Chapter Five
MARS
Seeing Cam with his mum was eye-opening to say the very least. I was struck by the fact that he’d been totally honest with both Mickey and me about everything today.
I was rarely surprised by people. There had always been basically two types of people in my mind, and I’d lived by the certainty all these years that I was right about it.
There were good guys like me, my teammates, and little old ladies with Alzheimer’s, and there were bad guys like that tosser, Ranger.
Cam, was definitely a good guy…anyone who could love and care for his mum the way he did, was a really good guy, but I had to remind myself he was also a thief.
Even though he stole for a very important reason, that didn’t make him any less of a thief.
One thing, though…there were degrees to everything in life.
His “badness” barely counted as bad at all.
He wasn’t the kind of thief who went about committing violence on the people they stole from.
Instead, he took things that no one would want—could want—considering they had no idea they were missing when he stole them.
As I drove out of the car park, I wondered what other crimes he’d committed.
He’d insisted he wasn’t a hustler and I believed him because if he was, I think he would’ve come on to one or both Mickey and me by now.
Instead, he’d insisted he didn’t trick for money, sounding almost horrified that I’d even considered the idea.
“The place I’m staying is just up ahead.”
After making sure Cam’s mum was tucked away safely in bed for her afternoon nap, we’d headed back out to the Camaro, and I’d pulled out onto the street with no particular destination in mind. Actually, though, I was feeling hungry, lunch sounded like a smashing plan, and a cuppa wouldn’t go amiss.
I shook myself, looking at Cam in the rearview mirror. “Sorry?”
He pointed out the windscreen. “That’s my building.”
I followed his line of sight to the apartment complex coming up on the right. “Ya want us to drop ya off?”
“If you could…yeah.”
I glanced over at Mickey. He gave me an almost imperceptible nod, so I turned into the car park pulling into a guest parking spot.
I didn’t shut off the engine but turned in my seat to look at Cam as a thought suddenly popped into my head.
I’d been thinking about it when I’d first seen him in the backseat of the Nissan, but after seeing him with his mum and deciding he was a decent bloke, I’d dismissed the thought. Now, I suddenly had to know.
“’Ow did ya get into all those vehicles ya stole from today? The window wedge will work on some of them, but not all. You’d ‘ave to know ‘ow to bypass some sophisticated alarms on the newer models.”
Mickey looked back at him too. Cam squirmed in his seat, darting a glance out the side window before staring back with wide eyes. He looked like a scared rabbit…like he had the sudden urge to flee.
“W-why do you ask?” he stuttered.
I shrugged. “Because I know a good car thief when I see one, Cam.”
“Are you a car thief?” Mickey asked. The growl in his voice was really intimidating.
He stared at my friend for a few seconds before looking away again. When he shrugged, everything became very clear. “Tell us,” I said. “We’re not gonna arrest ya, if that’s what ya think. Just be ‘onest. I think ya owe us that.”
He frowned. “Yeah, so what?”
My stomach cramped as I realized he wasn’t so righteous after all. “Why?” I asked, really wanting to know.
“Why what?” He played dumb.
“Why do ya steal cars?”
He scoffed. “Why do you think? I already told you I need the money, and there’s this guy—” He instantly shut up, once again, looking out the window.
“What guy? Someone you sell stolen cars to?” Mickey asked.
His head snapped around. “No!” He twisted his hands in his lap and took a deep breath.
“I mean no, I don’t sell them to him. What I mean is, he hires guys like me to steal for him and then…
anyway, he pays really good, and like I said, I have bills to pay.
” He waved a hand at the apartment building.
“I got mom’s place to pay for. That’s a thousand a month…
and then there’s the rent I gotta pay for my apartment here…
and sometimes, I even gotta eat.” He huffed out a breath. “I have a lot of bills, okay?”
I nodded slowly as something occurred to me. “Where’s your car?” I hadn’t even asked him how he’d gotten to the auction before putting him into the Camaro.
“I don’t have one.” I must have been wearing an incredulous expression because he quickly said, “I take the city bus to get around. The traffic is shit in Vegas, if you haven’t noticed.
Who wants to drive around here? Besides, it’s not like I work a nine to five job. I don’t need a car around here.”
“Ya just steal them,” I said.
He glared at me. “I already told you. I take the cars this guy wants me to take…and I don’t ask any questions,” he rushed to say. “No one questions Josiah.”
