A Whole New Crowd

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Knock, knock
Tray and I turned to each other. We shared a look.
Knock, knock
“Tray! You in there?”
He ignored him and asked me, “Are you ready?”
I nodded. We had gone to a hotel after I left Kevin. There’d been only one move we could do and Tray pulled out his phone. I watched as he pressed the numbers, and then heard him say, “Chance?”
He had called the DEA. It wasn’t a long conversation with his brother. Chance told us to go to a hotel as a precaution and Tray looked at me. I already knew where I wanted to stay. “We’ll go to the hotel on Sixth Street in Pedlam.”
Tray frowned, but relayed the information. He added, “I’ll text the room number.” Then he was silent for a moment before he murmured, “Got it. Okay.”
As he hung up, I asked, “What was that last part?”
“He told me a code to use in case someone intercepts the text.”
“Does he think that’s a real possibility?”
“I don’t know.” He put the phone down and turned the car towards Pedlam. “He said not to go back home, just to be safe. I think they’re operating under the ‘better safe than sorry’ theory.”
Knock, knock
I was pulled back from my thoughts as Tray’s brother tapped on the door again. Tray went to let his brother into the room, and I stayed by the window.
Chance Evans was an older version of Tray. They had the same hazel eyes, dirty blonde hair, and chiseled cheekbones, but Chance looked more weathered. He was slightly bigger in build as well. His shoulders were a tiny bit broader, but Tray was more defined. After they embraced, Chance gazed at me for a moment. It was direct, as if seeing right through me, with a hint of caution and suspicion at the same time. I felt like I was being interrogated without any questions asked, and I straightened to my fullest height because of it. My eyes narrowed and my chin lowered in a challenge. This was my life. Gray was my friend and I wasn’t going to let a stranger cast blame on me.
After a full minute of studying me, his hand clapped Tray’s shoulder and he gently shook him. “Are you two nuts?”
Tray frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“This is a Panther hotel.” Chance swung his suspicious eyes my way again. The caution was gone. He did blame me. “I know my little brother had no idea, but you did. He said you picked it.”
I turned and leaned my back against the wall. My arms crossed over my chest and one of my eyebrows arched. “Yeah?”
“Taryn?”
I ignored the soft undertone of betrayal from Tray’s voice. “Jace Lanser is missing. He’s the one I want.”
Chance narrowed his eyes, turning back to his brother. “You said a friend was kidnapped. You never said it was connected to Jace Lanser.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Jace Lanser is a big f*cking deal. He’s in a different league. Do you know what you’ve gotten yourself into?” He swung around to me. “What was your agenda coming here?”
“It’s a cheap hotel. No one will look here for us.” But that wasn’t the full truth. I didn’t want to look at Tray. When he asked, it had been a split second decision, but I knew I needed to follow it through. I could feel the hurt from him.
“Bullshit.”
I shrugged and turned back to the window. “It’s the closest hotel to Pedlam’s school.” Liar! My conscience knew I was still holding back.
He shook his head. “You two are going to explain everything, and I mean everything. I want to know when you wipe your ass to the real reason this hotel was picked.” He sent the last statement to me.
A good person would’ve flushed with guilt. I did nothing. There was a good goddamn reason I picked it. Tray gestured to me. “Do you want to start?”
I did. I told him everything. He got all the details, even the events with my fake family and even the conversation from Dee and Kevin. I didn’t hold back any of the exchanges I had with Brian or with Jace. By the time I was finished, Chance Evans had a different look to his stare. There was still suspicion, but he looked wary now. He said, “How do I know this whole thing wasn’t a set-up and you’re not working with Lanser to flush me out?”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed to Tray. “Is this whole thing an elaborate plot to flush us out? If it is, Tray doesn’t know anything. I do. If you’re a plant and you’re working for Jace, you take that message back to him. You got it?”
“You think I’m a narc?” Acid dripped from my tone and I stood upright, moving away from the wall where I was leaning. My arms unfolded and went to my side. I didn’t like being called a traitor.
