Chapter Twenty-Four
ANGEL SINCLAIR
After we got off the bus, the guys trudged to their room, and we went to ours. Kira even accompanied us for the first time in forever, which was surprising, because every time she dared to look my way, I glared at her.
If looks could kill…
Frankie, as usual, chatted cheerfully as if nothing had happened. Hala, Kira, and I let her talk. For once, I was thankful for her constant stream of chatter so no one else had to say anything. I got to the door and tapped in the code for our room, pressing my thumb to the pad before it clicked open.
Kira went straight to the bathroom, while I sat down on Frankie’s bed and started taking off my shoes.
“Hala, your score was amazing,” Frankie said. “You had the most accurate hits out of all of us. Totally impressive. How did you do it?”
Hala pulled out her desk chair and sat down, shaking her hair out of a ponytail. “My dad took me shooting for the first time when I was eight. He’s with the FBI, so we have guns in the house. He wanted to make sure I understood how to use them and what it meant to be safe around guns. We went to the firing range quite a bit. Shooting with a laser isn’t quite the same, though. The beam spreads out in a cone, so it affects your accuracy. I tried to account for that. I wish I’d found the exit, but Wally got there first and scored the bonus.”
Frankie sat down on her bed next to me. “Wally wouldn’t have gotten out at all—none of us would—if it hadn’t been for Angel.”
“I told you, I just got lucky,” I said, although at the moment, I wasn’t feeling remotely lucky at all.
“I’m sorry, Angel,” Hala said. “Frankie told me what happened. It was really nice what you did.”
“I didn’t do anything nice,” I said testily. “Just so we’re clear, I would have shot Kira if Frankie hadn’t stopped me.”
Hala looked away, and my anger dissolved. Now I was feeling depressed. Two tests, both failed. Things weren’t looking good for me.
Kira came out of the bathroom, her eyes red and face blotchy. She carefully avoided eye contact with me. “Frankie, can I speak with you privately? Please?”
Frankie glanced at me. I narrowed my eyes, but Frankie, being Frankie, stood up. “Sure, Kira. See you guys later.”
Just like that, Frankie went off with Kira—the girl who’d tried to bump her out of the game and had caused me to fail a trial. My anger flared again and then settled into a slow, uncomfortable burn in my stomach.
One thing was clear. Kira wasn’t going to get off that easy with me.
“So, what did Kira want to talk to you about?” I asked Frankie when she returned. Kira hadn’t returned with her and Hala had gone for a walk, so it was just the two of us.
Frankie sat in her desk chair and started braiding her long black hair. “She apologized for trying to shoot me. It wasn’t personal and I understood that. She also thanked me for saving her. She has a lot going on in her life, Angel, which is why she’s not been that friendly. She thinks you don’t like her.”
“I don’t,” I confirmed.
“Don’t say that,” Frankie admonished me. “I told her you were just prickly.”
“I am not prickly.”
“I also told her you would come around.”
“I won’t.” I fumed inwardly until it bubbled over. “How can you just forgive her like that?”
“What’s the point in being angry?”
“Maybe the fact that she’s a backstabbing, self-centered, untrustworthy threat makes it worthwhile.”
Frankie patted me on the arm. “Oh, Angel. You’ll come around.” She sat next to me on her bed. “Now it’s time to talk about us. Why did you take that shot for me?”
“Why do you think, Frankie?” I blew out a breath in exasperation. “You’re my best friend. One of my only friends. I want you to stay.”
“Hmmm.” She finished braiding her hair and secured it with a tie. “You know what I think? I think you need to stop trying to save me and stay focused on you. You’re the best candidate out of all of us for UTOP.”
“What?” Had she completely lost her mind? “No offense, Frankie, but you couldn’t be farther from the truth. I almost killed us in the first test, and I killed myself in the second one. That does not make me a good candidate for an operative.”
She sighed and shook her head like I was completely dense. “If you don’t believe me, I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”
I had no idea how to answer that one. While I appreciated her faith in me, it hurt to realize how misplaced it was.