The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“Hey. I’m awake. Can you come pick me up?”

Tray hesitated a second, then answered, “I’ll be there in a little bit. If I don’t call you back in ten minutes, call the cops.” And then he hung up.

I put my phone on silent and crept back to the door.

Galverson was laughing again. It was a creepy laugh, like a perverted psychopath laugh.

“I see why you’re Mitchell’s favorite.”

“Shut the fuck up about him,” Tray growled.

“You need to learn to relax. Really,” Galverson murmured, shaking his head. “So your little girlfriend’s not here, hmmm? That phone call was nicely timed.”

“It’s ten in the morning. Taryn doesn’t sleep in longer than that,” Tray merely said.

“He’s right. She doesn’t,” Jace spoke, “and she’s not known for being patient.”

“Yes,” Galverson said heartily, “I hear a lot about this little girlfriend.”

“Sal,” Jace murmured. I heard the warning in his voice.

What the hell?

“I’m getting tired of this bullshit we’re playing, Lanser,” Galverson rushed out. You could hear the suppressed anger. “Your little girlfriend was removed for a reason, but she keeps resurfacing. I’m growing tired of it.”

“We already went over this. You don’t touch Taryn. Ever,” Jace bit out, sounding hostile.

“Fine. Fine. But this is why we’re here, Tray.” He’d put on his cheerful façade again. “I have an understanding that you’ve become ‘close’ to this little girl that Jace seems hell-bent on keeping alive.”

“You know our previous deal, Galverson. That includes Taryn now,” Tray said firmly.

“Now, now. You don’t have to raise that gun to me. Just keep it down where it’s supposed to be.”

“Look,” Jace spoke up, taking charge, “keep Taryn away from Pedlam. That’s all we want.”

Tray let out a short laugh. “Are you serious?”

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“I know. Taryn doesn’t listen, so…just find a way around her. I got her to Rawley in the first place. Keep her here and we won’t have any problems.”

And how the fuck did he get me here?

“Look, Taryn told me last night that she’s not going to ask any more questions; she’s going to leave everything alone,” Tray murmured, his voice a little bit more distant.

“Yeah, that’s what Brian said, but she broke into the Seven8. So we need to know that whatever she took, she’s not going to do anything with it,” Jace replied, tense.

Tray remarked, “She stole some tickets to a concert you’re having there. That’s it. She stole ‘em for someone else.”

There was a moment of silence. “Are you kidding me?” Jace asked in disbelief.

“Jace,” Galverson spoke up, “could this possibly be true?”

“Fuck. Yeah, she does shit like that,” Jace cursed.

“It doesn’t matter, she’s a loose cannon and she has the capability to get inside places I don’t want her,” Galverson explained in a patronizing tone. “I don’t like that. I’ve already had my balls handed to me by a kid once. I’d prefer that it not happen again.” I could hear the barely controlled patience in his voice.

I waited with bated breath for Galverson’s next move.