corner. You can do it in first gear. I’ll talk you through it.”
“Where are you going to be?”
“On the floor in front of your seat. In fact, let’s trade places right now.”
They managed the switch with some jostling.
“We need a plan that protects your safety,” Tony said. He was getting more and more apprehensive as the meeting time approached. “I will hide when Nathan comes into view. When he parks, drive up until you’re behind him, but not too close. We want to be able to pull out fast if we have to. Leave the engine running and the door open when you get out. I hope to hell we’re right in thinking that he doesn’t have a gun.”
“Tina only mentioned a knife.”
“All right, but stay behind his car. Under no circumstances are you to get in the car. Do you understand that? If he starts to get out of the car, you immediately get back in the truck.”