“Dammit, Kirk. Pick it up.” Steve looked startled. “If it’s the bad guys see what you can find out. If not, figure out what the hell just happened.” It was good advice.
“Hello?” I answered. I tried to sound confident and not rattled. From the look Steve gave me, I didn’t do so well at it.
“Kirk?” It was Bradley’s mom’s voice. “I just wanted to check on you guys. I know. I know, I…” The sound of sobbing came through the phone.
“Mrs. Gartin. I’m so sorry.” And I was. I had seen her son get murdered and then skipped town without contacting his family. I didn’t want to know what the police had said. I just hoped they had shown some modicum of sympathy and respect. Then again, I had been in jail twenty four hours previous and I wasn’t feeling very optimistic on that count. “I know we didn’t get to where you were. Steve’s really freaking out. I had to run him in for some psychiatric treatment, but his insurance sucks so I took him out to Common Ground in Pontiac. It’s run by the county so he’ll be able to get treatment there without breaking the bank.” Just like his best friend once upon a time. Vampire fighting is a rough business and it would track if anyone had seen what direction we were travelling when we drove away/
“I can imagine.” Her voice held true sympathy. I tried not to think about the fact that I had just lied to her. “It couldn’t have been easy living through a freak explosion like that. How did you and Steve make it out? Weren’t you standing by my Bradley?”