Code name falcon the inf.., p.1
Code Name: Falcon (The Infinitum Series Book 4), page 1
Copyright © 2022 by Laura Mowery
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher or author. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
ASIN B0BMZLF8KD
Cover by Kiwi Cover Design www.kiwicoverdesign.com
Contents
A Note from the Author
1. Elijah Davenport
2. Vera
3. Garrett
4. Vera
5. Garrett
6. Garrett
7. Vera
8. Garrett
9. Garrett
10. Vera
11. Vera
12. Garrett
13. Vera
14. Garrett
15. Vera
16. Garrett
17. Vera
18. Garrett
19. Elijah Davenport
20. Vera
21. Garrett
22. Vera
23. Garrett
24. Elijah Davenport
25. Vera
26. Garrett
27. Vera
28. Garrett
29. Vera
30. Garrett
31. Vera
32. Garrett
33. Vera
34. Garrett
35. Vera
36. Garrett
37. Vera
38. Garrett
39. Vera
40. Garrett
41. Vera
42. Garrett
43. Vera
44. Garret
45. Vera
46. Garrett
Epilogue
Also By Laura Mowery
Acknowledgments
About the Author
A Note from the Author
Thank you for purchasing Code Name: Falcon. If you're starting here, you can enjoy this book as a standalone. However, the first half coincides with the timelines from previous books and references are made to these characters and previous events.
This book contains scenes that may be disturbing to some readers, including mention of past childhood sexual abuse. There is a complete list of content warnings on my website: www.lauramowery.com. I take mental health seriously. Please check the list if you find darker elements triggering.
Chapter 1
Elijah Davenport
March 2021
My lungs expand as I gasp for air, bolting upright in bed. My wife stirs next to me as I reach for my phone. There are zero notifications, but my heart still hammers in my chest.
“What’s wrong?” she mumbles.
I ignore her, whipping the covers aside and slipping into my silk boxers. I step into my slippers and pull on my silk robe before I head down the hall into my study.
“Good morning, Sir,” the AI chirps as the screen lights up. Is it morning? A glance at my phone shows it’s just past four.
“Search for unusual activity. Any anomaly above ten percent,” I say.
“Searching for anomalies above ten percent.”
Numbers fly across the screen while I pace.
“Was it just a bad dream?”
I startle at Deanna’s voice, which shows just how on edge I am. My abilities allow me to hear better than the average man.
She yawns and approaches, still naked. She’s never cared about modesty. It’s one of a million annoyances I have with her. Our arranged marriage used to excite me. The idea that a woman was destined to be mine since birth filled me with immense pride. They neglected to inform me she’d be a lying whore.
Our first week together as husband and wife was absolute bliss, but it didn’t take long for her true nature to show. True love with her, or any woman, quickly became a fantasy. We were supposed to be virgins, but it was obvious she wasn’t. At first, I brushed it aside, but it should have been my first clue.
I’m not like my father. I crave a genuine connection with my wife. That could never happen with the woman they chose for me. We share little in common. From music taste to food preference, even down to the clothes she wears or doesn’t wear, we couldn’t be more different. I thought about divorce, but I couldn’t face my father’s disapproval. So I approached her and she agreed we weren’t compatible.
Three years later, our marriage is one of convenience. The Commander’s daughter and the future general of the Chosen Army were supposed to be the perfect union written in the stars. Thousands attended our over the top wedding. But like most things in this godforsaken cult, it was a charade to hide the ugly truth.
When the mood strikes, like it did last night, we’ll enjoy a decent fuck to satisfy our needs. We do share a bond of sorts. We’re both products of our fathers’ obsessions with ruling the world. An obsession that neither of us supports, but we both ache for their approval no matter how much we try to deny it, so we play our parts.
“Anomaly found,” the AI says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
My stepmother’s social media account pops up on the screen and a video plays. She holds the phone in front of her face and speaks into the camera.
“I am Mother Davenport, and I’m here to speak the truth. They have lied to us. They hold agents against their will. If they don’t comply, they are killed. If they try to escape, they are blown up by devices planted inside of them by those who tell us their lives are precious. It’s time to wake up and see the truth. We are working for the enemy.”
Deanna and I stare open mouthed at the screen. Gunshots ring out as the phone drops and the video starts over. I’m impressed. I didn’t think my father’s lapdog had it in her to do something so bold. Of course, her actions could ruin everything. I share a look of panic with my wife, then reach for my phone as it rings.
Dennis Davenport wasn’t a good man by societal standards. He was ruthless in his efficiency. He used the same approach as a father. As an adult, our relationship was militant, but I felt his love in every nod of approval and pat on my back when I received accolades from influential leaders in our community.
