Devil's Run Read Free Page B

in?”
    “No.”
    “Any
friends or neighbors who might be putting him up?”
    “No.
He has no friends there.”
    “Sounds
like a fun vacation spot. Still, it might be worth checking out.”
    “Colorado
is not relevant to your investigation. You will not bother anyone there.” There
was finality in his tone.
    “You’re
the boss,” I said. “When did you first realize Ken was missing?”
    “Early
November.”
    “November?
My understanding is no one has seen him since October. You didn’t realize he
was gone until November?”
    “He
was three thousand miles away. I was in Florida, on business. As I told you, we
have very separate lives since Cynthia. Ken went back to school during the
summer for what they call the B-Term session, trying to catch up on some
credits. And to, well, I think he had a girlfriend.”
    “Think?”
    “He
never said anything, but the signs were there when I saw him over the summer.
Long phone calls, that sort of thing.”
    “Did
you try to find her when he went missing?”
    “I
wasn’t even sure she existed. How do you find someone without a name?”
    “Did
he make any of those calls on your home phone? Did you examine the bill?”
    Boyd
nodded. “First thing I thought of when I couldn’t reach him. In fact, that’s
how Raviv got involved. I asked him to run the numbers from some of those
calls.”
    “What
did he find?”
    “Nothing.”
    “What
do you mean ‘nothing’?”
    “Raviv
said they were untraceable. Throwaway phones. Burners, he called them. Said you
can buy them at any drugstore.”
    Raviv
hadn’t mentioned that little tidbit. “Didn’t that strike you as odd?”
    “It
did, at first, but Raviv told me they are fairly popular with kids now as a
second line.”
    “Not
to mention terrorists and drug dealers. Any chance Ken was doing drugs? Dealers
use burner phones.”
    “No.
I can say that with certainty. Besides, what good would it do to call a drug
dealer three thousand miles away?”
    “You
have a point.”
    Boyd
looked at his watch again. “Anything else?”
    “Yes.
Why Raviv?”
    The
question surprised him. “What do you mean?”
    “Why
have us look into this?” I waved my hand. “This firm must use investigators all
the time. You must have security people on retainer. I'm a little curious why
you're going outside.”
    “That's
hardly your concern.”
    “I'm
making it my concern. I like to know where I stand.”
    He
pursed his lips and stared at me. I stared right back.
    Finally,
he said: “This is a private matter. I'm involved in some very delicate
negotiations right now and I prefer not to involve anyone connected to the
firm. Raviv and I have become friends, and he has been very generous to my
charities. I know what he does, so I discussed it with him. He agreed to handle
it and assured me of your complete discretion, that you would not discuss this
with anyone.”
    “I
have no one to discuss it with, which is probably what he meant. However, who
my client is will be fairly easy to deduce, since I’m looking for your son.”
    “Do
what you can to be discreet. As far as this firm is concerned, you are my
client.”
    “Okay.
Raviv said you have some authorizations for me.”
    Boyd
came out from behind the bar and went back to his desk. I stood in front of it
while he pulled a manila envelope out of the top drawer and handed it across to
me.
    “That's
a notarized authorization to examine his personal belongings. Don’t use it
unless you absolutely have to. There's also a spare key to the van. I'm sorry,
but I don't have a key to his dorm room.”
    “If
it's a typical dorm room that won't be a problem.” I examined the
authorization. “Ken is no longer a minor. This may not fly.”
    “If
you run into any insurmountable problems, the campus police will get a phone
call from a prominent local politician.”
    I
glanced up at him. His expression was carefully neutral.
    “Alrighty,
then.” I pulled out a business card and tossed it on the