Page 63

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

JADE

Garret never came to the kitchen, so I went looking for him and found him coming in from outside. He’s holding that device that tests for hidden microphones.

“Where were you?” I ask him.

“Out talking to Carson.” He takes his coat off and hangs it in the closet.

“Carson was here?”

“He followed us this morning and he’s been sitting out there on the street for who knows how long.”

“Why do you have that wand thing?”

Garret sets it in the study, then comes back out into the foyer. “I had to make sure Carson wasn’t recording me.”

“What did he say?”

“That he’s not giving up. That he’s determined to find out who the other members are.”

“So he still thinks your dad is one?”

“Yeah. That’s why he’s following him. Carson’s convinced that my dad will lead him to the other members.”

“You need to tell your dad this.”

Pearce appears just as I say it. He’s talking to Lilly. “Go up and change and then we’ll go.” She runs up the stairs. “We’re going out for an early dinner,” he says to Garret. “I gave Charles the night off.”

“Dad, Carson was just here.”

“Who’s Carson?”

“That guy, Justin. Jade and I know him as Carson. Anyway, he followed us this morning.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And you’re okay with this?”

“I wanted him following us. I was recording him. I have it all on video. And I told the driver to lose him before we got there so Justin wouldn’t find out our location.”

“Why were you recording him?”

“I’m collecting evidence to prove that Hanniford’s not giving up in his mission to expose the organization. Justin will keep following me until he finds what he’s looking for. If I’m able to show the members how determined he is, I might be able to distance myself from the organization.”

“You think they’d let you out?” Garret asks.

“Not completely, but they might be forced to release me from some of my commitments. If I’m constantly being followed, it puts the other members at risk. They don’t want to have to worry about their identities being revealed or the group being exposed. It would be easier if they kept me at a distance, meaning I would no longer attend the meetings or be involved in their activities. I’d continue to run the company and give them access to whatever they need there, but that would be it.”

“How long have you been planning this?” I ask.

“For several months now. I’ve already shared my concerns about Hanniford with the members, and at the meeting this afternoon, the topic came up again. I explained how I’m being followed everywhere I go and that there’s a good chance Hanniford will eventually discover the identities of some of the other members. Everyone agreed that it would be best if I step away for a while.”

“But they could easily end this,” Garret says. “They could just kill Carson.”

“He’s not the only one who’s been following me. There are others, including that FBI agent. Getting rid of Carson, I mean, Justin, won’t make this end.”

“So they’re not going to kill him, right?” I ask Pearce.

“I can’t control what they do. What Justin is doing is dangerous and he’s putting himself at risk.”

I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Carson annoys me, but I don’t want him getting hurt. Or killed.

Pearce continues. “The members aren’t worried about Justin right now. He’s young and a nobody, so if he told his theories to the press, it’s unlikely they’d take it seriously. Hanniford is the one they’re concerned about. He’ll be the one they’ll go after. He’s been voicing his theories to anyone who will listen. So far, his theories haven’t gotten much traction. People aren’t taking him seriously. But if he was able to provide evidence to support his theories, it could cause problems.”

“Problems, as in it could destroy the organization?” I ask.

Pearce laughs a little. “No. That would never happen. And even if it did, nothing would change. Hanniford doesn’t understand that we aren’t the only group trying to manage how things are run in this country. If we weren’t in charge, one of those other groups would be. And as much as you don’t like the organization and what they do, those other groups are far worse. It’s better us than them. And at least now you’re on the inside. You’re protected.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

Pearce puts his arm around me. “You and Garret need to go on with your lives and stop worrying about this.”

“What are they going to do to Hanniford?”

He smiles. “Jade, I just told you to stop worrying about this. Focus on school and your future with Garret.”

“I just don’t like people getting hurt. I don’t want Carson to end up like his sister.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Pearce lets me go as Lilly comes back down the stairs.

We leave for dinner, and when we get back we play a board game with Lilly. There’s no more talk about Carson or Hanniford or the organization. I ask Garret about it later when we’re in bed and he repeats what his dad says. I’m not to worry about it. We’re done with this. We’re not looking back. We’re staying out of it and focusing on the future. It’s exactly what I want to do, but I think it’ll take a while for me to put this behind me and accept that this is over. That the organization will finally leave us alone.

The next morning, Pearce drives us to the private airport where he keeps his jet. I’m not thrilled about getting on a small plane, but all the regular flights were booked with people flying home after Christmas. If we wanted to fly commercial, we’d have to wait until later this week and we can’t. We need to get home. We promised Sean and Harper we’d meet them in LA tomorrow.

On the drive to the airport, Lilly’s sitting next to me in the back seat. When we’re almost there, she says, “Do you have to go?”

“Yeah. Garret and I are going to see Sean and Harper tomorrow in LA. We’re spending New Year’s with them.”

Lilly tugs on my arm. I lean down and she says, “Sean is cute.”

I laugh. “He is cute, isn’t he?”

Garret’s in the front seat, but he heard us talking. He whips around and says to Lilly, “Did you just say Sean is cute?”

She nods, a shy smile on her face.

