Free the Hunted (1977) by Elmore Leonard

have an Edie or an Edith Broder. The closest the y could come was E. Broder. Rosen got a teen-age d Broder girl out of bed at four in the morning, eleve n o'clock Jerusalem time, and asked for her mother.
    The sleepy, irritated voice said her mother was i n Israel. "Ahhhh," Rosen said. "Where in Israel?"
    On a tour. "Where on a tour?" With some group.
    "But the group went home." No, her mother ha d called; she was with another group. "What othe r group?" The girl couldn't remember. "Think!"
    Well, it sounded like egghead. "Egged Tours,"
    Rosen said. "Where? Where did she call you fro m and when?" Tuesday night, from Tel Aviv. "You'r e a sweet girl," Rosen told her. "I'm going to sen d you a present." Big deal, the sweet girl said.
    Rosen called Egged Tours in Tel Aviv. Yes, a Ms.
    Edie Broder had joined one of their tours, "Hadassah Holiday," and was staying at the Dan Hotel.
    Closing in, Rosen called the Dan. The Hadassa h group, just a minute . . . had gone to Hadera, to th e kibbutz Shemu'el, for the day; returning this evening. Eight hours later: the Hadassah group was back, but Ms. Broder was not in her room. Wa s there a message? Rosen hesitated, then said yes, as k her to please call Mr. Rosen at the King David , Jerusalem.
    He felt better. He felt good enough, in fact, t o shower and dress and leave the room for the firs t time in two days.
    Silva, the barman, placed a cocktail napkin i n front of him and said, "Mr. Rosen, sir. We haven' t been seeing you lately." He poured Scotch over ice , adding a splash of water and a twist. Then put ou t dishes of nuts and ripe olives.
    "Netanya doesn't have it," Rosen said. "There' s only one city in Israel."
    "Of course, sir." Silva was Portuguese, born i n Hong Kong, and spoke with a British-Israeli accent. To Rosen, Silva was the King David. Silva, th e oriental carpets, the bellboy who actually rang a bell as he paged and carried the guest's name on a square of blackboard.
    Rosen eyed a tourist lady having her lonely cocktail and was tempted. Not bad, though a little too elaborate, with a fixed blonde hairdo you could no t muss up, though you might chip it with a hammer.
    More the Hilton type, lost here in the quiet of th e King David's lounge. No, he had enough going o n and phone calls to make. Three sundowners an d quiet conversation with Silva would do this evening. He dined alone, three tables from the blonde tourist lady, went up to his suite, left it semi-dark , and phoned Tali's apartment.
    There was no answer.
    He'd been afraid of that. Assuming she ha d picked Mel up at the airport--this had bee n arranged more than a week before--she might stil l be with him, knowing Mel. He'd either be dictatin g letters, eating, or trying to get into her pants. Rose n wasn't worried about Tali. She was a stand-up littl e girl. If Mel got obnoxious she'd belt him or else politely walk out. What did worry Rosen was the unknown, what might be going on out there in the near world. Tali was alert, she sensed things, and h e wanted to talk to her before he talked to Mel.
    Well, he would or he wouldn't. Rosen called th e Pal Hotel, asked for Mr. Bandy, and Tali's voic e said, "Ken?"
    "Be cool," Rosen said. "Don't say my name yet.
    I'm your boyfriend calling or your mother, okay?"
    "Where are you?" Her voice low.
    "Home. Are you with Mel? Mr. Bandy?"
    "He's in the bathroom." Her voice rushed at hi m then. "There were two men here to see him. The y threatened him. I didn't know who they were, th e way they were talking, saying things about you , asking questions--"
    "It's okay," Rosen said quietly. "Take it easy , okay? What were their names?"
    "I don't know. Mr. Bandy said . . . first he wa s afraid, when they were here and threatened him.
    Then he wasn't afraid anymore, when they wer e gone. He was like a different person. He said . . . a terrible thing."
    "What did he say?"
    "He said they wanted to kill you." Her voic e dropped. "He's coming out."
    Rosen could hear the toilet flushing.