Promising You (The Jade Series #4) (17 page)

I take another donut. “And I’m not having kids, so don’t look at me to help you out with the grandpa thing.”

“Oh, please. You’ll have kids,” Ryan says. “Maybe not by the age of 25, but you’ll have them.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that? Do I seem like a kid person? I don’t even like kids. They’re loud. They think they know everything. They don’t listen.”

“Yeah. Just like you.” Ryan laughs. “You’ll get along great with kids.”

I punch him again. “You better stop this right now or I’ll kill you before we make it to Illinois.”

“All right, you two. No fighting at the table.” Frank’s face breaks into a smile as he says it. “Someday you’ll both have kids and you’ll both come back to visit and your kids will be here fighting at the table instead of you two.”

I sling my arm over Ryan’s shoulder. “We’ll still be fighting. We’ll just fight in a different room.”

Frank looks at Ryan and me. “Even with your fighting, I’m so proud of you two, and I love you both.” His eyes get watery.

I get up and give him a hug. “Frank, don’t make me sad before I leave. Saying goodbye is hard enough.”

He wipes his eyes. “I just wanted to say it.”

“We love you, too, Dad,” Ryan says, biting into a donut. “But you’re still not getting grandkids anytime soon.”

His comment makes us all laugh and lightens the mood.

“So, Jade, are we going to see you at all this summer?” Frank asks.

“I hope so. Garret and I haven’t figured out our itinerary yet. I was thinking maybe we could stop here on the drive out and again on the way back.”

“You’re driving to California?” Ryan asks. “I figured Garret would hire someone to drive the car out there and you two would fly. Isn’t that what rich people do?”

“I don’t know. I’ll talk to Garret about it. But I’ll come home at least once this summer.”

Frank pushes away from the table. “Well, I suppose you two need to hit the road.”
 

“Yeah, hurry up, Jade,” Ryan says. “We have to leave soon.”

I quickly shower, dress, and finish packing and a half hour later I’m ready to go.

“I’ll see you later, Frank.” This is my new way of saying goodbye. I find it easier to tell him I’ll see him later than to tell him goodbye, which seems so final.
 

“Bye, honey. Have a safe trip.” He hugs me, then stays close and lowers his voice. “I know you don’t always tell me everything, but if you need to, I’m here. It can be hard to keep secrets to yourself.”

What does he mean? Does he know something? If not, what secrets is he referring to? Maybe it’s just the reporter in him. He’s always thinking there’s more to the story. And he’s right, but I can’t let him know that.

Frank lets me go just as Ryan comes into the living room. Ryan doesn’t know about the incident with Sinclair or the story about my mother or any of that, and Frank and I have decided it’s better if he doesn’t know.

“You ready?” Ryan has his coat on, his car keys in his hand.

“Yeah, let’s go.”
 

Frank follows us out and watches as we drive away.

As we’re leaving Des Moines, I get a text from Garret saying he had to go somewhere with his dad and won’t be back until late afternoon. I text him back asking where he’s going, but he doesn’t respond.

The drive to Carson’s house goes by fast this time because Ryan and I are talking instead of giving each other the silent treatment. Every hour, I call Garret to check in but his phone goes straight to voicemail. I’m guessing he has it turned off, which doesn’t make sense given how insistent he was that I call him during the trip. But maybe he’s someplace where they make you turn your phone off.

When we get to Carson’s house, Howard’s at work but Judy is there, preparing more food. She packs a lunch for Ryan to eat on his way back to Iowa and fills a foam cooler with food and drinks for Carson and me.

After Ryan leaves, Carson and I head out. As we’re pulling out of the garage his mom yells, “No speeding, Carson. And don’t text and drive. Love you!”

He waves at her as we drive off. “She sees all these kids come into the ER because they were texting while driving so she always says that.”

“Your mom is funny. She really likes to feed people.”

“I know. I’m surprised I don’t weigh 400 pounds.” He turns the heat up when he sees me put my gloves back on. “So did you have fun at home?”

