I didn't want to talk to him; I needed to go after Tray, but I said, “I don’t know where.”
“You said the school?”
“Yes.” I clipped my head in a nod, but I couldn’t look away from the door. I wanted him to come back through it. He needed to come back to me.
“Yoo hoo.” He snapped his fingers, tearing my gaze away. He had sat at the table and gestured to the opposite chair. “Tray needs to think. When he gets hurt, he won’t listen. He closes up and then he’ll weigh everything in his mind. When he’s ready for some answers, he’ll seek you out. It’s pointless. Trust me.” He lifted his lip up in a mocking grin. “I’m just like him.”
He waited until I crossed the room and sat down, then asked, “So Tray said something about the basement?”
My eyes never left that door. “No. I’ve been down there.”
“Then what was renovated?”
“I don’t know—”
“Hey!” He clapped his hands to get my attention this time. A fierce scowl formed on his lips. “Pay attention. I don’t give a shit what lovey-dovey thing you have going on with my brother. Your friend is missing. No matter what mixed-up emotions you have for Jace Lanser, you can’t deny that he’s dangerous. Sal Galverson is dangerous. If your friend is with him, his life is either over or going to be over.”
I checked back in. He was right. Gray came first now. “The building was the same, but there was added security so they must’ve built something underneath the building.”
“All right.” He stood and retrieved a laptop. “Listen to me.”
I was.
“I need you to leave this room.”
I opened my mouth, about to question him, but he held a hand up. I closed my mouth.
He added, “Do not go after Tray. I mean it. Give him space. The sooner he thinks over everything, the sooner he’ll come back for answers. Now, having said that,” he pulled out his phone and gestured to the computer, “I have to call this in. I didn’t come with my team. I thought my brother was exaggerating, but since this is dealing with Jace Lanser and Sal Galverson, I have to run the entire op through my supervisor first.”
I nodded. “That’s fine.” My chest was growing tight again.
He pointed the phone at me, studying me intently. “You need to listen to me when I say this next part.” He paused a beat to make sure I was listening. And then he said, “I have to get permission to get a team down here.”
He needed permission? “What does that mean?”
“There’s no prior investigation. There’s no evidence except your testimony. If I get a team down here, you’re asking us to go in blind. We haven’t compiled any recent information. We know nothing. Now,” he held his hand up, “I have history down here. My supervisor knows this. Based off that alone, I might be able to get a small team to come.”
“How long?”
“Six hours.”
“You took half of that.”
“Tray texted me earlier that something was wrong. I was coming anyway.”
“Oh.” I frowned.
“Just give me some privacy and I’ll work my magic.” He gave me a forced grin. “Okay?”
I jerked my head in a shaky nod and stood. “Okay.” Going to the door, I paused and glanced around. “I’m going to get some food.” Then I slipped out.
“Wait.”
I poked my head back in. “Yeah?”
He stood and pulled out his wallet. Handing me a fifty dollar bill, he said, “Get us all some food.”
“Okay.” I took the money and slipped back out. When the door shut, I didn’t move. I stayed right there and flattened my ear against the door. I didn’t have to wait long. His voice was muffled, but I made out enough.
“What are you doing?”
A guy was standing across from me. He was tall, wearing only a leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off. His jeans were cuffed and ripped and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. A panther was stitched onto the front corner of his jacket and I knew there was a bigger panther with two skulls on either side of it on the back. This guy, with scars running down his face and over his bare chest, was a member of Jace’s gang. This guy had the same jaded look in his eyes that Jace had.
I jerked back. A startled gasp came out, but I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle it. I shook my head. “Nothing.” This was what I wanted. I could say the word and Jace might come to me.
He frowned.
“My dad’s an asshole,” I said instead. “He caught me drinking and he’s calling my mom right now.”