Chapter Sixteen
MARS
As we all sat at the dining room table eating spaghetti, I wondered when we’d get the new location and start moving again.
It was a bloody pain in the arse, but somehow, I hoped Sterling’s guys had only one car tailing us.
If we all left at once, in both vehicles, they’d have to decide which BearCat to follow which would give us a fifty percent chance of losing them.
If they called in their own backup, things might get tricky, though.
An hour later, Cam’s mum was asleep in one of the bedrooms and I stood in the kitchen beside him, doing dishes.
I honestly didn’t know what Candy had planned.
The FBI wouldn’t want to tie up two tac teams too much longer.
The longer we waited to move, the more time Sterling would have to bring in his own backup.
He was probably wealthy enough to hire an army of mercenaries to storm the place and none of us wanted to risk that.
If there was the slightest chance that Sterling was working hand and hand with a cartel, it meant the house could be attacked by a cartel hit squad, which had happened to Nash, Joshua, and his family in their home.
We’d barely arrived in time to save them the last time we’d come up against one of those.
The rest of the team had arrived as promised, fifteen minutes after we did, and now they stood talking things out in the living room. I dried my hands and glanced at Cam. “Finish up. I’m going to talk to my team…find out what they ‘ave planned.”
He nodded, and I walked over to the group. Candy looked up. “We’ve come to a decision, Clifford.”
I nodded. “Okay, boss, what’s ‘appening?”
“You know Smith’s mom is a retired geriatric nurse, right?”
I knew she’d been a nurse but had never paid much attention to whether she had a specialty as most did. “Right, yeah.”
“She’s offered to take care of Cam’s mom as long as he agrees.”
I nodded slowly. It was a good plan. “So, where’s this going to ‘appen? Not in ‘ospital, I’m guessing.”
“No. Candy doesn’t want her at a facility in case Sterling is watching those places,” Napoleon replied. “It’d be much more difficult to defend and much more dangerous to other patients and medical staff.”
I frowned, looking between the two men. “Where then?”
“My mom’s house in Leimert Park,” Napoleon said.
I’d been there a couple of times when Napoleon’s mum had invited us over for tea.
She was a widow and had lived in the house for over thirty years, having inherited it from Napoleon’s father’s people after his death.
Leimert Park was an older neighborhood in South L.A.
, well known as a cultural, black enclave rich with art, jazz, black music, and food festivals.
Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and former mayor Tom Bradley had all lived in the neighborhood.
Napoleon had reintroduced me to the soul food of Africa, Jamaica, and the West Indies cuisine there.
When I got a bit homesick for Raggas or Eat Up Gud in Liverpool and fancied a big plate of Jerk something, usually Sweet Potato Fries, this was my home away from home.
I’d loved the area the moment I’d stepped into it.
His mom‘s hundred-year-old, Spanish Colonial Revival house with creaky hardwood floors, wainscotting, and wide crown moldings was flash but the area hadn’t always been.
A tough neighborhood, heavily populated by street gangs in the past, had cleaned up over the last couple of decades as more and more families decided to stay and rebuild after going through some hard times.
Drugs were an ongoing issue—as they were throughout the U.S.
—but there were more after-school and athletic programs for the kiddies these days.
People were involved in community, church and such like.
Family ties dated back decades, and I knew Cam’s mom would be safe and well cared for as long as people took her under their wing.
“That sounds like it’d be workable as long as she’s protected.”
“I’m going to have Smith and Way stay with them as long as needed,” Candy replied.
I glanced at Cam and then back at Candy, lifting an eyebrow. “And Cam will be staying there as well?”
Candy shook his head. “You and Mr. Demarco will be leaving tonight.”
I frowned a little. “Where’re we going?”
The boss canted his head toward the backyard. “Over the back fence.”
“What?”
He scratched his beard, tugging on it. “We want to make your exit less showy, so I figure the two of you can go over the back fence and through the neighborhood. Since your Camaro is currently on a flatbed on its way back from Vegas, I’m having an agent bring you a car. He’ll park it on the next street over.”
“Okay, and from there? Where to?”
“I’m arranging for a room at the Westin Bonaventure for the two of you,” Candy replied.
