A Whole New Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 1)

“They won’t green-light this mission. I’m sorry, Tray. I am.”

I closed my eyes for a second and stood there. Holding three cans of soda and two bottles of water pressed against my chest, I couldn't even feel the cold from them.

They weren’t coming. Chance had warned me, but hearing Tray now, I knew it was true. They weren’t going to get Gray.

It was up to me.

I knew what I was going to do. And as soon as I made the decision, it was like a piece of the puzzle clicked into place for me. I think I had always known what I was going to do and now, creeping forward, I hugged the wall so they wouldn’t see my approach. I didn’t know where they were in the room. As I drew closer, I knelt down so my shadow was minimized and then placed the soda and water on the floor.

“Chance, we have to try.” Tray’s voice drifted from inside the room.

I peeked inside, saw they were in the far corner, and moved back away. Chance said, “I’ll figure something out. I promise. Let’s wait for Taryn to come back. I have orders to take you both in. They want to question you in depth.”

I stood from my kneeling position, but kept myself flat against the wall. My arm moved to the doorframe and I reached inside. Closing my eyes, I used my memory of the room to know the exact location of the table. I used one finger to touch the edge of the table, then paused. I didn’t touch anymore. I lifted my hand a millisecond, reached forward another inch and then lowered it. The gun should be there. When my hand touched the cold metal, I let out my breath.

I held still, not making a move, not making another sound. Then I tucked it against my palm, keeping it steady so it wouldn’t move and jar the table. When it was in the air, I pulled my arm back around the table.

They had no idea I had been there.

Then I left.

I was going for Gray on my own.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Gray had given me blueprints for the school, but he told me that there hadn’t been a lot of changes. When I snuck inside to help Tray with his prank, I knew that was true. The main change had been the security room. That hadn’t been there before, but my gut was telling me Jace was beneath it. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what for, but they were there. That was my best chance at finding Gray. I didn’t have time to search all the other buildings. Gray and Dee already staked out the others. This was my pick, but every instinct insid

e me was telling me that I was right.

I just had to get in there.

When I got to the school, I walked the perimeter. I couldn’t find a weakness. I couldn’t get in where I had before. Jace would have the top level covered with hidden cameras. I had no doubt that every entrance to the level beneath the school was monitored and there could’ve even been a second wave of guards for those doors. I had to find a weakness.

Backtracking down one of the main roads that led to the school, I found a side road and began walking down it. It led past a clump of houses and then curved around a field. The farther I went, the more isolated it seemed. Trees on one side and the field on the other. A flash of headlights warned me of an approaching car and I melted into the trees. It sailed past me and I caught the glint of a rifle from its passenger.

The further out I went, the closer I was getting. I knew it.

As the field ended, the road curved once again, and I was in the forest now, but I knew this forest. There were dense trees that were on either side of the river, which meant that the river wasn’t far from where I was. Now things were making sense. The river ran the length of the entire country from north to south. My guess was that Jace used it to smuggle drugs and he stored the drugs in the school, which meant there had to be a tunnel.

I could feel it. I knew I was guessing right.

Hearing shouts ahead of me, I veered towards them and saw an empty truck parked in front of a hill. I looked left and right to check if there were cameras. When I didn’t see any, I sprinted for the hill, bending low to the ground as much as possible. I hugged the side of the truck in case anyone could see from a higher vantage point, but no alarm sounded and no one shouted. Rifles were inside the truck, which told me the men were coming back.

“Let’s go, Rufus!”

The voice came from inside the hill. I glanced around, looking for a hiding spot. There was none unless I ran back into the woods, but I wouldn’t have enough time.

Their footsteps were getting louder. They were coming.

I had only seconds.

I darted forward, and as I hit the hill, a door swung open, blocking me from their vision. As one man left, the door started to swing shut. I bit down on my lip, but held my knife in my hand. I was ready to leap and stab whoever came at me, but I heard a curse and the door was pushed open again. Relief flooded me. That guy went through the door and then a third followed him out.

“Let’s get some booze before we have to head back. The next shift change is in four hours,” the first one said. He jumped into the truck.

As the other two men filed towards the truck, I slipped around the door. It swung shut just as the truck’s headlights flashed on, and a moment later it was reversing. They didn’t wait for it to stop, he yanked the front of the truck around and gunned the engine.

As they headed off, another wave of relief came over me. I was inside, but turning around, I had no idea where I was. It was completely black. Running my hand over the wall and ceiling, I could feel it was a big enough hole for a person to walk through. They had covered the walls with cement, but I could hear the river through the walls. My nose twitched from the dirt in the air. Musk, feces, and mold filled the air as well.