Kiss Kiss

by Various Authors

  “You been slacking in the weight room lately, Nancy?” Garrett asked Milo with a mocking smile.

  Milo growled and made a lunge for Garrett when Fernandez nodded to one of the guards. The man quickly put his arm up to restrain Milo.

  “In due time, son. Just be patient. The man was obviously foolish enough to try and bring a gun into my house. He won’t last long,” Fernandez told him.

  While Milo stood across from Garrett spitting fire, Fernandez calmly walked over.

  “I think we can do away with the pretenses and all of this nonsense talk, don’t you? How about we head downstairs so you can be reunited with Miss Parker. I do believe Diego is finished with her.”

  If Garrett hadn’t already heard Diego’s fate with his own ears, the disgusting smile on Fernandez’s face at that moment would have sent him into a blind rage. Instead, he kept his thoughts to himself and allowed Fernandez’s goons to drag him across the room. Fernandez and Milo led the way through the ground floor of the palace, down several hallways, until they came to a door that led to a basement. Once they got to the bottom of the stairs, they walked down another hallway until they came to a second door. It was unlocked and the small group entered the room, coming to an abrupt halt as soon as they got inside.

  Milo let out a curse and one of the guards next to Garrett moved. He tilted his head to the side and the sight before him took his breath away.

  Parker. His beautiful, strong Parker, tied up on the floor of the room. His whole body tensed in anger seeing her bruised and battered face, the blood that splattered her clothing, and the shirt she wore which was torn down the middle, exposing her smooth skin that was dotted with more blood. He watched her eyes widen in shock when she realized he was there. Just as quickly, fear and anguish took over her features and she had to look away from him.

  Parker had never known as much dread as she did right at that moment. Seeing Garrett, knowing he had come for her, should have given her hope. All it did was make her realize they were both going to die in this room. When she only had herself to worry about, it was easy. She could handle it with strength and determination. Having the man she loved but couldn't do anything to save in the same situation as her took all of the fight she had left out of her.

  Parker watched with detachment as one of the guards grabbed Diego’s arms and dragged his unconscious body from the room. Garrett willed her to look at him again, to look at his face so he could tell her with his eyes and his heart that he would get her out of there if it was the last thing he did. He didn’t like the resignation he saw on her face when she realized he was there; he hated the way her body seemed to deflate right before him, her strength seeping out of her like the air from a balloon.

  “Must you leave so much destruction in your wake?” Fernandez asked Parker with a frustrated huff.

  Parker angled her head up to meet his eyes.

  “Just following your lead, asshole,” she replied with a deadpan expression on her face.

  Milo stepped forward and his foot connected with Parker’s stomach. She let out a yelp and bent forward as much as the bindings would allow, squeezing her eyes shut to stave off the pain.

  Garrett saw red and shouted every obscenity he could think of and struggled like a wild animal against the guards who held him secure before Milo had even pulled his foot away from Parker’s midsection.

  “Don’t you fucking touch her, you piece of shit!”

  Fernandez pulled a gun out of the waistband of the guard who stood next to him and calmly walked over to Parker as she struggled to breathe. The kick to her stomach had knocked the wind out of her, and she grew lightheaded as she sucked in quick, shallow breaths.

  Fernandez pushed the barrel of the pistol against her skull and turned to stare at Garrett.

  “Keep it up, Lieutenant McCarthy, and her brains will be painting the walls of this room,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  The fight immediately left Garrett and fear for Parker’s safety replaced his anger.

  “That’s more like it,” Fernandez said as he pulled the gun away from Parker’s head. Just then, Margarita stumbled into the room thanks to a shove from the guard who brought her down the stairs.

  “Ah, Margarita. You have returned from your errand in town,” Fernandez said as he walked up to his wife.

  To Margarita’s credit, she didn’t flinch or back away. She held her head high as the man she loathed stood in front of her. She knew there could only be one outcome to this situation. She knew it the moment she came out of the bathroom back at the resort. She recognized it as she helped Garrett into the trunk of her car and drove through the palace gates. She knew there was only one way she would be free of the horrors this life had brought to her. And she intended to leave it with dignity.

  “You have nothing to say? No excuses or remorse for bringing the enemy into my home? After everything I’ve given you, everything I’ve done, this is how you repay me? With betrayal?” Fernandez asked.

  “You and I both know where the fault of betrayal lies. If I have let anyone down, it was myself and my son.”

  Margarita cast a heartbreaking look at Milo.

  “I’m sorry for ever leaving you, my son. I should have stayed. I should have protected you. I never should have let this poison into your life. I hope you know that with every breath I took, I loved you. I only wanted what was best for you. I hope you can forgive me for ever―”

  The blast from a gun cut off Margarita’s heartfelt speech and a hole blossomed in the middle of her forehead, right between her eyes, before her lifeless body crumbled to the ground.

  No one moved as the echoing explosion from the gun bounced off of the walls and rang in everyone’s ears in the small room. Parker stared in horror at the body that laid on the floor a few feet in front of her, barely able to comprehend what just happened and the fact that the woman dead on the floor had been Milo’s mother.

