Elite (Eagle Elite #1)(51)

All his white facial hair was gone. He was wearing a really nice suit, like the type you see on Armani ads, and his smile seemed… worried.

Was nothing real in my life anymore? My grandpa was a farmer! A farmer! What would he need with a suit?

I approached him and the same black Mercedes I saw him driving last night. “What’s going on?”

“Trace.” He licked his lips. “Let’s just spend the day together and we’ll talk, okay? But not here, honey.”

I nodded. I mean, I really didn’t have any other choice. The car smelt like Grandpa, which was weird considering it was a rental.

The doors were heavy, too heavy to be a normal car, and the glass seemed thicker than normal. Not to mention that the windows were so darkly tinted it would be impossible to see in. I had no idea you could rent cars like this.

“Good news first or bad news?” Grandpa asked once he started the car.

“Bad. Always the bad first.”

Grandpa coughed. “Let me start with the good.”

“Why ask if you were already going to start with the good?”

He chuckled and shrugged. “The good news is that I’m going to be in town for a few months.”

“What!” I shrieked. “Grandpa, what about the cows! You know Wilbur won’t like being left without anyone familiar, and Matilda is—”

“I still regret letting you name some of the animals,” Grandpa grumbled. “And Wilbur and Matilda will be fine. They’ve got Scott. He’s going to watch over operations for a while.”

“Scott. As in, our cousin Scott?”

“Yes, Scott.” We joined the main road traffic. “He’s a good man and wanted some extra money, so I’m going to pay him to watch over things while I’m here.”

And then it hit me. Grandpa was sick. He had to be. Why else would he move? “Are you dying?”

Grandpa shook his head and sputtered. “Why would you think that? Do I look that awful clean-shaven?”

“No.” My breathing returned to normal. “I just… Well, why would you move here for a while?”

“Now, for the bad news.” Grandpa looked pasty white as he got on the freeway.

“What?”

“Everything you’ve ever known… is about to change.”

****

For some reason his words didn’t really hit me as hard as they should have. After all, everything had been slowly changing since Grandma’s death. I just didn’t know how or why.

Things were too weird not to change.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, I tried to concentrate on what Nixon and I would do later. I had to. Because if I thought about the fact that Grandpa was driving me outside the city in an expensive car, wearing a suit, I would freak out.

I closed my eyes for a few minutes in order to conjure up Nixon’s smile, his face. When I opened them, Grandpa seemed to be immersed in his driving.

I snuck out my phone and sent Nixon a quick text.

I’M KIND OF FREAKED.

He didn’t respond right away, but when he did, I pretended not to hear the vibration. Grandpa was clueless. I pulled out the phone and looked at the screen.

U R SAFE AND U HAVE NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF.

I smiled and texted back.

WHY? U FOLLOWING ME?

My phone went off again.

GOTTA RUN!

I glanced in the rear view mirror just in case I was right. But I didn’t see Nixon’s SUV. Clearly I was reading too much into things.

Grandpa took the next exit. We were on the outskirts of town in some sort of subdivision I’d never been to before.

“Where are we?” I asked as we passed some large houses and land. I could still see Lake Michigan, so I knew we couldn’t be that far out of Chicago.

“Lake Forest,” he answered.

Something about Lake Forest seemed familiar. I just didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was just because I’d seen lots of signs for it? Wait, hadn’t Nixon taken me out in this direction for our date? Granted, we hadn’t gone this far. Or had we? Gosh, it felt like it took forever to get back, but I could have sworn it was only a twenty minute drive. Or was it?

I wracked my brain. “This kind of looks like where Nixon took me for our date.”

“Date,” Grandpa repeated. “With what, pastures?”

I looked around at some of the pretty farmland. “Yeah, kind of.”

Grandpa didn’t say anything for a while as we headed down a paved road into what looked like private property. “He was probably trying to get you to remember. I should shoot him for doing that to you.”

“He’d probably pull his gun on you too, Grandpa.” Whoops, that slipped.

Grandpa slammed on the brakes. “You saw his gun?”

“Kind of hard not to with people chasing us.” I shrugged.

Grandpa cursed in the same language Nixon often cursed in, and I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. This was too strange. Like something out of a movie. Clearly I was losing my mind.

“What’s so funny?” Grandpa smiled.

“You sound like Nixon. What language is that anyways?”

Grandpa was silent again as we drove to the gate of the property. Across the railing it said. “Alfero.”

“That’s on Grandma’s necklace.” I pointed at the sign as the gates opened, revealing a gorgeous expanse of grass and water fountains with trees lining the driveway. As we neared the end of the driveway, a three-story house came into view. It was a freaking mansion. My mouth dropped open as Grandpa pulled the car to a stop.