A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1)

by Tara Sivec

  Now Garrett wished he would have had the foresight to also include her father in that silent plea for protection from all harm.

  “Alejandro, do we have confirmation from our lovely nurse that all has been taken care of?”

  The guard pressed his fingers to the earpiece he wore and listened for several seconds.

  “Si, Senor. Juan was able to succeed in terminating Agent Parker. Unfortunately, he was immediately taken out by the forces that were supposed to be guarding Parker. Our nurse and everyone in the hospital are currently being evacuated,” Alejandro replied.

  Parker heard the words that were spoken and felt the impact of their meaning like a punch to the stomach. Memories of her father, past and present, swam through her mind and tears clouded her vision: her father, always so strong and kind and good, curled up on the floor in their living room and coloring in a coloring book with her; taking her to a father/daughter dance and promising not to embarrass her with his old school dance moves; coming in her room at night to sneak her cookies after her mother had already made her brush her teeth and put her to bed; pushing her away and turning into someone she barely recognized and saying awful, hurtful things just to protect her and keep her safe.

  “Well, now that that’s finished I think I shall take my leave,” Fernandez stated as he handed Milo’s gun back to him. With an almost nervous glance towards the ceiling, Parker and Garrett suddenly realized the noise coming from that direction. Somewhere in the palace people were shouting and running. Something was happening, and it was making Fernandez edgy.

  Parker’s grief immediately turned to anger as she watched the man responsible for killing her father step around Milo and head towards the door.

  “You son of a bitch! You sick fucking bastard!” she yelled as she tugged against the cuffs that held her arms secured behind her and struggled to get her legs underneath her so she wasn’t sitting down. She rose up on her knees and barely noticed Garrett’s whispered words of warning and attempts at comfort. Garrett wasn’t even aware of the words coming out of his mouth at this point. He knew nothing he said to her would take away an ounce of the pain she felt right now, but he knew he had to do something. There were too many people in this room with guns. Any one of them could decide to shut Parker up with one shot.

  Parker’s shouts stopped Fernandez in his tracks and he slowly turned back to face her.

  “That’s it? You’re just going to leave, you fucking coward?” Parker taunted.

  Parker knew in her mind nothing she said to that man would have any effect on him, but her heart couldn’t care less. She needed to lash out with the anger that was slowly starting to cripple her.

  The shouts and pounding of footsteps throughout the palace were getting louder. Garrett knew it couldn’t be Brady and the team; they wouldn’t make themselves so conspicuous. He had no idea what was coming for them, but he knew by the look on Fernandez face that it wasn’t anything good or anything he planned.

  “I don’t have time for your childish tirade,” he said to Parker before turning towards the two guards still in the room. “Finish them; I’ve grown tired of this game.”

  “What’s wrong, don’t want to get your hands any dirtier than they already are?”

  “Parker, what are you doing?” Garrett whispered softly to her.

  “He can’t get away this easily,” she whispered back through gritted teeth as a tear spilled down her face.

  “He won’t. I promise you, Parker. No matter what, he won’t get away with this,” Garrett promised and let his thumbs wipe away the wetness on her cheeks.

  The two guards moved to stand behind Garrett, each aiming their guns on the two lovers who were clearly out of options. Milo stood motionless off to the side, his gun held limply at his side as he watched the events unfold in front of him like he was watching a movie instead of real life. He watched the man, the hero of the story, stand tall and brave even though he was on his knees with death whispering in his ear. He watched him smooth a tear off the heroine’s face and whisper words of love and reassurance. He watched her anger and determination and wished, not for the first time, that he could have been worthy of her love. He was his father’s son, however. The blood of a monster flowed through his veins, and there was no future for him other than the one he’d been forced into. He’d done horrible, disgusting things, things he couldn’t or wouldn’t apologize for. He wished he could be remorseful of those things, but it was impossible. His blood wouldn’t allow it. Truth be told, he loved lording his power and control over people who didn’t matter, young girls who didn’t matter. He enjoyed the thrill it gave him to listen to them beg for his mercy; he reveled in the strength he felt knowing he decided their future and whether they lived or died.

  He watched the two lovers with detached irritation, the piece of history the three of them shared cracking and shattering into a thousand tiny pieces that meant little to him in the grand scheme of things. He listened to the roar of footsteps and the shouted commands coming from above, and he knew what that meant. One look at his father’s face and he knew his father realized it as well.

  Judgment day was upon them.

  Fernandez never answered Parker. He turned and walked out of the basement door with one last wave of his hand to his guards, dismissing them just as easily as he dismissed everyone he killed before.

  “Say your goodbyes, mi amigos,” the guard named Alejandro stated as he pushed his gun against Garrett’s head.

  “Make it fast,” the other guard added as he pushed his gun against the side of Parker’s head.

