Safe Harbor - 13

"Another body was found in a pond, just like the others."

Kurt sighed deeply at Daniel’s words. "Male or female?"

"Male. The presumption is it’s your kid Scooter, but we need someone to ID it."

"Meaning me." His hand tightened on the phone. "Do you want me to meet you at the morgue?" When Daniel indicated he did Kurt told him he’d be there in twenty minutes.

Daniel met him at the morgue entrance, taking him down to the viewing room. Although he had been to the morgue before Kurt was still surprised by the fact it smelled no worse than the average hospital or nursing home. He shivered a bit though from the chill, and kicked himself for not remembering to bring a light jacket. When they got to the viewing room an attendant on the other side of the window brought out the body.

Kurt’s breath hissed in between his teeth, shocked at the damage he saw to the face, although it wasn’t enough to totally obliterate who he was. "That’s Scooter. Is the rest of him..?"

"Just as bad. Someone had themselves a field day beating and torturing him."

"Dear God. I hope he was unconscious long before they finished."

"Me too, although somehow I doubt it."

With Kurt having identified Scooter, although he didn’t know his real name, Daniel said they could leave. Kurt held up a hand, stepping up to the window, knowing it was as close as he could get to the young man now. Bowing his head he said a prayer of thanksgiving for Scooter’s life, then with a softly murmured ‘Amen’ he rejoined Daniel.

Once they were back outside the building Kurt took a deep breath. "Find the bastards who did that to him, Daniel."

"We will. I just hope we can before another kid has to go through what he did, because unfortunately, these men seem to be getting more vicious with each murder."

"I’ve talked to the kids who were at the shelter and they’re going to warn anyone they run into. Of course whether they actually listen is another question."

"The problem is, even if they do and then these men try to approach one of them, what will they do? Somehow I don’t see a street kid stopping a real police officer to tell him what happened."

Kurt nodded. "You never know but at least they won’t become the next victim."

"If we just had a description, even a partial one…"

"I know. Believe me I’ll keep my ears open in case any of the kids do have a run-in with the men. They’re more likely to tell me or someone at another shelter. Speaking of which, I have let the people at the other shelters know as well." Kurt smiled a bit. "You have a large network watching for the bastards, so with any luck at all you’ll get your descriptions."