He moved forward, his arm muscles flexing at the same time. “No. I called you a plant. This whole thing could be a set-up. So you tell me. You brought my little brother to a hotel that the Panthers own. You don’t think I know what that means? If Lanser’s alive and kicking, they’ve already told him you’re here. Now they know where my little brother and I are too.” He glanced at Tray, whose eyebrows were bunched forward. Chance turned back to me. “I don’t buy your bullshit that it’s the closest hotel to the Pedlam School.”
Ice was forming in my blood. The more he spoke, the more accusations he sent my way, only made me more firm in my belief. He wasn’t there to help. He was there to interrogate, blame, and I had a sneaking suspicion he was going to take his brother with him when he left. Casting Tray a swift look, I wondered if this room would be the last I’d share with him. I had no idea what was going to happen after this conversation, but I knew my destination. Whether he helped or not, I was going to that school. I was going to break in and I was going to find my friend.
I had no idea how I was going to get out, but I had to try.
“Taryn?” Tray asked softly as he moved to stand beside his brother. Suspicion had formed in the depths of his eyes too.
I shook my head and bit out a laugh. “He’s right.”
Chance’s eyes got big.
Tray jerked backwards like I had hit him.
I added, “I picked this hotel for a reason. I want Jace to know I’m here. I want him to come to me. I have to try.”
“Try?”
I didn’t dare look away from Tray. I moved closer to him and softened my voice, “Tray, you heard Dee. They looked everywhere for Jace. If he was around, they would’ve seen him. Jace knows Gray. He would’ve gone out to see what he wanted. The only place they didn’t search was the school.”
“What’s with this school?” Chance asked.
I turned to him. I felt rushed. I needed to keep appealing to Tray to repair the small damage done by his brother, but this was a DEA agent in the same room as me. I needed to appeal for his help too. “They did renovations over the summer. They changed things and now there are cameras everywhere. They have guards too, guards with guns.”
Tray told him, “We were in the building. We pranked it one night.” He lifted a hand towards me. “She helped us get in, so if Lanser is using the building for something, it’s got to be in the basement. We didn’t see anything on the main floors and I think we would’ve.”
“Stun guns? Pepper spray?” Chance asked me.
“Guns. Handguns and a couple of them had rifles.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because I scoped it out one night. What school has guards like that? You have guards like that if there’s something inside you want to protect. What’s around here that’s so precious?” I shook my head. “Drugs. We’re in the center of the country. I’m not stupid. Something’s changing. It’s why Jace wanted me gone. He didn’t want me to get involved or he didn’t want me to find something, and he knows me. He knows I’ll get in wherever he doesn’t want me.”
“Why?” Chance narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, reassessing me. “What’s so special about you?”
“I’m a thief.” I flinched at my words. “I was a thief. I can get in wherever I want.”
“Yeah?” He lifted his chin. “I’ve known a lot of criminals and a lot of people who grew up hard like you. They didn’t have any special criminal skills like that. Where’d you learn yours?”
My stomach clenched, and I avoided Tray’s gaze as I answered, “Because Jace Lanser is the one who taught me.”
No one said anything after that. The ball of anxiety that was in my chest dropped to my stomach. The longer I waited for Tray to say something, the lower that ball moved in me. It was almost to the floor when he said, “You never told me that.”
Regret seared through me. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
“It would’ve changed things.”
“It shouldn’t have.”
“You said Jace was like family, but I didn’t believe how much.” He shook his head and turned away. “It’s why you’re so mad. It’s why you want to hurt him so bad, it’s because you still care about him.” He jabbed a finger at the door. “What if he walks through there? What if he comes in here to talk to you? What then? You’ve been saying how much you want to hurt him, but what if it’s not to hurt him? I think you want to see him one last time. You want to see if the guy you loved like family is still inside him. Don’t you? This is all about reconnecting with him, isn’t it?”
NO! My head screamed, but I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t move. My feet were glued in place and my body wouldn’t move. I was paralyzed, but I wanted to shake my head. No, no, no. A scream was building inside me. My body was betraying me. Tray was looking at me, waiting for my denial. I needed to reassure him, but it wouldn’t come out. The longer I couldn’t talk, the more I felt him pulling away from me. He didn’t move, but the distance was growing.
“Oh my god.”
“NO!” Finally. It burst out of me.
