A Hunted Man (The Men of Halfway House) (10 page)

"Oh hell, Dad." Hunter got up from his seat to empty his glass in the sink.

"Stop it and listen," his father said in his tone of authority.

"If Cam were a girl, I could tell you what to look for—the hair flips, the giggles, and all that other flirty stuff your mom did, which I loved to let her think I didn't notice. But I don't know what it is you guys do. I do know one thing—I was terrified out of my mind to talk to your mother even though I knew, from that first instance, that she was the one for me. I'd sit in those damn uncomfortable church pews for hours just to watch her. When I finally got the nerve up to talk to her and ask her out, you know what she said?"

"No, you've never told me this story," Hunter said with a soft tone and wistful half smile.

"She said…'It took you this long to ask me out, how long is it going to take before you kiss me?'"

Hunter laughed. "What did you do?"

"I kissed her right then and there," his father said with a devilish grin.

His dad rose from his seat and walked over to Hunter. He cupped Hunter's face and looked at him for some time without saying a word.

"You're freaking me out," Hunter said after a few moments of silence.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully."

"Uh huh."

"I want you to be happy. I'm tired of seeing you overworking yourself—sacrificing your life and putting everyone else first. Something about this young man has you all screwed up in the head. That's not like you. The biggest mistake you can make is to ignore that. Just talk to him. Ask him out. Your persistence is one of your strongest character traits. If he says no, try again until you tire him out and he gives in."

"People have been known to get arrested for that," Hunter said. "Stalking, harassment, restraining orders—"

His father squeezed Hunter's face tighter and searched his expression. "I don't remember you ever getting like this about anyone."

"I haven't, that's why I'm so damn…" Hunter paused, searching for the right word. "Confused. Besides, it's way too soon for it to be anything that serious. It's only been a week."

"You're scared because you don't know what to do."

"I'm not scared."

"Of course you're not."

"Dad, reverse psychology won't work on me."

His father finally released Hunter's face. "I knew I loved your mom on that first day and married her a few months later. Same thing happened to your grandpa and his. It's part of our DNA."

"What are we? Werewolves?"

"I have heard you growl on an occasion or two."

Silence.

"You're not old, Son."

"I'm forty."

"That's not old, you stubborn mule," his father said, exasperated.

"I thought I was a werewolf," Hunter deadpanned.

His father paused and looked down, lost in thought for a moment then shook his head. "I'm glad you're here because I wanted to talk to you about something."

Hunter wasn't about to let his guard down. He had learned some tricks from his dad and knew a switch in conversation was a tactic to get his way.

"I'm seeing someone."

Um, that's unexpected.
"Uh…what?"

"I'm seeing someone. She makes me smile," his father said with a grin. "We get along great, and we talk about all kinds of stuff and have a lot in common."

"Okay," he commented, not knowing what else to say.

"She's not your mom—no one ever will be. We just like each other's company and I've got a date this weekend with her. We're going to go watch a movie on Miracle Mile."

"Okay." Hunter thought about it. The thought of his father seeing someone else was surprising. He knew his mother wanted his dad to move on, she was very clear about that before she passed away so many years ago. His dad was the one who seemed resistant to taking the next step, said he could only ever love someone that much once in his life. Hunter wrapped his arms around his father and gave him a hug. "I'm happy for you, Dad."

"Me, too," his father said as he patted Hunter's back. "So if this old fart can get the nerve up to ask someone else out, so can you."

Fuck, I walked right into that one.

"Smooth, Dad."

His father laughed. "All kidding aside, just ask him. Otherwise, the what-ifs are going to drive you insane."

Hunter couldn't argue that point. "I'll figure something out."

"You always do," his dad responded in his proud-father tone.

"I've got to go." Hunter turned and gave his father another hug. "Thanks, Dad."

"I didn't do anything but give you a hard time," he said, squeezing Hunter tighter.

Hunter released his dad and looked at the man who always seemed to know exactly what Hunter needed to hear throughout his life, even if he didn't know it at the time. He pressed his forehead to his father's. "I'll see you soon. Have fun on your date."

Hunter waved good-bye to his dad. He drove off and wondered how the hell he was going to focus on getting some sleep when all he could think about was seeing Cam the next day. He wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but he had to get his brain in gear and focus on his cases. Even if the only thing on his mind had the most alluring blue eyes he'd ever seen.

Hunter wasn't stalking…much. He also wasn't kidding himself as to the reason why he was sitting at the diner so early in the morning. He just wanted to see Cameron, hear his voice, see his smile, anything…something.

He had arrived at the office early, hoping to catch up with a few case files only to receive notice Preston had been found dead in the holding cell. How he had managed to get a sharp object and slit his throat was under investigation, and the FBI wanted to immediately review Preston's case, in detail. Another day gone to hell, but there was no way he was going off to meet with the feds unless he got a chance to see Cam before the weekend.

As luck would have it, Cam started later today. Hunter looked at his watch for the billionth time. He had stretched this as much as he could and only had a few minutes before he needed to leave and hoped like hell Cam arrived before then.

He looked at his watch again.
Damn.
Resigned, he stood and walked over to the counter just as Bill finished up with a customer.

"Um, Bill?"

"Yeah."

"Can you tell Cam—"

Tell Cam what, exactly?
That he waited for over thirty minutes like a psychotic stalker because he wanted, no,
needed
to see him? "Uh, can you just tell him—"

"Why don't you tell him yourself," Bill said with a chin up gesture toward the door.

