Free Blood Money by Brian Springer

existence. I wonder where that
part comes from?”
    Kelton crossed his arms, looked down at the
table. “I don’t know, really. I’ve always been anti-establishment,
always thought for myself, always looked at things from a unique
angle, even when I was a kid.”
    “So have lots of other people, but they
don’t become mercenaries when they grow up.”
    “I told you before—”
    “Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re not a mercenary.
But you know what I mean. Something had to lead you down the path
you’re on.”
    “It always felt right, like an extension of
justice, a necessary part of our system. I just gravitated towards
it. I don’t know how to explain it any other way.”
    “Come on, there’s got to more to it than
that.”
    “Not really,” Kelton said. “It’s a pretty
boring story, actually. No exotic background, no big trauma that
led me to a life of vigilante justice, nothing out of the ordinary,
except maybe watching Paladin with my dad on a regular basis
growing up.”
    “No military training, nothing like
that?”
    “Nope. In fact, I graduated from college
with a business degree.”
    Jessica barked out a laugh. “Are you
serious?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “And you didn’t do anything with it?”
    He shook his head. “I never really had any
desire to enter the business world. It was sort of a default
degree. I really just went to college to play ball.”
    “What kind of ball? Football?”
    “Baseball.”
    “Oh yeah? What position did you play?”
    “Pitcher. I was the closer.”
    “Were you any good?”
    “I was the epitome of a good college player,
but nothing more than that.”
    “What does that mean in English?”
    “It means I put up good stats in college but
my stuff didn’t project to the pros, so I didn’t get drafted,”
Kelton said. “It’s all about potential when it comes to
professional ball, and I didn’t have any. Unfortunately, the only
thing I ever wanted to do was play baseball. It had been my life
since I was ten years old. And when that opportunity was taken from
me, I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
    “So you just decided, out of the blue, to
become a vigilante?”
    “Not quite,” Kelton said. “I spent a couple
of years working normal jobs, just like any other recent college
grad, but I was miserable. I felt like I was just wasting my life
away, doing meaningless crap. So I quit and started searching for
something more interesting to do.”
    “What about becoming a cop, or going to work
for the government? FBI. CIA. Something like that?”
    “I considered those things,” Kelton said.
“But I’ve always had a problem with authority, and I knew I
wouldn’t work in a regimented system like law enforcement. I’m just
not wired that way. But I’ve always had a heightened sense of right
and wrong, so I decided to find a way to pursue that on my own. I
eventually got hooked up with this guy who ran his own business. He
was looking to retire but wanted to find someone to keep the ball
rolling before he did. Anyway, we hit it off, and despite my
complete and utter lack of experience, he agreed to take me under
his wing. Over the course of the next two years, he trained me,
taught me the ropes, hooked me up with his connections, and
eventually retired. The rest, as they say, is history.”
    Jessica considered this for a moment, then
said, “That’s a nice enough story, but I don’t believe it for a
second.”
    “Nobody ever does.”
    “It’s just so . . . I don’t know—”
    “Boring? Typical? Unremarkable?” Kelton
said.
    She nodded. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it
up.”
    Kelton stood up, gathered the dishes, headed
towards the kitchen. “Let me ask you something,” he said as he
rinsed the remains off the plates and put them in the dishwasher.
“How did you get into biology? It’s a story similar to mine,
right?”
    “Yes, but that’s different.”
    “Why?” Kelton said. “Because biology is a
socially acceptable field of