Promising You (The Jade Series #4) (3 page)

He seems really sincere and I’m starting to think that maybe he’s not so bad after all. But that doesn’t mean I want to see him again. I don’t want a relationship with him or any other Sinclair. “Does anyone else in your family know about me?”

“My wife does. She’s the only one. We should probably keep it that way for now. Grace wanted to come meet you today, but I told her I needed to talk to you first. But if you agree to it, she would love to meet you. You have her eyes, you know. You both have the same jade green eyes.”

I give him a half smile as I scan the room. “Do you have my crutches somewhere?”

“Oh, yes.” He gets my coat from a hook on the wall and hands it to me. As I put it on, he goes behind his desk and brings the crutches over. “Do you need some help?”

“No, I’m fine.” I use the crutches to make my way to the door. I’m surprised to find it isn’t locked. It opens to a long, empty hallway. I search for the security guys but they aren’t there. Arlin leads me outside to where a car is waiting.
 

“Goodbye, Jade.” Arlin pats my back. “I hope to see you again soon. Please call if you need anything.”

I say I will, even though I have no plans to ever call him. Or see him. He seems like a nice old man and he
is
my grandfather, but none of that matters. His son destroyed my mom’s life and mine. And telling me to break up with Garret certainly didn’t win the old man any points.
 

As the driver takes off, I try to assess where we’re at. It looks like the back of a strip mall. When the driver turns around the side of the building, we pass the drive-thru for The Burger Hut, a place that Garret and I sometimes go to eat. What is a rich guy like Sinclair doing with an office in a strip mall next to The Burger Hut?
 

I get my phone out to call Garret but there’s no signal, which is odd because I always have a signal here. The driver sees me holding the phone in the air.

“The signal is disabled in the car,” he says.
 

Arlin didn’t want me using the phone? But why? It’s another reason I shouldn’t trust him. None of what he said made sense. He belongs to a secret society? The same one Garret’s dad belongs to? I guess it’s possible, but I still don’t know what they do. Help rich people run for office? Keep people like me from marrying people like Garret?
 

The driver parks in front of my dorm, helps me out of the car, hands me my backpack, then drives away.
 

My phone immediately starts ringing. It’s Garret. I’ve been gone for hours and he’s probably been calling nonstop.

“Garret, I’m—”

“Jade, where the hell have you been? Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”
 

Actually I’m not fine. I’m feeling really dizzy all of a sudden. Stress must make the concussion worse, like the doctor said. And I’ve been under a lot of stress the past few hours.
 

“Where are you?” Garret asks.

“I’m just outside our dorm. Are you in your room? Because I could use some help down here.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right down.” When he meets me there seconds later, I’m leaning against the building so I don’t pass out. “What happened? Is it your head?”

“I feel kind of dizzy. I just need help with my bag.”

“Something’s wrong. I’m taking you to the doctor. Can you make it to the car?”

“I just saw the doctor. I’m fine. I just need to sit down.”

“You saw Cunningham? That’s where you were? How did you get there?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s go inside.”

We go to my room and he helps me to the bed, sitting right beside me. He looks so worried. Nobody’s ever looked that worried for me. Frank and Ryan worry about me, but not the same way Garret does.
 

He fastens his arm around me and kisses my forehead. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you go to class.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m feeling a little better now.”
 

“Dr. Cunningham called me earlier and said you’re not supposed to go to class for the next few days. He knows you won’t listen to him, so he called me to make sure you take some days off to rest. But he didn’t mention you being at his office. Did you take a cab there? And why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

He gets an even more worried look on his face. “What is it?”

“After class today a man approached me outside of the Student Services building. It was the same man who bumped into me at Rockefeller Center. And I was right. He is connected to Sinclair.”

“Are you joking here because this isn’t funny.”

“No. I’m serious. He had these men with him and I thought for sure he was there to kill me and then I passed out.”
 

