Chapter 16 - Spencer
After leaving them back in the kitchen, I wandered around for a few minutes before heading out back and all but chain-smoking through my pack of cigarettes.
I should have grabbed more than one beer. Hell, at this rate, I should have brought more than one pack of smokes, too.
I stand with my back against the brick wall that runs along the side of the property nearest the fireplace.
There are no neighbors around, but for some reason, Jake’s parents decided this part of the yard needed to be more private than the rest. I can’t complain, though, since it gives me a place to stand and observe close to the fire without exposing my back to anyone.
More than once, a drunk girl and her friends have gotten the balls to try and approach me. Usually, a well-placed glare is enough to make them change their mind even before they reach me.
At some point, Amanda decides to try her luck, but I tell her to fuck off, and while she looks ready to argue with me, she huffs and stomps away instead.
I don’t know how long I’ve been standing out here, but with only three smokes left, I know we need to wrap this up.
I can hardly stand this party as it is, but if I have to do it without nicotine, heads are sure to roll.
I walk back to the kitchen, only to find they aren’t there anymore.
I didn’t really think they would be, but it seemed like as good of a place as any to start looking.
I check around the crowd of people dancing, but don't spot Zander, and I don’t even try to look for Jade.
There’s no way I would see her with so many people crowded around; she’s just too small.
I’ll have to check upstairs. There’s another area jammed full of sweaty dancing bodies, but I hear Zan call out for me before I get far.
He emerges from the crowd looking pissed off and heads right to the fridge, grabbing himself a beer and tossing one to me without me having to ask.
“What crawled up your ass? I thought you were excited to get your new obsession out and show her a good time so you could get her to fuck you?” I say before slamming back half of my beer.
“Don’t fucking start with me, Spence. I’m not in the mood.” He's all but seething as he turns to me, and I see the anger in his eyes.
It takes a lot to piss Zander off. He’s quick to fight and always down to fuck shit up, but that’s because he enjoys it. Zander gets off on chaos, but judging by the look on his face, he’s ready to fuck people up because he needs to make someone bleed, not just for the fun of it.
“You don’t have to like Jade, but you will not talk about her like that when you don’t know a damn thing about her,” he says before throwing back the rest of his beer.
I hold my hands up, one still wrapped around my beer, in a show of surrender.
He huffs before he goes back to the fridge and grabs another beer, chugging that one as well.
Slamming the bottle down, he runs a hand through his hair roughly a few times in an attempt to calm himself.
Whatever is wrong has him on edge, and for someone as laid back as him, that means it’s probably a problem for all of us.
I look back at the crowd and then around the room as I realize what’s missing here.
“Where’s Jade?” I ask him. I don’t want her around, but at the end of the day, it’s our job to keep her safe. Her not being with him seems like a good enough reason to have him on edge.
I assume Rick is talking to Jake, seeing as that’s the reason we needed to be here tonight before the new term started, and I’d bet my ass that he didn’t take her with him for that.
No matter how badass she might be and how much Kratos says she’s not a threat, I know he wouldn’t want her in that deep.
Not that I think he would even trust her enough in the first place.
That would mean she should be with Zander. Rick made it very clear that we were not to leave her alone. I didn’t want to be around her because I don’t trust her, but either way, she’s meant to be with one of us, and right now, she clearly isn’t. Not to mention, the threat to her is still unknown.
He throws his thumb over his shoulder in the direction he came from a moment ago.
“With Trent,” he spits.
Ah, there it is. His whole pissy mood makes a hell of a lot more sense now.
What doesn’t make sense is my increasing annoyance with that information.
Why should I care?
I don’t.
I’m annoyed because her being around Trent means we’ll have to deal with him.
Shit, I don’t even believe my damn self.
“If she’s with Trent, why are you here and not with her?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible. I might not like that she’s with him, but I’ll be damned if I let anyone else know that.
“I’ve been with her for the past hour while Trent's pulled her all over the place to introduce her to, like, every fucking person here.” He pulls himself up on the counter before he looks at me, and I see his jaw tick in irritation.
