Grandfather (31 page)

“The second?” I
asked.

“Writing about you might
save my job and even keep me alive,” she said.

That threw me
off.

“
If I make up my own story,
I have no doubt that something would happen to me quickly. I’d
probably be killed. But if I write about you, everybody will read
it, as I said before. And do you know what that means?”

We all shook our
heads.

“That means that if
something happens to me, more people will think it’s too big of a
coincident. It’s too risky for somebody to have me killed. It’ll be
obvious that people are trying to hide the truth. Remember how I
said people are afraid of the truth.”

She wanted to use me to
secure her safety. But from what it sounded like, she didn’t know
much about Grandfather. Actually, I don’t think she knew anything
about it. I was sure she’d be killed, even if she wrote my story. I
remembered what Cornelius said to do if she continued to press on.
I turned around. This time, he and the vice president were watching
us. I faced Olivia Fabray.

“I need time to get things
worked out in my head,” I told her. “I mean, I just got here. I
want to settle down.”

She frowned. But after a
few seconds, she turned back to her happy self and nodded. “I
understand,” she said. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. But I
suppose we all have to live with rejection at some point in our
lives.”

“
Yeah,” I said. “Maybe in
the future I can help you.”

She still didn’t seem too
satisfied. “Well, when you feel like the time is right, let me
know. Use the internet, and you’ll be able to find me.” She shook
each of our hands. “It was very nice to meet you,” she said. “And
once again, Marley, you look absolutely beautiful.”

Olivia had an upbeat walk
as she strolled to the chocolate fountain. There, she placed a hand
on another woman’s shoulder who just exulted over Olivia’s
arrival.

“Could you imagine,”
Marley said.

“Imagine how much of a
difference that could’ve made,” Ashton interrupted.

“But it would’ve been too
risky,” I said. “Trust me, I wanted to. But you guys know I
couldn’t.”

They understood. Deciding
that we didn’t want to sit in the same spot, especially with
Cornelius constantly watching us, we moved around the room. Of
course we would have still been watched, but it would have made it
more difficult for Cornelius to find us in a different place each
time he scanned the room for us.

I took the time to listen
in on some of the conversations. I heard a lot of compliments on
how people were dressed, and many went on to tell where they had
bought their clothes. Some even bragged about how much they spent.
Some talked about how beautiful the house was, how nice the string
quartet was and, of course, how delicious the food was. I heard my
name a couple of times, and I even heard a woman talking about
people outside city walls. “They need to stay as far away as
possible,” she was saying. “Just think what would happen to our
precious city if they were allowed to enter.”

My blood boiled. Ashton
looked just as angry. Marley nudged my shoulder, trying to get me
to leave.

“
I don’t understand why
people would even wonder about the lowlifes outside,” the woman was
saying.

I wanted to say something,
but that obviously would’ve had a bad outcome. Marley basically had
to drag me and Ashton out of there. We didn’t stop until we were
close to the quartet, unable to hear the lady speaking. “You have
to remember where we are,” Marley told each of us. “We’re going to
hear some pretty harsh things.”

She was right. I did
expect it. But that still didn’t prepare me.

“I’d love for somebody to
throw her over the wall,” Ashton said.

I agreed, glancing at the
quartet players. They were all dressed in a red suit, white button
down shirt, and a red bowtie. They played the music, not paying
attention to anybody in the room. It was as if nobody existed to
them. I supposed that was their job.

“The best thing we can do
right now is ignore what everybody says,” Marley said.

“And be happy,” somebody
said from behind.

I jumped, nearly falling
over. I turned around to find Cornelius and the vice president
looking down at us. “Remember the rules.”

“I don’t care anymore,”
Ashton shouted.

Cornelius looked around,
making sure nobody heard him. The quartet helped with that.
Cornelius turned back to us and whispered, “Then I don’t care what
happens to Marley here. Now pretend to be happy, or I’ll just hurt
her when we get back.”

Ashton rolled his eyes and
obeyed.

“
Very good,” Cornelius
said.

“
You got your hands full,”
the vice president said, laughing.

“
But not for much longer,”
Cornelius said. “The safe should be here in three days.”

The vice president looked
at each of us. “I’m Vice President Luther McCall. I’m helping our
Grand Imperial out.” He whispered the last part.

“
Great,” Ashton
said.

“
I bet you’re really proud,
aren’t you?” I told Luther, obviously being sarcastic.

“
Oh, I am,” Luther said.
“I’ve been given a great privilege.”

Privilege? Yeah right. I
let out a quick laugh. Luther seemed annoyed, but he let it
pass.

“
Your presence here in the
city has caused a lot of trouble,” he said. “Apparently, there are
some people who are starting to wonder about those outside: which,
in context, questions the wall.”

“
Maybe that’s for the
best,” I replied.

Luther glared at me.
“Perhaps for you, but you do not matter.”

“
Some would say the
opposite,” I said.

A woman walked by with a
tray. “Lobster tail,” she said.

We all rejected
it.

“Mr. President,” a younger
man said, approaching us. “Mr. Bachner is looking for
you.”

Cornelius held up a finger
at him “Let’s forget about this,” he told us. “And let’s not lose
character.” The string quartet grew louder as Cornelius and Luther
left to meet whoever Mr. Bachner was. We walked to the opposite
side of the room to get away from the loud quartet.

More and more people
entered. And more people introduced themselves to us, going on
about what a privilege it was to meet us. It was starting to get
annoying, so we tried dodging the people. We passed up Olivia
walking with Mrs. Harrison. They waved at us.

