Page 167 of Finding Us

I take the check and fold it up and stuff it in my pocket. I don’t know when I’ll tell Jade about it. It’s not a conversation I want to have. She won’t understand why I took it. She’ll say we don’t need more money. And we don’t, but I feel like I need my own. I don’t need $2 million. A few thousand would’ve been plenty, but my dad doesn’t deal in thousands. He deals in millions.

“Garret, I want you to use some of that money to install a security system. You need cameras set up around the outside and an alarm system.”

“Why?” I’m almost afraid to ask. I keep having this feeling that we’re not safe and now he’s just made it worse.

“You should always have security. You know that. You’re a Kensington. People come after us. You could easily be robbed.”

“Is that it? You’re worried about us getting robbed? Or is something else going on?”

He checks that the bedroom door is still closed. “There was a meeting last week and I heard one of the members mention your name.”

“Shit.” I check the bedroom door again myself, then turn to my dad. “Who was it?”

“It was Ezra Jamison. He was talking to Loran Harlow.”

“And what did he say?”

“I only heard your name. I went over and interrupted the conversation and Jamison became agitated. It was obvious he didn’t want me overhearing. I told him I heard him talking about you and he said he was talking about Garret Bancroft, Martin’s son. But I know what I heard. He said Kensington, not Bancroft.”

“What do you think he was saying about me?”

“I don’t know, but I didn’t like the fact that he was talking about you and didn’t want me knowing about it.”

“Shit. I knew it. Ever since Roth showed up last July I’ve been thinking this isn’t finished. And now it sounds like I was right. They’re going to come after me again. Force me to be a member.”

“No. That’s not going to happen. My concern when I heard Jamison talking is that they might try to scare you, like Roth did by showing up before your wedding.”

“Why would they do that?”

“That’s just how they operate. Like I told you last summer, they’re all about power and control and you took that away from them when you didn’t go along with their plan.”

“Did you ask Grandfather about this?”

“Yes. I talked to him the day after the meeting and asked him if he’d heard anything about you. He said he hadn’t. Then he told me I was being paranoid and lectured me about how I shouldn’t be eavesdropping.” He lets out a short laugh. “You know your grandfather. He can’t have a conversation without including a lecture.”

“Did he ask about me?”

“No. I’m sorry, Garret. He’s going to need more time before he comes around.”

“What about Grandmother?”

“She’s not upset with you. She never was. She wishes you had chosen to marry a girl with your background instead of Jade, but she’s accepted it now.” He pauses. “Garret, I’m sorry things have to be this way with your grandfather.”

“It’s not your fault. Like you said, he’ll eventually come around.”

He nods. “Going back to the security system, if you’re not sure who to call, I’ll take care of getting it done for you.”

“If you could, that would be great. I don’t know anything about that and I don’t have time to research it with classes starting.” I lower my voice. “And do it soon. Maybe I’m overreacting, but the other day when I was in the driveway, I noticed a white car driving by. It went really slow and when the driver saw me looking at him, he took off. I couldn’t get a license plate number.”

“When did this happen?”

“A few days ago.”

He thinks about it, then says, “I’m sure it’s not them. That’s too obvious of a move. They wouldn’t do something like that. They’re far more discreet. Which means the man in the car could’ve been a burglar casing the place. I’ll get the security system set up right away.”

Jade comes bursting out of the bedroom and sits at the table, grabbing another donut.

“Sorry I took so long but it’s hard to get Harper to stop talking.” She turns to my dad. “I know you’ll say no, but Harper’s making me ask you this. She wants to know if she could babysit Lilly sometime. I told her Katherine would never allow it.”

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