The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

I turned and dressed in my normal work outfit. The same snug black lycra fabric, complete with everything I needed to break-in. I’d made Tray unearth the PRS-500. The codes were still there and I knew how to override them, but who knew if the same codes were still activated for the warehouse or

not. Jace most certainly had them changed, but there was a wireless connection to the PRS-500. So that meant it was possible that only the codes to the school would be changed. All the codes on the device were still active, which meant that the connection was still bridged and working. Bottom line: the codes might’ve been automatically downloaded to the PRS-500, granting us open access.

Let’s hope anyway.

Tray left the room for a minute and I met him in the kitchen.

“So what’s the plan again?” I asked for the third time, still not totally believing his choice of accomplices. You’d think Carter, Bryce, Devon, or any one of his friends, but no, .he chose Gentley.

“Gentley’s going to be watching the parking lot when you go in. I’ll circle around to the river’s opening.”

“And explain again…him?”

Tray just grinned, but spoke, “Gentley runs that school. He knows who belongs and who doesn’t. Plus, he can carry his own. There’s a reason why he runs that school and someone else doesn’t.”

“He’s an ass. It’s the only reason.”

“Then I’d probably have whoever else ran the school to help us. I need someone who can give orders over there and they be followed out. Trust me, he’s not a bud, but he’ll do.”

“He’s an ass. I don’t like working with asses.”

“No,” Tray grinned cockily, “but you’ll screw ‘em.”

Gentley would have to do, I guess. But I didn’t like it.

Tray sighed. “Just trust me, Taryn. This is my part, what I can do. You’ll be doing your job, but I’m telling you that we’ll need a third guy on this. Gentley’s the best choice, but only because it’s his territory.”

“It’s Jace’s territory, not Gentley’s.”

“No, but Gentley’s the acting owner. You know what I mean.”

But I was a shit, so I asked even though I fully knew the answer. “And why are we doing this during the day?”

“Less guards and stop playing games.”

It hadn’t taken us long to devise the plan once we’d decided on actually going through with it. Seeing Chance had been enough to light Tray’s fire, but I could tell he was slightly nervous. He’d called Gentley back over and the rest of the night had been spent going over blueprints and coordinating time schedules.

Gentley hadn’t been thrilled, but like I’d noticed before—he respected Tray. Or at least he knew who the top dog was, the Alpha male, or whatever. It was all a bunch of nonsense to me. I just needed to know my part, where I was going, and what to do when I found Grayley.

Gentley figured Grayley would be underneath the gymnasium, since the school alarm was slightly louder in that room than the hallways. It made sense. The added echo probably helped us hear the alarm over Grayley’s cellphone, but it was still nerve-wracking.

Once in the car, I asked, “Why not Trent? Or Geezer? My friends, not the enemy.”

Tray didn’t even answer. It would’ve been the same answer from the first three times I’d asked. Geezer wasn’t reliable—he’d probably be stoned or just unable to handle whatever came up. And Trent would do, but Gentley was better. I hated it, I absolutely hated it, but Tray was right. Gentley was the best man for the job, but I needed to whine some more.

When we arrived at our rendezvous spot, my scowl was firmly in place when I saw Gentley was already waiting for us.

He scowled right back, but neither of us spoke. I was a little relieved because our constant insult-exchange had wasted an entire hour of work. Last night, Tray lit into both of us until we stopped and were reluctantly civil to each other.

“Gentley, are you absolutely certain that you’ll be left alone in the parking lot all day?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “I’m sure it’s the same at your school, but there’s a few of us that can’t be bothered, you know.”

“Taryn—” Tray had been speaking my name.

“What?”

“Are you ready to go in?”