“If Jade wanted to meet everyone, it would be different, but Jake told Trent to introduce her to everyone in hopes that she’ll want to go to college with us.
I don’t like Trent, but I can’t fucking stand Jake, and I don’t like that he’s showing interest in her.
” His shoulders slump, and I see the anger all but leave him.
He’s not angry, not really. He’s worried, and I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a valid reason.
Trent was an annoyance at best, but Jake could easily be a problem. He could be dealt with if needed, but given that we use him, it would have been smarter to keep him away from Jade completely.
“We need to keep her away from Jake,” I say, and while Zan nods, we both know it’s a little too late now. The best we can do is damage control.
“How long has Rick been gone?”
“Probably close to two hours now,” he says, looking over at the clock hanging on the wall by the fridge and nodding when he confirms that was an accurate guess.
“Well, he shouldn’t be much longer. Let's find Jade so we can get the fuck out of here when they’re done, with any luck, before he can sink his claws into her,” I tell him as I head toward the crowd. I hear him jump down from the counter to follow after me.
We headed back upstairs to where Zan had left them before going to get a drink, but they weren't there. Zan grabs one of the girls he said he saw them with last. The moment he touches her arm, her face lights up, but when he asks about Trent and Jade, she says they left a while ago, and she hasn’t seen them since.
We search around some more before I start to get the sinking feeling something’s off. Making our way down the hall, we search in some of the other random rooms, like the billiards room and the one where they play poker, but nobody has seen them, and if they have, it was some time ago.
After we’ve checked just about everywhere, I suggest we head back down and check around downstairs. Zander nods, his face set in a serious expression that isn’t very common for someone whose usual moods consist of joking and killing. Both usually have a smile on their faces.
We’ve gone through the crowd down here twice before we head back through the kitchen to the halls leading to the bedrooms and more private house areas.
Nowhere in the house is off limits except the basement, but these rooms are usually reserved for Jake, business, and their close friends.
Most of the time, they use them for deals either with drugs or the kind that result in fucking.
I look over at Zan as we hit the kitchen; his worry is unmistakable.
Fuck, I hope she’s not in one of these rooms, for Zan’s sake. Even more than that, I hope that if she is, she's at least there by choice.
Before we reach the hallway, Jake and a few of his guys come around the corner and into the kitchen, followed closely by Rick.
Fuck.
I highly doubted that Jade would be with him, but some part of me hoped that she'd gotten turned around and ended up with him when she was separated from Zan. His showing up in the kitchen without her just put a fucking halt to that idea.
Rick looks at me before he notices Zan, and I see the moment he registers his panic. His eyes dart back to me, and I nod at him, knowing what he will ask before he opens his mouth. His jaw clenches, and he balls his fists, but other than that, he doesn’t let anyone see his anger.
“Boys, where did your beautiful friend go? I’ve been looking forward to spending time with her all night,” Jake says as he looks from me to Zan, expecting one of us to answer him. Usually, Zan is quick to speak up, especially to Jake, but not right now.
Jokes on him because we couldn’t, even if we wanted to. Not that I would tell him anyway, but still.
Rick huffs, and I know we'll get a fucking ear full for this later. I just want to find her so we can fucking leave. This night has been shit since we got in the fucking car.
As if the universe can hear my thoughts, the front door opens. The people who have been a roar of sound all night go silent, and while the music still plays in the background, their lack of sound is noticeable immediately.
There aren’t many people that everyone reacts to like that, even less who should be here at this party besides the three of us, and I have a feeling I know who it is even before I turn to face the door.
“Fuck,” Zan breathes, his voice so low I hardly make out what he said, even with him standing right next to me.
Fuck is right.
Kratos stands inside the door as the room silently gawks at him.
We might be scary to everyone here because we run this part of the city, but everyone who’s anyone knows that Kratos holds almost all the damn chips for the entire city.
The only person with more power than Kratos is Froggie himself, and seeing as nobody gets to deal with Froggie but Kratos, that just gives him an even more sinister reputation.