A Whole New Crowd (33 page)

“Waiting. Go now.”

He swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Okay, but just you and me. We’ll go in Dad’s library downstairs.”

At the mention of their father, Tray’s eyes went to slits and his hands fisted again. Danger emanated from him. He was close to becoming violent. When I started to move again, to see the reason for his anger, Chance shifted at the same time. His hand lifted once more and it held there, his finger extended in my direction. “Taryn,” he started.

Then, whoever it was, made a decision. He stood. I could see the top of his head. My eyes followed his dark blonde hair until he stood, clear as day, and five yards from me.

Jace.

He was dressed in a black shirt and black pants. I couldn’t comprehend it. My eyes dropped to his side where a gun was holstered. Glancing at Tray, he was waiting for my reaction, but I had none. Why didn’t I?

I pressed my fingers to my forehead. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“Taryn,” Jace spoke.

My fingers whisked out, silencing him. “Shut up.”

“I have been undercover. I’ve been working to take down Sal Galverson’s entire drug ring.”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to hear it. Turning my hand, I gave him the middle finger. “I said shut the fuck up.” I moved towards Tray. “What do I do?”

Some of the danger had faded from him. His shoulders were still tense, but his hands had loosened. “You do what you want to do.”

A million questions flew through my mind, but they all faded, as one was the only one important to me then. “Is Brian really dead?”

Regret and a darkness flashed in his eyes. “Yes.”

I stepped back. It was like finding it out all over again.

Jace said softly, “I’d like to tell you everything.”

I was still looking at Tray. He would do what I wanted, but I shook my head. “Not alone. I want Tray with me. That’s the only way I’ll be in the same room as you again.”

“Fair enough.”

Chance spoke, “The library is downstairs, in the basement.”

One by one, we trailed down there. As we got to the main floor, I saw there were still DEA agents everywhere. When I walked past them earlier, their conversations had quieted, but they still continued talking. But now, everything stopped. Fingers froze on their keyboards. No one said a word and all their heads turned our way.

I frowned, noticing they weren’t watching me or Tray. Their eyes were trained on Jace. As he walked past them, for those who were sitting, one by one stood. It was a sign of respect. When we went down the other flight of stairs and entered the library, my hand reached for Tray’s. Inside, Jace turned to us, and Chance closed the door behind him. For some reason I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t angry. I was calm. We were going to hear a new story, but mine was done.

My hand tightened over Tray’s.

As we stood in the library, we were told a lot of different facts. We were told that Jace had been recruited by Chance to work for the DEA when Chance returned home and discovered his father was working for the drug ring. Jace was already working for Sal Galverson, but he decided to turn on his boss when he found out the mother of his child died from a drug overdose. Jace said to me, “It was that night when I was in the kitchen and you came out. You sat at the table with me for hours.” He hesitated. “I was an ass before then. I’m sorry, Taryn. I know things were bad at the house and I know I’m partly to blame for things over the years. I was messed up for a lot of those years.”

I nodded. “I remember.” He never talked about his daughter. He mentioned her once; she was being cared for by another family. No one asked any questions because that’s how Jace was with us. That had been the dark, scary Jace. That night was when things changed; he had turned into the Jace that I loved as a brother. I saw traces of him again, but it didn’t matter. Too much had happened.

“Jace was stalling. He was giving us time to get there and set up the nets.”

Tray frowned. “What about Dad?”

Chance cast him a frown.

Jace said, “He’s not dead. Sal ordered to get rid of him so we made it look like he was.”

Chance spoke up, “He’s in witness protection.”

Tray asked, “So I’ll never see him again?”

“Not unless you want to join him.” Chance glanced at me. “Once you go in, you can’t come out. Something’s telling me you won’t go for that deal.”

“Do you see him?”

Chance hesitated, then shook his head. “No, but I’d like to. I love him too.”

Tray continued to frown, but he didn’t respond. He gave a small nod and then looked to me, as if giving me permission to get my answers.

There was a heavy silence in the room. Then Jace asked, “You don’t have anything else to say, Taryn?”

I didn’t. I really didn’t. I should. I knew there was a lot I didn’t understand or know, but after jumping from that tunnel and thinking I was going to die, a switch had been flipped. I really had let go of my past. My future was what mattered now. Brian. Jace. I let go of everyone and everything. “I’m
eighteen now. I’m an adult. I’m going to finish high school, and I’m going to try and get a scholarship in swimming so I can go to college. I’m going to find Mandy and Austin because I love them. They’re my new family and,” I lifted my hand that was holding Tray’s, “I’m going to be wherever he is,” I turned so I was talking only to Tray, “as long as you’ll have me.”

