Always Us (The Jade Series #8) (19 page)

My heart’s beating again, going so fast I’m having trouble breathing. “You gave me a month. You’re not taking it back.”

“Things have changed. And after further consideration, I—”

“No! This is YOUR game! And those were YOUR fucking rules! You’re not changing them now.”

The only sound I hear is my heart thumping in my eardrums.

He’s silent. And then, “Fine. The rules remain. Goodbye, Garret.”

He hangs up and I toss the phone aside. I remain on the couch, my hands over my face, rubbing my forehead. My head is pounding, probably because I wasn’t breathing for most of that conversation.

I sit up and notice my laptop next to me. I wake it up and click on that icon again to make sure the timer is still running. It is. It’s still counting down to the end of the year.

How the hell did that get on my computer? He must’ve hacked into it. But how? He’s in a hospital bed. He just got out of a coma. How did he have time to get this done?

Someone’s helping him. There’s no other way he could do it. And if someone’s working with him, they could be anywhere right now. They could be in this town. They could be on campus. Watching Jade. Following her. Fuck!

I grab my keys and sprint to the door. When I open it, I almost run the mailman down. He’s standing at the door, the mail in his hand.

He holds it out to me. “I was just putting it in the box, but if you’d like to take it.”

I grab the mail. “Yeah, thanks.”

I toss it in the house and as I go to close the door, I spot a large white envelope with the Yale seal. I step inside and pick up the envelope and rip it open. It’s an official acceptance letter along with registration instructions.

“Shit!” I toss it on the floor and race out to my car. When I get to campus, I go to Jade’s classroom and peer through the glass panel in the door to make sure she’s there. She doesn’t see me but some other girl does and rolls her eyes. What the hell’s
her
problem?

I wait outside the classroom on a bench in the hall. I call my dad again. This time, he actually answers.

“Hello, Garret. Katherine said you called.”

“Yeah, and she told me the truth about Grandfather. Why the hell would you lie to me about that?” I hear how loud I am and lower my voice. “I needed to know! I need to protect her!”

“I wasn’t lying to you. I just haven’t had a chance to call and tell you.”

“And you knew he didn’t have a stroke?”

“Yes. But that can’t be public knowledge. Very few people know what really happened.”

“Do you know who did it?”

He clears his throat. “No. But your grandfather has numerous enemies who would be happy to see him gone.”

“What am I going to do? He called me just now and—”

“My father called you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m surprised he’d call you. He hasn’t even called
me
yet.”

“He called to tell me the plan is still on. He tried to move up the timeline but I wouldn’t let him. Dad, there’s a countdown timer on my laptop. Who would’ve done that? You think he’s working with someone?”

“I don’t know but I’ll find out.”

“Until you know, what should I do? I’m waiting outside Jade’s classroom right now because I don’t want to leave her alone. I don’t trust that she’s safe.”

“If my father set the rules, he’ll abide by them. She won’t be harmed.”

“Maybe not now, but she could be in a few weeks. The end of the year isn’t that far away. I need to stop him.”

“Just stay out of it. I told you I’d take care of it and I will.”

“I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing!”

“You need to calm down or Jade’s going to figure out what’s going on.”

“She already knows.”

“I told you not to tell her.”

“I didn’t have a choice. Carson was—”

“Garret, I can’t talk right now. I’m meeting with some people and they just walked in. We’ll talk later.”

He hangs up just as Jade’s class dismisses.

She spots me as she walks out. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the car.” I take her backpack and hold her hand and walk her out of the building.

“What’s going on, Garret? Is this about your grandfather?”

“Yes.”

She sees the serious look on my face and knows I’m not here to give her good news. We don’t speak until we reach our cars. I parked right in front of her.

I unlock her car and open her door for her. “You go first and I’ll follow you.”

“Wait. You said you’d tell me what’s going on when we got to the car.”

“Let’s just go home. I’ll tell you there.”

We drive home and go inside and the first thing she sees is the letter from Yale, which is still on the floor.

