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Scheduled for Friday
by Anton M.

51: The Who and the Why

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Thursday, February 16 (cont.)

It was the weirdest moment of my life, having phones shoved up all in our business, meeting my biological father in front of a thousand students, having to pretend it wasn't my first time meeting him, my first time finding out he knew I existed, my first time seeing my teeth when he smiled.

An amused twitch moved his lips as he shook hands with Edward, probably feeling Edward's Russian-president-worthy death-grip, but his casual, "Good to see you again, Edward," left no doubt about having met him before (what the fuck was he about?), and Jasper nearly shat his pants when Garrett knew his name and shook his hand. Alice, receiving the same acknowledgement, had been rendered mute, and only nodded at him.

Casting an irritated glance at the crowd, Garrett tilted his head toward his car and what had previously been a partition in the red sea of students. "Come."

I refused to let go of Edward's hand as we followed Garrett and his security detail, and when his bodyguards began to hold their arms deliberately in front of them, forcing the crowd to part, I remembered Emmett's lecture, weeks ago, telling me that security was not just safety from malicious intent, security was crowd control. It was surreal, but their job was made easier by a few teachers getting impatient that the students who did have classes weren't returning to the schoolhouse. Few students left but the crowd got sparser and easier to walk through.

Three or four yards from Garrett's car, his bodyguards ushered us ahead but stopped, turned around, and literally just stood in front of the crowd, refusing them access to Garrett's car, and while the students could've probably passed them on the sides, their fear or awe of the situation seemed to be keeping them away.

Garrett opened the back side door, motioning for us to get in. Edward and I hesitated.

"I know you have Chemistry," Garrett said quietly. "But I need you both to step into the car for five minutes. I'll explain."

Edward and I locked eyes before he gave me a nod and we sat into the pristine, new-smelling Cadillac. Edward scooted to the window, I sat in the middle, and Garrett shut the door before giving orders to his bodyguards.

The noise difference was so great it felt like someone put soundproof headphones on us.

Garrett sat on the passenger seat in front of us, threw his sunglasses on the dashboard and turned to look at us. His expression would've been neutral if not for the twitch on the edge of his lips as he assessed our interlocked hands.

"I'm not thrilled it had to be this way," he said, studying my face. "But I'm being blackmailed to the nearest galaxy with your existence. The only way to take the heat off was to acknowledge you in public and behave like we've always been on good terms." Garrett's smile tightened when he looked at Edward. "Your aunt and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are taken into custody as we speak."

Edward paled.

"My aunt?"

"Yes."

"Who's Mr. and Mrs. Morgan?" I asked.

Looking like he'd seen a ghost, Edward squeezed my hand. "It's… Peter's parents. Aunt Vicky and Tessa, they were always tight, but, but—are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You mean, the reason nobody published photos of me was because they were blackmailing you?"

"That's correct. It is our understanding that they never wanted to be subtle around you to make sure the knowledge of how freaked out you were would speed up the cash-cow they imagined me to be. Unfortunately for them, I never intended to keep you a secret, but we needed time to collect evidence." Garrett paused, turning to Edward. "Renee and Charlie's foster application was approved today. CPS won't remove Riley from Bella's place if you take the kid there today."

Edward stared at us, incredulous, his mouth slightly open.

"I understand that this is a lot to process but I was hoping to talk to my daughter. We'll drop Bella off here after your last class."

Lifting his elbow on the window sill, Edward ran his palm over his buzz cut, frowning as he leaned closer to me and asked, "Do you really know him?"

I cast a glance at Garrett. "We've never met before today."

"But it's true? He's your—"

"It's true," I confirmed.

"I can't just—" Edward pressed his lips tightly together. "Bella, your parents will never forgive me if I let you drive off with him when I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you."

"Her parents will be fine." Garrett assessed Edward's less-than-pristine hoodie before he leaned forward and tore off his leather jacket, throwing it at Edward. "Keep it. You need it more than I do."

Edward stifled his smile in spite of himself—the situation was too surreal. "Are you bribing me?"

Garrett's grin was charming as fuck. "I would be if I didn't know you're a biker without a leather jacket, which should be its own misdemeanor. Keep it."

Edward narrowed his eyes. "How do you know so much about us if my aunt and the Morgans were the ones stalking Bella?"

