Protecting Her

by Allie Everhart

  I’m on the phone again, calling one of our freelancers. He’s not a criminal. He’s a private investigator. He’s the one who makes the folders we get containing the information about the targets of our assignments. He’s very good at what he does. He can get information about most anyone and he does so quickly.

  “Mr. Kensington?” he answers.

  “Yes. It’s Pearce. My son, Garret, is missing. Someone picked him up at school and we don’t know who.”

  “What time did he go missing?”

  “Around two-thirty. I’ll pay you triple your normal fee if you drop whatever you’re doing and see what you can find out. I need a lead. Anything.”

  “Are you sure a family member didn’t pick him up? Or maybe he went home with a friend.”

  “Those are both possibilities, but until I know for sure, I need you to start looking for him. I don’t want to waste any time.”

  “I understand. I’ll get right on it. I’ll call you back if I find out anything.”

  He hangs up and I speed down the road, heading home. I’m sure Rachel’s a nervous wreck. She could barely talk when we spoke on the phone. She was crying and sounded completely panicked. I’m panicking too, but I can’t let her know that. I need to be strong for her.

  When I get home, I find her on the couch, sobbing and surrounded by wadded up tissues. I race over to her and take her in my arms.

  “Pearce.” Her body crumples into my chest, her shoulders shaking as she cries. “He’s gone.”

  “He’s not gone.” I hold her tightly against me and rub her back. “We’ll find him.”

  She pushes me back. “Did you call the police yet?”

  “No. It’s too soon for them to consider him missing.” I’m not sure if that’s true, but I’m not ready to call the police. I have a strong feeling this involves the organization so I can’t get the police involved.

  This could very well be my punishment for marrying Rachel. The punishment I’ve been waiting to receive for almost eight years now. I keep waiting and wondering when it will happen.

  Every time something bad happens, I think that’s my punishment. When Rachel’s parents died, I found their accident suspicious and thought maybe the organization did something to their car to make it go off the road. They knew I loved her parents so it wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea to think they were responsible. But then later, Jack told me that he heard my punishment still hadn’t been done, so I’ve continued to wait, wondering what it will be and when it will happen.

  They could’ve taken Garret just to scare me. They wouldn’t kill him. He’s one of their own. A future member of the organization, although I’m still hoping to get him out of it. But they could take him temporarily just to torture me. Because that’s what this is. Pure torture. Having your child go missing? Not knowing who has him? Thinking something bad will happen to him? It’s agonizing. I’m barely keeping myself together. I want to break down like Rachel is doing right now, but I can’t. If I do, she’ll lose all hope.

  She shoves me away. “Pearce, I can’t do this. I can’t sit here and not do anything. We have to call the police. Someone has to start looking for him.”

  “The police won’t do anything. He’s only been missing for a couple hours. Did you call any of his friends’ parents?”

  “Yes. Before you got home, I called everyone I could think of. Nobody has seen him.”

  “Did you try calling the principal at home?”

  “Yes, but her son said she’s at the oral surgeon and will be knocked out for hours.” Rachel runs to the kitchen. “I’m calling the police. I have to at least report this.”

  As she picks up the phone, the doorbell rings. She drops the phone and races to the door. I follow behind her.

  She opens the door and Garret’s standing there. With my father. Shit. I knew it. I knew he was behind this.

  “Garret!” Rachel pulls him inside and into her arms. She kneels down and looks at him. “Sweetie, are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” He smiles. “Grandfather got me an ice cream cone.”

  My father steps inside the house, his eyes on Garret. “Yes. Garret and I had a lovely afternoon.”

  Rachel bolts up and glares at my father. “How DARE you!”

  I come up behind her. “Rachel. Take Garret upstairs.”

  “Dad, what are you doing home?” Garret asks.

  “I decided to come home early.” I set my eyes on my father.

  “Will you play ball with me?” Garret asks.

  “Yes.” I glance down at him. “But not right now. I need to speak with your grandfather.”

  Rachel takes his hand. “Come on, honey. Let’s go up to your room.”

  “Mom, I missed football practice,” he says as they walk up the stairs.

  Once they’re upstairs, I wait until I hear the door to Garret’s room close.

  Then I go up to my father. “What the fuck were you thinking? Taking my child and not telling Rachel or me?”

  “I’m his grandfather. I have every right to do something with my grandson now and then.”

  “Yes, with his parents’ permission. You don’t just take him out of school and not tell anyone.”

  “Both the principal and the secretary were aware that I had him. Perhaps you should’ve spoken to them before overreacting like this.”

  “Neither of them were there when Rachel went to pick him up, which you probably knew, and which is probably why you picked today to do this!”

  He lets out a laugh. “I don’t keep track of the schedules of the staff at your child’s school. I have better things to do with my time.”

  “Why didn’t you call us? Is it that hard to pick up a phone? And why didn’t you tell me you were doing this before you left? We work in the same damn office!”

