Prologue
“Revenge... is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion.” -Jeremy Taylor
Garret knocked on his father’s office door. As he waited for an answer he shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. It had been a while since he had been called to his father’s office, he had been doing his best to keep his head down and stay out of trouble until his father stepped down, and he wondered what this impromptu meeting could possibly be about.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the door to his father’s office opened just far enough that he could slip in. Garret gave a nod to his father’s second-in-command, Greg, who was holding the door open. Greg dipped his head in return and let the door fall shut behind them. Garret turned from the man to look at his father, who sat at his desk with his elbows resting on the surface and his hands clasped in front of his chest. His graying hair was falling over his face, and he was dressed in an immaculate suit and jacket as always.
“Hello, Father” Garret’s greeting was laced with curiosity as he studied his father and took a seat in the chair on the right side of the desk. The man’s only response was to rake his eyes up and down his son’s form, taking in his black t-shirt and jeans with a disapproving expression before he called out,
“You can leave us now Greg” Garret heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him and knew from experience that the man was weighing his options. When he heard near-silent footsteps and the door open and close again softly he knew that he had decided against arguing with his father, this time at least. Garret supposed he was getting a little old to constantly be dealing with a broken arm or leg.
His attention was drawn back to the matter at hand when his father slid a folder across the desk to him. On the front of it, in bold letters, was his name. Garret Waters. He looked at his father quizzically before opening the folder. Inside he found a brochure for Silver Oak University, the big college a few towns over. He raised an eyebrow, what was all this about? He set the brochure aside to find what looked like a high school transcript. He picked it up. It was a high school transcript, it was his high school transcript. Except, it also wasn’t. He definitely had not made all A’s. Underneath the transcript was another page, a modest condo was pictured on it with an address and a key taped to the bottom. He set the paper down, closed the folder, and looked back up at his father.
“What is this?” he asked. His father grinned, an expression Garret had only ever seen when he knew he’d won something important to him.
“You’re going to college son.” This earned an eye roll from Garret,
“And why would I do that?” he challenged. The glint in his father’s eyes should have clued him in, but he wasn’t paying attention to the small details at this moment. He found the idea of him going to college laughable and thinking Jack had finally lost his mind.
“You’re going because Serena Grey is going”
“The Chief’s daughter?” A nod was the only response he got. Garret smirked, finally something interesting to do. Getting information from the girl would be the most fun he’d had in a while. Even if it was to feed his father’s obsession with tearing the Chief down. If he didn’t do it, he’d find someone who would. Plus, he thought, it might be a nice vacation. He took the folder from the desk and stood. “When do I start?”
