Behind the Lens (Home in Carson Book 1)

by Renee Harless

  Cliff waited for the other men to reach the landing, placed his finger in a biometric scanner, leaned close to a small blue light that scanned his retina before twisting the knob to unlock the door.

  “This goes without saying, but none of you know that this exists. Okay?” he explained to everyone, but his gaze was pointed toward Preston’s.

  Cliff didn’t wait for a response as he ushered everyone inside the shop’s upstairs apartment.

  “Wow, this is quite the setup,” Preston murmured as Cliff watched him take in the large monitors hanging on the walls and the six computers set up beneath them. Cliff couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t anything compared to the quadruple locked bedroom down the hall that kept computers allowing him access to every government agency and their files. Hell, even he was impressed with that room and all of its gadgets.

  Dylan assisted Alexis into a chair facing the central computer while Cliff took the seat closest to him.

  Underneath her breath, Cliff could hear Alexis grumble, “Reconnaissance team my ass.” He chuckled at her observation. Cliff knew that it wouldn’t take her long to figure out that he did so much more for his government than scout locations and information. He was surprised that Dylan hadn’t figured it out yet, or maybe he had and just kept his mouth shut. After all, Dylan still worked with the FBI on a secret team that Cliff wasn’t sure that his wife Sydney was aware of.

  “Okay, let’s see if we can identify your family in our files then see how much time we have.”

  “Time we have for what?” Preston asked.

  Cliff let Preston’s question linger in the air as he pulled out a small scanner. Lifting the plastic bag containing her father and mother’s pictures inside, he rested the images on the glass.

  From beside him, he watched Alexis’ eyes widen as the screen displayed thousands of images per second, a red square narrowed in on the similar physical characteristics of the pictures.

  “I bet Jameson would love to get his hands on this program,” Preston added, leaning forward to watch the screen as well. Jameson was the software genius of the Connelly family.

  Cliff couldn’t bite back his chuckle. “Who do you think was commissioned to create it?”

  Suddenly the images began to slow down and the red light of the scanner dimmed, alerting Cliff that the application was almost complete. He pulled the plastic bag away from the device and gently returned it to Alexis who barely noticed through her stare at the screen.

  A red X marred the image of her mother with the title unidentifiable typed below. Alexis gasped as she read the information and Cliff wanted nothing more than to ease her pain.

  “Hey, it just means there was no criminal activity on her so she couldn’t be identified.”

  “Or. . .” she pushed as she turned to look at him, questions in her distressed gaze.

  “Or nothing. If you can remember your mother’s full and maiden name, we can run a search in another application after we identify your father. I’m certain he won’t be using your family name.”

  Pings sound on the computer, drawing Alexis’ attention back to the screen. Cliff continued to look at her for a moment, wishing he had the right to scoop her up and take her away from everything. He had the means to go off the grid to a remote location, and he would if he had even the slightest of inklings that she would join him willingly. For now, he could only protect her here in Carson.

  He studied her face for a second more, memorizing the lines around her mouth and eyes – laugh lines Mrs. Connelly called them, but right now, the corners of her mouth are turned down into a scowl. Alexis was too beautiful for that expression.

  Pulling his attention away, Cliff glanced at the monitor where a picture and a name shone brightly. As Alexis had explained, the wanted poster looked almost identical to the one from her locket, only more graying in the hair. The man had barely aged.

  “Lev Dison,” she reads aloud.

  Shaking his head, Cliff clarified the name, “Devil Son. It was sort of like an anagram for the name he’s known for by the government. He’s been captured twice. Once, for drug trafficking, which he got out of. Second, for solicitation of a minor almost eight years ago. My guess is that was the start of the sex trafficking. He’s been unseen for years.”

  “Until now,” Dylan added in.

  “Okay, so what information did this give us?” Alexis asked more calmly than Cliff was expecting.

  Nodding, Cliff moved the mouse to click on the image, bringing up hundreds of known cartel members and associated criminals. “What it means, especially with the newest technologies in big cities to counter terrorist activity, we can monitor any movement from these known links.”

  Scrolling down the screen, Cliff commited to memory the faces and names listed. But at the end, Cliff found himself jerking back in his seat as if the computer mouse had burned his hand.

  “Dude, what is it?” Dylan asked as Alexis simultaneously questioned.

  Cliff couldn’t answer, unable to form the right words, but launched himself out of the chair, leaving it spinning in his wake. Glancing over his shoulder, Cliff watched as Dylan leaned closer toward the screen, reading the name on the list. His friend’s back straightened in alarm as the information sank in.

  “No. No fucking way.”

  “What? What is it?” Alexis’ startled voice rang around the room as Cliff hauled her out of her chair, lifting her arm in the process.

  He knew that the scar looked familiar, but now that he had more information on her father, he knew precisely why he’d branded his daughter. It wasn’t for a family marking as she had assumed. No, her father burned her skin for future payment. He planned to use her if he was ever in deep shit.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Cliff repeated as he held her arm in the air, her pink scarring visible just over the stitching of her dress. “Dylan, look.” As his friend moved to get a closer look, Cliff explained, “It is her symbol, just upside down.”