“Since when do you think boys are cute?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

He sighs and turns back around. I swear, he will not survive if we have girls.

I feel Lilly staring at me, specifically my stomach. “Are you having a baby?”

“Baby? No, I’m not having a baby.” I look down at my stomach. I don’t look pregnant, so why would she say that? “Why would you think I’m having a baby?”

“Mom’s having a baby. Why aren’t you?”

Pearce turns the radio down. He must’ve heard Lilly.

“I’m kind of young to have a baby. Usually you wait until you’re a little older. I have to finish college first.”

“And then you’ll have a baby?”

Garret looks back at me and smiles.

“Um, probably. Or maybe a few years after college.”

I see Pearce eyeing me in the rear view mirror. “I have to wait that long to be a grandfather?” He smiles.

This is awkward. I’ve never talked about this with Garret’s family. I just recently talked to Garret about it.

Before I can answer Pearce, Lilly says, “You should have it now. Then I’d have another sister to play with.”

“The baby would be your niece, not your sister,” Garret says. “You’d be an aunt.”

“Like your Aunt Caroline,” Pearce says. “Remember her? She came for Christmas one year.”

Caroline is Katherine’s sister who lives in France. Garret never mentions her. I think he’s only met her that one time at Christmas.

“I didn’t like Aunt Caroline,” Lilly says.

“I’m not a fan of her either,” Pearce says quietly to Garret.

“Max said babies don’t come from storks,” Lilly says.

That’s just great. Garret already doesn’t like Lilly’s friend, Max, also known as bow tie boy. Now Garret will hate him even more, knowing he’s telling Lilly the truth about babies.

Garret turns back to look at Lilly. “Where did he say they came from?”

“He didn’t say. The bell rang and we had to go inside.”

“Don’t listen to him.” Garret faces forward again. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The stork brings babies. That’s all you need to know.”

“Garret, don’t confuse—”

“Dad, she’s seven. It’s not time yet.”

Lilly holds my hand. “I hope you have 10 babies and they’re all girls and they all wear pink and have long blond hair.”

Garret laughs. “So you basically want 10 copies of yourself.”

“I just want someone to play with,” she says quietly.

I smile at her. “I’ll see what I can do, okay? But 10 is kind of a lot.”

We arrive at the airport, which is just a big square building. It doesn’t really look like an airport. A man comes out and takes our luggage. As we approach the door to the building, it swings open and Victoria storms out, wearing sunglasses and a long black coat with fur around the neckline.

She sees me and abruptly stops right in front of me. “You! How dare you and your whore of a mother destroy my family like this!” She reaches up like she’s going to slap me, but Garret and Pearce both grab her arm before she does it.

“Get away from her!” Garret’s in front of me now, still holding Victoria’s arm.

“Garret, let me handle this,” Pearce says. “Take Jade and Lilly inside.”

Lilly’s behind me, holding on to my coat. I’m sure she’s scared after hearing Victoria yell at me like that and seeing her almost hit me.

Garret picks Lilly up and takes my hand. “Let’s go.”

We go inside, but I can still hear Pearce talking. “You come near my family again and I’ll make sure you—”

I can’t hear the rest of what he says because Garret’s pulling me away from the door. He doesn’t want Lilly hearing any of that.

We go and sit down on one of the couches. The airport is an open space that has couches and chairs. Some TVs hang down from the ceiling. There are windows all along the back wall where you can see the private planes lined up. Lilly runs off to look out the window while Garret and I remain seated and wait for Pearce. He comes in about a minute later and sits across from us.

“Why was she here?” Garret asks him.

“She wanted to use the Sinclair jet, but the pilot told her she’s not allowed on it. William banned her from using it. She’ll have to fly commercial.”

I laugh, then cover my mouth. “Sorry. I guess it’s not really funny.”

Garret laughs. “Are you kidding? It’s fucking hilarious. Can you imagine Victoria on a regular plane? I’m sure she’ll fly first class, but still. She’s gonna hate it.”

Pearce nods toward the windows. “You two need to go. They’re loading your luggage.” We stand up and Pearce gives Garret a hug. “It was good having you home.” He lets Garret go and gives me a hug. “Come back any time. I miss having you two close by.”

I smile at him. “We miss you, too. Maybe you could come out for spring break.”

“Yes, I’ll try to clear my schedule.” He walks us over to the windows where Lilly is standing, looking out at the planes. “Honey, say goodbye.”

She turns around and hugs me. “Please don’t go.”

I kneel down and hug her back. “We’ll come back soon and see you. And your dad will take you to California, so we’ll see each other a lot.”

My words don’t seem to help. Her eyes are tearing up. She hugs Garret as he picks her up.

He kisses her cheek. “Hey, don’t be sad. You can call me whenever you want, okay?”

She nods. “I love you, Garret.”

“I love you, too.” He hugs her tight once more, then sets her down.

“Have a good New Year’s,” Pearce says.

“Yeah, you too,” Garret says. “Got any plans?”

Pearce picks up Lilly and says to her, “What do you think? Are you going to celebrate New Year’s with me?”

