A Whole New Crowd(76)

“Well, that’s ominous.”
The room started laughing, but the teacher frowned. “This isn’t a laughing matter.”
I frowned, glanced at Tray, retrieved my books, and left. After stowing my books in my locker, I headed to the office, and when I got there, I stopped outside the door. Shelly and Kevin were already there. I could see them through the window. Shelly wiped a tear from her eye, and Kevin was bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees, a fierce scowl on his face.
This was about Mandy. They had finally found out.
As I headed inside, I flashed them a smile. “So who told you? My bet’s on the neighbor. She finally figure out we’ve been gone?”
Their heads snapped to me and varying levels of outrage stared back at me. Shelly was dressed in a yellow dress, clutching a string of pearls around her neck. At my question, she yanked on the necklace and broke it. When they fell to the floor, spreading all over, Kevin raked a hand through his hair. He cursed and knelt, tossing his tie back over his shoulder so it wouldn’t get in the way. His suit coat had been discarded. It was folded over the third chair. As he reached under it, grabbing a fistful of pearls, I saw the sweat running down his back. I went to the chair in the far corner, my back to the door. Shelly was leaning down, and the counselor had joined Kevin in his search. When she crawled to me, I saw the pearls she was reaching for. As her hand stretched out, my foot came down on the pearls and she looked up, seeing the storm in my eyes. Her hand retracted. Kneeling upright on her knees, she stood and went back to her chair.
Kevin grabbed the last of the pearls and stuffed them in his pocket; he and Shelly returned to their seats. They rolled their shoulders back and lifted their chins.
They thought they knew what was going to happen. They thought wrong. I said, “Let me start.”
Everyone looked at me. I caught the expression that came over Kevin’s face. It was arrogant and superior.
He was my first target. “I took Mandy to a treatment center.”
He said, “You had no right—”
I interrupted, “You had no right to take me in when you didn’t want me.”
He stopped, his eyebrows bunched forward, and he glanced at Shelly. She wore her own small frown, and her throat moved up and down as she swallowed. Then she asked, “What are you talking about, Taryn? Of course we wanted you.”
“You didn’t.” I nodded at Kevin. “What’d you do?”
He grew still, sitting to his highest height on the chair. “What are you talking about?”
“You owed Jace Lanser a favor. He cashed it in.” I gestured to myself. “Me.”
His eyes widened.
“Oh, dear.” Shelly paled.
The counselor shrunk down in her seat, her head jerking from me to them.
I asked again, “What’d you do? I’m assuming he covered for you with something. No one does anything for free.” I saw the guilt flare up over his face. “It must’ve been a pretty bad mistake for Jace to call this favor in. I mean, taking a daughter in for life, that’s a big-ass favor for you to agree to.”
“Honey.” Shelly reached for her husband.
He brushed her hand off and turned to the counselor. “Maybe we could have some privacy?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Uh.” She clipped her head in a nod. “Of course. I have some work I can do in the other office.” She stood, pushed up from her chair, and paused in the middle of the room. She swept another look over them. Her lips pinched together and she said, “I will be referring you to Mr. Daniels, the other counselor, due to my own ethical obligations. Jace Lanser is a known drug dealer. Because of your association with him, I am uncomfortable continuing my work with your children so I will no longer counsel any of them.”
Kevin rolled his eyes and waved at her. “Fine, fine. Just go.”
Her eyes darkened. Then she left and the door shut a second later.
He was worked up. His cheeks were red and he was wringing his hands together in his lap. He was going to go on the offensive, but I beat him to it, “Don’t try to deny it. Jace already told me the truth.”
“Oh, honey.” Shelly reached out to me. Her hand was trembling. It was so thin and frail. “I don’t know where you get these ideas, but that isn’t true. We wanted you. We did.” She glanced to her husband for support.
There was none. His eyebrows were still furrowed together and his lips were pressed in a flat line.
“Kevin?”
He ignored her and said to me, “What did he say?”
She sucked in a dramatic breath.
“That you owed him a favor. What was it? Someone overdosed on your pills?”