Loving You (The Jade Series #3) (8 page)

“Excuse me, miss.” I hear a voice next to me and glance over to see an older man, nicely dressed in a dark wool coat, wearing one of those stiff hats you always see men wearing in black and white movies. “I’m terribly sorry. Some kids were running up behind me and they pushed me into you.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” I focus back on the tree.

I feel his hand grip my arm. “Are you sure you’re okay? I feel terrible for bumping into you like that.”

“I’m fine.” I pull my arm away, keeping my eyes on the tree.

“Do you happen to have the time?” He moves right in front of me, blocking my view.
 

As I see his face, he seems very familiar. I check my watch. “It’s 9:50.”

“Thank you.” He smiles and then stands there for a moment, staring at me, almost like he wants me to get a good look at him. Like I should recognize him.

When he finally turns and walks away, it hits me. I
do
recognize him. I’m almost sure I saw him at the fundraiser for Royce Sinclair last November. And I saw him somewhere else. But where? I try to remember his face. I think I saw him on TV. Yes, I know I did. When Garret and I were in Des Moines watching the news about the caucus, that guy was standing behind Sinclair as he talked to reporters. The old man is somehow connected to Sinclair!

My pulses races as I search for the old man. But he’s gone. I don’t see him anywhere.
 

What is he doing here? Does he know I’m Sinclair’s daughter? The only evidence of Sinclair’s crime years ago? He had to know! He had to have purposely bumped into me. He wanted me to see him.
 

I scan the crowd trying to find Garret. He was just over to my right, but now he’s not there. Where the hell did he go?
 

People are streaming past me. Laughing. Talking. Coughing. Clearing their throats. Kids are screaming. Babies are crying. It’s too much noise. Where did all this noise come from? I didn’t hear it before.

I make my way through the crowd to the place I saw Garret last. But he’s not there. He’s not anywhere. What if someone took him? That old man, or people connected to him, could’ve taken Garret to get revenge for his dad shooting Sinclair.
 

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I say it repeatedly to myself as the noise around me gets even louder.
 

“Garret!” I scream it into the crowd. The people next to me give me an annoyed look and quickly walk ahead. “Garret!” I scream it again, but there’s no way he’d ever hear me in these crowds.
 

I don’t know what to do. I’m too panicked to think straight. I start walking around, searching for him, but I just keep bumping into strangers. Maybe Garret had to use the restroom. But he’d tell me if he was doing that. He wouldn’t just leave.
 

I notice an old lady getting up from a nearby bench. I hurry over and take her seat.
 

Everything around me seems to be spinning at a rapid pace. It’s like being on one of those carnival rides that spin you so fast you only see blurred versions of people as they go by.
 

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to calm down so I can think. I brought a small purse with me and I’m clutching it so tightly it’s making my hand cramp up. I open my eyes as my brain finally wakes up and realizes that I have a purse. And inside it is a phone! Damn! Why didn’t I think of that before? I’m not used to having a cell phone. Garret got me one a few weeks ago and I always forget I have it.

I get the phone out and turn it on. The battery’s almost dead. Note to Jade: Always charge your phone! I call Garret’s phone. It goes straight to voicemail. What does that mean? It’s turned off? He’s on the phone?

The battery symbol on my phone is flashing at me like it’s taunting me, reminding me what an idiot I am for not charging it. Sometimes I really hate technology.

I try Garret’s phone again before my battery dies completely. His phone rings repeatedly and then finally—finally!—he picks up.
 

“Jade, where are you?”
 

“I’m on a bench just down from the tree. Where are you?”
 

“I’m in front of the tree where I left you. Why did you—”

My phone dies before he can finish. I’m so mad at the phone I’m tempted to slam it against the pavement, but instead I shove it back in my purse. I get up and hurry back to Garret’s location, hoping he isn’t going to where I just left.

I spot him in the crowd and push past the people in front of me. When I reach him, I collapse into his arms, holding onto him and not letting go.

“Jade, why did you leave? I told you to stay there.”

“I
did
stay there, but this man came over and—”

Garret peels me off him and grabs my shoulders. “What man? What happened?”

“A man bumped into me and he uh—” I glance around and notice the security cameras all around us. Maybe I’m paranoid now, but the cameras are making me nervous. Who knows who’s watching us. “We need to get out of here. Did you call the driver?”

“Yeah, he’s down there waiting.” He points behind me at the street.

“Let’s go.” I grab Garret’s hand and pull him through the crowd until we’re at the car.
 

On the ride back to the apartment, my fear turns to anger. “Garret, where were you? I thought you were gone. It’s like you disappeared.”

“I just had to move down a little because the people next to me were so loud. I wasn’t that far from where I said I’d be.”

“What took you so long? How long does it take to call the driver?”

“As soon as I got off the phone with him my dad called so I picked up. He’s been texting me all day.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” I start to panic again.

“He was just checking in. He wanted to make sure we made here it okay.”

“Did your dad sound like he was worried about us? Or did he sound weird at all?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear him that well. What’s with all the questions?”

“I’ll tell you when we get back.”

The driver drops us off at the apartment. As soon as we’re inside I tell Garret about the strange old man.

“I’m almost positive he was at the fundraiser,” I say as I take a water from the fridge. “And I know I saw him on TV at least once standing next to Sinclair.”

“Are you sure it was the same guy? It’s dark out and it’s hard to get a good luck at someone in the dark.”
 

“There were lights all around us. And he stood right in front of me, practically forcing me to look at him. Like he wanted me to see that it was him.”

