Always Us (The Jade Series #8) (9 page)

Both men laugh. Then one of them says, “Yes, he certainly made a spectacle of himself last year, didn’t he? He’s not the type of person you’d want running a company.”

I change the channel again and see my dad walking fast toward the entrance of Kensington Chemical.

“I’m not answering any questions,” he says to the reporters gathered around him. “I ask that you give my family privacy during this difficult time.” He goes inside the building and security guards block the door so the reporters can’t get in.

I hand Frank the remote. “I need to call my dad.” I walk down the hall with Jade following behind me.

“Garret, wait. What should I do? Should I get the next flight to Connecticut?”

“We’re not going to Connecticut. We’re going home.”

“Oh. Okay. So when are we leaving for Connecticut?”

“We’re not.” I walk into the bedroom and over to my phone charger on the dresser. I plug in my phone and turn it on.

“Don’t you want to see your grandfather?”

“He’s in a coma. He wouldn’t even know I’m there.”

I’m really pissed right now. Why didn’t my dad call me? Or my grandmother? Or Katherine? My grandfather’s in a coma and nobody tells me?
 

“You’re not going to see him?”

“No.” I stand there, my mind racing, my muscles tight. I’m still on edge from thinking Jade was here with a gun to her head.
 

“But he’s your grandfather. You need to go.”

“The news said he’s in critical condition. He’s probably not going to make it. He’ll probably be gone before I even got there.”

“Then we should be there for your dad.” She says it softly. “And the funeral.”

“I’m not going to the funeral.”

“You’re not?”

Jade’s staring at me like she can’t figure this out. Like she thinks I should be crying or something. But right now, I’m not able to put on a show and pretend that I’m sad. Because I’m not sad. Not even a little.

“Garret, if he doesn’t make it, you have to go to the funeral.”

“Why? You didn’t go to
your
grandfather’s funeral.”
 

Shit. I didn’t mean to say that. My mind’s all over the place right now and I’m not thinking straight.

Jade looks down at the floor.

I pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Jade. I never should’ve said that. I know you wanted to be at Arlin’s funeral. Dammit. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She wipes her eyes and looks up at me. “I know you’re upset. What can I do?”

“Just give me a minute to talk to my dad.”

She nods. “Okay.”

She leaves, closing the door behind her. I call my dad. After the third ring, he picks up.

“Garret, I have some news,” he says.

“Yeah, I heard. When did you find out?”

“Earlier this morning.”

“And you couldn’t fucking call me?”

He’s quiet, and I realize I need to calm down. I don’t know how my dad’s feeling about this and I need to at least consider he might be sad.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just didn’t like hearing about this on the news.”

“I know. And I should’ve called earlier. I was at the hospital and then things got out of control with the media and—well, I should’ve called. I’m sorry about that.”

“So someone found him?”

“Yes. The housekeeper went in to clean and she found him on the floor in the living room.”

“Where was Grandmother?”

“At home, in Connecticut. But now she’s here in New York, staying with me at the apartment.”

“How is she doing?”

“She’s dealing with it. My mother isn’t one to show emotion. You know that.”

“How about
you
? Are you okay?”

“Yes.” There’s this odd moment of silence and then, “He’s not expected to recover, Garret.”

More silence. Dead silence.

My family uses silence like other people use words. Silence is a form of communication to us. And I think my dad is telling me something with his silence.

A cold chill runs through me as I consider what the silence means.

“Dad, you didn’t—” I can’t say it. I shouldn’t even be thinking it. He would never do that. Not to his own father. But he answered my phone call. And he said he wouldn’t talk to me until this was over. Until he took care of it. He promised he’d take care of it.

And now it’s taken care of. Or it will be if my grandfather dies, and it sounds like that’ll be happening very soon.
 

“Garret, I need to go.”

“Wait. So you were with him last night for dinner?”

“Yes, I was here for a meeting so we met for dinner. He was tired so we didn’t stay out late.”

“What caused the stroke? Do they know?”

“They’re not sure. It could’ve been caused by a number of things.”

I’ve heard that story before. Someone has a sudden heart attack or stroke that can’t be explained. I don’t know much about strokes other than stuff I’ve heard on TV. I know they can kill you and I know there aren’t always warning signs, so maybe it just happened.

