Harmony Cliffs Ch. 04

Clay pulled her in for a hug. They embraced tightly before an ammonia smell reached his nose. By reflex, Clay recoiled at the stench.

Before Clay could even get a word out, Becca started laughing. It was a humorless and teary-eyed laugh – the kind that happens when a person is so overcome with shame and fear in such an embarrassing situation that there's no other possible reaction.

Clay patted her shoulder. "It's okay," he said as calmly as he could manage, doing his best to ignore the wet spot darkening the crotch of her pajamas.

"I'm sorry," Becca gasped out. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Come on. I've gotcha." Clay put her arm around his shoulders and lifted her up. She held onto him, trying to bury her face in his chest as she did so. Together, they dragged Becca's useless legs behind them to the bathroom, leaving a trail of urine dripping from her pant leg.

***

Becca kept a spare stash of clothes in her bathroom for just such an emergency. She went through the motions of cleaning herself up, getting herself dressed, getting her catheter put back in, and making the transfer over to her chair, just as she had done a million times.

As long as she was in there, Becca took a few extra minutes to calm herself down, run a brush through her hair, and put on some makeup. Almost like it was just another morning. Becca took a few more deep breaths, sat up straight, and smiled while trying to pretend that she was feeling a lot better.

Becca rolled out of the bathroom, and there was Clay in the hallway. He was on his hands and knees, wearing rubber gloves, wiping the urine spots off the hardwood floor.

"Oh, Clay..."

Clay got up, peeling off the gloves. "Hey. How are you feeling? You look a lot better."

Becca smiled wistfully and shook her head. "You didn't have to do that."

Clay shrugged. "I wanted to." He pointed to the spray bottle in this hand. "Is this the right stuff? I just grabbed what I could find and it looked right."

Becca nodded. "It's fine." She held her arms wide open, and Clay moved in to embrace her tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, with a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much."

When the embrace was over, Clay kneeled in front of her and took her hands. "Look, Becca, I know this might be a bad time, but there's a reason I came here." Off her inquisitive look, Clay continued. "I need a favor. A really big favor."

***

The phone rang, and Diana Mun was grateful for the distraction from yet another boring budget plan. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Supervisor Mun," said her receptionist, "your son is here to see you and there's someone here with him."

"Who?"

A pause on the line. "Deputy Eliza Munoz, De Lilla Police."

Diana sat up as her mind started listing off all the possible worst-case scenarios. "Send them in."

Diana hung up the phone and Clay stepped in, with a gorgeous Latina police officer right behind him. "Hi, Mom," said Clay. "We need to talk."

Diana stopped him with a gesture. "Clayton, not another word until we get a lawyer."

Munoz stepped in. "Don't worry, ma'am, it's not like that. He's not in any trouble, I'm just the driver."

Diana arched an eyebrow. "The driver?" she repeated.

"I'm working on a case right now, ma'am," Munoz explained. "And your son seemed to think you might have some information that could be useful."

Munoz remained standing while Clay took a seat opposite his mother. Diana, meanwhile, was pulling up her e-mail inbox. "What did you say your name was, officer?" Diana asked.

"Munoz, ma'am. Deputy Eliza Munoz."

Diana ran a search, and pulled up an e-mail thread between her and Chief Cobb. "You're the one investigating these random deaths?"

"That's right, ma'am," Munoz answered.

"And how could I possibly help you with that?"

"Tommy Jensen," Clay answered, to Diana's visible annoyance.

"The name has come up repeatedly in connection with these killings," Munoz elaborated.

"How so?" Diana asked.

"Who is he, Mom?"

"How should I know, Clayton?"

"You've been in this office long enough, of course you know."

Munoz put a hand on Clay's shoulder, reeling him back. "Any reference to Tommy Jensen that we can find is either missing, destroyed, or erased. So if you can offer any assistance--"

"Officer," Diana interrupted, "if you can't find any record of Tommy Jensen, then there is no way he could exist. Your source is clearly mistaken."

"You're lying," Clay growled.

"Clayton!"

"Something this big happens in De Lilla and you don't know about it? Bullshit!"

"Clayton..." Diana spoke with gritted teeth, working up the patience to deal with this. "I'm sorry. It sounds like you've done the best you can. But there's simply no evidence to suggest that some 'Tommy Jensen' could've had anything to do with this. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Munoz looked from one to the other, looking for some sign that this was over. Instead, she watched as Clay reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. He handed it to his mother.