She nods. “Okay.”

He smiles at us. “I guess I have plans.”

Garret laughs. “Those plans will probably involve a tea party.”

Pearce laughs as well. “I imagine they will.” He walks us to the door. “Have a good trip.”

We wave goodbye, then go outside and walk toward the line of planes.

“It’s that one right over there,” Garret says, pointing out his dad’s plane.

“I don’t think I can go on that,” I say as we approach it. “It’s really small.”

Garret holds my hand. “It’s not that small. For a private jet, it’s actually large. You can’t compare it to a commercial jet.”

We get on and take the seats in the back. There are 10 seats and they’re all much larger than the seats on a normal plane. They look comfortable and luxurious, covered in a soft beige leather.

“Have you been on this before?” I ask Garret as I buckle my seatbelt.

He smiles at me. “Jade, I only flew private until I met you.”

“You’d never been on a regular plane before?”

“I had, but it was when I was a kid.”

He means back when his mom was alive. His mom hated small planes because she thought they were dangerous. And she was right. She ended up dying on one. Shit! What if Garret and I die on this thing?

I feel my palms sweating as the plane moves.

“I can’t do this.” I undo my seatbelt. “Let’s get off.”

“Relax.” He fastens my seatbelt again. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

I take some deep breaths and squeeze his hand as the plane goes down the runway. My stupid brain keeps imagining it crashing and going up in flames.

“Think about something else,” Garret says, as if he can read my mind.

“Like what?”

He kisses my cheek. “Our house.”

I’m clutching Garret with one hand and gripping the seat with the other. “We’re not going to have a house because we’re going to die when this thing takes off.”

“It already took off. It was so smooth you didn’t even notice.”

I lean over to look out the window. All I see are clouds. Wow, that really was a smooth takeoff.

“We could die during landing,” I tell him.

“We can’t die,” he says. “We have to be here for our kids.”

“We don’t have kids.”

“Not yet. But we already put in our order, so they’re coming, which means we need to be around for them when they arrive.”

I don’t know how Garret does it, but he always makes me laugh when I don’t at all feel like laughing. “Are you still thinking the stork brings babies, Garret?”

“Just because you haven’t seen him doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist.”

Garret’s so serious, it makes me laugh even more. “And who put this order in? Because I know I didn’t.”

“ I did. You have to get on his list years in advance.”

“And how many did you order?”

“Two. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“Yeah, two’s good. You didn’t tell him to bring them both at once, did you? Because I don’t think I could handle twins.”

“We could handle it.” He kisses me. “But no, I told him to space them apart.”

“How much apart?”

“I didn’t specify. Did you have a timeline in mind?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. Maybe a couple years apart?”

“That works. I’ll send him a note and let him know.”

I laugh again. “You have his address? Where exactly does he live?”

He shrugs. “Somewhere in Florida. He likes warm weather and hanging out on the beach.”

“You’re funny.” I smile and rest my head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

He kisses my head. “I love you, too.”

And just like that, he’s calmed me down. I was a nervous wreck just a few minutes ago and now I’m relaxed and imagining a big white bird sunbathing on the beach in Florida. I love that he can calm me down like that. It’s like he senses what I need and knows just what to do.

Garret rests his head back and reclines a little. The armrest between us is up and I let go of his hand and he instantly raises his arm so I can sneak in my spot against his chest. He lowers his arm over me and it relaxes me even more. I close my eyes and imagine those kids the stork is bringing us. Now that I know I want kids, I get really happy when I think about having them.

I fall asleep, and when I wake up, we’re back in California. Garret’s leaning over, looking out the window.

“We’re almost there.” He rubs my hand. “See? It wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“The plane? No, it was good. But isn’t this against the rules? I mean, isn’t taking your dad’s plane like taking his money?”

“He’s not giving it to us. He’s just letting us use it.”

“I know, but still.”

“If it wasn’t okay, he wouldn’t have let us use it. Besides, I get the feeling they won’t be as strict on the rules now that they know who you are.”

I smile. “I thought we weren’t talking about them anymore.”

“You’re right. We’re not. Talk about something else.”

I glance out the window and see nothing but tree tops. “I’m getting nervous.”

“Don’t be. The landing is as smooth as the takeoff. My dad has really good pilots.”

I feel the plane starting its descent. I sit back and close my eyes and feel Garret’s lips on mine. He’s distracting me so I relax during the landing. And it works. I get so into his kiss, I barely notice the wheels touching down.

When the plane comes to a stop, I open my eyes and see Garret smiling at me. “We’re home. You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” I smile back, realizing that we really are home. This is our home. We’re going to stay here in California and build a house and have a family.

After all the obstacles that have been thrown at us, I was starting to think that our dream would never happen. But now I feel like it finally will. Garret and I are going to have what we always wanted. A life together. Without any more interference.

“Jade, are you coming?” Garret’s standing in the aisle of the plane, looking down at me in my seat.

I stand up and hug him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He kisses me. “Let’s go home.”

Home. Garret and I have a home. Together. And I finally feel like nobody’s going to take it away from us.