The Baker (12 page)

“This will probably come as a surprise to you, but you’ve been nominated as one of the candidates for Chief Bullock’s position.” A slight pause followed. “Congratulations.”

“I have been nominated?” Cameron suddenly felt the need to hyperventilate. “Do you know by whom?”

“Um, that would have been me.” Nick laughed nervously, sounding very different from his usual full-bellied amusement.

“It would?” Cameron was a little shaken up, but he couldn’t let it show. “That’s an incredible compliment, Nick. Thank you.”

“You deserve it. You’re a Marine, made it to lieutenant under very difficult conditions, and just because seniority rules are different for the police force than for the military doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be a police lieutenant with your experience. And a lieutenant, in my view, is more than qualified for this sort of promotion.” Nick chuckled. “And the best part is that I got the selection committee to agree!”

“That is amazing, Nick.” Cameron swallowed, touched by the trust Nick had shown him. “Thank you again.”

“Just don’t tell anyone yet. They’ll make the official announcement on Monday, but I wanted you to know before the weekend. So you can celebrate.” Nick laughed, sounding a little more like himself. “Have a good one!”

“Thanks, Nick, you too.” Cameron waited for his boss to end the call, then hung up.

“Well, I gather congratulations are in order.” Steve beamed at him, looking extremely smug as he rose and held out his hand.

“Yep. But don’t tell anyone before the official announcement.” Cameron rose and shook his hand.

“It’ll stay a rumor until then.” Steve winked and was out the door before Cameron could respond.

The damned snitch is going to spread this all over the place by Monday!

TWO HOURS
later Cameron was pacing in his living room yet again. He was sure he could see the beginnings of a deep groove where he’d been walking. But Ian was now half an hour overdue, and Cameron was worried. Ian was never late, and all kinds of awful scenarios of what could have happened had already played out in front of Cameron’s inner eye. He didn’t want to seem too clingy, but damn it, half an hour was thirty minutes too long.

Fuck it. I’m going to call him!

Cameron pulled out his cell and hit Speed Dial 1. Yeah, sue him, Ian had already become the most important person in his life.

The phone rang.

And rang again.

And rang a third time.

Cameron frowned, more worried now than before.

Just after the fourth ring, the call finally connected.

“C-Cameron? I-is that you?” Ian was whispering, and he sounded scared.

“Yes, it’s me.” Cameron took a deep breath. He wanted to know what had happened and why the fuck Ian hadn’t called him for help, but that would not help Ian right now. Cameron needed to stay calm and figure out the fastest way to get his man out of whatever trouble he was in. “Where are you?”

“I’m not sure.” Ian sighed. “I was stupid and drove without watching where I was going. Now I think I have a flat tire, so I can’t leave.”

Shit.
Cameron closed his eyes for a moment.

“Cameron? Are you still there?” Ian’s voice shook, and he was breathing way too fast.

“Of course I’m here, sweetheart. I’ll come and get you out of there as soon as you can give me a hint.” Cameron pushed his wallet into his pocket, grabbed his keys and jacket, and slid into his boots while he was talking.

“I think I’m in the north part of town. Maybe somewhere close to the river. The last street sign I saw was something with Durbin, maybe North Durbin.” Ian’s breath hitched. “I think you better bring backup.”

“Okay, take a deep breath for me, and try to stay calm. Is someone there?” Cameron would tear whoever scared Ian limb from limb. He retrieved his gun from the safe in the wardrobe, put it and the ammo in his jacket pocket, and took a deep breath himself.

“No. I don’t know. It’s very dark, a couple of streetlights near where I’m at are broken.” Ian paused. “There’s a lot of drunk guys around at the end of the street. I don’t think they’ve spotted me yet. I’ve switched off the engine and the lights.”

“Can you hold on for a moment? I’m going to call my former partner Terry. He’ll come to help.” Cameron grimaced. Terry would bring half the department if Cameron wasn’t careful, but at this point, he couldn’t care less. “I’m going to make the call with my landline, so you can listen in, okay?”

“Okay.” Ian’s breathing was fairly even now, so that was a good sign.

Cameron picked up the landline and called Terry’s cell. When Terry picked up, there was a lot of background noise. Sounded like a pub or a bar.

