Always Us (The Jade Series #8) (15 page)

I’m really excited to start working with him. I’m going to take full advantage of this opportunity and learn as much as I possibly can. I’ve learned a lot taking this class, but learning from real life examples is so much better than listening to a lecture or reading a textbook.
 

I can’t wait to tell Jade about this. I’m driving home now and I just called her but she didn’t pick up. She’s probably outside. I think I’ll take her somewhere nice for dinner tonight to celebrate. She loves that sporting goods store, so she’ll be almost as excited as I am. Unlike most women, Jade doesn’t like shopping for fancy shoes and clothes. She’d much rather shop for running shoes than high heels, and I love that about her. I like seeing her all dressed up in skirts and heels, but she’s also damn sexy when she wears a sports bra and shorts.

As I drive up to our place, I see a silver car I don’t recognize parked on the street. It’s right next to our driveway and I immediately panic. It could just be parked there but why is it so close to our house?

I force myself to calm down. It’s nothing. Nobody’s after us. My grandfather’s dying in a hospital bed thousands of miles from here.

I park in the driveway and go inside the house and look for Jade. She’s not there. I check the garage and see her car, so she must be around somewhere. I walk over to the sliding glass door and see her sitting on the deck across from some guy, her beach towel wrapped tightly around her.

I shove the door open. “What’s going on here?” I put myself in front of Jade and face the guy. “Who are you?”

As I get a better look at him, he almost looks like Carson, that asshole who bothered Jade last year. But it’s hard to tell with his sunglasses on and the sun glaring off his face.

“Garret, good to see you again.”

It
is
him. I recognize his voice. He stands up and extends his hand like we’re good buddies. Instead of shaking his hand, I shove it away.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Carson?”

“Garret, don’t.” Jade’s standing behind me, holding on to my shirt so I don’t hit the guy. As if she could hold me back. If I wanted to hit him, there’s nothing she could do to stop me. And right now, I want to hit him. But first, I wait for him to answer.

“I came here to talk to Jade. And you.”

“I had enough of your shit last year, asshole. Jade and I are married now. She’s not interested in you. She never was. So get the fuck out of here before I call the cops.”

“I’m not interested in Jade that way. I only acted like I was in order to get close to her. To make her tell me stuff.”

Jade sneaks around me. “You would’ve dated me just to get information?”

He shrugs. “I do what I have to do.”

“I told you to leave,” I say to him. “And if you show up here again, I won’t be as nice as I’m being right now.”

“I just need to talk to you.”

“You did enough talking last semester. We’re done listening to you, Carson.”

“His name is Justin, not Carson,” Jade says. She doesn’t seem that freaked out by this. “He used a fake name last semester. And he’s not a college student. He’s a reporter.”

I grab Carson’s shirt and shove him against the deck railing. “Why the hell would you do that? What kind of fucked-up game are you playing here?”

“Let me go and I’ll explain.” Carson’s a big guy and he could fight me but he’s not. His arms are at his side.

“Why is he here, Jade?” I keep my eyes on him, my hand still clutching his shirt.

“He said he works for Aston Hanniford, the guy who ran for president four years ago. Hanniford thinks he didn’t win because the election was rigged and now he’s going after the people he thinks did it.”

I let go of Carson and take a step back. “You’re still obsessed with that conspiracy shit? You seriously need to get a life, Carson.”

“It’s not a conspiracy. And my name is Justin. Like Jade said, I used a fake name last semester. I was working undercover for Mr. Hanniford. I’m 24 and was just pretending to be in college, although I actually did have to take the classes in order to make it look real.”

“Why would you work undercover at Moorhurst?”

“Because Hanniford is trying to identify the members of the secret society that was somehow able to rig the election. The same secret society your father belongs to. And your grandfather.” He smirks, acting all proud of himself for knowing that.

“Nobody belongs to a secret society. You’re delusional, Carson. Justin. Whatever the hell your name is.”

“We can’t prove it yet, but we know they’re part of it. And since you’re born into it, that means you’re part of it, too.”

