Page 75 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

“Yes, both of you, Clifford. I need you to join the team when we arrest him, and Mr. Demarco to be there because we still have no idea what he looks like. Cam needs to be on hand to make a positive ID.”

I frowned. I’d totally forgotten that none of us knew what Sterling looked like, no one but Cam that is. “Noah couldn’t get hold of his driver’s license?”

“That’s just the problem. Sterling doesn’t seem to have one.”

I scoffed. “Ya ‘ave to be taking the piss, Candy. ’Ow’s that even possible? The man owns multiple vehicles,” I said.

“Noah has checked the Department of Motor Vehicle database in all fifty states and we’ve checked with our contacts at Homeland Security as well as the U.S. Department of State which issues U.S. passports. As Josiah Sterling, he doesn’t appear to own a U.S. passport in that name, or any other country for that matter.”

“You’re kidding?” Cam said.

“I’m afraid not, Mr. Demarco. SA Burgess has tried every possible spelling we can think of. Every financial we’ve found, turns up under various shell companies. Noah’s hit a brick wall there.”

“But I thought Noah compared ‘is bank statements to the one’s owned by the cartel.”

“He did but those accounts are owned by a shell company. They’re not in Sterling’s name.”

“’E must own the company, right?”

“Yes, but Noah checked the corporate charter. There is a name, however it’s not Sterling’s. The name on the corporate paperwork is a woman…Lavinia Moss.”

“Maybe that’s the woman who was at the warehouse this morning,” Cam said, looking right at me.

“She very well might be one and the same, but she’s also a ghost. Noah can’t find anything on a Lavinia Moss either…no driver’s license, no passport, nothing.”

I nodded. “There was definitely a woman there this morning, boss, but like Cam told ya, ‘e’s never seen Sterling with a female.”

“Right. She must somehow play a large part in his business, but since we’ve learned that the heroin delivery is happening tonight, we’re out of time. Noah will keep searching but if we want to catch him red-handed, we’ve gotta get going. Since things went tits up for him today, he might cut and run after he receives this shipment, and we may not get another chance if we waste time. Snow spoke to SAC Bradley, who called the director…and they want us to move on this information tonight.”

I looked at Cam and nodded. He shrugged, nodding back. “Okay, boss. We’ll be ready. ‘Oo’s coming to get us?”

“The team is gearing up now, so we should be at the hotel in about twenty minutes or so. We’re meeting Snow and his agents at the port in two hours. Meet us in the lobby.”

“Will do, boss.” I exchanged a look with Cam. He looked determined.

“We’ll be ready, Captain,” he said.

“Thank you, Mr. Demarco. See you two shortly.” The line disconnected and I reached out, pulling Cam into my arms. He held on tightly. The fact is, we needed Cam to be a part of the Op even if he was only providing positive ID but I hated it. Everything in me was screaming to protect him at all costs, but I knew Candy was right. We might not get another opportunity to arrest this guy, so we really had no choice in the matter.

Cam clung to me and somehow, the longer the hug went on, the more his courage emboldened me. As much as I didn’t want to let him go, we had to get dressed. I turned my face, kissed his neck and breathed in his scent, knowing that so many things could go wrong, and praying they wouldn’t. I was well and truly falling for him. There was no turning back now. Cam had become my whole world.

Cam let out a sigh, and I lifted my face. He cupped my cheeks in both hands, staring into my eyes with the most trusting expression. When his gaze dropped to my lips, I brought our mouths together, and kissed him softly, lingering over him. When he finally broke the kiss a minute later, his smile was sweet.

“You heard him,” he whispered. “Your teammates are on the way.”

I nodded, pulling him close and kissing him one last time before finally letting go. “I’m not going to let anything ‘appen to ya tonight, luv. Ya know that, right?”

Cam nodded. The trust in his eyes almost knocked me out. “I know, Mars…I know.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

MARS

I took hold of Cam’s hand and boosted him up into the back of the BearCat twenty minutes later. I climbed in after him and opened a cabinet, pulling gear out of it as Nash started the engine. The vehicle lurched away from the curb as he reached out, taking hold of my forearm to steady himself. I smiled at him and handed him a vest before climbing into black Tac pants and my own vest. I put on a helmet and felt everyone staring at us.

There were five of my team in the back with us, Rex, Patsy, Miguel, Raven, and Alain. Candy sat up front with Nash who was once again driving the BearCat…my BearCat. It was hard getting used to being relegated to the back, but I was picking that was Candy’s doing since Cam was with us. Napoleon, and Mickey weren’t with us, no doubt still on guard duty, watching over Cam’s mum.

I sat down beside Cam after pulling on my helmet and took hold of his hand. I met his gaze and nodded to him. He smiled shyly. After a few seconds, I dragged my gaze away from him. Everyone was watching us, all giving us slightly smug, yet knowing looks. Alain gave me an upward jut of his chin and then smiled, looking handsome and sophisticated, always posh, as usual. I liked our former SAS medic a lot, counting him as one of my best mates. He reached inside his vest and pulled out a can of face paint, holding it out to me.