A Whole New Crowd (27 page)

I glanced at the other girl, Ro, and asked, “Did Gray say this to you too?”

For the first time, the loathing from her shifted and a look of pain glimmered back at me. My gut clenched. I heard the sadness in her voice when she said, “No. I wish he had, though.” It was really starting to sink in. Something happened to Gray.

My own panic was rising. No, no, no. Not again.

Tray had been watching me. He stepped close, his chest brushed against my arm, and said, “Why did Gray only tell his theory to you?”

My eyes closed and I knew what he was doing. He was reminding me he was there for me and giving me his strength. Touching him, hearing his voice so close to me, I clung to it. Gray was gone. Jace killed Brian and he was going to take Gray away too. A darkness was swirling inside of me, lashing against the pain and fear. Rage was taking over, filling every pore in my body, until it blossomed full force.

My control snapped and I lunged for Dee. Grabbing her around the throat, I lifted her until her body slammed against one of the guys. They fell back, surprised by the force from me, but then they grabbed around Dee’s waist, lifting her so I wasn’t strangling her.

Her eyes threatened to pop out of her head. She couldn’t talk. Choked gasps spilled out of her and she tried to kick at me.

My hand tightened.

“Shit, let her talk,” someone said.

My hands kept tightening.

Jace. Her. Gray. Brian. Shelly. Kevin. All of them flashed in my mind. Betrayal. Loss. Pain. Lies. Manipulation. All of it. Everything that had happened to me was coming back at me. It felt like I was being seared on the inside, like someone had plunged a hot poker through me. I wanted to hurt someone else. I was sick of being the one to get hurt. In that moment, Jace’s face merged with hers, and he was all I could see.

Then I was pulled backwards. I kicked out, trying to get back at him. He needed to pay.

“Taryn!” Tray was yelling in my ear. But I wasn’t listening. His voice sounded like a small whisper against the rage that had taken over me.

Then Ro was in front of me, between me and
him
. She tried to help with holding me back.

Tray grunted and readjusted his hold on me as I strained against him. I smacked Ro’s hands off me and then three other guys stepped between us.

I yelled over them, climbing up, “You killed him. You killed Brian. You were with him last. And now Gray. That’s on you!” Tray grasped me around the waist and tugged me back down.

He twisted around, his back to the rest of the group, and wrapped his arms around me. There were other guys there, all holding onto a part of me, trying to help him. He tucked his head down so his lips were on my ear and yelled, “TARYN! Calm down.”

I struggled. She was Jace. He was her. He was in front of me. I could get at him.

“You’re not making any sense. STOP!” He kept rocking back and forth. “Stop, Taryn. Listen to me. Taryn, listen to me.” His head lifted and he said to someone else, “Let me through. I’ll calm her down and bring her back.”

“You sure, man? She’s like a wildcat.”

“I’ll be fine.” The crowd parted and Tray moved me forward. I was in front of him. His arms were holding me in a big bear hug from behind, and he kept urging me forward until we were near the cars. He kept whispering in my ear, “It’s me, Taryn. It’s me. Calm down. Come on. Come back to me.”

When I felt the cool metal of a car, I bent forward and rested my forehead to it. I gasped for air, and my heart raced. Slowly, the panic and hysteria started to ease from me. I felt a tightness in my chest and tears on my cheeks.

Tray was bent over me, still whispering in my ear, “Come back to me, Taryn.” His hold gentled and he lifted a hand to my cheek. His finger caressed me, moving back and forth. It was a tender touch and I brought my hand over his. I turned to look him in the eye.

“Tray.”

He pulled back, moving so he was beside me. He cupped my face. “It’s me.”

“I wanted to hurt her.”

A soft laugh came from him. “You wanted to kill her, Taryn. You were calling her Jace.”

“I was?”

He nodded. “I think they believe you now. If we hadn’t been there, you would’ve done major damage to her.”

I closed my eyes. Oh my god. I shook my head. “I can’t think about that.” Gray. “They did something to Gray. She has to know something. I have to find out.”

I pulled away, but he caught my hand. “Hey, hey.”

