A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(23)

Inside was a picture of Parker, his Parker, looking seriously into the camera with her hair pulled back into a severe ponytail. Underneath the photo were the words that made his heart jump up into his throat.



Annabelle Elizabeth Parker

Central Intelligence Agency

Special Ops





Chapter Six




Garrett and Parker weren’t afforded any alone time the remainder of the flight. As soon as Garrett’s brain caught up to his eyes, and he finally understood what it was he was holding in his hand, Brady came down the aisle and sat down in the empty seat on the other side of him.

When Parker saw Brady coming towards them, she snatched her identification out of Garrett’s hand and stowed it back in her carry-on. She hadn't made a decision yet as to just how much information she wanted to give the rest of the guys.

Garrett had so many questions swirling around in his head, he found it hard to concentrate on what Brady was saying. He was too busy wondering when Parker managed to find the time to join the CIA and more importantly, if Milo knew all about this secret life she had. His anger grew leaps and bounds as he sat there barely listening to Brady drone on about security, on-site surveillance, and engaging targets.

All these years, he thought he knew her better than anyone. Parker had been lying to him this entire time, laughing at him whenever he worried about her safety or told her she wouldn’t understand something to do with his job. She probably knew more about his job than he did. She probably knew more about this mission than he did.

Garrett was certain that she and Milo must have sat back at the end of an evening and had plenty of fun discussing how clueless poor Garrett was. He wanted to get up out of his seat and throw his fists into something. He wanted to yell at Parker and ask her how in the world she could claim to be his friend and never be completely honest with him about who she really was. If Garrett calmed down enough, he'd realize that his anger stemmed from a hell of a lot more than just having a friend keep him in the dark about her job. Parker was more than just his friend, but he'd never admit that. Garrett rubbed at the pain in his chest and wondered why it felt like his heart was cracking in two. All the lies she told were piling up inside of him, and they felt like a physical ache, like someone was reaching inside of him and squeezing the life out of his heart, making the air from his lungs shakily pass through his lips and his blood pressure soar.

Parker stared at Garrett’s profile from the moment Brady sat down on the other side of him and commanded his attention. She just wanted him to turn around and look at her. She knew he was mad and probably hurt that she kept something like this from him. Given the nature of his job, she figured he would understand better than anyone how some things just couldn't be shared with others. Parker watched Garrett clench his jaw and crack his knuckles. If he would just look at her, he'd see how much it killed her to keep that part of her life separate from everyone all these years.

Garrett ignored Parker for the entire six hour flight. When Brady finished with him, he got up from his seat and took another one at the back of the plane, as far away from Parker as possible. Garrett wanted answers, and he wanted the truth, but right now he just needed distance from her.

Milo had been Garrett's best friend, but a lot of times, he just wasn’t the type of person one went to with monumental problems or questions. He was laid back, carefree, and just didn’t understand when Parker and Garrett got stressed out. Parker was the one Garrett went to with anything important. Garrett knew she'd understand his thought process and be straight and honest with him.

Now he was second guessing every conversation they ever shared. Garrett was a strong, confident, and intelligent man, but right now, he was struggling with the knowledge he couldn't trust the one person in his life he'd always believed in without question.

Parker stared out her window as the plane descended. Every time she landed in the Dominican it always made her palms sweat and her heart flutter with nerves to look down and see nothing but dirt under the plane’s wheels. She preferred her airport runways to be paved and full of people in florescent jackets waving lighted wands. In the Dominican, you might see a stray chicken run across the “runway” or men in shorts and flip flops directing the plane to its hangar. Parker held her breath as the plane touched down and wished Garrett had come back to the seat next to her to calm her nerves.

After the plane landed, the team made their way through the open air building and had the opportunity to test the validity of their press identifications and new passports. Parker noticed her last name was listed as Miller on all of her paperwork and realized with a slight pang in her chest that she wouldn’t hear anyone call her Mrs. McCarthy while they were there. For security reasons they obviously wouldn’t be using their real last names. She laughed off the silly fantasy that had lodged into her brain after Garrett called her Mrs. McCarthy at the beginning of the flight.

The team quickly moved through the airport security checkpoint without any hassles and boarded a van that would take them to their hotel.

An hour later the sun disappeared beyond the horizon just as the van pulled into the driveway for the Catalonia Bavaro resort. They went around the circular drive and were let out in front of the lobby.

Brady let out a long whistle as he exited the vehicle and looked around.

“Uncle Sam sure didn’t spare any expense on this mission, boys and girls,” he whispered quietly so only they could hear and gave an approving nod of his head at the marble columns in the entryway and the palm trees lining the walkway.