As I stood, looking down below, my reflection looked different. Off.

I wasn’t the same—I didn’t look the same, I didn’t feel the same.

“Miss Matthews!” Coach Greenly called out, making his way across the pool area to me. “I see that you made it to your first practice.”

“Uh…yeah.”

What I hadn’t made it to was letting Tray know that Props would be showing up at his place, ready to start working. He’d pissed me off, and I knew it was irrational, but I hadn’t told him to get even. It was pathetic and childish, but it made me feel a little better.

“Good,” he clapped me on the shoulder, “swimsuit.”

“Not here.”

“That’s alright, I’m sure one of the girls will let you borrow one.”

Great.

Tristan came out of the locker room with a group of five in tow. All of them lined up at one end of the pool and one by one dove in to start warm-up laps.

“You’re Taryn, right?” A girl came up beside me. I was guessing she was on the team, since she wore a silver one-piece with her hair pulled into a swim cap.

“Yeah.”

“Brady Winters, teammate, or future teammate I guess.” She rolled her startling green eyes. “Coach told us this morning you were joining the team.”

“That’s funny,” I remarked dryly, “because I was just told at lunch.”

“You need a suit? I have, like, twenty in my locker. Number 812.”

“Thanks.” I frowned. “I don’t know if I’ve met you before. Senior?”

“Nope, junior. I just don’t run in the Holier than Thou Jasmine and Mandy Matthews circle. No offense.”

“None taken. Not a big fan of Tristan’s myself.”

“Believe me, we all know who you get along with and who you don’t. You’re the biggest thing to come to the school in a long time.”

“Winters! Laps!” Coach yelled out.

I read amusement in her green eyes as she turned and called back, “I’m giving them a head-start.” She jumped in before he could send a retort back. She had perfect form, and I was surprised to find myself a bit envious.

“Matthews, you joining this team or not?!” Apparently, I wasn’t immune to the coach’s irritation.

When I came back, swimsuit on, the team had finished their laps and were sitting at some of the patio tables, listening to Coach Greenly. Motioning to me, he remarked, “Get a few laps in and pull up a chair.”

Diving in the water felt different today. It didn’t give me XX like it usually does. However, after a few laps, I started to feel a little at peace for the first time since I Brian’s funeral. After a few laps, I got out and settled in a chair next to Brady.

The team turned out to be a bunch of girls I’d never met. I recognized a few from Tray’s parties and the trips to Rickets’ House. But there were quite a few who I never would’ve known if it hadn’t been for the team.

Tristan seemed welcomed like a long lost prodigal son. Even the coach doted on her, which was just annoying. Fortunately, only a few girls seemed to idolize her. For the most part, Tristan was more tolerated than anything else. Most of the girls seemed like serious swimmers, not social climbers.

Which was just a breath of fresh air.

Brady caught up with me at the end of practice as we walked out of the locker room. Dressed in street clothes, I was surprised to see that she didn’t wear the trendy almost whorish clothes that most girls wore. She was dressed in a loose-fitting t-shirt and worn jeans, flared at the ends.

“So what’d you think of the first day?”

I shrugged. “It felt good to be swimming.”

“You’re good. Like really good. I’m jealous. I can see why the coach snapped you up so quickly.” She sent an easy grin my way, her swim bag over her shoulder.

“You’re fast.”

“I used to be the fastest swimmer on the team,” she remarked, shrugging.

“Who’s faster now?”

Brady laughed. “You are.”

“What?” Startled, I stopped in the hallway.

“I heard about your dives from the cliff and some of the girls have seen you when you were with your mom. Plus, those laps just now, you weren’t even trying and you beat my time. You’re the fastest, Taryn.”

I was startled, unsure what to say.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Brady laughed. “I’m just happy you’re on the team. You’ve got a talent that would’ve been a wasted. Plus, nationals are a sure thing now, thanks to you.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say. “Hey, I was wondering, are a lot of the girls seniors this year? I’ve never seen them around before.”

“I’m not the only one who doesn’t run in Jasmine and Mandy’s circle,” Brady answered. “Not all of us are popular sharks like them. We just want to swim and get good grades.”

Coming to my locker, I opened it and grabbed my bag and purse. I groaned, seeing three missed calls on my phone.

“Not good?” Brady asked, waiting beside me.

“I was very childish.” I sighed, seeing Tray’s name on my missed calls list. “I didn’t warn someone about something because I was mad.”

