Hector smiled at his coworker again. “Thanks, Bennett. I appreciate that.” They’d given Ryan shit when he’d first joined SWAT. His stiff, uptight demeanor hadn’t exactly vibed with the rest of the team. But once they got to know the cop, they’d seen what a good guy he was. Hector liked the handsome, blond officer. He still teased Ryan, but now it was more in the way of pulling pigtails than any kind of animosity. He turned back to the front when their new sergeant, Jody Stillman, came out of her office.
“Okay, boys. You know the drill. We’re serving high-risk warrants today.”
Brady, another teammate, spoke up from the back. “On toast with jam?”
Hector laughed. “Yeah, with a side order of your ass is going to jail. I guarantee it won’t taste as good as the migas I had this morning.”
Everyone laughed before they gave their attention to Sergeant Stillman. SWAT was trained to bring in dangerous citizens who were marked as high-risk due to the nature of the crime they’d committed, or if they had a history of violence—gun violence in particular. They joked, but when it was time to work, they got serious.
“This morning’s perp is wanted for failure to appear for court date. Original charges were felony possession with intent to distribute, two counts of assault with a weapon, and armed robbery. He had a relative pay to bond him out, so there’s no bondsman to bring him in. That means we get the job. Last address is 1325 Georgina Avenue. From neighborhood complaints of the sketchy people going in and out, we know it’s a trap house. There will be other people in there and some of them might be runners. Hector, I want you with Brady in the alley behind the house. Contain anyone who tries to come out.”
Hector nodded. “Got it.”
Stillman went over the rest of the operation. Once she was finished, everyone rose to head out.
“Where did you stop for breakfast this morning and why didn’t you bring us some?” Ryan asked as he walked next to Hector.
“I didn’t stop anywhere. My new roommate hooked me up.”
Ryan’s eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath the helmet he’d just buckled on. “You’re not making him be your personal chef, are you?”
“No. Just a little deal we worked out. He’s strapped financially, so he’s cooking in exchange for crashing at my place and any help I give him. It wasn’t necessary on my part. I suggested it as a way to help him not feel…” He tried to think of the right word. Mooch wasn’t right and pathetic sounded too harsh.
“You wanted him to have a way to contribute and express his appreciation.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“Wow, you really are a paragon among men.”
Hector grinned and brushed an imaginary speck of dirt off his shoulder. “And don’t you forget it.”
An hour later, they were rolling down Georgina Ave in two big black SUVs. A paddy wagon followed behind for anyone they had to bring in. They were only there for one perp, but like their sergeant had said, a trap house meant they might end up with more than one person in handcuffs. Wanting to get as much of the element of surprise as possible, their small cavalcade stopped at the end of the street. The team got out to quietly approach the house on foot. Hector kept his eyes sharp, on the lookout for anyone who might shout a warning or attempt to get involved. There was no one.
When they reached the yard, Hector and Brady split off from the rest of the group to go around back. As they jumped over the chain link fence, Hector spied a dog in the next yard over. It was a big pit bull lying in a patch of sunshine. The dog cracked one eye open, but didn’t move. When they didn’t approach his side of the fence, the dog shut its eye, stretched, and rolled onto its side. Hector huffed a silent laugh then took up his position behind the house. They needed to be far enough back to keep watch over both the back and sides of the house, but close enough to pursue in case anyone ran.
Hector heard over his earpiece and live from across the yard as Officer Williams identified HPD. After a second of silence, there was scrambling from inside the house. From the amount of panicked shouts he could hear, he knew they were about to have at least one runner.
“You chasing?” he asked Brady.
Brady shook his head. “You’ve got energy from a balanced breakfast. You do it.”
Hector snorted a laugh, but he got ready. The door burst open. A young man came out, his long, blond hair stringy from grease, his eyes wide, shoulders jittery. He more than likely wasn’t armed since he was only wearing a loose pair of basketball shorts, leaving his torso, legs, and feet bare. But he was obviously tweaking, which made him dangerous.
“Freeze,” Hector shouted. “On the ground with your hands up!”
The man didn’t listen. He jerked forward into a messy run. Hector cursed and took off after him. The tweaker grabbed the fence, hauling himself up and tumbling over into the next yard. Hector was right behind him, his hands lighting on the fence for a brief second of balance as he leaped over. Junk cluttered the yard he jumped into: kid’s big wheels, rusting barbecue pits, trash cans, a water heater tank, folding chairs with the bottoms busted out. The runner had trouble navigating the maze of crap. His flailing knocked over a big trash can and he stumbled. Hector jumped over it and the refuse that spilled out. Another two steps and he was within reach.
Hector grabbed the tweaker and slammed him up against the side of the house. Ignoring the runner’s ramblings, he got the man cuffed. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t the person their team had been after. Still, they’d take him in, hold him for twenty-four hours and check to see if he had any warrants of his own.
He led the guy back to the meth house. Brady was waiting for them, arms loose and relaxed, a smug grin on his mouth. He knew Hector didn’t like to run after perps.
“Enjoy your morning run?”
Hector threw him a dirty look. “Very funny.” He pushed the guy he’d caught toward his teammate. “I did my part. Now you can take this guy to the paddy wagon. He stinks.”
***
Miguel dropped down on the couch after Hector was gone. This was the first time he’d been alone since he’d left Santos. He’d done the right thing in leaving, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t scared. He’d have to start from scratch; get a job, a car, and a place to live. He was lucky in that he had people to help him. But he didn’t want to take advantage of Hector’s kindness, so he was determined to get a job as soon as possible.