Free Goodbye Sister Disco by James Patrick Hunt Page A

made sure that Hastings and everyone else on the squad saw both the flyer and the magazine article.
    Hastings read the magazine and, though he would never admit it, read the profiles of the other “hot” singles as well, men and women. He was then recently divorced and it was before he’d gotten involved with Carol, so he was curious about the singles scene, such as it was. The article wasn’t promising. Many of the women seemed to answer their questionnaires with exclamation points. E.g., “ First thing I notice about someone I’m attracted to : Personality! If you like to laugh and have a great time, you’re a hit in my book!” Women wanting to take hot-air-balloon rides and saying that Selma Blair should play them in a movie. Ay-yi-yi.
    He remembered Judy Chen being one of the singles profiled. Attractive girl still in her twenties. And Hastings had thought then that she was posing in the magazine not because of lack of dates, but more to gain publicity for the news network. And herself. Cute little thing. Had her arms been folded too…?
    *   *   *
    He rode with the FBI agents to the news station. Kubiak and Gabler sat in the front. Hastings sat in the back. The agents didn’t say much and when they did speak it was to each other, as if Hastings were not there. Hastings thought about asking them how long they intended to keep this up, but he doubted it would do any good.
    When they got to the lobby of the station, he stood in the background as the feds presented their credentials to the front desk and said they were here to speak with Judy Chen and the station manager as well. Minutes later they were seated at a conference-room table in a room that had little more than a chamber of commerce seal as decoration.
    Judy Chen and the station manager were seated opposite the law enforcement officers. The station manager was named Kelly Ingle and one of the first things he did was put a videotape on the table and slide it across.
    Agent Craig Kubiak said, “Is that the original?”
    Kelly Ingle said, “Yes.”
    â€œBut you made a copy?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    To Judy Chen, Kubiak said, “And when did you get this?”
    â€œThis morning.”
    Kubiak said, “Tell us about that.”
    She said, “Well, I was getting into my car—I had just gotten into my car and my cell phone rang. I answered it. And this guy said his name was Carl.”
    â€œCarl what?”
    â€œHe didn’t give a last name. He just said Carl.” She said, “I think he said something like, ‘for purposes of this conversation.’ Meaning, Carl wasn’t his real name.”
    Kubiak nodded.
    Judy Chen said, “So he asked me if I knew about Gene Penmark’s daughter being kidnapped.”
    Kubiak said, “Did you?”
    â€œI don’t think I did, then.”
    â€œDid you tell him that?”
    She seemed to think about that for a moment. Then she said, “No. I don’t think I did. I think I said, ‘Who is this?’”
    â€œAnd he said?”
    â€œAnd he said he’d already told me his name was Carl. Then he said, ‘Turn around.’”
    â€œTurn around?”
    â€œYes. Turn around. So I did, and there was the videotape.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œOn my backseat. Well, in a brown bag on my backseat.”
    â€œWhere is that bag now?”
    The lady looked at the station manager and gave him a shrug. “It’s in my car, I guess,” she said.
    Agent Gabler said, “We’re going to need that too, ma’am.”
    Kubiak said, “Then what?”
    Judy Chen said, “Then he said that they had kidnapped Cordelia Penmark. He said that she was alive and he told me to take the tape to the station and play it over the air.”
    Kubiak said, “And that’s what you did?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBefore contacting the police?”
    Hastings noticed the