My Heart’s Home by Kris Michaels

Chapter 14

Mercy watched Cam race up the hill and tackle a man. She saw him pop up and stifled a gasp when Bull trotted past her to where Cam was sitting on the man he'd knocked down. Bull turned and jogged back. "String or twine?"

She patted her coat and pulled out a two-foot section of nylon twine she used to tie their underwear together and wash them. If she had to leave the bathroom in a hurry, she could just grab and go. It was one of the things she'd learned early.

Cam stood and helped the man up. She held her hands over her mouth. Please, let that be the man he'd been tracking.

Bull came back to the burn barrel and stood beside the warmth of the coals at the bottom. "He a cop? Said you knew everything."

"He works for the DA's office."

Bull grunted. "And Punt?"

Mercy shook her head. "Maybe he's just helping? I don't know."

"Had a badge swinging on his belt and a gun. I'd say he's a cop, too."

"Eight patrol cars." She moved and narrowed her eyes. "There was gunfire. That's what brought me out of the tent."

"Ambulance is here, too." Bull nodded to the white van with red lights. "What's with the truck in the middle? And where the hell is Enzo?"

Mercy glanced around and shrugged. "I don't know." They stood together, feeding small pieces of wood to the coals until a fire started to lick at the wood. The grey of the morning was fully lifted by the time she saw Cam again. He stood at a truck with Punt. They moved back about three hundred paces, and a man in a white hazmat suit approached the metal trunk on the ground. He held out a device and walked around the trunk before opening the hatches and lifting the lid, which immediately fell. The man then resecured the latches and walked away.

"Wonder what's in there?" She leaned into Bull and asked the question as if her words spoken too loudly would stop the drama unfolding below her.

"My guess is something radioactive." Bull nodded to the guy in white. "That guy, I think he has a device to determine if there is radioactive material in the crate."

"Why in God's name would someone want to bring radioactive material to a homeless camp?" Mercy pulled her coat shut at the neck and glanced back at the tent where Dezzy would soon be waking.

"Couldn't tell you." Bull looked down at the fire. "You'll be leaving with Cam then?"

She sent him a quick smile. "Yeah, he's asked us to go with him. I said yes."

"Smart woman. He's a good man." Bull shook his head. "Where the hell is Enzo?"

Mercy did a double-take. "Ah, there." She pointed to the crowd of people. "Sitting down."

Bull cussed. "I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Hold on, I want to see if I can talk to Cam for a minute." Would they be leaving today? Trying to quell the excitement she felt at the possibility, she opened the tent flap. Dezzy opened one eye, staring at her. "Stay here. I'm going to pop down to the edge of the camp."

Her daughter's inelegant snort was muffled by blankets flopping over her head. Mercy zipped the flap and fell into step with Bull. The uniformed officers kept everyone away from where Enzo was sitting on the ground. "Bull, he's got handcuffs on." She leaned to the side, and her hair fell from her hood.

"What the hell?" Bull's jaw clenched. He squared off his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. Mercy moved around him and stood on her tiptoes, looking for Cam. There were at least thirty cops there now, some in uniform, some not. That made her nervous. Cam was talking with a large man who was wearing jeans and a thick down coat. They were huddled close with another man wearing a suit, and the talking seemed to be intense. Mercy stepped forward to try to get a better view.

"You, stay back."

Startled, she jumped at the shouted words. Her foot caught on a frozen rut in the mud, and she tripped, landing on her ass. Bull stepped over and offered her a hand up. She glared at the man who'd yelled and accepted the assistance up. Her hood fell, and her hair spilled around her shoulders to nearly her waist. She wound it up and pulled her hood back up. It was too cold not to.

"You okay?" the officer that had startled her asked as he moved forward.

She nodded and stepped behind Bull.

"Hey, I asked you a question." The cop moved closer, and she backed away.

Bull stepped in front of the man. "She said she was."

"Why is she backing up? Is there a reason she doesn't want to be seen?" The cop's question turned several more uniforms’ heads. She shook her head and stepped away again. Her eyes darted to Cam, who had moved to another cluster of people. His back was to her. She swallowed hard and stepped back again.

"What's your name?" the cop stepped forward with his radio out.

"Why?" She swallowed hard and stepped back again.

"What did you say?"

"Why do you want my name?"

"Because I'm going to run you against wants and warrants. It is what we do when people act suspicious."

"Please, just leave me alone."

"Do you have any ID?" Several other uniformed officers made their way to where she and Bull stood.

"No."

"Dobson, everything all right over there?" a fat uniformed officer called from where he was standing beside his car.

The younger, fitter cop narrowed his eyes at her and nodded. "Yeah. Everything's cool." He leaned forward. "Your lucky day, red." He turned and headed back to the older cop.

Mercy kept herself hidden behind Bull.

"Walk back up the hill and get in the tent. If Cam comes within earshot, I'll call him over."

Bull didn't move as he spoke, but she wasn't going to argue with his perfect logic. She spun on her heel and walked back up the incline. Before she ducked into the tent, she gazed back at the scene below. A snaked feeling of fear still traveled down her spine. Would she ever not fear the police? She shivered, but not from the cold.

Probably not.

* * *

Captain Terrel pulled up and got out of the unmarked police car. Cam motioned to him, and the man shot a vector and headed straight for him. "Mitchell?"

Cam jogged his head in Mitchell's direction. He'd been separated from Enzo, and the medics were putting the man he’d shot into the ambulance. An FBI agent was going with him to the hospital, and a police escort would follow them.

"Give me a rundown." Terrell crossed his arms and stared at him.