He never forgave me for killing the love of his life as I entered this world. My mother was the epitome of female perfection. She had brown skin and even darker brown eyes that sat above a symmetrical nose and mouth. People tell me her smile could soften the heart of the hardest man. She made my father look good. Based on the way he treated the wives that came after, a part of me wonders if I did her a favor, ending the abuse she no doubt suffered at his hand.
Rex, my second in command, pulls me out of my musings by stepping in my line of sight. He’s the person I trust most in this world, and though I’d never admit it out loud, he’s the only reason I’m getting through this nightmare.
They selected him as an infant to be my right-hand man. We were six years old when they introduced us and we became inseparable. He would be my best friend if we lived normal human lives. I follow him towards the exit of the temple and into the waiting limo to the burial site.
Rage courses through my body as they lower my father’s casket into the ground. The damn thing is empty. His already dead body was incinerated when one of my father’s patients blew up the building.
My stepmother killed him the night before my long awaited promotion to general. She robbed me of the moment my father would have loved me most. Years of preparation, gone in an instant. My father wasn’t the one with a proud smile, pinning my rank to my chest. Instead, it was Deanna, and I was forced to hide my cringe at the wrongness of it all. Rex’s calming gaze from across the room prevented me from ruining my reputation by breaking down in front of everyone.
Rex pushes his hand against mine from beside me and the surrounding stones that hover and vibrate a few inches off the ground drop to the dirt. It’s been ages since I’ve lost control of my telekinetic abilities. I would have earned a harsh punishment for such a slip during training. I glance around, but nobody seems to notice. Rex keeps his hand against mine and I relax as I lean into him.
I stare at the picture of my father, still finding it hard to believe that my sniveling stepmother Barbara is the one who pulled the trigger, even though I saw it on the security feed with my own eyes.
There was no love between her and my father, either. He married her for the prestige of being with the mother of not one, but two Chosen. Plus, she was beautiful and submissive. She never would have had the courage to pull the trigger if it weren’t for her son, John Sutton. He’s responsible for this nightmare, yet I don’t have any anger towards them. I just feel… empty.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I turn to the Chairman. “I’m so sorry for your loss, son. Your father was a brave soldier in our fight. He will be missed.”
“Thank you for coming. It would have meant a lot to him.”
“Don’t let your grief distract you. We still need you. Your father would want you to carry on.”
The vitriol I want to spew at the man lodges in my throat, and I nod instead.
“I’m sure after some time to mourn, our new General will be ready to continue the fight, invigorated by this betrayal,” Deanna says, saving me from having to tell t
She’s been oddly supportive over the past week while I’ve dealt with the backlash of my stepmother’s actions. There is no love between us, but there isn’t hate either. I’m not stupid enough to call her a friend, though.
“Of course, my dear, and I’m sure with you by his side, his mourning won’t last long,” the Chairman says with a pointed look.
She offers him a placating smile, and he nods at us both before moving on to talk with others. Her smile turns into a sneer before she looks up at me with a sigh.
“I still don’t know why my father keeps that bastard around.”
I smile and kiss her cheek as the throngs of well wishers line up to offer their condolences. Hours pass, and when I sense Deanna’s exhaustion, I signal to Rex to cut the line. My PR team jumps into action, offering apologies and free commemorative merchandise as I escort Deanna to the waiting limo.
She shuts the door in Rex’s face and his eyes glow red as he uses his x-ray vision to glare at her through the blacked-out window. He looks to me for direction and I nod. His lips press together and his eyes return to normal as he takes the front seat next to the driver. Rex never needed my father’s programming. His loyalty comes from years of sweating, bleeding, and crying together as we made it through our hellacious training. He’s hated Deanna from the moment she broke our wedding vows.
She puts up the privacy divider and turns on the security protocols before she lays her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her, surprised at her show of affection while we’re alone. She must want something from me.
I’m not fool enough to let her beauty hide the expert manipulator underneath. She knows I crave a genuine connection, even if it can’t be with her. I’ve been playing her game for a long time and haven’t lost yet. I plan to maintain that record.
“What are we going to do?” she asks.
“We?”
She sighs and sits up as the limo pulls away from the curb.
“I know our marriage isn’t traditional, but I care about you. You’re the only thing keeping me from becoming a pawn in my father’s game. You give me a voice and a chance to do things my way. I may not show it, but I am grateful.”
I frown as she speaks and tilt my head. “What is it you want?”
She shrugs and lowers to the floor in front of me, rubbing her hands down my thighs. My cock jumps to attention, always eager for her pretty mouth.
“What if I told you we could help each other? I’ve seen the way you react during the sermons. You don’t believe the bullshit they peddle anymore than I do.”
