Page 18 of Knight Moves

“Hello,” she said to him. “Who are you?”

The guy rose from his chair. He was thin, with stringy, dark hair. His black jeans were too big for him, even with a belt. A baggy black T-shirt with a skull on it hung nearly to his knees. He had a nose ring and a half dozen silver studs in the lobe of his left ear.

He held up his hand, palm out, as if warning Frankie to stay where she stood. A black-stoned ring on his thumb glinted in the light. “Hello, and welcome to the KIT compound,” he said. “I’m sure you’re going to enjoy your stay here no matter how badly we screw with your head. Good luck and may the odds be in your favor.”

“Hey, that sounded exactly like Mr. Donovan,” I said. Holy crap, he was good. If I hadn’t seen him doing it with my own eyes, I would have believed Mr. Donovan was standing right behind him.

“Wow.” Frankie clapped, clearly impressed. “That imitation was so good. Can you do other voices?”

He grinned and in a girl’s voice said, “I’m really excited to meet you, Kira. We’re going to be roommates. It will be so much fun.”

Unbelievable. He sounded exactly like Frankie, right down to the inflections in her voice. “That’s wicked skill, dude,” I said.

He gave me a grin and a thumbs-up. “Now, this is my real voice. I’m Mike Garcia from the Jersey shore. Seventeen. I’m not hungry and I’m not into chatting, so I’m going to ditch the party. Later.” He stood and left the cafeteria without another word.

I watched him go, his black boots clomping on the floor. The fact that he wasn’t the talkative type kind of gave him points in my plus column.

The last guy present, who was eating with his back to us, hadn’t turned around the entire time we’d been in the cafeteria. I think Frankie had been put off a bit by Mike, so when she didn’t try to engage him, I spoke up. “Excuse me. You in the corner, would you like to introduce yourself to the rest of us?”

The guy turned slowly in his seat. My breath caught as I got my first glimpse of his face. Jet-black hair, a square jaw, high, sculpted cheekbones, and the greenest eyes I’d ever seen. I froze, unable to look away. Finally, his mouth curved into a smile.

“You going to stare at me all day, Red?”

My cheeks flushed. Could I act any more like a dork? I’d finally been assertive, something I never did, and then choked when he actually responded. I cleared my throat, trying to regain control. “I’m not staring…exactly.”

“If you say so.” He dipped his head. “Before you ask, I’m Jax Drummond from Queens, New York. I’m seventeen.” His voice held just the faintest touch of a lilt, Scottish maybe. “Now that the obligatory introductions are complete, I hope I can be left alone to finish my lunch in peace.” He abruptly turned his back on us.

Another friendly soul…not. This was going to be a strange group dynamic. I’d been hoping spy school would be more like Hogwarts and less Hunger Games, but it certainly wasn’t feeling that way to me so far.

Frankie shrugged it off and waved me over to the counter where we could order our food. A young woman wearing a hairnet and plastic gloves sat on a tall stool. She was looking at her phone but put it away when we arrived.

“Hey, girls. What can I get you to eat?” she asked.

Frankie beamed at her. “Oh, thank you so much for being patient while we took time to meet our fellow nominees. We know we’re late, and we really appreciate you waiting for us.”

“Oh, hey, it’s no problem.” The woman smiled at us. “Today’s menu is behind me. Hamburgers, egg salad sandwiches, and a few different kinds of salads and soups. The sides are listed there.” She pointed to a chalkboard. “I’ve been advised of any and all food allergies and meal preferences, so we have a wide selection of vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free options. Just ask me if you have any questions.”

We quickly made our selections and loaded our drinks and sides on a tray. I would have chosen a table for just Frankie and me, but Frankie was determined to be inclusive. She made a beeline for the table with Kira. I didn’t see a way out of it that didn’t make me seem rude, so I swallowed my annoyance and joined them.

Wally leaned over from his table. “So, girls, what do you think of your room?”

“There isn’t enough drawer space,” Frankie complained. “Regardless, this will be a real adventure.” She actually sounded excited about it, like it was going to be all fun and games and we hadn’t just been through an active-shooter scenario.

Wally must have been thinking the same thing, because he leaned toward me. “Hey, Angel, did you know everyone had the same shooter scenario upon arrival?”

“Really?” I looked across the table at Kira. “You did, too?”

She nodded. “Yes. I was in the limo with Bo. We got picked up together from the airport. Bo tried to take the guy down physically. He got the gun out of his hand, but our attacker ended up subduing him. I ran like a rabbit and hid in the woods. They couldn’t find me, so they finally had to announce it was a drill, and I came out.”

“Wow,” I said. “So you beat the scenario?”

She shrugged. “I guess. Wally already told me what happened to you guys. Sounds like it sucked.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I tried to shrug like it was no big deal. Apparently we’d been totally incompetent. “Anyone know what happened with Mike or Jax?”

Wally took a slug of his Coke. “Mike said he and Jax were together.” He dipped his head at Jax, who had a set of earbuds in and was listening to something while tapping his foot. “Mike said they also ran for the woods, but they stuck together. Mike started a small fire as a distraction, and Jax came at the guy from behind when he came to investigate. Jax and Mike took him down. But only temporarily. They didn’t have any way to restrain him, so eventually the attacker got loose and brought them both in. Still, I think it counts as a win for both of them.”

My shame deepened. Was I the only stupid one who had insisted on going into the buildings?

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