“No, I don’t do that too much these days.”

“How’s your hand?”

“It’ll be fine.” He rubbed his arms. “That was a stroke of luck…hurting my hand. No way I could have gotten an audition with Nicholas Mark. He’s got a waiting list for students that stretches to the moon.”

“You must have impressed him.”

“I don’t know how. I made mistakes. Probably fewer than if I knew he’d been listening.” He drew his knees up to his chin. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.” Decker sat down. “What’s up?”

“You know that I did talk to Chris on Tuesday. I was reluctant to tell you everything because I promised him I wouldn’t tell you about the conversation until three days later. He wanted time to get out of L.A.”

Decker paused. “And that’s what he said? He needed time to get out of L.A.?”

“More or less. You probably think he’s gone into hiding. I think he was trying to shake you off so he could find my mom without you bugging him.”

Decker was quiet.

“Anyway. You can look at my stuff. All the bank and phone records. I don’t care. I kept my promise to him and my conscience is clear. Maybe now I can fall asleep.”

“As long as we’re on this topic…I spoke to a security guard from the hotel today. He had a lot to say about your mother and father.”

“You mean about the fight?”

“So you know about it.”

“Chris told me. He said it was a bad one. He said you’d find out about it. He swore to me that Mom was alive when he left.”

“And you believe him?”

“Yes, I do. Chris also told me that he offered the guy some money and the guy took it. So how reliable could he be if he was bribable?”

“The guard felt guilty about it. He gave it back to me. I think his account is pretty reliable.” Decker chose his words carefully. “But he did tell me a few things about your mom that makes me wonder if Chris is telling the truth or not. The security guard told me that your mother looked more mad than scared when he interrupted them.”

“Mad or upset?”

“Mad as in angry, which is the word he used. Your mom was angry at the guard for barging in on their argument. And it does sound like a bad fight. He heard your dad call your mom a lying bitch and he heard your mom call your dad crazy and paranoid. The point I’m making is that your mom didn’t look scared to the guard.”

“That’s odd…” Gabe licked his lips. “Chris was under the impression that he had scared the shit out of her.”

“He told you that?”

Gabe nodded.