Page 51 of Always Us

I park in the driveway and go inside the house and look for Jade. She’s not there. I check the garage and see her car, so she must be around somewhere. I walk over to the sliding glass door and see her sitting on the deck across from some guy, her beach towel wrapped tightly around her.

I shove the door open. “What’s going on here?” I put myself in front of Jade and face the guy. “Who are you?”

As I get a better look at him, he almost looks like Carson, that asshole who bothered Jade last year. But it’s hard to tell with his sunglasses on and the sun glaring off his face.

“Garret, good to see you again.”

It is him. I recognize his voice. He stands up and extends his hand like we’re good buddies. Instead of shaking his hand, I shove it away.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Carson?”

“Garret, don’t.” Jade’s standing behind me, holding on to my shirt so I don’t hit the guy. As if she could hold me back. If I wanted to hit him, there’s nothing she could do to stop me. And right now, I want to hit him. But first, I wait for him to answer.

“I came here to talk to Jade. And you.”

“I had enough of your shit last year, asshole. Jade and I are married now. She’s not interested in you. She never was. So get the fuck out of here before I call the cops.”

“I’m not interested in Jade that way. I only acted like I was in order to get close to her. To make her tell me stuff.”

Jade sneaks around me. “You would’ve dated me just to get information?”

He shrugs. “I do what I have to do.”

“I told you to leave,” I say to him. “And if you show up here again, I won’t be as nice as I’m being right now.”

“I just need to talk to you.”

“You did enough talking last semester. We’re done listening to you, Carson.”

“His name is Justin, not Carson,” Jade says. She doesn’t seem that freaked out by this. “He used a fake name last semester. And he’s not a college student. He’s a reporter.”

I grab Carson’s shirt and shove him against the deck railing. “Why the hell would you do that? What kind of fucked-up game are you playing here?”

“Let me go and I’ll explain.” Carson’s a big guy and he could fight me but he’s not. His arms are at his side.

“Why is he here, Jade?” I keep my eyes on him, my hand still clutching his shirt.

“He said he works for Aston Hanniford, the guy who ran for president four years ago. Hanniford thinks he didn’t win because the election was rigged and now he’s going after the people he thinks did it.”

I let go of Carson and take a step back. “You’re still obsessed with that conspiracy shit? You seriously need to get a life, Carson.”

“It’s not a conspiracy. And my name is Justin. Like Jade said, I used a fake name last semester. I was working undercover for Mr. Hanniford. I’m 24 and was just pretending to be in college, although I actually did have to take the classes in order to make it look real.”

“Why would you work undercover at Moorhurst?”

“Because Hanniford is trying to identify the members of the secret society that was somehow able to rig the election. The same secret society your father belongs to. And your grandfather.” He smirks, acting all proud of himself for knowing that.

“Nobody belongs to a secret society. You’re delusional, Carson. Justin. Whatever the hell your name is.”

“We can’t prove it yet, but we know they’re part of it. And since you’re born into it, that means you’re part of it, too.”

“Yeah, right. And what do we do again? We rig elections? I don’t even pay attention to politics. I didn’t even vote in the last election.”

“Because you didn’t need to. You already knew the outcome.”

I shake my head. “You are seriously messed up. I don’t know who told you that shit, but you’re wrong. And coming onto private property, uninvited, and accusing people of things, is going to get you arrested.”

Jade was behind me but she sneaks around to my side. “So you went to Moorhurst to spy on Garret?”

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