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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The flashing lights are so blinding I can’t see. Someone shoves me aside as another person knocks one of my crutches out from under my arm. I lose my balance and come crashing down on the hard concrete. Sharp, prickly pain erupts from my stitched-up knee and radiates down my leg.

“Jade!” I hear Garret calling me, but all I can see are specs of black dots as the flashing lights go off. “Jade! Where are you?”

“On the ground!” I find my crutches and try to get up, but one of the photographers bumps into me, knocking me down again. Then someone’s foot hits my head and I feel dizzy and disoriented. Seconds later, I feel Garret’s arms pulling me up from behind.

“Go back inside,” he says. “We’ll get the crutches later.”

I hold onto Garret and hop on one leg back to the door until we’re safely inside the building again.

“What the hell was that?” I ask, trying to catch my breath.

“It’s Ava’s fucking reality show and the photographers trying to make money off it. Are you all right?”

“I don’t know. I need to get my pants off and see if I tore the stitches open.”

“That guy hit you that hard? I’m gonna fucking kill him!” Garret turns to go outside again.

“Wait! I need help getting back to my room.”

“Yeah, of course.” He picks me up and carries me there, setting me on the bed and carefully sliding my jeans off. I peel the bandage back. There’s blood oozing out around the stitches but they’re still intact.

“You’re bleeding!” Garret whips out his phone. “I’m calling the doctor.”

“No, I don’t want to go back there for this. It’s just a little blood.”

He hesitates, the phone still in his hand, staring at me with this worried look on his face. “How’s your head? Did you hit it when you fell?”

“No, but when I was on the ground some guy kicked it when he walked past.”

“Shit!” Now Garret’s panicked. He calls the doctor and explains what happened. A few minutes later he hangs up. “The doctor wants to see you tomorrow morning at 8. We’ll meet him at a clinic here in town. If you have any symptoms at all you have to tell me and he’ll find someone locally to take a look at you tonight.”

“Garret, calm down. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re hurt and it’s all my fault. First you get hurt finding Lilly. And now you’re hurt because of the paparazzi.”

“So that’s the paparazzi out there? I thought they all worked in LA.”

“They go wherever they need to go to make money and they don’t care what they have to do to get it. I can’t believe those assholes knocked you down like that. Which guy hit your head? I need to go out there and kick his fucking ass.” He starts to get up but I grab his shirt.

“Garret, don’t. That will just make things worse.”

He sighs, looking down at my knee. “What can I do? Should I go get something, like some more bandages? I could run to the drugstore.”

“The bleeding’s already stopped. And the doctor gave me extra bandages. They’re in the top drawer.” Garret goes over to my dresser. “Could you get me some sweatpants, too? I probably shouldn’t put tight jeans on again.”

He comes back over and sits next to me on the bed. He unwraps the bandage and carefully places it over my knee.

I smile as I watch him secure the edges. “I could’ve done that myself, you know.”

He looks up, annoyed. “Would you just let me take care of you?”

I lean down to kiss him. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

He puts my sweatpants on me, being extra careful around my knee. I’m perfectly capable of putting them on myself but he wants to do it so I let him. I’ve never had anyone take care of me the way he does.

Someone knocks on the door and Garret goes to answer it. “Hey, Jaz. Did you see what’s going on outside?”

“Yeah, they got here about an hour ago.” Jasmine, my RA walks in. “Hi, Jade. I heard you fell when you were running last week. Did you break anything?”

“No, I just have some bruises.”

“She has stitches on her knee. And a concussion,” Garret tells her. “And it just got worse thanks to those assholes outside.”

“I checked, and it’s legal for them to be here,” Jasmine says. “They just can’t come into the dorms.”

“How could it be legal?” Garret asks. “This is a private college. It’s private property.”

“I’m just telling you what the dean said. If you’re outside, you’re out in public and that means they can photograph you.”

“And harass us? And cause physical harm? That’s legal?”

“You’ll have to ask an attorney how all that works. I really don’t know.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jaz.”

“I hope you feel better, Jade.”

“Thanks. Hey, would you mind getting my crutches? I left them outside.”

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” She leaves.

Garret was starting to calm down but now he’s fuming. “I can’t believe they can get away with that shit! I need to call my dad and have him ask his lawyers.” He calls him, but his dad doesn’t answer so he leaves a message.

Jasmine drops off my crutches and says the photographers are still there. We check out the window and it looks like half of them have left. Probably the ones who got photos that are good enough to sell.

