The Other Side of Silence by Bill Pronzini Read Free Book Online Page A

crap. The judge saw through it and gave me full custody.”
    “What was Spicer’s reaction?”
    “None at first. He didn’t make a scene or bother me afterward. But he had visitation rights, one weekend a month—there wasn’t anything I could do about that. The first few weekends, he brought Kevin home when he was supposed to. Then the last time he didn’t. He’d packed up and left, without a word to the landlord or anybody else. The police found his car later, abandoned, in El Cajon. If he bought another one, he must have done it under a different name.”
    “Or had someone buy it for him,” Fallon said. “What about his friends?”
    “He didn’t have any, at least none that I knew about. Just casual acquaintances, almost all of them musicians.” She paused and then said, “Eddie Sparrow.”
    “Who’s he?”
    “A trumpet player Court worked with once. That’s how Sam Ulbrich managed to trace Court to Las Vegas—Eddie Sparrow.”
    Ulbrich had found out that Sparrow was playing with a jazz band at a club off the Vegas Strip, and gone there to interview him. Sparrow told him he’d run into Spicer at a private jam session the weekend before last, but hadn’t talked to him and didn’t know where he was living.
    Fallon asked, “The club where Sparrow’s working—what’s it called?”
    It took her a little time, but she dredged the name out of her memory. The Hot Licks Club.
    “All right. Can you think of anyone Spicer might know in Vegas besides Eddie Sparrow?”
    “No.”
    “Did he ever take you to Vegas?”
    “No.”
    “Go there by himself?”
    “The trio he was with had a four-week gig there once.”
    “When was that?”
    “A few years ago.” She paused. “You know, it was right before he came into all that extra money.”
    “So the money may have come from some source in Vegas. Did he go back there after that?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “Did Ulbrich check with the musicians’ union to find out if Spicer’s working there now?”
    “Yes. Court’s union card is still valid, but they wouldn’t give out any information about him.”
    Fallon said, “Okay. Now tell me about Kevin.”
    “Tell you what? Except for his asthma, he’s just a normal boy.”
    “How bad is the asthma? Does he need to see a specialist?”
    “No. Any doctor can prescribe his medication.”
    “How do you think he reacted to being taken by his father?”
    “Scared and bewildered. How else?”
    “Would he try to run away if he had the chance?”
    “No.”
    “You sound pretty sure of that.”
    “He’s always been cowed by Court. Afraid of him. If he tried to run and Court caught him . . . No, he wouldn’t do that.”
    Fallon asked about the boy’s interests. Sports, outdoor activities?
    “Well, he’s not good at team games. He’s quiet, shy, he doesn’t make friends easily. He’d rather read fantasy books like The Hobbit and play video games than anything else.”
    “Good with computers?”
    “Like all kids these days. But Court knows that. He wouldn’t let Kevin near a computer by himself.”
    Fallon nodded. He let a few seconds pass before he said, “This isn’t going to be easy for you, but now I need to know about Banning.”
    Her eyes slanted away again; he could see her steeling herself.
    “You’re sure you never saw him before that day in the motel?”
    “Positive,” she said.
    “Never heard his voice before?”
    “No. It was deep, growly . . . I’d remember if I had.”
    “What exactly did he say to you on the phone?”
    “He’d heard that I was looking for my son and ex-husband, that he knew Court and knew where they were living and he’d tell me for two thousand dollars. Bring the money to Las Vegas and he’d meet me and when I paid him, he’d tell me where to find them.”
    “Did he say how he knew Spicer?”
    “He said he’d tell me when he saw me.”
    “Did he use Sam Ulbrich’s name?”
    “No. Why should he?”
    “No reason, unless he got your number from