  Hope slowly dwindled out of Garrett. He could incapacitate one guard, most likely two if luck was on his side, but never three. Milo was still a loose cannon, and Garrett had no idea what his old friend would do if Garrett chose to fight back right now. Having a weapon would make it easier but having Parker free from her bindings would make it perfect. There was too much uncertainty with the situation as it stood. He would never take a risk with Parker’s life or stray bullets headed in her direction, but he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. He wouldn’t let these men slaughter them like animals. Neither he nor Parker were helpless. They both knew how to fight; they both were trained in getting out of situations like this. He just needed a plan. Parker would beat him up if she knew he was hesitant to do something that would put her in harm’s way. She would tell him she did this for a living and to stop coddling her.

  “I’m ready if you are,” Garrett told Parker conspiratorially as he wiped another tear off of her cheek. He tipped his head forward and let his forehead rest against hers. To the guards, they looked like two lovers saying goodbye. Garrett kept her face in his hands and willed her to understand the real meaning of his words. He was ready to try and get them out of there, with her help.

  Garrett watched the fight drain out of her slowly while they were held captive. After hearing her father killed over the phone and then unleashing her anger at Fernandez, her eyes glazed over and he knew she was in shock. Too much had happened down in that basement, and he feared that even if she did survive, she’d never be the same again. He pulled his head back so he could see her eyes better, and it worried him that she seemed to be staring right through him.

  “I’m ready if you are,” he told her again, more firmly this time.

  Garrett’s whispered statement finally got through to her. His words put a spark back into Parker’s eyes, and he knew she finally understood. She lifted her chin and clenched her jaw with renewed determination.

  “Remember on the flight here how surprised you were when I told you what I did for a living?” Parker asked in him.

  Garrett nodded his head, unsure where she was going with this.

  “Remember the story I told you and how you couldn’t keep your eyes off of my cleavage?” she asked, her voice suddenly raising an octave and turning sultry.

  Parker breathed heavily, the force of the motion pushing her breasts out from the edges of the torn shirt that hung off of h
er.

  Garrett wondered momentarily if she had lost her mind, when suddenly, the memory of their conversation on the plane burst forth.

  Parker had confidently reached up and popped open the first three buttons of her shirt until her cleavage and the edges of her red lace bra were visible. Garrett's eyes immediately flew to her exposed skin, watching her chest heave with every breath she took, her breasts straining against the thin lace fabric covering them.

  "Distract man number one long enough to disarm him," she had said softly as she removed her hand from inside his coat, carefully palming the .45 caliber she slid from his shoulder holster while his eyes were otherwise occupied. With a straight face she had mimed the action of shooting him in the chest.

  Garrett’s heart sped up as he replayed that moment in his mind. He knew without a doubt that the two guards behind him would be staring straight at Parker’s chest right this very moment. The perfect distraction. If he had more time, he’d kiss her and tell her how much he loved her for being so brilliant.

  Parker shook her hair away from her face, the action forcing her shirt to open even further and making one arm fall completely off of her shoulder and pooling around her elbow. Everyone in the room now had a clear view of the smooth, taut, naked skin of her stomach, and if they were staring hard enough, which Garrett knew they would be, they’d see the rose colored circles of her nipples peeking through the lace of her bra. Parker angled her body slightly to the right, which gave the room full of men a better view of what she had on display, and it gave Garrett a clear view of where her arms came together behind the wooden beam. He watched as rivulets of blood dripped off of her fingers into a puddle on the floor directly below them. Only then did he realize that the small tremors that shook her body weren’t from fear or nerves, but from the effort she was making to pull her hand through one of the handcuffs. Garrett knew if her thumb was broken, her hand would easily slide through the metal. He looked up into her eyes with a questioning look.

  Break it, she mouthed silently.

  “That is enough. Time is up,” one of the guards stated as he cocked his gun close to Parker’s ear.

  “I love you. Don’t snub nose me,” Parker told him with a wink.

  “Don't be so dramatic. The safety is on. At least I didn’t grab the loaded Beretta Jetfire in your ankle holster or the back-up .357 snubnosed revolver in mine."

  Garrett only had one second to contemplate the craziness of this plan, and one second was all he needed. He ran his hands quickly down the sides of Parker’s arms and wrapped his arms around her. In one swift motion, he grabbed her left hand, the one she wouldn’t need to shoot with, whispered an apology in her ear, and the slammed her hand against the wooden beam. The snap of her thumb as it broke sounded like a gunshot in Garrett’s mind when he knew it was probably nothing more than a whisper of noise.

  Garrett’s hand quickly slid into Parker’s pant leg and found her backup gun in her holster. He whipped it out and spun around, firing a round into the shoulder of the guard directly behind him before he even knew what happened. The guard’s gun went off as his arm flew out to the side but Garrett paid no attention to where it landed since he knew Parker was safely behind him.

  Parker ignored the screaming pain that radiated from her thumb all the way up her arm as she pulled her hand free, letting the cuffs hang loosely and dangle from her other wrist. She jumped up onto her feet and kicked her leg up high, knocking the gun out of her guard’s hand. The gun skidded to a stop against the far wall and for a moment, she and the guard stood still, staring each other down. They both took off, diving across the room for the gun at the same time. She heard scuffling and grunts from behind her, but couldn’t allow herself to worry about Garrett when she had her own fight to handle. She needed to trust that he could handle himself.

