A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(68)

“Bad things happen to my friend,” Maria said quietly.

Garrett remained quiet waiting for her to continue. He walked over to the table and grabbed a pen and paper from next to Parker’s laptop and scribbled the name Maria.

“She have nowhere to live. She come to me one day and say American man going to make all her dreams come true. She will have money and see the world and always have nice place to sleep,” Maria explained.

Garrett wrote down as much as he could and urged her to continue when she paused.

“Cat very excited even when I tell her it sound too good to be true. She tell me she go to hotel for…um, how you say, question? Interrogatorio?”

“Interrogation? Interview?” Garrett supplied.

“Si, interview,” Maria agreed. “She go to hotel the next night for interview, and I never see her again. She muerto the next day,” she said with a quiet sob.

Garrett’s heart was practically beating out of his chest and he knew before Maria even replied to his next question, what her answer would be.

“Maria, do you remember the name of the hotel that Catalina went to?”

She responded immediately and with absolute certainty.

“Occidental El Embajador.”





Chapter Fifteen


Parker walked down the path that led away from the villas and towards the lobby, swiping angrily at the tears that left wet trails on her cheeks. For the first time since she met him, she wanted to be as far away from Garrett as possible. She tried to be sympathetic to what he was going through, but he pushed her too far. He took everything that happened between them in the past two days and made it into something disgusting and guilt-ridden.

The only solace for Parker was the fact that at least Garrett hadn’t crashed through all of her defenses. Her heart was still intact, and he hadn’t broken her. She was strong and fierce and knew exactly who she was and what she wanted. She wasn’t about to let him stomp all over her. There may be complete and utter confusion between them about the line they’d crossed with each other in the past few days, but they were still friends. Garrett knew her better than anyone, and he damn well better remember that before he did something that could never be forgiven.

Parker got to the lobby and looked around, unsure of what it was she even needed right now or where she should go. She spotted a few people sitting at the bar at the other end of the room and sighed. Parker knew drinking would get her nowhere. It would enhance her emotions and decrease her ability to think straight.

With a sigh she realized it was exactly what she needed. She needed to not think. About Garrett, about Milo, about regrets and decisions, betrayals and lies, and everything else that was at war with her head and her heart that night.

She made her way over to the other side of the lobby and sat down on a stool at the end of the bar, ordering a dirty martini with extra olives.



<> ~ <>



After a quick call to Brady, Garrett met him out in the parking lot by the rental car. They pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Santa Domingo as the sun began to set.

“So, are you going to tell me what has you so pissed off?” Brady asked as he grabbed onto the car handle above his head when Garrett took a turn a little too fast and a lot too sharp.

Garrett looked over at Brady in irritation.

“Do you really need to ask that right now? I’m going to a f*cking hotel in the Dominican Republic to ask the staff if they’ve ever seen my dead best friend there. I’m two f*cking steps away from finding out the man I thought I knew was a stranger and a criminal,” Garrett said angrily as he put his eyes back on the road.

“Yeah, I get why you’re pissed about that. But that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s certainly not why you’re white-knuckle driving nor is it why you keep checking your personal cell phone every two seconds.”

Garrett ignored Brady’s comments and kept his eyes on the road. He was in no mood to have this discussion with him or anyone right then.

“I swear to God if the two of you don’t get your shit together soon, you’re both going to regret it,” Brady mumbled as he turned away from Garrett and looked out his window.

Brady had never seen two people who were more stubborn than Garrett and Parker. They were going to kill each other before this was over.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Garrett asked.

“You and Parker. I’m guessing the reason for the extra attitude right now is because you got into a fight with her. Am I right?” Brady questioned.

Garrett scoffed. “Parker and I are friends. We fight. Not that big of a deal.”

The lie rolled off of Garrett’s tongue easily, but he made sure to avoid looking at Brady when he said it.

“Right. Friends,” Brady said with a snort.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Garrett asked angrily.

“It just means that I’ve seen the way you two are around each other. I’ve seen it for years. Shit, everyone has. And I get that Milo was your best friend and that she was his fiancée, but come on, Garrett. Milo is gone. Maybe it wasn’t the right time for you guys before, maybe neither one of you was in the right place, but you’re here now. Together. What the hell are you waiting for?”

Garrett let Brady’s words sink in and tried swirling them around in his mind to make them fit together with all of his previous thoughts and wants. He was too angry to make anything come together or make sense. He didn’t need someone who had no idea about his and Parker's relationship making assumptions.