“Ah.” Brady nodded knowingly. “Boyfriend problems?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “he’s going to be pissed at me.”

“Tray Evans doesn’t exactly strike me as an easygoing guy,” Brady mused.

At my look of surprise, she explained, “Like I said, everyone knows who you get along with and who you don’t. And everyone especially knows that you’re dating Tray Evans.”

“If you’re not a fan of Tristan, I’m pretty sure you’re not a fan of Tray’s either,” I commented, walking out into the parking lot.

“Hard to get a read on someone who’s larger than life, you know?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, “that’s a good description of Tray. Are you dating anyone?”

“I am. His name is Josh Barrons and he’s a normal, average student with hopes of getting into Brown to major in psychology.”

“You say that like you’re apologizing for him,” I noted.

“I’m not. But he’s no Tray Evans.”

I laughed at that. “That’s probably a good thing.”

“Nah, Josh is Josh. For now. He’s my boyfriend, but he’s not a Tray Evans in bed, I’m betting.”

“That sounds like…a security blanket.”

“He is. My personal blankie that I’ve had for four years,” Brady noted.

I jumped, slightly, hearing my phone ring. I’d forgotten how loud the ring was set at.

Brady laughed. “Ah, the demanding, pissed-off boyfriend calls again.”

I rolled my eyes, but braced myself as I answered, “Hey.”

“You could have fucking warned me!” Tray hissed. I heard loud music in the background.

“Sorry?”

“That kid you were talking about, Props—whatever, he’s here. He showed up after school. Thanks for the warning. I had to get rid of Carter and everyone.”

“Is he still there?”

“Yeah. And your friend that banged Hooters girl.” He cursed, catching himself.

That made me smile. He’d caught onto my nick-name.

“You don’t have to call her Hooters girl, I’ll have sex with you tonight anyway.”

Brady pursed her lips, her eyes dancing in amusement.

“Whatever,” Tray groaned, “can you just get your ass here?”

“Yeah, I just got out of swim practice.”

“I know. Carter told me.”

“How does Carter know I had swim practice?”

“You really want to know?”

“No!”

“Then don’t ask. Where are you? Get over here.”

He sounded tense.

“Is Props really that hard to handle? You sound like you’re at your wits’ end.”

“It’s not him, it’s the other guy. What’s his name?”

“Trent.”

“If I hadn’t threatened bodily harm, I swear he would’ve torn my place apart. Plus, your folks are back in town. They showed up here looking for you, too.”

“What?” I froze, my heartbeat suddenly deafening.

“I know. Just get your ass over here. I covered for you. I told ‘em you went back to Pedlam to visit some friends because of Brian, but your dad hates me. I think they might’ve camped out across the street or something.”

“Oh God.”

“Tell me about it. When you show up, cut through my neighbor’s lawn. Just to be sure, alright?”

Swim practice had been a heavenly vacation.

“I’m on my way.” I hung up, my mind reeling.

“That did not sound good,” Brady murmured, still watching me.

“Uh…it’s not. It’s not good at all.”

“You’re not, like pregnant or anything, are you? I know we just met and this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but if you’re pregnant, my aunt’s a counselor. You can talk to her if you want,” Brady offered.

“I almost wish I were pregnant. It’d be a lot easier to deal with,” I said tensely. Getting inside my car, I called out through the open window, “I’ll see you tomorrow in school.”

“Yeah. You can have lunch with us tomorrow, if you want.” Brady waved, walking to her car.

I parked around the block and darted through his neighbor’s yard. Climbing the wall, I dropped down and was walking past the pool-house when Tray came outside.

The look on his face stopped me in my tracks.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’ve multiplied,” he answered, grabbing my hand and dragging me back into the pool-house. In his bedroom, he fell onto the bed and pulled me down beside him.

I laid there, stunned.

Caressing his back softly, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Gentley’s here. That friend of yours is here. Props is working on his computer stuff and your parents showed up.”

“I’m sorry your house got ran over,” I apologized sincerely. Feeling lame for my pathetic childishness. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Props. I didn’t know Trent and Gentley were coming over. Wait. Is Gentley here for me?”

“Yeah. I haven’t asked and they haven’t told me what they’re doing here, but they’re waiting for you.” He pushed himself up, holding himself just above me. “Taryn, talk to me before you do whatever they want you for. Promise me.”