  “I knew that woman would be more trouble than she was worth,” Fernandez complained as he lowered his weapon and handed it back to the guard he’d taken it from a few moments before. He wiped the palms of his hands on the front of his shirt like he just got dirt on them instead of taking the life of the mother of his child, the woman he brought to this country and promised to love and protect.

  Milo said nothing. He stood where he was and stared down at his mother with his head cocked to the side like he was trying to figure her out, trying to decide if the things she’d said were real or just a way to ease her guilty conscience for ruining his life. She tried so hard the past few years to make him believe that his father was a bad man. She tried to convince him that he should leave the Dominican and never look back. He knew she was just jealous, jealous of the connection he had with his father that she would never have. She let him down when he was a child, abandoned him and never looked back. Never once did she check to make certain he was safe, that he was taken care of. His father at least kept an eye on him. Sure, he allowed Milo to be kicked around by a step-father who hated him, but he did it to make sure Milo would turn into a strong man. He used his contacts to make sure he was accepted into the military, to make sure he was offered a role as a Navy SEAL so one day he could join his organization and stand at his right hand. His father loved him. His mother left him.

  “Well, now that one problem is out of the way, how about we move on to the next one?” Fernandez asked the guard by the door. The man pulled a phone out of his pocket and made a call. Several minutes later, a button was pressed and the call was placed on speaker phone for all to hear.

  “Juan, are things secured?” Fernandez spoke loudly so the man on the phone could hear him.

  “Si, Mr. Presidente,” the voice replied over the line.

  “How about you put our friend on the phone?” Fernandez asked with a smile as he looked down at Parker.

  The sounds of shuffling and a faint moan came from the speaker before a weak, raspy voice came on the line and wheezed a demand.

  “What the hell
do you want, Fernandez?”

  Garrett watched the color drain from Parker’s face and wished, more than anything that he could go to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her not to worry, tell her not to lose hope no matter what she saw or what she heard. He wanted to take away all the fear and anguish he could feel radiating from her from across the room. He never wanted to hear the terror in her voice when she choked out that one word into the room just loud enough for the speaker phone to pick up.

  “Dad?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Parker knew her father’s voice as soon as the first word left his mouth and traveled through the speaker. Even though they’d only spoken to each other for all of five minutes in the past twelve years, she'd know her father’s voice anywhere, even when it was raspy from having tubes down his throat and sluggish from pain medication. And yet she still felt the need to voice her question out loud just to make sure what she was hearing was real, to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. She should have known by the smirk on Fernandez’s face that this was no trick.

  “Annabelle? Sweetie, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

  Fernandez clapped his hands together in glee before Parker could answer her father.

  “Oh isn’t this family reunion just lovely?” he exclaimed with a smile. “I do enjoy a happy ending. You should thank Milo for this moment. He lost his concentration and the bullet that was supposed to go through your father’s head only went through his back.”

  Parker’s eyes darted to Milo’s, and he actually had the decency to look embarrassed. Unfortunately his shame had nothing to do with the fact that he’d tried to kill Joe and everything to do with disappointing his father.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I promise I won’t let you down again,” Milo assured him.

  Parker had never felt white hot rage before as she had when she stared at Milo. This person she’d let into her life and into her heart was a monster, a cold-hearted, vile man just like his father. Whatever small inkling of hope she still harbored that maybe there was still some good in him disappeared in an instant. He deserved whatever he got.

  Parker wanted to scream and wrench against the bindings that held her in place so she could kill Milo with her bare hands, but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. As much satisfaction as it would bring her to end his sad, miserable life, it wouldn’t fix anything. It wouldn’t get them out of this basement alive, and it most certainly wouldn’t ensure that Fernandez went down for his crimes. As much as it killed her to do so, she had to remain calm. She had to let this play out.

  “Juan, would you be so kind as to give us a status update on our friend?” Fernandez spoke in the general direction of the cell phone his guard held out towards him.

  “I was able to persuade the nurse we spoke of to call a code blue on Agent Parker here. She was reluctant until I reminded her that her niece was still in our employ and could easily be terminated from her work with us. She was all too happy at that point to do as I asked. The code blue was called when a majority of the staff was in a meeting so my men only had to take out one other nurse and an intern. I borrowed the intern’s hospital scrubs and identification and the nurse informed the CIA and Navy guards sent to keep an eye on Agent Parker that they couldn’t enter the room during an emergency. I entered the room while she stood just outside the door with the men, and after several moments, informed everyone I was unable to revive Agent Parker. The guards are now scrambling around downstairs trying to figure out what should be done now that their assignment is deceased. A healthy dose of Ritalin into Agent Parker’s IV perked him right up after being under heavy sedation for so many hours.”

  Garrett and Parker both listened to the explanation of how anyone could have possibly got anywhere near Joe with equal parts shock and anger. He was supposed to be safe in the hospital. It should have been the one place where Fernandez’s far-reaching arms couldn’t penetrate. They had been fools to underestimate him in any way.

  “Very good,” Fernandez replied. “I assume we will only have a few moments before someone realizes they need to see the body for verification purposes, so we’ll make this quick.”

