A Whole New Crowd

CHAPTER TWENTY

I was still in shock at how easy it had been to convince Mandy to go to rehab. She didn’t say much on the car ride there. She sat, slumped down, and cried most of the way. As we filled out the paperwork and sat in the lobby, she still didn’t say much. The counselor came out for her assessment and she followed him into the office without a backward look to me. After that, she was admitted. As they led her through a back hallway, I could still see where they were searching her bags. That was when she looked up and I saw a frightened little girl staring back at me.
The counselor spoke her name, but Mandy looked haunted. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if she was more scared of herself than of going into rehab. Then he touched her arm and she looked away. The small window she had given me to see inside of her closed up. Taking her bag, she followed him and I couldn’t see them anymore.
When I left, with a doctor’s note to give to the high school administration, a ball of emotion was in the bottom of my stomach. It wouldn’t move. How I drove home, I had no idea. I was on autopilot and I stayed like that for the rest of the day. Tray texted to see if things were fine. I told him to expect Austin and me that night. I waited for my little brother to get back from his tournament. When he did, I picked him up. When he saw my face through the car’s window, he stopped walking. He was dressed in low-riding, baggy athletic pants and a large jersey with his earbuds in his ears. Someone yelled goodbye and he lifted his hand, but it was an absent-minded farewell. As he came closer and got inside, he didn’t say anything for a moment. He tugged his earbuds down and then asked, “Where’s Mandy?”
I studied him before I replied. He was fourteen. I could tell he was popular. He was athletic. His friends were good-looking and wealthy. He was jaded. He didn’t have the innocence most others did at his age. Weighing all of those factors together, I knew Austin wasn’t dumb. “I took Mandy to an in-house treatment facility.”
His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
I didn’t hold back with my answer. “Your sister has a drug problem.”
“How do you know?”
I hid a grin. He wasn’t fighting me. I heard what he hadn’t said. “My ex used to be a drug addict. I just know.”
He jerked his head in a nod. “She’s at some place getting help?”
“As long as she stays.”
“What do you mean?”
“She signed herself in. She can sign herself out.”
“She can do that?” He snorted and leaned back in his seat, plopping his head back against the headrest. “She’ll be out by tonight.”
“Maybe.” I hoped not. “If she does, they’ll call. You can still talk to her.”
He rolled his eyes. “It won’t matter. This shit’s been going on forever.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mom and Dad took her in last summer. It didn’t do anything. She came out and was popping pills on the drive home. It was a joke.”
I frowned. His words rocked me. They had known? “The bottles I saw were prescribed from your dad. Why would he continue to do that?”
“He doesn’t. He cut her off a long time ago. I bet she just uses them to store the pills in there.”
She got the pills somewhere else…that information seared through me. She had another drug dealer, and her family was forced to take me in. I didn’t think those two items were random. In my life, I learned there weren’t many coincidences. As I drove home, I knew that I would have to go see Jace. He didn’t want me there, but I didn’t care. I was going to find out some answers. When we headed inside, I told Austin to pack a bag.
“Why?”
“It doesn’t seem right to stay here, not after I took Mandy in without your parents’ permission.”
He frowned. “Oh. Wait a minute, if they don’t know, how are you paying for this?”
I had no idea, but I wasn’t going to admit that to a fourteen-year-old. I shrugged. “I’ll figure something out. Go pack a bag.”
“What about nosy neighbor?” He gestured to the house next door. “I think Mom was going to have her stay with us a couple nights, you know, to ‘check’ on us.” He laughed. “We could just leave a note. She doesn’t care anyway.”
“Oh.” He was right. “The neighbor is the least of our problems. Go get your bag.”
He started up the stairs, but paused again. “Where are we going?”
“We’re staying at Tray’s.”
“At Tray Evans’?” He smiled widely, blinding me. He added, “That’s awesome. We’re staying till Mom and Dad get home?”
“Or if Mandy leaves rehab.”
The smile fell right away. “Oh. Yeah.” He darted to his room, and I heard him shoving things into a bag.