“It’s only seven minutes from the office, so you can bring Mr. Demarco back in if he’s needed.
I’m only assigning one of you since that’ll be more discreet.
We don’t need to draw attention to either of you until we have Sterling in custody with a solid case built. ”
I swallowed. Putting Cam and me in a hotel room was like putting the cat among the pigeons since the last time we’d been in one together, things had gotten very heated, very quickly. “So, I’m on permanent guard duty then?”
Candy frowned. “Yes…unless that’s a problem for you, Clifford.”
I blew out a long breath. “No, boss, course not.”
I wasn’t about to enlighten him; he’d bloody crucify me. But the last thing I needed was to be forced to stay in a hotel room night after night with a temptation like Cam in the room with me.
“You two seem to get along.” He glanced at Mickey before looking back. “Way says the man trusts you.”
I shot Mickey a look of surprise. He was watching me right back. He shrugged. “You seem to like him fine.” Blimey. Any denial would be a lie.
“Yeah, ‘e’s not a ‘ardened criminal by any means. I think ‘e’s been given a bit of a raw deal in life and made the best of it.” I caught Cam watching us from the kitchen with a guarded expression on his face. “We could always ask ‘im ‘is thoughts on the arrangement.”
Candy frowned. “That’s not an option here, Clifford. Whatever arrangements we make are for their own good.”
I nodded, feeling butterflies in my stomach as I came to a conclusion. “So, it’s an order then, sir.”
He smirked. “That’s right.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to ‘im.”
Candy ignored me and lifted his hand, beckoning Cam over. “I wanted to fill you in on what will be happening, Mr. Demarco.”
Cam stood beside me, crossing his arms over his chest, watching Candy with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. “Okay.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable.
Candy explained the plan. “We’ll be moving your mom in the morning. I’d say we should move her now, but I’m guessing she needs her rest.”
“She definitely needs a good night’s sleep. After everything she went through today, I’m actually shocked that she stayed on her feet as long as she did, if I’m being honest.” He frowned deeply. “Do you think it’s safe to move her to a private residence in broad daylight?”
“I don’t think we have a choice, Mr. Demarco,” Candy replied honestly. “We’ll just have to take precautions that we aren’t followed tomorrow.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “What kind of precautions?”
“I’ll get in touch with the CHP and have them run a traffic break on the 405 when we head south.
If we’re followed, they’ll be caught behind it and we can proceed on.
By the time they figure out what’s going on, we’ll have changed vehicles and it’ll be virtually impossible for anyone to know which patrol car we’ve got her in. ”
Cam uncrossed his arms, breathing out a sigh of relief as he looked up at me for confirmation. When I nodded, he glanced back at the boss. “Okay, if you can do that, it sounds great.”
Candy nodded sharply. “Good. That’s settled then.”
“Can I leave my things with someone?” Cam asked. “I’ll take my clothes, but the other things I have…I don’t want anything lost as we hop fences.”
“Of course. Take only what you need.” Candy glanced at me. “Put his clothes in your backpack.”
“Go get them, Cam.” He nodded and moved away.
“I trust you to watch over him with your life, Mars.”
I nodded. “Goes without saying, boss.”
He stared at me with an intense gaze. I couldn’t work out what I was seeing behind his eyes, but Candy was no fool.
He had to know I was attracted to Cam but he’d never mention it to me.
I wondered if he’d planned things out for some other reason.
Both Nash and Patsy had met the loves of their lives while watching over the men they eventually pledged themselves to.
He was way off base with me, though. I wasn’t interested in settling down with any man, much less a man I had absolutely no future with.
I was a dedicated law enforcement officer, and Cam was a criminal, regardless of the circumstances that led to his life choices.
Not to mention the fact that I never ever dated a man more than once.
I had no desire to be tied to any one guy.
It was more trouble than it was worth as far as I was concerned.
I stuffed Cam’s clothes in my backpack when he returned a minute later and we headed for the backyard after shaking hands with the guys.
Cam extracted one last promise from Mickey and Napoleon to watch over his mom as if she were their own, surprising both men with tight hugs.
Then we left, slipping silently out through the sliding glass door, into the dark.
CAM