She knew if she went back home she’d have to face her brothers. With every question they asked, the truth became harder and harder to hide. Then she began to wonder why she was hiding anything in the first place, which jeopardized the entire foundation of her life. Hiding was natural and confessing was not. She hated change. So she went to the only place she felt remotely safe, to the only person who wouldn’t judge.
She drove to Shane’s.
Chapter Twelve
When Shane opened the door and saw her, a look of concern crossed his face and told her he’d heard the news. She thought she’d start off with a joke to break the ice. “So, I came by to see if you had any time machines, or maybe some kind of potion that makes people forget something they’ve recently learned?”
He chuckled, his eyes lingering on her in that caring, easy-going way of his. “Sorry I’m fresh out.” He stepped aside to let her in. “I heard you had a really bad day.”
“Yeah, it broke a couple records,” she admitted. She stepped inside, and then lingered by the door while he shut it. “I hope it’s okay that I came here.”
“Of course,” he said. “Anytime.”
That brought a small, shy smile to her lips and she moved forward and sat on the couch. He was quiet, letting her set the pace as he took a seat next to her. Eventually, he gently asked, “How are you doing?”
She didn’t really know how to answer that. “I’ve been better.”
“So that’s what you’ve been hiding. That you’re…” Looking down, he cleared his throat before he awkwardly said, “Married.”
The way he said the word, she knew it’d be a deal breaker for him. Even if he’d been harboring feelings for her, he’d never act on them as long as she had that proverbial ring on her finger. Finally, she gave him a reluctant nod. “Technically.”
He was painfully quiet again. “And wanted for murder.”
Hearing it put that way made her flinch. “Wanted for questioning,” she corrected. “But I think that’s all cleared up now…thanks to another deal with the devil.”
“Another deal?” he asked. But she offered up no details of the first deal, so he moved on. “So, that ‘spoiled guy with questionable ethics’ you mentioned…is he the lucky guy?”
She chuckled, both because he remembered something she’d spouted off in a rage one day and because he considered Julian lucky. “That’s the one.”
“So your own husband was blackmailing you?”
Covering her face with her hands, she let out an exasperated groan. “I wish everyone would stop calling him that.” Dropping her hands, she turned to him, hoping he would listen and see this the way she did. “I might be married to the guy, but he’s not and never will be my husband. Okay? It’s all just a sham.”
He glanced at her, eyebrows furrowed. “What’s going on, Cameron?”
She was so tired of not being able to answer that question, of being afraid to confess. “If I tell you,” she said slowly, “do you promise not to tell anybody? Nobody. Not even Chad.”
He nodded, and she could tell there was sincerity behind the gesture.
“All those things you said, about someone beating me down…you were right.” Letting her hands fall to her lap, she took a second to choose the right words. Even though she knew they would incriminate her, she didn’t stop herself as she said, “I killed someone…and Julian helped me cover it up.”
It took him a minute to form a complete sentence. “So…you did do it. You murdered your uncle?”
She cringed, standing up. “He was never ‘my uncle’,” she explained, as if that somehow made what she was about to tell him more bearable. “He and Anne were never married. She moved him in with us when I was fifteen. It wasn’t long after that, he…started…” her voice trailed off. This was the part that was always the most difficult, the part she’d never quite gotten around to voicing. Turning to him, she hoped she wouldn’t have to.
The thought was creeping into his mind, she could practically see it. The instant it did, the shame overwhelmed her and she wished she could take the words back. That skin-crawling sensation was all she could focus on. “I killed him in self-defense,” she explained, quickly moving past the unspeakable. “He ambushed me in my car one night and made me drive out to the woods. He had a knife and he was…” squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to fight off tears. “He was hurting me and I was sick of it, so I fought back.”
He stood, his expression full of tenderness and pity as he stepped toward her, listening to her revelation.
“I knocked him down and I started kicking him as hard as I could, but it’s like I just…snapped or something. I couldn’t stop,” she said, trapped in that horrific moment while she was speaking of it. “I don’t even know how the knife wound up in my hands. I don’t remember picking it up, but suddenly it was just there. And then it was in his gut. And he wasn’t moving anymore.”
The look of sympathy intensified; she could feel how sorry he felt for her. As he reached out, his head moved back and forth as if to indicate he was at a loss for words. Stepping back, she held her hand up to stop him from coming closer. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m okay.”
But he only continued to approach her, his arms stretching out to embrace her.
“I’m okay,” she repeated, but her voice betrayed her and quivered, giving the words little value. As her masks fell away, the tears started flowing and she couldn’t keep them inside anymore.
He pulled her against his chest, winding his arms protectively around her and murmuring soft words of comfort. As her silent tears turn to stifled sobs, he cradled her against his body, rocking gently as he held her tight. A soothing feeling of safety filled her at his touch and for the first time, embracing this warmth, she realized there was only one thing in the world more powerful than pain. Kindness.
It went against all of her instincts—which were now screaming, begging her to run away—but she made no effort to move. Instead, she let herself lean on a friend.
