Chapter 13
CRUZ
Had I been given a choice, riding across town with Blackwell’s golden child would not have been something I would have done willingly. He was sitting in the passenger seat, somewhat quiet. I wondered if he was thinking about Ava and Micah.
It had felt nice to be reunited with everyone after all the shit that went down.
There was strength in numbers, and I guess getting a psycho text message felt better when we were together versus when we were alone.
Now, Micah and Ava were off to her sorority house.
I told myself that nothing bad would happen to them there.
That didn’t seem to matter on Halloween.
“Have you tried questioning your brothers?” I finally broke the silence.
Gray turned toward me and raised a brow.
“And ask them what?”
“If they saw something suspicious on Halloween?”
He stayed quiet for a moment, and then he leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed.
“I don’t even know what to ask for. I feel like anything I mention will make me look fucking guilty.”
Instead of turning toward him like I wanted, I held on to the steering wheel a little tighter. I wondered if he knew that his self-loathing dripped out with every word.
“You know it’s not your fault, right?”
My words were low, but not soft, and he seemed to hold his breath, taking them in.
I craned my neck to look at him, but he was already staring at me.
I wanted to curse myself for looking. Ava and Micah were softer—their gazes had more of a docile feel to them, but not with Grayson.
He was the type of person to disarm you with one look.
He was the type of person who could lay your sins bare.
“I can’t help but ask myself if there was something I could have done differently.”
Judging by the way his jaw clenched, I could tell the words cost him to say out loud.
Or maybe I was the last person he wanted to tell them to.
I was the one he liked least, and if there was something I knew from experience, it was that it was easier to let someone we didn’t know see all the ugly sides of us because there was no illusion of goodness to shatter.
Maybe he felt like he didn’t have to pretend to have his shit together when he was with me.
“Get that shit out of your head,” I let him know. “We get one hand in life, and we have to play that bitch, but getting stuck in what-ifs and maybes is a fucking waste of time.”
He didn’t say more, nor did he offer a thank-you, which wasn’t what I was expecting. He went back to looking out the window. I took a turn away from the main road and instead took one of the hidden crop lanes.
“I thought we were going to the other side of town?” Gray was quick to question.
“We are, but the roads have eyes. I figured the more coverage we can get, the better.”
“How do you know where you’re going?”
At this, I couldn’t help but grin.
We came up to a turn, and I only held on to the steering wheel with one hand while I used the other to point outside. Between the cornstalks stood a post with a single reflector.
“You have to watch out for the reflectors. A single one means north and south, and a double reflector—”
“East and west,” Grayson finished for me.
“Exactly. If you know how to get around town, then you’ll end up getting out by the school, the tracks, the lake, or by that church. There’s no getting lost in Blackwell.”
“Just killed,” Grayson deadpanned.
It wasn’t funny, but fuck it, it somehow made me chuckle. I could feel Grayson looking at me, and that made me laugh even more. He probably thought I was crazy now. I cast a quick glance his way, and the asshole was smiling.
“We’re fucked up,” I said once I regained my breath.
“At least we aren’t dead,” Grayson added, but somehow it felt like the “yet” was left hanging in the air.
It took five minutes, and I was able to get out of the cornfield and back onto another road. Instead of taking the road that led to the racing ground, I took a smaller one that was rarely used anymore. Not since the town built a faster road.
“When we get there, let me do all the talking, okay?”
“I can handle myself just fine,” Grayson bit out, and I rolled my eyes.
“I know that. Ava, Micah, and your teammates know that, but out here, standing up like you’re hot shit when you’re a stranger will lead to nothing but trouble.
I’d rather they think you’re just another lost little frat boy whom I’m taking advantage of than having someone else trying to handle you, and they won’t be a fucking delight like I am. ”
He didn’t take offence at what I said, though he did scoff at the last part of my speech, but it was lighthearted. Had I told him to let me lead a few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have listened to me at all.
By the time I parked in front of the building, even more battered than the one I lived in, it had already gotten dark.
People were milling outside the building.
I turned off the engine in my car and knew the only reason no one would do shit to it was because of Big Dog.
As much as I hated the guy, running with his crew offered me protection.
People knew if something happened to Big Dog’s crew, they would have to pay. We were Big Dog’s show ponies, and if you took us out, then he would demand payment from those responsible.
“Don’t engage with anyone,” I told him as I opened the car door.
Grayson followed behind me. He didn’t interact with anyone, and he also didn’t cower.
“Pinche Cruz, asta que te acuerdas de los pobres!” Fucking Cruz, until you remember the poor.
“Eh, wey,” I said in greeting to the man who was in the “waiting” area of this room. “Is el Teclas there?”
One thing I quickly learned was that Hispanic nicknames were either going to be literal as fuck or fucking brutal, and that was the case for “teclas”. It literally stood for keyboard.
Someone laughed. “Where else would he be?”
I turned to look back at Gray and nodded for him to follow me into the building.
I already knew the chicks by the entrance wouldn’t be holding their tongues.
“Where are you going, papi? We can show you a damn good time.” I had to bite my tongue so I wouldn’t bust out laughing. I turned back, and Grayson looked at me pleadingly. One of the three had her hand right over the zipper of his jeans.
“This one’s taken,” I let them know as I grabbed his arm and dragged him inside. The building was four floors of depravity.
“There’s an elevator, but it doesn’t work.
We have to take the stairs to the fourth floor.
” The stairs were to the left at the end of the corridor.
College parties got wild, but people still had some common sense.
That was not the case here. I could tell Grayson could see the number of people coming and going from the open apartments.
Calling them apartments was a generous word.
Grayson didn’t say a word when you could hear grunts and moans vibrating through the walls.
Luckily, there was no one mingling on the stairs—at least not yet.
“The first two floors are used for sex, and the third floor is where the machines are. You can obtain any fake from any state, along with other dubious documents.”
“Is that where we’re going?”
I shook my head. “We’re on the last floor. That’s where the hackers and other questionable residents can be found.”
No one lived in this building, at least not willingly. It served a purpose, and anything you could want or need that was illegal could be obtained here.
The lights were practically nonexistent in the stairwells. It kept the anonymity of everyone involved. Coming here wasn’t ideal, but this place was Switzerland. It was one of the only places where Big Dog didn’t have a say, and that was more than enough for me.
Just as I took my first step, Grayson held on to my arm. “You came here on your own?”
There was a bite to his tone, almost as if he was angry, but that wasn’t it, and since the lighting sucked, I couldn’t see his face.
“Yeah…”
“Don’t fucking do that shit again.”
A chill went down my spine at his words. I had to remind myself to keep walking.
Grayson was worried about me?
And maybe, just maybe, I cared what happened to him, too.