Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 13

"What the hell!" Mike set off at a dead run, Paddy right behind him. Squad cars and an ambulance were parked in front of the shelter, lights flashing. Mike came to a stop when a police officer standing at the front door asked who he was.

"Mike. Mike Desmond. I work here." He nodded toward Paddy. "This is Paddy O'Brian. He volunteers here. What happened?"

Rather than answer him, the officer stepped inside for a moment then came back, telling them they could go in but only into the front room. They were met by a man in a suit who introduced himself as Detective Massey.

"What's going on? Is someone hurt?" Mike asked. "And why are the police involved?"

"One of the boys was found unconscious at the bottom of the basement stairs. Apparently he tripped and fell."

"That doesn't explain why you're here. Wait a minute, hang on, how did that happen? The door is always kept locked. Only the people who work here full time have the key."   

"That's what Mr. Jones told us when he called to report the accident. He said the basement was off limits to the kids who come here." Massey barely smiled, adding, "No that it's beyond the realm of possibility that the victim could have picked the lock, but he'd have had to know what he was doing. It's not your everyday home lock."

At that moment the EMTs appeared, rolling a stretcher holding a teenager. He appeared to be badly hurt, his head restrained, an IV hooked up, one arm and a leg in medical splints and a backboard keeping him immobile. 

"That's Micky," Mike said. "He's an on-and-off regular here."

"Do you know his real name?" Detective Massey asked.

Mike shook his head. "He always goes by Micky." He watched as the stretcher was rolled out of the building. "Unless the kids join the Thirty-Day program we don't pry or try to get them to tell us their real names. All that does is make them wary of ever coming back."

Massey nodded. "Does he have any friends he hangs with?"

"No, he's pretty much of a loner from what I've seen."

"Not quite," one of the other shelter employees who had been listening in said. "I've seen him with Dizzy a couple of times. In fact, I think they came in together today. I can check if he's still here."

"If you would, please," the detective replied.

The man went through the doors to the rec room, returning two minutes later with a kid who looked about sixteen.

"Is Micky going to be okay?" he asked after the detective told him who he was.

"At this point there's no way of knowing for certain. I'm sure the EMTs stabilized him. Beyond that…" He shrugged. "Do you know how he managed to get into the basement, Dizzy?"