Behind the Lens (Home in Carson Book 1)

by Renee Harless

  “She still isn’t speaking to me.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Yeah,” Cliff shrugged as he turned back toward his drawing table in the corner of the room.

  “Want me to get Cassidy to talk with her?”

  “Naw, that’s okay. Logan sends me updates, and as long as she’s safe there and home with me, that’s all I need.”

  “Cliff,” his friend bellowed.

  “So, you want a touch up on your color,” Cliff asked, hoping to change the subject.

  Harlan plopped himself on the table and tore his shirt up and over his body.

  “Yeah, I could use some on my chest.”

  “Sure, let me get the list of colors and we’ll get started.”

  Twenty minutes later, Cliff wiped away the remains of the ink with a paper towel then cooled off the wound with some ointment.

  “This should last a good while unless you plan on standing under the stage lights shirtless again.”

  “Well. . .” his friend said hesitating while letting his words hang in the air. His and Ryker’s band, Exoneration, was going back on tour if his voice was any indication. Cliff wondered if he’s told his wife yet.

  “No worries, you know I’ve got you. Let me just shoot a text to Logan for an update, then I’ll dress it up.”

  “Sure.”

  Taking off his latex gloves, Cliff grabbed his phone from the desk and typed out a text to his friend, just to check that Alexis was okay.”

  Usually, Logan responded right away with an automated text that he was with a patient or he replied personally. But when Cliff’s text went unanswered ten minutes past him dressing Harlan’s new ink, Cliff began to worry.

  “Hey, man. I’m going to call Logan; he’s not answering my message. Then we can go. I’ll close early today.”

  “I’m sure everything is fine, lover boy. But sure, take your time. I’m in no rush.”

  He called Logan’s phone, the doctor waiting three rings until he answered. The time between those three rings seemed like a lifetime.

  “You know, I do see patients every now and then.”

  “Sorry, man. I just had this bad feeling and I wanted to check in. I learned early not to ignore my instincts.”

  On the other end of the call, Logan explained that Alexis went to take a break, but that she had her phone with her if he wanted to call. But as Cliff eluded that Alexis wouldn’t speak to him, Logan chuckled.

  “I’ll go check to make sure she’s okay, hold on.”

  Through the phone, Cliff could hear the soft patter of Logan’s feet as he stepped across the linoleum.

  “Cliff, damn man, Cliff she isn’t here.” The panic rose in his friend's voice. “I saw her go this way. Dude, I’m sorry.” Ending the call, Cliff stared blankly at the wall, unsure what his next steps would be.

  She’s gone. Fuck, she’s gone. What to do next? What’s the next step?

  Harlan must sense Cliff’s panic because the large man jumped from the table and stood in front of him.

  “Is it Alexis? What do you need us to do? Who do I need to call?”

  “I just. . .” Cliff said frantically his hands shoving into his strands of hair as he tried to come to grips with the fact that his woman was missing. “I just need to think for a minute.”

  “Okay, in the meantime, I’m going to lock your door. And we can get this figured out.”

  In the blink of an eye, Harlan dipped out of the room and then returned, hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts, chest still bare from the tattoo.

  “I need to go up to my apartment and track her.”

  “Dude, you put a tracking device on her?” Harlan asked as he followed Cliff up the back stairs.

  “Yeah. Of course, I did.”

  “Man, can you put one on Cassidy for me? Just for my own personal satisfaction.”

  Opening the door to the apartment, Cliff ushered Harlan inside before moving toward the hallway with the enclosed room.

  “Let’s discuss this after we determine that it works. Sound good?”

  The door whooshed open, surprising a bored Ryker.

  “Hey, what’s going-” the singer began but was cut off as Cliff shoved him in the rolling desk chair out of the way and leaned over the computer, typing in the tracking application.

  “There she is,” Cliff sighed in relief, then the coordinates of her placement flashed on the screen. Curses sputtered from his mouth as he brought up her whereabouts.