I frowned at him and exchanged a quick glance with Mickey. Just as I thought, the second Cam mentioned Josiah, we both wanted to know more.
“Did ya say this guy’s name is Josiah?” I asked.
Cam nodded. “Yeah, why?”
I shrugged. “No particular reason. Just an odd name…that.”
Cam pursed his lips. “I guess. I never thought about it.”
“And this guy—Josiah—he just hires you to steal cars?” Mickey asked.
“Yeah. I mean, he has specific buyers or something. I don’t know. I just take the ones he tells me to.”
I was beginning to wonder about Cam. He hadn’t been lying about the stuff to do with his mum.
If I hadn’t seen all of it myself, I would’ve thought he was just a really good liar.
I couldn’t overlook the fact that I had seen it.
I’d witnessed the two of them together. She hadn’t recognized Cam, but then again, she wouldn’t.
However, it was obvious they knew him at the care home whether she’d recognized him or not.
If he was talking about the same Josiah, Candy had told us about, maybe Cam was involved in drug smuggling as well as auto theft.
My heart did a little flip-flop. I’d really begun to like the guy which was odd in and of itself.
I was usually a really good judge of character and somehow, I’d totally missed the mark with him.
I’d feel really stupid if this guy turned out to be the same Josiah.
I’d met plenty of guys like the man he was describing.
I’d learned how to spot a stolen vehicle over the years which is why I only bought cars from auctions rather than going the private seller route.
Maybe Cam didn’t know the guy was some big drug kingpin, smuggling drugs as well as stolen cars.
Either way, I needed to know more about him.
Guys like him were predators. They used people like Cam who put their necks on the line, risking prison time, or simply getting shot at by angry vehicle owners, just so men like Josiah could pad their own pockets.
“This bloke…is ‘e some sort of gangster or something?”
Cam laughed. “Josiah? Gangster? Hell no. He’s just a guy.”
“What does he do with the cars you guys steal for him?” Mickey asked before shooting me a knowing look.
Cam shrugged again. “Look…like I told you…I know better than to ask. I know some of the cars are shipped to buyers overseas, because they don’t care about things like VIN numbers and the proper registration.”
That was an honest answer. Some auto theft rings sent luxury cars overseas to buyers in the Middle East and China when they couldn’t get the vehicles they wanted. I wasn’t about to say anything about the drugs…not yet at least.
“Do ya drive the cars to the port yourself?” The closest port of entry was the Port of L.A.
in Long Beach, California, but there were ports all up and down both coasts.
Still, Candy had mentioned the garage Lincoln’s team raided with all the vehicles had been located near the port.
More and more, this didn’t look good for Cam.
He blinked. “Sometimes—I mean, yeah, once I did, but mostly Josiah has us drop them off at a car lot he has here in Vegas. I don’t know what they do with them from there, but I’ve seen lots of trucks with cargo containers coming and going from the lot.”
I smirked. “Were ya staking the place out?”
He gave me the tiniest smile. “No. I just saw them, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay…so, this guy is big time then?”
He shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess. All I know is, Josiah pays well and it’s a really bad idea to cross him.”
I frowned. “Why?”
He glowered at me. “Because he’s a bastard, okay? I’ve seen guys get hurt so I stay out of it and do my job.” He checked his watch. “Which reminds me…I gotta go.”
“Why the bloody rush? Did ya promise to deliver something special to ‘im?”
He looked really uncomfortable, squirming in his seat again. “Yeah, and I gotta get it there by midnight or it’s gonna be a real bitch for me. I told you, Josiah pays really good and if I don’t turn up with the car, I won’t be able to go back to him again.”
I had a feeling he was underplaying how dangerous this guy was.
Cam had said he hurt people which would track if he was also a drug trafficker.
Just the thought of Cam being in real danger sent a chill down my spine.
And I’d bet you anything, Josiah was the kind of guy who wouldn’t think twice about hurting someone like Cam.
“Would this Josiah guy go after you if you failed to bring him the car he wants?” Mickey asked.
Cam shrugged again. “I don’t think so, but I couldn’t work Vegas again. If I ran into him or any of his guys, things could get…out of hand.” The conversation wasn’t making him comfortable.
Mickey and I exchanged a glance. “What if ya introduced me to this guy…ya know…as a buyer?”
Cam shook his head. “No way. That’s a really bad idea.”
“Why?”