A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

He nodded. “The protocol was that I was supposed to be eliminated. One of the patients they sent to me dropped a notebook, and there were rules written inside. He came back the next hour in a panic looking for it, but I lied. I told him he hadn't left anything or if he did, the garbage had been taken out so he shouldn’t worry. He still did. I could see the fear in his eyes. The next time I saw him was in the morgue. He had my card in his pocket so I was asked to identify his body.”

My stomach clenched, but it was faint. As he kept going, a layer of dirt was laid on top of another, then another, then another. There were so many layers, I was growing numb.

“Keep going.”

“Yeah.” He let out a sigh. His shoulders were slumped so far down that his forehead was almost resting on the counter now. He looked like half the man he had been when he first sat down. “Jace took care of it. I don’t know what he did, what he could’ve done, but he did something. There were no emails in the morning. No more patients sent to me. It was like I had been let go. I didn’t work for them anymore.” He shook his head. “I didn’t ask Jace because I didn’t want to know. I’m ashamed of myself. I can barely look at my own children when I’m home. I can barely handle being in the same room as my wife.”

“Then Jace came to you about me?”

He nodded. “I was golfing with a few of my friends when he showed up. I almost pissed my pants when I saw him driving towards me in a golf cart. He didn’t give me a choice. He handed me your file, said I needed to adopt you, and we were supposed to move. There was even a back story of what I could tell Shelly if she needed convincing.”

“That Brian was violent.” I remembered Austin’s words.

“Once I said that, Shelly was all-in. You were her mission. She wanted to save your life, whether you wanted to come along or not.”

I glanced at the boxes now. “You were supposed to move?”

“That was the other deal. As soon as we got the adoption papers signed, we were supposed to move. Jace was furious when we didn’t go, but I couldn’t convince Shelly to go. We didn’t want to argue where Mandy and Austin could overhear, so we left. We’d go to a hotel and check in and just fight about it.”

“Those were some of your trips?”

“Some of them. I’d get another reminder from Jace that we had to move, so I would call her to meet me. She didn’t want to move. That was the one thing she put her foot down about. She didn’t want to upset Mandy or Austin’s social lives. She said their well-being was too shaky and she wouldn’t do any more emotional harm to our children.” A hollow laugh came out of him, sounding like it was being dragged from the bottom of his throat. “I told her the truth. Once the adoption set-up came out, I told her most of it.”

“What sealed the deal for her to agree to move?”

“Jace threatened to kill Mandy.”

I felt as if a knife had been plunged into my gut. It was invisible, but it was there. I could imagine Jace being in the room, smiling as he twisted the knife to the side. Hearing the same threat he gave me from Kevin had me breaking out in a cold sweat. I had to ask the next question. “When?”

“They’re already gone.”

My eyes leapt to his. “What?”

His eyes grew guarded. “Shelly took Mandy to Austin’s tournament, but they aren’t coming back. Movers are coming tomorrow, and I’m bringing everything with us. I wanted to take you with us. Shelly was supposed to convince you to come, but I can’t make you go. I’m sorry, Taryn.”

They were gone. It was already done. The knife was yanked out and shoved back into me, but a part of me no longer felt the pain.

“I haven’t heard from Jace for a while, not since his brother was killed.” He paused. “I’m assuming that’s who that was? Your ex-boyfriend? Unless that was a lie as well.”

“No,” I whispered. “Brian died.”

“I’m sorry about that too. I am, but we can’t stay. I believe Jace. I know what he’s capable of. After I leave, none of us are ever coming back.”

I’d never see them again. Then I asked one last question, “Was the adoption real? Am I really your adopted daughter?”

“No.” He didn’t look away. There was no hesitation. There was no doubt. “It was faked for Shelly’s sake. None of the documents are real. There was no real background check. Shelly just thinks it went fast, but it was all a lie.”

I nodded.

I was the lie.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Knock, knock

Tray and I turned to each other. We shared a look.

Knock, knock