“We got snowed in for a couple days, but we found stuff to do. How about you? Did you get back together with Madison?”

“No. After we talked about it, I decided I didn’t want to. I used to be okay with the long distance thing, but now I think I’d rather date someone I can see every day.”

“But you made this big deal about how people should have their space and how it’s not healthy to spend your time with one person.”

“I know, but then I thought about it some more and I changed my mind. I don’t want to date someone I can only see during the summer and once or twice during the year.”

“I guess I better start looking then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mom told me to find you a nice girl to date in Connecticut.”

“Did she really?” He shakes his head. “God, that’s embarrassing.”

“I thought it was sweet. She just wants you to be happy.”

“She shouldn’t have asked you that. I can find my own girls.” He picks up his soda from the center console and takes a drink. “So what’s Garret been up to all week?”

“The rule still applies for the trip home. No talking about Garret. But to answer your question, he’s been playing with his little sister, watching movies, and swimming. He has a movie theater in his house. And an indoor pool.”

“I saw his show last night. Did you watch?”

“It’s not his show, but no, I didn’t see it.”

“He—or the fake Garret—took Ava skiing in Vermont. They rented a suite at a lodge. They mostly showed Ava talking to the camera, so Garret wasn’t on that long.”

“He wasn’t on the show at all! It wasn’t him!”

“Yeah, but you know what I mean.”

“I’ll be so glad when this is over.” I check my phone and still have no messages from Garret. I send him another text.

“Do you have to check in with him every hour again?” Carson asks.

“I don’t have to, but I was going to. He went somewhere with his dad and his phone is off. I’ll have to try later.”

We drive for six hours and I don’t hear anything from Garret. No phone calls, no texts. Nothing. I’m getting really worried. I’ve been calling him and texting him and I can’t get any response. I even called his dad, but the phone went straight to voicemail.

At 8 Carson and I stop to eat dinner. There’s plenty of food in the cooler but we need to get out of the car.
 

We’re back on the road at 8:30 to begin the overnight drive that I’ve been dreading. Another night of no sleep as I try to keep Carson awake with loads of caffeine and nonstop conversation. My mind is a mess worrying about Garret and why I haven’t heard from him. Every time we stop for gas or bathroom breaks, I tell Carson I’m calling Garret so he won’t pick up on the fact that something’s wrong. The last thing I need is Carson coming up with reasons for why Garret isn’t returning my calls.

By 6 the next morning, I can’t take another minute in the car. I just want to get home. I call Garret again but his phone goes straight to voicemail. I try calling his dad again but he doesn’t answer. I leave messages for both of them to call me back even though I’ve already left the same messages several times now and gotten no response.
 

I’m now beyond worried and I have no outlet for my nervous energy. I need to get out of the car and run for an hour to burn off the stress, but instead I have to sit here for at least two more hours.

“Jade, I want to say some things before we get there.” Carson says it in the tone he uses when he lectures me about Garret. “I’ve been waiting to say this until now because I know you’ll be mad when I tell you.”

“If I’ll be mad, then don’t tell me.”

“It’s about Garret and his family.”

I tip my head back toward the roof of the car. “Carson, please do not start with this. I’m so tired and I’m not at all in the mood to hear your conspiracy theories or whatever bad things you’re going to say about Garret’s family.”

“Just listen. You need to hear this.” He pauses. “I think Garret’s dad belongs to some type of secret society.”

Shit! How the hell would Carson know that?
 

I react as I always do when he tells me stuff like this and act like he’s crazy.
 

“Garret’s dad does not belong to a secret society. Those things don’t even exist.”

“Of course they exist. You never heard of Skull and Bones? The one at Yale? They even made movies about it.”

“Well then it’s not that secret, is it?”

“There are other ones that very few people know about. Like the one I think Garret’s dad belongs to. My uncle told me about it. He said it’s been around for over 100 years. It’s made up of very rich, very powerful men. Women aren’t allowed in. You’re born into it so if I’m right and Pearce Kensington is part of it, then Garret will be a member soon, if he’s not already.”

