Promising You (The Jade Series #4) (21 page)

I can’t believe Pearce is telling me all this. It’s like as soon as he showed me that envelope about Garret’s mom, his guard came down and he’s letting everything spill out. But I know at any minute he could revert back to his old self, so I try to keep him talking.

“This group wouldn’t make this plan for Garret’s life just to punish you, right? It’s too big.”

“The punishment is just a side benefit. This plan would’ve happened anyway. The senior members have been interested in Garret for some time now, but they purposely hid it from me because they knew I’d be against it.”

“Why were they so interested in Garret?”

He sighs like he’s not sure he wants to tell me, but then he starts talking again. “As you know, this reality show Garret’s been unwillingly involved in since his senior year in high school has given him a great deal of press. I ignored it because I thought it was too trivial to get into a legal battle over.” Pearce looks down, shaking his head back and forth. “But I should’ve taken it seriously. I should’ve taken action like Garret wanted me to and stopped it right away.”

“Why? What does the reality show have to do with this?”

“Yesterday Garret and I learned that the organization has been monitoring the public’s response to him ever since he was featured on that show. They have records of all Internet searches for him and all comments made about him online. They compiled the data and found that people consider Garret to be trustworthy, attractive, intelligent, confident, and decisive—all criteria we look for in a possible presidential candidate. His appeal is not just with young girls, but includes other key demographics. At the meeting, they had charts and graphs showing how well Garret resonates with people. They can use this information and build on it to eventually create a consensus among the voting public that he’s presidential material.”

“I thought you rigged the voting. What difference does it make if people like him or think he’s presidential material?”

“We don’t rig the voting. We prepare candidates. Another organization handles it from there. I know nothing about them and I’m not just saying that. I really don’t.”

Another organization? What the hell? How deep does this thing go?
 

“I overheard you talking to Kent Gleason that day he was here at the house. You made it sound like he’d be president. Some guy brought in a video and—”

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop, Jade. You’ll find out things you don’t really want to know.”

“Do you rig photos? Videos? How did you cover up what happened to Royce Sinclair?”

His eyes narrow and I know I shouldn’t have asked—or more like accused—him of that, but it’s too late now.

 
“There
is
some media manipulation that occurs, but we are certainly not the only organization that feeds lies to the press. Almost every company in the world does that. Even governments do it. Sometimes you need to change public perception and the media can be very effective for that. People tend to believe what they see on TV or read in the newspaper.”

I wasn’t prepared for him to admit to manipulating the media and I’m not sure how to respond. So I turn the topic back to Garret. “Was Garret their only option for this plan? Or were there others?”

“Garret was one of four young men being considered. He was put on a list about a year ago. Again, I didn’t know this. I had some suspicions when they forced me to make him intern in Washington last summer. But he showed no interest in politics the entire time he was there, so I figured they wouldn’t consider him to be groomed for even a Senate position. But apparently he rose to the top of the list after that reality show aired last year.”

“But Garret said he didn’t get much press the first time it aired.”

“Yes, he wasn’t as well known as he is now, but the people who
did
know about him had very positive things to say. And when the public develops strong feelings about a person, it makes our job much easier. When grooming a candidate you need a good starting base and Garret has that. He’s perfect actually. I never even considered it before, I guess because I didn’t want to. But I see why they selected him. And making him do this fulfills my punishment for what I did to Royce. They know it kills me to see this happen to Garret. His life is over. It’s theirs now, not his.”

“Why is Garret going along with this? Because of me?”

Pearce doesn’t answer.
 

“Then I’ll go into hiding. I’ll move out of the country.”

“If Garret thinks there’s even a possibility they would harm you, he’ll do what they say. And now that he knows what happened to his mother, he won’t call their bluff.”

Pearce’s cell phone rings. He looks to see who it is, then answers it. “Hello, Arlin. Yes, she’s still here. You shouldn’t have told her this. You know better than that. If they found out—” He stops and listens. “Yes, I suppose.” His eyes dart up at me. “Garret is sleeping now. I’ll have someone take her back when she’s ready to go.”
 

