A Hunted Man (The Men of Halfway House)

by Reese, Jaime

  Cam crossed his arms and turned away. "You can call it whatever you want, but the truth is I killed a man that day."

  "You were protecting yourself, that's self-defense. It's not me calling it whatever I want, he came at you with a gun and the intent to kill. The gun accidentally went off. It could have been you or him. I, for one, am thankful it was him."

  Cameron looked at Hunter, his eyes widening. "The only reason you're saying that is because you don't know the whole story. If you did, you wouldn't be here with me right now."

  Hunter stood. "I know more than you think I do and I'm still standing here."

  Cameron quickly stood and invaded Hunter's space. "Brad, the guy I killed, was my boyfriend! Someone who I thought cared about me! Someone who'd take me to his place and fuck me every chance he had for months but kept me hidden away like some dirty little secret. Then he goes off and starts dating my sister because I wasn't enough for him. No, I don't think you'd still be standing here if you had known all that. So go! Now that you know…leave!" He finished, shoving Hunter away from him. Hunter's nearness wreaked havoc on Cam's system. He needed Hunter to leave now before he had a chance to see him fall apart.

  Hunter straightened. His expression hardened. Cameron thought his words had finally pushed him away.

  "I did know Brad was your boyfriend."

  Cam looked away and tried to focus on a spot on the floor. He was light-headed and completely dazed. This wasn't how it had played out in his mind. None of this was. Anyone would run at the first chance they had. Who the hell would want to be with a man who had admitted to killing his boyfriend?

  "You're supposed to leave," he said weakly.

  "Supposed to?" Hunter asked softly.

  "Everyone always leaves."

  Hunter stepped closer and reached for Cam. He ran his fingers through Cam's hair then rested his hand against his neck. "I already told you, I'm not going away."

  Cameron closed his eyes and leaned into Hunter's hand, desperate for his touch. He wanted to reach out and wrap his arms around him, but didn't want to push his luck and risk breaking the weak tether that held them together.

  Hunter's other hand cradled and lifted Cam's face to force eye contact. "I promise I won't go away. But there's a lot I don't understand and I need you to fill in the gaps."

  Cam's heart pounded violently in his chest. He had to look away. He didn't dare think what he saw in those piercing silver eyes was love. He wanted to believe, to trust, but he had been burned too badly before.

  Hunter may be current with many things, but part of his appeal was classical, chivalrous—when a man's word was as golden as a handshake to close a deal.

  "Promise?" he asked quietly, still turned away. He couldn't bear watching the shift in Hunter's expression when he realized Cam had called his bluff.

  "I promise. I swear, cross my heart and—"

  "Stop!" Cam said, his throat tight with emotion. A childhood phrase, but he couldn't bear the thought of Hunter finishing the words.

  Hunter held Cam's face and their eyes met. "I promise you, Cameron Pierce, I'm not leaving. So please, help me understand what happened."

  Cameron was on the brink of being overwhelmed by the emotion screaming from Hunter's expression. He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to calm his racing pulse.

  He nodded.

  Hunter sighed. "Thank you," he said before softly brushing his lips against Cam's.

  Cam's lips trembled as he hesitated to return the kiss. There were too many emotions battling within him.

  Hunter pulled away and stroked his cheek. "Sit, let's talk."

  They returned to their seats at the kitchen table, facing each other.

  "Let's start with the charges. They don't make sense," Hunter commented, perplexed.

  Cameron took a deep breath and shoved his hands between his legs to stop the shaking. "I didn't know about all the charges at the time."

  "They didn't bring you in to talk about it with you?"

  Cam shook his head. "They took me to the police station, and I sat in a room for what felt like hours, in a chair, cuffed. I remember freaking out every time I looked down and saw all the blood on my shirt."

  Cameron paused. His throat was dry and his chest hurt as he relived that day. He looked down and could picture the light blue shirt he had worn and the large blood stain covering his chest.

  "An interrogation room?"

  Cam looked up. Hunter's question jolted him back to the present. "Yeah, I guess. It was a small room with a table and two chairs. Not like the fancy ones you see on the TV shows. I remember staring at the paint peeling in one of the corners."

  "You said you sat there for a few hours. Didn't someone come talk to you?"

  Cam shook his head. "They came in a while later, but they didn't want to talk. They just took me to a holding cell."

  "Did you talk to a lawyer?"

  Cam shook his head again. "It was a couple of weeks before my eighteenth birthday so I was still a minor. Supposedly, my father was the one handling everything with the cops and the lawyers. When he showed up that day at the house, he told me it wouldn't be so bad because I was a minor, so it would be juvenile detention center stuff."

  "So no one actually sat with you to detail what you were accused of?" Hunter asked, obvious frustration in his tone.

  "No. When I asked, they told me my father had taken care of everything."

  Hunter ran his hands through his hair.

  "I'm sorry," Cam said, rubbing his chest to ease the tightness. "I was stupid."

  "No, you were a kid and you were freaked out and trusted your father. What happened when they took you to the holding cell?"

  "Nothing. I sat there for two days. Two fucking days with the blood still on my shirt." Cameron closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. He gasped when Hunter's hand landed behind his neck and applied gentle pressure.

