Page 49 of JoyRide

“You are my long-lost brother, Virge, and I can’t help being happy that I found you. Even if you are a mess—I’m happy you ain’t fuckin dead.”

“I can take care of myself. Don’t need no cop brother looking out for me.”

“Yeah, I saw how that was going yesterday.”

“Fuck off, Harlan. Leave me alone.”

I strode out to the squad room and told Molly we found Virgil at the address she gave me. “He’s in the break room but he’s not talking to anybody yet.”

“That will take time, dear. Did he remember you?”

“Says he doesn’t know me, and he never had a brother.”

“He was a small child the last time he saw you, Harlan,” said Molly. “You have to get to know each other all over again. That won’t happen overnight, dear. Try to be patient with your brother.”

I nodded thinking Molly was right. I needed to be patient and give Virgil a chance to get used to me.

“You ready to get going?” asked Tammy. “We’ve got work to do.”

“Yeah, I’m ready. We’re going up to Sweetwater to pay a call on Barb Hamilton, Molly.” I hollered across the squad room to Ted, “Come on, Ted. You partner with Tammy, and I’ll take Virgil and the dogs. Let’s go bust some heads.”

Ted grinned. “I’m up for it. Love doing that first thing in the morning. Gets my blood going.”

Hamilton Residence. Sweetwater.

The address we had for Barbara Hamilton turned out to be a small white frame bungalow with a detached garage at the back of the property. Peeling paint around the windows and doors and landscaped with waist-high weeds gone brittle and brown.

Barb’s car was parked in the driveway along with a pickup, and two Harleys with decent paint jobs. Drug money put to good use.

Full house, judging by the driveway. Sellers or buyers? Maybe some of each. I guess we’d soon find out.

I pounded on the door with Virge standing beside me. Tammy and Ted had gone around the house to the back door, and they’d come in that way.

“Sheriff’s office, Miss Hamilton. Need to talk to you. Open the door.”

Virge grinned. “She won’t open the fuckin door if she’s got a goddamned brain, Harlan. You might as well save your breath.”

The door opened a crack, and it wasn’t Barb Hamilton, but one of her boys. “Barb’s busy and she don’t want to talk to the cops right now, so why don’t you fuck off?”

I shoved the ganger out of the way and barged into the front hall. Virge came in behind me with the dogs running full speedahead of him.

The dogs ran into the living room and Barb hollered at them. “Get those dogs out of my house or I’ll shoot them.”

The back door crashed open, and Ted and Tammy were in.

“Cuff them all,” I shouted. “Tammy, bag everything you can find. Ted start taking them to the squads one at a time.”

“Copy, boss.”

Virgil wandered into the kitchen where Tammy was shoving opiates and baggies into evidence bags, and I saw him shove a couple of bags of meth into his jeans.

“Put it in the evidence bag, Virge. You ain’t getting that stuff from me.”

He screwed up his face in anger. “I ever tell you what a shit brother you were?”

I laughed. “Nope. You ain’t known me long enough to tell me that yet.”

Two of the guys made a break for it and I gave Max and Sarge a hand signal and sent them after the druggies. The dogs took their guys down and held them in place with their jaws on their throats.

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