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CHAPTER TWO

GARRET

William Sinclair is the absolute last person I expected to find in that room with Jade. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but definitely not him.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Jade says. “I’m not dreaming this, right?”

“No, it really happened. You just met your uncle. He’s lucky I didn’t beat his face in for luring you here like that. I searched every damn room in this building before I finally found you.”

“How did you know to come find me?”

“I was talking to Sara and she said she’d noticed Walt only showed up at the coffee shop when you were there, like he’d been keeping track of your schedule or following you. I got worried and went to find you.”

“But if you hadn’t found me, you don’t think William would’ve done something to me, right?” Jade has this sad look on her face and I know it’s because she’s so desperate for William to be good, and not bad like Royce. She wants to know more of her family and she was counting on William to be someone she could trust. She was hoping he’d accept her and eventually love her the way Grace does.

“Jade, I don’t know William well enough to say what he’s capable of. I’ve only talked to him a few times before today. But he’s a member and that means—”

“I know,” she says quietly, her eyes on the floor.

I want to tell Jade he’s a good man, but I can’t. I have no idea what he’s like. My dad’s known him for years but they’re not close friends.

“Did William tell you anything else about Walt? I mean, before I got here, did he tell you anything?”

“He just said Walt’s been working with him for the past 12 years. Why?”

“I think Walt’s connected to the organization. If he works that closely with William, he’d have to be.”

“I was thinking that, too.”

Jade goes out in the hallway to check that they’re gone, then comes back in the room. “Did it seem strange to you the way William just left like that? It’s like he was in a hurry to get out of here.”

“He just needs time to process what we told him.”

I don’t want to tell Jade this because she’d feel bad if she knew William thought she was a liar. But honestly, I don’t think William believed her story about Royce, even after I showed up and confirmed it was true. He acted like he believed her, but I could see the doubt in his face. In his mind, he had Jade pegged as a criminal and now we told him his brother is the criminal. It’s a lot to take in. It may take some time before he believes it.

When William said he had to make some phone calls, I’m guessing that means he’s calling people to verify our story. It’s what rich people do whenever someone claims to be a relative. This happens to my dad all the time. People claim to be his long-lost cousin or uncle or aunt. When you have a lot of money, you have to be careful.

But the only people William can call to check our story are Grace and my dad. They’re the only ones who know the truth.

I get my phone out.

“Who are you calling?” Jade asks.

“My dad.” I swipe through the phone and call his number.

“Why?”

“Because your uncle’s going to call him in a few minutes.”

“Why would he—”

“Hey, Dad.” I walk over and shut the door.

“Garret, I’m busy. You need to make this quick.”

“I think you’ll want to make time for this.”

“What is it?”

“You’re never gonna believe this, but William Sinclair just showed up at our school.”

“He knows about Jade?”

“He does now. He’s had his security guy following her. He thought Jade was trying to pull some kind of scam to get money from his family.”

“Did William speak with her?”

“Yeah, we both did. He took Jade to a room in one of the buildings here on campus and accused her of trying to con his family. I don’t know the whole story. I got here late. But anyway, Jade told him who she was but I’m not sure he believes her.”

“You’re not?” I hear Jade behind me. I turn around and see the disappointment in her face.

“He believes you, Jade. He just needs to check out your story.”

“Why would he think I lied?”

“He doesn’t. It’s hard to explain.”

I don’t know how to say this without hurting her feelings. This has nothing to do with her. It’s just about the rich not being able to trust people.

My dad must’ve heard Jade talking because he says, “Put me on speaker, Garret.”

I put the phone on speaker. “Go ahead.”

“Jade, you have to understand that people such as William and myself are contacted by strangers claiming to be relatives all the time. William is just making sure you are who you say you are. I would do the exact same thing. It doesn’t mean he thinks you’re lying. It’s just something we’ve been taught to do from a young age.”

“He said I looked like Sadie. Why would he say that if he thought I wasn’t related to him?”

My dad explains. “I’m sure he wants to believe you. It’s just a different world for us. We have to keep our guard up. When William calls me, I will assure him that everything you said is true. And obviously Grace will as well. It’s unfortunate that William didn’t talk to her in the first place. How did William find out about you anyway?”

“He took over Arlin’s finances and noticed that money had been transferred into an account for me last spring.”

“What did you tell him about Royce?”

“I told him what Royce did to my mom.”

“Everything, or just part of the story?”

“I told him about the rape and then Garret told him how Royce drugged her and killed my grandparents.”

