Camden closed his fists, letting the nails embed themselves in his skin. His father was ruthless, and he would keep coming after the Stephensons until Camden caved or Elijah pushed Camden away. Either way Camden had no more moves on the chessboard.
With hot tears sliding down his skin, Camden took the only avenue he could. “Drop the complaint and leave Elijah and his family alone, and I’ll do what you want.”
“See? That wasn’t difficult at all. Was it?”
Difficult? Why would torching Camden’s only chance at happiness be difficult? Especially when he’d spent years having his free will trampled upon by his father. No, pain and frustration were old friends to Camden by now.
Camden hung up the phone without saying a proper goodbye, tapping on Elijah’s icon in his phone’s contacts with more force than necessary. He believed in delivering bad news immediately. Better to rip off the bandage and let the healing begin quickly.
When Elijah’s jubilant tone greeted him, his stomach sank, and part of him wanted to put this off until another day. But the memory of the complaint he’d read reminded Camden Elijah and his family didn’t have another day. He needed to protect them now.
“Elijah, we need to talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ELIJAHsat in the courtroom gallery, with his hands balled into fists on his lap to keep his anger from making him do something stupid like snatching Camden by the back of his neck and dragging him to a dark corner where Elijah could shake some sense into him.
Only days ago, they’d been locked up in Elijah’s apartment, loving on each other and making plans for their future while Camden recuperated. But less than an hour after Camden left him to make a clothes run, Camden was on the phone, ending things with him as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
This smelled of that fucking judge. Elijah knew it, and if he could get Camden to talk to him, Elijah was certain he could understand all this and fix things so he and Camden could get back to the loving part of the agenda.
The most Elijah could piece together was Camden had stopped at his precinct. Camden wouldn’t tell him why, and neither would Captain Searlington. Both cited tying up loose ends for the case or some such bullshit as a reason for the meeting.
The hair on the back of his neck prickled his skin, telling him they were both lying to him. There was something dirty going on; the intuitive investigator in him was sure of it. And since neither of them wanted to come clean, Elijah would go on the hunt until he had every bit of information he needed to figure out why Camden left, taking Elijah’s heart with him.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Stephenson.”
Elijah swallowed before turning to Captain Searlington and leveling a cold glare in her direction. She might be his superior, but he still wasn’t entertaining her input outside of the job since things had fallen to pieces with Camden. He knew Heart usually had his back, but she was holding out on him regarding whatever transpired in her office with Camden. That put her firmly in Elijah’s not-to-be-fucked-with category for now.
“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about, Captain. I’m sitting here enjoying the show like everyone else.”
Her narrowed eyes implied she didn’t believe him at all. There wasn’t much of a show to see. The lawyers had each submitted their documents; the witness was returned to her life, the accepted plea making her testimony unnecessary. All that remained was for the mighty man who ran the Path to say, “I did it, and this is how I did it,” for this to all be over.
It didn’t matter she knew he was bullshitting. Until she told him the truth, it was business as usual with his boss.
Lee Edwards stood silently until his attorney directed him to speak. The questions issued by the judge were usually closed-ended requiring a “yes” or “no” in response. When the judge asked Edwards why he’d committed such atrocities, he said simply, “Because God predestined me to be Him on earth. It was my sacred duty to burn this sinful world to the ground and recreate it in Our image.”
There was no remorse in the cold sound of his voice. His words were exact, leaving no room for interpretation. The man wasn’t just evil; he was certifiable.
The judge wasted no time moving to the sentencing portion of the hearing. As the DA explained to Elijah and his family, the prosecution threatened to treat the Path as an organized crime family to get Lee to accept the deal. A RICO charge by the Feds would yield him a needle in his arm; Edwards agreed to plead guilty to all charges for life in a maximum-security prison.
Camden was safe. As much as his most recent antics kept Elijah twisted in knots of angry frustration, the relief of knowing Edwards and his crazy-ass followers couldn’t get to Camden anymore gave Elijah peace.
The banging of the judge’s gavel pulled Elijah out of his thoughts long enough for him to watch Camden attempt to escape from the courtroom.
Elijah could see how hard Camden tried not to look in Elijah’s direction, but one glance was all it took for him to see the mutual ache in Camden’s eyes. The pain etched on his face, dark circles under his eyes, the droop in his shoulders—all screamed that Camden hurt as much as Elijah did. Ready to stop the ache, Elijah stepped toward Camden. He avoided Elijah, losing himself in the crowd.
He pushed through a few reporters to glimpse Camden going into a bathroom down the corridor. Elijah took a quick sweep inside the busy area, watching people buzz around the halls, none of them focused on Elijah or what he was planning. One more pass of his gaze over the hall, and he crossed through the throng of people and slipped inside.
He was quiet when he stepped in. So quiet, Camden didn’t hear Elijah’s entry as he stood, leaning over the sink, washing his face in the running water. Elijah gave a quick glance under the two stalls in the small room before he made his presence known. As far as he could tell, they were alone, and the only way Camden could exit would be to walk through him.
He turned the lock to the closed position, letting it click loudly to draw Camden’s attention. When Camden realized he was no longer alone, he snapped his head up. His face was wet, but the red rim around his eyes told Elijah the fresh water tracks weren’t entirely due to the stream coming from the sink’s faucet.
“Baby, if it feels this bad, why are you doing it?”
Camden returned his gaze to the sink, placing his hand on the countertop to brace himself. He looked so frail, so somber, as if he’d lost the thing that made the bright, fun part of him wither away.
“Elijah, why are you here?”
