Out There in the Darkness Read Free

him.   I was scared, too.
    â€œWhat the hell are you guys doing?”
    â€œJust calm down, Papa Bear,” Mike said.   That’s his name for me whenever he wants to convey to people that I’m kind of this old fuddy-duddy.   It so happens that Mike is two years older than I am and it also happens that I’m not a fuddy-duddy.   Jan has assured me of that, and she’s completely impartial.
    â€œKnock off the Papa Bear bullshit.   Did you call the cops?”
    â€œNot yet,” Neil said.   “Just calm down a little, all right?”
    â€œYou haven’t called the cops.   You’ve got some guy tied up and gagged in my basement.   You haven’t even asked how Bob is.   And you want me to calm down.”
    Mike came up to me, then.   He still had that air of pit-bull craziness about him, frantic, uncontrollable, alien.
    â€œWe’re going to do what the cops can’t do, man,” he said.   “We’re going to sweat this son of a bitch.   We’re going to make him tell us who he was with tonight, and then we’re going to make him give us every single name of every single bad guy who works this neighborhood.   And then we’ll turn all the names over to the cops.”
    â€œIt’s just an extension of the Patrol,” Neil said.   “Just keeping our neighborhood safe is all.”
    â€œYou guys are nuts,” I said, and turned back toward the steps.   “I’m going up and calling the cops.”
    That’s when I realized just how crazed Mike was.   “You aren’t going anywhere, man.   You’re going to stay here and help us break this bastard down. You’re going to do your goddamned neighborhood duty .”
    He’d grabbed my sleeve so hard that he’d torn it at the shoulder.   We both discovered this at the same time.
    I expected him to look sorry.   He didn’t.   In fact, he was smirking at me.   “Don’t be such a wimp, Aaron,” he said.

Chapter 2
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    M ike led the charge getting the kitchen cleaned up.   I think he was feeling guilty about calling me a wimp with such angry exuberance.   Now I understood how lynch mobs got formed.   One guy like Mike stirring people up by alternately insulting them and urging them on.
    After the kitchen was put back in order, and after I’d taken inventory to find that nothing had been stolen, I went to the refrigerator and got beers for everybody.   Bob had drifted back to the kitchen, too.
    â€œAll right,” I said, “now that we’ve all calmed down, I want to walk over to that yellow kitchen wall phone there and call the police.   Any objections?”
    â€œI think blue would look better in here than yellow,” Neil said.
    â€œFunny,” I said.
    They looked themselves now, no feral madness on the faces of Mike or Neil, no winces on Bob’s.
    I started across the floor to the phone.
    Neil grabbed my arm.   Not with the same insulting force Mike had used on me.   But enough to get the job done.
    â€œI think Mike’s right,” Neil said.   “I think we should grill that bastard a little bit.”
    I shook my head, politely removed his hand from my forearm, and proceeded to the phone.
    â€œThis isn’t just your decision alone,” Mike said.
    He’d finally had his way.   He’d succeeded in making me angry.   I turned around and looked at him.   “This is my house, Mike.   If you don’t like my decisions, then I’d suggest you leave.”
    We both took steps toward each other.   Mike would no doubt win any battle we had but I’d at least be able to inflict a little damage and right now that’s all I was thinking about.
    Neil got between us.
    â€œHey,” he said.   “For God’s sake you two, c’mon.   We’re friends, remember?”
    â€œThis is my house,” I