We reached a corner free
of people, which didn’t last long. Mr. Harrison was nearby, chewing
on some food. As soon as his eyes met mine, he squeezed in between
chairs and tables until he reached us. “Still pretending to be
happy,” he said. “Got to do better than that.”

“We
are
happy,” Marley said, hoping to
still fool him.

“Ah,” he said. “I’m good
at detecting lies as well.” He patted his belly and looked around,
as if to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.

“How do you know?” I
asked.

“My boy, I’ve been around
a long time. I’m a businessman. I’ve faked smiles and lied many
times in order to make a business deal.”

“So you know what’s going
on?” Ashton asked.

“Not entirely,” Mr.
Harrison said. “But I know something is going on. I’ve detected
many lies, and not from just you three.” He tilted his head toward
the crowd. I turned just in time to see Cornelius squeezing out
from the crowd to talk with an older couple motioning for
him.

“Cornelius,” I
said.

Mr. Harrison
nodded.

“Most people think they’re
sneaky when, in fact, they’re obvious as night and day.”

He may have known that we
were faking everything, but I was still worried. I didn’t trust
anybody within the wall. Not even Mr. Harrison.

“
Care to take a tour of the
place?” He didn’t give us time to answer. He turned around and made
his way through a pair of double doors.

We exchanged uncertain
looks, but then felt we had nothing to lose. And besides, I was
curious to see what Mr. Harrison had to say. We followed Mr.
Harrison into a nearby door that led to a large hall with elegant
red carpet and maroon walls. He shut the door behind us, and
everything became silent. You could barely hear the people laughing
and talking, and you could barely here the band playing.

“Yes, President
Cornelius,” Mr. Harrison said. “As I said before, I can detect a
lie, and he’s told many.”

He began to walk slowly
down the hall. We all walked beside him. “You don’t like him,” I
confirmed. “Why did you invite him to this fundraiser?”

“I’ve got to stay on his
good side,” he answered. “Being on his good side will prove helpful
if things get bad. And I suspect they will soon.”

“What do you mean bad?”
Ashton asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said.
“Something that I don’t know about is going on. Heck, even the
theories they have outside of the wall are getting to me.
Grandfather.”

We were silent at first.
Then, Ashton responded, “It’s true.”

“Perhaps,” Mr. Harrison
said. “But you’re the real question,” he said, looking at me.
“Something seems off. Cornelius has you here, but I don’t’ think
it’s because of the reason everybody else thinks.”

He didn’t realize how
right he was. I considered telling Mr. Harrison about why Cornelius
needed me. But while Mr. Harrison seemed like a nice guy and was
talking against Cornelius, I still wasn’t sure if I trusted him. I
lied. “I don’t know what he wants.”

Mr. Harrison chuckled. “I
know when somebody lies to me,” he said again. “But it’s okay. You
don’t have to tell me the truth. You don’t know me.”

We reached the end of the
hall where two flights of stairs on each side led down to a large
room with several sofas and tables. He stopped and leaned on the
railing, looking down at the room.

“Something is definitely
coming,” he said. “And it’s not going to be good.”

Ashton agreed. “It’s
Grandfather. These new laws are giving them more control over
us.”

Mr. Harrison grinned.
“It’s very possible,” he said. “I’m the kind of man who likes to
see what’s going on with his own eyes. I don’t just take anybody’s
word.”

Both Ashton and Marley
glanced at me. Yeah, yeah, he was starting to sound like me. But
still, I wasn’t trusting him.

“We understand,” Marley
said. “Just be careful.”

He chuckled, playing with
his beard. “Being careful is what I’m good at,” he said. “Trust me,
I have my safety secured. Now, you guys probably need to get out,
am I right? You need to get away from all of this,
right?”

“
We do,” I said. “Really,
really bad.”

Our eyes followed the
direction of Mr. Harrison’s finger, extending down the stairs and
toward a door. The windows next to the door told me it led directly
outside. There was nobody nearby.

Wait, what? Could it be
that easy?

“You’re letting us go?”
Marley asked, headed for the stairs with no hesitation.

“I am,” he
said.

“What about you?” I
asked.

“I’m on Cornelius’s good
side. Nobody saw us leave together.”

“What about when things
get bad?” Ashton asked. “You won’t be safe then.”

“I’m working on an
operation,” he said. “I’ll have a plan, and I’ll be safe. Remember,
I have my safety secured. Now go on. I already have a ride waiting
for you.”

Marley ran to him and
hugged him quickly. She didn’t have a clue who he was, but it
didn’t matter. He was saving us. He looked surprised, but then
hugged back, smiling.

“
Thank you so much,” she
said.

We rushed down the stairs.
All we had to do was get through the door. It could’ve been a trap.
Cornelius could’ve been waiting for us outside. We reached the door
and opened it, exiting from the side of the house. Nobody was
outside. Just flower gardens and water fountains. Ahead was a
fenced door leading to the street. I looked back upstairs, ready to
thank Mr. Harrison once more before shutting the door and making a
run for it.

He was gone.

“Let’s go,” I said,
running out into the dusky night, my heart beating rapidly, my
blood pumping.

Chapter
Thirteen

W
e ran to the gate quickly, keeping an eye out for onlookers.
It was completely quiet out. Thankfully, there was nobody around .
. . except for a driver standing outside of a long black car. When
he saw us, the door opened.

I’m sure Marley and Ashton
had thought about whether or not to trust the guy, but there was no
time to discuss that. We risked it, jumping inside, not saying a
word to the man. He slammed the door and sprinted around to the
driver seat. Before his door slammed shut, he floored it, pushing
my body against the back seat.