I hadn’t realized I was so transparent, but perhaps it’s not that. We’ve lived together and spent every public function as a couple for years. We’ve gotten to know each other whether we like it or not. But this is the first time she’s mentioned it so openly.
“What did you have in mind?”
She grins. “We both know that this organization is headed for disaster. You and I can fix that together.”
I’ve spent the last year in countless committee meetings with my father, helping him to fight the weak bastards trying to dissolve his efficient compliance program. Do they think agents are going to join us freely with hugs and kisses? Give up their lives to fight for our cause with the promise of rainbows and sunshine? The methods may not be ethical, but they work. Dissolving the program would be the end of Infinitum.
“What about your father?” I ask.
“He’s getting old and senile. With the Chairman whispering in his ear, I fear he’s no longer the leader we need.”
I stare at Deanna as the enormity of her request sinks in. Plotting to take over Infinitum is treasonous. If I turned her into the committee, they would execute her. Not even her father could save her. She would never suggest it unless she was certain that I wouldn’t betray her. I lean forward and capture her face between my hands. I search her eyes, knowing there’s deceit buried somewhere in that beautiful mind. Only time will reveal it, though. Until then, she’ll help me put this once great organization back on track.
“Have I ever told you how much I admire you?”
She blinks, surprised by my words, and a rare genuine smile spreads across her face. “Maybe they weren’t wrong after all when they paired us together.”
I run my thumb across her bottom lip.
“Maybe not.”
We grin at each other, then I capture her mouth in a binding kiss, sealing our fate, whatever it may be.
Chapter 2
Vera
Two years earlier... March 2019
I lay awake in the pre-dawn hours, watching Garrett sleep. It makes me a creeper, but I can’t help it. I love him like this. The worry lines no man at his age should have are gone. His handsome face is so peaceful. Not that he’s an excitable man, but when he’s awake, he’s always thinking, always planning, always making sure everyone around him is safe.
Unable to stop myself, I reach out and trace my fingertip down the side of his face, over his smooth skin that he only uses some cheap over-the-counter product to cleanse with because life isn’t fair. I keep going through his trimmed, dark red beard and over his strong jaw. I continue over the barely there freckles of his broad shoulder that dot his lightly tanned skin. My finger grazes over the hard dips and curves of his lean build and moves across his chest until I tuck my hand under my chin.
I smile when I find him watching me, his expression still soft, worry free, and his gaze filled with adoration. I can’t get enough of it. He surprised me, a feat no man has ever accomplished. The way he looks at me makes me feel seen, cherished, wanted… loved. He hasn’t said the words, but I sense them in the way he holds my hand wherever we go and in the way he can’t seem to get enough of me. And miracle of all miracles, he’s kept my committed attention for half a year. I never thought I’d ever date someone long term, but here I am, loving every second.
He reaches out and cups my face, and tears form against my will. His features morph into concern, and I hate myself for ruining this perfect moment.
“Angel. It’s ok. I told you, I’m in this. One million percent committed. I’ll only be gone for a couple of months.”
It takes all my strength, but I prevent my tears from falling. I refuse to be the woman who cries over a man, no matter how different he is.
“I’m going to miss you so much.”
His smile returns and he kisses my forehead, then the tip of my nose. He’s going back to New York to make preparations with his best friend Dylan to open a Maddox Security Branch here in San Diego. I don’t know why, and I can’t offer any rational explanation, but I have a bad feeling about him leaving.
“I’m going to miss you, too. But we’ll talk and video chat every day. You’re insane if you think I can go twenty-four hours without seeing that pretty smile.”
I smile at his words and he clutches his chest.
“God damn. See what I mean?”
I chuckle and snuggle into him, pressing my forehead against his neck as he wraps himself around me.
“Why don’t we plan a trip for when I come back? Just you and me. That way, we have something to help pass the time and look forward to.”
“Where would we go?”
“Wherever you want.”
“Really?”
He pulls away to look at me. “Name it, and we’ll make it happen.”
I let out a dreamy sigh. “I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland.”
He tilts his head in that adorable way he does when he’s curious about something.
“Iceland? I thought you were going to say somewhere tropical.”
I twist my lips to the side. “Well, being naked with you in one of those over-water beach bungalows in Bora Bora sounds appealing.”
“You naked anywhere sounds appealing.” He nuzzles my neck and I laugh as he drags his hand up my side and palms my naked breast, teasing my nipple as he squeezes.
“Mmm.” I close my eyes and arch my back into him. He takes the invitation like he always does, licking a light trail over the top of my breast. He kisses me across my collar bone and slides his large palm to my ass. I slip my leg over his hip as he pulls me against him and the head of his hard cock nudges my entrance.
