I, Michael Bennett (Michael Bennett 5)

Seamus folded his arms, frowning at the both of us.

“Fine. I’m going back to bed,” he said after another half a minute.

“I never get to have any fun at all,” he whined as he left.

CHAPTER 63

A BRIEF HORN honk came from outside a moment later.

“And where are you headed this early?” Mary Catherine said as I clipped my holster to my belt by the front door.

I debated whether to tell her. I decided I didn’t want to say anything about bagging the son of a bitch who’d hurt Eddie and Brian until we had him.

“Ah, nowhere, really,” I said as I pulled down my shirt over my gun. “Just going to see a man about a dog.”

“Well, please don’t get bit, Michael,” Mary Catherine said. “We have all the Bennetts on the mend that we can handle at present.”

“Don’t worry, lass,” I said, showing her the handcuffs I had in the pocket of my Windbreaker. “I brought a strong leash.”

There were two patrol cars in the arrest team besides the unmarked one I rode in with Detectives Ed and Bill, who had brought me a coffee and had laid a Kevlar vest out for me in the backseat.

“Just my size, too,” I said, slipping it on. “You guys are the best.”

It took about twenty more minutes to roll up to the address in Newburgh. It was actually on a block of pretty well-kept houses on Bay View Terrace. Behind them, there was a pure, stunning view of the Hudson. How much would Newburgh real estate be worth if the city wasn’t riddled with crime? I wondered. It was only an hour and twenty minutes away from New York City. I stared out at the sky, just starting to lighten behind Beacon, as we pulled to a stop.

“This is where his aunt lives,” Bill said. “He’s been hiding out with her ever since he got word we were looking for him.”

A dog started barking nearby as we waited for one of the cruisers to get into position on the next block, in case Jay D went out the back. The Motorola in Ed’s hand suddenly crackled.

“Heads up,” said someone in the cruiser parked behind us. “We have a figure in the alleyway across the street with a long object in their hand.”

That tensed things up. There was word that the Bloods had automatic weapons, including AK-47s.

A moment later, an old thin black woman in a tracksuit appeared, mumbling to herself as she began haphazardly sweeping her porch with a broom.

“Stand down. It’s just Grandma doing her six a.m. tidy-up,” the radio said.

“Or the Wicked Witch of West Newburgh,” Detective Moss mumbled after a loud exhale.

CHAPTER 64

“OKAY. WE’RE SET. We’re in position at the back,” came word from the other cruiser.

“Roger Dodger,” Ed Boyanoski said as he grabbed the battering ram. “We’re going in.”

It turned out that we didn’t need the battering ram. As we came up the stairs, the door opened and a tall middle-aged black man wearing blue Dickies work clothes walked out. He waved his arms over his head.

“Now, now. Calm down. Calm down. You don’t need to be bustin’ my brand-new door down,” he said, eyeing us. “You here for James, I take it?”

“You take it right, sir,” Detective Moss said.

“Thank God,” the man said, turning and holding the door open for us. “Hallelujah.”

“Woman!” the man called back into the house. “Get that child out here now!”

A moment later, a petite black woman appeared with her arms around a hard-looking, stocky teenager. He was in flip-flops and wore white shorts, a white beater, and a blood-red Yankees cap.

“This is all wrong. All wrong,” said the aunt as Ed and Bill frisked and cuffed Jay D on the porch. “James is a good boy.”