A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(122)

“I’ve been listening over my earpiece to all that is happening upstairs. The employees aren’t happy with what you and your father have done to their women. The sounds you hear are them preparing to come down here and tear you limb from limb. Your father knew that would happen. He knew, and he walked out that door figuring if you were still alive when he left, you wouldn’t be for long,” Alejandro said smugly. “You’re going to get what you deserve, little boy.”

Milo didn’t want to hear anymore. He raised his gun and fired off four rounds directly into Alejandro’s self-righteous face before turning the gun on Garrett.



<> ~ <>



“Well, that went well,” Cole muttered as heavily armed employees filed past them and down the hall to show them the way to the basement.

“Offering to give them first crack at Fernandez was a good idea. It probably saved our asses,” Austin replied as the three men pulled their weapons back out of their holsters and followed the mob down several different hallways.

Brady suddenly heard crackling and sporadic words coming through his wireless mic. As they walked through the palace, he pressed his finger to the button on his throat.

“Brady here, come in. Over.”

Austin and Cole looked back at Brady questioningly when they heard him speak. Brady shrugged in reply and heard more static and part of a word every few seconds.

“This is Chief Brady Marshall, can you repeat that last command. Over.”

After a few more seconds of annoying static, a voice came through the mic loud and clear.

“Marshall, good to hear your voice. It’s Captain Risner. I’m outside with an extraction team from the Navy and two special op teams from the CIA. We’ve got the place surrounded. We’re ready to move on your command. Over.”

“Be on the look-out for a helo coming in from the East, possibly landing on the south side of the property. We have intel that Fernandez is going to attempt to escape. We’ve got a palace full of confused employees who seem to be sympathetic to our side but are pissed as hell at Fernandez and want first crack at him. We’ve given the okay on that as long as they make sure we get out of here alive with McCarthy and Parker. We’ve got at least twenty heavily armed individuals so make sure everyone is ready. Over.”

“Roger that. Men are getting into position now and have visual on the helo. Over.”

The group of employees followed by the SEAL team stopped by a door at the end of the corridor. The man who seemed to be in charge of the employees pointed to the door and then saluted the team before ushering his people off in another direction.

Brady, Austin, and Cole let them go knowing that the men outside would take care of the situation that was heading towards them. The sounds of gunfire from behind the door that led to the basement threw the three men into action.

Austin flung open the door and the men raced down the stairs.



<> ~ <>



Milo took a step in Garrett’s direction and aimed the gun directly at his heart. He cocked the gun, and before the bullet had been fully released into the chamber, Milo felt something rip through his shoulder that took his breath away. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees, his hand went numb, and the gun clamored to the floor.

He looked over at Parker, her face bruised and bloody, her shirt half ripped off her body and one arm wrapped around her waist, the other hand holding the gun steady, aimed straight at him.

Milo never saw Parker crawl across the floor and pick up the gun Garrett had dropped earlier. He was losing his touch.

“If I wasn’t my father’s son, I think I could have loved you,” Milo spoke to her in a pain-filled voice, stopping to press his hand to the bullet wound in his shoulder.

“It shouldn’t have mattered whose son you were. You always had the opportunity to be a better person. And I did love you. You were my best friend. No matter what, I would have always been your friend,” Parker told him, tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

She hadn’t hesitated to pull the trigger when Milo aimed his gun at Garrett. Parker knew she’d do anything, kill anyone to make sure Garrett was safe. But she still had a conscience. She still had a heart. She’d just shot the man she thought she would marry. She’d just put a hole in the arm of the man who knew her biggest fears and had shared in all her joys. She wondered if his words right then were a last ditch effort to redeem himself. Maybe he figured if he made peace with her, he wouldn’t go straight to hell when his heart stopped beating.

“I know I’m not going to live long what with the hole you’ve put in me, and I highly doubt your first order of business will be to order medical attention for me. If those people upstairs find me alive, it won’t be a pretty death they’ll give me. They’ll make sure I suffer,” Milo said.

“You deserve every bit of suffering you get,” Garrett said angrily. “Do you honestly think we have any f*cking sympathy for you right now?”

“Oh I know you couldn't care less about what happens to me, old friend,” Milo said with a wince as he pressed his hand harder against the steady flow of blood that poured out of his wound. He could tell by the pulse of the flow that Parker had nicked an artery. “But I don’t think she has the heart to let me die so brutally, do you, Park?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Parker.