Page 30 of Always Us

“Dad, you didn’t—” I can’t say it. I shouldn’t even be thinking it. He would never do that. Not to his own father. But he answered my phone call. And he said he wouldn’t talk to me until this was over. Until he took care of it. He promised he’d take care of it.

And now it’s taken care of. Or it will be if my grandfather dies, and it sounds like that’ll be happening very soon.

“Garret, I need to go.”

“Wait. So you were with him last night for dinner?”

“Yes, I was here for a meeting so we met for dinner. He was tired so we didn’t stay out late.”

“What caused the stroke? Do they know?”

“They’re not sure. It could’ve been caused by a number of things.”

I’ve heard that story before. Someone has a sudden heart attack or stroke that can’t be explained. I don’t know much about strokes other than stuff I’ve heard on TV. I know they can kill you and I know there aren’t always warning signs, so maybe it just happened.

But I also know there are certain drugs that can induce a stroke or a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. That’s one way the organization takes out their enemies, especially people who are important. People whose deaths would be investigated. If they wanted to kill someone like Sean, a nobody, they’d just shoot him and then pay some cop to make a fake police report saying it was just a random crime. But if they need to kill a senator or a governor or some other well-known person, they plan a car accident or a plane crash. Or they make it look like the person died of a stroke or a sudden heart attack.

That’s what I think happened to Arlin. I think one of the members slipped Arlin a drug that caused his heart attack. I didn’t come to this conclusion until just last week, when my grandfather made that comment about Arlin. My grandfather acted like he knew Arlin was involved in the plan to destroy my image. And if he knew, then others might’ve as well. If so, Arlin would’ve been killed, maybe by my grandfather himself. Arlin and my grandfather were good friends for many years. And yet I know for a fact that my grandfather would have no problem killing his friend. Just like he had no problem killing his daughter-in-law. And no problem plotting to kill Jade.

I want him gone. I want that bastard dead and I don’t feel bad about it.

“How long?” I ask, without an ounce of emotion.

My dad knows what I’m asking. “The doctor said he won’t make it through the night. He’ll be gone by morning.”

There’s more silence. This time it’s conveying relief. Overwhelming relief. By tomorrow, this will all be over.

“We’ll talk soon. Goodbye, Garret.”

He hangs up and I sit on the bed, the relief I felt just seconds ago replaced by a heaviness in my chest as I think about how this happened. Was it really just a stroke? Or did my dad do this?

I never asked him the question. I couldn’t, because I didn’t want the answer. He said he didn’t know what caused the stroke. But he’s an expert at lying. All my life, I’ve never been able to read him to know if he’s telling the truth.

As much as I wanted my grandfather gone, I didn’t want it to be at the hands of my dad. Killing his own father? It seems too evil. Like something my grandfather would do, but not my dad. He’s different.

My dad didn’t do this. He couldn’t. I know he’s had people killed before, and even done it himself, but he couldn’t kill his own father. Could he?

I think back to last week, when I told my dad what happened to my mom. How his father had planned my mom’s death. Planned the timing of it. Made my dad think she was safe when she really wasn’t. Is knowing that enough to drive my dad to kill his own father?

CHAPTER SEVEN

7

JADE

I knock on the bedroom door, then open it slightly and see Garret sitting on the bed, his forearms resting on his knees as he stares at the floor.

I walk over and stand in front of him. “Did you talk to your dad?”

He sits up. “Yeah. He agreed I shouldn’t go out there. He said my grandfather won’t make it through the night.”

I hug him. “Garret, I’m sorry.”

He hugs me back but doesn’t say anything. I’m not sure what to do for him. I don’t know how he’s feeling. I know his grandfather wasn’t speaking to him, but I thought Garret would be more upset by this. Maybe he’s still in shock. He needs time to let this sink in. Right now, I just need to be here for him.

I pull away. “I don’t mean to rush you, but we really need to head to the airport. Or we could take a later flight if you want.”

He stands up. “No. Let’s go. We need to get home.” He points to the suitcase. “Is everything packed?”

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