Slipping through the door, Todd had to wait a few seconds to let his eyes adjust to the lower lighting. It was noisy and smoky. The ever-present pool and poker games were going on. Todd went to the bar, leaned against it, and hooked a foot on the rail running around the bottom. The rings placed at regular intervals along the middle of the side of the bar gave Todd a sharp, bitter pang between his heart and sternum. How many times had he and Nick come here, and Nick’s tether had been looped loosely through one of those rings? Todd had lost count long ago.
To make it worse, there was a man tied near a stool a few down from Todd’s. The guy wore old, threadbare clothing and was too thin. He was older than Nick and maybe older than Todd. It made Todd’s heart hurt even more to think of the life