“But then he just walked off?” Garret gets a bottle of soda, then takes a seat on one of the barstools next to the kitchen island. He’s being much calmer about this than I thought he would be.

“Yes. It was almost like a warning of some kind.” I pick Garret’s cell phone off the counter and hand it to him. “Call your dad. That man was at your house. Your dad might know him.”

Garret holds onto the phone but doesn’t call. “What did the guy look like?”

“Old. Probably in his seventies. White hair. Maybe 5’10 or 5’11.”

“Jade, almost every guy at the fundraiser looked like that. My dad won’t know who that is.” He sets the phone down and drinks his soda.

“Why aren’t you more worried about this? If this guy knows Sinclair, he could be dangerous.”
 

“But he didn’t do anything, so maybe it’s just a coincidence he bumped into you. Why would Sinclair’s guys come after you? He’s dead. There’s no reason to. If anything, they’d come after
me
to get back at my dad for what he did.”

“Yes! Exactly!” I reach for Garret’s hand and hold it tightly in mine. “That’s why I was so freaked out when I couldn’t find you. I thought they’d taken you. I was sure of it. I thought you were gone.” Before I can stop it, a tear runs down my cheek.

“Are you crying?” Garret asks.

“No,” I say, stubbornly.

“You’re crying because you thought someone took me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” I try to turn away, but he won’t let me. He gets off the barstool and pulls me into his arms.

“I guess you really do love me.”
 

“You know I do. I tell you that all the time.”

“Yeah, but you also push me away all the time so I’m not always sure.”

“I love you, okay? And you scared the crap out of me by hiding from me like that. Don’t ever do it again.”

“Jade, I wasn’t hiding from you.” He lets me go and wipes the tear from my cheek with his thumb. “If you’re really worried about this guy, we’ll leave and go back to my house. Or I’ll get Brian, my dad’s security guy, to come down here.”

“No. Forget it. You’re right. If the guy really wanted to do something to me he would’ve done it, not just walked off.” I picture the old man’s face in my head again. “Maybe it wasn’t the same man who was at the fundraiser. A lot of old guys look the same.”

“Still, if you’d feel better being back at my house, we’ll leave. We’ll just try this again next New Year’s Eve.”

The thought of being back at his house with Katherine confirms my decision. “I want to stay here. I don’t want to go back to your house.”

“I need to get a pain pill. I’ll be right back.”

While he’s gone, I bring our drinks to the living room and take a seat on the leather couch. He comes back in the room and I hand him his soda as he sits down.

“Garret, I need to tell you something.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” He takes a drink and swallows his pill.
 

“I overhead a conversation between your dad and Katherine.”

He leans back on the couch, still holding his soda, and waits for me to continue.
 

“I got up early this morning to get a glass of water downstairs and I heard the two of them arguing in their room. So I kind of listened in.”

“Why would you listen in?” Garret sounds mad. I probably should’ve kept this to myself.

“Because it sounded like they were talking about me. And they were. Katherine told your dad she wanted me out of the house and that I was never allowed back.”

“Did she give a reason?”

“She uh . . . she said she didn’t want trash like me in the house.”

“That bitch actually called you that?” Garret bolts up from the couch and goes to the kitchen.

“Yes. And she banned me from seeing Lilly again.”

He returns with his cell phone.

“What are you doing? You can’t call her!” I try to grab his phone but he holds it away from me.
 

“She needs to know she can’t talk to you that way. And she can’t ban you from seeing Lilly or staying at the house. I can’t believe she fucking said that.” He starts calling, but I snatch the phone away before he can finish.

“She didn’t say it to my face. She said it to your dad. I told you I overheard them. And your dad totally stuck up for me, which made Katherine even more angry. That’s why I don’t want to go back there right now.”

Garret looks like he might punch in a wall. “I fucking hate that woman. She’s ruined my life. And my dad’s life. And Lilly’s life.”

“She said something else. She said I was the reason for the problem they’re dealing with now. What problem? Do you know what she’s talking about?”
 

“She’s probably blaming you for whatever’s going on with my dad. I told you he’s in trouble for what he did to Sinclair.”

“I know, but what does that mean? Is someone trying to kill him?”

“No. These people like you to suffer. Killing you is too easy. Instead they attack your company. Or your reputation.” He pauses. “Or they kidnap your little girl. That’s why my dad is so on edge right now.”

“And it’s all my fault. I guess Katherine has reason to hate me and want me gone.”
 

“None of it was your fault, Jade. And my dad will take care of it, like he always does.”

“Who are these people? Does your dad even know who wants revenge?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if it’s about revenge. That day I overheard him on the phone he said something about how he knew he would be punished for what he’d done, but he didn’t say what that meant.”

“So how do you know you’re safe? Or how does your dad know? Maybe these people are planning to do something to
you
and not Lilly.”

Garret leans over and kisses me. “They’re not going to do anything to me.”

I’m not convinced. I don’t know what Garret’s dad is involved in, but I don’t like the fact that he has enemies or people looking to punish him for what he did to Sinclair. They could easily target Garret. Lilly’s locked away in her house all the time. She’s safe. It would be way easier for them to do something to Garret.

“You want to watch TV before bed?” Garret asks.

“Yeah, okay.” I snuggle beside him as he turns on the TV.

He finds a movie to watch and I try to focus on it, but instead my mind keeps imagining bad people trying to hurt Garret. After an hour of that, I force myself to stop thinking about it. I can’t keep assuming bad things will happen. It’s what I used to do and I’m trying to change that about myself. Everything will be okay. Garret will be okay. When we get in bed later, I keep telling myself that until I fall asleep.