A Whole New Crowd(106)

Still holding his gun steady, Jace knelt, felt under a rock, and pulled it up. The side of the wall moved back and an older man wearing a black button down shirt and tailored black pants stepped through the clearing. His skin was tan and weathered from too much sun. His eyes were beady and they were fixed on me. They narrowed as he asked, “Is this that girl?”
This must’ve been Galverson.
Jace didn’t answer him. He was staring at me. There were bags underneath his eyes and a slight curl in his top lip, so I knew he was furious. His grey eyes pierced through me. A black shirt hugged every inch of his chest, falling over black cargo pants. He was sweaty with dirt all over him. A scrape of mud was on his cheek, as if his hand rubbed his face and left it behind. My eyes fell to some tears in his shirt. Blood seeped through them and the stench of dried blood wafted to me.
“Lanser.”
Tray’s arm curled around me, pushing me behind him, but I had the gun. My hand was squashed between us. They didn’t know I had it, Tray felt the barrel pressed against his back. I knew he was doing this on purpose. We needed any advantage we could get.
Galverson scoffed and turned to Tray. His eyes narrowed. His head tilted to the side, and he pursed his lips forward. “You’re that Evans boy?” He hit Jace in the shoulder, whose only reaction was to slide his eyes sideways. Dark hatred stirred in the depths of Jace’s eyes, but his boss was clueless. He pointed at Tray. “I thought you were supposed to have taken care of him years ago?”
Jace was barely moving. He stood as still as a statue, but he moved to the side two steps. He moved with such grace it was like watching an animal getting ready to attack.
My free hand tightened on Tray’s arm. He felt me shaking, and his finger started to rub over mine, trying to soothe me.
Galverson cast his employee a dark look, and then swung back to us. He jerked his chin up as he said, “You, girl, since this wacko seems mute now, tell me who you are.”
“I’m Taryn.” I stopped. They heard the trembling in my voice. Brian’s face flashed in my mind. The shaking stopped. His memory steadied me, and I remembered the loathing I had for Jace again. He was the reason for all of this. I raised my chin and my eyes narrowed. “You took something of mine. I took it back.”
There was a moment of silence. Tray stiffened in front of me.
Galverson started laughing. It sounded genuine, like I was a comedian for his personal pleasure. He pointed his finger at me. “You’re funny.” He glanced to the side. “You didn’t tell me she was a joker.”
Jace still didn’t say a word. His entire face was a mask now. I was trying to read him, to see if there was any of the old Jace still there, but a cold stranger stared back at me.
“You’re like a robot.” The words slipped out of me before I could catch myself.
Galverson swung back to me. A speculative gleam formed in his eyes, and his finger moved to stroke his chin. He pointed to Jace, but said to me, “You care for him.”
My hand moved from Tray’s arm, and I flattened it against his back. I said, “No. I don’t.” I waited a brief moment. “But I used to, before I realized how much of a monster he is.” My eyes held Jace’s. His was void of expression. He was so empty. I told him, “You’re standing next to the man that killed your brother. What happened to you?”
A flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. I wasn’t sure if I had seen it. It happened so fast. Galverson was watching him too. He asked, “Is that true?” Then he started laughing again. “You’ve always been a monster to me. That’s a good one.” He was shaking his head, but his phone beeped and he took it from where it was clipped to his pants. Reading the screen, he grunted and pointed at us. “The boat’s coming. Go on. Kill them. It’s time to go.”
Jace raised his gun.
“Wait!” I cried out, my heart racing. I was grasping for straws. “There’s DEA here. If you kill us, they’ll know. There’s proof we’re here.”
Galverson whipped his head to Jace.
The two shared a look, but Jace motioned to the edge of the tunnel with his gun. “Come on. Line up.”
Oh god.
We didn’t move so Jace started for us. “I’m not kidding. Move, Taryn. Your boyfriend too.”
Tray let go of me, but he didn’t move. He started to tap the side of my hip, then moved his shoulders a tiny bit, jostling the gun in my hand. As he did, he tapped again quicker. He was giving me a message. Then his shoulder moved forward, as if motioning at Jace. He went back to jostling the gun with his shirt and tapped even harder this time.