My Heart’s Home by Kris Michaels

Chapter 13

"You've been in a really good mood lately," Destiny said as they huddled against each other and read. It was too cold to be out unless there was a reason. They'd already been to the sandwich line at the homeless shelter, and now they could huddle down and listen to the wind as it blew down from the north. The tent was protected on the north side by a piece of tin that Cam had found and propped against the tent. It broke the wind, which helped.

"Have I?"

Her daughter stopped reading. "Yeah, and ten bucks says Cam's the reason."

The teasing lilt of her thirteen-year-old daughter's voice surprised her. "And if I told you Cam was the reason, would you have a problem with that?"

Dezzy turned on her side and adjusted the blankets over their legs. "Nope. I like him. He's good to you."

"And to you." Mercy tucked a fall of Destiny's hair behind her ear.

"Yep. He's cool, and he doesn't yell. He's super strong and fun, too. I wish we could have moved in with him instead of Ian."

Mercy sighed. "I made a horrible mistake with Ian, and I hate that you are paying the price for that decision."

Destiny shrugged. "It'll get better."

"It will because Cam, you, and I are going to leave here, hopefully soon." She wanted her daughter to have the hope she held in her heart.

"Where are we going to go? A shelter?" Destiny's excitement lit up her eyes.

"Something like that. Cam has an idea, but we can't bother him about it or tell anyone else."

Dezzy's brow crunched. "Why?"

"Well, put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn't it make them feel bad if they knew you were going to leave and they couldn't?"

"Yeah, I guess it would. Are you sure Cam's idea will work?"

She smiled and nodded. "Pretty sure. I don't have a crystal ball or anything, but I like our chances."

Destiny smiled, pounced forward, and hugged her. "I'm so happy!"

"And that is why I'm in a good mood." She hugged her baby back. The wind rattled the corrugated tin, and they huddled together. "Everything will work out." Finally.

* * *

Cam shoved his hands into his pockets. He'd walked the camp over and over, but with the cold, people were huddled inside their shelters. Mitchell was a ghost. Damn it. He sighed and made a slow survey of the frozen camp. Burn barrels smoked with dying flames, and the few people who were out weren't lingering. The night was pitch dark, clouds obscured the moon and stars, and the wind snarled, exposing its frigid teeth, gnawing on the huddled mass of humanity like a starving wolf. Sunrise wasn't for another hour or so, and even then, the temperatures wouldn't lift much. Banks of snow cut through the camp. Shelters had collapsed, and people had moved on. He shook his head. Where they'd gone was anyone's guess. He hoped they'd found someplace to wait out the cold, but the reality was a large portion of this community might not survive the winter.

A movement caught his eye, and he turned—a vehicle. No lights, and it was big enough to be a paneled truck. Shit. He moved as quickly as he could back to the vet's portion of the encampment. He unzipped Punt's tent and looked in. He wasn't there. With a jerk, he pulled the zipper back down and spun around, looking for the FBI agent.

There. He bolted to the wood line where Punt was emerging from the latrine area. "Truck, no lights, coming in."

Punt's head shot up. "It's going down. I could use some backup until the cavalry arrives." Punt pulled his telephone from his pocket and sent a quick text message. "I'm giving them a heads up that we may have an exchange."

"I'll do what I can without blowing my cover."

"Are you strapped?" They moved down the incline toward the road.

"Yeah." His badge and phone were in his coat, and he wore his ankle holster all the time, like Punt. He didn't think he'd need it, but he damn sure didn't want Dezzy to find the gun if she rummaged through his backpack. Kids were curious, he knew it, and even though he believed she'd respect his privacy, boredom had a way of sprouting when you were cooped up in a tent almost all day every day.

Punt slowed. "You told her?"

"About me. Not you," Cam reassured him as they skirted out so they could flank the truck from the rear. The frozen ground was difficult to navigate without twisting an ankle, but they knew the terrain better than whoever pulled up in that delivery truck could.

They hunkered down and watched. Cam heard Punt's cell vibrate. Punt turned around and leaned over the device so the blue light wouldn't show. "Fuck."

"What?"

"Roads are closed all over the city. They're going to coordinate with the locals to see if we can get back up."

"Have them call my captain. The guy is a straight shooter, and he knows about you."

"Number?"

Cam turned around and pulled up the contact and whispered the number to Punt. He turned back in time to see someone walking down the embankment on the east side of the camp. “There’s your man.”

Punt nodded. “This was completely hypothetical, man, a theory based on intelligence from sources we couldn’t validate. Fucking Faber is going down for this.”

Cam’s head snapped toward Punt. “Faber? Julien Faber?”

Punt nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“I’m tracking Delvin Mitchell, Faber’s off-the-books record keeper and right-hand man.”

“Fuck. It looks like we might have a twofer. My dirty bomb and your gatekeeper, but I gotta tell you, if your guy is part of this, the Agency is going to claim jurisdiction.”

Cam turned to stare at Punt. “Did you just say dirty bomb?”

Punt shook his head. “Nope, those words did not leave my mouth. You never heard that.”

“Right. But thanks for the non-information just the same. Let the big boys figure out who gets the fame. I just want to get this guy and get Mercy and Dezzy out of this place.”

“I hear you, man.” Punt tapped his arm and pointed. Another person strode down the incline, heading toward the truck. “That’s Enzo.”

“Shit. Either he’s part of this, or he’s going to get into a world of hurt.” Cam whispered the comment.

“We can’t breach until we see the goods.” Punt didn’t need to remind him, but damn it, if Enzo was innocent…

They watched as the man they knew met up with the other man. He was wearing an oversized coat with the hood up, and from this distance, it was impossible to tell who he was. They walked the rest of the way together.