“Tray.” I didn’t have time to argue. I looked at them, saw they were watching us, and my eyes went straight to Dee’s. She was bleeding. Her lip was swelling up and she was holding a hand to her eye, but she shrunk down at my gaze.

I started forward again. Tray didn’t stop me this time. He was right beside me. Three guys formed a wall between me and Dee, but Tray motioned them aside. “She won’t attack her again.”

They nodded and moved aside, but stayed close. I knew they would jump in if I attacked her again. I shoved them out of my mind. They weren’t important. “Tell me everything.”

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you.” Dee was huddled in a corner, sitting on the bed. We had moved inside with Ro and a guy I didn’t know. The rest stayed outside and kept the crowd away. Dee crossed her arms and lowered her head, and I wondered if she thought she could hide from us. I snorted to myself at that thought.
Fat chance, honey.

“What?” Ro was leaning against the wall by the door, her boy toy beside her. She asked again, “What’s so funny with what she said?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you care so much about Gray?”

She shot back, “Why do you?”

“He’s my friend.”

She lifted a hand and pretended to shoot herself. “You think you’re the only one that's friends with him?”

I opened my mouth, a retort at the tip of my tongue, when Tray cleared his throat. He straightened from the wall. “Let’s stick to the topic at hand.”

I turned my attention back to Dee. She was biting her lip, glancing between all of us. I could practically read her mind. “You’re not getting out of this. Spill what you know and I’ll let you leave with only Ro on your ass.”

“And if I don’t?”

Really? Flashing a grin, I kicked one of her legs to the side. Her elbows fell down and she almost tumbled to the floor. When a heated glare came at me, I moved my finger from side to side in front of her face. “I would’ve done real damage outside. Do you want to piss me off again?”

Ro sighed from behind me. “Dee, just tell her. My god, we’re not going to kill you. Stop acting like this. We all want the same thing.”

Dee’s loathing doubled and she pointed at me as she spoke to Ro, “Speak for yourself. She saw Brian last. He was doing something for her and he’s dead. Now Gray’s gone. All I know is that he didn’t want to talk to her for the longest time and the moment he decided to go see Taryn, he goes missing. Those two things aren’t a coincidence to me.” She swallowed, her throat jerking up and down. She crossed her arms over her chest again. “If I talk, I die. I’m not talking.”

I started for her.

She screamed and scrambled back on the bed.

No name guy jerked forward, saw that I didn’t do anything, and frowned to himself. He leaned back against the wall. Ro and Tray never moved.

“You’re sick, do you know that?” Dee pressed a hand to her chest.

I rolled my eyes. “Do you want to know what I said to Brian? I’ll talk, but you talk after I’m done. That’s the only way I’m doing this.”

She frowned.

Ro cursed. “Say yes, Dee. My god. This is taking forever. She was out for your blood. She’s not working with the bad guys. She wants Gray back as much as we do.”

“What if it’s a trap and she has us all killed?”

“If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it outside. These people stopped me.” I gestured around the room and to the door. “They held me back. I do my own dirty work. If I was who you’re claiming I am, I would’ve left, made a call, and had someone kill you off.” My eyes flashed. “I’m getting sick of your insults.”

Ro shot Tray a look. “She’s going dark again. Do something.”

He shot her a look back, but said to me, “Taryn?”

“What?”

“Make a call for her too, while you’re at it,” he said, staring right back at Ro. Everyone got his meaning.

She flushed, rolling her eyes. “I know Dee and she doesn’t buckle under pressure like that. You’re just intimidating her.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Asking her nicely didn’t work. Maybe treating her like an idiot will?”

“Whatever.” Ro glared at Dee. “Just talk. I’m getting sick of this.”

“Your patience has been noted.” My hands went to my hips and I turned so I was facing her squarely. “She’s not saying anything to you either.”

Ro glared at me.

“Hey,” Dee murmured, straightening on the bed. “Guys…”

“What?” We turned at once, barking the same word.

She gulped, cowered a moment, and then shook her head. “Fine. Okay. I’ll tell you.” She stopped and glanced between us.

I made a circling motion with my hand. “Go on. We’re all ears here.”