  “Where is she?” Harlan asked just as the image of his cabin showed on all of the monitors.

  “Home, sorry for all of the worry. I’ll take care of this.”

  Cliff sped around the turns leading to his home, irritation fueling him forward as Main Street wove into rough side roads. Dust and dirt blanketed around his truck as he accelerated on the path, guiding him to his cabin.

  How could she be so careless? Didn’t she know that he’d been worried sick about her? Maybe having her with Logan was a bad idea, he should have listened to her.

  Angry thoughts ran through his mind as he pulled his truck up to his cabin, yanking the door to his vehicle open before it even came to a complete stop.

  Cliff marched up the steps, ignoring the fact that the front door to his cabin was wide open.

  “Alexis! We need to talk. You can’t keep-” he shouted but his words disintegrated into the air as he found Alexis standing in the middle of his living room. Her face was as white as the first snow of the year and her pale lips trembles as they fought to hold back a sob. Blood dripped down from her temple, leaving a path of red on the light green scrubs she wore.

  “I’m glad to see that you finally made it,” the voice behind Alexis cracked.

  Wade.

  Cliff should have known that the man he hired would have been behind this. The drugs, the hushed phone calls, his propensity to make Alexis uncomfortable. Despite the clear background check and glowing references, Cliff could only blame himself

  A question lingered though. He had hired Wade before Alexis returned to Carson. Did her father convince him to do this just as he had the caregiver at her group home with the necklace?

  Unfortunately, Cliff didn’t have time to ask as Wade produced a gun and shoved it against Alexis’ bleeding skull. Her pain resonated with Cliff as she winced and he wanted nothing more than to pry the gun out from behind his back waistband and take Wade out, but there was a chance that Wade could pull the trigger before Cliff ever got the chance.

  The only technique he had in his arsenal was to bide some time. Time for what? He wasn’t sure, but he hoped he could convince Wade that this was all a big mistake.

  “I’m sorry, I never got the invite,” Cliff said casually, doing his best to mask the dread bubbling in his gut. “Come on, man. What are you doing?

  “I’m doing what I was born to do. Now, you’re going to tell Alexis to leave with me and not put up a fight. If she does, I’ll take her straight to the buyer myself. He’s very excited to get his hands on her.”

  “She can hear you, you know?”

  “Yes, but our father said she would be difficult. I’m trying to get you to convince her to do otherwise.”

  Our father?

  “Our father. . .?” Alexis asked the question on Cliff’s mind, earning herself a hit to the head with the butt of the gun.

  “Yes, I’m your half brother. I came here to learn about you before all of this mess. Then when father said you were necessary to close a deal, I knew that I could step in and get the job done.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” Alexis whispered.

  “Sure it does, you’ll figure it out soon enough. Or maybe you won’t. Father always said that women were a weakness.”

  Wade shoved Alexis and began to walk toward Cliff, his already panicked state started to rise. Though every ounce of training told him to remain calm and collected, all of that went out the window when someone he loved was in danger.

  A plan, he needed a plan. By the dil
ated look in Wade’s eyes, Cliff could only assume that the man was on drugs. As he brought Alexis closer, he could take the small man out, giving her a chance to escape.

  “Come on, Wade. I thought that we were friends. I liked having you at my shop,” he lied. The man’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.

  “You were just a means to learn about my sister, about this demon child that should have been taken care of a long time ago. Now she’ll serve a purpose and Harposia will stay off our backs letting us run the cartel as we wish.” Wade sneered at his sister. “Of course, we do have quite a long journey ahead of us. I’m sure some of father’s men will want to make sure the product is up to par.”

  Red clouded Cliff’s vision and fire burned in his veins. Standing here, listening to this man of her own flesh talk about her as if Alexis was nothing more than trash was one of the most disgusting things Cliff had ever witnessed.

  A shrill sound broke through the room and Cliff reached into his pocket to get his phone.

