Page 54 of Crew Princess
“No Heather?” I asked as Cross started taking some eggs. I reached for a piece of toast.
Channing pulled two onto his plate. He shook his head, reaching for the honey. “Nope. She had friends come into town last night, so she’s in Fallen Crest.”
Cross stiffened. “Speaking of Fallen Crest…”
He filled Channing in on what happened the night before.
“Are you sure?” Channing asked once he was done. His eyebrows were pulled together, low. “They only arrested Roussou kids?”
“That’s what they said. We haven’t gone to school to question anyone, but if Race said it, I believe him.”
Channing swung his gaze my way. “And that girl, her name was Aspen?”
I nodded. “You know her?”
He shook his head, raising his toast to his mouth. “No, but...there’s something about that name… You get a last name?”
“No. She closed up when I offered to have her come home with us.”
“I’ll swing over there, see if I see her tent or not. If she really is homeless, I can’t let her stay out there.”
I couldn’t imagine what she’d think, seeing a tattooed guy coming around. “Maybe take Heather with you?” Though neither gave off warm and fuzzy feelings.
Channing grunted, grinning. “Yeah. Maybe. I can enlist Ava. She looks like a lamb compared to us.” He sighed, sitting back in his chair. “I don’t like it, any of it. Cops never show up at District Weekend events. It’s a respect for tradition. They used to like when the three towns got along, for the most part.”
“I was thinking it was a setup.”
Channing nodded, picking up his coffee. “Seems like, which means a part of this is my business.” He tossed Cross a raised eyebrow. “Hear that? Handling the cops is what I do. That’snothigh school. That’scommunityshit. That’smyplace.”
Cross shook his head, flicking his eyes upward but not completing the full roll. “Whatever.” But he was grinning. “Still old, in my opinion.”
“Old, my ass.” Channing grinned back before he grew serious again. “For real, though. What’s your plan on the crew front? I know you guys are going to do something.”
Cross glanced at me.
I said, “We’ll figure it out.”
We hadn’t talked about it. Everyone was exhausted after taking Jordan to the hospital and having him looked over. The rest of the night had been somber. Seeing him in the emergency room, being poked and prodded and questioned by a nurse who knew us by name was so normal that it shouldn’t have been. But that was this life.
What happened to Jordan, we were mad about it, we were already swearing vengeance, but underneath all those emotions was something that shouldn’t have been there. Acceptance. And that made me buzz a little, but I didn’t know why. And not a good buzz, a bad buzz. The kind of buzz that was a warning.
The easiest thing to do was shut it down, ignore it.
I was in the ignoring phase right now.
Channing lowered his mug slowly, his eyebrows pulling together. “Something else I should know about? Jordan’s assault doesn’t normally get this no-reaction from both of you.”
Cross lifted his head. “Huh?”
I looked over. He was blinking as if he’d been lost in thought as well.
“Jordan. Your crew member. He was attacked last night.”
“Oh.” Cross leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Yeah. We’ll figure out what to do, our next plan of action.”
Channing leaned back. “Okay…”
It was obvious he didn’t believe us, or he was troubled by the way we weren’t reacting. I was too—in a dark part of me, I was.