"Because real PIs don't fuck around," Garrett retorted without missing a beat. His nostrils flared in exasperation as he exhaled. "Allow me to do this, Edward. Today was the first time Bella's parents and security guard were unavailable at a time I could be here. All I want is to talk to my daughter without interruptions."

Edward gripped my hand tighter. "Was it my aunt who stole Bella's coat and left it with a note in her locker?"

"Yes. She also sent me a photo of it last night." Garrett showed us a photo of my locker with a coat and a caption that said, 'Tick-tock.' "The police has already seen it and will collect evidence from Bella's locker, if they aren't doing it already. I doubt they have a warrant but it's unlikely that your principal or custodian would demand to see one."

"How did you figure out that my aunt is involved?"

"Edward. Please understand that our time is limited. I must talk to Bella with her parents out of the way." Garrett's cheeks puffed with an exhale as impatience clouded his expression, and his Rumanyo accent seeped into his words. "Other than a lot of back and forth with PIs and the police, your aunt also made the critical error last night of sending the photo from her personal number. I am not here because of the coat—the coat is irrelevant. It's yet another scare tactic in a sea of scare tactics."

"I'll come with you." Unyielding, Edward leaned forward. "I'm not comfortable leaving Bella alone with a man who was in prison for attempted murder."

In awe of Edward's balls of steel, I squeezed his hand.

Garrett's face hardened. He looked like he would've spat on the ground had we been outside, and his accent was clearer than ever. "You've been reading too many tabloids."

"That's not a denial."

Garrett's muscles flexed as he took hold of the seat in front of Edward and twisted his upper body to face us. Glancing at me, he asked, "I told your mother?" At my nod, Garrett's nostrils flared. "Do you know what happened?"

I nodded. "But Edward doesn't."

Garrett famously refused to talk about his time in prison and didn't hesitate to walk out of interviews when he was asked about it. "Bella can tell you. It has no bearing on her safety around me. All I will say is—even if harming her was my aim, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to kidnap my own daughter in front of an audience of a thousand people?" Looking borderline angry, Garrett locked eyes with Edward. "I swear on my sister's grave no harm will come to Bella under my watch."

Eyes flickering between us, Edward hesitated. Garrett crossed his arms. Shaking his head, he turned off his iPhone and handed it to Edward. "Here. This is my one and only phone. You let me spend an hour with my daughter in exchange for keeping my phone safe. We'll switch when your next class is over. Deal?"

Edward's mouth dropped open. In disbelief, Edward accepted the phone but pulled my hand against his lips, searching my eyes. "Do you want to go with him?"

I felt awful for my answer, but yes. I did. I was bubbling with questions about when and how Garrett found out about me, why he wanted to talk to me, what the fuck was going on. I was kind of pissed, too, for the way he did it, his timing and location, but that only reinforced my decision to talk to him.

"Yes," I whispered, making eye contact with a relieved Garrett. "I'm sorry, it's just… I have to. I'm sorry."

Displeased, Edward licked his lips but gave a sharp nod, eyes full of 'we'll talk about this later'. Then, he grabbed the back of my neck and pressed a firm, two-second kiss against my lips. "I love you," he whispered. "Don't forget—" He tapped his chest, no doubt reminding me of his locket. Feeling his care down to my toes, I nodded.

Turning to Garrett, Edward held up his phone. "I'll keep this," he said. "I'm sure you have a small country's worth of PR agencies behind you, but you'd better believe I have ways to find my girlfriend should we be mistaken in trusting you. Understood?"

Garrett fought the amused twitching of his mouth but nodded. Edward gave me a look brimming with meaning before he threw Garrett's jacket next to me and shut the door. The sparser crowds enveloped him with a thousand questions when he walked around the car.

"Like a lion protecting his cub," Garrett said into the rearview mirror, cheekbones rising with his grin. He left the car to talk to his bodyguards and returned to the backseat. I felt near-nauseated with nerves and excitement as we took off, and Garrett's eyes studying every inch of me didn't help.

The word surreal didn't begin to cover how I felt driving in a car with the man I'd only ever seen in movies and talk shows.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Sweetwater Creek. It's nearby."

"Fewer witnesses for when you kill me?"

Garrett laughed. "Clearly I wasn't very good at murder the first time, getting caught in the attempt, so you have little to worry about."

"How reassuring," I quipped, smiling at his dry humor. "Do you ever regret it?"

"I regret not finishing the job," he replied, glancing at me. "Turn off your phone. The calls will be relentless, and my time with you today is limited."

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