Tray moved back another step, shaking his head. “Oh my god. That’s it, isn’t it? Do you love him?” I could see the wheels turning in his head, but my words weren’t forming. I couldn’t get them out fast enough. Turning his back to me, he murmured, “Dee said that Brian thought Jace was obsessed with you, but that wasn’t it. Brian was jealous for a reason. There was a connection between you, wasn’t there?” He turned back to me. The hurt was so apparent in his eyes. He added, his voice so damn soft, “You didn’t even know yourself, did you? Did you know that you love him?”
It was like a waking nightmare. I couldn’t stop it from happening and I had no idea why. I was frozen in place.
“Taryn,” his voice dropped to a whisper, “I have to go. I have to get out of here.”
“Tray—” I gasped out and lunged for him, but it was too late. The door closed on me and I was staring into the wood. I heard him walk away. Reaching for the door handle, Chance said from behind me, “I wouldn’t.”
I turned around. “Why?”
“You hesitated.”
I flinched.
He laughed. “The real answer is the silence. Any smart guy knows that. You didn’t say yes, but the truth was that you never said no.”
“I froze. I was surprised.”
Still chuckling, he shook his head and took off his jacket. As he did, two shoulder holsters lifted in the air and he reached back to take the guns out. One was left on the table by the door. He placed the other one on the bedside table. He draped his jacket over the back of a chair. “Now.” He pulled the chair out more and sat down. “Since my brother is gone, why don’t you walk me through where you think your friend is being held.”
I didn't want to talk to him; I needed to go after Tray, but I said, “I don’t know where.”
“You said the school?”
“Yes.” I clipped my head in a nod, but I couldn’t look away from the door. I wanted him to come back through it. He needed to come back to me.
“Yoo hoo.” He snapped his fingers, tearing my gaze away. He had sat at the table and gestured to the opposite chair. “Tray needs to think. When he gets hurt, he won’t listen. He closes up and then he’ll weigh everything in his mind. When he’s ready for some answers, he’ll seek you out. It’s pointless. Trust me.” He lifted his lip up in a mocking grin. “I’m just like him.”
He waited until I crossed the room and sat down, then asked, “So Tray said something about the basement?”
My eyes never left that door. “No. I’ve been down there.”
“Then what was renovated?”
“I don’t know—”
“Hey!” He clapped his hands to get my attention this time. A fierce scowl formed on his lips. “Pay attention. I don’t give a shit what lovey-dovey thing you have going on with my brother. Your friend is missing. No matter what mixed-up emotions you have for Jace Lanser, you can’t deny that he’s dangerous. Sal Galverson is dangerous. If your friend is with him, his life is either over or going to be over.”
I checked back in. He was right. Gray came first now. “The building was the same, but there was added security so they must’ve built something underneath the building.”
“All right.” He stood and retrieved a laptop. “Listen to me.”
I was.
“I need you to leave this room.”
I opened my mouth, about to question him, but he held a hand up. I closed my mouth.
He added, “Do not go after Tray. I mean it. Give him space. The sooner he thinks over everything, the sooner he’ll come back for answers. Now, having said that,” he pulled out his phone and gestured to the computer, “I have to call this in. I didn’t come with my team. I thought my brother was exaggerating, but since this is dealing with Jace Lanser and Sal Galverson, I have to run the entire op through my supervisor first.”
I nodded. “That’s fine.” My chest was growing tight again.
He pointed the phone at me, studying me intently. “You need to listen to me when I say this next part.” He paused a beat to make sure I was listening. And then he said, “I have to get permission to get a team down here.”
He needed permission? “What does that mean?”
“There’s no prior investigation. There’s no evidence except your testimony. If I get a team down here, you’re asking us to go in blind. We haven’t compiled any recent information. We know nothing. Now,” he held his hand up, “I have history down here. My supervisor knows this. Based off that alone, I might be able to get a small team to come.”
“How long?”
“Six hours.”
“You took half of that.”
“Tray texted me earlier that something was wrong. I was coming anyway.”
“Oh.” I frowned.
“Just give me some privacy and I’ll work my magic.” He gave me a forced grin. “Okay?”
I jerked my head in a shaky nod and stood. “Okay.” Going to the door, I paused and glanced around. “I’m going to get some food.” Then I slipped out.