He hangs up. “Arlin has a car waiting out front for you, but I assumed you’d want some time to say goodbye to Garret.”

“This isn’t goodbye. I’m not letting them win.”

“There’s nothing we can do. If there was, I’d be doing it. Now I have some work to get done, so perhaps you could wait in the living room until Garret wakes up.”

“Can I see Lilly?”

“It’s best if you don’t. She’s grown very attached to you and seeing you one last time will only confuse her. We’ll come up with a story to tell her later.”

I get up to leave.

“Oh, and Jade, I don’t think I need to tell you this, but just so we’re clear, this conversation never happened. You know nothing about any of this, including what Arlin told you. Do you understand?”

He says it in that threatening tone he uses whenever he tells me to keep his secrets. It always freaks me out.

I nod. “Yes, I understand.”

He turns on his computer, ignoring me.
 

I don’t get Garret’s dad at all. Sometimes he acts caring and then two seconds later he turns cold and emotionless. It’s like turning a switch.
 

I walk out of his office and go sit in the sunroom. My cell phone has a bunch of messages from Harper, so I check one of her voicemails while I wait.

“Hey, Jade. Sean and I are at the airport. Our plane’s delayed because of Kyle Andermeyer, that actor from those kid movies. Sean what’s the name of those movies? Sean’s in the ticket line. He can’t hear me. Anyway the guy was a total jerk. He got on the plane drunk and was cursing and grabbing the stewardess’ ass and then he brought out some suspicious liquid and we all ended up having to get off the plane. The liquid turned out to be an energy drink, but now we have to wait for a new plane. Someone got the whole thing on video and posted it online. His career’s over. There’s no way parents will take their kids to his movies after they see that video. Anyway, just wanted to give you an update. Hope you and Garret are enjoying your reunion.” She giggles before hanging up.

Harper always leaves
really
long voicemail messages. That was a short one. I check my text messages. There’s a whole string of them from Harper, mainly about how the video of Kyle has gone viral on the Internet and how people are trashing him online. She sent me a link to the video and told me to watch it but my battery is running low so I turn off the phone.
 

I look for something to read. There aren’t even any magazines. I glance around at the house with its all-white decor. Carson’s house was so much better. It felt like a real home, not this stark white, hospital-look Katherine has created.
 

It’s making me feel sick so I decide to go wait in the game room. As I’m walking over there, I stop when I get to the stairs.
 

Why am I waiting down here? I should be upstairs with Garret. I don’t care if he’s asleep. I don’t even care if he reeks of alcohol. I just want to be with him.

I make my way up the stairs and down to his room. His door isn’t locked so I go inside. He’s sprawled out on his bed, his head face-down in a pillow. I gently smooth his messy hair with my hand. He jerks up at my touch, then flips on his back, still asleep.
 

Now that I know what’s going on, seeing him again makes my eyes tear up and my heart hurt. I literally feel pain in my chest as I think about us not being together anymore. This isn’t fair. There has to be a way to stop this.
 

I kiss his cheek and lie next to him.

“Jade?” He whispers it, his eyes still closed. I assume he’s saying my name in his sleep, but then I feel his arm lift up and land on my leg.

“Garret? Are you awake?” I ask softly.

He slowly opens his eyes. When he sees me there he bolts up, his body ramming against the headboard. “Jade, what are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” I try to hold his hand but he yanks it away.
 

“No! You can’t be here. They’ll—”

“They’re not going to kill me right this second. They have a good 20 years to get you ready. My being here right now isn’t screwing with their plan.”

“What did you say?”

“I know everything, Garret. I put the pieces together and figured out part of what was going on and your dad filled in the rest.”

“What do you mean when you say you know everything?”

“I know about the plan they have for you. I know about the organization. I know about your dad’s marriage to Katherine.”

“What about their marriage?”

