Allyn and Ransom – 21

 

By evening, Allyn was truly worried. He'd called Liam almost every half hour, getting no answer.

 

Where the hell are you? I know you well enough to know you're not still shacking up with someone, cute or not. It's not your style.

 

Finally, Allyn took the bit in his teeth and called Ransom at the station house. It took a few minutes to get transferred to him and when he was, Ransom's first words were, "You're backing out of dinner tomorrow."

 

"No," Allyn replied. "This has nothing to do with dinner. Okay, maybe I'm being paranoid, but a friend of mine who went to the film festival party seems to be missing. Well, I don't know that he is but he hasn't answered his phone all day, which isn't like him."

 

"Does this friend have a name?"

 

"Yeah. Liam Kavanagh, with a K."

 

"Address?"

 

Allyn rattled it off.

 

There was a pause, during which Allyn figured Ransom was writing down the information. Then Ransom asked, a bit waspishly, "Is he the one you told me about? The one you're sleeping with?"

 

Gritting his teeth, Allyn replied, "Yes. I told you, though it's only a casual thing. Remember?"

 

"Yeah." There was a tapping sound before Ransom said, "Describe him."

 

"Five eleven, dark blond hair, blue eyes, slim, but in good shape. Hell, I've got a photo of him if you want."

 

"I want. Email it to me—the sooner the better."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Sorry," Ransom said. "I'm beat and grumpy."

 

"I can tell. Do you want to cancel for tomorrow so you can get some rest?"

 

"Not at all. Even if I decide to work—to follow up on your Mr. Kavanagh—I still want to have dinner with you."

 

"Do you… Could he be a victim of the kidnapper?"

 

"Anything is possible, I'm afraid. The situation is the same. Thornton and Daniels, the two officers covering the film festival party, didn't see anything that triggered their suspicions. But if Kavanagh—"

 

"Liam."

 

"Okay, if Liam was taken after he left, say on the way to his car… What does he drive?"

 

"A 2014 Aston Martin Vantage S. Dark green."

 

"I'll have someone check the lots in the vicinity of the Board of Trade building where they held the party. See if his car is anywhere in the area. That will tell us if he left on his own—in which case he's probably fine and just too busy to answer his phone—or if he left with someone. Even then…"

 

"I know. It could have been by his own volition. But…" Allyn was tempted to tell him Liam always answered his calls, but knew that wouldn't be true if Liam had gone home with someone who piqued his interest. After all, in spite of our relationship, he's no saint.

 

"Don't worry," Ransom said quietly. "We'll find your friend."

 

"I'm sure you said the same thing to people who were worried about the other missing people."

 

"True. Do you know how to get hold of Liam's family?"

 

"There's only his father, and they're estranged, so no."

 

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him?"

 

Allyn thought for a moment. "He does have a habit of dressing a bit over-the-top, even when he's in formal wear. So knowing him, his tux might have been flashy, or he'd have accented it with something off the wall."

 

"Says the man who was wearing a blue tux to the ballet gala," Ransom replied with a low chuckle.

 

"Believe me, next to Liam, that was nothing." Allyn sighed. "Just…find him if you can."

 

"We're going to try to. Get the picture you have and send it to me, ASAP. I'll show it to my team. Hopefully, when Thornton and Daniels see it, they'll remember him and maybe recall him leaving, and when."

 

"Among hundreds of other people?" Allyn asked doubtfully.

 

"We can only hope."

 

"Yeah. Okay, I'll let you go and shoot you the photo."

 

"All right. I'll call if we find out anything—and either way, I'll see you tomorrow night."