Homecoming - Christie Golden [76]
For the first time, it occurred to her that something [226] might be wrong. She’d simply assumed Harry had gotten engrossed in something and lost track of the time, but she hadn’t seen his sheepish face on the screen when she tried to contact him.
She put a call through to the Green Dragon. Wang’s face appeared and he looked as if he were treading on eggshells.
“Hi, Mr. Wang. Harry didn’t show up there by any chance?”
Wang shook his graying head. “No, Miss Webber. No sign of him. You know I’d have let him contact you if he had been here.”
“Yes, of course you would, I should have thought of that. Well, if he does show, I’ll want to talk to him.”
Wang grinned. “I’m sure you will.”
Next, Libby tried Harry’s parents. Maybe one of them had taken ill. Harry was nothing if not a good son. As was their wont, both the Kims’ faces appeared. They always did things together.
“Libby, dear! What a surprise!” said Mrs. Kim.
“It is so good to see you!” enthused Mr. Kim, as if she and Harry hadn’t had dinner with them four nights ago.
“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Kim. I’m so sorry to be bothering you so late, but I was wondering, is Harry with you?”
Immediately she knew she’d said the wrong thing. Their lined faces filled with concern.
“No, dear, we thought he was with you. Going out to the Green Dragon. It was so sweet of you to get [227] reservations in the midst of this dreadful strike, I can’t imagine that Harry would forget,” said Mr. Kim.
“Something’s wrong,” said Mrs. Kim with conviction. “Something terrible has happened. I know it.”
Anxious to calm them, Libby smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand and laughed. “Silly me! Tonight was when he was playing poker with his friends from Voyager,” she lied. “Tomorrow is when we were supposed to go to the Green Dragon. I can’t believe I got the dates confused.” She smiled radiantly. “I guess I was just so looking forward to dinner at the restaurant that I wanted it to be a day sooner than it was.”
Mr. Kim smiled indulgently. “Young people are just too eager,” he chastised gently. “Good things are worth waiting for, not rushing.”
“Harry plays poker?” said Mrs. Kim, frowning. “I’m not at all sure I approve of him gambling.”
Libby realized that she’d just gotten Harry into some hot water, but better that than panicking his parents.
“Well, it’s late,” she said, faking a yawn. “Sorry to have disturbed you.”
“Never a bother, my dear,” said Mr. Kim sweetly.
“You tell Harry that I’m going to talk to him about this bad habit of his,” Harry’s mother warned.
“I will. Good night.” She smiled broadly. The grin ebbed the minute their faces disappeared from the viewscreen.
Harry hadn’t shown up at the restaurant. He wasn’t home and his parents thought he was with her.
Although Mrs. Kim worried too much about her son, Libby was beginning to think she was right. Something [228] had happened to Harry. And she was going to find out what.
Director Covington seemed surprised and more than a trifle annoyed to receive Libby’s message.
“I’m two minutes away from a very important meeting, Agent Webber. Can this wait?”
“No,” said Libby firmly, startling them both with her determination. “Harry’s gone missing. I can’t contact him anywhere.”
Covington smiled slightly. “Sometimes men don’t want to be found by their girlfriends,” she said, gently.
Libby shook her dark head, and her curls bobbed vigorously with the movement.
“Not Harry. He’s not like that. I also tried to contact his friends, people like Tom Paris and Lyssa Campbell. No one knows where any of them is. I was wondering if something was going on.”
“Oh,” said Covington. Then, as her pale gold brows drew together, “Oh. Agent Webber, I want you to be able to view this meeting.” Her long fingers flew. “Admiral Montgomery is coming here in just a few moments, and I think you’d better be present, as it were. My little fly on the wall.”
“Do you think—Oh my God, Montgomery isn’t kidnapping people? Why? What does Harry have to do with Voyager’s technology? Do you think he and the others stumbled