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you.”
    “This is not going to be easy on any of us, Irene. We have to respond to what has happened in a number of ways, looking at a variety of possibilities.”
    “ ‘Variety of possibilities.’ By that you mean Frank may be dead, he may be hurt, he may be—”
    “I am going to remain hopeful,” he interrupted, “and assume that Frank is a hostage and that whoever has him has nothing to gain by harming him. If so, sooner or later, someone will make an offer.” He paused, then added, “Hostage negotiations are tricky. You know that from your own days on the crime beat. Cassidy is good at what he does, but we’ll need your trust and cooperation.”
    I thought of the many times I had witnessed Bredloe’s intervention on Frank’s behalf. More than once I had seen his personal concern for the people who worked for him. I didn’t want to lie to him, so I said, “I trust you. I’ll try to cooperate whenever I’m given any reasonable request.”
    He smiled. “You phrase that so cautiously. Well, right now, you need to be cautious.” He opened his car door and started to get in.
    “Captain Bredloe—”
    He waited.
    “I
have
covered hostage situations. I learned a few things. A group or an individual who takes a cop hostage is likely to be playing for high stakes. If they want to exchange Frank for a prisoner, or ransom, you’re not going to meet their demands.”
    “You can’t think about this in those terms—”
    “I’m trusting you, remember? The truth.”
    He drew in a deep breath and sighed. “No.”
    “I didn’t think so.”
    “Irene, Cassidy has a very high rate of success—”
    “None of the hostages were cops, were they? The guy has saved bank tellers, right? I mean, that’s great, that’s important. But he hasn’t ever been in this situation, right?”
    He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Right.”
    “And you can’t give in at all in this case, because you can’t run the risk that every twisted son of a bitch who watches the nightly news will get the idea that kidnapping cops is a rewarding occupation, right?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “Damn it to hell,” I said, and turned away.
     
     
    Jack returned just as Bredloe was starting his car.
    “When you get back into the house,” I said in a whisper, “take Rachel aside and tell her I’m going down to the paper.”
    “What?”
    “I can’t stay here, doing nothing. I’ve got friends at the
Press-Enterprise
in Riverside. I’m going to call them from the office, try to find out what’s going on out there.”
    “Irene—”
    “Please, Jack! I need someone to be here in case Frank calls — someone he can trust. Rachel may have to leave, and besides, I don’t want to put her in the position of getting Pete in trouble. This way, she can honestly say she had no idea I was going to leave.”
    “I don’t like this,” he said. “Call me as soon as you get to the paper, let me know you got there safely.”
    I got into my car. “Thanks, Jack. Sack out in the guest room if you get tired.”
    “How long are you going to be gone?” he asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    He made some sort of additional protest, but I didn’t really hear what he was saying. I had started the noisy Karmann Ghia. I whipped out of the driveway, hoping I’d be at the end of the street before Detective Thomas Cassidy could figure out that I’d left.
     
4
     
    T RAFFIC WAS SPARSE at just after two in the morning, so even though I wasn’t as careful as I usually am when I’m driving near closing time, I noticed the car that was following me. I wasn’t exactly sure when the dark sedan had first appeared, but by the time I was within a few blocks of the paper, there was no doubt in my mind that I was being tailed. I tried to get a better look at my pursuer, but when I slowed he slowed. I couldn’t make out the color of the car, let alone who was in it.
    I made a series of unnecessary turns, cut through the parking lot of the downtown senior center, and turned