  “Harposia,” they say in unison.

  “Son of a bitch, that demonic woman tried to kill my wife.” Dylan’s hands thrusted through his short hair.

  “Harposia?” Alexis inquired. “The same Harposia I helped move into a maximum-security prison?”

  “One in the same,” Cliff said through gritted teeth as he relaxed her arm back down at her side. Harposia was known in many criminal circles. With the face of a grandmother, that woman could bring world leaders to their knees. And she had, numerous times. There was no telling how many small countries and rulers gain their weapons and drugs from her businesses. She was a nasty woman that always got what she wanted.

  “And you think my father works with her? There is no way. We infiltrated her entire system,” Alexis explained, the octaves of her voice rising in panic.

  “Leaders like Harposia never show all of their cards. They have their fingers in multiple side groups with multiple upper management. You have to think of her as the head of a major international corporation; even if you dismantle one branch the rest will still flourish. Someone like Harposia will have her business running for decades,” Dylan explained, his words clipped and filled with anger.

  Alexis curled her good arm across her chest, almost as if shielding herself. “So, what you’re saying is, that I’ll never be safe. Someone somewhere will always have a hit out on my head.”

  The growl came quickly, reverberating from deep in his chest as he bellowed, “No.”

  Alexis pinned him with a stare he’d never seen from her before and if he were in any other situation, he might get a bit turned on by her dominance. Unfortunately, he was too unsettled to take pleasure in her change of mood.

  “I don’t think you get a say in this,” she stated.

  Cliff approached her until he stood only a few inches away, the top of her head grazing his chin, causing her to look up at him. “I get every say in this. I agreed to protect you and I will do so with my life. Do you understand?” he harshly whispered, each word enunciated as if it
would be his last.

  The worry about the bounty on Alexis sent shivers down his spine. Her father was using her to make a statement and proving to Harposia that he could tie up loose ends. And by selling her to the highest bidder, he’s ensuring that he got money as well.

  And if Cliff failed her, his life wouldn’t be worth living.

  Their eyes pinned each other in place, each one waiting for the other to break their stare, but this was a game Cliff was all too familiar with. The technique of intimidation weighed in his favor.

  A cough sounded from behind them and they pulled their gazes away. “Not to intrude, but I need to go get in touch with the local FBI branch and let them know what’s going on,” Dylan began, but Cliff immediately shot him down. “No. We don’t want there to be any knowledge of Alexis being here. None. There is no doubt a mole somewhere working under Harposia’s payroll. She’s powerful, Dylan, you know this. Reach out to Heath and let him get some intel under the radar. He can play it off as an investigation on his team’s mission.”

  “And what do you suggest we do in the meantime? Wait like sitting ducks?”

  “Absolutely not. We make sure Lev’s picture is seen by everyone in the town. We use the town chat and the Lady Busy Bees to our advantage to share information. You know that nothing in this town was kept quiet.

  “Lev could strike one day from now, or one month, there isn’t much information on his MO, but we know he’s going to want to get rid of the situation sooner rather than later, especially if he is afraid of word getting back to Harposia. She may be in jail, but she is certainly fed information.”

  Chiming in, Alexis asked, “And what am I going to do?”

  Smirking at the feisty woman, Cliff said, “You’re going to rest up and get ready for the biggest fight of your life.”

  ***

  God, it was so hot, Alexis thought to herself as she rolled over again, wincing as she put too much pressure on her shoulder. Logan had said earlier that she was healing well, and after a few more days and some shoulder exercises, she would be back to normal. She had almost kissed the man; she was so thankful. Alexis had been more than ready to get a gun in her hand and target practice. It was her favorite way to relieve stress, and after everything she learned that evening, she needed to get her head on straight sooner rather than later.

  Flipping around to rest on her back again, Alexis huffed as she stared up at the ceiling. Even in the mountains of North Carolina, it could be sweltering at night. Cliff explained that he had central air installed in the cabin, but as a precaution wanted to leave it turned off so that he could hear better. Alexis understood, she really did, but damn it was so freaking hot she was certain she had soaked through the mattress.

  An idea formulated in the back of her mind, a dip in the lake would be a dream in this heat. She wondered if she could get Cliff to join her; even in the darkness Alexis was sure she’d be able to make out every hard muscle of his body.

  Alexis tossed her legs off the bed, the rest of her body following suit, and she tugged at the soaked oversized T-shirt clinging to her heated skin. She flexed her toes against the cool floor, savoring the relief on the bottom of her feet. She was half tempted to lay her entire body on the old hardwood.

  Opening the bedroom door, another wave of heat from the narrow hallway assaulted her, but as she made her way into the living room, the air cooled significantly. It was refreshing as the cross breeze from the open front and back windows glided across her skin.

  “Hey, what are you doing awake?” Cliff asked, his gaze pulled away from the laptop. She wondered if he ever slept. “Thinking about your mom?”

  She had been. After Dylan and Preston left the apartment, she and Cliff launched another software application that came up empty on searching her mother’s name. Cliff assured her that he would reach out to his contacts to see if they could learn anything more, but her fractured heart broke by the minute.

