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way to get through each day. He couldn"t face the empty
    house and the fading memories.
    Most of the time, he walked to the bar and back. A necessity when you expect
    the bartender to keep the beers coming. Tonight he had some thinking to do before
    he fell into the bottle, so he"d made the stop off to Sonny"s. He"d save the heavy
    drinking for when he got home. Time to figure out what he planned to do about
    Lincoln McCaw.
    If Todd was right, and the man was leaving town, Jay didn"t have a lot of time
    to make up his mind. This might be his last chance to face him—to get a look at the
    man who had taken Katie from him.
    But what would he gain from finally seeing him? And was it worth tearing at
    old wounds when they hadn"t even started to heal?
    Jay shoved the bar"s door in with his shoulder and welcomed the scent of beer
    and smoke that signaled the usual forthcoming alcohol stupor. The lighting in the
    bar was dim, and the brown wood paneling and hardwood floor added to the
    darkness. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust. Sonny was pouring a glass of
    whiskey behind the bar, and four men sat at a table nearby, celebrating a bowling
    league victory—unless they liked to dress in matching button-up shirts advertising
    the Edgefield Pizzeria across their backs. The group"s laughter and the clink of their
    glasses drowned out the country music playing overhead. A young couple sat at a
    table along the back wall, paying attention only to each other. And the same old,
    weathered man who was always in Sonny"s sat at his usual table near the
    restrooms, proximity obviously an issue for him. He was dressed in a dirty jean
    jacket worn to tatters at the seams and cuffs and sported a white and gray beard
    that he hadn"t trimmed in years. The waitress on duty brought him another glass of
    whiskey. The old man gripped the glass and sucked in a long, slow sip before she
    retrieved his empties.
    Jay ordered a beer and settled in at a table toward the back. He was nearing
    the bottom of the bottle and hadn"t come up with a decision on whether to find

    26
    Sloan Parker

    McCaw when two men sat at a table next to him. One was short and sweaty. The
    other, tall, somewhat good-looking, but with a beer gut lounging out past the belt
    holding up his jeans. They made several lewd comments to the waitress and offered
    her a party at Short and Sweaty"s place after her shift. Jay tried to tune them out
    until he heard the word he"d feared for a long time.
    “He"s a fag.”
    What ? Jay stopped the bottle an inch from his mouth. How could they tell?
    Was there something in the way he had looked at them?
    “Who?” Short and Sweaty asked.
    “That guy. At the bar,” the tall one said.
    Someone else . Jay let a long breath into his lungs.
    “The one in the leather?”
    “Yeah,” Tall and Gutty said. “Fucking fag.”
    “No shit?”
    “Yep. Went to high school with him. Was a fag back then too.”
    Short and Sweaty shook his head, threw his arm over the back of an empty
    chair, and gave the man at the bar a disgusted look. “What the fuck"s he still doing
    here?”
    “Beats me,” Tall and Gutty said. “Oughta head out to California or one of them
    pansy states that lets "em get married.”
    “Maybe we should give him a clue.” Short and Sweaty slid his chair away from
    the table without lifting his ass. The chair legs scraped the wood floor.
    “My buddy Hal tried once. Three years ago. He and some of his guys went to
    the man"s house. Fag was living with another guy. Can you believe that? Hal and
    his buddies beat the shit out of them. Cops came. Hal spent time in jail for it.”
    Short and Sweaty stood. “Ah, he ain"t worth all that trouble. Let"s head across
    town.”
    Tall and Gutty joined him, and they sauntered toward the door.
    “Yeah. Don"t wanna hang out in a fag bar.” Tall and Gutty spat the last of his
    words toward the man in question, who ignored them.
    Jay stared at the back of the man"s leather jacket. A gay guy?