Page 45 of JoyRide

We got to Billy’s room just as his doctor finished up with him and he was wearing a big smile. “I can go, kids.”

“Great. We’ll take you home.”

Billy was dressed and sitting in a wheelchair, and he seemed pretty cheerful. “I went down to see Travis and he talked a little bit, but he had to stop and start. He’s in a lot of pain. It will be days before they let him out—maybe a couple of weeks.”

Tammy groaned when she heard that.

Travis wasn’t the only one who would take a long time to heal. Those kids had pushed Billy back weeks on the healing and rehab of his damaged leg. He needed to catch them and toss them in jail for that abuse alone.

On the way to the ranch, I told Billy the whole story about the lumberyard and the mention of my brother’s name in passing and he was interested in following through on it. Then I told him Molly had come up with an address for Virgil in Conrad East.

“I’m going with you to find your brother, Harlan. Don’t bother stopping at the ranch because I don’t want to go straight home.”

“Sure. You can come, Billy. I have no idea what I’m gonna find.”

“Whatever it is, Harlan. I want to be there for you. Travis wouldn’t let you go into a situation like that alone and neither will I.”

“I’m kinda prepared for Virge not to be there. The address could be old.”

Tammy reached over and patted my arm. I noticed she didn’t pat my leg like she usually did. Not when Billy was in the back seat.

Conrad East.

The GPS took us to the address Molly had for Virgil Linley—my last name before it was legally changed to Bristol. The old house was on the wrong side of the tracks in Conrad East. Not a big town, but the eastern end of town on the far side of the railway line was old and a lot of the houses had been torn down to make room for an industrial development.

We parked in front of a crack house with the doors and windows missing. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my gut just looking at the place from the outside.

“Tammy, stay here. You can’t go in there.”

“You might need me for back up, Harlan. Druggies have knives and guns.”

“Give me your gun, Tammy,” said Billy.

“You can’t walk, Billy,” said Tammy.

“I can walk on crutches, and I can shoot through the fuckin eye of a needle if I have to.”

Tammy unsnapped her holster, took the gun out and handed it Billy.

I got out of the squad and waited for Billy to get mobile on the crutches. When he was ready, we walked across what had once been the front lawn of the house but was now hard-packed dirt littered with cans, garbage, needles, and broken glass.

Billy stood in the doorway leaning on his crutches giving me backup as I walked through the opening into the dimly lit drug pit.

When the homeless kids and the druggies saw my uniform, they hollered, jumped to their feet, and ran. Scattering in all directions like rats on the Titanic.

Using my Maglite, I worked my way slowly around the big, gutted building. My Harley boots crunched on needles and trash as my eyes searched through the faces of the tenants.

Some of the tenants lay on the filthy floor wrapped in ragged blankets, and others leaned against the crumbling bricks,smoking, or sleeping, or shooting up. A lot of them were so far gone, they didn’t care if cops were in their house or not.

My light focused on one face, and I didn’t have to look any further. Staring at my brother’s face was like looking in the mirror.

Drooping eyes, Virge could barely keep awake. He wasn’t running from the cops because he couldn’t even get up.

Adrenaline shot through my veins when I was sure I’d found my brother. I grabbed his arm and gave him a shake. “Virgil, wake up. It’s me, Harlan.”

“Go away. I don’t know any Harlan.”

“I’m going to get you up, Virge. I want you to come with me.”

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