by Tara Sivec
Garrett laughed and crossed his arms in front of him.
“Obviously, in the time that you’ve been away, pretending to be dead, you’ve lost what little brain cells you still had left,” Garrett said with a sneer. “You’re lucky I’m not pummeling your face myself.”
Milo managed to stop the bleeding and wiped his hands on the front of his shirt. “I told you, there are genuine reasons why I did the things I did. If you would just give me a chance―”
Garrett wasn’t in the mood to give Milo anything and had reached the end of his patience with him. He lunged forward and wrapped his fists around the material of Milo’s shirt, shoving him backwards until he slammed into the wall of the villa.
“You have one minute to explain yourself, or I’m going to hold you down and let Parker finish you off,” Garrett growled into Milo’s face.
“I’ve been undercover for the government, pretending to be Fernandez’s ally for six years,” Milo said in a rush. “It was a top secret mission only a small handful of people knew about, spearheaded by the FBI. Fernandez thinks I’m on his side, working against the U.S. to keep his actions from being discovered. Everything you think I’ve done, every fact you think you’ve uncovered about me has all been a lie or a well-placed pretense to keep Fernandez in the dark while I get what I need to nail him.”
The shock on both Garrett and Parker’s faces was evident. Out of all of the things they expected him to say, the excuses they thought would come pouring out of him, this was never something they anticipated he would say.
“You were seen coming out of a hotel room with teenage girls. For years,” Parker accused, still not certain she believed him.
Milo looked around Garrett at her and gave a small shrug.
“All part of the act. Nothing ever happened behind those doors aside from talking. I had to convince them I worked for Fernandez and make them think they were being interviewed to work for him.”
Garrett squeezed tighter onto the front of Milo’s shirt as he tried to twist and turn to free himself. Strengthening his hold and punctuating his anger and reluctance to believe anything Milo said, Garrett pushed him harder into the wood siding.
“Why now? Why did you suddenly decide to come out of hiding now and tell us the truth? We’ve been here for weeks,” Garrett asked angrily.
“You guys were getting too close. Fernandez doesn’t like it and wants something done about it, immediately, before everything he’s accomplished falls apart. This business of his, selling young girls to the highest bidders, it’s how he’s made all of his money and met all of his contacts. His entire life revolves around this business. If this ever gets discovered by the authorities and his client lists are leaked, he’ll be dead within the hour. If Fernandez goes down, hundreds of figure heads around the world go down with him. Those men will put a bullet through his head before the authorities can arrest him. He will do everything in his power to make sure that doesn’t happen. He’s ordered a hit on both of you.”
Parker’s blood went cold and Garrett’s grip on Milo faltered, giving him the opportunity he needed to break free from his grasp and take a few steps away.
“If he wants us dead so badly, why in the hell did he shoot my father instead of one of us?” Parker argued angrily as she crossed her shaking arms across her chest.
“I heard about your dad, and I’m so sorry for your loss, Parker,” Milo told her, his brown eyes softening in sympathy as he ran his hand through the dark blonde spikes on top of his head.
“The bullet didn’t kill him. It missed all his major organs. He’s in ICU under observation now,” Garrett explained while he slowly inched closer to Milo, putting himself between Parker and him. He didn’t trust Milo one bit and wasn’t a hundred percent sold on everything Milo told them. His explanation of what he’d been doing all this time was plausible, but right now there was no way to know if he was telling the truth. Garrett hoped Parker’s gut instinct was screaming in protest the same way his was.
“H-h-h-he isn’t dead?” Milo stuttered with a look of confusion on his face. “I’m sorry. The intel I received must have been inaccurate.”
Garrett didn’t like the look on Milo’s face. He looked utterly bewildered and not just because he received wrong information.