  Garrett couldn’t believe the guard he’d shot wouldn’t stay down. A bullet to the shoulder and two punches to the face hadn’t slowed him one bit. Garrett had him pinned to the ground as he straddled his hips and wrestled for control of the gun the man clutched to his chest. He just wouldn’t give up. Garrett threw a punch to the guard’s injured shoulder and with a howl of pain, the man’s grip on the gun finally abated. Garrett yanked it from him and got up off of the man, holding the gun straight at him as the guard held onto his injured shoulder, the blood seeping between his fingers.

  Parker dove to the floor, sliding across on her stomach and reaching the gun before her guard did, but that didn’t mean he was giving up. As soon as her good hand wrapped around the grip of the gun, he flew into her from behind, knocking her down and slamming her head into the hard concrete of the floor. She saw stars and had to swallow back nausea, but she never let go of the gun as the man let his full weight push her into the floor and keep her where she was.

  Parker flung her hand that held the gun back and smashed it into the man’s face, a splatter of blood against her cheek and a scream letting her know she’d broken his nose. The man’s hands flew up to cradle his shattered nose, and Parker took that opportunity to buck him off of her and scramble out from under him.

  The guard Garrett shot had more fight and determination to live than anyone he’d ever seen before. As Garrett started backing away, the man bolted up and came at him head first. The guard’s head slammed into Garrett’s stomach and his momentum pushed them across the room until Garrett’s back slammed into the wall and the gun flew out of his hands. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Parker get up from under her guard, relieved to see the man bent over on the ground with blood pouring out of his face from between his hands.

  No one paid any attention to Milo as he stood by the door watching the action. From the shouts and footsteps that echoed through the palace above, Milo knew it would only be a matter of time before it escalated. He needed to get out of there and to his waiting father. He raised his gun in an effort to make that happen quickly.

  <> ~ <>

  With guns drawn, Brady, Austin, and Cole burst through the front door of the palace. No one paid any attention to the three men in tactical gear as they walked further into the front entryway. Men and women scrambled around, some grabbing their things to flee from the fight they knew would erupt, others arming themselves with weapons in preparation for what was to come. After sweeping the first ten rooms they came to and not finding Garrett or Parker, Austin grabbed the arm of the next person to walk by them.

  “Where are the Americans being held?” he asked the woman who was hastily pulling her coat on.

  She spoke no English, but she knew what the word “Americans” meant and she wasn’t about to cross the three angry-looking men who held weapons pointed at her. She pointed down towards the floor and muttered, “Sótano,” before rushing past them and out the front door.

  Austin looked towards Brady questioningly, “Basement?”

  Brady nodded in response.

  “This is out of hand,” muttered Cole as they crouch-walked through the first hallway they came to, opening and closing doors in search for the one that would take them downstairs. “I counted at least twenty armed men rushing from room to room. They don’t even give a rat’s ass that we’re here. They looked right at us and kept on moving. How the hell are we going to reason with them to get Garrett and Parker out of here alive?”

  Brady did a quick sweep of the room he just entered and backed out, shutting the door behind him.

  “Well, the good news is they probably want to burn Fernandez at the stake. Let’s hope we can convince them that we’ll allow it without contacting the authorities as long as they let us get our team out of here,” Brady said as they continued down the hall.

  “We’re not seriously going to let them torture and maim the guy are we?” Austin asked as he brought his weapon back up in front of him to sweep a room across the hall from Brady. “I mean, it would give me nothing but pleasure to watch the guy’s toenails get plucked from his feet and his balls cut off, but I’m guessing that would be morally and ethically w
rong considering we work for the United States Government.”

  “No, we definitely aren’t going to let them tar and feather him. But that doesn’t mean we can’t give them the illusion that we will. At this point I’m willing to try anything to get everyone out of here without any bullet holes in them,” Brady replied.

  The men noticed a room at the end of the hall where several people were coming and going. As they made their way closer, they realized a meeting of sorts was taking place with two men standing on a table giving orders.

  The team holstered their weapons and walked slowly into the room with their hands in the air in a symbol of peace. If they wanted these people who were riddled with rage and vengeance to listen to them, they had to pretend like they were one of them and completely on their side.

  <> ~ <>

  “STOP!” Milo screamed as he aimed his gun in the general area of the two fighting couples.

  Alejandro, with his head buried in Garrett’s gut while Garrett pummeled the man’s back with his fists stopped struggling at the sound of Milo’s yell.

  Felipe, with his hands still covering his broken and bloody nose, stopped his forward movement towards Parker, who stood with the recovered weapon pointed at his head.

  All eyes were now on Milo, and he smiled to himself in satisfaction. He liked that people would stop what they were doing to listen to him. He wished his father would have stuck around to see the respect he was being given right now. Unfortunately, he could hear the distant beat of helicopter blades and knew that his father’s ride would be there shortly. His father hadn’t been lying when he said he had a prior engagement. He knew his father would wait for him as long as he could. Things were closing in on them and they needed to get out of the country fast if they were going to make it out alive.