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CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

GARRET

I bolt up from the bed, put my coat on, grab my keys, and burst out the door. I get in the car and speed down the road, not stopping until I reach my house. My dad changed the code on the gate but the security guy knows me and lets me in. He must assume my dad knew I was coming because he doesn’t act surprised. But he does make a comment about my getting there so late. I tell him my plane was delayed.

I go in the house, which is dimly lit by the sconces that line the halls. We always keep them on at night, as well as the small lamp that sits on the table in the foyer.

I walk up the stairs and sneak down the hall to my room. I go to my closet and take out the small metal safe. I punch in the code and open the safe and pull out my gun. I take the bullets and load the gun, my hand shaking a little.

I look at the loaded gun in my hand. I don’t know if I can do this. But I have to. If I don’t, he’ll kill Jade.

I make sure I clicked the safety on the gun, then quietly walk out of my room, back down the hall, and down the stairs.

“Garret?” It’s my dad. I turn my head and see him walking toward me from the living room. He’s still in his suit pants and white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up a little. He has on a tie, but it’s loosened a bit.

“I have to go.” I walk to the foyer, heading to the door, but my dad steps in front of me.

“What are you doing here?”

I don’t answer him. I can’t come up with a lie. I’m too out of it to think. And I’m shaking. Why am I shaking? Shit. My grandfather’s right. I am weak. I should be able to do this. I should storm past my dad, get in the car, and go shoot the man who plans to kill my wife.

My dad glances down at my hand and sees the gun.

“Garret, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I can’t answer him. I can’t look at him. So I stand there, my gaze on the tile floor.

He reaches down and slowly takes the gun from my hand.

“Son, this isn’t you.” He says it softly.

I hear him move beside me and set the gun down on the table.

He comes back in front of me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Garret, look at me.”

I lift my head and see his face. He doesn’t look angry. He looks concerned.

“Dad, I didn’t know what else to do.”

He pulls me into him, his arms wrapped around me. “I know. I understand.”

And he does. This is like him and my mom all over again. I don’t know all that happened back then, but I know my dad always worried my grandfather might do something to hurt my mom. And in the end, he did.

My dad grips my shoulders, his eyes on mine. “Listen to me. I know you’re desperate to do something, but this isn’t the answer. This is not you, Garret. You’re not a murderer. You don’t hurt people. I may not have been the best father to you, but I did everything in my power to keep you from becoming me. Or him. And I will not let you do it now.”

“He challenged me to do it. I went there and I almost attacked him with my bare hands. And he waited for me to do it. And when I didn’t, he said I was weak.”

“Killing someone does NOT make you strong. It does NOT make you a man. It makes you a monster, like my father.” He glances at the gun, then back at me. “It changes you. Once you take someone’s life, you can’t go back to how you used to be. You’ll never be the same. That’s why my father challenged you to do this. He wants you to change. To be just like him. Even if doing so results in his own death. He’d be happy dying, knowing he did that to you. But I won’t let that happen. I won’t let my father take away the person that you are. You’re a good man, Garret. A good son. A good husband. You’re better than my father or I will ever be.” He pauses. “You have no idea what I’ve done over the years. And I don’t want you to know. I try to think of that side of me as someone else. The person my father created, not the real me. But I have to live with that part of myself every day, and believe me, you don’t want to live this way.” He looks down at the floor, then up at me again. “I know you don’t want to lose Jade and I don’t either. I love her like she was my own daughter. That’s why I told you I’d take care of this. You just need to trust me.”

“I did, but nothing happened. And I couldn’t just sit and wait for you to do something.”

“Things have happened. You’re just not aware of them. This is being taken care of.”

“Are you the one who drugged him?”

He sighs. “Garret, it’s late. Go upstairs. Get some rest and we’ll talk about this in the morning.”

“No. I’m sorry, Dad, but I have to end this.” I grab the gun from the table and run out the door before he can stop me.

“Garret, get back here!” He follows me to the driveway. “You don’t need to do this!”

I get in the car and take off, heading toward my grandparents’ mansion. It’s now almost midnight and I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get there. My dad’s right. Shooting my grandfather will change me. And once I do it, I can’t go back. But it has to be done. He has to die.

