Page 248 of Finding Us

“I have to go so the bench is all yours.”

“I understand why you hid your identity.” He’s looking down at his phone, swiping the screen.

I’m curious about his comment so I stand there and wait for him to continue.

“You don’t want to be a target. Someone with your kind of money is a target for scams. People will try to get close to you. Make their way into your life to get a piece of that money. You never know who your friends are. You never know who you can trust.” He puts his phone away and looks at me, and just like the other day, I feel like he’s trying to tell me something with his expression and his tone. “It’s a shame when you can’t trust people, isn’t it?”

I don’t respond. I don’t know where he’s taking this. I’m completely confused by this whole conversation.

“Given that Garret grew up in such a wealthy family, I’m surprised he’s so trusting. He should know better.”

“How do you know if he’s trusting?”

“We both know he is.” Walt stands up, his dark eyes fixed on me. “That’s what made him such an easy target. Isn’t that right, Jade?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I need to get to my meeting.” He starts walking away.

“Wait. What are you trying to say?”

He stops and turns around. “Secrets and lies tie you down, Jade. Doing the right thing can be very freeing.”

And then he just walks off.

What the hell does that mean? He acts like I’ve done something wrong.Secrets and lies tie you down?I’m not keeping secrets. Or lying. Well, technically Iamdoing those things when it comes to hiding the truth about Pearce and his secret society and what he did to Royce.

Shit! Is that what Walt meant? Does he know about Royce? No, that’s not possible. Is it? What if Walt isn’t a consultant? What if he’s a cop or a private investigator? What if he knows something he shouldn’t?

It’s almost noon and I told Garret I’d meet him at the coffee shop for lunch. He’s there when I arrive, at a table near the back.

“How’s my beautiful wife?” He kisses me, then holds the chair out for me.

I remain standing. “Remember that guy you met here the other day?”

“You didn’t even say hello to me.”

“Sorry.” I kiss his cheek. “How was class?”

“Good. Can I get a better kiss than that?”

I give him a real kiss, then we sit down. I scoot my chair closer to Garret’s and lower my voice. “So I saw that guy, Walt, just now and he said something really strange to me.” I retell Garret the story. “What do you think he meant? What secrets and lies? Do you think he knows something?”

“How could he possibly know about that?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t know what else he could be talking about. I don’t have any other secrets.” I check around us to make sure no one’s listening. “And what did he mean when he said you’re an easy target? An easy target for what?”

“I don’t know. Just stop worrying about it, okay? I’ll take care of it. Next time you see him here, call me and I’ll be right over. I’ll talk to him. He won’t bother you again.”

Sara stops by to take our order. “Do you guys know what you want?”

We give her our order, then before she leaves, I say, “Sara, what else do you know about that Walt guy?”

“Not much. Why? Why do you keep asking about him?”

“I’m just curious. He’s in here a lot, right?”

“Usually every day.”

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