The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“Your dad gave you power of attorney over everything?”

“Yeah. Over everything, but he probably didn’t figure I’d find these out.”

“So you actually own the warehouse, but that doesn’t help us getting in there.”

“No, but it’ll make me feel better, knowing that I can take it away from Lanser,” Tray bit out, running a hand over his tired face.

“Are you going to make it through school?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I probably just won’t be able to make sense of a whole lot.”

“So what else did you find out?” Again. I didn’t know if I wanted to know. Everything he told me made my stomach roll over.

“There’s a field that connects the warehouse to the river, which is probably how they get everything into the school. I really think everything’s just being stored until the drug-runners can load up for another run. But I’m also pretty sure it’s not just drugs, but a whole ton of shit. Brian had a bracelet for you, right? No doubt that was hocked somewhere, waiting to be sold to a highest bidder on the black-market.”

“How are they getting everyone in and out of Pedlam without the cops noticing? They can’t have every cop on their payroll.”

“The conferences,” Tray explained. “There are conferences and concerts in Pedlam all the time. And those numbers have actually gone up, so that means more and more people are going through Pedlam. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of those concerts are booked to play at the Seven8 or that most of the conferences are held in a banquet recreation center, which my father also owns.”

“And now you own.”

“Yeah,” he sounded bitter, “I didn’t know that I was a fucking landlord.”

“If you have power of attorney, how is it that none of these rewards are going to you?”

“Some of them are, I’m sure. My dad was chief of police, but my mom actually had a real-estate business. So a lot of her properties are still thriving and that money goes to my account. I don’t check it on a monthly basis. I usually have my accountants check it around tax time, but I’m betting Dad had it worked so that everything filtered through Galverson’s accounts first.”

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it.”

“A lot of planning and thinking went into this.”

“And we figured it out in the matter of a week. Give or take.”

“You figured this out. And you did it all in one night,” I breathed, appreciating how intelligent Tray really was. No wonder his brother wanted him on his side. Tray was formidable, either way. As an ally or an enemy. I wouldn’t want to go against him, but then again, that’s what people say about me, too.

“Yeah, well…you gave me the right motivation.”

“Would you rather I didn’t? That I wouldn’t have done anything, even moved here?”

“No.” It was quick and so sure, I never doubted the genuineness. The honesty rang true in his voice.

I found myself mel

ting, a familiar emotion when I was around this boy.

Checking the clock, I saw it was almost seven.

Fucking seven in the morning.

“We have to be at school in an hour and half.”

Thank God I’d packed a bag last week, planning on being at Tray’s for a while. I was in no mood to slip into my room, dress, and sneak back out. And if I ran into either Shelley or Kevin, I don’t think I could keep my fucking composure. But right now, I was good. I was steady. Just wanting to get in, get whatever information we needed, find Grayley, and get out. Ready to take everyone down with us, if need be.

“I’d offer to have sex with you, but I’m afraid I’d fall asleep after and not wake up.” Tray joked as he yawned, standing to go into the kitchen.

I followed and hopped on a barstool, watching him refill his mug. As he took a second one out for me, I remarked, “So we’re both sans-parents.”