“Jade! What the hell? Why didn’t you—”

“Just let me finish. I woke up at an office and Dr. Cunningham was there. He said I’m okay so you don’t need to worry. Anyway the old man came into the room and said he wanted to talk to me.”

“Who is this guy?”

“Arlin Sinclair. He said he’s my grandfather.”

Garret looks surprised and a little confused and then it suddenly hits me. “Do you know this man? Your family is friends with the Sinclair family and you dated Sadie, so I guess it’s possible.”

“Yeah, I know him. He’s been to my house a few times. So that’s who bumped into you in New York? I don’t get it. How did he know about you? Does he know what Royce did to your mom?”

“He claims Royce told him it wasn’t a rape and that my mom just made up that story to get money from him. Arlin said he didn’t know anything about me until just recently. I don’t know if I should believe him. Do you know anything about this guy?”

“He’s retired. Does a lot of charity work. When I dated Sadie, she said he spends a lot of time with his grandkids. Takes them each on a trip every year.”

“So do you think he was telling me the truth?”

“I really don’t know him that well but my dad does.” Garret gets his phone out. “I’ll call him. We should tell him about this. I don’t like Arlin just showing up like that.” He starts to call his dad but I stop him.

“Wait. Let me tell you what else he said.”

I start from the beginning and tell Garret what Arlin said about this secret organization and his dad’s involvement in it.
 

“Do you know if any of this is true?” I ask him when I’m done.
 

“It’s true that my dad is involved in some kind of secret organization, but I don’t know much about it. I only know it exists because a few years ago I heard him talking about it with my grandfather. When I asked my dad about it, he admitted he’s a member but he wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

“I think they do stuff to get people elected. Like maybe rig elections to get whoever they want in office. Like Royce.”

“There’s no way my dad or this group could pull that off, even if they wanted to.”

“I’m not so sure about that. If you heard Arlin today and saw the way he looked when he talked about it, you’d know something strange is going on there.”
 

“Did Arlin come out and say they were rigging elections?”

“No, but he acted like the organization had spent years getting Royce set up to be the next president. Something about him being chosen. And then your dad ruined their plans.”
 

“So Arlin knows my dad killed Royce?”
 

“The whole organization does. They helped him cover it up.”

“Then why haven’t they done anything to him? Why hasn’t
Arlin
done anything to him?”

“Arlin said it isn’t up to him to punish your dad. It’s up to the entire organization. He said they’re definitely going to punish your dad for what he did to Royce but that they wouldn’t harm you or Lilly.”

“So what are they going to do? Does he know?”

“He said they have plans. For you.”
 

“Me? Like what kind of plans?”

I scoot back on the bed and lean against the wall. “I don’t know. Apparently they aren’t final yet. He just said they have plans for you. And for
me
if I don’t cooperate.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You should really talk to your dad. I need to know if any of this is true.”

“Jade. You’re not telling me something. What is it?”

“He said if this plan they have for you gets finalized, I have to break up with you or they’ll ruin my future. They’ll get me kicked out of school and they’ll destroy my reputation so I can never get a job.”

“Okay, I’ve had enough of this asshole.” Garret gets up and puts his coat on. “Where did Arlin take you? I need to go see if he’s still there and have a little chat with him, man to man. Straighten this thing out.”

“No, don’t. Just talk to your dad.”

“I want to hear it from Arlin. He seems to have all the answers.” Garret picks his phone up from the table. “Will you be okay here? No, you can’t be alone. I’ll go down and get Harper to stay with you.” He starts to leave.

“Garret, wait. I’ll just go with you.” I move to the edge of the bed and reach for my crutches. I feel dizzy again as I stand, but I don’t tell Garret or he won’t let me leave.

“You sure you’re okay?” He gets my coat from the back of my chair.

“Yes. Besides, I can’t let you go there alone. We don’t need another Kensington killing another Sinclair.” It’s not at all funny, but it sounds funny when I say it.

Garret smiles as he shakes his head. “I’m not going to kill him, Jade.” As I hobble to the door he stops and hugs me. “But I might have to punch the old man in the face for taking you like that. And then taking your phone. I was so damn worried about you when I didn’t know where you were.”