A tender expression flashed over his face and he pulled me to his side. Dropping a soft kiss on my forehead, he whispered, “That shit goes both ways.”

Another stupid smile came to my face and like the time on the boat, I didn’t try to hide it.

“Okay then.” Jace started for the door. He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “I’m still a member of the Panthers. If you need anything, you can go to them. They’ll take care of you.”

I frowned. “Why? Where are you going?”

He shared a look with Chance.

I twisted around. Tray’s older brother grimaced as he said, “Sal Galverson’s drug ring is gone, but he was one member in a bigger network. A few of the guards got away. We were able to capture most of them and the others were killed, but his name will get back to the rest of the network.”

“What does that mean?”

“They know who I am so I have to disappear.” A wall slid away and Jace wasn’t the stranger anymore. I saw the caring in his eyes again and I was warmed by that. Blinking back tears, he was still there in my heart.

I tried to grin, but knew it was shaky. “You really meant it when you wanted me to go away, didn’t you?”

He sighed. His hand fell from the doorknob. “If something went wrong, I didn’t want Galverson to use you against me. People knew I cared about you.”

“And Brian?”

He gave me a crooked grin. “You think Brian would’ve gone anywhere I told him?”

“Oh.” I laughed, but it was weak. “No. He would’ve done the opposite.” Jace reached for the door again. “Wait,” I stopped him. His hand went back to his side, and I asked, “Where’s he buried? Is he by your dad?”

“I’m having his body moved. I don’t want anyone to do anything to it, and these people, they’d do just about anything to get to me.” He frowned. “I’ll let you know where I have him moved.” He glanced at Chance. “Or someone will.”

He paused again, staring at me as I stared at him. This was it. This was really the end. “I’ll never see you again?”

“Unless something bad happens.” His grey eyes seemed haunted and he tried to give me a half-grin. “Let’s hope you never see me again.” He said to Tray, “Take care of her.”

“I plan to.”

Then he started to turn again. “Wait.” I flew at him. Slamming into his chest, I buried my head there, and he wrapped his arms around me at the same time. This was my last goodbye. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I knew I’d probably always care about him. He and Brian had been family when no one else had been. When I pulled back, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and gently flicked me on the cheek. He murmured, “We had some good times.”

My heart was heavy. “Goodbye, Jace.”

He nodded. He didn’t say it back, but that was okay. He dropped a kiss to my forehead and whispered back, “Love you, kid, even when you thought I hated you.”

Then he pulled away and left. I didn’t turn for Tray. I didn’t need to be comforted. I knew what was happening. That old chapter in my life just walked out the door. It was done. There were nothing left to be resolved.

“You okay?” Tray asked me, standing beside me.

I nodded. “Yeah.” I reached for his hand. I was okay. I
would
be okay. Hell, I would be more than okay. I was strong. I was a survivor. I felt ready to take on the world. Feeling that rush of adrenalin, I squeezed Tray’s hand.

He was my home now.

“Matthews, you’re diving in five minutes.” My coach patted my shoulder as he walked past me.

My teammate laughed next to me. “Way to give us a pep talk.” She swung her fist in the air, giving me the thumbs up sign. “That’s our coach for you.”

I laughed, but I couldn’t ignore the knots in me. My stomach was twisted up like a pretzel. We were in the semifinals at Columbia. My dive could seal a win for our team or finalize our loss. No pressure at all.

We were standing against the wall as a diver soared into the water. It was a near perfect execution. My teammate swore beside me. “Goddamn.”

Her legs were off, but only a slight inch. I could beat her. I knew it.

Then the assistant coach waved me over. She patted my shoulder and murmured, “Did you see that?”

I nodded. I couldn’t talk.

She patted me again. “You can do this, Matthews. You’ve helped bring us this far.”

She was right. I told myself that as I started up the ladder. I was going all the way to the top. The crowd began to become smaller around me and I could see over everyone. This is when I paused, half way up, and scanned the crowd. People asked me why I did this, but I never told my secret. This was my thing to do. Every time, no matter what competition, I always looked through the crowd. It had been a year since Jace disappeared. I wanted to see if I could see him, and there was another slight hope that if I did, I would imagine Brian with him in spirit. It was dumb, but it was a small wish I had. I knew I could imagine Brian’s presence with me and at times, I felt him, but pretending he would be alongside Jace—that was a gift I wanted to see just once.

