Page 193 of Choosing You

“Do you really think he’s going to talk about this over the phone?”

He sighs and puts his phone away. “No. You’re right.”

“I don’t get it. If your dad knows Sinclair wants to hurt me, then why didn’t he say anything when you told him we were going to Des Moines? He knows Sinclair is here for the campaign.”

“Maybe my dad thought you’d be safe if I was with you. Maybe that’s why he didn’t get mad when I told him I was coming here. Or maybe he got Sinclair to back down. Leave you alone.”

“Maybe, but I still don’t feel safe.”

“Yeah, I don’t either.”

“Why is your dad even friends with that guy? And why is he giving him all that money for his campaign?”

“Sinclair must have something on him. He must know something my dad needs to keep hidden. That’s why my dad’s covering for him.”

“Your dad would really keep this guy’s secret all these years? He really wants a rapist to be president?”

“You think he’d be the first one? You think these people have never committed crimes, Jade? Seriously?”

“Don’t you dare talk down to me! How the hell would I know that? I live in the real world, where people who commit crimes actually go to prison.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it that way. I’m just so pissed off right now.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I told you before, Jade. Powerful people get away with shit. They pay people to keep quiet. Or they do other things to keep them quiet. And if anyone tries to accuse them publicly, they destroy them. They make them out to be crazy so nobody will believe them.”

“Like my mom. Everyone said she was crazy. When she told the police who raped her, they said the guy wasn’t even in Des Moines that night. But he was. He’s in the crowd in that photo. Didn’t anyone check the photo?”

Garret doesn’t answer. His mind has already moved on to the more recent past. “Sinclair had someone make those phone calls and steal that letter. He’s been watching you, Jade. And probably me, too.”

Another chill goes through me. “Are you trying to freak me out even more?”

He puts his arms around me. “I’m not leaving you here. I’m staying here until you go to back to school. And you’re not leaving my side.”

“But what about Christmas? You need to go home for Christmas.”

“They’ll have to have it without me.” He lets me go and gets his phone out again. “I need to get a gun. What are the gun rules in this state?”

I push his phone down. “A gun? Are you insane? You don’t even know how to use a gun.”

“I’ve known how to use a gun since I was 13. My family has guns, Jade. We have to. Because of shit like this.”

“You’re scaring me, Garret. How did I not know that you’re some gun fanatic?”

“I’m not a gun fanatic. It’s not like I want to use one. But I guarantee that whoever Sinclair has hired to keep an eye on you has a gun. And we need protection.”

“Okay. Just hold on a minute. Maybe we’re overreacting here. The guy’s known about me all these years and he’s never tried to hurt me. So maybe we’re getting worried over nothing.”

“He hasn’t tried to hurt you before because he didn’t need to. But now you know his secret. And he wants to be the fucking president! He can’t have evidence of his crime walking around. Anyone can prove you’re his daughter with a simple DNA test. Shit! This is bad.”

“But if anyone ever found out, he could just say he had an affair. Politicians have affairs all the time. Nobody has to know it was a rape.”

“If news got out that he had an affair, his political contenders would go digging for anything and everything about his past and there’s a chance that one of them would find out the truth. He can’t let this get out.”

“Okay, but is he really evil enough to harm his own daughter?”

“I don’t know, Jade.”

“Tell me what you know about this guy. Everything.”

“I don’t know that much about him.”

---