“Okay. Okay.” She nodded. Her arms unfolded and she patted her legs before moving to sit on the edge again. “Brian left me after he saw you that night at Rickets’ House. He wouldn’t tell me what he was doing or where he was going, just that you said something and he had to check it out.” She faltered, and her head moved down. “He was dead the next day. I didn’t know he was dead. I heard about it in the hallways with everyone else, and while I was devastated, I didn’t question anything. People were saying he was killed during a robbery. It made sense. He had a lot of money on him. He’d been dealing at Rickets’ all night.”

“He was Jace Lanser’s brother. No one would’ve robbed him.”

Her eyes turned to me. There was no fear. There was no caution or paranoia. I saw hurt and pain. She cared about him too. In that moment, she saw the same in me. I felt it and then she nodded. She murmured, “I know. Gray said the same thing.” She glanced at Ro, biting her lip. “He came to me two weeks later and he was asking a lot of questions. He didn’t think it was a robbery.” She nodded to me. “What you said. No one would rob Jace Lanser’s brother. They’d wind up dead themselves. Everyone knows that.”

“Tell me about Gray. I know about Brian and that night.”

Ro and her friend looked at me, but I ignored their silent conversation. I needed to know as much about Gray as possible.

“He thought there was a different story. He wanted to know what I knew and what Brian said to me. So I told him, but he didn’t want to tell you. He said you had enough to deal with. I didn’t know what he meant, but he was adamant about not bothering you with this. I believed him. I trusted him.” She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I cared about Brian.” She looked back to me as she said, “I’ve since learned about your history with him. I didn’t know at that time who you were, but it stung. And hearing that Gray was protecting you, that stung too. Who were you? Did you shit gold or something? That’s how they talked about you. Seeing you tonight, I don’t know, I was angry and maybe jealous.”

I started laughing. I was fed up. “Are you kidding me?”

She flinched.

I added, “My ex-boyfriend, someone who I loved, was killed. Someone else who I care about is missing, and you’re jealous? Get. Over. Yourself.” My chest was tight and I took two steps towards her. My hands were balled in fists again, pressing against my leg. “We’re not playing around here. Brian is dead. I’m hoping Gray isn’t. Your emotions don’t matter. Ever.”

She sucked in her breath, tears welled up in her eyes, and I saw her start to crumble again. I turned to Tray. I couldn’t hold back anymore. He saw my impatience and nodded. Gesturing for me to step back, he stepped forward and took my place. “What did you and Gray do?” he asked, his tone gentle.

I crossed the room and took up where he’d been standing, keeping watch outside the window, but I could see from the window’s reflection that she’ glanced at me.

“Dee.”

She turned to him. “We…” She looked at me again.

“Dee,” Tray said calmly, “what did you and Gray do?”

“We teamed up, okay? He didn’t want to tell anyone about this, but when he didn’t show up for school today, it’s like it’s happening all over again.” She shook her head. “He thought Brian was dead because of Jace. I didn’t know what to think of that. I mean, they’re brothers, right? But I know that Brian hated Jace and there hasn't been a relationship between them for a while. Gray wanted to ask his brother some questions.”

“What did Jace say?”

“Nothing. We never found him. Jace Lanser is missing or,” her lip trembled, “he’s gone or dead, you know?”

Reaching for the window frame, my fingers curled around it. I didn’t dare breathe, the hope was so strong in me.

Looking at Ro now, she added, “Gray didn’t want to tell you anything. He said he didn’t want you to worry either.”

I shook my head and turned around. “Why do you think Jace is missing? He’s never been available for just anyone to find him.”

“I know, but we staked out everywhere and waited for him. There was nothing. His clubs, his businesses, even the Panther’s headquarters. His house. Brian’s old house. Nothing. Gray said he had one last place to look and then he was going to tell you what was going on.”

“Do you know where that was?”

“I assumed it was your house. Brian always talked about how close you and Jace used to be. He thought his brother was obsessed with you. I just assumed that’s what Gray meant.”

Nowhere. That’s where this interrogation had gotten us. No-fucking-where. I turned to Tray. “Let’s go. We have to find Gray.”