  “It was a last minute decision. I was driving near Garret’s school and thought it would be nice to take him out for ice cream.”

  I lower my voice, just in case Rachel is trying to listen from upstairs. “That’s a lie. You’ve never once taken him out for ice cream. You never do anything with him. You were up to something. And you didn’t just get ice cream. It doesn’t take two hours to get fucking ice cream. Where did you go? Where did you take him?”

  He slowly grins. “I took him to meet some people. Or rather, for them to meet him.”

  He means the members. He took Garret to meet some of the members of the organization.

  I lower my voice even more. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

  “They were interested in meeting him.”

  “He’s a child. Why the hell would they want to meet a child?”

  “He’s our future, Pearce. They’ve been going around meeting all the members’ children. I knew you’d never take him to meet them, so I did.”

  “Why are they so interested in the members’ children?”

  “They’re assessing them. Seeing what their talents are. Seeing what future role they could play within the organization.”

  “Garret is not playing ANY role! He’s not—” I stop before I say it. If my father knew I was trying to get Garret out of his obligation to be a member, he would make sure it never happened. I have to do it behind his back.

  My father’s brows rise. “He’s not what? What were you saying?”

  “That he is not to be around those people unless I am present. If they want to see him, I will be the one to bring him to them. Not you!”

  “All the better,” he says calmly. “I will inform them that you will be playing a more active role in your son’s future. But I will still be involved. I don’t trust you to do the right thing, Pearce.”

  “Which is what?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “To give the boy the opportunities he deserves. There are many roles to play within the organization, and as a Kensington, Garret needs to be at the top. He needs to be a leader. A decision maker.”

  “I’m not going to force Garret into a certain role. Unlike you, I want my son to be happy.
I will never force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. You had your chance, Father. With me. Now you need to step back and let me raise my son. You need to stop interfering.”

  “I will do what needs to be done. If you neglect to promote the boy’s future within the organization, I will do it for you.”

  “You will do no such thing!” I raised my voice, so I lower it again. “Stay out of his life. He is not your responsibility. He is MY son. NOT yours.”

  “He has my name. He’s a Kensington. And I will not allow you to disgrace that name again. You did it once, by marrying her, but you will not do it again. I will make sure of that.”

  I point to the door. “Get out of my house.”

  He stands there, not moving. “They said Garret has great potential. He’s intelligent. Good looking. Personable. Confident. And very articulate for someone his age. He has many qualities that would be advantageous to us. He has a great future ahead of him.”

  I force myself to keep quiet. I can’t fight with my father about this. If I do, he’ll take it as a challenge and be even more determined to control Garret’s life. When my father knows I don’t like something, he does it all the more. And I’ve made it clear that I hate having him interfere with my son’s life. But I shouldn’t have told him that. I shouldn’t have expressed my anger. I did exactly what he wanted me to do. I let his actions affect me and I let him know it.

  I go around him to the door and open it. “Goodbye, Father.”

  He meets me there, a smug grin on his face. “I’ll see you on Saturday. I’m looking forward to it. Royce always has such interesting parties.” His grin widens. “Katherine Seymour will be there. She graduated from college last spring.”

  He mentioned Katherine because he knows how much she annoys me. Her presence is just another reason why I don’t want to attend Royce’s party, but I don’t have a choice. It’s a party for the members and attendance is mandatory.

  “Father, you should get back to the office.”

  “So should you. But I suppose you’ll use the excuse of your earlier hysterics as the reason why you’re unable to do so.” His eyes fix on mine. “Weakness of the mind can get you killed, Pearce. You should learn to be stronger.”

  As he walks to his car, Rachel comes down the stairs. “Where is he?”

  “He left.” I shut the door.

  “What? But I wanted to talk to him! Yell at him! He almost gave me a heart attack! Does he have any idea what he put us through?”

  I pull her into my arms. “Yes. He said he told the principal to tell us he had Garret, but I know that’s not good enough. He should’ve told us directly.”

  “He is never allowed back here! Or back in our lives.”

  “We can’t do that, Rachel. I work for him. And cutting him out of our lives would mean Garret would never see his grandmother.”

  “Then quit your job. And if Garret wants to see Eleanor, she can come here without Holton.”

  I step back and hold her shoulders and look at her. “I know you’re upset. I am too. I’m furious. But Rachel, I need you to understand that my father does not back down from a challenge. If we try to cut him out of our lives, or keep Garret away from him, he’ll take that as a challenge and he will fight us until he gets his way. And what he did today? That’s nothing. He’s capable of far worse.”

  She folds her arms over her chest. “Your father is crazy. There’s something seriously wrong with him. He should not act this way.”

  “I know, but that’s just how he is.”

  “So you want me to just forget about this? Pretend it didn’t happen? Just let him get away with it?”

  “If we don’t want a repeat of what happened today, then yes. He likes to play mind games, like he did today, and he’s an expert at them. You don’t want to get on his bad side, because if you do, he will make your life hell.”

