3 - ‘Come gentle night…’

“I’m not some superhero, damn it.”

“No, but you have a duty to use what is at your command. Just because you’re…” Leif looked Kemp over and shook his head.

“A skinny little fag that really can’t be like you no matter what?”

Leif chuckled in momentary amusement. “I was going to say a nice kid even if you are gay. Kemp, I don’t care that you’re that way. It’s really none of my business. I just…hell I knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later.”

“Getting psychic in your old age?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Actually I guess if I had to choose what I expected to happen, I’d have said you’d run into some punks or skin-heads who would have beaten you to a pulp, or worse, because you weren’t willing to defend yourself. I really didn’t expect anything like this.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t in my day-planner either. At least my ID isn’t valid these days.”

“No shit. But the picture and stats are, and once that goes out over the wires you’re going to have every cop in town looking for you. They’re not sure if you’re a witness or the killer, but either way they want to talk to you.”

“Fuck and double fuck,” Kemp muttered as he thought about that.

“Yeah, so why don’t you let me take you in. Tell my boss what you saw and he’ll have you put in some sort of protective custody until we catch the killers.”

“Wow, do I get a hunky detective to watch over me until that happens, like in the books?”

“No, Kemp, you’ll get me if I have anything to say about it.”

“Oh joy cajole. Like you did such a good job so far.” Kemp chewed his lip as he thought about it and then shook his head. “I’m leaving town.”

“The hell you are! First off, you’re a witness to a murder. Secondly, you have no money, and third, who is going to protect you?”

Kemp countered with, “First, I’ll give you an official statement of what I saw. That should cover the legalities or whatever. Second, I’ll hitch my way to wherever and third—well I’ll just be more careful.”

“And how am I going to explain why I didn’t bring you in with me?”

“You went to the john, I locked you in and ran. Happens all the time in books.”

“Kemp, damn it, this isn’t one of those fucked up stories you bury your nose in. This is real life. It doesn’t work that way.”

Swinging his legs off the side of the bed, barely avoiding kicking his brother in the process, Kemp got up and went in search of something to wear before heading to the bathroom. Looking back over his shoulder he said, “We’ll talk more when I get done in here.”