No one stopped us. We swept through the house and out to the parking lot. Once we were out of earshot, I stopped, bent over, and let out a scream. It had been sitting on the bottom of my throat, waiting for me to let it loose, and I didn’t hold back. My hands grasped my hair and pulled on it.

Once I was done, I glanced at Tray. He lifted an eyebrow. “You want to scream again or do you want to hear my suggestion?”

“No.” I had one more lead. “I know someone else who might know something about Jace.”

“Who?”

“Kevin. The guy he forced to adopt me.”

*

I knew no one was home, but I parked my car around the block and walked anyway. I was dressed from head to toe in black with a red bandana around my neck. There were better items to wear, a black bandana would’ve been better, but I wanted red. It stood for Brian’s death. I was being dramatic, but I didn’t care. I didn’t know what would happen or what lengths I would go to that night. I wanted information. Kevin was going to tell me everything and if I needed to look like a homicidal maniac to get it, so be it.

Letting myself into the house, I pocketed my key and kept the lights off. Mandy was with Shelly. The two left town for Austin’s tournament and Tray texted me that Kevin had driven past him further down the road. He was on his way home. So I sat and waited.

A few minutes later, the car’s headlights flashed through the house as it turned into the driveway. The garage door opened and he parked inside. The engine turned off. He was coming. Closing my eyes, I took out my knife. That, also, was intended to strike fear in my adoptive father. When he opened the door, the light switched on and I heard his gasp. Then he belted out an abrupt laugh. “Taryn, you scared the hell out of me.”

I was still in the shadows. The kitchen light didn’t extend all the way to the end of the table where I was sitting. When he closed the door and stepped closer, he saw what I was wearing. The laughter faded and his eyes dropped to the knife. “What’s that for?”

I picked it up and put the end on the table. Then I let it spin. As I held it in place with the palm of my hand, I watched him. He watched it spin. He wasn’t laughing anymore, and he moved back a step.

“Taryn?”

I continued to stare at him until I saw his hand slide inside of his pocket. He was reaching for his phone. I asked, “Who are you going to call?”

His hand fell out of his jacket pocket. “I suppose I can’t call the cops.” He looked down. His tie was twisted, but he let it be. “I had a business meeting. What are you doing in my house?”

I glanced to the hallway. There was a pile of boxes lined up by the front door. “Are you moving?”

“Taryn.” He grimaced. “Just tell me what you want to know and I’ll tell you. I won’t hold anything back. I’m tired of all the lies. I want it over.” He closed his eyes. Resting his elbow on the counter, his fingers rubbed at his temple. “What do you want to know, Taryn?”

I laid the knife down. “Everything. Start with what you did for Jace.”

He nodded. “Okay.” His shoulders lifted and fell. “I did anything Jace wanted. Mostly, I wrote prescriptions for whatever name they gave me. He sent people to me to treat. I was their physician on hand, their medical bitch.”

“What did you get out of it?”

“Money. I got a lot of money. Both Mandy and Austin have their futures set. They can go to any college they want, and I put enough in their trust funds so they should never hurt in life. Shelly wanted to adopt a child a long time ago and we started another trust fund for that person.” Regret and pain flared in his eyes for a moment. “We had someone picked out. She even stayed with us, but there was a problem with the paperwork and she went back to her real family.” He turned away. His hand dropped from his temple and his shoulders drooped. “She died three months later. Her father beat her to death.”

“You had another foster kid that you wanted to adopt?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t Mandy or Austin say anything?”

“We never told them. They didn’t know who the girl was. We told them she was a daughter of a friend.” There was anguish in his voice. He dropped to a whisper. “Shelly cried every night for months, but the kids never knew. We didn’t want to get their hopes up.”

I frowned. “Let’s get back to your work with Galverson and Jace. How did everything start?”

A soft chuckle left him. He nodded. “Yeah, okay.” His hand went back to pinching the top of his nose. “Uh, Jace recruited me. He said he wanted a physician on hand to treat their people and to give them pills when they needed. It went on for years. Then things changed a few years ago—”