“I can see where your trust issues come from.” Shane carried a glass of water to Cameron, where she sat on the couch with her knees pulled in against her chest. It’d taken her awhile to calm down, but eventually the tears had ceased, leaving her with that cloudy-headed, puffy-eyed feeling.
She accepted the glass he offered and took a small sip. “Any chance you have something stronger stashed around here?”
A sad looking smile crept onto his face. “That’s not the answer, and I think you know it.”
Reluctantly, she nodded and leaned forward to set the water on the table. “One problem at a time.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “So what are we going to do about that jerk you’re married to?”
“I don’t know what I can do,” she said. “I make him too mad and he’ll tell anyone who’ll listen all about my past, spill every secret.”
“Cameron,” he began, placing his hand on hers. “Anyone who knows the whole story will think he’s the villain.”
“And I’ll be the victim.” Her eyes locked on his, pleading for him to understand. “And you know what it’s like when people think you’re a victim. They look at you different; they talk to you in a different tone. Do you see why I would do anything to keep this a secret?”
“I do,” he said quietly, nodding. “But so does Julian and he’s using it against you.”
“Shane, I just got my brothers back.” She looked away from him as more confused tears sprang to her eyes. “Is it too much to ask to tell them in my own time?”
“Considering the circumstances, it might be.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped this wasn’t true. Before she could answer, Shane’s phone started ringing and he reluctantly pulled his hand from hers to answer it.
“Hey, Chad,” he said, trying a little too hard to make his voice sound light. “Yeah…uh, she’s right here. No, she’s not drunk.”
Cameron rolled her eyes.
He h
esitated, listening. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…”
She glanced over at him.
“Yeah,” Shane said finally. “I’ll tell her.” He hung up the phone and turned to her. “They want you to come home. And they promised they were done with all the yelling.”
Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to face them. “I can’t avoid them forever.”
“Do you know what you’re going to tell them?”
“Not yet.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ll think of something, though.”
He stood, taking her hand again. “Let me go with you.”
She stared at him, surprised. “I’ll be okay.”
“I want to be there for you,” he said, giving her hand a light squeeze. “Just let me be there.”
Though she wasn’t quite sure what to make of his sudden loyalty, she was grateful to have the backup. “Okay,” she said with a small smile of thanks. She grabbed her purse and headed to the bathroom. “Just let me go get cleaned up first.”
***
When Cameron and Shane arrived back at the Baker’s house, they found everybody in the kitchen cooking together. Though it struck Cameron as a little odd, she didn’t think much of it at first.
“You wanted me here, so I’m here,” she began defensively. “What’d you want to say?”
“Let’s wait until dinner’s ready,” Sam said, his attention focused on the carrot he was chopping with an unusually large butcher knife.
“Come on, Sam,” she said. “Just yell at me and get it over with.”
“I don’t want to yell at you.”
“What I think Sam’s trying to say,” Bela stepped in, “Is that he’s sorry he lost his temper. And he’s ready to listen.”
“What they’re both too chicken to say,” Chad said from his seat at the table, “Is that we just don’t understand you at all.”
“Your choices,” Bela corrected. “Not that we really have any right to…” Sam and Chad looked at her, prompting her to sound a little unsure as she finished, “weigh in on that whatsoever.”
It was a nice try, but even Bela’s therapy techniques and Chad’s blunt honesty couldn’t eliminate the awkwardness of this situation.
The slow ding-dong of the doorbell echoed through the house and Sam and Bela exchanged a look. AsBela went into the living room to answer the door; Cameron noticed the extra place setting at the table and turned a dread-filled gaze to Sam. “Who’s that?” she asked.
Before Sam answered, Bela led Julian into the kitchen. She carried a bouquet of roses and wore a friendly, but nervous smile. Julian had his charming grin turned on, the one that could easily make any girl go weak in the knees.
As if sensing her instant panic, Shane spoke up. “Sam, I don’t think—”
But Cameron shoved an elbow into his ribcage to shut him up, shooting him a look that pleaded for him to stay silent. She could tell by the subtle signs of anger and intrigue in Julian’s expression that it didn’t go unnoticed by him.
Sam, oblivious, said, “Nonsense, you can stay. The more the merrier, right, Cam?” He locked eyes with her in a smug look, which she returned with a glare. Sam turned from the counter, butcher knife in hand. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Julian. Cameron’s husband. He’s joining us for dinner.”
“Very happy to meet you all. Cameron’s told me so much about you.” He aimed that easy smile her direction. “Isn’t that right, sweetie?”
Cameron felt like she was about to throw up. “Sam…this is so not cool.”
“So you can marry him, but you can’t have him in the same room with your family?” he asked, shooting her a scolding look. She returned it with a warning glare.
Chad, who’d been staring at Julian since he’d entered, finally spoke up. His eyes were scrutinizing and watchful as he said, “You’re the guy who’s dating Sadie.”
Sam and Bela looked at Julian, but he didn’t skip a beat. His gaze travelled from Cameron to Shane. “And I see Cammi’s found someone else to occupy her time as well.”
“I guess neither of you take this thing seriously,” Chad said, his eyes locking on Cameron again.
