I’m confused. He breaks into my house and cancels my classes just to tell me he wants me back in his life? Like he couldn’t have called first? Done this after class?
Whatever. I’ve never understood him. No need to try to do so now.
“I want that, too, Grandfather. But in order for us to have a relationship again, you have to accept Jade. She’s my wife. She’s part of our family now.”
“People do not become part of our family because of a piece of paper you obtained at the local courthouse. Being part of this family is a privilege reserved for only a certain few. Like Katherine.”
“Jade is a Kensington. If you don’t accept that, then you’re not accepting me. This won’t work if you continue to treat her like an outsider.”
He uncrosses his legs, then crosses them again on the other side. “Let’s discuss your future, Garret.”
Here we go again. Another lecture about taking over the company. So I guess he isn’t here to make amends.
“I don’t know exactly what went on last spring but I know you didn’t do all those things. Trashing hotel rooms. Destroying your father’s cars. Being with all those women. It doesn’t make sense that after all that, you just became this model citizen, living in a small town, going to college, involved with only one woman.”
He refuses to call Jade my wife. Or even say her name. It pisses me off but I try to remain calm and focus on the stuff he said about last spring. I don’t want him figuring out what really went on.
“I hit rock bottom,” I say matter-of-factly. “And after that, I changed my life. I didn’t want to be like that anymore.”
“Or. . . you faked that behavior to ruin your image so you could get out of being president.” A smug smile crosses his face. “But you would never do such a foolish thing, now would you, Garret?”
My heart stops. Like completely stops. And then I breathe again.
“Of course I wouldn’t. How would I even do something like that?”
“You’d need help. Help from someone powerful. Maybe someone like Arlin Sinclair?”
I feel my pulse speed up but I keep my breathing steady. “What are you talking about? I barely knew that guy.”
“You knew him quite well. Our family has been friends with the Sinclairs for years. You had a relationship with his granddaughter, Sadie. And if I’m not mistaken, Arlin’s wife, Grace, attended what you considered to be some sort of wedding ceremony last July.”
Shit. How did he know that? My dad wouldn’t tell him. Did Roth? He was at the hotel. Maybe he saw Grace there. Or did Roth have someone spying on the wedding? Or maybe Lilly told him Grace was there. She probably did. But how does my grandfather know about Arlin? Or is he just saying that to see my reaction? If he knows what Arlin did for me, does the rest of the organization know, too? If so, they would’ve killed him. They would’ve caused that heart attack he had.
So does my grandfather know my dad was involved in what happened last spring? He doesn’t act like he does, so maybe not. Arlin did most of the hands-on work, not my dad.
“If Arlin was such a good friend of the family,” I say, “then you shouldn’t accuse him of things he didn’t do, especially since he’s dead now and can’t defend himself.”
“The point is that I’m going to fix the mess you made last year. I will restore your public image so that you can enter society again and be seen as a leader.”
“I don’t need you to do that. I’m not worried about my image.”
“Which is why I will worry about it for you. But you will do your part to ensure that your image is restored. We’ll go over the plans for that at a later time. For now, let’s discuss your education. In the spring semester you will be transferring to Yale, where I attended and where your father attended. You will—”
“Wait, what? I’m not going to Yale. I’m going to school here. At Camsburg.”
“You’re going to Yale. I’ve already spoken to the people in charge and you’ve been accepted for the spring semester.”
“I never even applied. How could I be accepted?”
He doesn’t answer the question but I’m sure the answer has to do with his connections. Not just as an alum, but as a member of the organization.
“In the summer, you will be working at Kensington Chemical, as we discussed.”
“I already told you I’m not doing that.”
“You will work there full-time, including weekends, and you will learn the business alongside your father.”
“Dad’s in on this? He told me he didn’t—”
“This isn’t his decision. I’ll speak with your father later. As I was saying, you will learn the business this summer and continue to learn it by working there every summer until you graduate college. If you choose to pursue an MBA, like your father did, I will allow that, but I will pick the school.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Garret!” He says it like he’s commanding a dog’s attention. “This is not a joke. Therefore I expect you to take it seriously.”
“Actually, it is a joke because I’m not doing any of the stuff you just said.”
“You will do what I tell you to do.” His jaw clenches and his hand grips the arm of the chair.
“No. I won’t.” I stand up. “And I’m done listening to this.”
“Sit down!” He yells it. He rarely yells, so the fact that he did so just now shows that he’s really pissed.
I sigh and sit down again. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you, Grandfather, but you can’t control my life. I’m an adult and I make my own choices. And I’ve chosen to live here and go to school at Camsburg.”
“After we’re done here, you will do as I say.”
“It’s not going to happen, so you might as well leave.”
He’s silent, and then says, “I tried to make this easy on you, Garret. I tried to take care of any obstacles standing in your way so that you wouldn’t have to make a decision. It would’ve been made for you. But then the plan fell through, which caused me to re-evaluate how I wanted this to play out. The objective is the same, but the means to get there has changed. I decided to take a different approach. One I should’ve used with your father, but back then I hadn’t considered it.”
