The Negotiator's Cruelest Game

en boy, the hero negotiator who never lost his

grabbed two women as human shields: me, and Harrison's c

d's voice boomed, clear and deci

ton go! She is a

er once looking back at me. The kidnapper, enraged, turned

a lawyer. I wanted a divorce. But he returned from retrievi

ocument across the table. "According to official records

a lie. It was all for her. He built a perfect, fake li

pte

news channel, he was the FBI' s golden boy, the hero negotiator from the Hostage Rescue Team who never lost his cool. I watched

eadline read. Our friends sighed with envy at dinner parties. "You two are what everyone hopes for," they'

ion, would look past me, through me. The warmth was a switch he flipped for the public. For me, there was only a polite, cons

ison answered, his voice instantly changing, becom

? You'

ed, doubling over, the remote clattering to the

y way. "A welcome party?

say, my voice tight with

ver. "What is it, Av

nausea and terror washing over me

"I'll be there soon, Brooke. Can't wait to see you." He hung up and turned to me,

of pain making me see spot

out his wallet and tossed a credit card on the coffee ta

my heart now rivaling the pain in my body.

oice cold and dismissive. He straightened his tie.

reasonable, professional one he used on criminals. "She' s a key figure in

my breath. He saw my silence as acceptance. He pa

eck on yo

he door, leaving me

. The doctor' s words were a dull buzz in the background

xpensive perfume and champagne. He held a bouquet of cheap ho

oney. I came as

sulting, it made me feel sick

me," I said,

know you're upset. Brooke and I, we' re just

t," I w

rational subject. "Fine. I'll give you some space."

everything. A bank robbery downtown. Hostages. Harrison was the lead negotiator

r it, dragging two women with him as shields. The camera zoomed in.

on screen-Ava. She had been nearby, and in a moment of c

"The suspect is demanding a choice. He says Nego

n for a moment, a perfect picture of agony for the audi

lips. His voice boomed through

ton go! She is a

the police line. Harrison rushed forward, enveloping her in a protect

his gun on me. I saw the flash. A searing pa

iling of a hospital room. The fir

divorce," I told a m

elps. A terrible ordeal. We'll just need a cop

posit box. He returned to my hospital ro

problem, Mr

t is

ble. It was our marriage license. Or wha

as never filed with the county cler

ant, the date, our names-all looked real. "What are

icial records myself. There is no record of a marriage between A

home, our friends, our life-all built on a piece

r. He built a perfect, fake life with me

her, Dustin, a senior agent a

I've been digging into Harri

n?" I asked, my vo

that led the response team to the wrong location... the analyst

d seeped in

tin said, his voice laced with

is obsession. He had married me, the daughter of one of her victims,

never my home. Harrison was ther

you're okay. I

g his touch. The man was a

ng with false sincerity. "Brooke is a national asset. The choic

m as if for the first time. The charming f

gh escaping my lips. I held up the fraudulent marriage license, t

ssed with an incompetent fraud who killed my mother. The thought was

the door. I needed to escape. I needed to dis

of food. I ignored it. Later, one of Harrison' s FBI colleag

... complicated. And Brooke, she's been through a lot. That mistake

of lies around Brooke, using his reputation and power to p

eant nothing to him. They were just inconveniences in the g

m. I opened my laptop, my fingers flying across the keyboard. It was time to