“What else does he know?” my dad asks.

“What do you mean?” Jade stares at the phone, confused.

“Garret, how much does William know?”

My dad’s referring to what happened at our house the day Royce was shot. William doesn’t know Jade was there that day. Nobody knows that, except the people who were actually there; the clean-up crew, the doctors, my dad, and me. And Grace knows because Arlin told her.

“He doesn’t know about that,” I say to my dad.

“Are you sure? You said you walked in late.”

Shit, that’s right. I hope Jade didn’t tell him.

“Jade, did you tell William anything about the day I was shot?”

“No. Why?” She looks even more confused.

“I’ll let you tell her,” my dad says. “Does William know about my involvement?”

“No.” Garret glances at me. “I told him you didn’t find out about Jade until after Royce was dead.”

“I have to go. Someone’s calling on the other line. It’s probably William.”

“When you talk to him, ask him about Walt, the guy he’s had following Jade. I don’t trust that guy.”

“Garret, I need to answer William’s call.”

“Yeah, okay, bye.”

Jade’s looking at me. “Why are you so freaked out about your dad? Why is it a secret that your dad knew about me?”

“Let’s talk about this at home.” I go and open the door. “I don’t like being in this room.”

She grabs my arm. “Wait. Why can’t William know I was at your house when you were shot? Are you saying William doesn’t know what happened that day? But the organization covered it up. So what did they tell the members? What did your dad tell them?”

“Jade, we can’t talk about this here.” I give her a look that I’m not kidding around. Someone could be listening. Walt could’ve planted microphones in the room. Knowing that’s a possibility, I shouldn’t have been talking to my dad in here.

“Come on.” I take Jade’s hand and we walk across campus back to the car. She’s quiet on the drive home and so am I. I don’t want to talk about this in the car.

When we get back, I drop our backpacks on the floor and lead her to the couch to sit down.

“Nobody knows, Jade. Not William. Not any of them. If they knew Royce came to my house to kill you that day, they would’ve known you were connected to him somehow. They would’ve found out you were a Sinclair. And we couldn’t have them knowing that.”

“Why?” Before I can answer Jade says, “Because they’d do something bad to William. The organization makes you disclose all information and Royce didn’t tell them about my mom or me. So if they found out, they’d have to punish him. And since Royce and Arlin are gone, they’d punish William.”

“How did you know all that?”

“Arlin told me. At the time, I didn’t put it together. But now I get it. I see why your dad couldn’t tell the organization the truth about that day.”

“It’s not just William’s safety my dad was worried about. It was your safety as well. My dad didn’t want them knowing you’d witnessed what happened that day. The cleaning crew. The doctors. The cover-up in the media. If the organization found out you’d seen all that, they would’ve—” I stop before I say it.

“They would’ve what?”

I don’t want to say it. I don’t even like thinking about it.

She sits back on the couch. “They would’ve killed me.”

“Which is why I always tell you not to talk about the stuff you’ve seen, or any of the stuff I’ve told you that I probably shouldn’t have.”

She’s staring down at her hands, which are fidgeting in her lap. “So what story did your dad give them?”

“He told them Royce came to the house that day and accused my dad of having an affair with Victoria, and that when my dad told him it wasn’t true, Royce went crazy. He said Royce took his gun out and threatened to shoot me if my dad didn’t admit he had the affair. So my dad said he went along with it and admitted to the affair, which made Royce so angry that he shot me to get back at my dad. And that’s when my dad shot him.”

“And your dad just came up with that?”

“Royce was always accusing men of sleeping with his wife. He was paranoid about it and everyone in the organization knew that. Plus Royce had been acting really strange in the weeks before it happened, I think because he was freaked out about you. He thought you knew about him and he thought you’d tell the media and ruin his chance for the presidency. Anyway, the story my dad told them was so believable that nobody questioned it. Then Arlin found that file about you and he went to talk to my dad and my dad told him what really happened.”

“Why did he tell him the truth? He could’ve just lied.”

“I don’t know. Maybe Arlin didn’t believe my dad’s story. Maybe he threatened to have the organization look into Royce’s death. If so, my dad would’ve had no choice but to tell Arlin the truth.”

“But your dad doesn’t want William knowing?”

“No.” I wish she’d stop asking these questions because I know she won’t like the answers.

“Why can’t William know?”

“Because my dad doesn’t know him that well.”

