Page 15 of The Attercop

They stood in silence for a few minutes, scoping out the crowd.

Declan turned to Charlie. “I wonder why Mickey’s not here?”

“It could just be that he was held up at the hair stylist—after all it’s about time he changed his hair colour. Or maybe bar stock was low and he went to the distributor to pick some up. Or maybe, God forbid, he’s developed a life outside of this place.”

Declan couldn’t ignore the tightness in his chest. He sensed that something wasreallywrong. As if on cue, the front door opened and Mickey walked in. He made his way over to André, leaned across the bar and softly said something to him. André patted him on the arm, then pointed toward Declan and Charlie. Mickey turned and made his way to them. He pulled up a bar stool and sat.

“I was going to call you, but I haven’t had time. Something went down here last night.”

Declan could tell that Mickey was trying to control his emotions.

“What happened?” Declan asked as he shifted his leg and placed his foot on Charlie’s. Charlie would understand that he was to remain silent.

“Angel was ambushed last night when he was cleaning up,” Mickey began. “We’d closed up for the evening and I’d left him alone. I drove Fred home. You know Fred—he can…overindulge at times. Anyway, I couldn’t have been gone for more than twenty minutes…”

Mickey paused for a second. “When I got back Angel was nowhere in sight, but his stuff was on the bar. And I knew he wouldn’t have left before I returned.”

Mickey went silent.

“Mickey—what happened?” Declan prompted.

“I found him out back, shoved behind a dumpster. Someone, or some group, beat the shit out of him and left him with the garbage. He’s in Foothills right now, and he’s still unconscious.” His voice cracked as he said, “He’s in pretty bad shape, Dec.”

Charlie finally spoke. “I assume the cops are involved.”

“They’re treating it as just another gay-bashing.”

Before either of them could comment, Mickey blurted out, “They think it was a one-off and doubt anything else will happen, but I just have this gut feeling that they’re wrong. It feels like there’s still some danger out there. Some of the other Kids are taking shifts looking out for him. Just in case…”

Mickey looked around the room. “Bar-None’s always been a safe space. A home for us. Now it feels like our home, and everyone here, has been violated.”

He looked deep into Declan’s eyes. “It was all my fault, Dec. I shouldn’t have left him alone.”

“Don’t blame yourself for helping Fred get home,” Declan said. “Any one of us would have done the same thing, and it was the right thing to do at the time.”

Declan paused. “Do you have CCTV coverage out back?”

Mickey shook his head. “Just out front. I installed it to protect the customers, and that’s where they come and go. I never thought I’d need it out back.”

“Well maybe I can check the CCTV and see if anyone suspicious came into the bar last night,” Charlie offered.

“Thank you,” Mickey replied. “We’ll set up a time to do that as soon as I can.”

“Hey, watch it,” Charlie yelled out.

Declan and Mickey jumped. A big guy wearing a fisherman’s cap and a Van Dyke-style beard had bumped into Charlie, spilling his drink all over him.

“Oh, sorry, man,” the guy said. He immediately started wiping Charlie’s shoulder. “I’m such a klutz.”

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “It happens in here a lot.”

“It’s just vodka, so it shouldn’t stain,” the guy replied.

“Trust me,” Charlie assured him, “I’ve had a lot worse spilled on me.”

“Well, thanks for not making me feel like an idiot. Have a good night,” the guy said, then made his way to the front door of the bar and left.

Declan followed him with his eyes. “You know that guy, Mickey?”