“Maybe I should just go out there,” Garret says. “That way they’ll get the photos and leave us alone.”

“You can, but I think they’ll keep showing up. They’ll probably follow you everywhere you go now. The show starts in a few weeks and you seem to be the star.”

We stay inside the rest of the day and night. In the morning, the photographers are gone. Garret takes me to see the doctor, who ends up adding stitches to a section of my knee that split open overnight.

Garret’s so worried about me. He wants to do everything for me. I swear he’d carry me to class if I let him. He doesn’t even want me to go to class, but I insist on going. I already missed a day and I hate falling behind.

“You sure you don’t want me to walk with you?” he asks when we’re back in my room.

“Yes. I’ll be fine. Besides you have to get to your own class.”

“How are you going to carry all your stuff?”

“I’ll use my backpack like I always do. Now stop worrying about me and get to class.”

He sighs. “Your refusal to let me help is really annoying.”

“You’ve already helped a ton, but I have to learn to get around on my own. Now give me a kiss in case I die on the way to class.”

“Jade!”

“I’m kidding. Geez, relax.”

He kisses me. “Call me when you there so I know you made it.”

“You’re worrying way too much, but yes, I’ll call you.”

“Thank you.” He shakes his head as he watches me wobble on my crutches.

“Goodbye, Garret,” I say, urging him to leave. He finally does and I make my way slowly across campus.

By the afternoon, I’m already better with the crutches. I even arrive at the science building ten minutes before physics class starts. Carson is standing outside talking on his phone. He hangs up when he sees me approaching.

“Jade, you should’ve called me. I would’ve walked over here with you and carried your backpack.”

“I need to do it myself. I need to practice getting around campus with the crutches.”

“I’m surprised Garret didn’t walk you to class.”

“He wanted to, but I wouldn’t let him. So is our chem paper ready for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I just need to read over it once more.” Carson holds open the door to the science building. As soon as I’m inside he steps in front of me, blocking my path to the elevator. “Jade, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, what?”

“Are you lying about how you got hurt?” Carson has this serious look on his face, like he’s really concerned for me.

“No. I told you. I fell when I was running.”

He puts his hand on my arm. “So Garret didn’t do this to you?”

“What?” I almost laugh it’s so ridiculous. “Of course not! Why would you even say something like that?”

“Because I don’t trust that guy, or anyone in his family. They’re bad people, Jade. I’ve been doing some more research and I really think you need to stay away from them.”

“I assume you’re doing this research online? You know that most of the stuff on the Internet isn’t true, right?”

“I’m serious. These people are dangerous. You don’t want to be involved with them.”

“And how are they dangerous?”

He glances around as if someone might be listening in. “The people around them seem to keep coming up dead.”

“Like who?”

“Royce Sinclair.”

I freeze, wondering if Carson somehow knows what really happened to Sinclair. But that’s impossible. He can’t know.

I’m taking too long to respond and I have to say something to get his suspicious mind from pursuing this theory any further. “That guy killed himself. And Garret’s dad gave Sinclair’s campaign a ton of money. He wanted the guy to be president, so why would he kill him?”

Carson looks down at the floor, scratching his head like I’ve confused him. “Okay, so maybe that’s not the best example.” He looks up again. “But other people Pearce Kensington knew, or had business dealings with, have turned up dead.”

I roll my eyes. “That doesn’t mean he killed them. People die all the time.”

“They’re freaking loaded, Jade, which doesn’t make sense because Kensington Chemical doesn’t make enough money for them to be that rich.”

“Maybe they’re good at investing their money.” I start to move but he grabs my arm.

“Every politician Pearce Kensington has supported for the past 20 years has ended up winning.”

“Yeah? So?” I yank my arm back.

“Don’t you find that suspicious?”

“No, I really don’t.” I go around him to the elevators.

“I’m not giving up on this. I’m going to keep digging until I find out the truth about these people.” He holds the elevator door open for me.

As we ride up to the third floor, I hear Garret’s warnings in my head. The warnings he gave me last semester when I was determined to learn the truth about my mother. He told me to never dig up the past. That it could be dangerous and could get me killed. That people like his family will do anything to keep their secrets buried. And after what I’ve seen, I know that it’s true.

“Carson, you really need to let this go. If you think doing this is going to get me to break up with Garret, you’re wrong. I love him, and nothing you say is going to change that.”

“Garret is a Kensington. Do you really think he’s not involved in whatever it is his family is doing? Or doesn’t at least know about it?”