"What's this?" asked Diana.

"Open it," he told her.

She plugged it into her computer. She didn't even need to open up the files. From the titles and thumbnails, she knew these were the pictures that Diana had personally selected. Of all the nude pictures that she and Ronnie had traded over the past year, these were her favorites. Some of them, she had even taken herself.

"Were you really dumb enough to leave this where I could find it?" asked Clay, barely able to contain his rage. "Did you want me to find this for some sick reason?!"

Diana pointed to the flash drive. She didn't recognize it. "Where's the original?"

Clay leaned across the desk. "How long?"

"Clay--" Diana tried to talk, but he wouldn't let her.

"How long have you been doing this? Is this why Dad left? Were you getting back at him somehow?!"

Munoz moved to the door. "I think I'd better go."

"You stay where you are!" Diana shouted. In response, Munoz put up her hands and moved back to where she was. And then the door opened.

"Is everything all right in here?" Ronnie scanned the room: There was a cop looking at him in bewilderment, there was Clay looking at him with what could only be described as a death glare, and there was Diana looking like she wanted to shrivel up and disappear.

"Everything's fine, Ronnie," Diana told her intern, struggling to keep her voice even. "Please go and make sure we won't be interrupted."

Ronnie took the hint and retreated without a word. He closed the door as quietly and cautiously as he could. With a heavy sigh, Diana propped her forehead up on her hands.

"Your father cheated first," Diana finally said. "A couple years ago. Said I wasn't doing it for him anymore."

Clay kept on glaring at her. "You knew," he spat. "You knew this whole time why Dad left, and you never told me!"

"Sweetie--"

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"We didn't want to drag you into this!" she pleaded. "So we decided to roll with it. Try an 'open marriage' kind of thing. We held it together for a while, you kept on thinking everything was fine, then that asshole just left. No note, no warning, he just left. I swear, that's what happened."

Clay didn't move. He just kept on looking daggers at her. So she kept on talking. "We couldn't bring you into this, honey. We didn't want you to think of us... like this. It was stupid, we were cowards, and I'm so, so sorry."

Clay leaned forward. "Tell us about Tommy Jensen," he demanded, "or I'll make sure the original copy gets leaked online. It'll be in every headline by tomorrow."

Diana returned his gaze for a moment before looking up at Munoz. "And what about you?"

"Honestly, ma'am," answered Munoz, "I'd like to forget that I was ever here."

"And nothing I'm about to say ever leaves this room," Diana insisted.

"What are you--?" Clay started, but Munoz cut him off with a hand on his shoulder.

"Just tell us who's behind all this," Munoz asked.

Diana took another deep breath before going on. "It started with John Courtis." She turned to Clay. "You know who he is, don't you?"

"Yeah, he built the museum," Clay replied.

"From what I keep hearing," said Munoz, "Courtis built the whole town. What does he have to do with Tommy Jensen? And who is Jensen, anyway?"

Diana threw her hands up. "Some grifter. Just came out of nowhere, spent some time in De Lilla, then he killed Courtis' daughter."

Clay's eyes went wide. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

"Where did the murder take place?" asked Munoz.

"I don't know the details," answered Diana. "I only know that Jensen confessed. There was no lengthy court battle and the guy was a nobody, so Courtis made sure he got locked away for life and nobody ever spoke his name again. Courtis already owned every journalist and politician for miles, so making him disappear was easy."

"But Courtis died ages ago, right?" Clay pointed out. "Who's everyone afraid of now?"

"The Prescotts," answered Munoz. "Ever since Aaron Prescott died, everyone's been telling me to stay away from his wife."

"Olivia Prescott," intoned Diana.

"Formerly Olivia Courtis," Munoz continued. "John's daughter. So her sister was murdered and now she's keeping the cover-up, is that it?"

Diana nodded. "Look, why are you dredging all this up? All of this happened decades ago, and Jensen's been locked up in prison this whole time."

"Which prison?" asked Clay.

"Folsom," Diana responded. "He was sent to Folsom Prison."

Clay stood up. "Let's go," he said to Munoz. The two of them left the office without a single word or a backward glance. Diana was left all alone with a flash drive and a screen full of her own dirty pictures.

***

Clay was on his phone when he left the building. "We're good," he typed out. "Get rid of the flash drive now. Burn it, break it, whatever you have to do. THX! :)" By the time he and Munoz had reached her van, Clay had already sent the text to Becca.