“Yeah, right. And what do we do again? We rig elections? I don’t even pay attention to politics. I didn’t even vote in the last election.”

“Because you didn’t need to. You already knew the outcome.”

I shake my head. “You are seriously messed up. I don’t know who told you that shit, but you’re wrong. And coming onto private property, uninvited, and accusing people of things, is going to get you arrested.”

Jade was behind me but she sneaks around to my side. “So you went to Moorhurst to spy on Garret?”

“Mostly Garret, since Pearce and Holton are the only two members we’ve identified so far. We were hoping Garret would lead us to the other members, or the members’ children who attend Moorhurst.”

“If you were interested in Garret, why were you so obsessed with getting to know
me
?” Jade asks.

“I knew Garret wouldn’t tell me anything so I tried to get close to you instead. I thought maybe you’d tell me things. Things about his family that you didn’t understand. Things that might give me clues about what was going on with them. But you never did. You’re good at keeping secrets, Jade.”

“There aren’t any secrets to keep. I told you that repeatedly, so I don’t know why you stayed there all semester.”

“We have reason to believe that Moorhurst isn’t your average college. We believe it’s where the members send their children. The children who aren’t good enough to attend the Ivy League.”

I laugh. “So now an entire college is a secret society? You’re even more messed up than I thought. You should get on meds or something.”

“I didn’t say it was the whole college. But we think at least some of the students there are connected to this group. The same wealthy families send their kids there generation after generation.”

“A lot of people end up going to the same college their parents went to,” I say. “That’s not unusual. And
I
have no family connections to Moorhurst, so there goes your theory. My dad went to Yale, not Moorhurst. I’m the first person in my family to go there.”

Some of what Carson is saying is right. A lot of the members do send their kids to Moorhurst. Not everyone there is connected to the organization, but some of them are. When I went to the meeting last March, I saw Courtney’s father, as well as the fathers of two guys who lived on my floor. Guys who would soon be initiated as members. All of us knew this secret but none of us spoke of it.

And now Kiefer is going to become a member. So maybe he encouraged Harper to go to Moorhurst in order to get her immersed in that world. Let her start getting to know the people she’d be forced to interact with in the future. Kiefer’s the one who suggested she go there. He probably got her the tennis scholarship so she’d agree to go.

“I didn’t say everyone who attends Moorhurst is part of this,” Carson says. “I’m just saying we’re looking into the families that have a history of sending their kids there and we’re seeing if there’s a connection. We’re going to find out who these members are and we’re taking them down. This is going to end. They got Kent Gleason elected, but the next president will be chosen by the people.”

Jade tries to move, but I hold her against my side as I keep my eyes on Carson. “I’ve heard enough of your bullshit stories. Just get out of here. And if you show up here again, you
will
get hurt.”

He crosses his arms over his chest. “I might be able to get him out. And you as well.”

I sigh. “You never shut up, do you?”

“We might be able to get both you and your dad out of the secret society. You’d have your freedom back. You wouldn’t have to do what they tell you anymore.”

“Leave.” I glare at him. “Last time I’m saying it.”

He doesn’t move. “If Pearce gave us some names, we could shut it down. We could bring down this group, or at least weaken it to the point where they couldn’t control the system anymore.”

Is he really that naive? That stupid? He really thinks he can take down the organization? He has no fucking clue how powerful they are. Carson, Hanniford, and whoever else they’re working with, would be dead before they could even think of doing something to the organization.

I let go of Jade and step closer to Carson. “Are you gonna leave or do I have to throw you off my property?”
 

“I’m going.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a business card and hands it to me. I glance at it and see that his name is listed as Justin. It’s probably another fake name. “Just think about it. Talk to your dad.”

“There’s nothing to say to my dad because he’s not part of some secret group. He’d laugh if I even mentioned your theory. And he’d make sure you never worked again if he knew you were spreading rumors about him. So if you care about your career, I’d strongly suggest you stop talking about him.”

“Just present our offer.” He walks down the steps.

“Did you hear me? He’s not involved in anything so let it go. Trust me. You don’t want my father as an enemy.”