“Wait.”
I poked my head back in. “Yeah?”
He stood and pulled out his wallet. Handing me a fifty dollar bill, he said, “Get us all some food.”
“Okay.” I took the money and slipped back out. When the door shut, I didn’t move. I stayed right there and flattened my ear against the door. I didn’t have to wait long. His voice was muffled, but I made out enough.
“What are you doing?”
A guy was standing across from me. He was tall, wearing only a leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off. His jeans were cuffed and ripped and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. A panther was stitched onto the front corner of his jacket and I knew there was a bigger panther with two skulls on either side of it on the back. This guy, with scars running down his face and over his bare chest, was a member of Jace’s gang. This guy had the same jaded look in his eyes that Jace had.
I jerked back. A startled gasp came out, but I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle it. I shook my head. “Nothing.” This was what I wanted. I could say the word and Jace might come to me.
He frowned.
“My dad’s an a*shole,” I said instead. “He caught me drinking and he’s calling my mom right now.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t want him to come. As I stood there with the Panther frowning at me, I realized what I really needed to do. I had to get Gray out and never see Jace again. Tray was right. I still cared about Jace. That was why I hesitated. I wasn’t even sure if I still wanted to kill him anymore.
“It was a mistake coming here.” I said those words before I realized I was thinking them.
The guy grunted. “You don’t seem drunk.” He moved past me and pointed to the door. “Just tell your dad you’re sorry, smile, and quote bible verses. Don’t that work for all rich little girls?”
“Rich?”
“Yeah.” He looked me up and down. “I don’t know you, but I know you don’t belong around these parts. Go home. Go back to pretending the world ain’t some scary place.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Ain’t that what your types do? Daydream and turn real life shit into some f*cked-up fantasy?”
An abrupt, genuine laugh came out of me. “I look like one of those types?”
He frowned, but didn’t answer. He kept going down the hallway. A door opened and he stopped in front of it, still giving me a puzzled look. Then, as he scratched his head, he went inside. The door slammed shut.
I looked this time and made sure I was alone, but it didn’t matter. When my stomach growled, I decided to actually go and get food, but instead of heading to a store I went to the lobby and used the phone there to order pizza. After I stopped at the vending machine to grab some sodas and a few bottles of water, I started back to the room. As I turned down our hallway, the door opened. I heard Chance say, “Tray, wait.”
“What?”
I stopped. The anger in his tone sent chills down my back.
“Stop. Come back in here before you go and tell her.”
“This is real, Chance. Her friend will die. I was there. I saw that girl. Her fear was real.” He moved further inside, but the door was left open. “You have to go in. You have to get her friend.”
“They won’t green-light this mission. I’m sorry, Tray. I am.”
I closed my eyes for a second and stood there. Holding three cans of soda and two bottles of water pressed against my chest, I couldn't even feel the cold from them.
They weren’t coming. Chance had warned me, but hearing Tray now, I knew it was true. They weren’t going to get Gray.
It was up to me.
I knew what I was going to do. And as soon as I made the decision, it was like a piece of the puzzle clicked into place for me. I think I had always known what I was going to do and now, creeping forward, I hugged the wall so they wouldn’t see my approach. I didn’t know where they were in the room. As I drew closer, I knelt down so my shadow was minimized and then placed the soda and water on the floor.
“Chance, we have to try.” Tray’s voice drifted from inside the room.
I peeked inside, saw they were in the far corner, and moved back away. Chance said, “I’ll figure something out. I promise. Let’s wait for Taryn to come back. I have orders to take you both in. They want to question you in depth.”
I stood from my kneeling position, but kept myself flat against the wall. My arm moved to the doorframe and I reached inside. Closing my eyes, I used my memory of the room to know the exact location of the table. I used one finger to touch the edge of the table, then paused. I didn’t touch anymore. I lifted my hand a millisecond, reached forward another inch and then lowered it. The gun should be there. When my hand touched the cold metal, I let out my breath.
I held still, not making a move, not making another sound. Then I tucked it against my palm, keeping it steady so it wouldn’t move and jar the table. When it was in the air, I pulled my arm back around the table.
They had no idea I had been there.
Then I left.
I was going for Gray on my own.