Clay struggled with the door of the old powder blue Econoline van, remembering to give it a hard push downward to open, and the inside handle a hard pull upward to close. And that was before dealing with the archaic excuse for a seatbelt and the heavy gasoline scent inside. Yet Munoz handled everything with ease, gracefully getting herself set before turning on the motor that sat between the two seats. For Clay, it was weird enough that there was anyone left who bothered learning how to drive a stick shift.

They drove toward Folsom in silence. It was a very awkward silence. Looking at her, Clay could tell that Munoz was mad at him for something. But since he didn't know what to apologize for, he finally settled on saying "Thanks."

"For what?" she curtly and coldly asked.

"For coming along with me. On all of this."

"I don't mind investigating a murder," she seethed, "but blackmail? Really, Clay?!"

Clay blinked. "Munoz--"

She kept on going over him. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe I didn't want to know that about your mom? Technically, I work for her! Do you have any idea what she could do to me just for being there?!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Clay exclaimed. "Look, I'll call Mom, and--"

"No," Munoz interrupted, trying to calm down. "No, don't remind her this ever happened. Just salt in the wound. Sometimes... sometimes you just screw up and you can't do anything about it. You can't even apologize. It hurts – God, it hurts – but that's life."

"Well, I'm sorry anyway," Clay insisted. "I wasn't thinking. I just..." He trailed off.

"You wanted to hurt her," Munoz finished. "I get it. But trust me, she was hurting already. She told you so many lies about that stupid mistake, and that was painful enough. She's been carrying every single lie in her gut like a stone. So she kept on cheating -- it made her feel so good she forgot about the pain for a while. And then you found out. So now there's no more pretending everything's okay."

The whole time she said that, Munoz kept staring straight ahead. Not out the windshield, but a million miles ahead of the windshield. "What are you talking about?" asked Clay.

At first, Munoz answered with a heavy sigh.

***

The first interview felt like a date. Mia was so funny and so smart, such a bright-faced and beautiful college student that she seemed to click with Eliza right away. Too bad Mia was a single girl barely past drinking age and Eliza was six years deep into a very committed relationship. Even worse, Eliza had been on the force for ten years and Mia was just coming on as an unpaid intern.

Every time Eliza reminded herself it would be a mistake, she'd laugh at another joke, or get caught up in another conversation about local events, and she'd get lost in those gorgeous grey eyes all over again. Mia dressed professional as best she could, but there was no way to hide those irresistible curves. Mia was into cosplay – she was great with clothes and better with her hands.

Eliza knew she was in trouble the moment she first met Mia. But that didn't stop Eliza from agreeing to go out drinking for Mia's birthday. And when Mia asked for help "experimenting", Eliza didn't refuse.

That night, the two of them went to Blue Betty and it was Eliza's first time licking that smooth, pale pussy. Eliza loved Mia's trim, lean body with abundant curves in all the right places. She loved those gorgeous D-cups with pierced pink nipples. She loved that firm and toned ass. She loved that ornate mandala tattoo on her bicep. But what she loved most of all was the way Mia's eyes seemed to glint just after she came.

As for Mia, her fingers loved to dance around the sharp edges of Eliza's cheekbones. She loved tasting Eliza's caramel skin, rubbing her tongue all over those dark brown nipples as they grew stiff and tender. Mia especially loved running her fingers through Eliza's thick and deep brown bush. She'd rub all over and through those coarse hairs, watching as the friction drove Eliza crazy with lust. And Mia wouldn't stop until her long, slim fingers were coated in sweet nectar to taste.

They ate each other out in cars, parked in the middle of nowhere (Blue Betty's sheer size came in very handy). They met for quickies in the filing room, rapidly fingering one another to climax whenever they could. And on those rare nights when Mia's parents were away, Eliza would come up to Mia's apartment. They'd tear each other's clothes off. They'd rub and fondle and suck each other's incredible breasts. They'd kiss each other's smooth thighs before hungrily lapping away at the velvet lips between them.

The very first time they were together in Mia's bed, Eliza worked her tongue until Mia wasn't just begging for more -- she was screaming. So Eliza straddled one of Mia's legs while lifting the other straight up. Eliza humped Mia's leg in such a way that the two of them grinded each other's pussies together, faster and faster, with Eliza's coarse hairs brushing against Mia's silky shaven folds. Mia was the first one to cum that night, screaming "Fuck, fuck... OH, GOD OH FUCK!" as her back arched and her jaw clenched. Then the afterglow would set in, and Eliza could see that razor-sharp smile and the glint in those silver eyes.