  "Breathe, Cam."

  Cameron tried to focus on the soothing tones of Hunter's voice and the rhythmic sensation of the fingers pressing into his neck.

  "They took me from the holding cell straight to juvie. I figured I had just killed someone and I had to serve some time for what I had done. But I knew something wasn't right. I resisted, I tried to ask questions, but no one was talking to me."

  "What happened when you got to juvie?" Hunter asked, still massaging Cam's neck.

  "When they checked me in, that's when someone finally told me what I was charged with. They read off the offenses like a fucking grocery list." Cameron rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. "I was so fucking stupid. I can't believe I actually trusted my father and thought he would take care of anything."

  "What did your father say when you spoke to him about it?"

  Cameron lowered his hands and looked to Hunter. "I never saw my father again after the day of the shooting."

  Hunter exhaled heavily and lowered his head.

  "I'm sorry," Cam said hesitantly, reaching out to Hunter.

  Hunter grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. "You went through hell, your father failed you, the system failed you, and you're apologizing to me? For what?"

  "You can break your promise and leave. I'd understand," Cam finished quietly.

  "I don't break my promises, and I'm not leaving. What happened after you got checked into juvie?"

  Cameron sighed. "I got a visit from my lawyer."

  "The one your father hired?"

  "Yeah. He went through the charges with me. I argued with him but he said there was nothing I could do until I was eighteen. I didn't even get a fucking chance to say anything. I never got a trial or hearing or anything at all where I could say anything to anyone. I was told that my father had 'taken care of everything'," he said with air quotes.

  "I saw the list of charges in your file. It's—"

  "Bullshit. That's what it is. Fucking. Bullshit. I was charged for possession of a weapon. It was a fucking key chain nail clipper with one of those b
arely-pinky-size dull ass blades that pull out of the side with the little scissors. I've even got a drug charge. I've never touched any type of drug, ever. For fuck's sake," he finished, burying his head in his hands again.

  "What did you do after that?"

  Cam straightened again and exhaled heavily. "The only thing I could do. I tried to get another lawyer and file an appeal. 'Sorry, I was an idiot kid and my father was an asshole' wasn't enough of an excuse to get it off my record."

  "I assume you couldn't get an appeal."

  "Lawyers refused to speak to me because I was a minor. They all required a parent or guardian. They couldn't find my father, so I was stuck in juvie."

  "Then what happened?"

  Cameron wrung his hands in his lap. "On my birthday, they came and took me to another prison. I was surrounded by murderers and rapists. I was so freaked out," he finished sadly. His body began to shake again. He took a deep breath. He remembered what happened too vividly, how he felt, what he saw, everything.

  Hunter's rhythmic massage resumed on his neck.

  "What happened after you got to the prison?"

  Cam closed his eyes for a moment, the tension easing with each gentle press of muscle. "I got a visit from a guy."

  "Who?"

  "I don't know. I think it might have been Brad's dad because he looked like him. He said 'it wasn't supposed to turn out like this but it ended up working out for him anyway'."

  "What else did he say?"

  "That was it. He walked in, said that, then walked out. He didn't even introduce himself."

  "Are you sure that's what he said?"

  "I'm positive. I played it over in my head thousands of times, trying to figure it out."

  Hunter took his phone out of his pocket and began tinkering with the buttons.

  "Am I boring you?"

  "Smart-ass," Hunter said, intently focused on his phone.

  "What are you doing?" Cam asked, craning his neck to look at the screen.

  Hunter's eyebrows were scrunched as he continued to press and swipe his finger until he turned the phone over to show Cam the display. "Is this the guy who came to see you that day?"

  Cameron would know that face anywhere.

  "Yeah. He's a little older there, but that's him. Who is he?"

  "Judge Kevin Mackler. Brad's father."

  Cameron's thoughts wandered. He'd tried to decipher the riddle for so long, he'd thought of every possible scenario, and always seemed to come up empty as to what it meant.

  "Earth to Cam?" Hunter said, waving his hand in front of Cam. "Where did you go?"

  "Sorry," he said, getting up from the seat. He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. He leaned back against the counter, took a sip, and realized he never got an answer to his initial question. "So how did you find out about me?"

  "Long story."

  "Seems we're in a storytelling mood. So talk."

  Hunter told him about the red files and how they began to anonymously make appearances in his office several months before, all related to current cases. He explained how each subject of a red file was found guilty of a crime and sent back to prison usually within a week of having received the files.

  "Interesting story but what does that have to do with me?" Cam asked.

  Hunter rose from his seat and stood a few steps before Cam. "I received a red file on you a few days ago. This morning I go to the diner to talk to you and there were three guys looking for you."

  Cameron paled. The energy drained from his body as he slumped back against the sink. The nightmare…they're coming for me. A tingling sensation began in his legs then traveled up his body, out to his arms. He swayed. His body slipped down against the counter until he hit the floor.

  I can't go back there!

  The panicked voice in his head screamed repeatedly as his heart raced.

  "Cam?" He faintly heard his name.

  I can't go back there! I can't go back there!