As I waited for him to finish, I pulled out my phone and dialed Tray’s. When he answered, I asked, “Is it still okay if Austin and I stay at your place?”
“You already asked and yes.” He paused. I could hear his hesitation before he asked, “Are you okay?”
“I will be.” I was angry. I was more than angry, but my voice was tight and controlled as I gripped the phone. My hand clenched around it. “I have to run an errand tonight.”
He didn’t say anything at first. “Should I ask what the errand is?”
“No.”
“Taryn, I don’t like it.”
I didn’t care. “Tray, someone messed with my life. I have questions that I need answered, and I will get them.” At any cost.
“Just be safe.”
Hearing Austin’s door slam and him barreling down the stairs, I said into the phone, “I gave you a second chance to back out. Too late. We’re heading over right now.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay.” I moved to end the call when I heard him say, “Taryn?” I pressed the phone back to my ear. “Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
My heart skipped a beat. Those two words were spoken with intensity and tenderness, but it was the raw emotion in them that had that alien feeling blossom again in my chest. It was another one of those moments when he spoke and his words went right into me. He could do that, more and more lately with just a look or a touch or a word.
That, in itself, was a whole other issue that I didn’t want to tackle at that moment. Instead of feeling vulnerable and stripped open, I was going to take on a fight that I could handle. Jace Lanser.
I drove Austin to Tray’s, dropped him off, and then left. Tray waved from the door, and Austin didn’t seem to care if I went inside with him or not. He was happy. I still didn’t know why, but I wasn’t going to question it. Then I drove towards Pedlam.
I wasn’t going to call Jace. I wasn’t even going to walk across the alley and try to get through the guards. For this conversation, I wanted to surprise him and if he wasn’t around, maybe that was even better. I could snoop around for my answers.
*

Jace had been kicked out of the house when he joined the Panthers. When their dad died, he moved back in to watch over Brian and me, since I was there so much, but I knew he still had his own house. Knowing that, I debated if I should head to his house first or gamble and try my luck with his office at the Seven8 first.
I decided to gamble.
Standing across the back alley, down the block from the nightclub, I saw it was another busy night for the establishment. The security guards were busy and as I was watching, two guys began fighting near the door. This was my shot. Knowing I only had a couple seconds, I sprinted down the alley and then pressed against the wall of the opposite building. I could hear shouts from around the corner. A crowd formed and more guards rushed from the side alley, running around the corner. They ran right past me, and after the last one shoved open the door, I jerked forward. I slipped through the opened door and immediately stepped behind the door. Two more guards rushed out, passing by where I was hiding. When they were gone, I heard shouts from inside—more guards were heading my way. I heard a voice yell over a radio, “Three fights! Get it under control!”
From farther down the hallway, someone answered, “On it, boss. Six more were dispatched.”
“We do not want the cops called.”
“On it.” Then static came over the radio and it grew in volume; they were getting closer. The hallways were lit up. The lights were bright. I had nowhere to hide. The door closed. I couldn’t open it or they would be suspicious so I hurried to the light switch. When they were right around the corner, about to turn towards the door, I plunged the hallway into darkness.
I had a small window again, and I sprinted for them, keeping on my toes to be silent. As they stopped and cursed, I pressed against the wall, moving past the first one’s elbow as he reached for his belt. A flashlight switched on and I melted backwards, keeping to the darkness.
Jace didn’t like when we were in his territory, but I’d been in his office a few times. Going to the back exit doors, I knew they weren’t alarmed like the others. His office was at the top corner. When I got there, the floor was in the dark. Good. That meant Jace wasn’t there. There were two doors on the whole floor. One was a large set of doors and the other was further down. It led to a small back room. I headed to the latter. Jace liked having his office next to the stairs that led to the roof. It was a better exit, if necessary.
The room was locked, but I pulled out two pins from my pocket and bent down to work on it. It didn’t take me long to unlock the door. I knelt down and blew under the door. He could have another security measure, and I was wondering if he had sensors set up on the other side of the door. Nothing happened so I felt around the entire doorframe to see if any other secret paneling would spring open. He’d been known for having secondary alarms installed, but when nothing opened for me, I stood back and frowned. It couldn’t be that easy. Still. I took a breath and opened the door. I’d have to risk it. When I stepped inside and nothing more happened, I let out that breath.
