Nightmare Time by Hugh Pentecost

allowed to go to him.”
    “You’ll prevent it?” Gary asked. He wasn’t amused any longer.
    Chambrun turned to Jerry Dodd. “See if you can locate Lieutenant Hardy and get him up here, Jerry.” Then, back to Gary, “The abduction of the Willises is connected with a murder—one of the elevator operators. You, in your role as Father Callahan, were obviously involved in trying to get the boy away from here, an act connected to that crime. Homicide may very well want to hold you as an accessory to a killing.”
    “How many times do I have to tell you that I am not ‘Father Callahan,’ nor did I ever pretend to be?”
    “So far we have three witnesses who say you are or pretended to be a priest, and I may be able to produce two more,” Chambrun said. “Whatever your game is, you’ve lost it, Gary. Why not decide to make a deal for yourself, possibly immunity, by telling the truth?”
    Zachary turned impatiently away from the window where he’d been standing, listening. “You know a man named Alexander Romanov?” he asked Gary.
    “Never heard of him. Who is he?”
    “He’s a Russian portrait painter who is probably right in the center of all this mess,” Zachary said. “Were you working with him? Were you trying to get the boy away so that Romanov could use him to force his father to spill what he knows?”
    “All of you should be collaborating on a television soap opera,” Gary said. “I’ve never heard of your Russian painter. I never laid eyes on this boy until you brought me up here just now, no matter what he says, no matter what his dreams are.”
    “Once more, Mark,” Chambrun said to me.
    “This is the man I saw in the Blue Lagoon with Guy early this morning. He introduced himself to me as ‘Father Callahan.’ He said he’d been a chaplain in the Air Force in Vietnam and that Major Willis was an old friend from war days. He’d stopped in at the Blue Lagoon to hear Duke Hines play the piano. By chance he heard Guy report to Mr. Cardoza that his parents were missing. He said he wanted to take the boy under his wing as a favor to an old friend.”
    “He tried to drag me away,” the boy said, “and I could feel the gun he was wearing in a shoulder holster.”
    Gary shook his head. “I’ve heard of freak cases where there were two people, unconnected or related, who looked exactly alike. That must be what’s happened here.”
    “Same voice. Same speech pattern,” I said. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind.
    There was a moment of silence, and then Jerry Dodd spoke to Chambrun. “I’d better get back to what’s going on downstairs, Boss. What do you want done with this character?”
    You could almost hear Chambrun’s brain clicking as he worked on a decision. “Penthouse Number Three is unoccupied,” he said finally. Number Three was reserved for special U.N. big shots, and I happened to know it was being held for some British dignitaries due to arrive the following day. “Take Mr. Gary over there and lock him in,” Chambrun went on. “When I have time, I’ll visit you, Gary, and let you know exactly what your situation is.”
    “My situation is fairly obvious,” Gary said. “I’m being illegally held prisoner. That is going to cost you the biggest lawsuit you ever heard of, Chambrun. Do I use that phone to make my one call?”
    “I’ve changed my mind about that,” Chambrun said. “There’ll be no outgoing calls while this crisis persists.”
    “And when you find there isn’t any bomb?”
    “The bomb isn’t the crisis I’m talking about,” Chambrun said. His voice was scary cold. “A friend of mine and his wife are being held prisoner, probably worked over, threatened, tortured. The most precious lady in my life is in the same boat. I think you know where they are, Gary. ‘Father Callahan’ was supposed to take the boy to his parents, wasn’t he? So, when you decide to tell me where they are, and if we find them safe and in one piece, I may turn you