I turn to face him. “We’re done talking about this. Garret is not doing whatever bad things you think he’s doing and neither is his family.” I step off the elevator with Carson right next to me. “And if you want us to still be friends, you’ll drop this. Otherwise, our friendship ends right now. I won’t even talk to you anymore outside of class.”

He holds my backpack strap so I can’t move forward. “I have a whole file of stuff about the Kensington family and the people they associate with. If you’d just look at the file, you’d see. There’s something strange going on with them. If you only consider a single incident, then no, you wouldn’t suspect anything. But when you look at everything together, things look much different. Just come to my room tonight and I’ll show you.”

I tug on my backpack, but he keeps hold of the strap. “I’m not going to your room. I told you, I’m not interested in dating you. And this is the last time I’m going to say it.”

“Jade, I just want you to see the file. If you don’t want to come to my room, then we’ll go to the library. Or we’ll go to that coffee shop again.”

“I don’t care about your stupid file! Now let me go. I mean it.”

He finally lets go of my backpack, then walks ahead of me to open the door to the physics classroom. He keeps quiet as he waits for me to walk in.

When I’m in my seat I send a text to Garret letting him know I made it, then I flip through my physics book refusing to look at Carson sitting beside me. I’ve had it with him. I’m sick of his accusations and his attempts to get me to break up with Garret. And now he’s got me wondering what exactly he has in that file, which pisses me off because I’m finally starting to like Garret’s dad. I even trust him a little.

Mr. Kensington saved my life when he killed Royce Sinclair. And he’s been kind and generous to me ever since then. He’s supportive of my relationship with Garret. He stuck up for me with Katherine. He’s paying for my tuition. He bought me a car. He paid for my medical care. Plus he’s paying for that doctor to help Frank. How bad could the guy be?

It just takes one seed of doubt to wipe all that away. And that idiot Carson has done just that. Now, as I think back to what Mr. Kensington has done for me and the timing of it, part of me wonders if he’s paying for my loyalty. Paying me to keep quiet. Making me so enmeshed with his family that I can’t ever get out.

That night when I overheard Garret’s dad fighting with Katherine, he said I’d seen too much. That I was one of them. So is his kindness only due to the fact that I know their secrets? Am I being rewarded for keeping those secrets?

Carson’s accusations have me so flustered that I can’t concentrate and I miss most of physics class. Afterward he insists on walking me back to my room, but I lie and tell him I have to go to Student Services. He heads back without me.

The Student Services building is a few buildings down from the science building and the opposite direction from my dorm. Carson walks across the open quad, looking back to check that I’m really going where I said I was going. He’s walking super slow and I actually reach Student Services while he’s still only halfway to the dorms. Tired of having him check up on me, I walk to the side of the building by the parking lot so I’m out of his sight. I take a seat at a picnic table and rest for a moment. The sun is really warm today and it feels good soaking into my black coat.

As I sit there, I notice that I don’t feel very good. I put my arms on the table and rest my head on them, closing my eyes. After a few minutes, I still don’t feel good. I’m really dizzy and I think I might pass out. It must be complications from the concussion.

“Jade?” A man is speaking. He sounds older and I assume he’s one of my professors asking me if I need help. And I think I do. The dizzy feeling is getting worse.

I slowly lift my head, squinting in the bright sun. I sit up and see two tall, very large men next to me. My heart lurches against the wall of my chest in complete panic as I realize that I can’t escape whatever this is. Even if I didn’t have the crutches to deal with, I still couldn’t get away.

An older man, probably in his seventies, is sitting across from me. He’s wearing a suit and a long black overcoat.

“Jade, I need to talk to you,” he says.

His face is very familiar. The way he looks at me is familiar, too. I feel like I know him.

“Who are you?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize where I saw him. New York. Rockefeller Center. He’s the old man who bumped into me. The man I saw on TV with Royce Sinclair. But who is he and why is he here? My mind barely gets the question formed before he answers.

“I’m Arlin Sinclair. Royce’s father. Your grandfather.”

I glance at the large men blocking me on each side, then across to the man who is claiming to be my grandfather.

I have no words because I can’t breathe. I think I’m holding my breath, but I’m not sure. It doesn’t matter because soon I’ll have no breath at all. The old man is obviously here to kill me. Here to finish the job his son didn’t complete. Get rid of the evidence. Get rid of me.

I don’t know why he’s doing this. It shouldn’t matter now. His son is dead. Nobody cares what he did.

But his father must. Because here he is, sitting across from me, prepared to bury this deep, dark family secret once and for all.