So far, so good. I eased further into the room. No secret alarms flared up or went off. I sat down at his computer and typed in his daughter’s name. Not many people knew about his daughter; Jace didn’t even know I knew about her. It worked. I began looking for anything that tied Jace to Kevin Parson. I knew he had something to do with my new adoption. I needed proof before I confronted him about it.
“How do you know that name?”
His sudden voice, low and deadly, set the hairs on the back of my neck upright. I froze, my fingers poised over the keyboard, my heart pounding, before I looked over. Jace was standing in the doorway. He was dressed all in black. A black t-shirt hugged his body, outlining his ripped torso. It wasn’t tucked inside his black cargo pants, but hugged over top of the waistline. I saw the bulge in the front and knew he had tucked a gun there. My mouth went dry. Did he have other guns? My heart sped up. I couldn’t believe I was nervous about his guns. Six months ago, he’d been family.
“Jace,” I started, cautious, as I stood from the desk.
A lethal storm had taken over his face. His jaw clenched as he stared back at me. “How, Taryn?”
I licked my lips and tried to keep myself calm. I needed to think rationally around him, especially when he was acting like a caged animal. Somehow I had stepped into the cage with him. He was ready to spring, and I had no idea what he would do.
“How, Taryn!?”
I jerked back, slamming into his desk from my movement. It cut into my arm, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t dare look away from him. “You printed out an email from her mother. It fell from your pocket one day at the house.”
His eyes went flat. “Tell me the truth. Now.”
Shit. “There was an email you printed out. I just found it one night in your pants.”
He took a step towards me. I could feel the danger radiating off him. It was coming off of him in waves. “What were you doing going through my pants?”
“I wasn’t snooping on purpose—”
“Not like now.”
I flushed. “I was looking for a condom. Brian ran out. We knew you would have one.”
He cursed and moved the rest of the way into the room. Shutting the door behind him, he turned the lock and pressed a code into a compartment beside it. I chewed on my lip. I had completely missed that. As he pressed the right buttons, the red light turned green and then yellow. He had armed it. It would go off when I left, drawing the guards to the top floor. I stored that in the back of my mind, but then he looked back at me as he took his gun out.
“Jace.” My heart was pressed against my chest. It felt like it was trying to break out of me.
“Stop.” He shook his head and moved to the table. He put the gun down, then stripped his shirt off. As he turned, his muscles moved, and his skin glistened from sweat and dirt. He reached for a clean shirt that was laid on the table and pulled it over his head. It was another black one, hugging every inch of him. He glanced back over at me, his eyes were still dead, but the fear in me went down a notch. He moved away from the gun. Instead of coming towards me, he went to the far wall and leaned against it. His head went down.
I didn’t dare say anything. I had to wait for him to start.
“I keep telling you to stay away and you keep coming back.” His head lifted, his eyes pinning me back in place again. “Why, Taryn? No bullshit lies. Tell me why right now or I’ll do something you won’t like.”
Anger spiked in me, but it mixed with fear. I read the threat in his eyes and knew it was true. He really would do something. A shiver went up my back. I didn’t want to find out what it would be. “Did you set up my adoption?”
“Yes.”
My eyes widened and my eyebrows shot up. A gutted laugh spilled out of me. “I hadn’t expected that honesty.”
He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. “Why? Because you’re so honest with me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You sent Brian on a mission when you should’ve come to me first.”
“I did not. What are you talking about?”
“He came around asking a lot of questions last night. He wanted to know about your family. He went to anyone who would talk to him. Word got around.” He stopped. Pure agony flashed in his eyes and my alarm shot up again. He wasn’t saying something. I knew it. There was more to come and I started to shake my head.
“I never said anything to him.”
“You told him about your family. Why did you say anything to him?” His voice was strangled and it stopped in a whisper. The anger left completely and I saw only pain in him. It hurt to see. It was deep and there was so much. I felt it in myself, just from seeing it, and I turned away. I didn’t want to hear what he was saying.