Like all the other competitions, I didn’t see him. Pushing forward, I got to the top and rolled my head around. I lifted my arms in a circling motion, loosening my shoulders. Stepping forward onto the platform, I started my other tradition, the one that was the most important. I would look through the crowd again, but I wasn’t looking for Jace. The pool was rippling beneath me, beckoning for me to join her, but I ignored her and searched for Tray. My time on top of the platform was only for him.

He was leaning forward, his hazel eyes focused only on me. A few girls were beside him, sneaking peeks at him. The one next to him was staring right at him with a flirtatious grin tugging at her lips. They
were trying to get his attention, but like so many other times, his eyes were solely trained on me. We shared a look, his eyes darkened, and a small grin teased over his face. A rush of excitement moved my nerves aside. My body reacted. It wouldn’t be long until I would feel his body against mine. His hands would be in mine and he would move inside of me. We would be home again, with each other. Tray was my new home.

Mandy was next to him. I didn’t look at her or Austin. They had both come to support me. Shelly asked to come, but I still wasn’t ready to open that door. She remained with Kevin and I could never forgive him.

I heard the signal. They were waiting for my dive so I went to the edge of the platform.

I didn’t see the pool below. I imagined my hardest dive, and I was brought back to the day in the tunnel. In my mind, I dove from there hundreds of times by now and every time I conquered the fall. I closed my eyes, then flexed my legs, and kicked off. As I completed my dive, my body was perfect. I soared into the pool and when I kicked out, bringing my body right back to the surface, I didn’t need to hear the roar of the crowd.

I knew I had won.

I need to thank two people particularly that helped me get this book out into publication, my editor Ami Johnson and Jay McLean. Ami is the one who emailed and offered to edit this monster (and it was one because it over 150,000 words before I took it to task) for free just so she could own it on her Kindle one day. I laughed, thought she was ridiculous, but sent her the manuscript anyway. That was over an entire year, maybe even a year and a half ago. She did it. It took her a long time (I wasn’t rushing, I couldn’t believe she was actually doing it) and then she sent me an email eight months later and told me it was in my inbox. I hate to admit it, but that book sat in my inbox for a long time before I finally pulled it back up. I just wasn’t ready to tackle it because I knew it would need so much work, but (I’m pretty sure) after a night of chatting with Jay McLean, I learned that she used to love this book when it was posted on Fictionpress for free reading. My mind was blown. She had read it? Then she went on to tell me how much she loved the book and it got me going. I was bound and determined to tackle these edits and get it published. I projected two weeks. I was so stupid. It took me three months. I’m still shaking my head at my insanity, but it’s done and those two helped bring it into fruition.

As to everyone else, I have to thank all the Fallen Crest readers because I put finishing AWNC before getting Fallen Fourth Down out for them. Thank you for not reading me the riot act and for being patient with me. I promise, FFD is the next book coming out, but until then I do hope that you enjoyed this one as well.

I feel that all the readers who have followed me from when I first started posting on Fictionpress, then followed me to Livejournal, and are still with me—THANK YOU SO MUCH! I get so nostalgic when I think of the dedication some of my readers have that they keep following me, keep supporting me, and always comment on my posts. Just thank you! And thank you to all those readers who have continued to email me and ask if I was ever going to publish A Whole New Crowd. I’m still getting them, but here it is! I hope I did the original version proud, even though I know it’s been changed quite a bit. The original AWNC dealt more with Taryn in high school and all the different groups of people in her school. I cut a lot of those characters out, but I feel that I made the ending better with this version. If you want to read the original, it will also be published, but it won’t be edited or polished. You’ll be getting the original first edited version that Ami sent back to me.

Other people I want to thank: my author friends (the secret six) and my admins, along with my beta readers. Kerri, Eileen, Heather, Cami, Celeste, Kelly, Lisa. I love you ladies!

Last paragraph, as always, it’s dedicated to my significant other and now our dog, Bailey. I’m going to start writing something embarrassing about him, just because he never reads and when he does, he’ll laugh so much. One likes to fart and the other likes to go on walks. You can choose which is which. ;) And with this, I’m done. Thank you everyone!!! I hope hope hope hope you liked the story!