He played a short tape advertising a local funeral home and then came back on the air.
"Tonight I'm going to do something different from usual. Most other nights, I take the calls. Tonight I'm about to make one, a very important one for me, and you're going to listen in. It's long distance, all the way to Ohio."
He dialed. After three rings, a sleepy voice answered the telephone. "This is Hank Snodway," it mumbled.
"Mr. Snodway, this is Scott Forsmo in Indianapolis."
"Yeah? What do you want, Scott? It's after midnight."
"You told me to call you any time I made up my mind about your offer, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember." Snodway was beginning to sound much more awake and very interested.
"Well, I've decided. If the offer's still open, I'm ready to come work for KRAY in Cincinnati."
"You bet the offer's still open, Scott. When can you come over and sign the contract?"
"How about tomorrow morning?"
"Terrific. We'll look for you. The contract will be drawn up by the time you get here."
"Thank you, Mr. Snodway, and good night." He hung up the phone.
Scott turned to the microphone and spoke. "There you have it, boys and girls. You just witnessed a very real and exciting part of old Scotty's wild and fast moving life. What do you think about it? Call in and let me know. It's your last chance."
When a brief respite finally came, he said, "I'm going to have to make another change in our usual schedule tonight, Friends. There should be a gorgeous redhead waiting for me downstairs right about now with the motor running… both hers and her car's. I'm about to join her there for the quick trip down the freeway to Cincinnati. So this is good-bye. By way of a last treat, though, I have some very special, once in a lifetime listening for you. Here it is."
Scott left the studio, locking the door behind him. It would take whoever came rushing down a little while to find the right key to open it, and that would give the incriminating tape just that much longer to play. By the time it was finished, Ransberg would be totally discredited, both with his station and his father-in-law. He would never harm anyone again.
Scott jumped into Rona's car. The radio was playing, and the girl was sitting there as though she were hypnotized, listening to herself being raped by her employer.
"Where… how did you?" she asked, her voice choked with disbelief.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it on the way to Cincinnati."
"But what if everybody hears it and knows it's me?"
"Don't worry about that I spent a lot of time editing this afternoon. There's nothing of your voice on the tape any more other than a few very lewd groans. There's plenty of Ransberg, though. The part where he mentions his wife and his father-in-law is really worth listening to. I predict KSZX will have a new manager by the time business hours start on Monday morning."
"I wonder how welcome I'll be by then," Rona said with a sigh.
Scott reached over and took her hand. "Listen, Babe, and I mean this. You don't have to go back there at all if you don't want to. Stay with me in Cincinnati."
"You mean move in with you, Scott?"
"If that's what you want. I was thinking of something a little bit more permanent than just moving in with me."
Rona looked at him, startled. "Are you asking me to marry you?"
Scott chuckled. "I guess so. Keep your eyes on the road, though, or they'll have to perform the ceremony in the hospital."
"I don't know, Scott. This is awfully sudden." Rona clutched the steering wheel, her eyes on the highway.
"Don't rush yourself, Babe. You got all weekend to decide. Let me help." He slid over close to her in the seat and put his hand on her right knee.
"Don't do that, Scott. Not while I'm driving." She said it, but the tone of her voice told him she did not want him to stop.