Page 104 of Always Us

“So you didn’t talk to him?”

“No. I just saw him in the hallway.”

That’s strange. Why would Carson be at Moorhurst? And why would he be on Harper’s floor? Is he spying on the students he thinks have ties to the organization? Or maybe he’s interested in Pearce’s latest scholarship winner. Sydney, the computer genius. Maybe he wants to use her hacking skills to get into Pearce’s computer.

Harper’s talking and I’m not listening so I shove Carson out of my brain and focus on what she’s saying. We stay there for almost two hours, but it goes really fast. That’s how it always is with her. Once we start talking, we lose track of time. It shows what good friends we are, even now, living on opposite coasts.

Last summer we both worried that our friendship would end, but it’s the same as always. No matter where we live, Harper will always be my friend.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

25

GARRET

I’ve been calling my dad ever since he left last night. Now it’s ten-thirty in the morning and he’s still not home. He hasn’t called me back and I’m getting really worried. I call him again just as he walks in the front door.

“Where were you?” I ask him.

He takes off his coat and gloves and hands them to the maid. He’s wearing the same suit he had on last night but his tie is undone and his shirt is wrinkled. “Garret, I just walked in the door. Meet me in my office in an hour or so.”

“We need to talk. This can’t wait.”

He sighs, heavily, and rubs his forehead. “All right.” He notices the maid walking away. “Marta.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need some coffee. Could you bring some to my office, please?”

“Of course, sir.”

I follow him into his office. “Where have you been all night?”

He takes a seat at his desk. “I had some things to take care of at work.”

“What happened with Roth?” I sit in the chair opposite his.

He checks his phone. “Nothing. I simply asked him to leave. He wasn’t invited.”

“Why did he say he’d see me soon? When would he see me?”

“Garret, why do you let that man get to you? Stop worrying about him. I’ll deal with him.” He checks his phone again. “Now what do you need to tell me?”

“This guy who went to Moorhurst last year showed up at our place last week. He’s the guy I told you about that kept bothering Jade last semester, telling her all this stuff about our family.”

My dad nods. “Yes. Justin. I know who he is.”

“How did you know his real name?”

“Because I’ve been investigating him ever since he started following me a few months ago.”

“Last semester he said his name was Carson. He pretended to be a student but he’s really 24 and—”

“A reporter in Chicago. Yes, I know all this. Get to the point.”

My dad is really on edge today. Usually he isn’t this impatient. And why does he keep checking his phone? He did it again just now.

“He said that he knows you’re part of the organization but that he can’t prove it. He said his sister had evidence of election fraud but that she was killed before she could show it to anyone.”

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