When I get to the mansion, I punch in the code the security guy gave me earlier. The gate opens and I turn off my headlights as I approach the house. I don’t want to wake up my grandmother. Shit. What’s my grandmother going to do? I’m killing her husband. And what about Lilly? I’m killing her grandpa.

I park the car and sit there a moment, the gun in my hand. What the fuck am I doing? My dad’s right. I’m not a murderer.

I get out of the car, leaving the gun behind. I walk up to the door with no plan for what I’m going to do when I get to his room. Then I realize I don’t have a key to the house. I can’t get in. I turn the door handle and it opens. What the hell? Don’t they lock their doors? And where are the security guards? There should be at least one outside watching the gate. This is odd. Something doesn’t feel right.

I go inside. The house is quiet, but not completely dark. They always keep a few lights on downstairs. I slowly walk up to his room. I’m now convinced I’ve lost my mind, showing up at my grandfather’s house in the middle of the night, not even sure what I’m going to do.

The room he’s in is at the far end of the hall, and as I’m walking there I hear voices. It sounds like a man and a woman. Maybe his doctor and nurse? I’m not sure, but if his medical team is in there, I need to leave. As I’m about to turn back, I hear the woman speaking. The voice sounds familiar. I step closer to the door.

“Are you sure he’s out?” she asks.

It’s Katherine. What the hell is she doing here in the middle of the night?

“He’s out,” the man says. “Sleeping like a baby. Go ahead.” The man sounds familiar, too, but I’m not sure who it is.

I remain outside the door.

“There. It’s done,” Katherine says. “Straight to the bloodstream this time. Double the dose. It’s nice to have friends in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Pharmaceutical industry? Was she talking to…no, that can’t be right.

I hear the man’s voice again. “Now we just wait.”

Holy shit! That’s William’s voice. William’s in there with Katherine. What the fuck?

I walk into the room. “What are you two doing here?”

Katherine is standing by my grandfather’s bed, right next to the IV pole, a syringe in her hand. William is across from her.

“Garret!” Katherine drops the syringe, a look of horror and shock on her face. “Get out of here! Right now!”

When I don’t move, William says, “Garret, you need to leave.”

I look down at my grandfather. His eyes are closed and his skin is getting paler by the second.

“What’s going on here?” I ask William.

“Nothing,” Katherine snaps. “Now get out!”

“What did you do to him?” I ask her. “What did you put in his IV?”

William answers in a calm, even tone, his eyes on Katherine. “She injected a drug that is now seeping through his veins, slowly killing him.”

My eyes shift back to my grandfather. His breathing is getting slower, more labored. The color continues to drain from his face. My grandfather’s dying. Right now. Before my eyes. And I’m not doing anything. I’m just standing here, watching him die.

“Why the hell would you tell him that?” Katherine spits out at William.

“Garret wants him dead as much as we do.”

We? Why does William want my grandfather dead? And why does Katherine?

Katherine turns to me. “Why would you want to kill your own grandfather?”

“Because he was going to kill Jade.” I’m not even sure if I said the words out loud as I try to figure out if this is really happening.

“So you came all the way out here to kill him?”

“I wasn’t going to—I mean, I just needed to talk to him. Get him to back down. Leave Jade alone.”

Katherine smiles and looks at William. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

“Katherine, don’t. He doesn’t need to know.”

“Know what?” I ask her.

“Jade is dead,” she says bluntly.

I reach over and grab her arm. “Why the fuck would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s true. She’s dead. That piece of trash is finally out of our lives.”

“You’re lying.” I let go of her and turn to William. “Why would she say that about Jade?”

He clears his throat. “Jade’s not one of us. We can’t let people like her marry into families like ours.”

“People like her ? She’s a fucking Sinclair!”

“You knew she was a Sinclair?” Katherine says to William.

I ignore her and go up to William and shove him back against the wall. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Garret, just calm down.”

“Calm down? Katherine just told me Jade’s dead! And you want me to calm down?” I’m so filled with rage I could kill him, right here, right now. “You better tell me this is some kind of sick joke or I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

“William ordered his security guards to shoot her,” Katherine says. “Left a nice suicide note as well.”

“No.” I back away from him and wait for him to deny it.

But he doesn’t. He just stands there, showing zero emotion.

My mind is racing, refusing to believe this, trying to find an explanation. Why would William hurt Jade? Did he want revenge for Royce’s death? Was that his plan all along? Get close to Jade and then kill her? But William cares about her. He was trying to protect her. He kept telling me to protect her.

