Page 32 of The Attercop

Poor guy’s trying to put on a brave face,Declan thought.

“He kept grinning at me. I really don’t remember much. There was one weird thing, though. He said, ‘This’ll teach you for haunting Declan’s dreams’.”

Declan frowned. “Strange thing to say. Did he say anything else?”

Angel didn’t reply. He’d drifted back to sleep.

Mickey looked over at Declan. “I think that’s all he can do for you right now. What he said—does it mean anything to you?”

“I’m not sure, Mickey… There’s something weird about it all. I’ll have to think about it. In the meantime, I’m going to get that photo to Sawchuck. I’ll let him know that they should be on the lookout for the guy, and that Angel has positively identified him. The cops will likely want to talk to Angel about this. I’ll do what I can to make sure that the cops that come are a bit more tactful than the ones we talked to. And you’re going to want to be here when they come in. Okay?”

“Will do. And thanks for this.”

Declan looked over at the sleeping Angel. “So, what’s the prognosis for him?”

“They’re going to send him for some more imaging to check up on his spleen. It’s right beneath some of the ribs that took the brunt of the attack. If that looks okay, and he’s healing up nicely, then they’ll let him out. I’m going to have him stay with me until he’s fully mended.”

Declan leaned over and gently kissed Angel on the forehead. “Get better soon.”

Mickey walked Declan to the door.

Declan turned. “Mickey, thanks for beingyou. Take good care of yourself.”

Mickey put his arms around Declan and gave him a big hug, then a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll do my best, old friend.”

Declan returned to the van in the parking lot and pressed redial on his phone. Sawchuck answered. “Yeah?”

“It’s me. Sorry again for standing you up,” Declan said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been stood up by prettier dates. So, what’s up?”

“Angel was able to positively identify his attacker as a guy we’ve caught on the bar’s CCTV camera. I’m going to forward you the image. Can you arrange for some gay-positive police tointerview Angel? Maybe sooner than later in case his memory fades.”

“You got it. I hope the kid’s okay,” Sawchuck replied.

“I think he’s going to be all right. Listen, I’ve got something else I need to take care of today, so I’ll have to catch up with you later. Keep me posted if the police get any hits on the picture I’m sending.”

“Will do,” Sawchuck replied, then disconnected.

Declan forwarded the image, then replayed his conversation with Angel in his mind. Something was bothering him—what the attacker had said. ‘This’ll teach you for haunting Declan’s dreams’. Just the other night Charlie had mentioned something about Declan’s dreams, and Angel… But nobody really knew about those dreams except for…

Declan picked up the phone and called another number.

“Hey, Declan. What can I do for you?” Michael answered.

“I wanted to check in on something. At Bar-None the other night, a kid named Angel got beaten up pretty badly and the attacker said something about Angel haunting my dreams.”

“That’s a weird thing to say,” Michael replied.

“What makes it really weird is that it matches a session we did a while ago. And I’m thinking that if that information was in my client files and the person read it when they broke in…”

“I see where you’re going with this.”

“Look,” Declan said. “It was clear that whoever broke in seemed to know about the security systems. Who would have access to that info?”

“Maybe the previous owners of the office who’d installed the original system…but they wouldn’t know if I’d changed things since I moved in. And I did change the front door code.”

Declan continued. “But that’s not where the break-in occurred. I’ve been wondering…what if it was someone who hadrecently been in your office…and into both the waiting room and your consulting room.”