Page 58 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

When Mickey came back, he smiled. “Snug as bugs in a rug. Who’s hungry?”

“I admit. I’m slightly peckish,” Mom said.

I smiled and went over to her. “Come on, Mom. Sit at the table and I’ll dish up some food for you.”

She patted my hand but when she looked into my eyes, I noticed the faraway look she usually wore when she’d lost track of where she was or what she was doing. I wasn’t sure she knew me at the moment, but I led her to the table anyway, pulling out a chair for her to have a seat before going to the kitchen.

I watched Mars talking with the others who were huddled around, hoping that whatever happened at this point, we were safe…at least for now.

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?”