Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(48)

Clearing my throat, I shifted in my seat. “Like I said before, I need your help. I don’t know where he is and I was hoping you could give me some idea as to where you think he would be. I know he loves the beach, but California has a lot of those.”

“You’re an undercover cop. Can’t you just look it up somewhere?”

I huffed and envisioned Mason. I really wanted to kick his ass for making things difficult. “Normally, I could, but Mason made sure to make him untraceable. Camden left to keep me safe, but all he’s doing is making things worse. I have to find him.”

“And what are you going to do when you find him?” he asked curiously.

“Probably beat the shit out of him for making that kind of decision without me.”

Ryley tilted his head back and barked out a laugh. “Now I can see why he likes you. He’s never been able to find a girl who’d put him in his place. If I give you this information and something happens to you, my brother will never forgive me.”

“Who said he has to know?” I countered with a smile.

He shook his head and chuckled. “I think you and my wife would get along perfectly.” Reaching over the coffee table, he grabbed the small notepad that had a list of groceries on the first page and flipped to the next page. It made me wonder if Camden would ever be domesticated like his brother and settle down to have a family.

Ripping off a page underneath the list, Ryley scribbled a few things down and handed it to me. “That’s the address to his Malibu estate. I don’t know if he’ll be at that specific spot, but I do know if he’s hanging out with Gabby and Pax, he’ll be in the area. It’s a start.”

I looked down at the paper and then back over to him. “Thank you, Ryley. I was nervous as hell coming out here like this.” Slowly, I got to my feet and took a deep breath. Mission accomplished.

Ryley got up and followed me to the door. “I’m surprised you’re out here at all. You were shot only two weeks ago.”

“What can I say? I’m pissed off and impatient. I just want to find him. The guy they have arrested for the crime is my ex. I know he hates Camden, but there’s no way he’s connected to Scar. If Mason believed he was guilty, he’d let Camden go free. He’s just as skeptical as I am.”

Ryley opened the door for me and I stepped out onto the porch, turning back to face him. He shrugged and leaned against the frame. “You’d be surprised about the things people keep hidden. Sometimes the closest ones to us are the enemies.”

“That’s what makes this even harder. Mason thinks it’s one of the guys in my department. I don’t know how anyone could get past him; especially one connected to Scar. But I’m hoping to have some answers soon. But again, thank you,” I said, starting down the porch steps.

“Be careful out there,” he called.

I opened my car door and smiled. “I will. Hopefully, when all of this is over, you and Camden can work things out. He needs you back.”

Nodding, a sad smile splayed across his face before he shut the door. Once in the car, I entered in the address to the GPS and waited for it to calculate. I had another four hour drive ahead of me. If I hurried, I could get there by late afternoon. I just hoped and prayed he was there.





THERE WAS NO place to park at Camden’s house, as it was all private parking, so I drove down to a public access lot. It was about a mile down the road, but I figured it was for the best. Making my way to the beach, I couldn’t tell if he was one of the surfers or not until I got closer.

My phone rang. It was my brother. “Jase, what’s up? Are you and Gabe having fun?”

“Ugh, not at all,” he moaned. “I think I got food poisoning. I’m sitting in the hotel room throwing up and shitting my guts out.”

“Oh no, what are you going to do? Where’s Gabe?”

“He’s next door, feeling just as shitty as me. I’m going to lay low tonight and hope I get to feeling better tomorrow. Are you okay at home?” He sounded horrible, his voice raspy and gruff.

“Yes, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Just get to feeling better so you can have some fun while you’re there.”

“I’ll try. Call you tomorrow, B.”

As soon as we hung up, a certain surfer caught my attention. I was still too far away to get a good visual, but the way he moved on the waves was awfully familiar. It had to be him. Sitting down on the sand, I slid my sunglasses over my eyes and wrapped my arms around my knees, watching him. I used to do the same thing in Oak Island.

He moved on the waves more comfortably here. Seeing him like that only made things clearer. He was home and if he came back to Charlotte, it wouldn’t be the same. The question was simple. Would he give it all up to be with me? Did I even want to know?

I made sure to sit far enough away from his house so it wouldn’t draw attention to myself. There were others around, mainly women, who paraded around showing as much skin as possible when Camden rushed out of the water carrying his surfboard. Once up on the sand, he slammed the tip of his board into the earth and stood there, his chest heaving up and down while he tried to catch his breath. He would do the same thing back home before watching the sunset, each and every night.

It felt like déjà vu. We were both alone as we watched the sun disappear below the horizon. Unfortunately, one of us wasn’t alone for long. Two girls with bleach blonde hair, large tits and perfect tans sidled up to him, smiling wide. An overwhelming sense of jealousy twisted in my gut. I wanted to tell them to f*ck off, but more importantly, I needed to see what he would do. Would he invite them up to his house? The girls laughed and moved closer.