Under His Protection

by LaQuette

  The gentle vibrations coming from the back pocket of his jeans made him stand still.

  “Camden Warren, how may I help you?”

  “Executive ADA Warren, this is Captain Heart Searlington of the seventy-fourth precinct. I was hoping to speak with you today. Would you drop into my office for a few moments?”

  Camden glanced at his watch and shrugged. It wasn’t as if his and Elijah’s early-morning sexy shenanigans hadn’t already blown his schedule to hell. Why not make a detour on his way home?

  “Sure, I’m close by. I’ll see you in ten minutes. Does that work?”

  “Outstanding. See you soon.”

  Camden made the short drive to the precinct and was quickly escorted to Heart Searlington’s office once inside. He was about to open the door, but then he heard mention of Elijah’s name.

  “This could end Stephenson’s career, Searlington. If this gets out, the department will not back him.”

  Panic rose in Camden’s throat, driving him to swallow forcefully to move the lump blocking his airway. What the hell could’ve threatened Elijah’s career?

  “I promise I’ll handle it, Inspector Abrams.”

  At the sound of feet moving toward the door, Camden sat in a nearby chair, pulled his phone from his back pocket, and pretended to stare at it when Heart opened the door, letting the man he presumed was the “inspector” she’d mentioned earlier exit her office.

  “Oh great, you’re here.”

  He nodded in response to Captain Searlington and followed her into her office, then took a seat in front of her.

  “Okay, I’m gonna get straight to the point. I told Elijah to be careful of fucking around with you. It’s nothing personal, but he stands to lose more than you if this shit goes bad.”

  The brashness of the captain’s speech and tone took Camden aback. “I’m sorry,” Camden replied, “I wasn’t aware that either of us should give a damn about what you or anyone else thought of our relationship.”

  To her credit, the woman didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned by Camden’s flippant tone. “Normally I’d agree with you. But as I understand it, most of your relationship occurred while you were placed in Lieutenant Stephenson’s protective custody, making it my business if you were fucking on the department’s dime.”

  “What is this all about, Captain? I would hope you didn’t interrupt my plans for today just to ask me if Elijah and I were sleeping together while I was at his house.”

  He watched her close the folder on her desk and slide it to the edge in front of him. “This is why I called you down here, Mr. Warren.”

  He picked up the folder and read its contents. It was an official departmental complaint sworn out against Elijah. The complainant accused Elijah of negligent behavior during Camden’s case that bordered on the criminal, with terms like “sexual deviance” thrown in for good measure. Whoever drafted this also insisted Elijah be relieved of his duties because of his inability to perform in a professional and dignified manner.

  Camden closed his eyes before he read the signature at the bottom of the affidavit. He didn’t need to see it to know who wrote this, but in his soul, he prayed his assumption was wrong.

  But sadly, when he gathered up enough courage to look down at the document again, he saw his father’s distinctive “Honorable Michael C. Warren, JD” scribbled across the signature line.

  “My inspector is giving me time to get ahead of this. However, your father is a judge. He can’t sit on this forever. Can you talk to your father? Can you get him to rescind this? If he can prove any of this, it could be terrible for Elijah.”

  Camden slouched back into his chair and released a heavy breath. “What happens between now and when the time your inspector gave you is up?”

  “I know I’m crossing a line, but I wanted to let you know what was going on first. If I’d told Elijah about this first, he would’ve quit and probably never told you why.”

  He nodded his head. She wasn’t wrong. Elijah wouldn’t have allowed anyone to back him into a corner. If only Camden had that kind of resolve. Instead, he sat there trembling for no other reason than he knew his father had made a power move and Camden wasn’t sure how to get around it.

  “I’ll talk to my father. This has to be a misunderstanding.”

  The captain nodded her head. “If I don’t hear from you by tomorrow morning, I’ll have no choice but to notify Stephenson of this officially. By chance, do you have any experience with representing anyone in IA matters? Because if your father is coming after my lieutenant like this, his PBA rep may not cut it.”

  Camden stood up, his lawyer game-face settling over his features. “I’m sure my boss would see it as a conflict of interest, but whether it’s me, or one of my colleagues, Elijah will have everything he needs to win in court.”

  The captain shook her head, sadness adding creases to the worry lines taking up residence on her face. “Counselor, we both know whether this goes to court is immaterial. In court your father knows he’d lose. This is about ruining Elijah’s reputation, stripping him of his ability to succeed in a job he loves. Once this is officially filed, whether the allegations are founded, Elijah will never make rank again.”

  Camden shuddered. Elijah had become a cop to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he’d succeeded in the department under his own steam. That he could lose it all because of Camden’s megalomaniac father was something Camden couldn’t allow.

  “I promise I’ll handle it.” He left the captain’s office, heading directly for his car in the parking lot. As soon as he closed the driver’s door, his phone was out, and he was calling his father’s cell phone.

  The judge picked up on the first ring as if he was expecting Camden’s call. Knowing how strategic that son of a bitch was, Camden didn’t doubt he was.