But I also know there are certain drugs that can induce a stroke or a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. That’s one way the organization takes out their enemies, especially people who are important. People whose deaths would be investigated. If they wanted to kill someone like Sean, a nobody, they’d just shoot him and then pay some cop to make a fake police report saying it was just a random crime. But if they need to kill a senator or a governor or some other well-known person, they plan a car accident or a plane crash. Or they make it look like the person died of a stroke or a sudden heart attack.

That’s what I think happened to Arlin. I think one of the members slipped Arlin a drug that caused his heart attack. I didn’t come to this conclusion until just last week, when my grandfather made that comment about Arlin. My grandfather acted like he knew Arlin was involved in the plan to destroy my image. And if
he
knew, then others might’ve as well. If so, Arlin would’ve been killed, maybe by my grandfather himself. Arlin and my grandfather were good friends for many years. And yet I know for a fact that my grandfather would have no problem killing his friend. Just like he had no problem killing his daughter-in-law. And no problem plotting to kill Jade.

I want him gone. I want that bastard dead and I don’t feel bad about it.

“How long?” I ask, without an ounce of emotion.

My dad knows what I’m asking. “The doctor said he won’t make it through the night. He’ll be gone by morning.”

There’s more silence. This time it’s conveying relief. Overwhelming relief. By tomorrow, this will all be over.

“We’ll talk soon. Goodbye, Garret.”
 

He hangs up and I sit on the bed, the relief I felt just seconds ago replaced by a heaviness in my chest as I think about how this happened. Was it really just a stroke? Or did my dad do this?

I never asked him the question. I couldn’t, because I didn’t want the answer. He said he didn’t know what caused the stroke. But he’s an expert at lying. All my life, I’ve never been able to read him to know if he’s telling the truth.

As much as I wanted my grandfather gone, I didn’t want it to be at the hands of my dad. Killing his own father? It seems too evil. Like something my grandfather would do, but not my dad. He’s different.

My dad didn’t do this. He couldn’t. I know he’s had people killed before, and even done it himself, but he couldn’t kill his own father. Could he?

I think back to last week, when I told my dad what happened to my mom. How his father had planned my mom’s death. Planned the timing of it. Made my dad think she was safe when she really wasn’t. Is knowing that enough to drive my dad to kill his own father?

JADE

I knock on the bedroom door, then open it slightly and see Garret sitting on the bed, his forearms resting on his knees as he stares at the floor.

I walk over and stand in front of him. “Did you talk to your dad?”

He sits up. “Yeah. He agreed I shouldn’t go out there. He said my grandfather won’t make it through the night.”

I hug him. “Garret, I’m sorry.”

He hugs me back but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure what to do for him. I don’t know how he’s feeling. I know his grandfather wasn’t speaking to him, but I thought Garret would be more upset by this. Maybe he’s still in shock. He needs time to let this sink in. Right now, I just need to be here for him.

I pull away. “I don’t mean to rush you, but we really need to head to the airport. Or we could take a later flight if you want.”

He stands up. “No. Let’s go. We need to get home.” He points to the suitcase. “Is everything packed?”

“Yeah.” I kneel down and zip it up, then turn it upright.

Garret takes it and we go to the living room. As Garret brings the suitcase out to the garage, I go over to Frank and Ryan. “Pearce said Holton won’t make it through the night. I think Garret’s kind of in shock right now so don’t ask him about it, okay? Just act normal.”

Garret comes back in from the garage. “I wasn’t sure which car we’re taking to the airport but I put the suitcase in the Honda.”

We all stare at him. He’s almost acting like nothing happened.
 

“Yes, that’s perfect.” Frank grabs his keys from the counter. “Everyone ready?”

It’s weird to act like this, but how else are we supposed to act? We have to follow Garret’s lead, and right now, he wants to ignore the fact that his grandfather is dying.

Frank makes small talk on the way to the airport. Ryan and I add to the conversation but Garret says nothing. At the airport, Frank parks at the drop-off area and we do the usual hugs and goodbyes.

“Call us when you get there,” Frank says to me.

“I always do.”