  “You better make that quick,” Wade commanded.

  Glancing down at the screen, Cliff held back his sigh of relief when he saw Preston’s name. Somehow, he needed to get the officer to realize that something was wrong.

  “Hey, Preston. I think that maybe we should get together for beers tonight instead of tomorrow. Heard there was a new bar off the highway on the way to Asheville. Think you could call everyone to meet us there? Great. See you then.”

  Cliff could only hope and pray that Preston understood what he was trying to tell him because the way Alexis’ face morphed meant that she comprehended every word. She knew that he had a plan.

  Just as Cliff slipped his phone back into his front pocket, Wade’s eyes skipped over to the front window, giving Cliff the second he needed to pull the gun from the back of his pants.

  Wade didn’t even realize what happened by the time the bullet landed between his eyes. With the drugs in his system, his reaction time was too slow to counter before Cliff obtained the shot.

  The sound of Wade’s gun dropping to the floor broke Alexis out of her stupor and she rushed toward Cliff, barreling into his arms.

  “I’m so sorry,” she repeated as she peppered his face with kisses.

  As much as he hated it, he pulled her off of his body and cradled her face in his hands. “Babe, you’ll have all of the time in the world to apologize, but right now, we have to go.”

  Gripping her hand, Cliff ran through the living room toward the back door with Alexis trailing behind. Thank goodness for her FBI training and healed leg wound, she was able to keep up with his pace as they flew through the door and over the back deck.

  Cliff spared a glance over his shoulder, the large vehicle that had captured Wade’s attention now barreling toward the house.

  “We need to head toward the lake; there is a path just beyond it leading to Harlan’s.”

  Together they sprinted toward safety, hand in hand. The clearing came into view and Cliff began to breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Oh god, they’re coming, Cliff!”

  At her frantic voice, Cliff peered over his shoulder to find nine men chasing them on foot.

  His speed was fast, but with Alexis in tow, he moved a bit slower. He shouldn’t have made that mistake. As if these men were part of an Olympic track team, they were closing in on Cliff and Alexis at an alarming rate.

  The lake was in view, the path just beyond the marshy bush visible only to a knowing eye.

  Taking them toward the left, Cliff diverted from the path and maneuvered them over fallen trees and prickly bushes. The full growth from spring offered them some camouflage. All too soon, the woods came to an end and Cliff made a choice.

  Turning toward Alexis, he gripped her shoulders in his hands.

  “I love you. I need you to trust me.”

  “I do trust you.”

  “Preston should be working to close off the highways, but what I need you to do right now is to run like your life depends on it. I’m going to give you a head start.”

  “Cliff, no. What are you doing?”

  He moved toward the dock jutting out over the lake. Cliff knew that this was her only chance to escape and he’d do just about anything to give her that opportunity.

  From the corner of his eye, he watched her dart behind the cattails, tall enough to mask her movements, and head toward the small path on the other side.

  Satisfied that she was in the clear, Cliff moved toward the direction of his cabin, ready to occupy these men while Alexis made her break.

  Wearing all black, the men stood out as they breached the tree line.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Cliff greeted with his gun pointed at the first man that made his appearance. “I hate that you made this trip all the way out here for no reason.”

  The group of men began to chuckle, and Cliff acted on instinct, pulling the trigger and aiming for the knee of the first man.

  “Son of a bitch,” the man wailed in pain. “You just wait until I get my hands on that girl. I’m going to tear her part.”

  “I’m sorry, that isn’t going to happen.”

  “You do realize that this is nine against one, right?” One of the other men called out, but Cliff simply pulled his phone free from his pocket and pressed a button.

  A whooshing sound broke through the air, soft enough that only those with the keenest of hearing could make it out. The man fell to his knees, the shocked expression still painted on his face.