I said, “Whatever Brian did was on him.”
“It’s on you.”
I stopped, then gulped. What did that mean?
“He didn’t come to me, Taryn. He doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore. He went to others, and they went to others. I was told too late.”
“What?” I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
“He said your family was forced to take you in. He wanted to know the social worker that put your adoption together.” His chest lifted and I heard the pain in his voice. His voice hitched on a sob. “That’s a government worker. Do you know what happens when there’s rumors a drug dealer wants to talk to a government worker?”
“No, no, no,” I started whispering, starting to put the pieces together. No, no, no. I couldn’t think anything else. There was no way.
“They didn’t come to me. He didn’t come to me. I was too late.”
“No, no, no.” I kept shaking my head.
“He’s dead, Taryn.”
No, no, no, no, no, no. I heard what he said, but I couldn’t accept it. It couldn’t be. I had talked to him twenty-four hours ago. He had been fine. “He’s fine.”
“He’s not.” Jace’s eyes looked dead. “Trust me, he’s very far from being alive.”
“No…” I couldn’t talk. Burning pain filled me. It washed all over me, branding me as each wave crashed over me. I couldn’t think anymore. I could barely stand. “No…”
I heard Jace’s voice from a distance now. “Kevin Parson owed me a favor. I cashed it in. I needed you out of here. Do you get that? I wanted you gone. I gave you something you wanted, a family. I handed you a better future on a silver platter and you refused to take it. What THE F*ck were you thinking? Just take it. That’s all you had to do. Sit down and accept your new family.” His voice rose as he kept going, “I don’t give a shit if they don’t like you. You shouldn’t either. You have a home. You have a sister that I can tell you already love. You could’ve just accepted your new life, but you kept coming back. You kept asking f*cking questions, questions that I knew you would ask even if you were here. My god, Taryn.” His head fell back down. An anguished sob came from him. “Why couldn’t you have just let it go?”
Brian wasn’t dead. I wouldn’t accept that. There was no way. “How do you know?”
“Because I know you.”
“No.” I shook my head. I was dizzy. The room was starting to spin. “I meant Brian. How do you know he’s—” I couldn’t say the word.
“I identified his body.” He closed his eyes. His body wavered, and he had a cemented grip on the table in front of him. His shoulders were bunched together tightly. His voice came out raw. “It was an execution. They shot him in the middle of his forehead.”
I couldn’t talk anymore. I felt myself falling, and I reached out for the desk. I was going to crumble to the floor. As I found the chair and held onto it, trying to steady my knees, Jace said further, “Someone—a very bad guy—came to town. My boss. He’s here, and I wanted you gone before he got here. I wanted you away and distracted by your happy life. I thought you would be. I really thought you would stay away, especially since that’s what you always wanted. You wanted out of this life. Why didn’t you just let it go? I didn’t want you involved. I didn’t want Galverson to know about you. Brian hated me, but you—I care about you. He would realize that. He could’ve used you to hurt me, but now…” He stopped. Then his voice grew rough. He was hardening himself back up, closing the wall. “It’s too late. He knows all about you now, and he’s curious why I tried to hide you.”
His boss did this? His boss killed Brian? A hoarse cry ripped from my throat. I couldn’t comprehend any of this.
Jace came towards me. There was nothing in his eyes anymore. He was looking at me like I was a stranger once again. He grabbed my arm. I flinched from his hold, but he held firm and dragged me to the door. As he opened it, I saw three security guards. They were waiting for me. He handed me to them and said in my ear, “Stay out of my life.” The guard pulled me into the hallway, but Jace called my name again. I looked up and he added, “If you come back again, I will kill your sister.”
I opened my mouth, but he interrupted me. “I will go to the rehab facility myself to do it.” Then he shut the door in my face.
I had never told him about Mandy, but before I could let that sink in, Brian’s face flashed in my mind and blinding pain overwhelmed me. I fell to the ground. I didn’t know how I got home after that. I didn’t care how I got home.