“Well, I’m okay now so you don’t have to worry.” He lets me go and we walk out to the parking lot.
 

“So where is this place?” he asks as we get in the car.

“It’s in that strip mall next to The Burger Hut.”

Garret laughs. “Funny, Jade. Where is it really?”

“I’m not kidding. It’s in that strip mall.”

“A billionaire doesn’t put his office in a strip mall by The Burger Hut.”

“I think it’s in a pharmacy and the office is in the back. Arlin was probably just borrowing the office. Does he own pharmacies?”
 

“Yeah, he does. Their main business is the pharmaceutical company but a few years ago they started buying up local pharmacies. I forgot that he owns that one in the strip mall. Cunningham probably suggested meeting there in case he needed anything for whatever happened to you.” He reaches over for my hand. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. You worry about me way too much.”

“It’s a side effect of being in love with you, so deal with it.” He lifts my hand up and kisses it.

When we get to the strip mall, Garret comes around to open my door. I fumble with the crutches, which I’m still not good at using.
 

Garret’s watching me. “Why don’t I go in and check if he’s there before you get out?”
 

“What are you saying? That I’m too slow?”

He’s laughing. “You’re kind of slow. Maybe I could carry you to the door.”

“Just hold on.” I yank on his sleeve as I get my balance on the crutches.
 

As we walk into the pharmacy a customer goes past us out the door, leaving only Garret and me. Garret goes up to the pharmacist, a tall, thin guy with wire-rimmed glasses wearing a lab coat. He’s standing behind the counter, putting a new roll of paper into the cash register. He sees us there but doesn’t even say hello.

“We’re here to see Mr. Sinclair,” Garret says. “Is he still here?”
 

The pharmacist gives us a strange look so Garret clarifies. “Arlin Sinclair? The man who owns this place?”

The guy starts laughing, which is surprising because he looks like someone who never laughs. “Arlin Sinclair? The billionaire?”

“Yes. Is he still here?”

“Why on earth would Arlin Sinclair come to this pharmacy?” He pulls on the register tape and notices he has it in the wrong way. He takes it out and tries again.

“Doesn’t he own this place?” I ask the guy.

“He owns hundreds of pharmacies. He doesn’t go visit them.” He laughs again.

“Is there an office in the back?”

“There’s a storage room, but not an office.”

“Are you sure?”

The pharmacist is fighting with the register tape again. “I don’t know what you kids are up to, but I don’t have time for your college pranks. Go bother someone else.”

Garret and I leave the pharmacy and go stand by the car.

“Are you sure this is where you were earlier?” Garret asks.

“Yeah. It was next to The Burger Hut and there’s only one Burger Hut in town.”

As we stand there I try to figure this out. I remember being here so what happened to the office I was in? Maybe the pharmacist was lying. But he didn’t seem to be lying.

3

“I don’t understand. I was just here an hour ago.”
 

“It must’ve been someplace else,” Garret says. “That’s okay. Just forget it.”

“No. I’m telling you this was the place.”
 

“Let’s not worry about it until we talk to my dad. His assistant said he’s flying back from London tonight, so we can’t talk to him until tomorrow.”

“But what about—”
 

“Jade, stop. The doctor said you’re supposed to avoid stress and this thing with Sinclair is totally stressing you out, so we’re done talking about it for tonight.” He points to The Burger Hut. “Are you hungry? As long as we’re here we could get some food to take back.”

“I’m not really in the mood to eat.”

“You’re eating something. I’m supposed to take care of you, remember? We don’t have to go here. I’ll take you wherever you want.”

“Let’s just go here. I love their cheeseburgers.”

We get our food to go and take it back to my room. As we’re eating, my mind is still on that office. How could it just be gone?

“So I have a surprise for you,” Garret says, tossing his trash in The Burger Hut bag. “Should I go get it?”

“What is it?” I scrunch up my burger wrapper and add it to the bag.