Haunted (Michael Bennett 10)

The burly man said, “Go arrest Dell Streeter. That would solve everyone’s problem.”

I didn’t want to tell Anthony that I was dreaming about the time when I could finally arrest Dell Streeter.

Chapter 78

No one inside the bar saw anything. No one inside the bar really wanted to talk to me, either. Another common experience among cops everywhere. All the witnesses had basically the same story. They heard a couple of shots, but when they made it out the door, there was no one in sight, and Mickey Bale was lying on the sidewalk bleeding to death.

Everyone talked about what a great guy he was. That he was a good father to three kids. That he worked hard for Tom Bacon as a carpenter. Now he was dead.

Tom Bacon told the crowd that I was at Dell Streeter’s house protecting him when poor Mickey Bale was gunned down.

So much for private conversations.

It was the middle of the night when I stepped out of the bar and found Sandy still directing the crime scene. At least the body had been removed.

She laughed when she saw me and said, “Mike, I forgot you were still here.”

“Story of my life.”

“We’re getting a pretty good handle on this. Why don’t you go home to that family of yours? Maybe you can enjoy your vacation for a while.” She gave me a sly smile, and I had to chuckle.

While we were standing there chatting, Tom Bacon and his friend Anthony came out of the bar and walked directly over to us.

Bacon said, “Detective Coles, I know you’re a relative newcomer to our community, but—”

She interrupted him. “Eight years. I’ve lived here eight damn years.”

“But somehow you still don’t understand how things work. You’re a city employee. You need to start listening to what some of the city residents have to say and what they want you to do.”

“Such as?”

It was Anthony who answered. “Butt out of this Dell Streeter business. He’s an outsider. We know how to deal with outsiders. We also know how to protect our own.”

Sandy kept her cool. But I still realized I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of her gaze. She said, “You’re right. I am a city employee. More important, I am a sworn law-enforcement officer. Part of my oath was that I would faithfully enforce the law. It didn’t say anything about enforcing it only when it was convenient.”

I watched with interest as the two men just stared at her.

Sandy continued, “I’m going to break that vow right now. I’m not going to arrest you for saying that you intend to assault or possibly murder a local resident. Dell Streeter has not been convicted of jack shit. And frankly, neither of you two assholes knows jack shit about the law. So I’m going to keep on doing my job and pray to God that you’re smart enough to stay out of my way.”

I was afraid her speech impressed me a lot more than it impressed either of those two dullards. But it still gave me a thrill to hear it. She was as eloquent and tough as any cop I had ever known.

Chapter 79

I was beat. Beat like an old rug. I could feel our family van swerve several times on my way home from the scene of the shooting. All I wanted to do was reach the Ghost House in one piece and fall into bed. I was going to sleep through the day and night again. At this point, I didn’t care how many kids were in the bed. I just needed a few feet of soft mattress.

There was no way I would ever complain about the NYPD and its lack of resources again. Every cop deals with shortages of manpower, money, and equipment. But compared to most, the NYPD had plenty.

In a little town like Linewiler, having more than two things to do at once could be devastating. Trying to keep an eye on a shithead like Dell Streeter and investigate a shooting at a sports bar pushed their resources to the absolute limit.

I found it hard to believe it was a coincidence that the man shot outside the sports bar was one of the vocal vigilantes who wanted to lynch Dell Streeter as soon as he had the chance. But there were no witnesses, there was no video, and there was nothing to go on. Just a local man shot twice in the chest as he was coming out of one of the town’s most popular b

ars.

Sandy told me it was the first drive-by shooting Linewiler had ever experienced. One of the reasons she’d been brought in as the assistant chief and detective was to stay ahead of the curve on crimes like this. She admitted she’d become complacent in the years since she left New York.

Now she was not only investigating the crime, she was also trying to teach others what to do in the future. I wanted to help, but at some point your body just shuts down. I couldn’t imagine anything getting me to move once I made it home.

The sun was up, but there was an ominous line of thunderstorms creeping toward me from the other side of Lake Nim.