Page 51 of Finding Us

The man seems taken aback by the question. Was I not supposed to ask?

“Mr. Roth.” He shakes my hand. “And these are my associates, Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Stiles.”

“Nice to meet you.” I feel Garret staring at me, urging me to let him handle this, and I probably should but instead I say, “How do you know Garret?”

Garret nudges my foot under the table.

“We do business with Pearce, Garret’s father,” Mr. Roth says. “In fact that’s why we’re in town. We’re meeting Pearce here on Wednesday to go over some plans for a new project.”

I knew it. When Pearce said he had to work, I knew it was for the organization, not Kensington Chemical. But why would he make plans to meet with people from his crazy secret society the week of the wedding? In this town? As I’m thinking it, Garret asks them.

“Why are you meeting here instead of New York?”

“Our meeting regards a project we’re doing with Kiefer Douglas. Kiefer couldn’t get away to New York given his filming schedule so we decided to come out here.” Mr. Roth turns to me again. “Perhaps you’ve heard of Mr. Douglas. He’s worked on several films meant for people around your age. Superhero movies. Romantic comedies. That sort of thing.”

I don’t respond. The guy obviously knows I’m friends with Harper. I’m sure he and his organization found out everything they could about me when they learned I was dating Garret last year. Back when they wanted to kill me to get me out of the way.

Garret clears his throat. “I’m sorry but Jade and I really need to go.”

The three men finally step aside.

“Yes, well, perhaps you can join us for dinner when your father gets into town on Tuesday,” Mr. Roth says.

Garret doesn’t answer as he steps out of the booth. “Mr. Roth.” He shakes his hand, then goes to the next man. “Mr. Bernstein. Mr. Stiles.” He shakes their hands as well. “Enjoy your meal.” Garret’s talking in such a formal way that it doesn’t even sound like him.

I don’t bother saying goodbye to the men. I just follow Garret out of the restaurant to the car.

Garret takes off down the road, drives a few miles, then pulls into a strip mall parking lot and turns the car off.

“Shit!” He rubs his temples with his hand.

I keep quiet but his reaction is making me even more worried than I was before.

“What the fuck are they doing here?” He tips his head back and takes a deep breath.

I’m not sure if the question’s rhetorical but it seems like it is so I remain silent.

He keeps taking deep breaths, then slams his fist against the steering wheel. “What the hell is he doing? Just when I’m finally getting along with my dad, he goes and pulls this shit?” Garret doesn’t look at me, but instead keeps his eyes focused out the front window. “Why the fuck would he have a meeting here in this town? The week of our wedding? Does he not want us to get married? Is this some sick, twisted joke? Did he plan this all along? Let us get to this point and then break us apart a week before the wedding?” He bangs his hand on the wheel again. “Fuck!”

“Calm down.” I put my hand on his arm. “I’m sure your dad had nothing to do with this. He wants us to get married. You know that, Garret.”

He doesn’t respond.

“Why are you acting like this? Who were those guys?”

Garret inhales another deep breath and lets it out. “The guys at the top. The ones who make the final decisions on shit. They’re so high up in the organization that they don’t attend the regular meetings. In fact, you rarely see them. Most of the members have never even met them. I only know them because they interviewed me before they made the final decision about my future. They scared the shit out of me then and they did it again just now.” Garret turns to me. “They’re fucking powerful, Jade. Like worldwide powerful. They control shit in other countries. Trade agreements. Monetary systems. They basically control everything.” He faces forward again. “Shit! I should NOT have just told you that. Dammit, those fuckers messed with my head so bad I can’t even think straight.”

We’re both quiet for several very long minutes. Garret has both hands on the wheel, his head hung between them. I’ve never seen him this upset, this panicked. It’s even worse than when I saw him at his house during spring break when he was trying to break up with me. Back then, he’d shut down. He’d accepted his fate, thinking it was the only way to save me.

But now, he’s panicking because he doesn’t know what this means. For him or for me.

I finally say what I know he’s thinking. “They’re here to stop the wedding, aren’t they?”

A tear runs down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away before Garret can see it.

He shifts in his seat to face me. “They’re not stopping anything, Jade. We’ll elope if we have to. We’ll catch a flight to Vegas tonight and get married.” He takes my hand and locks his eyes on mine. “I’m marrying you. And nobody’s going to stop me. Not my dad. Not the organization. Nobody.”

“Don’t lie to me, Garret. Don’t tell me what you know I want to hear. If you know this is ending, just tell me. Just be honest.” Another tear runs down my cheek. “I’m begging you. Just tell me the truth.”

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