“I want to know everything. Right now,” Parker ordered, placing her hands on her hips. “Every single thing you’ve kept from us, everything you know about Fernandez’s life and business. We’re done with all of this bullshit. We came here to find out why you died and since that was obviously a waste of resources, it’s time to finish this once and for all,” Parker said, her professional mask back in place. “We need proof, and we need it now. The only way the team can take Fernandez out is with substantial evidence that links him to the deaths and disappearances of all those girls. We’ll call Captain Risner and explain everything to him about your undercover work. There’s a new SEAL team here now for back-up, but I have a feeling we’re going to need more bodies for this.”
Garrett looked back and forth between Parker and Milo, unable to believe what he was hearing. He could feel the anger bubbling up inside of him and had trouble tamping it back down.
“You seriously believe the shit coming out of his mouth right now? Tell me you aren’t that gullible,” Garrett asked Parker.
“I’m not being gullible; I’m being smart. I can’t let my personal feelings affect what we’re doing. The truth is he risked his life to come here and warn us about what Fernandez plans to do with us. He could have just as easily stayed undercover and let whatever happens, happen. But he didn’t. He chose to come clean,” Parker told him.
“He could have come clean a year ago, but instead he faked his own death and let us grieve for him!” Garrett argued.
“I didn’t have a choice!” Milo shouted angrily.
“Shut the fuck up!” Garrett yelled at him.
“Garrett, I know that you’re pissed. So am I. Just because I’m willing to listen to what he says doesn’t mean I forgive him. But right now he is our only option and the only person with inside information on Fernandez. He’s the only one that can help us bring him down,” Parker told him.
“Parker, don’t do this. Can you honestly tell me that you trust him and everything he’s told us? We need to let Austin restrain him immediately and keep him in our custody until we can get him back to the states and he can be questioned properly,” Garrett argued.
“If you keep me here, Fernandez will know. He’ll pull together every single resource he has to get to you. As it stands, I’m the only one he’ll listen to. I can keep him at bay long enough for you guys to get what you need. If I don’t get back to that palace and head him off, there’s no telling what he might do to you or the girls who he still has control of,” Milo warned.
“So what you’re saying is if we don’t believe this bullshit story about how you’re trying to protect us and let you go scurrying back to Fernandez, people will die, including us,” Garrett said sarcastically. “Well isn’t that convenient for you.”
Time was running out and Parker didn’t know what to do. She just knew she couldn’t stand there and watch the two of them have a pissing contest. Parker had no problem gambling with her own life if it came down to it, but she would never put the lives of so many young girls, who had no idea what they were getting into, in jeopardy. If there was even a thread of truth to what Milo said, she had to do something.
“If that’s the case then you need to get back to the palace ASAP,” Parker said calmly.
“Will you listen to yourself?” Garrett shouted. “You’re doing it again. You’re letting yourself fall for his lies. We don’t have one shred of evidence that says he won’t go running back to Fernandez and help him kill us.”
Milo stepped closer to Garrett and pleaded with. “I let both of you down, and I know that. You have no reason to believe me when time and time again I let you down. Garrett, you were my best friend. My only friend during a time when no one gave t
wo shits about me. Give me a chance to make this right.”
Parker moved to Garrett’s side to try and calm him down but he stepped away from her. She tried to hide the hurt she felt because she knew Garrett was in just as much turmoil.
Garrett saw the belief in Milo’s words written all over Parker’s face, and it opened up old wounds inside of him that he thought he had laid to rest. Once again, Garrett was on the sidelines watching his former best friend get the girl. Only this time she knew exactly how much Garrett loved her, but her choice was still the same.
“If you want to take his side, be my guest. But I won’t have any part of it,” Garrett told her.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side, Garrett,” Parker pleaded with him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and take away the hurt she knew he was feeling, but all of a sudden it didn’t feel appropriate. She was so confused by everything going on around her that she didn’t know what to believe. She wrung her hands together nervously as she looked back and forth between Garrett and Milo while they stared each other down. Regardless of the fact she no longer loved Milo, he’d still been her best friend at one time. She wasn’t a hundred percent certain she trusted everything he said, but she felt like she needed to give him a chance to prove what he said was true. She had never been the type of person to pass judgment on anyone, least of all the people she cared about. Garrett was wrong. She wasn’t falling for Milo’s lies. She just wanted to know the truth. And to do that, she had to show Milo she was willing to listen.
