Page 179 of Promising You
“They rig elections. It used to be harder to prove, but with these new electronic voting machines a reporter was able to prove they rigged the voting machines in Ohio and Florida during the last presidential election. You know what happened to that reporter? Shot in the head the day before he was going to announce this on a talk radio show. They said it was a suicide, but the guy never showed signs of being suicidal.”
“Are you done yet, Carson?”
Although part of me wants to hear what he has to say, the other part of me doesn’t. If this group does bad things, I’d rather not know. Garret will never be part of that organization. He already knows about it and he’s never been told he has to be part of it.
Carson keeps talking. “We’ve had presidents who never should’ve been in office. This group is controlling the system. And the party affiliation doesn’t matter. Democrat or Republican. They switch it up so people don’t get suspicious. They just find a person to act as a figurehead, someone who’s likable and looks good on camera. They get him elected, but the guy has no control. This group controls what he says and does.”
“Do you realize how crazy you sound? You really need to stop this, Carson. If you tell this to anyone else, you’ll end up in a mental hospital.”
“They pick key senators as well. Men who will head important committees to help this group with their agenda.”
“And what is their agenda?”
“I don’t know. Get more power? Control the masses? Make more money? Being a member of this group has benefits. You’re guaranteed to be rich. Not average rich but super rich, like Garret’s family.”
“Where do you get this stuff?”
“News articles, websites, videos. A lot of times something gets published online that shouldn’t and then it disappears. Like that reporter who died? An article went online right after his death saying he was shot. It had statements from witnesses who said they saw someone enter his apartment before it happened. Then an hour later, the article was taken down and replaced with the suicide story. This time the so-called witnesses said they hadn’t seen anyone go in his apartment all day.”
“And you’re saying this secret group killed the guy?”
“Yes. They had to get rid of him. That’s what they do. They get rid of people who know too much and then they just make up some story to cover their tracks. What they don’t get is that there will always be people who search for the truth. Some guy took a screen grab of the original article that came out about that reporter, the real story, and put it on his website. I printed it out if you want to see it.”
“I get it, Carson. You don’t like Garret’s family.”
“It’s not that I don’t like them. I’ve never met them, so how would I know? What I’m saying is that if this is true, you should be aware of it because you may not want to be involved in this. These people are dangerous, Jade.”
“Well, now I know, so are we done with this topic?”
“I still have that file in my room. I have proof for at least some of the things I told you about.”
Carson’s really starting to freak me out. And if any of what he said is true, he could end up getting killed if he pursues this any further.
“Carson, what exactly do you plan to do with this information? You’re not a reporter. You’re not a journalist. You want to be a doctor, so why are you so obsessed with this? What’s your goal here?”
He considers it. “I don’t know. It’s not like I can stop them. I guess my goal is just to find out the truth.”
“But it’snotthe truth. You’re just believing stuff you find on the Internet. People can make up whatever they want and put it out there and make it sound real.”
He sighs. “Fine. I’m done trying to convince you. I thought I was being a friend by telling you this. I was trying to protect you. But it’s obvious you’ll never believe me. Just be careful.”
“I seriously need you to stop bringing this up.”
“I just told you I would.”
“Yeah, and you’ve said that before and then you bring it up again. I just want this to end. You don’t need to protect me. And you really need to stop obsessing about Garret’s family. Just let it go.”
“I told you I’d stop talking about it and I will. Let’s just leave it at that.”
I’m guessing that means he’ll keep investigating this, but I can’t seem to change his mind so I don’t bother trying. Instead I close my eyes and end up falling asleep for the rest of the drive. I wake up when I feel Carson’s hand on my arm.
“Jade, we’re here.” Carson is talking beside me. He sounds normal again, his conspiracy tone gone, hopefully for good this time.
I slowly sit up and see that we’re in the parking lot in front of our dorms.
“It’s a lot warmer here than in the Midwest,” he says. “And there’s no snow. Guess we should’ve just stayed here for spring break.”
He gets out of the Jeep and goes around to the back to get the luggage.