He’s rambling on and I have no idea what he’s saying. He’s not even making sense.
“I don’t understand what any of this means.”
“You would choose to work at Kensington Chemical if you had nothing else. No other distractions. No obstacles.”
“What obstacles? What are you talking about?”
And then, like someone shoved it in front of my face, I see the piece of paper. The one I was given last March when I went to that meeting and learned about the organization’s plan for my future. I told them I wouldn’t do it, and then they handed me a piece of paper. It was an order to kill my mom. But they didn’t use her name. They called her an obstacle.
I stare back at him. “Jade is not an obstacle.”
I’m breathing hard, my chest moving in and out. I’m sure he notices. I’m trying to control my emotions, not let him affect me, but I can’t do it.
He appears calm and relaxed. “She’s destroyed you, Garret. Just like that woman destroyed your father.”
I don’t know what he’s trying to tell me, but I can’t listen to him put down Jade and my mom. And hearing him call my mom ‘that woman’ just sets me off.
I shoot up from the couch. “It’s Rachel! Just say her fucking name! You never say her fucking name! And she didn’t destroy my father. She was the best thing that ever happened to him. Just like Jade is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
He chuckles. “It’s amazing how similar you are to your father. Weak. Easily manipulated. Unable to see the big picture.”
I want him out of my house. Out of my life. Forever. I don’t know why I ever thought I could have a real relationship with him.
I sit back down. “Let’s just get this ov
er with. Finish what you were saying. So Jade is an obstacle? An obstacle to what? My working at the company? I wouldn’t work there even if I’d never met Jade.”
“That’s why you need an incentive. A push. And I will give you that in a moment. But first, let me finish telling you about your future. Pearce may have told you that I’ve been promoted. And in that position, I have greater influence over decisions. Despite numerous objections, I was able to convince the members to reinstate your membership in the organization provided that you meet certain criteria. You will spend the next few years working on the various things you will need to do in order to fulfill that criteria. It will involve a great deal of work on your part, but I’m confident you can do it.”
“Are you serious?” I shake my head. “No way. I’m never joining that group. I don’t care what the benefits are or how much money is involved.”
“And that brings us back to the incentive. As you said, the girl you’re currently living with—”
“Jade. Use her name or I’m leaving.”
“Jade.” He clears his throat. “Is an obstacle that keeps you from moving forward. And I tried to take care of that obstacle so you wouldn’t have to choose.”
“What did you do?” I tense up, my heart thumping harder.
“There was a burglary in your neighborhood.”
“No, it never happened. Someone faked the whole—” I stop. He’s obviously telling me he’s involved. But how? Why?
“Yes. I had to make it look like there was a burglary because the man I hired didn’t finish the job. Just when he was about to do it, you installed those security cameras and he wouldn’t go through with it. He didn’t want to get caught and end up in prison. But you’d seen the man around your property and I didn’t want you getting suspicious and telling your father. I know how he looks into these things. So I needed you to think the man was just a random burglar who ended up robbing your neighbor. That police officer who came to your door was just an actor.”
“Why would you need to fake a robbery?”
“I just told you why. Your father—”
“No, you said the guy didn’t finish the job. What job?”
“The man I hired is a criminal. He has a history of violent crime. He had no problem taking the job. I didn’t even have to pay him that much.”
“Pay him to do what?”
“Break into your house. Make it look like a burglary. Make it look like he didn’t realize she was home. She sees his face, he panics and shoots her in the head. Then he messes up the place to make it look real, takes a few valuables, and leaves. It’s the classic home invasion plan. It’s been done many times and it almost always works.”
“You’re not serious.” I’m looking at his austere expression, not able to believe how any of this could be true.
“I’m very serious. You’re the one who wasn’t taking this conversation seriously. Perhaps now you do.”
“You’re making this up just to scare me. You wouldn’t hurt Jade. You’re my grandfather. I know you wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Sacrifices must be made for the greater good, Garret. Just look at your father. Look how successful he became after the plane crash. After that woman was finally out of his life. I shouldn’t have waited so long. I should’ve done it years earlier than that, but—”
“No!” I stand up and go behind the couch and start pacing the floor. “No. No. No.”
I can’t breathe. My head is pounding. This can’t be real. None of this is real.
And that man. The one sitting here in my home. He can’t be my grandfather. There’s no way. My grandfather has done bad things in his life, but he isn’t evil enough to do something like that. It’s not possible.
“You didn’t do it.” I’m still pacing, my eyes on the floor, shaking my head. “You couldn’t do that. Not to your own family. They did it. The organization. Not you.”
“You’re right. They executed the actual plan. But it was my idea.”
I stop pacing and look at him. “What are you saying? Their punishment wasn’t to kill her?”