She picks it up. “Is this an acceptance letter?”

I take it from her, tossing it back on the floor as I lead her to the couch. We sit down and I tell her what happened while she was at class; my talk with Katherine, then my grandfather, then my dad.
 

Jade’s trying to be strong, but she looks terrified, her arms crossed tightly over her middle, her foot nervously tapping the floor. “So what does this mean? We just wait for your dad to do something?”

I shake my head. “No. I’m going out there. I’m going to go see my grandfather.”

“What good’s that going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t sit here and do nothing. Maybe we can work something out. Maybe I’ll just agree to take over the company.”

“Garret, no. You’d hate that. That’s not what you want to do with your life.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have no life if you’re not in it. So if taking over the company means he’ll leave you alone, I’ll do it. I’ll even go to Yale. Maybe you could go back to Moorhurst. We could get an apartment in between. It wouldn’t be that bad of a commute.”

“Are you seriously considering this?”

“I don’t have any other alternative.”

“But he wants you back in the organization.”

“Maybe if I do this other stuff, he won’t push me to be a member.”

“So am I going with you?”

“I don’t want you that close to him. I like the idea of keeping you thousands of miles away. But I also don’t feel good about leaving you here alone.” I stop to think of how to keep her safe while I’m gone. “Maybe William could help. He has really good security. Maybe he could loan us one of his security guards to watch the house.”

“Why wouldn’t you just ask your dad?”

“Because I’m not going to tell my dad I’m going out there. I’m going to try to talk to my grandfather alone first. If I can’t get him to change his mind, I’ll get my dad involved. But I can’t tell I’m going. He doesn’t want me there. He told me to stay out of it. If he finds out what I’m doing, he’ll try to stop me.”

“I don’t like this, Garret. I don’t think you should go out there. You should just let your dad handle this.”

“I tried that, and he didn’t do anything. And I can’t keep waiting for him. I need this to end.”

“How do you know your dad didn’t do anything?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your dad was the last person to see Holton before he went in the coma. Do you think he—”

“Jade, no. It wasn’t him.”

She nods. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know he wouldn’t do that.”

Actually, I think he would. But when he talked about what happened to my grandfather, he didn’t sound guilty or nervous or anything. Then again, he’s good at hiding that shit.

“So when are you leaving?” Jade asks.

“I’m going to try to get a flight out today.” I take my laptop, facing it away from Jade. When the screen pops up, I pull the timer icon to the trash bin. “But first I need to see if William can get someone out here to watch the house.”

“Why do I need that? Holton’s at the clinic and he said he’d leave me alone until the end of the year.”

I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell her about the timer and my theory about how it got there. But I have to tell her in order to explain why she needs protection and why she needs to be extra careful while I’m away and even when I get back.

No more secrets. She needs to know the truth. All of it.

“I need to show you something.” I pull the icon out of the trash and turn so that she can see my laptop screen. “I found this when I turned the laptop on earlier.” I point to the icon.

“What is it?”

“It’s a timer.” I click on it and the numbers appear. “It’s counting down to the end of the year.” I shut the timer down and the message appears, telling me time is running out.

Jade inhales sharply and covers her mouth with her hand.

I set my laptop aside and pull her into my arms. “I’m sorry, Jade. I didn’t want to show you that, but I had to because I need you to know how serious this is. I need you to protect yourself and not take any risks.”

“How did your grandfather do that? How did he get that timer on your laptop?”

“I don’t think it was him. I think he might be working with someone.”

Her shoulders fall and she lets out a heavy sigh. “You said the other members didn’t care about you anymore. You said they weren’t in on this.”

“I don’t know if it’s another member. It could be someone else. A freelancer he hired.”

“To do what? Scare me? Kill me?”

I hug her tighter. “No, Jade. That’s not what I meant. He’ll keep his word. He won’t do anything before January. But he could have someone watching you. And who knows? Maybe that person
would
do something to scare you. I have no idea. Which is why I need you to be extra cautious. And why we need the security guys.”