“I promise,” I said softly, running a thumb over his lips. When I saw a smidgen of amber appear in his hazel orbs, I leaned up and captured his lips with mine. Feeling him sigh, he fell back onto me. As I embraced his weight, he ran a hand down my back and to my legs, curling them around his back.

“We should probably head in,” I whispered against his lips.

Instead, Tray dipped his head, deepening the kiss as his hands trailed to my waist and slipped underneath my shirt. I was fast losing the ability to think clearly. It’d been a few days since we’d been together. The funeral, everything, had come crashing down on us at one time.

“Tray,” I murmured again, and sighed as I fell back on the pillow with his mouth moving to my neck and trailing downwards.

I sensed the urgency in him as he reared up and stripped off his shirt. Meeting his eyes, I knew neither of us were going anywhere for a while. Whatever was waiting for me would have to wait a little longer.

I sat up and pulled my shirt off. As I fell back, I felt the cool air against my skin, Tray was already pulling my pants off. Quickly we were both naked, our hands fevered, urgent. Gasping, I arched as Tray’s mouth moved to my waist and further south. He held my hips captive as he kissed and sucked.

As I came, my breaths coming in shallow gasps, I reached blindly for him and scuttled down, clamping my legs around his waist. Tray met my mouth, curling me underneath him with experienced expertise.

“Taryn,” he gasped, reaching for his nightstand.

I held myself back forcibly, as I waited for him to grab a condom, but it was taking everything I had. I wanted him. And I wanted him inside me. Now.

Then, a seemingly hour later, he slid in, stretching me, as he braced himself above me.

We both held on as his thrusts took us closer and then hurdled our bodies over the edge. I melted, again, panting as we both laid there.

It took a moment for the fog to clear and I then remembered who was waiting for us.

“Oh…fuck,” I groaned.

Tray laughed into my shoulder, where his mouth was lingering.

“We should head in.”

Tray grunted slightly as he lifted himself up again. But he held me trapped on the bed, with his arms on both sides of me. “Taryn, promise me that you’ll come to me first with whatever they want.”

“I promise.”

“I mean it. Those guys don’t know what they’re doing or who they’re going against.”

“I will. Promise.” I smiled as I saw him look sternly at me. “Now get out of my face before I pull you back down for another round.”

Tray grinned, but lifted himself up and off the bed.

We both showered quickly and dressed.

As we entered the main house, we heard shouting from the basement.

“Fuck you, man! I’m telling you we don’t need Taryn for this. We should leave before she gets here.”

Rounding the corner, I saw Trent shake his head. “Oh hell no, man. We can’t do this without Taryn. I’m telling you, we need her.”

“And I’m telling you we don’t,” Gentley shot back.

“You don’t need me for what?” I asked, feeling Tray behind me.

Gentley swore, raking a hand through his hair.

“Taryn.” Trent looked relieved. “We think we know where Grayley is, but we gotta move now.”

“No,” Tray spoke up, coming to stand beside me.

“Fuck you, man. This has nothing to do with you.”

“This does have to do with me.”

“Where do you think Grayley is?” I asked, my heart had started racing at Grayley’s name.

“Jace has another warehouse on the eastside. We found it last night, but it’s going to be a bitch to get into. We need you for that,” Trent explained, watching Tray intensely.

“Why are you here?” I asked Gentley.

“Because Gray’s a friend of mine, too.” He actually sounded sincere.

“You weren’t at the funeral.” I turned back to Trent.

“I was trying to find Grayley before we have one for him.” He cursed, pacing. I could see why Tray was tense—Trent looked like a caged animal: pissed and hungry. It was a side of Trent that I’d never seen before.

“Where’s the warehouse?” I asked.

“Taryn,” Tray spoke up, “you promised.”

“Where’s the warehouse?” I ignored him.

Gentley watched the exchange between us. I knew he was studying us, but he didn’t say anything.

Trent looked relieved.

“You’ll help?” he asked.

“Of course, but I’m not going in blind. And,” I glanced at Tray, “I’ll need to run it over with Tray, in private.”

Trent cursed. “When the hell do you ever have to run things by a guy? What the hell’s happened to you, Taryn? You’re like a shadow of the Taryn I know. You’ve changed. God knows, you’d never be caught dead dating someone like him—”

“And you better remember whose house you’re in.” Tray said quietly, a clear threat in his words. But it worked because Trent shut up immediately, glaring at us.

