Blindside (Michael Bennett #12)(77)

I sat quietly, looking across the park, until about three twenty. I wasn’t worried that our target hadn’t shown up yet. He was working on DST, doper standard time. Addicts rarely stuck to schedules. It was one of the things that made it so hard to work in the Narcotics unit.

Then I looked up and he was there. Standing by the entrance to the park, the tall black man was all shakes and jitters. The time since the murder had not been kind to him. A threadbare coat over ripped sweatpants hardly made the profession of drug dealer look glamorous.

His eyes darted in every direction, and he never stopped moving. He noticed Flash and began shambling toward him.

I immediately stood up and started to stroll through the park, headed in the general direction of the two men. I had already told Flash to just walk away once I showed up. No chitchat, no staying to watch, just leave the area. It was the safest thing to do, and that way I didn’t have to worry about Flash getting hurt.

I approached the two men at an angle where Tight couldn’t see me. They talked for a few seconds. I stood directly behind them. As soon as Tight turned around, Flash started to walk away. I couldn’t believe an informant had actually listened to directions.

I smiled at Tight. “Remember me?”

His right hand reached for his waistband.

But I was ready. My Glock was in my right hand behind my back. I reached out and pinned his arm with my left hand, then brought my pistol up to where it was almost touching his nose.

I said, “I guess that means you do remember me. Do you remember Sondra Evans and her daughter, Alicia?”

I yanked the pistol from his waistband. I stuck it in the back of my belt before I shoved him to the ground and put cuffs on him.

When he was securely in custody, I carefully pulled the pistol from my back. It was the same Colt .45 I had seen the day I was in the shooting.

I had the right man.

Tight screamed, “Police brutality. Help me, help me.”

I pulled him to his feet and dusted him off. “Relax, Tight. The whole park has video surveillance. You need to find a new excuse.”

Instantly he shifted gears and said, “I been framed. I been framed.”

“That’s why we have a judicial system. If I’m wrong, you go free and can sue me. But if I’m right, you’re done.”

That’s when he tried to wiggle free and run.

I had to catch him hard by the elbow, then swing him onto a bench a few feet away.

Finally the fight went out of him. He sighed and started to cry. Through the tears, he said, “I need help, man. I don’t even know who I am no more.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Mrs. Evans that.”

“Who?”

“The woman whose daughter and granddaughter you shot. The nurse. Do you remember her? I’ve seen a lot of murders, but this is one where I just have to ask you: why? It made no sense to me.”

He sat there staring straight ahead into the park, deep in thought. Finally he turned his head to look at me and said, “She had access to pills.”

I said, “Excuse me?”

Tight said, “She was the nurse in charge of securing the painkillers ’n’ such. I thought she could load me up. She didn’t like the idea of doing something like that.”

“So you killed her and her daughter?”

He hung his head and said, “I don’t remember it so clearly. I don’t remember nothin’ so clearly. And I don’t really care. I don’t care if you shoot me right here, take me to jail, or let me go. Nothin’ matters no more.”

“It may not matter to you, but it matters a lot to the Evans family. And they’re going to be happy to see you behind bars.”

“Good. Make those people happy for a few minutes, seein’ me behind bars.”

“I’m sure that’s what everyone will say about you. That he just wanted to make the world a better place.”

I walked him through the park in handcuffs. I called Terri Hernandez and told her to meet me in front of the Manhattan North Homicide building. I wanted to dump this mope and get on with my real life.

There were ten kids at home waiting to see me.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS





Lieutenant Luke Miller, NYPD, for his patience and diligence in answering questions and making sure the NYPD’s reputation remains positive.





Have You Read Them All?




STEP ON A CRACK



The most powerful people in the world have gathered for a funeral in New York City. They don’t know it’s a trap devised by a ruthless mastermind, and it’s up to Michael Bennett to save every last hostage.





RUN FOR YOUR LIFE



The Teacher is giving New York a lesson it will never forget, slaughtering the powerful and the arrogant. Michael Bennett discovers a vital pattern, but has only a few hours to save the city.





WORST CASE



Children from wealthy families are being abducted. But the captor isn’t demanding money. He’s quizzing his hostages on the price others pay for their luxurious lives, and one wrong answer is fatal.





TICK TOCK



New York is in chaos as a rash of horrifying copycat crimes tears through the city. Michael Bennett investigate, but not even he could predict the earth-shattering enormity of this killer’s plan.