Tara exhaled audibly, seeming to deflate as she listened to the statistics. Shaking her head slightly, she shifted her gaze to Carter. He wanted to reach over and hold her hand, offer comfort, but maintained professionalism.
Enrico continued, “One of the organizations I volunteer with is Hope City Medical Group for Veterans. It’s a small group of doctors who provide consultation and care for veterans who are fighting opioid addiction. They don’t include alcohol abuse or other substance abuse at this time. They’re focused on opioids, whether prescription or illegal. It’s small, but they’re starting to make an impact. It’s a combination of nonprescription pain medicine, physical therapy, and counseling. Obviously, they can’t help everyone and not everyone is ready to receive help. One of the things I do here is when I meet veterans, whether in the center or I start noticing who’s going through the lunch line, if I feel like they might be a good fit, I can make a recommendation.”
“Why did you not say anything?” Tara asked, leaning forward to place her hand on Enrico’s arm. “This sounds wonderful.”
Enrico shrugged as his lips tightened in a thin line. He looked over at Tara and said, “I didn’t want it to be seen as a conflict with my job here. This is my job, my paycheck. I don’t want to do anything to mess that up. But I spend time at the lunch line, chatting to see who is a veteran, do they look strung out, do they look like they want help. Once I make contact, I chat with them a little more, trying to discern if they might be a good candidate.” He shifted his gaze and inclined his head toward Levi. “I’ve been chatting with Levi and finally told him that I thought he might be able to get clean so that he could get back to work. This morning, he disappeared before I had a chance to talk to him further.”
Levi sagged in his chair, shaking his head slowly. “I’m sorry, man. I fucked it up.”
Carter leaned forward, pinning Enrico with his hard stare. “What do you know about drugs in the lunch bags?”
Enrico blinked. His mouth dropped open, but no words came out. He snapped his mouth shut and blinked again, his gaze shooting around the table. His brow lowered as he shook his head slowly back and forth. Finally, as though just finding his voice, he said, “No. There’s no drugs in the lunch bags. It’s just food.”
Carter heard Tara gasp and shot a glance her way. Her eyes were large, and she swallowed deeply but remained silent.
Evan said, “Someone’s putting drugs in a few specially marked bags. It’s someone’s fucked up way of distributing. If the bag got into the wrong hands, it would be a fuckin’ nightmare, but the system works.”
“What do you know about Lewis Washington?”
Enrico stammered. “Uh… he’s a volunteer. Uh… been working the lunches since last summer. I don’t get a chance to talk to him much.” He looked over at Tara, who was shaking her head as she lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug.
Levi shifted in his seat so that he was facing Carter. “Detective, what’s gonna happen to me?”
Carter looked at Evan, understanding passing between them, and said, “Detective Barlow and I need to check out Enrico’s story. If we find it’s on the up and up, how interested are you in getting legitimate medical assistance?”
Levi’s face scrunched as he burst into tears. Swiping at his eyes, he begged, “Yes, yes. I’ll do anything you say to get out from under this shit and get clean.”
“If you’re serious about this, you’re going to have to disappear,” Evan added. “You can’t go back to Cardboard Cottages. You can’t go back into the lunch line here. You can’t be seen here at Ever Hope.”
Levi nodded, but his eyes registered fear. “What’ll happen to me?”
“I’ll ensure that you get a place at one of the other shelters.”
All eyes at the table swung toward Tara at her announcement. “I’ll make some calls, pull in some favors. That will give the detectives time to check out the clinic and if it all looks good, I can let them know where to take you.”
Tears continued to slide down Levi’s cheeks. “Thank you, Ms. Wilson. I don’t know what I could ever do to repay you.”
“Get help. Get clean. Then, figure out how you can help others.”
Carter looked around the table. Enrico beamed. Levi sighed in relief. Evan looked amused. And as his gaze landed on Tara, he could only imagine his expression holding awe. His lips quirked upward, and as they all walked out of the room, he held back just enough to quickly place a kiss on her smiling lips.
The sun had set hours ago, and Carter was still at headquarters. The afternoon had been busy, even if not in the way he originally planned. Evan stayed with Levi while Carter and Enrico went to the Hope City Medical Group. He talked to the director and discovered that what Enrico had told them about their mission was true.
A call to Evan brought him and Levi to the medical center. While Levi was undergoing an evaluation and intake process, Carter got the name of an accepting homeless shelter from Tara.
“Babe, I didn’t expect any of this when we came in today,” he began.
“Most of my days don’t go the way I expected.” She laughed and he loved the sound as it moved through him, settling deep inside.
“I’m going to be working late tonight, so I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to call. I wanted to touch base to let you know what’s going on. Hell, I want to do more than touch base. This is a day I’d love to see you at the end of the day, talk about what’s going