Hunter turned, and there was Cam, walking along the sidewalk toward the front door. When he entered, the surprised expression was quickly replaced by a scowl.

"You're early today," Cam said once he walked up to Hunter.

"Yeah, something came up and I'll probably be away all day. So, I…uh…wanted to come by before disappearing all day."

"Oh," Cam said and fidgeted.

"How old are you?"

"That's the second time you've asked me that," Cam said with a half smile. "Does it matter?"

Yes, no, Hunter wasn't sure anymore.

"Sir?"

Hunter's cheeks heated. He looked up and saw Cameron with a broad grin on his face. "You do that on purpose, don't you?"

"Gets you every time," Cam said with the first full smile directed at Hunter.

Hunter stifled a laugh and stared at Cam, both men with silly grins on their faces. He couldn't believe how much a smile brightened this man's entire face.

"I'm twenty-seven," Cam finally answered.

Hunter nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were younger."

"I get that a lot."

"I just had a birthday. I'm, um…forty."

"Is that supposed to bother me," Cam asked, still smiling. "Sir?"

Hunter chuckled with a grin still plastered on his face.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll be a whopping twenty-eight soon."

Hunter shook his head. He had the sneaking suspicion Cam was going to give him a shitload of grief about the age gap. But if it really didn't bother him, then Hunter would welcome the teasing if they got to spend more time together.

"I know you need to leave, but can you wait two minutes?"

Hunter nodded then Cam walked off and, in a few quick strides, made it behind the counter to the corner where the coffee machine resided.

He looked over to Bill who was wiping down the sandwich area with a knowing grin. Hunter didn't care if he'd heard. He finally broke through the awkwardness with Cam and was pretty damn proud of making some form of progress.

Cam returned with a lidded coffee cup in hand. "I figured you were going to have a long day and you could use one of these. No design today because you're supposed to drink it not stare at it."

Hunter reached for the cup. Their fingers grazed as they held the hot drink. Their gazes fixated on one another and both took a slow, labored intake of breath. Hunter's pulse began to race, his heart fluttered frantically. He wondered if Cam had also felt a jolt pass through his body when they'd touched. He cautiously raised his index finger and brushed Cameron's digits, still gripping the cup. Cam gasped, maintaining eye contact. His eyes looked dazed, darkening to a beautiful shade of sapphire with each stroke of Hunter's finger. Cameron swayed slightly. Hunter withdrew the cup from his grip and broke the trance.

Cam steadied himself and blinked rapidly until he focused again on Hunter. "You were leaving," he said, his hoarse voice barely audible.

Hunter nodded. He fought to control a base desire in his body to grab Cam and take him over the countertop. "Monday," was all he trusted himself to say. Saying 'have a nice weekend' or 'see you on Monday' would have expelled more energy than he could spare.

A customer entered the diner, immediately followed by another.

"Monday," Cameron whispered. "Sir."

Hunter shook his head, smiled, then turned to exit. Before walking out, he looked over his shoulder to see Cam still standing in the middle of the diner with a smirk on his face.

Waiting to see Cam again…Hunter knew he was in for the longest weekend of his life.

* * * *

FBI agent, Connor Ellis, shook his head in disbelief. "So you expect me to believe Preston gave up a deal of three years for a twelve year term then decided to kill himself? What…out of regret for making a mistake or something?"

Hunter leaned back in his chair. "I don't expect you to believe any of this. You think this makes sense to me?"

Connor exhaled heavily. "We've got to be missing something. Let's go over it again."

"We've been over it four times already. There's nothing on these damn papers that's going to make it any clearer. He was busted with drugs on him, which he claimed were not his. Insisted he was set up, but who the hell was going to believe a guy with a drug record the length of my arm. He agrees to take the deal in exchange for some intel, but then changes his mind, and the next day he goes back to trial, which ends exactly the way it was going to end. Now, if you want to figure out what's going on, you need to look at what's not on paper."

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Connor. I'm sure you can see there's got to be something else going on here."

"I go by the evidence. I don't go by gut."

"I've known you for years, have you really lost the ability to see through bullshit?"

Connor ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, let's go over what's not on paper."

"I think something else is going on but I'm not entirely sure yet. I just know something is off with this case."

"Stop being so cryptic. Just tell me what you're thinking," Connor said.

Hunter wasn't about to reveal that Preston's name had appeared on his desk in a red file exactly one week before the arrest. He still didn't know the source or purpose of the files but knew the information in Preston's file did not add up to the series of events in the last few days.

"I know he was scared shitless in court. The guy was completely freaking out and kept telling his attorney he wanted to deal. He freaked out so badly they ceased jury selection and that's when we started negotiations."

"So what changed his mind?"

"That's the answer we need to figure out. The next day in court, he was a different person. The panic wasn't there anymore. He was too calm, disconnected."

"So you think someone got to him?"

Hunter steepled his fingers and tapped the tips on his chin. "I don't know for sure, but I can't help thinking, yeah, someone got to him. But the question is why and what the hell convinced him to give away a chance at freedom to do it."

"Okay, let's go back to the drugs on him. The ones he claims weren't his. Are they related to this new drug guy on the streets?"

"I don't know for sure. The heavy guy on the streets right now marks his bags. They all bear a logo and the ones he had in his possession did not."

"The star logo?" Connor asked.

"Yeah," Hunter said as he reached for a sheet of the notebook paper and withdrew the pen from his jacket inside pocket. He sketched the logo he had memorized after seeing it on so many crime scene images. A five-pointed star with four rotated "L" shapes around it. As if the star was on top of a rectangle. "This one."