“What do you think is going on?” I asked, ignoring everything he just shot at me. That needed to be dealt with at another time, in a more private setting. Grayley was the only thing that mattered to me right now.

Trent hesitated, sharing a look with Gentley.

Tray remarked, poker face firmly in place, “Start talking or you can leave without Taryn’s help.”

Trent swallowed whatever he was going to say. I saw the words actually come up and have to be forced back down. After composing himself, he said, “It has to do with Jace. Brian’s death has to do with Jace.” He looked at me then, an apologetic note in those blue eyes. “Brian was coming to you with something about Jace. But he’d been missing for a few days before that. That’s when Grayley said he was going to go and find Brian. We found his car on the eastside, about a mile from Jace’s warehouse. We think he’s in the warehouse.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because things have been wrong in Pedlam since you left,” Gentley spoke up now, resigned. He glanced warily to Tray and myself, but continued, “Your psycho ex has been off kilter, Grayley’s been acting like a nervous bitch, and your stone-head friend—he’s just been more whacked than normal.”

“What he’s trying to say,” Trent sent him a meaningful glare, “is that there’s been some shady shit going on at school. I’ve seen some of Jace’s guys in the school parking lot every day. That’s not cool. Brian’s always been violent, but a month before he died, he was showing up at school black and blue every day. Then Grayley suddenly started acting like he was on drugs or something. Things have just been off. But—”

Gentley stepped in and added, “After you guys broke into our school, things got worse. Security guards were added, like ten at night. Kimberly tried to get into school one night because she left her homework and got ran off by some of the guards. Trent said they’re guys that work for your ex’s brother.”

“That true?” I asked Trent.

“Yeah. I went with her because she was so damn scared to even try. The fucking school is like an army base now. None of it makes sense.”

“Taryn,” Tray murmured, curling a hand around my wrist, he pulled me into a room. Shutting the door, he said, “What do you know that you haven’t told me? I need to know everything.”

“We got an entire week?” I joked, in a half-ass attempt. “I know what you know. That Brian was working with Galverson to compete with Jace. Jace and Galverson are running drugs. They built a new storage unit at Jace’s club. They’re running more than just drugs. And that Jace did something to get me out of Pedlam.”

“You sure the new unit is at Jace’s club?” Tray asked, frowning.

“What do you mean?”

“They had three guards when we broke in. Serious security. Now they have ten.”

Oh God. Cammy said the storage unit had been broke into and they needed more security.

“It’s the school,” I said, dazed. “It’s the school. They rebuilt it when I left. It’s why I left. Jace knew I could get in, that’s why he didn’t want me around Pedlam. He knew I’d get in and find something I wouldn’t like.”

“It’s good cover,” Tray remarked, pacing behind me. I could hear him thinking. “But they’d have to have another opening or it’d bring too much attention to their shipments. I’m betting it’s underground, but you can get in through the school. That’s why they added the extra guards. And we missed it when we went in because we weren’t looking. I wonder how far the second warehouse is from the school?”

“You think that might be their opening and it goes all the way to the school?”

“Maybe. Don’t you guys have a river that’s not far from school?”

“Yeah. Like a mile away.”

“I bet that’s the opening. They load whatever it is on boats and bring it in from the river. It’s a tunnel that goes from the school to the river, but they’re storing it underneath the school because it’s a perfect cover. Who’d think a school would be a storage unit for drugs and whatever else they’re smuggling.”

“You’re almost scary at how good you are,” I noted faintly.

Tray grinned, raking a hand through his hair. “I think like them. Dad trained me that way.”

“That’s…a little scary.”

“And your ex and your two friends have known what’s been going on. That’s why they lied to you, to really protect you.”

“Yeah.” I sighed.

Tray pulled me against him, anchoring his arms around my waist. Kissing my forehead, he murmured, “We’ve got most of it figured out, but we need more. We need to know what’s in that second warehouse. We need to know exactly what’s in the school and we need to know who Galverson’s contracting with because none of this would be happening unless it was really big. He wouldn’t chance it, not with what I’ve got on them. And we’ll need proof, stone-cold proof that can’t disappear or be killed.”

I burrowed closer against his shoulder.

“You still want to do this?” he asked. I felt him holding his breath.

Pulling back, I saw him searching my face. “Brian died, they’ve got Grayley, and they fucked with my life. I goddamn still want this.”

