A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd #1)(90)

“You’re a killer.”
Jace didn’t respond. He moved forward.
I moved back, just one step. The tunnel’s edge was right behind me now. “Stop, Jace.”
“What are you going to do, Taryn?” Finally. The stranger fell away, and the guy who had loved his brother stood in front of me now. He began to move so his back was to the wall.
I frowned. What was he doing?
Then Galverson stepped forward. He had a gun pulled as well, but it was held at his side. He was silent, watching us.
Jace continued, “If you fall, you die. If you don’t, you still die.” His hand loosened on the gun and he softened his tone, “What are you going to do, Taryn?”
I didn’t understand what he was doing. “Are you trying to bait me?”
He stared at me, long and hard.
“Taryn.” Tray was glaring at Jace, but he pointed to the river. I glanced down and saw three boats below, moving to place a net in the water. My heart couldn’t sink anymore, it really was over. If we jumped, they would catch us. There was no hope.
“You and Brian were like my family.”
Jace didn’t waver. “We were your family.”
I flinched. “Then why? Why all this?”
“Because you were supposed to stay away,” he ground out. His eyes flashed a heated warning and he moved forward a step.
“Stop,” Tray held his hands out. “Stop.” His hand whipped up, I glimpsed a knife, but before let it loose, Jace swung his gun to him instead. Tray faltered and the knife fell to the ground.
“No! God, no.” I hurried to Tray’s side, but he held me away.
Jace shouted at the same time, “Move back, Taryn.”
More shouts were coming from the tunnel. There were men all around us, and Galverson let out a growl. “For f*ck’s sake. This is enough.” He brought his gun up. It was pointed at Tray. He was going to shoot him; I saw it in his eyes. I moved without thinking. Tray couldn’t die. I threw myself in front of him, yelling, “NO!”
“No!” Jace jerked forward.
Tray fell back, but he grabbed me, trying to cushion my fall. It was too late. We were going backwards. As we tipped through the air and fell from the tunnel, I looked back. Galverson hurried to the edge. He was going to shoot at us, but Jace, never looking away from me, raised his hand to the side, and shot him instead.
I opened my mouth, shocked.
Galverson fell to the side. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Jace shot him in the side of his head. Galverson was dead. We were going to die and Jace was alive.
It was too late. Nothing mattered anymore.
There was no more fight in me so I turned it all off. I savored the feel of the air and the last moments of freedom. Another memory came to me, and I could hear Brian’s voice whisper to me, ”Remember when we used to pretend we were flying?” I had laughed, saying, “You’re high, Brian.”
He shrugged with a small pout. “But it’s the most amazing feeling, Taryn. Try it. Pretend you’re flying.”
I didn’t have to pretend. I closed my eyes and I soared.



CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Everything happened in a blur after that. When we hit the water, we were grabbed and pulled aboard a boat. I went in one and Tray went in the other. Then they took off. I wasn’t paying attention—I didn’t want to see who would be torturing us—but when I was guided to a comfortable seat in the back and two large towels were placed on my lap, I looked up. My mouth fell open.
There were no guards with rifles strapped to their backs. The men wore black coats that had the words DEA on them. I was in a boat full of DEA agents. I rubbed at my eyes and saw the same thing again. One of the men caught my reaction and grinned. He leaned closer to me. “You weren’t expecting us?”
“How…” I had no idea what to ask. “A man just killed another man up there. What are you doing? Aren’t you going after him?”
He pressed something warm into my hand and patted my shoulder. “One thing at a time, kid. Everything is being handled and all your questions will be answered.” He nodded to me. A thread of respect was in his voice. “We got your friend. The one you went in for. He’s okay. He’s being treated by our doctors already.”
Thank god. I looked down, and a small laugh bubbled up.
He started to turn back, but gave me a quizzical look.
I held the thermos up to him. “You gave me hot chocolate.” He called me kid too.
He frowned.
Before I knew it, I felt a stupid smile stretch over my face. I couldn’t contain it or even dim it. I must’ve looked ridiculous. I didn’t care. For once, I didn’t feel any responsibility. Gray was alive. I was alive. Tray was alive. I didn’t have to save anyone or protect anyone, the cards would fall how they would fall. I turned to look for Tray and that relieved feeling plummeted.
He was in the other boat, sitting in the same seat I was, except the towels weren’t wrapped around him. He held them on his lap as if he didn’t realize they were there, and there was no hot chocolate given to him. As I watched now, an officer tried to hand him a thermos, but Tray didn’t acknowledge him.
He lost his father.
My responsibility was now Tray.
I watched him the entire time. He glanced at me once. The corners of his mouth lifted up in a brief smile and then he turned away again. As soon as the boats docked and we were allowed to leave, I broke through the crowd to get to him. People grabbed for me, but I evaded their hands. “Miss,” one called after me, “we need to question you.”