A special thank you to jpstar57 for the assistance with uploading and editing, which I was trying to stumble through to fix some of these errors. Thank you everyone for all the encouragement, you r emails, story alerts, & favorites have made my day.
Lyn
Chapter Three
"No sir, Josh emailed me, approximately four months ago, but that was the only contact that I have had with him for eight, almost nine years," Harm explained; his mind still reeling from the accusations. "But sir it was only one email and Josh would be considered an adult now. I still don't understand, and I certainly under no circumstance interfered with the custody of a child."
General Cresswell and the SecNav exchanged looks.
"And what was the content of this email?" Cresswell asked attempting to get to the bottom of the dilemma.
"Josh emailed me about applying for the Naval Academy. He asked if I would be a reference for him and assist him. I explained that I would be glad to help and I would send a letter of recommendation to the academy in his name. But I also knew that his mother would not be thrilled with his decision to join the navy, so I encouraged him to talk this over with his mother." Harm supplied.
"And how would you know that Mrs. Harrison would not want her son, Joshua to join the navy?" the SecNav pounced his interested piqued.
After a slight hesitation Harm replied, "Mrs. . . Harrison's first husband, Lieutenant Luke Pendry, was killed when his F-14 crashed. Luke and I were best friends. She . . . she didn't want to lose Josh the way she lost Luke, sir."
"Some how I think there is more to this, then you are telling us Captain," the SecNav accused, again exchanging a knowing look with General Cresswell.
"With all due respect, sir," Harm added softly, avoiding eye contact with either superior.
"When was this email received?" Cresswell interrupted any further exchange.
"It was approximately. . . four months ago, I deleted it after I replied. . . although, Lieutenant Roberts might be able to retrieve it. Is he still here, sir?" Harm asked.
"I'm sure he's still in his office, especially when he heard you were coming captain," Cresswell added, as he pushed the proper extension.
"Lieutenant Robert's, if you are not busy, could you come to my office?" Cresswell asked into the intercom. Then to the SecNav he said, "he should be here in a minute," following the affirmation.
"Sir, I think I might be able to pin the date down a little further, if I may?" Captain Rabb asked the general holding up his cell. Cresswell nodded his approval. Harm dialed the phone, and listened to it ring several times.
"Harm . . . is everything okay? What did they want?" came the sleepy response.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sorry to wake you. I'll try to explain everything later. Can you remember when Josh Pendry emailed me for the recommendation for the Naval Academy? . . . It's important," Harm asked, looking up to see General Cresswell watching him closely, as he slowly paced back in forth with the phone to his ear.
"Yeah, it was just before Halloween. Yawn, Ummm, Connor had his four month checkup at the pediatricians that day, Friday the 27th," Mac mumbled, as she attempted to stifle another yawn.
"You're sure it was Friday the 27th of October?" Harm confirmed, looking up and meeting General Cresswell's eyes again.
"Yes, I'm very sure, remember you left work for an early lunch and met me at the doctor's office. I'm sure that you told me Josh had emailed you, while we were sitting in the waiting room before the appointment."
"How can you remember all that stuff? On second thought, never mind, thanks for the help. I'll call you later and explain," Harm added softly, aware all eyes in the room were on him.
"Did you get any sleep on the flight?" she asked.
"I'm alright; I dozed off for almost an hour towards the end of the flight. You get some sleep, I'm sorry I woke you. I'll call you later, I promise," he added.
"Bye . . . remember you promised," she quickly added as she disconnected the call.
Harm closed the phone and put it back in his jacket pocket, just as a knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," Cresswell commanded.
"Lieutenant Roberts reporting, sir," Bud offered at attention.
"At ease Lieutenant," Cresswell ordered.
"Captain," Lieutenant Bud Roberts said grinning as he turned toward Harm.
"Lieutenant," Harm said as he extended his hand and shook Bud's. "I need your help. I'm hoping you can retrieve two emails from my naval account; the first was received on Friday October the 27th, from Josh Pendry, and the second was my response which was sent later the same afternoon or early evening. Both were accessed on the computer in my London office. Will that be a problem?" Rabb inquired.
"Not if you give me your sign in, I should be able to pull up both emails from the naval servers." Roberts responded confidently.
"Lieutenant, you can use my computer," Cresswell offered pointing to the computer to the left side of his desk as he vacated his chair.
"Yes, sir," Bud responded with a sideward glance at Harm as he stepped behind the general's desk.
Harm supplied him with his sign on information and Bud immediately went to work rapidly tapping keys on the keyboard. After a few minutes, Bud looked up from the computer, "Is this the email, sir?"
Harm walked over behind Bud "Yes, that is the email from Josh, can you bring up the reply?"
"Yes it should be right here," Bud smiled as he pulled the other email up on the monitor.
"Bud can you check to see if I have any recent emails while you're in my account, maybe Josh sent another one since I last checked today?" Harm asked.
"Sure," the Lieutenant replied as his fingers went to work. "No I'm sorry there's no other messages from him, sir."
"If you printed both of the earlier emails Lieutenant, then you are dismissed," Cresswell ordered bluntly.
Harm again felt the tension in the room increase, he back stepped and walked around to stand in front of the general's desk.
The Lieutenant handed the pages to the general, "Aye, aye sir." He clicked his heels together, executed an about face and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Cresswell studied the emails and then handed them to the SecNav. He again locked eyes with Harm, who stood at parade rest awaiting more questions. The silence in the room grew until finally Harm spoke, "General, the only contact I had with Josh was the emails that you now have. And I also wrote a letter of recommendation. It is in a file in my office in London. I had also contacted Captain Brandt at the Naval Academy; he was to notify me when Josh applied. I was hoping that Josh would work everything out with his mother, obviously that didn't happen."
"Captain is there anything else that you would like to tell me, before we delve into this mess further," Cresswell asked sternly.
"General, I really don't know what you want me to say sir." Harm was experiencing that sour, sinking feel in his gut again, something about this was definitely not right.
"Joshua Pendry has been missing since Tuesday night. And in case you failed to notice the snow and freezing temperatures outside, I will remind you, Captain," Cresswell snapped.
"Josh is a pretty smart kid, and he is I'm sure, fairly able to take care of himself. . . Although, he did in the past seem to have a knack of finding trouble," Harm admitted grudgingly. Silence overtook the room again. Slowly glanced at both men before he began to speak again, "I want to help find Josh. I will do everything in my power. He's a good kid, really. I owe his father. But I still don't understand what it is exactly, that you want from me, sir."
"You are correct Joshua is an adult. And you want to help, that's good. But unfortunately, we not only have Joshua to worry about, but also his little sister. The Harrisons are accusing you of being in contact with Joshua and have encouraged him to leave, possibly even the country with his younger sister," Cresswell offered.