A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(65)

Garrett nodded his head in thanks and put his hand over Parker’s fist that rested in her lap so he could try and calm her down. He knew full well that comment would bring her claws out, and it would be incredibly hard for her not to say something snarky to the man in response.

“Thank you for the use of the pool today, Mr. President. It must be wonderful to have such a beautiful retreat right in your own backyard,” Garrett told him as one of the waiters began serving lunch.

“I’m happy you were able to take advantage of it. I’m afraid with my busy schedule I’m not afforded much free time to appreciate my surroundings. I was informed that you and Mrs. Miller had a wonderful day and that you were able to find a little privacy from the guards,” Fernandez said simply with a sly smile aimed at Garrett.

This time it was Garrett’s turn to curl his hands into fists at Fernandez’s blatant admission that he’d been told exactly what he and Parker had done that day. It disgusted him and made him want to punch the smug look off of the man’s face for thinking he could just take advantage of them like that.

Parker was just as enraged as Garrett was at the President’s words, but she quickly changed the subject to diffuse the tension in the room.

They made a good team, even if neither one of them could admit it.

When lunch was over they made their way up to the President’s office. Parker stopped in the suite along the way and picked up her camera.

Fernandez sat down behind a giant oak desk, pointing to the chair directly in front of it for Garrett. He pulled out a small tape recorder, a notebook, and a pen and began the interview.

Parker attached the new lens Garrett had bought her for her birthday to the end of her camera, adjusted the settings for the dimly lit office, and began circling the room, taking random pictures. She listened to Garrett’s questions, knowing that none of them would cause the President to slip in any way. But at least the interview had gotten them close to him, close enough to know he wasn’t what he seemed.

Garrett watched Parker out of the corner of his eye as she slowly and quietly took pictures of the President during the interview. The new lens allowed her to zoom in so close to items that she could see particles of dust on them. Parker made sure to snap a photo of every single piece of paper in the room. She knew the President wouldn’t be careless enough to leave something laying around that would blatantly point a finger at him; she just needed a clue―something that could tie him to the missing girls or to what happened to Milo.

Luckily, Parker was behind the man when Garrett saw the small look of surprise on her face as she stared at something on Fernandez’s desk. He didn’t pause or lose his concentration at all while he asked Fernandez what made him run for office, still watching Parker as her breath quickened and she slowly lowered the camera from her face concentrating whatever it was she had noticed.

Parker shook the fog from her head and quickly pulled the camera back up to her face before Fernandez noticed the clicking behind him had stopped. She adjusted the focus ring, set the shutter speed, and zoomed in as close as she could, snapping several pictures before walking back around to the front of the desk as if nothing was amiss.

The interview concluded a half hour later, and Garrett thanked Fernandez for his time and the use of the palace. The three of them walked down the front steps together, Fernandez being whisked off in one vehicle while Parker and Garrett were placed in another, along with their bags.

Garrett watched Parker’s knee bounce nervously the entire ride back to the resort. Whatever it was she saw in that office had put her on edge. Given the use of recording devices in their room, he wasn’t about to question her in the palace’s car. The limo dropped them off at the front entrance and the driver handed their bags over to one of the resort staff before pulling away.

“What’s going on, Parker?” Garrett whispered as they walked across the resort to their room. “What did you see back in that office?”

Before Parker could answer him, they were at their door and the staffer unlocked it for them, placing their bags at the foot of the bed. Garrett tipped him and waited until the door before turning back to Parker with a questioning look.

“Just…give me a second,” she said with a frazzled wave of her hand as she quickly rounded the end of the bed and grabbed her laptop off of the table by the window. Her knee continued to bounce nervously as she waited for the computer to power up, finally opening Google and typing in the name she’d seen on the matchbook on the edge of the President’s desk. As soon as she saw it her blood had run cold and a flash of memory shot through her mind.



Parker had let herself into Garrett and Milo’s apartment and shouted a greeting as she shut the door behind her. She had just flown in from Puerto Rico and her first ever assignment as a CIA agent. She was exhausted, but she’d promised the boys she’d stop by for dinner. The three of them had just signed the lease to the small ranch they’d be sharing in another month, but for now, Parker had her own apartment a few miles away from them. Parker and Milo had been dating for almost a year, and for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was part of a family. She could never deny Garrett or Milo anything they asked. Even if it meant coming to their apartment straight off of a three and a half hour flight from Puerto Rico to Washington, DC for debriefing and then another almost four hour flight from DC to California.

Milo came out into the living room as she dropped her bags on the floor by the door, double-checking to make sure she'd removed the destination tags from the handles before she turned to greet Milo.