  She didn’t want to lie to Cliff, but she also didn’t want to discuss her parents anymore, so she settled by telling him that she was too hot.

  “You’re welcome to rest out here if it is cooler. I can take the bedroom.”

  God, this man was a saint. Since she arrived, he’d been bending over backward for her. And what had she done for him? Not a damn thing.

  “Actually, think I could just hang out here with you for a while? I’m not very tired.”

  Cliff closed his laptop, basking the room in darkness. “Met your quota for sleep?” he joked as the television across from him came to life. He immediately turned down the volume.

  “Something like that,” she giggled as she moved to sit beside him on the couch, a good foot away from each other.

  “So, tell me, Alexis, what’s something about you I won’t find in your government file.”

  “Is this how we get to know each other?”

  “Something like that.” He repeated her words and she turned to look at him, both of them smiling widely. Even with the bluish tone from the television casting light on their faces, she could see how tense he was. Alexis wished that she could witness him relaxed, carefree.

  “Something not in my file,” she mused, moving her glance toward the ceiling. “Um, when I was little, I thought I’d become a veterinarian. I loved animals. Still do. What about you?”

  “I tried to keep tabs on you since you left Carson two years ago. Lost track about a year later.”

  Her mouth hung agape at his confession. She never would have expected that he would have monitored her. Any other time Alexis would feel violated, but right now, she felt a sense of elation.

  “I looked you up after the first time Dylan teamed us up together. There wasn’t much in your file, as you know, but I was curious none-the-less.”

  In a movement so quick, Alexis found herself straddling Cliff’s lap. Their faces were only an inch or two apart and the growing hardness between his legs pressed against her smoldering center.

  One of Cliff’s strong hands dove into her hair, clenching the strands as he tugged her face closer.

  “Why did you look me up?”

  Softly Cliff replied, “I wanted to make sure that you were real,” before he smashed their mouths together, his strong hold controlled every tilt of her head and twist of her neck.

  He possessed her, fully and completely. And as his tongue peeked out, seeking entrance, she willingly obliged, loving the way he explored her mouth. On their own, her hips began to rock against him, searching for the hard friction of his erection. A moan escaped her lips as his other hand trailed up her thigh, his thumb moving toward her panties.

  Cliff pulled his lips away from her mouth and began leaving a path of kisses from her jawline and down her neck.

  “My real name isn’t Cliff,” he mumbled against her skin and Alexis made a mental note to ask for more information on that tidbit later.

  In one quick swoop, he lifted the shirt off her body, leaving her bare except for a pair of pale pink cotton panties.

  “God, you’re fucking gorgeous,” he groaned before leaning forward and capturing one of her nipples in his mouth. “And sweet,” he added as he moved toward her other breast. The wetness cooling her heated skin.

  “Cliff, please,” she cried out, her hips rocking against him as his hand tried to hold her still.

  “What is it you want, Alexis?” Cliff peppered kisses along the tops of her breasts, his tongue sweeping out as he reached the valley between them.

  “I want you, your lips, your tongue, your cock, all of it.” Her voice sounded breathy to her own ears and so unfamiliar. She had no time to wonder what siren had taken over her body as Cliff slipped his hand down the front of her panties. The second the pad of his finger brushed against her clit, she jerked in his arms, the sensation both foreign and welcome.

  Pressing his lips against her mouth, he murmured, “You’re so fucking wet and hot. I can’t wait to slip my dick inside you.”

  Alexis didn’t realize that she could orgasm fr
om words alone, but as Cliff’s voice skirted across her skin as he deftly rubbed circles around her clit, she quickly felt the tension growing in her abdomen.

  “Cliff, please,” she begged, swaying her hips back and forth, crying out as he slipped his finger deep in her channel.

  “This what you want, sweet girl?” he asked as his lips pressed kisses repeatedly along her jawline.

  Alexis felt the pull as he fucked her gently with his fingers, using his palm to rub against her sensitive nerves. Only a few seconds passed until she shattered at his hand, a smile etched on her lips. She missed this. Missed being intimate with a man. Missed being taken care of. Missed taking care of someone.

  Her breath came in heavy pants as she opened her eyes to find Cliff’s lustful gaze pinned to hers. His chest moved up and down, not in exertion, but in need. He was holding himself back. And that was absolutely what she didn’t want.

  Leaning forward, she sealed her lips against his, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth, nibbling on the soft skin. Her hand reached down and slid beneath the waistband of his gym shorts, wrapping around his hard cock. She couldn’t see it, but by touch, she could tell that he was beyond the size of the average man. But Alexis expected nothing less. She got satisfaction at the way Cliff jerked against her palm.

  She ran her hand up and down his shaft, loving his sharp intake of air as she passed her thumb along the small opening on the tip. Alexis wanted to feel him lose control more than she wanted her next breath. Something animalistic had unleashed inside her and it wanted to run free.

  “Get rid of my panties, Cliff.”

  The hand that had so thoroughly played her body moved to her hip and tightened. Alexis was sure that she’d have a bruise in that spot come morning. He released his clenched fist of her hair to place it on her other hip. The material shredded apart with only a pinch of her skin.