“Hey, Cameron! You calling because you want to join us?” Terry sounded amused but in control of his faculties.

“No. I’ve got a situation and need your help. I’m real sorry to interrupt your Friday night fun, but you’re my best option.” Cameron would owe Terry a huge favor, but he could live with that.

“Sure. Tell me what’s up. Hold on.” Terry’s voice sounded a bit muffled when he spoke again. “Hey, guys, shut up for a moment and pay attention. Our boss is in trouble, and I can’t hear myself think with this racket you’re making.”

Cameron rolled his eyes, but the silence that followed told him they’d probably already left the pub for some privacy.

“Okay, boss, we’re outside and ready to get in our cars. Mine is unmarked, and we have two squad cars from patrol teams one and three. My partner’s gone home already, but I’m at your disposal.” Terry sounded serious.

Cameron gave them a short description of the situation, the approximate area, and details about Ian’s car. “I’ll be there in about five to ten minutes, depending on which end of the street he’s on. I’ll be approaching from the south.”

“Got you. We’ll go in silent so we don’t alert any potential assholes to our presence. We should get there about the same time, and we’ll talk again when we get there. Over and out.” Terry ended the conversation, already totally focused on the job ahead of them, and Cameron hung up his landline.

“Did you hear, sweetheart?” Cameron raced out the door, locking it securely before opening the garage with the remote fastened to his keys and running to his car. He was inside and about to buckle up by the time Ian responded.

“Yeah. Thank you.” Ian coughed. “It’s cold.”

“Just hold on. I’m switching to hands-free.” Cameron knew it was not much safer than holding the cell, but this was an emergency, and he wasn’t going to leave Ian to his own devices even for the few minutes it would take to get to the general area. “You still there?”

“Yeah, I can hear you.” Ian sighed. “I really am sorry to put you through this.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” Cameron started the car, backed out of the garage, and pulled out of his driveway after using the remote to ensure the garage was closed. Now was the time to get more information, and talking might distract Ian a little. The area he’d mentioned wasn’t really dangerous. Hell, Casper didn’t have any truly “bad” neighborhoods. But still, Ian was a baker, not a cop or a Marine, so he was easier to scare.

“It’s stupid.” Ian was probably frowning at himself.

“Nothing you feel or think is stupid, sweetheart.” Cameron suspected this had something to do with Ian’s father, in which case it would be completely natural for Ian to flip. The man had a way of getting to Cameron, and they’d never even met other than seeing glimpses of each other from a distance in the bakery. “Trust me, you can tell me.”

“I’m glad you think that.” Ian paused, and Cameron was about to prod him when he continued. “You probably guessed it already. It’s my father.”

“What did he do now?” Cameron ground his teeth as he had to stop at a red light. About halfway there already, he was only getting more impatient.

“He called me into his office today and asked me if I was in trouble with the law. When I told him no, he wanted me to explain what all the cops were suddenly doing in the bakery. I told him it was the donuts, but he didn’t believe me. He said he’d seen you around too much and told me he didn’t like the way I looked at you or you at me and wanted you gone. He said I could never see you again.” Ian took a deep breath. “Then he said he’d picked two suitable women for me and wanted me engaged by the end of next week, married soon after, and kids on the way by the end of the year. Nice, huh?”

“Fuck!” Cameron hit the steering wheel in anger, and it hurt enough to calm him down a little. He hated what that must have done to Ian.

“Or not.” Ian chuckled, sounding a little crazed. “Anyway, I told him no, he deduced I must be a ‘homosexual pervert’ to turn down his generous offer, and proceeded to disown me since I was clearly never going to have kids to carry on the family line. He said he no longer has a son, so it’s pretty final.”

“He didn’t!” Cameron turned onto North Durbin Street and focused on looking for Ian’s car to distract himself for the rising anger he felt toward Ian’s father. That man was a piece of work to treat his son like this.

“Oh, but he did. And that isn’t all.” Ian stopped again, as if to collect the courage to continue.

Can it get any worse?
Cameron kept looking for a sign of Ian’s car as well as Terry and his colleagues.