“No!” I remain in front of him, my hands clenched, my heart thumping hard against my chest. “You wouldn’t do that! I fucking trusted you! You promised me you’d protect her! Katherine’s lying. Tell me she’s lying!”

He says nothing. I get my phone out and call Jade. It goes straight to voicemail. I call again. Same thing. Why the hell isn’t she answering?

I hear Katherine again. “She’s dead, Garret.”

“Tell me she’s lying!” I yell it at William. “Tell me she’s fucking lying!”

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Garret. It had to be done.”

“No!” I drop my phone and lunge at him.

“Garret!” My dad races into the room, grabbing me and yanking me away, holding me back.

“He killed Jade!” I fight against my dad, my eyes on William, who’s now texting someone on his phone. “He admitted it! He—”

“Garret, stop!” My dad yanks me back even more. As I continue to fight him, he says by my ear, “It’s not real. I’ll explain later.”

What? What’s not real? This whole scene is so fucked up I don’t know if any of this is real.

He lets me go and I turn to see his face. He nods slightly, then his eyes dart to Katherine, then back at me. He’s telling me something. What is he telling me?

“Pearce!” Katherine cries out as she runs over to him. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I came to see your father and found William putting something into Holton’s IV. I was going to call the ambulance but then you showed up and—”

“Katherine!” he says to her. “That’s enough!”

I hear someone in the hall. Dr. Cunningham comes in, wearing his white lab coat. He goes over to my grandfather and checks his pulse, then listens to his heart. Then he walks over to Katherine. “He’s gone. Do you still want Eleanor to find him in the morning? Or should I go wake her?”

“Please give us a moment,” William says to the doctor.

He nods and leaves the room.

Katherine looks up at my dad. “Pearce, I didn’t do this. I promise you. It was William. I saw him do it. The syringe is still on the floor. The drugs he used were from Sinclair Pharmaceuticals.”

My dad stares down at her. “And how would you know that, Katherine?”

She inhales sharply. “I, I didn’t. I just assumed.”

“You killed him,” my dad says to her. “And William and I will attest to that when we report this to the organization. I imagine the punishment for killing someone at the high-level ranking my father was at will be quite severe. Granted you aren’t a member, but your father is and will be punished accordingly. And you will be as well.”

She shakes her head. “No. You can’t do that. And William…” She looks at him. “William would never accuse me of that. He knows I didn’t—”

“The game’s over, Katherine,” he says, coming over to her. “We played you. Got you to do what needed to be done and kept our hands clean.”

“But in the end, you’ll get what you want,” my dad says to her. “With my father gone, our divorce will be approved. But you won’t be marrying the senator. They’ll find someone else for him. Someone of a higher social standing. You won’t be allowed in our world anymore. They’ll make sure of that.”

“Pearce, how could you do this to me? I’m your wife! The mother of your child!”

“Yes, about that. I’m getting full custody of Lilly in the divorce.”

She narrows her eyes at him. “You can’t raise our daughter. You’re never even home.”

“And yet I see her more than you do. You’re in the same house with her all day and instead of spending time with her, you ignore her and force her to stay in her room. I’m not arguing about this Katherine. She’s staying with me. If you’d like to fight that, I’d be happy to expose even more of your sins to the members.”

Her eyes bounce between my dad and William. “What are you going to do now? Have me arrested?”

“We’d prefer to avoid the hassle and publicity of an arrest,” William says. “The punishment handed down from the organization should suffice.”

“No. This isn’t right. Pearce, you can’t—”

“Leave,” my dad says to her. “Get what you need from the house and go stay in a hotel.” When she doesn’t move, he yells, “Get out!”

She hurries out of the room.

I storm over to William. “What the fuck did you do to Jade?”

“Nothing,” he says. “I just texted my men and they confirmed that she’s safe and in the house watching TV.”

I pick up my phone and call her. This time she answers.

“Garret, why are you calling so late?”

I finally breathe when I hear her voice. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath this entire time.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No. I mean, as long as you’re okay, then everything’s good.”

“Where are you right now?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll call you when I get back to the hotel. It might be a while.”

“That’s okay. Call me as soon as you can. I’ll wait up. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. Jade. You have no idea how much I want to see you right now.”