“Goodbye, Jade.” Carson stands at the bottom of the stairs. Jade doesn’t say anything so he says, “Goodbye, Garret. I’m sorry to hear about your grandfather. I hope he recovers. But if not, at least you were able to see him last week.”

“What are you talking about?” Jade asks.

Shit! I fucking hate this guy. How the hell did he know my grandfather was here?

“Get out of here!” I yell at him. “Now!”

Carson sees Jade’s response and can tell she doesn’t know about my grandfather’s visit. He probably thinks she doesn’t believe him, which is why he explains. “Mr. Hanniford flew me out here on one of his private planes, and the Kensington jet was at the airport when I arrived. I saw Holton getting off the plane. I assumed he was here to see Garret. Why else would he be in this small town?” He smirks at me. “See you later. Stay in touch.”

He walks off. He’s such an ass. I already hated him for hitting on Jade last semester. Now he’s after my dad. And he just spilled a huge secret I wanted to keep from Jade. I really fucking hate him.

JADE

“Your grandfather was here?” I ask Garret. “Last week?”

“Jade, we need to talk about Carson.” He takes my hand and pulls me inside, locking the sliding door behind us. “Was he here when you got home?”

“No. I was lying on the beach and he just showed up. He knows too much, Garret. You have to tell your dad.”

“I will, but I might have to fly out there to tell him. I don’t think I should talk to him over the phone about this, just in case someone’s listening in.”

“You better tell him soon. Carson’s got other people helping him. That Hanniford guy is wealthy and powerful. He could do real damage to your family.”

“He won’t. They don’t have proof of anything. They just have theories.” Garret goes in the hall closet and takes out a thing that looks like a silver wand. “Was Carson in the house?”

“No. Why?”

Garret runs the wand thing over the furniture, making his way around the room. “You sure he didn’t break in before you got home?”

“I don’t think so. Nothing looked out of place.” I point to the wand. “What is that thing?”

“It checks for listening devices.”

“Where did you get it?”

“I don’t remember. I just had it.”

It’s a lie. I can tell because he’s talking fast and won’t look at me. I get in front of him as he wands the door to the deck.

“Garret, stop.” I put my hand on his arm. “Tell me the truth.”

“I told you, I can’t remember where I got it. I probably bought it online.”

“I’m not talking about the wand thing. I want to know about your grandfather. Was he here last week?”

I look directly at Garret, but he avoids my gaze, his eyes on the glass door just behind me.

“Garret. Was he here or not?”

He doesn’t respond, which just tells me Carson was right. Holton
was
here and Garret didn’t tell me. Why wouldn’t he tell me? We agreed we were done keeping secrets from each other.

“Dammit, Garret!” I shove him back. “Why do you do this to me? Why do you keep hiding stuff from me?” Tears fall from my eyes before I can stop them. “I need to be able to trust you. You’re my husband and I need to be able to trust you.”

I’m so mad at him right now. I’ve worked so hard this past year to learn to trust people, and the person I trust the most keeps lying to me. I walk around him and stand by the couch. He turns to face me but remains by the sliding glass door with that stupid wand thing still in his hand.

“Jade, I’m sorry. But you don’t understand.”

“There’s nothing to understand. Your grandfather was here and you hid it from me. Why would you keep that a secret, Garret?”

He sighs, heavily, and stares down at the floor. But he doesn’t answer.

“Is that why you were acting so strange when we were at Frank’s house? Because Holton came here and you didn’t want to tell me?”

Silence.

“Garret. Answer me. Was Holton here?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Monday. A week ago Monday.”

“Why? What did he want?”

Garret finally looks at me. “I can’t talk about this right now. I need to deal with this thing with Carson.”

“There’s nothing to deal with. You’ll tell your dad and
he’ll
deal with it. There’s nothing else we can do. Now answer my question. Why was your grandfather here? He wouldn’t show up here for no reason. So tell me what it is.”

Garret stares at the floor again and shakes his head side to side.

“What does that mean? You’re not going to tell me?”