“He fired me. Without any warning, nothing. Said for me to be gone in five minutes and told me he never wanted to see me again. So I packed my shit and left.” Ian sounded so sad. “And I guess that’s when I panicked and started driving all over the place. Maybe I should have seen it coming….”

“Nobody could see something like that coming.” Cameron really wanted to hug Ian right then. “And we’ll work it out. I promise we will. But for now, I need you to look around. Tell me if you see any cars approaching. I’m driving toward the river, so depending which direction you’re facing, you should see me soon. Or one of the patrol cars.”

Terry’s voice came in over the radio, informing Cameron that Terry had sent the squad cars ahead so they could approach from the north. Terry was apparently right behind Cameron, and when he checked the rearview mirror, he could see his former partner wave at him.

“Okay, Ian, we’re all in North Durbin Street. Can you see anything yet?” Cameron slowed down even more. He was almost at the end of the street.

“A group of drunks is coming closer.” Ian started to breathe more quickly. “And I think…. Yes, there are two police cars right behind me.”

Cameron relayed the information to Terry, and he told the officers how close they were. Then Cameron noticed the two broken streetlights Ian had mentioned, and a group of six or seven rough-looking men strolling toward Ian’s car that was parked slightly askew from the sidewalk.

Yes!

“Cameron?” Terry came in loud and clear. “The patrol offers will go in first, make sure those fuckheads are distracted. Once they have everything under control, you can go in and rescue our baker. I’ll stay back and monitor the situation, just in case.”

“Got you.” Cameron turned the radio on low and found parking on the other side of the quiet street, right across from Ian’s car, while watching the patrol officers exit their car and walk toward the group of “fuckheads,” as Terry had called them so unprofessionally. Not that Cameron was going to tell anyone about the lapse.

“Ian, you still there?”

“Yes, I can see the cops talking to the drunk men.”

“I’m gonna come get you now. Stay in the car until I’m there, okay?” Cameron waited for Ian’s soft “okay” before he turned off the engine and took the keys, pulled the phone from the hands-free stand, disentangled himself from the seat belt, and opened the car door to step outside.

With no traffic from either side, he was able to cross the street in record time. He walked toward Ian’s car, keeping an eye on the group of men discussing whatever the hell they were talking about, and knocked on the window. Ian looked up at him, his face completely white, and his blue eyes wide as if in shock.

But he unlocked the car fast enough, and Cameron opened the door to reach inside and pull Ian into his arms. Ian was shaking and may have sobbed a little in relief, but Cameron couldn’t be sure. He was too busy enjoying the feeling of Ian in his arms and being grateful nothing had happened to him.

“Thank you.” Ian pulled back and looked at Cameron, his eyes suspiciously shiny.

“Anytime.” Cameron bent his head and kissed Ian, needing the contact more than he’d have thought possible. Cameron sank into the kiss, holding on to Ian as tightly as he could. The kiss was slow and tender, reassuring him everything was okay once again, and Cameron never wanted it to end.

“Ahem.” The clearing of a throat right behind him reminded Cameron—way too late—they were not alone.

Oh shit!
He pulled back, pushing Ian’s face into his shoulder for protection as he turned around, and looked straight into Terry’s openmouthed, wide-eyed face.
Shit and fuck!
What a way to out us.

IAN PRESSED
his face closer against Cameron’s shoulder, trembling with fear of what might happen now that his stupid impulsivity had outed both of them. In front of several police officers, no less, and men Cameron would have to work with and probably depended on to have his back. Could this fucked-up disaster of a day get any worse? Wasn’t it bad enough his own father had treated him like dirt, and Ian had panicked badly enough to end up in a scary-as-shit part of town, minus street lighting, and with drunken dickheads making him fear for his safety? Knowing it was his own fault for not watching where he went had made him too ashamed to call Cameron, yet unable to figure out what else to do.

And when Cameron had called him instead, he’d almost cried with relief. Way to
not
impress the brave detective. Except when Cameron had finally found him, and once the uniformed cops were busy with the dickheads, Cameron had raced across the road and pulled Ian into his arms with such relief on his face, Ian suspected Cameron had been just as scared. In fact, Cameron must have been extremely distracted to have kissed Ian without thinking about the consequences.