“Garret, you don’t sound like yourself. What happened?”

“I’ll explain later.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be. I’m fine. Just relax. Turn on all the Christmas lights and watch a movie. I’ll call you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Bye.”

I put my phone away. William is now standing next to my dad, the two of them talking quietly by the door.

I go up to William. “Why did you let me believe Jade was dead? Why would you do that to me?”

“Because I had to keep this going until I knew Holton was gone. When we started this plan, I needed Katherine to trust me. I told her I was disgusted by the fact that a Kensington would marry someone like Jade and that I had no problem getting rid of her. And to prove it, I told Katherine I took care of Jade tonight. Then I had my men disrupt the cell signal around your house in case Katherine called to see if Jade was really gone. It was all just to gain her trust, Garret. Your father and I needed her to do this for us. Neither one of us could do it. The rules forbid a member from harming another member. And killing a fellow member is punishable by death. We had to find another way.”

That doesn’t make sense. My dad killed Royce and yet my dad’s still alive.

My dad sees my confusion and says, “It’s a new rule, established by your grandfather as soon as he got the promotion. He knew he had enemies within the organization who wanted him dead.”

“I don’t get it,” I say to William. “Why did you want to kill my grandfather?”

“Holton killed my father. He slipped a drug in his drink to induce the heart attack that killed him.”

My dad explains. “Last spring, the organization was preparing to promote Arlin to the highest level. Your grandfather was furious because he wanted that position. And he got it by killing Arlin. I didn’t know this until just recently. When your grandfather was promoted a few months ago, he made a comment about how the position should’ve been his all along, and that Arlin never should’ve even been considered. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I thought he was just making a comment. My father has been friends with Arlin for many years, so I never considered that he might’ve played a role in Arlin’s death. But when you told me what your grandfather had done to your mother, and what he planned to do to Jade, I remembered that comment he made about Arlin. On Thanksgiving, I asked him if he did something to Arlin and he admitted that he killed Arlin and had no regrets about it.”

“This is simply payback,” William says. “An eye for an eye. And we weren’t going to let Holton kill again. After your father told me what Holton had done, and what he planned to do to Jade, I agreed to help him with his plan. We needed Katherine to do it, and your father couldn’t be the one to get her involved. He needed me to do it.”

“Why would Katherine agree to it? Why would she want to kill my grandfather?”

My dad answers. “Because she wants a divorce.”

“A divorce? She knows you two can’t get divorced.”

“Actually, we’ve been planning our divorce for months now. I didn’t want to tell you until it was approved. A few weeks ago, the other members voted to allow it, but your grandfather forbid it. He overrode their decision. He wanted to maintain the benefits that come with being related to Katherine’s family, specifically MDX Aerodynamics.”

That’s the corporation Katherine’s family owns. They make plane engines and parts and their biggest client is the military. After my dad married Katherine, her father used his connections with the military to get Kensington Chemical some very large contracts worth billions of dollars. If Katherine and my dad divorced, we’d probably lose those contracts.

“Why would the members agree to a divorce?” I ask.

“Because the senator Katherine has been dating needs a wife, and Katherine convinced the members she’d be perfect for the role. She needed the divorce so she can marry him. He’s slated to be vice president in the next election and Katherine wants the power and prestige of being the vice president’s wife. And her family wanted her to marry him because he’s chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and can steer billions of dollars to MDX Aerodynamics by way of government contracts.”

“Is the senator a member?”

“No, but he’s been working with us behind the scenes for years.”

The organization has people within the government helping them get away with stuff. Get confidential information. Destroy files. Whatever they need. And in exchange, the person gets rewards. For politicians, like this senator, the reward is a promise of more power, such as a higher position. I learned this last spring when I was at one of the organization’s meetings.

My dad continues. “Katherine also wanted your grandfather gone because her father was one of the men being considered for Arlin’s position. But instead, it was given to your grandfather. By getting rid of him, Katherine was hoping her father would take his place, but now, he’ll most likely be demoted and forced to do the jobs no one wants to do.”

“But how can you prove she did this?” I ask him.