  “Why did you do it?”

  “Ah, Camden,” the judge uttered. His voice was tinged with knowing delight, smugness traveling across the line, making Camden grateful he wasn’t close enough to string his father up by his designer tie. “If you’re referring to the complaint I swore out against Lieutenant Stephenson, then my answer is that you left me no choice. You wouldn’t listen to reason. As your father I had to do what was best for my son.”

  “How did you even find out Elijah was assigned to this case? None of those details have been released yet.”

  “I’ve been on the bench in the highest court of the state for more than a decade. Does it really seem like police files are something I couldn’t get my hands on? You’re losing your edge, Camden. You of all people should know who I am, and how far I can extend my reach.”

  Camden’s pulse sped up. “You made it sound like Elijah used his badge to coerce me into sex. Nothing like that happened, and you couldn’t prove it even if it did. You are trading on other people’s pain, Father. Not to mention, you’re lying. Everything that happened between Elijah and me has always been consensual.”

  “That’s not my interpretation of it, son. I asked you to stop seeing that man for your own benefit. You wouldn’t, so I had to intervene.”

  Camden wrapped one hand tightly around the steering wheel and squeezed. It was that or punch his hand through the window. The gall of his father to do something like this and name fatherly love as his motivation…. It was infuriating.

  “Me leaving Elijah is not an option. I won’t walk away from him to please you. I love him.”

  “Do you love his family also? His father is retired, but his mother still works. Isn’t she a nursing director at the county hospital? It would be so sad if negative press about her son led to an unfavorable light being cast on her too. It would be equally shameful if perhaps her superiors discovered something unsavory about her work ethic as well? And what about his brother—”

  Camden slapped the heel of his hand against the steering wheel and prayed the distraction was enough to keep him from executing the patricidal thoughts currently swirling around in his head.

  “You wouldn�
��t—”

  “Camden, you’ve seen what happens when I’m determined to bring someone down. Are you willing to test the theory that this so-called love of yours will succeed? The truth is, when I’m done with your lieutenant and his family, he will hate you for coming into his life.”

  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

  ELIJAH sat 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?”

  “It’s where I need to be. Baby, what the hell are you doing to yourself?” Elijah stepped closer to Camden, the need to pull him into his arms building in the pit of his stomach as he closed the distance between them. “Cam, let me fix this. Tell me what’s wrong, and I will make it better. I promise you.”

  Camden shook his head, and a small gasp escaped his lips. The sound was a cross between a whimper and a shriek of pain. It rattled inside Elijah’s hollow heart, making its sound reverberate, each echo slicing away at another piece of him.

  Camden backed himself against the wall, trying to keep a respectable distance between the two. It might have worked, too, if Elijah cared anything about respectability. Hell, he’d locked them in a courthouse bathroom. All concerns about appropriate ways to handle relationship problems pretty much went out the window at this point.

  Elijah stepped closer, placing his hands against the wall on either side of Camden, caging him in, forcing him to look Elijah in the eye.

  “I told you I loved you. You said the same to me. You told me you’d never run again, and I believed you. The first time we’re more than five minutes away from each other, you call me with some bullshit line about moving too fa
st.”

  Camden slowly moved his head from side to side. “Elijah, please, just let this go.”

  Elijah pressed closer, so close not even light could pass between their bodies. “Tell me what happened, Cam.” Elijah moved his mouth to Camden’s ear, letting his tongue touch the outer rim, sliding down until it ghosted over Camden’s earlobe. Camden trembled beneath him, and he knew their connection wasn’t lost. Everything that tied him to this man was still present, a living thing binding them together. And Elijah had no intention of letting it die.

  “Just tell me what happened so I can make it better, Camden. So we can get back to who we’re supposed to be. I know this isn’t you; this isn’t us.”

  Camden’s knees shook. Elijah’s hand was around his waist, pressing them closer, until Elijah could feel the stiffened flesh of Camden’s cock pressing against his.

  Elijah nipped at Camden’s ear and delighted in the shivers moving through the man’s body. He continued to place small bites down Camden’s jaw and down the curve of his neck, all the while keeping Camden pressed so tightly against him he could feel the throb of Camden’s heartbeat against his chest.

  “This was your father, wasn’t it?”

  Camden went rigid in his arms and not in a good way. Camden tried to push Elijah away, but he refused to budge. Elijah was already halfway convinced Camden’s father had somehow made this silly-ass breakup happen. But the way Camden’s body was so stiff under his touch, Elijah had no doubt.

  He swallowed, trying to keep his temper under control, but knowing the fucking smug bastard was somehow responsible for this made Elijah’s blood bubble with rage.

  “Tell me.” He spoke those two words with quiet strength through clenched teeth. Camden’s eyes moved quickly, assessing Elijah’s features. He must’ve seen that Elijah wouldn’t be swayed, so he took a steadying breath before he spoke instead.

  “I’m trying to protect you, Elijah. He will destroy you.”