“That’s a funny story. I’m going to sleep. Wake me when we get there.” I lean my pillow against the seat and pretend to sleep.

“This group finds out stuff about its members—things they don’t want to get out. That’s how they keep people in line. You can’t ever leave this group. You’re in for life. Members have to do things, Jade. Bad things. That’s why some people try to get out.”

“I’m not listening,” I tell him, my eyes still closed.

“They rig elections. It used to be harder to prove, but with these new electronic voting machines a reporter was able to prove they rigged the voting machines in Ohio and Florida during the last presidential election. You know what happened to that reporter? Shot in the head the day before he was going to announce this on a talk radio show. They said it was a suicide, but the guy never showed signs of being suicidal.”

“Are you done yet, Carson?”
 

Although part of me wants to hear what he has to say, the other part of me doesn’t. If this group does bad things, I’d rather not know. Garret will never be part of that organization. He already knows about it and he’s never been told he has to be part of it.
 

Carson keeps talking. “We’ve had presidents who never should’ve been in office. This group is controlling the system. And the party affiliation doesn’t matter. Democrat or Republican. They switch it up so people don’t get suspicious. They just find a person to act as a figurehead, someone who’s likable and looks good on camera. They get him elected, but the guy has no control. This group controls what he says and does.”

“Do you realize how crazy you sound? You really need to stop this, Carson. If you tell this to anyone else, you’ll end up in a mental hospital.”

“They pick key senators as well. Men who will head important committees to help this group with their agenda.”

“And what is their agenda?”

“I don’t know. Get more power? Control the masses? Make more money? Being a member of this group has benefits. You’re guaranteed to be rich. Not average rich but super rich, like Garret’s family.”

“Where do you get this stuff?”

“News articles, websites, videos. A lot of times something gets published online that shouldn’t and then it disappears. Like that reporter who died? An article went online right after his death saying he was shot. It had statements from witnesses who said they saw someone enter his apartment before it happened. Then an hour later, the article was taken down and replaced with the suicide story. This time the so-called witnesses said they hadn’t seen anyone go in his apartment all day.”

“And you’re saying this secret group killed the guy?”

“Yes. They had to get rid of him. That’s what they do. They get rid of people who know too much and then they just make up some story to cover their tracks. What they don’t get is that there will always be people who search for the truth. Some guy took a screen grab of the original article that came out about that reporter, the real story, and put it on his website. I printed it out if you want to see it.”

“I get it, Carson. You don’t like Garret’s family.”

“It’s not that I don’t like them. I’ve never met them, so how would I know? What I’m saying is that if this is true, you should be aware of it because you may not want to be involved in this. These people are dangerous, Jade.”

“Well, now I know, so are we done with this topic?”

“I still have that file in my room. I have proof for at least some of the things I told you about.”

Carson’s really starting to freak me out. And if any of what he said is true, he could end up getting killed if he pursues this any further.
 

“Carson, what exactly do you plan to do with this information? You’re not a reporter. You’re not a journalist. You want to be a doctor, so why are you so obsessed with this? What’s your goal here?”

He considers it. “I don’t know. It’s not like I can stop them. I guess my goal is just to find out the truth.”

“But it’s
not
the truth. You’re just believing stuff you find on the Internet. People can make up whatever they want and put it out there and make it sound real.”

He sighs. “Fine. I’m done trying to convince you. I thought I was being a friend by telling you this. I was trying to protect you. But it’s obvious you’ll never believe me. Just be careful.”

“I seriously need you to stop bringing this up.”

“I just told you I would.”

“Yeah, and you’ve said that before and then you bring it up again. I just want this to end. You don’t need to protect me. And you really need to stop obsessing about Garret’s family. Just let it go.”

“I told you I’d stop talking about it and I will. Let’s just leave it at that.”

I’m guessing that means he’ll keep investigating this, but I can’t seem to change his mind so I don’t bother trying. Instead I close my eyes and end up falling asleep for the rest of the drive. I wake up when I feel Carson’s hand on my arm.