“We can’t. It’s our word against hers, but they’ll believe William and me long before they’ll ever believe Katherine. And she had motive. The members know how much she wanted the divorce. When my father stopped it from happening, she had to find another way. She needed to get rid of him. But I knew she wouldn’t attempt to do it herself. She’d need someone to help. So I purposely told her what my father had done to Arlin because I knew she’d run to William, assuming he’d want revenge. He played along, but told her he couldn’t kill him because of the new rule forbidding it. So Katherine agreed to do it.”

“But the drug she gave him will be traced back to you,” I say to William.

He shakes his head. “No. The drug is nothing special. It’s one he’s already getting in his IV, but in large doses it can be lethal. That syringe contained ten times what his body can tolerate.”

“So what are you going to tell the organization?” I ask William.

“I’ll tell them that Katherine came to me and was asking about various drugs and their effects. I’ll tell them how I answered her questions, but became suspicious of why she was asking, concerned that maybe she planned to drug and kill Pearce so that she’d be free to marry the senator. I’ll explain that I immediately called and warned Pearce, telling him to be careful. And then your father will tell the members that he wasn’t the intended victim. Holton was. He’ll say he found Katherine here, injecting Holton with a lethal dose of drugs, but that it was too late to save him.”

I stand there, trying to sort this all out in my head.

“Pearce, we need to leave,” William says. “Do you want your mother to find out in the morning?”

“No. She needs to find out now. I don’t want the maid to find him here in the morning. Then we’d just have more witnesses to deal with. We need to get him out of here. I’ll make the necessary calls. You speak with Dr. Cunningham. Have him wake my mother. Tell him to go with the story we talked about.”

William leaves and I’m left with my dad. He gets his phone out, but I stop him before he makes his call.

“Dad. You killed him.” I say it quietly.

“No. Katherine did.”

“But you arranged for it to happen.”

“My father taught me how to make the hard decisions. He taught me to make sacrifices for the greater good. I simply did what my father taught me.”

He says it without the slightest hint of emotion. This isn’t the dad I saw earlier at the house. Now I’m seeing the other side of him, the one he pretends isn’t his real self. The dad I’m used to seeing couldn’t do this. He couldn’t plot his own father’s murder. But he knew he had to, so he used the other side of himself, the dark side, to do it.

“Garret, go back to the house. Get some rest.”

“I don’t think I can after this.”

“Then call Jade. Tell her this is over.”

“Is it? Or is someone else going to follow through on his plan?”

My dad sighs. “Let’s not get into this right now. One problem at a time.”

“What does that mean? Who else is in on this?”

“Garret, you need to leave. Cunningham will be waking up my mother soon and you can’t be here.”

“It’s Roth, isn’t it?”

He doesn’t answer. He just looks at his phone.

“Dad, tell me.”

He sighs again. “William and I suspect Roth might’ve been in on it, but not for the same reasons as your grandfather. Roth has no interest in you taking over the company or going to Yale. But he does want you back at the organization, mainly to prove to the other members that you didn’t defeat him last spring.”

“So this isn’t over. He’ll threaten to go after Jade if I don’t agree to be a member.”

“No. That won’t happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“The other members don’t want you back. They only went along with it because Roth and your grandfather insisted on it, and given their high-level positions, the other members wouldn’t dare challenge them.”

“So why are you telling me not to worry? Grandfather is gone, but with Roth still in power, nothing changes.”

“It does if the person who takes over your grandfather’s position disagrees with Roth.”

“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”

My dad lowers his voice. “William believes he’ll be offered the position.”

“Are you serious? Why would they pick him?”

“I can’t share that information. But having him at that level will give you protection, Garret. And protection for Jade. He’ll be able to stop Roth and anyone else who shows interest in you.”

“Is William really getting promoted? Do you know this for sure?”

“No, but we will soon.” He glances at my grandfather. “Now get out of here. I mean it. You can’t be here. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I got a hotel room so—”

“Garret, I need you at the house. I’m going to have a lot to deal with tomorrow and I need you to help me handle Lilly. She won’t understand. She’s never had to deal with death before.”

“Shit. She’s alone at the house right now. She can’t be—”

“She’s not alone. Before I left, I had Charles come over and stay in one of the guest rooms just in case she wakes up. But Lilly needs family, now, Garret. You need to be there for her.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I walk out into the dark hall, down the dimly lit stairs, and out the front door. This is so surreal. My grandfather is dead. I watched him die. I witnessed the set-up. And now, as I leave, the cover-up begins.