  Fernandez turned to face the guard who held Garrett’s arms behind his back.

  “Let Lieutenant McCarthy go.”

  It was obvious the guards and Milo were unaware of whatever Fernandez had planned at this point. They all looked at him and then each other in confusion.

  “Sir?” the guard beside him spoke softly. “Do you think that’s wise?”

  The man who held onto Garrett squeezed his arms behind him tighter, and Garrett winced at the extra force the man used in his uncertainty about what was going on.

  Fernandez motioned to the man holding Garrett. “I don’t think it is in your best interest to question me,” he said sternly. “Let him go, Alejandro. I believe the lieutenant would feel better if he could ensure his lover is well, aside from the obvious damage that has been done to her pretty face. I fear I will not have his full attention until this has been accomplished.”

  The guard only hesitated for a moment before he reached down and sliced through the rope that held Garrett’s hands together behind his back. Garrett pulled his arms in front of him and rubbed the raw areas on each wrist. Through the entire exchange he never took his eyes off of Parker. He wanted nothing more than to touch her, to pull her into his arms and feel the beat of her heart against his chest and smooth the hair off of her face. It seemed like a million years had gone by since he kissed her lips and lay in bed with her body wrapped around him. But having Fernandez grant him this wish, allowing him the freedom to touch Parker without being unencumbered by rope, made Garrett nervous. Fernandez didn’t do things just to be a nice guy; he did things for a reason. Right now Garrett’s gut was telling him that a heavily trained Navy SEAL was being permitted to roam freely in a room where he could easily access a weapon because Fernandez wanted Garrett to take everyone out for him, or because he knew Garrett wouldn’t live long enough to do much of anything.

  Garrett didn’t want to waste any more time on trying to figure out what Fernandez was up to. In four quick strides he was across the room and down on his knees in front of Parker. If a bullet to the back of the head was what Fernandez had in store for him, he wasn’t about to go without touching his girl one last time.

  “Are you okay?” Garrett asked softly as he cupped the back of Parker’s neck with one hand and ran the tips of his fingers over every inch of her face with the other.

  Parker nodded, her throat closing up with emotion now that Garrett was so close. With him on the other side of the room, it was easy to be strong and confident. Having him touch her, speak to her, and be so gentle with the cuts and bruises on her face was enough to break her.

  “Ahhh, the lovers are together once again,” Fernandez spoke from behind them. “Now we can finally get on with things.”

  Garrett kept his back to Fernandez and continued to run his fingers over Parker’s lips and cheeks, staring deep into her eyes and promising her wordlessly that everything would be okay.

  “Juan, would you be so kind as to let our young lovers know that everything is set on your end?” Fernandez asked.

  Within seconds Garrett and Parker heard the distinct clicking sound of a gun being cocked through the phone. Garrett watched Parker’s eyes grow wide and saw her catch her breath. Before Garrett could fully process that Juan was most likely holding a gun to Joe’s head at the hospital, he felt the distinct press of the barrel of a gun against the back of his own head.

  “The Parkers, father and daughter, both agents with the CIA, both the bane of my existence,” Fernandez spoke.

  Garrett could tell Fernandez was the one who held the gun against his head since his voice was so close. With his back to the room, Garrett had no idea how many guns were trained on him right then, but he assumed the two guards and Milo were both taking aim to protect Fernandez. He could easily sweep his leg behind him and knock Fern
andez down, but too many things could go wrong. Parker could be shot by a stray bullet or one of the other guards could take her out. It was best for him to just remain still for the moment.

  “I found out about your father many years ago, Annabelle. I believe it was right before you buried your poor mother. Do you remember the day we first spoke, Joe?” Fernandez asked.

  “You mean the day you threatened the only thing I had left to live for once my wife was gone?” Joe replied. Although he was forced to wake up from recovery abruptly, he still had fight left in him as his bitter words radiated through the phone line and echoed around the room.

  “Well, I suppose you could put it that way. I prefer to think of it as the day I found out who in the CIA was so determined to ruin me. The day I received a name, a face, and the information about everything he held so dear. It was a very good day for me, Joe.”

  Fernandez spoke like he was talking to an old friend. The ease with which he said Joe’s name made Parker sick to her stomach as she listened to the back and forth conversation.

  “You see, Annabelle, it would have been so easy to kill your mother, the love of your father’s life, his reason for existing and all that other nonsense. It would have shown him that by digging into my life and trying to put a stop to my livelihood, he would have to pay. But when we were told she was on her deathbed, it just didn’t seem prudent. To kill her would have been a waste of resources, so to speak, when Mother Nature was doing such a fine job. But then luck was on our side. Joseph Parker, CIA agent extraordinaire, had a daughter. A beautiful, teenage daughter who meant the world to him and had such a bright future ahead of her. Some photographs delivered to his mailbox at work of this daughter doing a few mundane things like painting her toenails in her room after a shower and walking through a clothing store in the mall were sufficient incentives to get him to back off,” Fernandez explained. “It also put just enough fear into dear old Dad that he thought the only way to protect you was to push you away.”