“I want to hear what else he has to say, what other information he can give us. If he really is who he says he is, he can get us what we need,” Parker explained, leaning her body closer to Garrett’s. “All of this can finally be over.”
Garrett knew nothing he said would change her mind. He knew they didn’t need Milo to nail Fernandez, but Parker didn’t trust that. She didn’t trust him and his team to do their job. She’d rather put her faith in a man who almost ruined all of them. Garrett felt like he’d been punched in the face instead of Milo. He was disappointed in Parker and disappointed in himself. Maybe Garrett was overreacting, maybe he was letting his emotions cloud his judgment, but hearing Parker say that all of this could finally be over made him wonder if she was including the two of them in that statement. He needed some distance. He needed to clear his head and let Parker do whatever it was she needed to. He would meet with the new SEAL team and take care of business on his own. He wasn’t a complete ass though; he wouldn’t let her do this alone. He would tell Brady that their team was now completely at Parker’s disposal.
With his decision made, Garrett began walking backwards away from her.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said, turning his back on her, rounding the corner of their villa, and disappearing from sight.
Parker watched him go, too pissed off to try and stop him. He claimed to trust her and to love her, but at the first sign of trouble or conflict he walked away.
“I’m sorry. I can’t say that enough,” Milo said quietly from behind her.
Parker had been staring after Garrett for so long she almost forgot he was there.
“You should be,” she told him as she turned around. “If you knew I was with the CIA, you should have known that I could help you.”
Milo shook his head. “I couldn’t tell anyone. I had strict orders. The less people who knew, the better our chances. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, Park.”
He grew bold, stepping up to her and brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. Parker pulled her head away before he could touch her anymore. Even if what he said to them tonight proved to be the absolute truth, she wasn’t the same person that Milo left all those months ago. She wouldn’t be able to fall back into any kind of relationship with him easily, even one as simple as friendship. There would always be complications between them that no amount of time or understanding could fix.
“Don’t,” Parker warned him.
Milo quickly pulled his hand back and shoved it into the pocket of his pants.
“I’m sorry. It’s just…it’s so good to see you, Parker.”
Parker shook her head and took a deep breath, but Milo spoke before she could say anything.
“I know this is all confusing and you’re pissed and I don’t blame you. But I just want you to know that I love you. If I could go back and change everything I would. It kills me that I had to leave you, to make you believe I was dead in order to make this work. I hope you can see how sorry I am and maybe someday we can get back to―”
“Milo, stop,” Parker interrupted, squeezing her eyes shut to ward off those awful memories and holding her hand in the air to silence him. “Just because you’re here and you’re claiming to be one of the good guys doesn’t mean we can all just go back to the way things were. It’s not the same anymore.”
“But it can be. We were going to get married and have a life together. I still love you. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you or wished I could be with you. If you can just forgive me, we can go back to that,” he pleaded.
“No, we can’t. Milo, we’re in the middle of trying to take down the leader of this country. Someone who has been exploiting teenage girls for his own gain for God knows how many years. And even if that wasn’t the case, even if we were home and you suddenly showed up out of the blue, it still wouldn’t change anything.”
Milo looked panicked now. He began to pace back and forth in front of Parker while they still remained in the alcove of the villa.
“Okay, I get it. You need time. You need to let things calm down and then we can talk and work things out.”
Parker shook her head in disbelief. He still wasn’t getting it. She knew now was not the most appropriate time to put everything on the table when they had work to do, but nothing would get through to Milo unless she was blunt.
“Milo. I don’t love you. Not that way. Not anymore. Maybe not ever,” Parker admitted softly, trying to soften the blow by easing up on the anger and looking him in the eyes with sympathy. She shouldn’t be concerned with sparing his feelings, but it was in her nature. She didn’t know how else to behave.
Milo stopped pacing long enough to laugh. It wasn’t the laugh of someone who just caught on to the joke. It was the laugh of someone who couldn’t believe what was happening; it was maniacal and disturbing.