“Your father’s original punishment for marrying that woman was going to involve the company. But I was not going to stand by and let them destroy the company my grandfather founded and built from the ground up. So I offered them an alternative. A punishment that was more fitting to the crime. They agreed to it, but they wanted it done right away. At the time, your father had only been married a few months. That wasn’t long enough. So I told them to wait. I wanted Pearce to suffer for not obeying his father. I wanted him to spend every waking moment wondering what his punishment would be, and if it would involve that woman. If he was smart, he would’ve divorced her. If he had, maybe she would’ve been spared.”
I remain behind the couch, far away from him. If I get any closer, I might kill him.
“Why? Why would you do that? He’s your son! He loved her! And I loved her! And you killed her! You killed my mother! You sick, fucking bastard!” I feel wetness on my face as tears fall from my eyes.
“Look at you. Crying. Weak. This is why I need to take control, Garret. You’re not strong enough to take the right path. To do what’s best for you.”
“You were trying to kill Jade.” I say it out loud to myself as I remember what he just said about the robbery. This is all too much to take in and I’m trying to process it as fast as I can. “You sent a man who’s been charged with rape and murder to my home to kill my wife? You really did that?”
He nods. “Yes.”
Now I seriously might kill him. I don’t have a weapon, but I’m so pissed I could do it with my bare hands.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I scream it at him.
“I was taking care of things. But it didn’t work, so you have no reason to be upset.”
“I have no reason to be upset? Are you fucking kidding me? You tried to kill my wife! And you just admitted to killing my mother!”
“They would’ve done that anyway, Garret. Once I’d convinced them it was the right choice, they saw the error of their ways. We can’t allow people like her to marry one of our own. It’s not right.”
“They wouldn’t have tried to kill Jade! I’m not a member. They have no reason to come after Jade. That was all you!”
“Getting rid of the obstacle is one of the conditions of your reinstatement into the organization. It has to be done.”
“HAS to be? As in you’re going to try this again?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I lunge toward him just as he reaches into the side of the chair and pulls out a gun.
I step back. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m obviously not going to kill you, Garret, but I knew this type of reaction was a possibility, so I had to be prepared.”
I take a breath, trying to regain some composure. I need to know what he’s planning, and he won’t tell me unless I calm down.
“What are you going to do to her?”
“I haven’t decided.” He says it casually, like it’s a decision about what to have for lunch.
I fist my hands and clench my jaw, doing everything possible to contain my rage. “When is it happening?”
“That’s up to you.”
“Just tell me what the fuck that means. I’m done guessing.”
“The girl will not be harmed if you choose the path I’ve outlined for your future. You divorce her? You have no further contact with her? She’ll be safe.”
“And if I don’t do those things?”
“You’ll be left always wondering when and how. Just like your father did when he was awaiting his punishment for marrying your mother. But he didn’t know his punishment would involve her. You have the advantage of knowing.”
“You call that an advantage?”
“Let me explain. By doing this, I’ve given you the control. When I hired that burglar, I took control and didn’t let you have a say in this. But now, I’m giving the control back to
you. Let her go, she lives. Stay with her, and eventually she will be killed. It won’t be right away. It could be months from now, or it could be years. But it WILL happen. And when it does, you’ll know you had a part in it. That’s not something you can live with, is it, Garret? Knowing you had a part in taking her life?”
He sits there, still so calm, his mouth turned up into a smug smile, his gun pointed at me.
This man, my grandfather, planned my mother’s death. He orchestrated it and took pleasure in watching my father suffer. And a few months ago, he tried to kill Jade. Now he’s promising to kill her if I don’t do what he says. Get Jade out of my life or she dies.
I lock my eyes on his. “I’ll kill you before I ever let you near her.”
“You can’t kill anyone. You don’t have it in you. At least not yet. You need to suffer first. Feel real pain. Real anger. The kind that drives you to do things you never thought you could do. By the time you feel that, you’ll understand why I did this. And if you still want to kill me, go ahead and do it.”
I’m speechless. Without words. Stunned.
“I’ll give you until the end of the year to make your decision. December 31st. The girl will be safe until then. After that, if you choose to remain with her, the clock starts ticking.”
He stands up and walks to the door. “I said I would break you, Garret.” He turns back and smiles. “Consider yourself broken.”
24
GARRET
Once he’s gone I lock the door and check all the windows to make sure they’re locked. Then I search the house for listening devices and hidden cameras. I start in the living room, under the chair where he was sitting. Then I check the couch, under the cushions. As I’m searching the table in front of the couch, I notice my phone and turn it back on. I check it and see a text message.
It’s from my grandfather. It reads, You can stop searching. There aren’t any. If you don’t believe me, check your bedroom dresser.
How the hell does he know I was searching? Is he watching me? Or does he just assume it’s what I’d do, knowing I don’t trust him?
I go in the bedroom and open the top drawer of the dresser. Sitting on top of Jade’s socks is a device that checks for listening devices. My dad has one just like it. I don’t know where he got it, but I’ve seen him use it. You wave it over stuff and if it beeps, you know it found something. They make hidden microphones so small now that it’s nearly impossible to find them unless you have something like this.
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