No matter who started grinding, and no matter who came first, the night was never over until both of them came.

Kara never waited up for Eliza – Kara knew better than to wait up for a police officer with uneven hours. Kara knew who she was dating.

A year later, it was Mia's birthday again. Mia arrived at a motel room, just as Eliza had told her to. Mia opened the door, and there was Eliza, with every curve and muscle of her deep brown body visible under sheer black lingerie. And there, jutting upward and outward from Eliza's crotch, was a strap-on she had bought for the occasion.

Eliza gestured to the strap-on. "Do you like it?"

Mia slammed the door shut and started tearing her clothes off. Her panties were already wet and pungent, from all the times she had been touching herself that day. "I need you to fuck me," she told Eliza. "Fuck me with that right now."

Eliza pulled her in for a kiss. As their tongues intertwined, their hands roved all over each other's bodies. Mia even gave the strap-on a few strokes, eager with anticipation to feel the hard ridges of that long plastic inside her. It didn't take long for Eliza to take notice.

"You want it, baby?"

Mia nodded. "Oh, yeah. Right now."

Eliza spun Mia around and forcefully pushed her over the bed. Mia was bent over on the mattress, propped up on her elbows as she arched her back and spread her long legs open. Between and below two firm round ass cheeks, there was a pussy swollen with need. So Eliza kneeled down, spread Mia's ass open with her hands, and licked that pussy from behind.

Mia pressed her face down into the mattress, arched her back further, pushed back her ass, spread her legs further... anything she could do to give Eliza more access. She wanted Eliza's lips all around and over those hot petals. She wanted Eliza's tongue deeper into that greedy slit. But more than that...

"Eliza, fuck me already! Please, take that great big cock of yours and fuck me right now!"

The next thing Mia knew, she could feel the tip of that hard plastic rubbing against her sensitive folds. Her ass squirmed, desperate for more. And then Mia squealed in surprise and delight as she slowly and impatiently felt her velvet canal filling up inch by inch. She kept on moaning with bliss right up until she felt the hilt up against her ass.

"How's that feel?" asked Eliza.

"Incredible," gasped Mia. "Now come on and reallyfuck me!"

Eliza picked up speed gradually at first. But before long, there was sweat rolling all over Eliza's every curve as she rammed Mia with unyielding speed. Eliza slapped her ass a few times, and that always got a gleeful moan out of Mia. Then Eliza reached over to grab Mia's breasts, rubbing the metal rods of her nips while doing so.

Meanwhile, Mia reached down to rub her clit, compounding the blissful quakes that were already spreading from between her pale and exquisite thighs to flood her entire being. Mia's squeals were getting higher in pitch and her pale skin was flushing pink – she was close to climax, but that couldn't happen yet.

Eliza pulled out and forced Mia onto her back. Eliza lifted Mia's legs, and Mia dutifully held her own knees. Eliza put her strap-on back into Mia's slippery and swollen pussy, losing as little time as possible. Eliza had to see that beautiful orgasm for herself.

That whole time she was fucking Mia senseless, rubbing Mia's clit and gripping hold of those pert D-cups, Eliza was working for the moment when Mia's jaw locked open in a voiceless scream. When Mia's big grey eyes closed partway and rolled upward. When every last bit of her pale skin turned red with passion. Mia did all this and more – Eliza didn't stop until Mia's pussy squirted out waves of fluid, her eyes screwed shut, and her mouth let out an explosive squeal of incomparable joy.

Eliza stopped while Mia worked to catch her breath. Then their eyes met, and Eliza could see that old mischievous glint and the razor-sharp smile. Mia gestured for Eliza to join her on the bed.

"Come on, gorgeous," she said, "now it's my turn to fuck your brains out."

They kept on having sex for a solid hour. Kara gave them that long before knocking on the door that she had followed Eliza to.

***

"She kicked me out of our apartment," Munoz told Clay. "And I couldn't bring myself to go back to the precinct again. I lost my job, my friends, my home, my girlfriend... all because I was such a goddamn idiot."

Munoz turned to look at Clay as best she could while driving. "Would you put your mom through all of that? If she lost everything she has over what she did, would that be enough?" With a heavy sigh, she added "How much more does she have to suffer, Clay? What more could she possibly do to make things right?"