One-Knight Stand (White Knights #3) - Julie Moffett Page 0,33

stick together. Don’t you get it, Angel? We’re not just a team anymore. We’re friends. And that means something in terms of trust.”

“Couldn’t have said it better,” Frankie agreed.

It was a hard concept for me to grasp, but I’d keep trying. “I guess you’re right.”

Wally dropped Frankie and me off at my mom’s apartment complex. After giving Mr. Toodles a quick kiss, I closed the car door and Wally drove off with Mr. Toodles watching us from the rear window with a worried expression, his tiny paws clicking on the window.

“Don’t forget, anything we say will be overheard,” I reminded Frankie as we headed inside. “Stay concerned, but let’s play up the possibility my mom is staying with a friend, so that’s why we haven’t called the police yet. I’ll make a few calls to her friends to make it more believable. Then, make a big deal of taking me out tonight for teen night at the roller rink. You want to cheer me up, celebrate an unexpected week off school, blah, blah, blah. I’ll resist a bit, so you’ll have to talk me into it. Remember to remind me to take a few things in my purse so we can stay at your house tonight if we decide to do that.”

“Understood,” Frankie said. “You know, Angel, this might have been kind of exciting if your mom’s life wasn’t at stake. I guess this is our first real mission.”

“We just have to make sure it’s a successful mission.”

“We will.” Frankie’s normally easygoing expression tightened. “We’re going to get your mom back, and whoever took her is going down. I mean that.”

“Now you’re scaring me.” I tried to say it playfully, but my throat got tight because I could tell my best friend meant every word.

“Good,” she said as we started up the stairs. “Because I’m normally a nice person, but nobody messes with my friends.”

Chapter Seventeen

ANGEL SINCLAIR

I may have a high IQ, but I don’t always have the best ideas.

In my defense, using the roller rink as cover to slip away had been handy because it was within walking distance from my mom’s apartment, it really was teen night—which meant we’d have a lot of cover—and the building had multiple exits. Plus, we’d easily spot any adult that dared to enter the building.

The downside, however, was that a roller rink required skating and a lot of people, two things I usually didn’t do. But Frankie said she’d skated before and she’d show me how. She insisted it was easy and I’d have no trouble. I pretended to agree, having no intention of actually strapping on skates. Seriously, who went to a roller rink these days, anyway?

We headed out on foot for the roller rink around nine. It took us about three minutes to spot our tails, a guy in dark jeans and a dark coat who followed us at a discreet distance on foot, and a sedan that passed three times in a span of ten minutes.

“One on foot and at least one in a car,” I murmured to Frankie. “They’re either terrible at surveillance or think we’re completely clueless.”

Frankie linked arms with me and smiled. “Both, which work in our favor.”

“Is your cell turned off?” I asked.

“For the millionth time, yes. And it will stay off for the duration of this operation.”

“Good.”

We arrived at SkateLand and were surprised there was a line to get into the rink.

“What are all these people doing here?” I complained, pulling my coat tighter around my neck. It was freezing. “I didn’t even know skating was a thing.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Frankie shook her head, clearly disappointed by my lack of social knowledge. “I went to the skating rink every day after I got my Rollerblades when I was eleven years old.”

I looked at her doubtfully. Surely, she was joking. Frankie on Rollerblades? She never ceased to surprise me. “Really?” Then I thought back to her speed driving and wondered if she had certain enthusiasm for putting her body in harm’s way that I’d underestimated.

“Really. Why is that such a surprise? I promise, you’ll like it.”

I wouldn’t, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I didn’t argue. Instead, I looked over my shoulder and then lowered my voice. “You understand I’m not actually going to skate, right?”

She shrugged. “We’ll see.”

I didn’t like how that sounded, but I didn’t want to argue and draw any attention. The minute we’d got in line at the rink, the guy following us had disappeared. I