A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(92)

Garrett shrugged. “Pretty much what I expected. He knows nothing about Joe or why he would be here in the middle of our mission claiming he was CIA.”

Parker pulled out of Garrett’s arms and began pacing in front of him.

“How crazy would I sound right now if I tell you that I’m actually considering that what he said is true?” Parker asked.

Garrett stuck his hands in his pockets so his arms wouldn’t feel so empty after Parker moved out of them and stared at her as she walked back and forth in front of him biting one of her nails.

“Did you call Agent Richmond and see if he could verify anything?” Garrett asked.

“Yeah, he didn’t answer. I left him a message,” Parker replied as she stopped pacing. “I left him a message this morning too when you were in the bathroom and told him I wanted to speak to him about Lacie. There was so much going on I forgot until just now that he never returned that call.”

Garrett didn’t like the sound of that. He was pretty sure the CIA didn’t just ignore phone calls from one of their agents.

“Do you think that bullet was meant for one of us?” Parker asked.

“I don’t think so. There have been plenty of opportunities for whoever it was to take us out. Neither one of us were out in the open when the shot was fired. I was covered by the door and you were covered by your dad. Whoever made that shot meant for it to hit Joe.”

Parker had already thought everything Garrett said on the drive over to the hospital. She didn’t know if she felt justified or more confused to hear him voice the same theory out loud.

“If my father isn’t really with the CIA, never had me recruited as some misguided form of protection, then why in the hell would anyone want to shoot him?” Parker asked.

“Maybe all roads really do lead back to Fernandez,” Garrett said with a shrug. “He knew we were getting too close, and he did something to scare us into going away.”

Parker was shaking her head before he finished talking.

“Fernandez is too smart for something like that. He’d know that shooting my father would only force me to work harder at finding out what was going on.”

Garrett thought for a moment.

“Someone that works for Fernandez has maybe gone off on his or her own. Maybe Fernandez did something to piss off the wrong person. Maybe if we do finally piece everything together, Fernandez won’t be the only one implicated when things go bad. You know people like him never do their own dirty work anyway.”

Garrett and Parker both knew exactly who Garrett was referring to when he said it, though, neither one of them would say his name out loud.

“He’s dead,” Parker whispered

“As far as we know,” Garrett replied gravely.

“There was a body. The remains were tested for DNA,” she tried to argue weakly.

“Mistakes are made every day,” Garrett countered. “How many times during this trip have we uncovered something about him that we never thought in a million years could be true?”

They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps tapping against the floor and looked over to see one of the surgeons they briefly spoke to when they first got to the hospital. He walked up to them and removed the surgical hat from his head.

“Your father sustained a bullet wound to the back as you already know. The bullet ricocheted, causing significant damage to one of his kidneys, his spleen, and his gallbladder. We have removed them and repaired the damage the path of the bullet left as best we could. Right now we just need to keep him under observation and make sure he doesn’t get an infection. Obviously, the next twenty-four hours are critical. Luckily, the bullet missed his lungs, his spine, and any major arteries, but we won’t know the full extent of how his recovery will progress until he is awake.”

Parker thanked the doctor and Garrett shook his hand. The doctor advised them to go back to their resort and get some rest, that there was no sense in staying at the hospital when it would be hours before the anesthesia would wear off and they could run more tests.

Garrett went out to the parking lot to pull the car around to the front of the building while Parker gave their phone numbers to the front desk, instructing them to call her with any news.

They decided to make the couple hour trek back to the resort instead of getting a room for what remained of the night close by. Parker knew she would be of more use back with the team then she would be at the hospital. There was nothing she could do for her father now except find out what the hell was going on and if he was telling the truth. She couldn’t do that at the hospital or in some run-down motel around the corner.

Even though it was close to five in the morning, Parker tried calling Agent Richmond a few more times on the drive back, still with no answer. This disturbed her almost as much as her father showing up on her doorstep after ten years. Richmond always answered his phone, and if she had to leave a message, he'd call back within minutes. She often wondered if he took his phone into the shower with him. For him to be out of reach while she was in the middle of an assignment sanctioned by the CIA or not, was beyond unheard of.

They made it back to the resort in record time and headed down the path that lead to their villa. As soon as they walked through the lobby and out the other side, they were stopped.

“How’s your father, Parker?” Brady asked.

“The same as when we left a few hours ago. I just called and got an update from the hospital,” Parker replied.