  He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, muffling out everything but the echoing screams in his head, begging for freedom.

  "Cam!" He heard his name again, more forceful. It had the same tones as that soothing voice he loved to hear.

  I can't go back there! I can't go back there!

  The voices continued to scream.

  * * * *

  "Cam, answer me!"

  Hunter's heart pounded so hard he thought it would rip through his chest. He'd seen Cam panic once before but nothing like this. His entire face went blank, and the life had vanished from his eyes in a split second.

  "Cameron!" he yelled again, more panicked.

  Hunter pulled Cam's limp body against his chest and brushed the hair off his paled face.

  Julian raced into the kitchen and found Hunter crouched on the floor holding a lifeless Cam in his arms.

  "Get him outside. Now," Julian commanded.

  Without question, Hunter lifted Cam and raced to the back, out to the patio where he had originally entered.

  "Cam, c'mon. Answer me. Open your eyes. Breathe. Do something," Hunter yelled, desperation eating away at him as he cradled Cam in his arms.

  "Cameron! Wake the fuck up already," Julian yelled as he patted a wet towel on Cam's face.

  Hunter finally breathed a sigh of relief when Cameron shifted and opened his eyes a few moments later. He crushed his body against Cam's, needing to have him closer, to know he was still with him. He looked over to Julian and silently thanked him.

  "It helps when he knows he's not inside," Julian said, folding away the towel. "The fucker already gave us a scare like this."

  Cam's arms slowly wound around Hunter's neck.

  "Don't ever scare me like that again," Hunter said with fire in his voice.

  "I can't go back there," Cam whispered in a broken voice. He gripped Hunter's shirt tightly and pressed against him. "Please," he said as his body began to shake.

  Hunter held him tighter, hoping to gift him with some of his strength and resolve. "I won't let that happen."

  He wasn't sure if he could keep that promise, but knew he couldn't stand the thought of Cam not being by his side.

  "Dude, you went like catatonic and shit. That was freaky as hell."

  "Fuck you, Cole," Cam said in a muffled, weak voice, still hanging on to Hunter.

  "Cole," Julian warned and finally stood.

  "Let's give them some privacy," Matt said.

  "But I wanna know what happened with the guys at the diner."

  Cam sighed. "How much did you guys hear?"

  Cole quirked eyebrow. "You're telling a story with a nosy audience in the next room. I'm guessing, we could have probably heard you if you'd farted."

  "Cole!" yelled Julian.

  "Shit," Cole mumbled before racing back into the house and running upstairs.

  Hunter was thankful Julian bolted after Cole and Matt trailed along, finally giving them a few moments alone.

  "Why does the beanie guy drive Julian crazy like that?" Hunter said.

  Cameron positioned himself more comfortably in Hunter's arms. "Julian reminds him of his big brother."

  "Does Julian know that?"

  "I don't think so."

  "Maybe beanie guy should tell him so he doesn't wake up one day missing a limb."

  Cam chuckled.

  "Feeling better?" Hunter whispered in Cam's ear.

  Cameron nodded and looked up at Hunter. "Seems I tend to panic when I think I'm going back. I'm sorry," he said.

  Hunter separated from the embrace. "For freaking out at the thought of going back to the hell you were in for almost a decade? I think most people would freak out by that."

  "No. For making you give a shit."

  Hunter half smiled and cupped Cam's face. "I more than give a shit. I'm—"

  "Don't."

  "Don't what?"

  "Just don't. Please. Whatever you were going to say, just don't. Not now."

  Hunter looked at Cam and saw fear in h
is eyes. He wasn't sure if it was the torment of possibly going back to prison, or the panic of exploring something more between them. He couldn't imagine what Cam had gone through all those years, what had happened to him in prison, or how alone he must have felt. He still had so many questions.

  "How about we make a deal?" Hunter said.

  "A deal?"

  Hunter stroked Cameron's cheeks with his thumbs. "I'll wait to tell you how I feel until you're ready to hear it. But whenever you tell me you're ready, you're stuck with me. I don't come with a return policy. So you need to be sure you want me for the long haul. Deal?"

  "What if I'm never ready to hear it?"

  "I'm a patient man."

  Cameron softly laughed. "No, you're not," he said with a half smile.

  "I am if it means I get you."

  "You still want me, after everything?" Cameron asked in disbelief.

  "Yes." Hunter closed the distance between them to press his lips against Cam's. Cameron wrapped his arms around Hunter's shoulders and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. Hunter tightened his hold, hoping to convey the unspoken words of affection.

  After a few moments, Cam slowly withdrew and looked at Hunter with renewed determination. "Deal."

  A smile tugged at the sides of Hunter's mouth when he saw a tiny spark of hope in Cam's eyes break through the despair he knew battled within.

  "So no return policy?"

  "Nope."

  "What about exchanges?"

  Hunter chuckled, relieved Cam felt good enough to tease him. He nuzzled Cam then kissed him below the ear.

  "Tell me, what do I need to do now?" Cam asked, his voice slowly returning to its normal strength.

  "Well, first we need to get off this porch floor because my back is killing me."

  "Your back hurts…sir?"