Under the attention of everyone in the room, Cameron felt exposed and ambushed. Her voice was tense with anger as she stiffly said, “Julian, can I see you outside for a second?”
“Don’t go far,” Sam said as Julian headed across the kitchen to meet Cameron.
She grabbed his arm and dragged him out onto the back porch. Once outside, she dropped his arm with a shove. “What the hell are you doing here? What happened to you ‘can’t stand to look at me’?”
He only shrugged casually; all evidence of the raging boy who’d lashed out at her hours ago was gone. “Sam tracked me down and gave me an invitation I couldn’t resist.”
“God, I really need a drink,” she said under her breath.
On cue, he pulled an air-plane sized bottle of tequila out of his pocket and offered it out to her. Her eyes bulged a little as they traveled from his outstretched palm and back again. Reluctantly, she snatched the bottle from his hand and drank it. She gave the empty bottle a hard toss into the yard.
“Why can’t you just leave me in peace?” she whispered.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he said with a smirk. “I’m just visiting the in-laws.”
“Very funny.” She glared at him. “I want you to leave.”
“Now who’s the jokester?” Leaning in, lowering his voice, he added, “You’re in no position to be making demands, Cammi.”
They faced off for a moment, each wanting the other to back down first. Cameron was the first to turn away. “Why is Sam doing this to me?” she groaned, raking a hand through her hair.
“Isn’t it obvious? You won’t give him answers and he’s hoping I will.”
“This can’t be happening. I can’t have all of you in the same room. My head will explode.”
He shook his head at her, like she was once again being naïve and childish. “You’re missing the point, Cammi. This can go one of two ways. We can’t paint the picture of a passionate couple who doesn’t always think things—like eloping—through. Or we can tell them why we really got married, and they can see how twisted and dark the rabbit hole gets. Up to you.”
She crossed her arms as she thought about it. “What’s it going to take for you to get through this dinner without completely humiliating me?”
“How about a rain check? You give me an IOU and I’ll be my charming, irresistible self.”
“That’s a vague deal.” Eyeing him cautiously, she wondered what else he had up his sleeve. “I don’t trust you.”
“A wise move,” he noted. “But it does nothing to help the predicament you’re in.”
Gritting her teeth, she really didn’t want to accept his bargain; she knew nothing good would come of it. But she was backed into a corner. “Fine. If this dinner goes well, I owe you.”
“Great.” Julian flashed a row of perfect teeth as he grinned. “Should we shake on it or just kiss?”
Shooting him a dirty look, she walked past him, but stopped and turned to him. “One more thing.”
“What’s that?”
She delivered a swift, hard punch straight to his gut. He grabbed his stomach, hissing in a sharp breath of pain. “Don’t ever shove me around like that again,” she said. With one last warning glare tossed over her shoulder, they both headed inside for the family dinner.
Cameron and Julian sat next to each other, with Sam and Bela at each end of the table. Sitting directly across from her was Shane and Chad. There were a few moments of awkward chit-chat while they talked about Julian’s family. And then Sam dropped the loaded question.
“So why did you guys keep all of this a secret?”
“You know Cammi,” Julian replied without missing a beat. “Not too big on giving out the personal info.”
Sam’s attention never left Julian. He kept the steady, piercing gaze of a cop on him. “And why were the B
altimore cops so convinced you two were behind Allen’s murder?”
“That? It’s a misunderstanding.” Julian paused to take a drink of water. “See, Anne and Allen freaked out when we told them we got married. He lunged at me, so I hit him a couple times. I feel awful about it.”
“And Allen wound up dumped in a lake?”
“Like I said, I feel just terrible about it, but where he wandered after the fight isn’t really my fault, right? When Cameron and I left, he was fine.”
Chad and Sam were both studying Julian, scrutinizing his every move and word, and she wondered what conclusions they’d come to about him. “And why didn’t you just tell this to the police?” Chad asked.
“My lawyer’s working on it.”
“Cameron,” Sam said, suddenly turning his attention to her. “How does running away fit into the picture?”
“Well,” Julian said quickly, “She freaked out when she found out Allen had landed himself in the lake. She thought the police could charge us with something—so she took off.”
“I think he was asking Cam,” Chad said with a hint of annoyance.
“It’s the truth,” she said, making sure to avoid looking at Shane while she lied. “I felt guilty. So I ran away.”
Sam was quiet a minute. Then finally, he set down his fork and turned a stern gaze on both of them. “Cameron told us she never wanted to marry you.”
“She just changed her mind,” Julian said. He squeezed Cameron’s hand as he added, “You do that a lot, don’t you?”
She tried not to look annoyed as she subtly pulled her hand from his. “Yeah.”
“Then what do you plan to do about it?” Sam asked.
“Not only is my lawyer straightening things out with the police, but she’s drawing up divorce papers too. If Cameron wants…” he looked over at her, locking eye contact, “she can be free and single again in just a few days.”
Cameron held his gaze, wondering if he was telling the truth. What wildcard was he hiding up his sleeve? She could never tell, but she knew if Julian was dangling a divorce in front of her, he must have some ulterior motive.
Another Life: Another Life Series #1 Page 17