"Why don't we wait and do this all at once." An older gentleman in a suit approached. "I'm Agent Folsom, and I'm in charge of this operation. Well, at least our portion of it."

Captain Terrell extended a hand. "Ryker Terrell. Freeland is my undercover asset."

"Tracking one very slippery Delvin Mitchell, correct?"

Terrell nodded, and Cam was thankful he'd never come under that cold stare. "Correct."

"And what charges do you have Faber in your sights for?"

The captain shook his head. "Milking money from innocent people in a Ponzi scheme. Millions from hard-working folks."

"I think we're going to trump you. We have him on embezzlement, fraud, money laundering, and now, domestic terrorism." Agent Folsom motioned toward the metal steamer trunk.

Terrell's brow lifted. "What's in there?"

"Enough low-grade plutonium to construct ten to fifteen dirty bombs. Since 9/11, America has clamped down on all radioactive materials. There aren't enough unaccounted-for losses in the States to make an effective bomb. That's why they brought it in from overseas."

"The docks." Terrell nodded.

"Almost impossible to police effectively if this wasn't in a container. We believe this was carried as personal luggage."

Cam shifted and glanced over his shoulder. A cop was walking toward Mercy. He made to turn but was stopped with a hand on his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, your guy is going to have to come with us. He shot the driver." Agent Folsom shrugged. "My guy tells me it was self-defense, and the man is going to make it, but…"

Cam glanced at Terrell. The man's eyes followed to where his were fixed just a minute ago. "Once he gets done with your people, he'll need to talk to IA, too." Terrell dropped his grip on Cam's shoulder. Cam turned in time to see Mercy heading up the incline.

"We'll need to meet with the powers that be in Hope City. I can't release Mitchell to you. My guy apprehended him. Once everyone pulls out their trump cards, we'll figure out who is going to win."

Folsom chuckled. "You know we always come out on top."

"Maybe, but we'll play the game until we know the winner." Terrell shrugged. "Now, walk me through this," Terrell spoke to him and not to Folsom, so Cam started at the beginning through his apprehension of Mitchell.

“So the code was the date and time. 1 02 45 12 20. Two forty-five on the twentieth of December. The second is 02 02 00 01 18.” Terrell nodded. We’ll work with the Feds on the second date which is a month from today. With this bust it may be a moot point, but we’ll work it. Hey, who’s the other guy?" Terrell sent a glance toward Enzo.

Folsom answered, "We're running him now. Prints and facial recognition. Our agent tells us the man was in the community when he arrived."

Cam nodded. "He goes by the name Enzo. He claimed he was a vet, and he talked the talk too well to be bullshitting. Starting with the DoD databases would probably lessen your search time."

"Thanks." Folsom turned and looked around. "We have a zoo going on here. I'm surprised the media hasn't picked up on it."

Cam snorted. "Nobody wants to be reminded of these people. When you get downtown, they'll show up."

"I hope not. This is something we need to keep under wraps. Mass panic and hysteria perpetuated by misinformation is not something we want to promote." Folsom turned to watch as men in white plastic jumpsuits, wearing gloves and protective respirators, loaded the trunk into a black-paneled van.

"Is all that necessary?" Cam motioned to the suits.

"I'm not taking any chances." When the doors closed, he clapped Cam on the back. "Captain, I'll meet you and Investigator Freeland here downtown in…" He glanced at his watch. "… forty minutes. Of course, you know that all information revealed to you today is classified, and any release of ongoing investigations is strictly prohibited."

Terrell snorted. "We got it."

When Folsom left, Terrell turned to him. "Damn good work, but you're going to have a long, hard day ahead of you. I can give you a couple of minutes, no more."

Cam nodded and made a beeline to Bull while moving the uniformed cops who kept the homeless at bay. His badge hung around his neck thanks to Punt giving him a chain. Otherwise, the uniforms would have shoved him on the other side of the barrier they'd set up.

"Bull." Cam called him down from the twenty or so people who were huddled around a large snowbank that separated the encampment from the road.

The man strolled down the incline. "So, you're a cop."

"I work for the District Attorney's office, and I'm on loan to a Hope City Taskforce." Cam stared at the man. "What happened? Why was the uniform after Mercy?"

Bull shook his head. "A cop being a dick. Go figure."

Cam crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not leaving you here, Bull. I have an entire basement apartment at my house that is yours until you're on your feet. No time limit. It has a private entrance and a small kitchen. I know Mercy would feel better if you were there when I wasn't. I'll get you hooked up with the services you need to get your life back, man."

Bull lifted his eyes to the sky, and Cam could feel the emotion radiating off the vet. "Why would you want to saddle yourself with me?"

"Because if you hadn't helped me when I strolled into this community, I would have lasted a night, maybe two." Cam knew the man was the reason he made it as long as he did.

"Don't get a big head. You wouldn't have lasted the first night. Hell, you couldn't even pitch a tent." Bull's grin pulled at the edges of his lips.

"You know us Air Force types. We're accustomed to hotel accommodations and restaurant-quality food."

Bull laughed and kicked the snow with his boot. Cam heard his Captain call. "Look, Bull, I have to go and answer questions. I was the one who pulled the trigger, and now two agencies are going to ask me a million questions. Tell Mercy it will be late before I come back, but when I do, I'm taking her, Dezzy, and you home. Be ready."

Cam spun and jogged over to where his captain's car was parked. He sent Bull a wave and dropped into the warmth of the car. "Let's go."

Terrell nodded and put the car into drive. “I made that call you asked me to make. Everything is being set up as we speak.”

Cam sighed and dropped back against the headrest. “Thank you.”

“They were thrilled to do it. ‘Tis the season and all of that.”

Cam chuckled. “It will be now.”