“Okay.” He kissed me hard and then let me go. Moving around, he walked back out to the room. “We’ll need blueprints. We’ll need twenty-four-seven surveillance. I want to know the guard shifts, I want to know the layout, I want to know what’s surrounding that warehouse before Taryn goes in. Or she’s not going in.”

“Who the fuck put you in charge?!” Trent growled.

“I did,” I spoke up, coming behind Tray. “I’m not doing anything without Tray’s okay.”

“Just like—” Trent began, pissed.

But Gentley cut him off. “If we get all that, will you go in?” He was looking at me, gauging my reaction.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” he said simply, nodding, “we’ll get the stuff for you. I’ll have the guys set up tonight to watch ‘em.”

“The fuck we will,” Trent clipped out. “We need to go in now or Grayley may be dead.”

“Grayley’s my friend too, Trent. But I agree with Evans. I’m not going to send anyone in, even if she’s a bitch I could care less about, without knowing exactly what and who she may be running into.”

I frowned. Insult or compliment? Whatever. I moved past Tray. “I want in just as much as you, Trent. And I want Grayley alive, but I’m not going in blind. That would be suicide and you know it. Jace wouldn’t kill Grayley unless he absolutely had to. Because he knows that I’d go after him and I don’t think Jace would want that.”

“What’s go goddamn special about you?” Gentley asked, frowning. “I don’t get it. What can you do that others can’t?”

Trent laughed. “Fuck, Crisp, I’ve seen Taryn get into places that a fucking ghost couldn’t. If Jace doesn’t want her somewhere, Taryn can get in there. That’s why we need her.” But not Tray. No one said it, but everyone knew what he was thinking.

Tray stepped forward. “Get out and get that information. It’s the fastest way to get what you want. I’d suggest you get started right now.”

Gentley looked like he wanted to argue, but he clamped his mouth shut as he yanked Trent behind him, on the way out.

Tray followed, to make sure they actually left, leaving me alone in the basement.

I dropped onto one of the couches, briefly remembering when the room had been occupied with Tray’s friends. Tray’s and Mandy’s. The room seemed different now. Not so light and…easy. Everything was just tense now.

“Hey,” Tray said when he came back, “your friend is upstairs if you want to go and check on him.”

Holy hell—I’d forgotten about Props.

Standing unsteadily, I asked, “Where is he?”

“I stashed him in my dad’s old library. But he’s using all of his own equipment.”

“Okay.” Tray pulled me with him as I followed him in a daze; everything was overwhelming.

The library was huge. It looked half the size of a banquet hall with books lining two complete walls. In one corner was a huge mahogany desk, a fucking Best Buy display behind it. The computer and whatever else (I had no idea) looked all brand new. They probably were. Tray commented once that he doesn’t touch a lot of stuff in the house, not since his parents had left.

And I saw Props was hunched over his laptop, a bunch of little gadgets hooked up to his computer with lights blinking rapidly.

“Heya, Props.” I greeted.

He straightened, startled. “Hey.”

“Forget where you were?” I teased, but I saw he had. That was funny, at least in the sense of everything else going on.

“You owe me, huge!” he exclaimed, wheeling out from his computer. He grabbed up a pile of papers next to him. “I’ve got names, account numbers, passwords, and a pile of illegal jargon that could get me in the slammer. Holy shit—you owe me big time.”

“Well, I’ll get ya a hooker,” I said easily, straddling a chair next to him. “What do you got?”

“Like I said.” I heard the fear in his voice, but it was laced with excitement. The guy was a techno adrenalin junkie. I knew what adrenalin did to a person. He had absolutely no qualms with what he’d just gotten for me. He just liked to voice that he did, it was more socially appropriate. “I’ve got everything.”

As I took the papers, I gasped at what I saw.

Scrambling up, I cried out, “Tray, holy shit!”

Tray moved closer, studying the papers over my shoulders.

“Three Swiss accounts,” I said.

“Those are Galverson’s aliases,” Tray announced as he studied the papers. “Another two in the Cayman’s. Jace has four accounts on here, too. Along with—”He froze, standing absolutely still. Déjà vu crashed into my body, remembering the morning when Jace and Galverson had arrived to the house. The Tray I saw that morning was the same I was looking at now. I shivered.

“Along with what?” I asked, holding my breath.

“My dad. And a guy named Carl Broozer.”

