Danny sighed heavily as he and Mac stood outside the 5th club with a blue neon sign they'd been to that day. The first two were easy enough – their only exit led straight out onto the street. The next two had the right exits, but one wasn't open the night of the attack and the other had been shut down by the health department months ago. So here they were; the last club with a blue neon sign in the city. Danny looked at Mac hopefully before taking a deep breath and approaching the front entrance.
~*~*~*~*~
"Are you the manager?" Mac was fixing the man they were talking to with his usual, searching gaze. The man seemed defensive.
"Yeah, I am. I'm Bobby Lewis, how can I help you?" Danny handed Bobby a photo of Don.
"Do you recognise this man?" Bobby took the photo and looked at it carefully.
"Yeah… that's Don. What happened to him?"
"He was attacked last night, in the alley outside your club," Mac replied.
"How do you know him?" Danny asked. Bobby shook his head in disbelief.
"This can't be right. I was here last night. He left early, and he wasn't anywhere to be found when I closed up."
"Could you answer the question please," Mac pressed.
"Yeah, sorry. Don works here." Mac looked over at Danny, who was looking at Bobby with shock in his eyes.
"Are you sure?" Danny asked.
"Of course I am. He's been working here for the past 5 years."
"In what capacity?" Mac asked.
"He's a bar tender. One of my most popular actually. He was working here last night, but he went home early."
"Ok, thank you Mr. Lewis. We'll be in touch." Mac turned away from the manager and led Danny towards the door.
"Didn't the vic tell you he'd never been inside here?" Danny nodded absently.
"I think I need to go back and talk to him."
~*~*~*~*~
The smile Don was wearing when he saw Danny walk in dropped immediately when the detective stopped in front of him. He looked defensive, and somehow upset. Don was about to say something when Danny began to speak.
"You lied to me." Don ducked his head, avoiding Danny's gaze.
"I'm sorry."
"Why did you lie? Don't you want us to catch whoever did this to you?"
"Of course I do."
"Then why?" Don lifted his head and looked at Danny; a genuine sadness in his eyes.
"I was… ashamed."
"Of being a bar tender?" Don laughed softly.
"Yeah, I guess." Danny sighed and sat next to Don on his bed.
"What aren't you telling me, Don?" Don took a deep breath and turned to look at Danny.
"Look, Bobby's taken good care of me over the years, ok? And nothing I'm not telling you has anything to do with what happened to me, so please, can't you just drop it?"
"How do you know it's not connected?"
"Because if it had been Bobby or anyone else from the club, I would've known it." Danny closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Alright," He said quietly. "I'll drop it for now. But if the evidence starts leading back to that club, I'll be back here expecting some straight answers." Don nodded silently and Danny stood up and was about to leave when a nurse came in.
"Detective Messer," She said politely. "Mr. Flack has a visitor. I think you might like to talk to him."
"Who is it?"
"The man who dropped him off at the ER."
~*~*~*~*~
Danny walked slowly up to the man the nurse had been talking about. He was standing nervously, waiting for someone to talk to him.
"Excuse me, sir?" Danny said quietly as he reached the man.
"Yeah?"
"I'm Detective Danny Messer. I'm trying to find out who assaulted Mr. Flack. The nurse said you where the one to drop him here?"
"Is that his name? Flack? I didn't know that. I guess I shoulda checked his ID."
"Mr…"
"Williams. Frank Williams."
"Mr. Williams. Do you think you could tell me what happened that night?"
"Not much to tell. I'm a taxi driver, and I was on my way home when I saw him… Flack, lying in the alley. There was nobody around, and I wasn't just gonna leave him there… I'm sorry, detective, but I don't really think I can help you." Danny nodded.
"Thank you for talking to me, Mr. Williams. You did the right thing by bringing him here – I'm sure he'd like to thank you himself." Frank nodded slowly before walking past Danny and into Don's room.
~*~*~*~*~
Don sat up at the sound of the door opening. His eyes widened.
"Frank? What are you doing here?"
"The boss sent me," Frank replied; a coldness tinting his voice. "He wants to make sure you're ok."
"I'm fine, Frank. What's going on? Why does he even care how I am? I told you; I'm out."
"Just making sure that hasn't changed, Donnie," Frank smiled. "But if you ever need a helping hand, you know where to find us." Don closed his eyes and nodded. He heard Frank leave before he opened his eyes again. Lying back on his bed, Don stared up at the ceiling and tried to erase the image of Danny look at him with something close to hurt in his eyes.