“I know. I’m just reminding you to.”

I hug him. “Love you, Dad.”

“Love you, too, honey.”

I hug Ryan. “You need to give Chloe that ring for Christmas.”

“You need to stop pushing me to get married. It’s really getting annoying.”

I laugh. “Get used to it. I’m not going to stop until you propose.”

Garret’s standing there, waiting. He already said his goodbyes.

“See you guys later.” I wave as they get in the car.

Garret and I check in, then go to the gate and find that they’re already boarding. We get our seats and Garret takes my hand, like he always does before we take off.

I lean over, keeping my voice down. “Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”

“I’m good. Everything’s good.” He squeezes my hand a little, his eyes straight ahead. “We’re gonna be okay.”

Be okay? What is he talking about? Why
wouldn’t
we be okay?

He leans his head back and closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “It’s almost over.”

He said it so softly I think he was talking to himself, not me. But what does he mean? What’s over?

The plane engines roar and I feel us taking off. I rest against Garret’s shoulder and fall asleep.

When we get home, Garret brings the suitcase to the bedroom, then comes back out to the living room and turns the TV on. He’s standing behind the couch as he flips through the channels. He stops on a news channel.

“. . . is still in critical condition,” the newswoman says. “Holton Kensington is well known by those in the financial world, but other people know him because of his grandson, Garret Kensington, who appeared on Prep School Girls, a reality TV show. Garret dated one of the stars of the show, Ava Hamilton. We spoke to Ava briefly and asked her about the news.”

They cut to video of Ava coming out of a coffee shop. She looks different. Her hair is longer and she has on less makeup than normal. She’s wearing skinny jeans and a short black coat and sunglasses, a giant gold purse hung over her shoulder.

“I was so sorry to hear about Holton,” she says. “I’m hoping he’ll make a full recovery.” She walks up to her silver Mercedes.

“Do you ever talk to Garret?” the reporter asks.

“Of course I do. Garret and I are close friends.” She gets in the car.

“Have you spoken with him since this happened?”

Ava doesn’t answer as she shuts the door and starts her car. The video ends and they cut back to the newswoman at the desk. “People close to the family say that Garret has been estranged from his grandfather since last spring. It’s not known if the two of them have reconciled, although our sources tell us Garret has not yet been to the hospital to see his grandfather. We’ll take a short break and when we get back we’ll be…”

Garret clicks the TV off. “Where do they get this shit?”

I take the remote from him and lead him to the couch to sit down.

“I don’t know.” I really don’t, and it kind of scares me that they know all that. It’s like someone’s watching us or something.

“And they ask
Ava
about me? Seriously? Why are they even talking about me? They should be talking about my grandfather, not me.”

I give him a hug because I don’t know what else to do. I can’t tell what he’s thinking or how he’s feeling, and he’s not ready to tell me.

I sit back and look at him. His eyes are heavy and his face looks tired. “Garret, maybe you should try to sleep a little.”

He doesn’t answer. He’s gazing behind me at the TV that’s no longer on. I get off the couch and take his hand and pull on him to stand up. “Come on. Let’s just lie down for a few minutes.”

He gets up, not saying anything, and we go in the bedroom and take off our shoes. We lie down on the bed and he pulls me against his chest. He’s holding me a little too tightly, which he’s been doing all week and I’ve been kidding him about it. But today, I don’t say anything. After a few minutes, he loosens his hold on me and his breathing changes as he falls asleep. I try not to move because I want him to sleep. He needs to. He hasn’t slept much all week and I don’t know why. Whenever I ask him about it, he denies it and says he’s been sleeping.

His breathing becomes slower and heavier as he falls into a deeper sleep, his arm now relaxed around me. I’m not tired since I slept on the plane, but I remain there next to him so he doesn’t wake up.

An hour later, I’m still wide awake, thinking about Garret’s family. I wonder how Pearce is doing. He didn’t get along with Holton, but Holton is still his father so I’m sure this is hard on him. I think about Lilly, too, and how she’ll feel when Holton’s gone. I hope someone’s there for her, comforting her. I know Katherine won’t do it. She’ll tell Lilly not to cry or act sad. And Pearce will be too busy planning the funeral to deal with Lilly.