“John McNamara, we have a warrant for your arrest. Come out now! Don’t make me come get you!” Duke bellowed past the man who’d opened the door. From the mugshot, he wasn’t their skipper.
Kell glanced at Ty, his partner’s body was relaxed but his eyes were lasered in on the situation. His brow creased in concentration as if he was documenting each word their bosses said, every move they made. Kell had overheard Brian telling the team yesterday that Ty’s mind moved faster than a rocket… like his father. He could calculate and react with little time. Kell turned his thoughts away from that line of thinking. It turned him on too much.
Brian eased from around the side of the house next door. He was in the position of watchman. His responsibility was to make sure no one tried to sneak up on them when the bosses were securing the jumper. None of them were hesitant or unsure. Duke’s voice was deep and frightening, carrying clear across the small yard to where he and Ty sat.
Kell sucked in a sharp breath when the front door suddenly lurched open. He recognized their skipper, even though his shaggy hair had been shaved off. He appeared panicked and sickly, as if he hadn’t been resting well. Quick was already in motion when their skipper barreled past Duke and leapt off the front porch. He didn’t get another two feet before Quick had his thick arms around his midsection. The man squirmed and wiggled weakly. His sensei took him to the ground with no challenge, placing his knee firmly in the center of the man’s back.
The thin man who’d opened the door gave their skipper a sorrowful look before he closed himself back inside his house. Quick secured a set of wired cuffs around his wrists while Duke demonstrated proper protocol and showed McNamara the warrant. The man was mumbling something to Duke that Kell couldn’t make out, then he turned his cries to Quick. The bosses ignored the pleas and shuffled the man toward Brian’s truck.
The back cab had been converted to accommodate their bounties, equipped with a touchpad lock and bars on the insides of the windows. McNamara didn’t want to get inside. He shook his head sadly, his chin tucked into his chest. Brian’s expression was classic. One of complete indifference. When the man still hadn’t climbed in, Brian frowned and took a threatening step toward him that had McNamara scrambling to climb onto the tailgate.
Ty’s chuckle was light and musical. He seemed to be enjoying this as much as Kell. Could he see them working together to accomplish what they’d just witnessed? Kell sure could. He wanted it so badly now he could taste it.
“That went smooth.” Quick smiled, climbing back into the passenger seat. “He was nonviolent, but always expect a little struggle and lots of blubbering.”
Kell smiled at his master. MacNamara back in jail was justice. He was a car-stealing, petty piece of scum. The last car he’d stolen and sold to a chop shop had belonged to a college student, working two jobs, who now had to resort to taking an hour and half bus ride to campus.
Unacceptable.
He hoped Ty felt the vindication as well.
Duke was back in the truck. They hadn’t even broken a sweat and they’d secured three thousand dollars for their company in a matter of minutes. Oh yes. Kell liked this business.
“May I ask a question, Sensei,” Kell said respectfully.
“Speak freely,” Quick answered.
“Why did you only cuff his wrist? I understood it was protocol to secure wrist and ankles for maximum protection.”
“Good observation. It’s a good habit to secure them both, but we use our discretion with the ankle cuffs. If they are bucking and kicking then of course we’ll use them, otherwise we let them walk to the transport instead of having to carry them and load them face-first.” Quick shrugged. “Leaves them with a little of their dignity intact.”
“You two should be completely knowledgeable of the Georgia fugitive recovery manual. Tell me why we knocked on that door instead of just entering and securing our skipper?” Duke folded his arms over his chest like his question was tough.
“You wanna answer?” Kell asked Ty.
“You can answer,” Ty politely gave him the opportunity.
“Of course, I know why, so you go ahead and answer, Ty.”
“Hell! One of you just answer,” Duke fussed.
Kell started. “Your bond contract gives you power over the jumper only so you can enter the fugitive’s residence without warning. In Georgia the contract doesn’t extend to third parties. You have to knock on their friends’, or relatives’ door or else you’d be breaking and entering.”
“This is not the jumper’s house. The address he listed on the contract is in Brookhaven. Duke, your tip came from McNamara’s girlfriend that he was staying here… at his cousin’s house. The man who answered the door,” Ty finished.