“Damn it.” Punt let the curse out in a breath of a whisper.

They watched the two men walk to the driver's side door. It opened, and yet another man climbed out. Enzo shook the driver’s hand and then pointed to the right of where Cam and Punt were crouched behind a snowbank. The driver shut the door, and all three men headed out.

Cam and Punt sank behind the snow. "Where are they going?"

"The old latrine hole?" Cam speculated.

"Dude, you don't think they put the crate in the old shitter, do you?" Punt's eyes widened. "That is one place I would never look."

"You and me both," Cam agreed.

Enzo kicked the snow off the wood that covered the hole. The three men pried the wood from the frozen ground, and Enzo pulled on a rope. The other two men grabbed the slack behind him, and they made quick work of hauling up what was on the other end.

"Ah, fuck me, the son of a bitch," Punt groaned as the men pulled up a grey container about the size of a steamer trunk. "I was holding out for him to be a good guy."

Cam nodded, and they watched as the three men struggled to haul the crate to the truck.

"Now?" Cam asked.

"Yeah. Let's make this as quiet as we can, but none of them are leaving. You get my drift?"

"I do." He took off his glove, shoved it into his pocket, and palmed his weapon. "Ready."

"All right, you skirt to the left. When you get level with the driver's side door, I'll make myself known. That truck doesn't leave."

"Copy." Cam slunk behind the drift as far as he could before he moved up, his weapon against his thigh as he approached.

Punt appeared and walked straight toward the vehicle. "Yo, Enzo. Whatcha doing?"

The three men spun, and Enzo held up a hand. "Punt, dude, I'll explain later. You don't want to be here right now."

Punt lifted his weapon and his badge. "But this is the only place I want to be. How about you explain it to me now?"

The man closest to him shifted. "Freeze where you are," Cam spoke in a normal, conversational tone, but the way the man jerked to a halt, it could have been a scream.

"Hands up," Punt said as he advanced.

Enzo snarled, "Son of a bitch. You're both fucking cops?"

Punt grabbed Enzo and spun him around, slapping a set of cuffs on him while Cam covered the other two.

The driver lurched and pulled out a weapon. Cam reacted with years of training and utter confidence that he was defending himself and the lives of others. He squeezed his trigger. The man spun, and the gun in his hand fired due to his body clenching from the impact of Cam's bullet. The second man spun and sprinted up through the camp.

"Go!" Punt yelled at him as he shoved Enzo to his knees and moved to assess the downed driver.

Cam had flipped his weapon's safety and was already after the man. He knew the camp like the back of his hand, and when the runner took the right-hand pathway, Cam knew he'd be able to run faster going up another track. He sprinted and leaped over snowbanks, ducked under ropes holding pieces of wood upright, and made ground on the perp. As the paths neared each other, he pushed hard and launched, crashing into the runner's back, tackling him. With his gun still in his hand, he scrambled to sit up and climbed on top of the runner. He pulled off the hood. "Well, well, Delvin Mitchell. You're under arrest."

"Fuck."

"What's going on?" At Bull's question, Mitchell tried to unseat Cam, but he put his hand on the back of the man's neck, keeping him down. "Bull, I need rope or twine, something to bind his hands."

"On it."

"I'll pay you, man. Let me go," Mitchell begged as Cam tried to catch his breath.

"Pay me, huh? Damn, I'm too old for this type of work." He saw the flashing blue lights before he heard their backup's engines. He recited the Miranda rights to Mitchell and tied the guy's hands with a piece of cord that Bull dropped in front of him.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Bull crossed his arms over his chest as Cam pulled Mitchell to his knees and then helped him stand.

"Talk to Mercy. She knows. I've got to deal with this."

Punt was jogging up the incline when they turned. "You good?"

"Yeah, the guy I shot?"

"He'll live." Punt grabbed Mitchell's other arm. "Did you Mirandize this guy?"

"I did. Delvin Mitchell, meet FBI Agent Puntarella." Cam glanced back at Bull. The man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded and turned to go back to the vet's area of the compound.

"Did you get your… equipment?" Cam asked Punt.

Punt snorted. "I have no idea. I'm going to wait for the people with the lead-lined suits to get here and tell me."

Mitchell stumbled, and they both steadied him. Cam chided the guy, "Going from witness protection to domestic terrorist. That's a leap into the fire, my friend. What about your family?"

Mitchell let loose with a string of cuss words that would singe the devil's ears. Punt slapped the guy on the back of the head. "Hey, there are kids around here, asshole."

"What about Enzo?" Cam asked as they picked their way through the people that the gunshot and police lights had brought out of their tents.

"Don't know. He's clammed up. Sucks. I liked the guy."

Cam agreed, "He's probably thinking the same thing about us."

Punt rolled his eyes. "Right, but now we need to deal with this circus." There were at least seven black and whites and three unmarked police cars plus a big black SUV.

"I take it the men in black are yours?" Cam held Mitchell's arm. He wasn't going to let go of the guy. Mitchell was his and his ladies' fast pass off this ride, and he'd be damned if he was going to let him go without Captain Terrell and his boss' approval.

"Yeah. You know this is going to take a hot minute to unravel." A man in a suit motioned for them to join him and several others. Punt acknowledged the gesture. Begrudgingly, Cam deposited Mitchell near Enzo, where two cops assigned to watch them could keep them from making a move. Medics were tending to the driver he’d shot. Cam was glad to see the man was awake. Using a weapon was always the last resort.