Be strong.

He glanced around the room and saw something that pleased him. Unlike the alley, there were security cameras in here.

A slim man about thirty years old, dressed in jeans and a checked shirt with the sleeves rolled back to his elbows, was working behind the bar, drying some mugs with a white cloth. Duckworth hauled himself up onto a stool.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

Duckworth dug out his ID and displayed it for the man. “Like to ask you some questions. What’s your name?”

“Axel. Axel Thurston.” He squinted at the ID for a final second before Duckworth put it away. “Jesus, you’re the guy.”

“Sorry?”

“I know the name. You caught that guy. Jesus, you caught that guy.”

Duckworth nodded.

“What are ya drinkin’?”

“Nothing, really.”

“No, come on. What’s your pleasure? On the house. Your money’s no good here. Whaddya want? Want some Scotch? Best stuff. I got Speyburn, I got Macallan, I got Glenmorangie, I got—”

Duckworth raised a palm. “No, really. That’s very kind of you. But I’m on duty, you know?”

Axel grinned. “Yeah, of course. I get that. So maybe something else?”

“Glass of water’d be nice.”

Axel laughed. “Glass of water! The irony, huh?”

Duckworth didn’t get it at first. Then he realized it was a reference to what had happened a year ago, when the town’s water supply had been poisoned.

“Oh, yeah, right.”

“Let me give you bottled,” Axel said. He reached under the counter and came up with a bottle of Finley Springs. “How’s this?”

“Wow,” Duckworth said. “My favorite.”

Axel got a glass, put some ice in it, cracked open the water and poured. “So what’s up? What can I do for you?”

Duckworth brought out his phone and showed him the picture of Brian Gaffney that he had taken at the hospital.

“You recognize him?”

Axel nodded. “Sure. That’s Brian.”

“You know him?”

“Sure. He comes in here all the time. Brian Gaffney. Works at the car cleaning place.” He grew concerned. “Shit, is he okay? Somethin’ happen to him?”

Duckworth put away his phone. “Looks like somebody got the drop on him when he left here a couple of nights ago.”

Axel looked puzzled. “I haven’t heard anything about that? We didn’t have any cops here. Nothing happened as far as I know.”

Duckworth nodded understandingly. “It’s complicated. Brian didn’t come to our attention until today.”

“Is he okay? He’s a sweet guy, you know? Not the kind to ever hurt anybody. You almost feel kind of protective of him, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

Axel shrugged. “He’s a bit too trusting. He could get taken in pretty easy. So’s he okay?”

“Yeah. But I’d like to trace his movements over the last forty-eight hours. Were you on that night?”

Axel nodded. “Yeah. I was. Brian was sitting right where you are.”

“When did he come in?”

He shrugged. “About eight? Stayed an hour or two. He comes in every couple of nights when he’s done work.”