“You mean, aside from him breakin’ his promise to me?” King replied with a hint of annoyance. “Aside from him takin’ my money and disappearin’?”
“For argument’s sake.”
“Well, the part of the world he’s in can be a tad hairy sometimes.”
“And that is?” Remi asked.
“Nepal.”
“Pardon? You said—”
“Yep. Last I heard, he was in Kathmandu. Sort of a backwater burg, but it can be tough if you ain’t got your wits about you.”
Sam asked, “Who else knows about this?”
“A handful of folk.”
“Frank’s wife?”
King shook his head, took a sip of whiskey. He screwed up his face. “Zee!”
Zhilan was at his side five seconds later. “Yes, Mr. King?”
He handed her the tumbler. “Ice is meltin’ too fast. Get rid of it.”
“Yes, Mr. King.”
And then she was gone again.
Scowling, King watched her walk away, then turned back to the Fargos. “Sorry, you were sayin’?”
“Have you told Frank’s wife?”
“Didn’t know he had one. He didn’t give me emergency contact info. Besides, why worry her? For all I know, Alton’s taken up with some Oriental woman and is gallivantin’ around down there on my dime.”
“Frank Alton wouldn’t do that,” Remi said.
“Maybe, maybe not.”
“Have you contacted the Nepalese government?” asked Sam. “Or the American embassy in Kathmandu?”
King gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Backward, all of ’em. And corrupt—the locals, that is. As for the embassy idea, I considered it, but I ain’t got the months it would take for them to get their butts in gear. I’ve got my own people on the ground there workin’ on another project, but they ain’t got the time to spend on this. And, like I said, you two have got a reputation for findin’ what other folks can’t.”
Sam said, “First of all, Charlie, people aren’t things. Second, hunting for missing persons isn’t our specialty.” King opened his mouth to speak, but Sam raised his hand and went on: “That said, Frank’s a good friend, so of course we’ll go.”
“Fantastic!” King slapped his knee. “Let’s talk nuts and bolts: how much is this gonna cost me?”
Sam grinned. “We’re going to assume you’re kidding.”
“About money? Never.”
“Because he’s a good friend, we’ll foot the bill,” Remi said with a little edge to her voice. “We’ll need all the information you can give us.”
“Zee’s already put together a file. She’ll give it to you on the way out.”
“Give us the condensed version,” Sam said.
“It’s a bit of a wheels-within-wheels situation,” King said. “I hired Alton to hunt down someone who’d disappeared in the same region.”