“Who’s Carl Broozer?”

“A kingpin on the West coast.” Tray said flatly, his eyes were dead. “Galverson’s declared Pedlam as the highway intersection for drug-runs. It makes sense now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Galverson wants my contacts. But he’s not worried because he knows I won’t say anything—he’s got my dad. But this deal must’ve been set up for at least a few years now. Jace is sitting smack dab on every black-market shipment that’s running across the nation. If Galverson’s in bed with Broozer and he has contacts in South America—”

I couldn’t comprehend whatever Tray was saying. I just knew it was enough to make him go pale at whatever conclusion he came to.

He fixed Props with a piercing stare, causing the kid to yelp before scurrying backwards on his chair. “You got all of this?”

“Yeah.” He gulped, the terror was evident in his voice. “Taryn said to follow everything back so I did.”

“And you didn’t leave any prints? None?”

“No. Hell no. I used a system that I just programmed this fall. It’s a ghost tracker. They won’t have any idea that I’ve been in there.”

“How do you know?” Tray grilled him.

“Because,” he looked like he was reminding himself to breathe, “because I hacked into some FBI databases in September. If they knew I was there, my fail-alarms would’ve gone off and I’d already be in prison. Trust me, those guys have no idea I was in those accounts.”

“Do you know what you did here? It’s very important that you know exactly how dangerous this stuff is.”

“I know,” Props said quietly. “I know, dude. I know that if I talk, I’m dead. I know that.”

“And you did it anyway? Why?” Tray asked him, but I answered for him.

“Because he needed permission to do it. He needed a reason to test himself.”

I saw that I was right when Props looked relieved.

“He wouldn’t have known what he could do if I hadn’t asked him,” I finished. “Tray, what does this mean?”

“This means that we have enough,” he said gravely.

“Enough for what?” But I didn’t want to know, not anymore.

“Enough for us to start setting up our plan.”

I looked at Props and asked, “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything. Really. I’m good with the date I got and knowing that I’m alive right now.”

“Thanks for de-coding this stuff.”

“Hey.” Tray stopped him, just as he was starting to put all his equipment away.

Props turned and waited. The guy looked like he was about to pee in his pants.

“One word of this and it means you, me, and Taryn could all get killed. You got that?”

The guy couldn’t talk. I watched his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

“He knows,” I said quietly for him.

“If I ask, if I give you the go-ahead, do you think you could dump all of this info to the DEA?” Tray asked, staring at him intently; trying to read Prop’s reaction.

He was talking about his brother.

“Tray,” I murmured, “what are you thinking?”

“I’m just thinking of some options, Taryn. That’s all. For now anyway,” he answered. Looking back to Props, he pressed, “Would you be able to do that, Props?”

“Any account?”

“No. A specific person’s, like if Taryn or I were to go missing.”

“Yeah.” He was shaking, but he sounded confident. “I could do it.”

“Okay. Until then, you stay with your little group of friends. You say nothing. Nothing, you hear me?” We all heard the threat behind Tray’s voice.

“Not a word. Nothing. Promise.” Props looked like he was about to faint.

“He’s got it, Tray. Props, you want some help clearing this stuff up?”

He moved fast, faster than I expected because in a matter of seconds everything was shut down, unplugged, and encased in a bag.

Whoa.

“Guess not,” I murmured, half joking.

“We good? I mean, until…you know, until the account stuff?” Props was standing, his bag over his shoulder, asking for permission to leave.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

And he was off. Seconds later we heard the door slam shut behind him, leaving Tray and I alone.

Tray swore, but moved to his dad’s computer. He was scanning all the papers. Moving to sit beside him, I asked, “What are you thinking?”

“We’ve got accounts. We’ve got locations of warehouses in here. Schedules. Names of their employers. That kid should be working for the FBI,” Tray cursed. He looked scary.

“Hey,” I said softly, moving to sit on his lap. I captured his chin in my hand. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I need to make sure my place isn’t bugged.”

Oh God.

“You think Galverson would do that?”

“No, I don’t. He really does think I’m just some kid who’s only interested in saying ‘fuck you’ to anyone who messes with me. But Jace knows better. Galverson’s gotten lazier in his old age and he’s been listening to my dad. He really believes that I’ll consider working for him. He wouldn’t have offered me a job if he wasn’t pretty damn sure I would take it.”

“This is a bit overwhelming.”