  In unison, the men began looking around them, up at the trees, down at the ground, but none of them could make out the riggings Cliff had set up. It was set up as a precaution when Alexis came to Carson wounded and barely alive. When he learned that she was his new mission, he knew that he needed something more around his cabin. He never thought he’d need it, but now as Cliff watched a third man fall, he was thankful he had the forethought.

  “Now, how many more of these buttons do I have to press before you get the hint. I want you to leave and tell Lev that he’s going after the wrong man.” Gun still drawn, Cliff peeked a glance down at his phone, looking at which mechanism would spear the man smiling in Cliff’s direction. He didn’t like the way that the man kept inching closer.

  “You could tell him yourself,” the smiling man shouted, his smile widening.

  “That’s okay. I’ll-”

  Cliff’s words die in the air as something hard and blunt collided with the back of his head. Vision blurred and he plummeted down to his knees. The overwhelming pain descended over his body.

  Through the haze, he could hear Alexis cry for him. God, he ached to go to her, to tell her that he was sorry for fucking up again, that he loved her more than anything in this world.

  But as the blackness closed in, he knew that he’d lost that chance. Through the shrinking lens of consciousness, he pressed one last button on his phone, he just prayed Alexis wasn’t caught in the crossfire.

  ***

  Alexis was running for her life, the pain of leaving Cliff to fend for himself wasn’t something that she had time to dwell on. A cramp formed on the side of her abdomen and Alexis stopped behind a large tree to catch her breath and rub the area.

  God, this was a mess. She should have left Carson the moment Logan finished her surgery. Now, not only was the town in danger, but the man she loved was also risking his life for an outcome that may not exist. Her father wasn’t going to rest until she was found and either dead or sold.

  Bile rose in her throat as she thought about what Wade had said, that she was going to be sold to a man that wanted a new plaything. It was vile and disgusting, she’d rather take her own life than go through that kind of torture.

  And Wade was her half brother? Talk about an unexpected turn of events. She had always wanted a sibling, someone she could help her family care for, but her father had vehemently shot her mother down at every request.

  She didn’t know Wade well, he was always quiet at the shop unless he was stepping out, but apparently,
the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He was set on the same sort of vengeance as her father.

  The crack of a branch close by perked Alexis’ ears. She had been so lost in thought that she had wasted too much time resting. One of the men could have snuck away to find her, or worse, killed Cliff.

  Pushing away from the tree, Alexis made her way back to the narrow path, moving as quickly as she could, but the sense that someone was watching her tugged at something deep within her.

  She crested the top of a small hill, only to find a man in black approaching her. Oh no, this wasn’t in the plan. They couldn’t have known about this path; she had lived here for almost a month and she didn’t even know. And the path led to Harlan and Cassidy’s property, Alexis could only pray that there was no harm to them.

  The man continued to stalk toward her and Alexis spun around, running back down the hill. Veering off the path wasn’t the smartest decision, getting lost in the woods was one of her worst fears, but right now, it was the only option facing her. She was stuck and it was just a matter of time before one of the men caught up to her. Alexis wasn’t familiar with the woods, causing her to slow her pace. Her eyes darted around, looking for anywhere to hide or take cover.

  Off in the distance, Alexis saw another shadow moving through the trees. She was trapped.

  Turning around, she smacked into the chest of a solid black mass. The scream bubbled up in her throat but had no chance to break free as the man lifted her in the air and covered her mouth with his hand.

  “You’ve caused quite a bit of trouble for us. The boss is not pleased,” the man tsked against her ear. The rough stubble of his beard scratched her face and she tried to buck away but his hold on her waist was too strong.

  Carrying her back to the path, he waited for the other men to join him before making his way back toward the lake. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. How did she get in this entire mess? All because of her existence? She needed answers and it seemed like she would never get them.

  As they continued the trek, even though they were outside in the open air, the men’s body odor wafted across her nose. She gagged behind her clamped mouth at the scent. Wearing all black in the summer’s heat wasn’t always the smartest choice.