“That’s your anger talking, Parker. Once you calm down and realize that I’m here, and I won’t ever leave you again, you’ll come to your senses.”
Milo started pacing again, muttering to himself under his breath. Parker didn’t like the way he was acting. She had no idea what he’d been through or the extent to which his undercover assignment had affected him, but one thing was certain: Milo was not behaving rationally.
Parker slowly reached behind her back to grab her gun when she suddenly realized it wasn’t there. Garrett had taken it from her when she was aiming it at Milo.
“I’m not stupid you know?” Milo said. “I saw the two of you. You were holding hands when you got here. Whatever you’ve done with him while I was gone, it’s okay. I don’t care. You were lonely and he was there. Now that I’m back you don’t have to do that anymore.”
Parker quickly glanced around, wondering why tonight of all nights, there were no other patrons of the resort walking around so she could signal them to get help. She cursed Garrett for his stubbornness and wished he wouldn’t have walked away. She had a feeling he’d be better equipped to talk Milo down from whatever ledge he was standing on, having done it plenty of times while the two of them were growing up.
“Milo, listen to what you’re saying. Nothing is okay between us and it never will be. I love Garrett. He’s not just someone I passed the time with after you were gone. I know this isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, but I’ve loved him from the first moment I saw him. It’s always been Garrett and it always will be. You were my friend, and I thought I was doing the right thing by staying with you and planni
ng a future with you. But it wasn’t fair to either of us when my heart always belonged to someone else,” Parker explained.
“YOU’RE LYING!” Milo yelled as he stalked towards her. “You’re just confused. You’re still in shock.”
Parker moved backwards but found herself stopped by the wall of the villa next to her and Garrett’s.
“Milo, take a deep breath and calm down. I need you to focus on Fernandez and what’s really important here. We can talk about all of this at another time. Right now you need to remember what we’re here for. What you spent all this time away from us for.”
Now that Parker was cornered Milo was able to get closer. He nodded his head, seeming to calm down and agree with what she was saying. Parker relaxed thinking that maybe reminding him about the mission had centered him, but she shouldn’t have let her guard down.
“You’re absolutely right,” Milo said quietly, a serene look taking over his face. “I can’t lose focus. Not now. Not after everything I’ve done. Thank you for reminding me what I’m here for.”
Parker didn’t have any time to think about the way Milo worded his statement and no time to prepare for the needle that was quickly jammed into the side of her neck. As a syringe full of sedatives was emptied into her bloodstream, her last conscious thought before the world went black was that her time had just run out.
Chapter Twenty-One
By the time Garrett rounded the corner of the row of villas he’d managed to cool down somewhat. He was so lost in thought he ran right into Brady.
“Where’s Parker?” Brady asked as he picked up the cell phone he’d dropped when Garrett had come barreling around the corner.
“Talking to Milo,” Garrett growled. “What’s going on? Did you find out anything?”
Brady took a step past Garrett to peer around the corner and saw Milo and Parker talking in front of the Villa about a hundred yards away. Satisfied everything looked okay, he moved back in front of Garrett.
“I called a few of my contacts and word on the street is there was a very top secret, unofficial mission here in the Dominican involving someone from our SEAL division. It was an undercover operation that had been in place for at least six years. There was never a paper trail because it was not a government sanctioned mission, so we can only go by word of mouth at this point. About a year ago, critical information about the mission was leaked and supposedly, the undercover SEAL was compromised. According to the official reports, Milo was sent to the Dominican at that time to clean up a ‘routine mission that went awry.' At least seventy-five percent of the report is blacked out. There was definitely something in that report no one was supposed to know about. My contacts believe Milo was the undercover agent the entire time, and that the government needed to send him to the Dominican in an official capacity to solidify his cover as a double agent. Obviously the information they have wasn’t obtained legally, so they had to go through several channels to get it. I don’t have concrete evidence Milo is telling the truth, but I trust these guys, and they wouldn’t tell me something they didn’t believe to be accurate.”