“What do you want, Taryn?” Tray searched my face.

“I want…I want to know what Jace did to me and what he did to Brian and where Grayley is.” It was a lot, but I wanted to know. “And I want him to pay for hurting Brian.”

“And what if he didn’t do anything?”

Silence fell between us as we gazed at each other.

“I don’t think his accident was an accident,” I answered lightly.

“How do you want him to pay? Do you want Galverson to go down with him?”

“Knowing all this stuff, I don’t think I can not do something with it.”

“And if it means that they’ll come after us?”

“Then we have to take them all down.”

“Okay.” Tray kissed me, breathing against my lips. He raked a hand through my hair, holding me firmly in place as he deepened the kiss. “Okay.”

I wrapped my arms around him and sank further against him.

“This is what I do.” Tray pulled back, breathing deeply. “I look at the entire picture and I figure out our avenues at every possible juncture.”

In that moment I remembered Galverson’s words. He’d called Tray a genius and in that moment, I knew it was true. Tray was. But he was also a kid whose parents had been taken away from him. And now, I saw that he wanted this too.

“What do you want?” I asked him, my thumb making a lazy circle against his cheek.

“I want, Tray blinked, “I want it over.”

“Okay.” I kissed him.

“I don’t want Gentley and that Trent guy in on this,” Tray said firmly. “When they bring their information to us, we take it and you promise that we’ll move quickly. But they cannot be there. I don’t want them a part of this.”

“You don’t trust them?”

“No. I just work better alone. Always have.”

“You’re not working alone this time.”

“You and me. That’s it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“It’s going to be hard to go to school tomorrow.”

“We can’t do anything out of the ordinary.” Tray shifted, pulling me to lay back against his chest. With my back to his chest, he slid his hands down my thighs, moving to the inside of my legs and coming back up, trailing to the opening at my jeans. Flicking my button open, I gasped as his fingers slid inside.

“Tray,” I breathed.

As his fingers went to work, he murmured huskily, “We’ll go to school tomorrow. You go to your swim practice and then tomorrow night, maybe we’ll have enough info to go into the warehouse.”

“And search for Grayley.” It was hard to think and speak with what he was doing to me.

“And search for Grayley,” he whispered, turning my face around to meet my lips with his as his fingers swept in and out.

Crying out, I let go, all reasoning swept out of my head as his fingers kept thrusting in and out of me.

Whimpering, feeling the crest, I gasped as I spilled over. Tray grinned against my neck where he was nuzzling, feeling my body jerk in response.

A moment later, I murmured tiredly, “I hate that you can do that sometimes.”

“I love how I can do that to you,” he murmured back, kissing me lightly on the lips. I sighed as I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck. I just sat there as I laid my head against his shoulder, my body completely relaxed as I straddled him.

I might’ve drifted off for a second because I heard the sound of the keyboard as I came back awake.

I was in the same place, draped all over Tray, sleeping, as he worked around me.

“What are you doing?” I murmured, sleepily. The sex, the swimming, and the adrenalin had taken its toll.

“I’m finishing some of this stuff. Hiding it in some of my own accounts and making copies.”

“What are you doing with the copies?”

“I’m going to mail them off to some solid sources. Anything happens to me, the information will go public. No matter what. It’s the same system I set up before. And I’m connecting some more of the dots.”

“I thought you had all the dots connected.” I should really lift my head and look at what he was doing, but his shoulder was a lot more comfortable.

“Most of them, but there are a few I don’t have connected yet. That pisses me off because it could be a surprise. A surprise that could get us dead.”

I yawned. I really shouldn’t have, considering he was talking about my life, but…I felt safe in his arms. In that moment, I knew that Tray would take care of me.

“What do you mean?”

“Like why Jace got you to Rawley or at least out of Pedlam,” he murmured, distracted.

“What do you mean?”

“Jace wanted you out of Pedlam, but I don’t know if he meant for you to end up in Rawley.”

“Does it really matter?”

“Yeah, it could. Any detail like that matters. It’s all important.”

“You should be a cop or something.” I yawned again, my eyelids were fighting to stay open.

Tray must’ve felt the fight in me, because he ran one hand down my back and soothed, “Get some sleep.”

“Do I have to move?” My eyelids were already closed at his permission.

“No, baby. I’ll put you in bed when I’m done.”

“Okay—” Then I was instantly asleep.