  “Your father is a bully, Pearce, and I’m sick of him controlling us like this! I’m sick of walking on eggshells around him. It’s ridiculous! It’s not normal!”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. But please, just listen to me. If you want to get back at him, if you want to get revenge, then just keep treating him the way you’ve treated him the past few years. He can’t handle the way you’re so nice to him. It confuses him and annoys him. He keeps trying to provoke you and it never works. That gives you power, Rachel. Yelling and screaming at him would give him the power, which is just what he wants.”

  She nods. “Yes. I’ve already figured that out.”

  I pull her into my arms again. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry that he acts this way. I wish he didn’t, but I can’t change him. He is who he is.”

  She sighs. “I know.”

  “What did Garret say about today?”

  “He said his grandfather took him to meet some of Holton’s friends and then he took him for ice cream. So who were these friends? Did you ask him?”

  “They were some business colleagues of his. My father wanted to show off Garret to them. He’s very proud of Garret. He just needs to learn to express it a different way. And I told him that. I told him he is never to take our son out of school again without telling us. And I said if he wants his friends to meet Garret, I will be accompanying him.”

  “Did he agree to that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dad, are you ready?” Garret comes bounding down the stairs. “We have to play ball before it gets dark.”

  I let Rachel go. “I’ll go change out of my suit and meet you in the back yard.”

  “And then we get to have movie night!” I hear Garret say to Rachel when I get upstairs.

  “Should we get it set up?” she asks him.

  She tries to sound happy, but I know she’s still upset. I am too. I’m completely enraged with my father, even more so now that I know he took Garret to meet with members of the organization.

  I would love to cut my father out of my life, like Rachel suggested, but it’s too risky. If I did that, he’d do something far worse to get back at me.

  Keep your enemies close. When it comes to my father, that saying couldn’t be more true.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  16

  RACHEL

  It’s a day later and I’m still shaken up from what Holton did. When I dropped Garret off at school this morning, I told the office they are never to let him leave with anyone but Pearce or me. The principal apologized for not calling and telling us, but added that she assumed it was okay for Garret to leave with his grandfather. I made it clear that it was not. She gave me a funny look when I said it, but she doesn’t know Holton. He is not a normal grandfather.

  “I want to do it,” Garret says as I open the container of black Halloween makeup I bought to go under his eyes.

  “Okay, but don’t use too much.” I hold it out for him.

  He dips his finger in the container and makes a black line under each eye. He looks in the mirror. “Cool! I look just like a real football player.”

  He’s in his costume and looks adorable. I hope he doesn’t actually play football for real someday. It’s too dangerous. I’d much rather have him on the swim team.

  “Let me get your picture.” I hold my camera up.

  “Not in the bathroom, Mom.” He runs out into the hall before I can snap the photo. “We have to go outside and I have to get my football.”

  The doorbell rings. It’s probably Eleanor. She’s here to see Garret in his costume before he goes trick-or-treating. Jack and Martha are also coming over, but they’re coming later, for dinner. I invited Eleanor to join us but she declined. She seems uncomfortable around Martha and she acts strange around Jack. I’ve asked Pearce if there’s some kind of history there I don’t know about, but he didn’t say there was, so maybe they just don’t get along.

  “Grandmother!” Garret says when he answers the door.

  Eleanor and Holton don’t like the ‘grandma’ and ‘grandpa’ labels. It’s too informal. So Garret has to call them ‘grandmot
her’ and ‘grandfather,’ which were nearly impossible for him to say when he was a toddler, but they still corrected him if he didn’t call them that.

  “Look at you,” she says, smiling at him. “Already in your costume.”

  He hugs her. Garret doesn’t know that Eleanor isn’t a hugger, but even if he did, he’d still hug her. Like me, he hugs everyone.

  “I’m going to be quarterback someday,” he tells her.

  I walk up behind him. “Hi, Eleanor.”

  “Hello, Rachel.” Eleanor comes inside. “I brought Garret something. I hope that’s okay.

  “Of course.” I like that she brings him things. It reminds me of when my own grandmother would come to visit. She’d always bring me something, like a pack of gum or some candy. And I like that Eleanor doesn’t spend a lot on whatever she buys Garret. It’s usually something small and not too expensive.

  “Garret, I brought you a gift.” She sets a large shopping bag on the floor. Inside is a wrapped box.

  “Can I open it?” he asks me, sounding excited.

  “Yes. Go ahead.”

  He takes the box out and rips it open. It’s a set of wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes that can be used to build things. The photo on the box shows a boy building a skyscraper.

  Garret points to the photo. “Mom, look what I can build!”

  “Yes, that looks like fun.” I smile at Eleanor. “Thank you. That was very nice of you.”

  Garret hugs her again. “Thank you, Grandmother.”

  “You’re welcome. I also brought you this.” She reaches in her purse and pulls out some chocolate candies shaped like pumpkins and wrapped in a small see-through bag.