“That it was arranged. He never wanted to marry her and now he can’t get divorced. Didn’t your dad tell you that?”

Garret shakes his head no. He’s not as drunk anymore, but he doesn’t look good. His eyes are red and puffy and he’s rubbing his head like he has a headache.

“Do you know about my mom?” he asks quietly.

“Yes. And I’m so sorry, Garret.” I reach over and hug him. At first he’s tense, but then he relaxes and hugs me back like it’s the last hug we’ll ever have.
 

“They killed her. They killed my mom. She’d be alive right now if they hadn’t—” He stops and it sounds like he’s softly crying behind my shoulder. I’ve never seen him cry and even if it’s a hungover, still-partially-drunk cry, it breaks my heart and fills me with overwhelming sadness. And because it’s
his
sadness I feel, it hurts ten times more than if it were my own.

I used to be able to push away sadness and all the other painful emotions and bury them deep inside, but now I feel all of them. And I’m finally okay with that, because feeling them is part of living and I never would’ve realized that if it weren’t for the man who’s now holding on to me so tight I can barely breathe.
 

I want him to keep holding on but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes hold of my arms and pushes me back so we’re face to face. “I’ll never let them hurt you. I’ll do whatever they say. I’ll do anything . . . anything at all to make sure they leave you alone.”

“We’re not letting them do this, Garret.”

“You can’t stop them. At this meeting they had all these charts and graphs and all these projections. Every part of my life will be planned out. And you’re not in it, Jade. You’re not allowed to be. You have to leave. If they did that to my mom, they’ll do it to you, too.”

I shake my head. “No, I’m not leaving.”

He holds my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. “You have to.”

I shove his hands away. “I’m not leaving so stop telling me to!” I swallow hard past the lump in my throat and take a deep breath, determined not to cry. “You’re one of the few people in the world I can stand being around. And even when you piss me off, I still want to be with you.” I don’t know why I’m joking at a time like this, but it makes Garret’s eyes soften just a tiny bit so I continue. “It’s true. You know how much I don’t like people. And I liked you from the first day we met.”

He takes my hand, holding it gently in his. “No, you didn’t. You said I annoyed you at first.”

“You annoyed me because you made me feel something. And I hate feeling shit. You know that.” I get serious again. “Garret, I know for a fact I’ll never find someone like you again. And I don’t want to. You’re it. You’re all I want. And I’m not letting you go.”

He holds my hand tighter. “Jade, you know I want that more than anything but—”
 

“Then we’re fighting this! We’re not just giving up.”

“You can’t fight these people.”

“Yes, we can! We just need to think. Go take a shower and wash all that alcohol off you and then we’ll talk.”

He lifts my hand up and kisses it because he knows I don’t want his alcohol-smelling mouth on my face. “I had this whole welcome home thing planned for you. I was going to fill your room with flowers, but then the meeting happened and well…”

“Go shower, Garret.” The lump in my throat keeps getting bigger as tears well up in my eyes. I need a minute to get myself together but he keeps talking.

“I ordered you more of those Belgian chocolates. They’re in my room at school if you want them.” His gorgeous blue eyes are so full of hurt and sadness I almost can’t look at them.
 

Dammit, he’s going to make me cry.
 

“I was going to take you out for a really nice dinner tonight. And I had this box made for you. It’s filled with stuff for California like sunglasses and flip flops and . . . maybe it was stupid, but I wanted to do it because you were so excited about living there, which made me excited and . . . anyway, it’ll be delivered on Monday, but I guess you won’t be here so—”

“Stop it! I’m not leaving on Monday! Just take your damn shower.”

He goes in the bathroom and I slide off the bed and onto the floor, hugging my knees and letting my tears finally fall. When I hear the shower shut off, I stand up, wipe off my face, and plaster on my best fake smile as he walks back in the room.

“Do you feel better?”

“No.” He goes to his dresser and pulls out some clothes.
 

“I’ve obviously never had a hangover, but I hear it can take a while to feel better.”