Whispers

Chapter Fifty-One - Other Players

Kate/Garrett's POV

Kate and Garrett watched as Bella Swan walked into the cafeteria with Edward right beside her. They moved as if they were one person or shared thoughts, every step they took in sync. If one of them deviated slightly, the other accommodated them without conscious thought.

It was both fascinating and jealousy inducing to watch.

"Should we tell them?" Kate looked at Garrett, his emotions on the surface. He cared for Bella, obvious in the way he watched her with a mix of longing and regret. However, he said more than once he didn't love her. She represented a better time for him, before his father's insistence for him to learn the family business.

Something Garrett never wanted.

Kate had accidentally stumbled upon the organization and begged her father to teach her everything. Though the assholes running the organization were old school and her husband would be the one to take over, she would still have some control if she found the right husband. If she couldn't escape her father's dirty clutches, she would ensure she had the power to bury him sooner rather than later.

The shitty, queen bee attitude and the airhead personality were all for show, that was her father to see she had the fortitude for the business. To others, she wanted to be seen as someone most people would never take seriously. Only her mother and Garrett knew her secret. If Bella had gone over the hard drive, Edward and Bella now knew, too.

They'd know that she along with Garrett and Eric had done everything they could to get the dirt on their families, and they finally knew who was in charge of the entire organization. The Seniors, known by most of the organization to be the bosses, were only puppets.

They answered to one man: The Mayor.

Bella had come to the same conclusion; she was too smart not to know by then. Kate hoped with the information she provided, the FBI would give her, Garrett, and her mother immunity and provide protection. They would need it. The Mayor had friends in all the right places.

However, Bella seemed to have more powerful allies.

"Do they know about your mother?" Garrett looked at his food, an unappetizing slice of pizza that would settle like a rock in his stomach and taste like cardboard. Nothing tasted right, depression and anxiety dulled his senses.

"I think Bella suspects, but if she saw the contents of the hard drive, she knows now."

Garrett shook his head. "With her father presumed dead, there's a chance she hasn't had time to look at it."

"Maybe," Kate hummed, looking over her shoulder.

Edward straddled a chair, pushing it as close to Bella as possible, playing with hair, occasionally whispering something in her ear.

Another look around the large room and she realized that all eyes were on Bella. Everyone had to know that the Chief of Police was likely dead. One of their own lost her father and so soon after losing her brother.

It almost seemed as if they anticipated her to breakdown. Some of them wanted to witness it. Some would enjoy it. Others would hate every second of it.

"We need to get everyone's attention off her." Kate looked at Garrett, his pale green eyes lost under the purplish bruising from lack of sleep.

"Fight?" Garrett suggested, swallowing the last of his food. He had to eat if only to settle his upset stomach. Popping antidepressants always messed with his system, also the idea of his father finding out about them made Garrett's anxiety skyrocket. He would see needing them as a weakness.

"Stare at Bella for a bit, everyone expects it would piss me off."

Garrett nodded, staring at Edward and Bella. He didn't feel an ounce of jealousy, mainly because the new guy was good for her. Bella had a little more self-preservation since meeting Edward. There hadn't been much of that since her brother died; losing him and Charlotte left her scarred and made her a bit of an adrenaline junky, too.

"Jessica is already back home—daddy dearest bailed her out within an hour." Kate rolled her eyes. "Then again Judge Meyers would do anything for our esteemed mayor, considering the dirt he had on him."

Garrett snorted in disgust, keeping his eyes on Bella for the sake of the show that would start soon. "His taste of young boys would end his fucking career. Fucking asshole."

"Imagine what prison would be like for him."

That made them grin, but they quickly covered them up with scowls or looks of indifference.

Kate had included the dirt on the judge on the hard drive for Bella and the FBI. She had to get a message to Bella; to check that hard drive before someone else found it. Time was of the essence.

Shaking off her lingering doubts about going against her father, Kate used her compact mirror as she applied her lipstick to keep an eye on the situation. Edward was glaring at other people who stared at them. He really needed to stop doing that, if he started something with someone, the whispers in the hallway would remain about them.

"Ready?" Kate closed her compact and glared at Garrett, her best friend, and occasional lover.

"Yes, dear." Garrett exhaled sharply and gave her a similar look. "What did I do now?" His voice becoming particularly loud.

"As if you didn't know, asshole!" Kate huffed, rising from her chair and pushing her tray into his hand, sending the contents of both down the front of his shirt and pants. "You deserve that for staring at her again!"

Garrett pushed away from the table with a curse. "What the fuck are you talking about, Kate?" He looked down at his clothes. "Look what you fucking did! And I wasn't starting at Bella again!"

She tapped her foot, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, how do you know I was talking about her then?"

Garrett appeared unsure, looking over Kate's shoulder, straight at an alarmed looking Bella. He winked. Bella scowled in return. "I don't know what you're talking about, and you're buying me new jeans, Kate."

"What the fuck ever." Kate grabbed her backpack and purse, turning away from Garrett, and marched out of the cafeteria with her head held high.

Garrett took a little extra time, getting a little help from Tyler and Ryan, two of his friends. Their parents were also involved in the organization, but lower level, strictly need-to-know basis. In other words, they had no idea their entire world could be turned over in less than a week.

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EPOV

Edward couldn't stand Garrett and he needed a word with him. He wouldn't tolerate him making Bella uncomfortable. Staring at her as if she was something to eat did that and he couldn't let that shit go.

"I'll be right back." He kissed Bella's cheek and didn't look back when she tried to protest. She would understand he had to protect her.

Garrett had finished cleaning up but remained sitting alone, looking over his phone.

Edward slapped his hands on the table and leaned toward him from across it. "Keep your fucking eyes off my girlfriend, and for that matter, your hands. You blew it. You fucked up a long time ago and lost her. You touched her without her consent, making you the last person she'd be interested in. Make her uncomfortable again and you'll answer to me."

Garrett started to chuckle as if he didn't have a care in the world. He leaned closer, and in a whisper, he replied, "She needs to look at the hard drive today if we want a chance to save them."

Edward's heart raced, a realization hitting him a little hard. "Save who?"

"The missing."

AN: Buckle in and tighten that belt, we're in for a bumpier than usual ride. Thanks to my beta, any mistakes are mine, I like to mess it. We'll find out about Charlie soon.