“Your dad’s been friends with the Sinclair family for years.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. My dad knew Royce since college, but he never would’ve guessed he was the type of person who would do what he did to your mom. Or the type of person who would try to kill his own daughter.”

“So your dad doesn’t trust William. Is that why I wasn’t supposed to tell William your dad knew about me? I wouldn’t have told him that if I’d known it was such a big secret.”

“It’s not so much a secret that my dad knew you were Royce’s daughter. It’s the timing of when he found out that’s a secret.”

“Why? What’s the timing have to do with it?”

“Because like you said, members must disclose all information, including information they have about other members. But if you find out something after the person is dead, you’re not required to disclose it, although they would like you to. Anyway, if my dad didn’t find out about you until after Royce died, he can’t be punished.”

“You think William would’ve told on your dad if he knew the truth?”

“Maybe. I don’t know William well enough to say, and until I do, we need to be cautious around him. I don’t want him knowing our secrets.”

“What does William do for the organization? You said they get rid of people and cover it up. What else do they make the members do?”

“I’m not talking about this, Jade. I never should’ve said that. I was just angry and it came out. I don’t want you knowing what goes on there. And I don’t want you thinking about my dad that way. He doesn’t want to do this stuff. And I’m sure William doesn’t want to either.”

I can’t tell Jade what goes on at the organization. I don’t even know half of it, but I do know they make their members kill anyone who knows too much. A reporter who keeps asking questions and searching for answers. Someone who saw or overheard something they shouldn’t have. A person the organization hired to do their dirty work who threatened to expose them. They’ll basically kill anyone they suspect might tell their secrets.

The members don’t do the killing themselves. They hire people. When my dad says he’ll get ‘his people’ working on it, he usually means the people he hires to take care of shit, meaning get rid of whoever’s on the organization’s hit list.

It’s similar to the mafia, but the organization would kill you just for saying that. They think they’re better than that. They think they’re saving the world. The way they explained it to me last spring is that they put the right people in positions of power in order to keep the world from the chaos that would ensue if they let just anyone take over.

The chaos they’re referring to is the loss of their own personal wealth and power. For instance, if the president was someone they didn’t put there, someone they couldn’t control, decisions might be made that would disrupt their perfect little world.

They don’t care about everyone else. All they care about is preserving the life they’re accustomed to. A life of incredible wealth and power. But they’d never admit that’s what they’re doing. They prefer to stick to their saving-the-world mantra. And some of them actually believe it. In fact, when I talked with some of the members last year, a few of them actually said that the world as we know it would end if they weren’t controlling it.

“Garret, do you think William still won’t believe me? Even after he talks to Grace and your dad?”

“It’s hard to say. I don’t know how close he was to his brother. Sometimes when someone’s dead, it’s easier to forgive what they’ve done or to pretend those things never happened.”

“If that’s true, then he’ll hate me. William will hate me for saying those things about Royce.”

“Which is why he can’t know what really happened that day at my house. If he gets pissed at you for saying that stuff, or if he thinks you might tell your story to the press and ruin his brother’s name, he might decide to come after you.”

“Come after me? What do you mean?”

“Think about it, Jade. Think about what would happen if he told the other members you were at my house that day and witnessed all of that. William wouldn’t have to tell them you were Royce’s daughter. He could just say he found out you were at the house when Royce shot me.”

“You’re saying William would tell the members that so they’d kill me?”

“I hope not, but we don’t know anything about this guy. What if he’s not that different from Royce? We can’t be too careful.”

“Why wouldn’t he just kill me himself?”

“Because Grace might find out and he wouldn’t want her knowing he did that. It’s better if someone else did it.”

“That doesn’t make sense. William isn’t a killer. If he was, he would’ve killed me when he thought I was trying to steal his family’s money.”

“I agree, and that’s why I don’t think he’ll do anything to you. But since we’re not one hundred percent sure, we can’t take any chances. So it’s best if he doesn’t know you were there that day.”

Jade leans over and hugs my chest. “I don’t feel very good. I thought I’d be happy when I finally met William, but I’m not. I’m not sure how I feel.”

“I’m sorry, Jade.” I put my arms around her. “This whole thing is just complicated.”

Nothing’s simple in families like mine and the Sinclairs. After seeing how hard it was just to date me, Jade knows this, but she doesn’t realize how complex things can get when the organization is involved. People like my dad and William have to be careful in everything they do. There are consequences to every action and your friend can become your enemy overnight.

I don’t think William’s an enemy, but in our world, you can never be sure.