Captain Searlington gave a knowing glance to Lieutenant Smyth and returned her gaze to Elijah’s. “The driver confessed to everything. He’s made a deal with the prosecution. He’s got enough info to link all of this back to the Path. They’re done. All of their leaders are being picked up as we speak. Edwards’ bail has been revoked now that we have him back in custody.”
That news should’ve made Elijah happy. The case was closed. They did their jobs, and the bad guys were going away for a long time. But when he glanced down at Camden’s still form, the only thing he could do was hurt.
“How did they find us?”
Smyth stepped closer to the foot of the bed as he opened a folder and laid it on the nearby bedside table. “Gerald Maxwell. Janitor at our precinct for the last five years. Apparently, he joined the Path about a year before when he fell on hard times. They gave him a place to stay and somehow got him the janitorial position at the precinct.”
Elijah let his head hang back as he pressed his fingers against his temple. “That bastard saw me walking through the hallway with Camden from your office. How did he find us, though? The house isn’t listed under my name. I didn’t see a tail, and I took the roundabout way home. What the fuck did I miss?”
Captain Searlington moved closer to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was odd; Captain Searlington had never been the touchy-feely sort. But there, in her gentle touch, in the softness of her eyes, Elijah sensed understanding and compassion.
“You missed nothing, Stephenson. Your job was to sit on Warren, and you did that. From what we can gather, their plan was to take Warren out when you attempted to move him to court. The fact that Camden never left the house is what kept him alive. They only grabbed Evelyn because she spotted them looking suspicious in their vehicle at the end of the block. They were afraid she’d call the cops. Once they had her, they had to use her.” Elijah sent up two silent prayers. The first was for having a garage that attached to his home by a door. If they’d had to walk outside, Camden could’ve been killed. The second was for his mother’s safe return. “They were determined, Elijah. No matter how many of us stood in their way, they would’ve kept coming.”
“She’s right, Stephenson,” Smyth replied. “Maxwell saw you when you came into the precinct and saw you bring your car around into the underground parking lot. When you came back inside for ADA Warren, he placed a tracer under the tire well on your car while pretending to pick up trash in the parking lot.”
Elijah slumped further into the chair at Camden’s bedside. Each bit of news should’ve brought him joy. He’d killed one shooter and his fellow officers apprehended the second. The perp turned witness would now give evidence to help convict the big fish in the Path, and if all things went well, Elijah would probably end up getting a commendation for this. But as he looked at the still body of a man who’d been so full of life while lying in Elijah’s arms earlier in the day, the only emotions Elijah could manage were anger, fear, and pain.
“Smyth, would you mind giving us the room for a moment?” Smyth must have agreed because Elijah heard the door slide closed as Smyth exited. “Can we talk for a minute, E?”
Elijah kept his eyes focused on Camden, shrugging briefly before answering her. “Depends on who wants to talk. My captain or my friend?”
His respect for her as his boss notwithstanding, Elijah would not waste a second of his time with Camden discussing policy and procedure. Not when Camden needed him.
It wasn’t until he heard her answer, “Heart Searlington, your friend,” that he spared her a glance in her direction. “E, this is much more than him being your protectee, isn’t it? What happened at your house?”
What indeed? In a handful of days, Elijah had gone from pretending he couldn’t care less about Camden to losing his heart.
Elijah shook his head as their days in captivity replayed on a wide-screen in his head. The longing, the laughter, the loving had all consumed Elijah, making him forget to protect himself from Camden and every tempting detail about the man. Yeah, Elijah hadn’t lost his heart; he’d willingly given it away.
“You fell in love, didn’t you?”
Without hesitation, Elijah nodded his head, communicating the truth, even though he didn’t dare speak the words. Those specific words were for Camden. If he couldn’t say them to him, he wouldn’t share them with anyone else either.
“Take it from someone who fucked around and fell in love with a principal in her case too, you’d better make sure this shit is worth it. Be sure you want to run the distance with it because it could cost you your job.”
“Have you ever regretted your decision to choose love over the job, Heart?”
She let out a long breath and pulled up a chair next to Elijah’s. “The only regret I have is that I didn’t do it sooner. Kenneth has and always will be my everything. Is Camden your everything?”
Elijah let the single tear sliding down his cheek speak for him. It must’ve been enough, because she nodded and said, “I thought so,” as she handed him a facial tissue from the box on the bedside table.
“I got your back, E. Just be careful. This guy’s father is the fucking chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. If this shit goes south, we’re both up shit creek.”
Elijah cleared his throat before trying to use his vocal cords. His boss’s warning didn’t go unheard. This situation was bound to get messy for several reasons. His job, Camden’s position as the second-in-command at the prosecutor’s office, this case, and most probably because of who Camden’s father was. In Elijah’s mind, it didn’t matter how messy things became. Camden was worth it all.
“Speaking of, when will His Honor and his wife arrive?”
“Tomorrow, after he’s done with an important case he has to render a decision on in Albany.” Heart stood, walking toward the glass door, looking over her shoulder as her hand touched the door handle. “Make use of the time you have. I hear Daddy Dearest is a real piece of work.”
Elijah grabbed Camden’s limp hand in his, dropping a ghost of a kiss on the back.
“He might be a piece of work, but so am I. I’m not leaving until Camden tells me to.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
CAMDEN’Shead hurt. He tried to pull himself from the thick haze his mind seemed to be drowning in, but the light bleeding through the murky water of his thoughts appeared too far away for him to reach.
Comforting warmth cupped his cheek, giving him an anchor to grab on to in the vast nothingness of wherever the hell he was right now.