She pulls back and looks at me. “What are you going to tell William? You can’t tell him what’s really going on.”

“I’ll just tell him I’m going to visit my grandfather and don’t want to leave you here alone. He’ll understand. He knows the risks involved in families like ours. He travels a lot and I’m sure he has a security team to watch over his wife. You can never be too careful.”

I pick up my phone and call William. His voicemail answers and I leave a message. Then I take my laptop and start searching for flights.

Moments later, my phone rings. It’s William.

“Garret, I got your message. You said you needed something?”

“Yes, I need to get someone to watch the house for a few days. I have to go to Connecticut to see my grandfather and I don’t want Jade here alone. I want to hire a security guard for while I’m away. I thought maybe you could give me a recommendation.”

“I’ll do better than that. I have several security personnel who travel with me. They’re all excellent and I’d be happy to send a couple of them out there to watch the place while you’re away. You’ll need two so they can work in shifts.”

“That’d be great. Would it be possible for them to be here by tonight?”

“Absolutely. I’ll have them leave right away. But Garret, why are you calling
me
instead of your father? He, too, has an excellent security team.”

“We’re kind of having a fight,” I lie. “We’re not talking right now.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Do you need anything else from me?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, well, once I have it arranged, I’ll send you the details about the men I’m sending out there so you’ll know who to look for and when to expect them.”

“You’re sure we can trust these guys? You’ve done background checks? You know them well?”

“Yes, the men I’m sending out there have been with me for years.”

“And they’re not part of—they’re not . . .freelancers?”

“No. They’ve never worked for them. Garret, I’m glad you’re doing this. It’s smart. After we met at my mother’s house in October, I worried about the two of you. I didn’t think you were taking enough precautions, given that you’re a Kensington and have connections to—well, you know what I mean. Anyway, it’s good to know you’re being more careful now. I’ll get everything set up and be in touch later with the details.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for your help.”

“What did he say?” Jade asks as I set my phone down.

“He said he’d have two of his security guys out here by tonight. I want to meet them before I go so I’ll plan to leave in the morning.” I take my laptop and search for flights. “There’s a 6 a.m. flight. I’ll take that one.”

“Why do I need two guys? Isn’t one enough?”

I get my credit card out and buy the ticket. “We want someone watching the house 24 hours a day, so we need two so they can alternate shifts. And actually, one of them should go to class with you. Well, not go
in
the class, but wait outside.”

“Garret, you’re freaking me out. If Holton’s not going to do anything to me, I shouldn’t have to be escorted to class by a security guard.”

“I’d just feel better if you weren’t alone. It’s just for a couple days. I’m flying back on Sunday.”

“That’s not enough time to do anything.”

“I have tomorrow and Saturday. That’s plenty of time. All I’m doing is talking to him, seeing if we can come to some kind of agreement.”

 
She’s quiet. I know she’s scared, and although I don’t like scaring her, I’m not going to pretend I don’t have concerns. Because I do. And I need her to know that so she doesn’t take risks. She needs to be aware of her surroundings and never go anywhere alone.

We have dinner later, then wait for William’s security guys to show up. They arrive at eight. I invite them inside and question them for a good hour. They’re older, probably late thirties, and huge. Both of them used to be in the military. They’re very serious and call me ‘sir’ even though I’m almost 20 years younger than them. By the time we’re done talking, I feel better about having them here, although I still wish I didn’t have to do this.

I hate leaving Jade, but I feel like I don’t have a choice. I need to deal with my grandfather. In person. By myself.

And when I get there, I’m prepared to do anything to make this end.

GARRET

I almost couldn’t leave this morning. Even with the security guys and the alarm system and the cameras, I don’t believe Jade’s safe unless I’m there watching over her. I’m putting all my faith in William that those security guys will take care of her. I like William, and he treats Jade like family now, so I hope I can trust him. I tell myself I can because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to leave her.