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“She’s safe where she is right now, Scott,” Chris reassured me. “You’ll have plenty of time when she wakes up.”
“And who knows.” Matt laid his hand on my shoulder. “Maybe now she’ll be ready to listen.”
“Thanks guys.” I forced a grin. That didn’t seem good enough, but they were right. I would just have to wait. “I think I would still feel better if we prayed for her.”
“No problem.” Chris nodded. “I’ll lead.”
I was actually grateful for the offer. While I wanted to pray for Trinity myself, I was overwhelmed by everything going on and wasn’t sure I wanted to pray out loud. I bowed my head as Chris began.
“Heavenly Father, we come to you today to pray for Trinity Shiloah.” Chris’s heartfelt prayer would make me feel better. A little, at least.
“We ask that you heal her body quickly and open her heart to the gospel.” He paused and began again in a grave voice. “Lord, be with Scott. Please help him to give his feelings of guilt and anger to you. Help him to control his desire for revenge.”
Anger rose up inside me at his prayer. I pushed it down and hung my head in embarrassment. I was glad Chris and Matt had their eyes closed and could not see my face. Chris was right. Even as he prayed, I could feel a tug of war inside me over my feelings. I wanted badly to do to Trinity’s attacker whatever he had done to her. Then I had dared to feel angry that Chris had seen my true feelings. As Chris ended his prayer, I silently added one of my own asking forgiveness for my bad attitude.
“Thanks, Chris,” I said sincerely, looking up at him. “I’m going to visit her the first chance I get. I’m just glad she is okay.”
“I have one more question,” Matt spoke up hesitantly. “How will this affect our freedom? Please don’t tell me we are confined to campus again.”
Chris looked us over quietly as he determined his answer. I groaned and slouched in my chair. My side protested with pain, but I ignored it. He had only given us our freedom yesterday. We hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy it. If he changed his mind, who knew when we’d ever get off campus again.
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary. The Academy is a boarding school, not a prison.” Chris rose to go. “But use common sense. Don’t do anything that might place yourselves in the path of danger. If I find that you guys are out looking for trouble, you’ll be grounded until you graduate from college.”
Matt and I nodded our agreement readily, too excited about our freedom to take his threat too seriously.
He left with a doubtful expression on his face, and closed the door to Superintendent Hinkly’s office behind him.
“We’d better get back to class.” I stood to go. I had every intention to trust Chris on this one. I was glad for my freedom, and didn’t want to lose it anytime soon.
By Wednesday, I was more than ready for church. Not only was I getting sick of being confined to campus, but after everything that had happened, I especially looked forward to the opportunity to get close to God again. Guilt and an increasing desire for revenge took turns battling for my thoughts. Perhaps a chance to worship and set my mind on Christ again would give me the reset I needed.
“That’s going to take some getting used to.” Matt thumbed behind us as we passed a black SATURN sedan in the Academy parking lot. A pair of agents tracked our movements as we climbed into the car.
I met the eye of one of them and gave a casual salute. “I don’t know whether to be relived they’re there, or nervous because they’re a constant reminder of how serious this has all gotten.”
Not that it hadn’t been serious already. The memory of my dad’s crumpled plane in woods reminded me vividly that the Snake had been deadly serious from the beginning.
The now-familiar rise of vengeance flooded my thoughts. I gripped the steering wheel until my hands hurt and scowled unseeing out into the parking lot. Lord, give him exactly what he deserves. If I couldn’t take vengeance for myself, I could at least ask God to give it to the Snake for me, right?
“Scott?”
“I’m good.” I shook off the dark thoughts and flexed my cramping hands. “Let’s get going before we’re late.”
“Umm hmm.” Matt’s raised eyebrow and pursed lips told me he wasn’t buying it. Fortunately for me he didn’t push it any further.
I twisted my key in the ignition and threw my old car into gear. It may be battered on the outside, but at least it was reliable. With a wave to the agents on guard, I showed my pass to the student on duty, pulled out through the front gate, and turned out onto the road in front of the Academy.
And slammed hard on the brake as someone dashed in front of my car.
The force of stopping threw me forward against my seat belt with a grunt and sent a spike of pain into my injured ribs. I hugged my arm to my side and looked up to see Winston rounding the hood of my car toward me.
“I’m gonna kill him,” Matt muttered beside me as he clicked his seat belt free.
“Matt?” I mimicked his tone of warning from only a moment before.
“I’m good. Just as good as you, right?” Matt barked a tight laugh and crossed his arms over his chest. “Right. Fine, you deal with him.”
“What do you want?” I asked as I rolled my window down just enough to speak to Winston.
“Where ever you’re going, I’m coming along.” He beat on my window with his fist as he headed to the door behind me.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the agents getting out of their car with their hands reaching into their coats. I nodded to Matt to deal with them while I managed Winston. He might be loud, but he wasn’t a threat to me or Matt.
“Go for it.” I smirked back at Winston. “We’re not going to turn down anyone who wants to go to church.”
Matt glared at me as he gave the agents the “okay” sign out his window. To be honest, with the mood I was in, I really kind of hoped Winston would change his mind. As much as Winston probably needed to be in church, I wasn’t sure if I - or Matt, especially - could deal with him right now.
“You’re bluffing.” Winston froze with his hand on the door handle and narrowed his eyes. He gestured to the agents watching him warily. “Don’t you think I know who they are? I want in.”
“Then get in.” I looked at my watch pointedly. “But hurry up, I hate walking into the service late.”
“Knock it off, McCully.” Winston’s mouth twisted into a triumphant smile. “I know you’re up to something. You have to be. There’s no way you’d just let those goons attack your girl without...Ooof.”
I opened my door hard into him, knocking him back as I climbed out. Another driver passed us, honking and shaking their fist angrily. We were lucky JJMA wasn’t on a main highway, or we’d both be in trouble.
“You knock it off, Winston.” I towered over him by nearly six inches. The agents advanced again, their hands free this time, probably planning to break up a brawl. I waved them off. I only intended to intimidate Winston, not fight him. “You’ve been at this school long enough to know I don’t make a habit of lying, and that I do make a habit of going to church on Wednesdays. So you can believe me or not, but if you get in that car the only place you’ll be heading to is church.”
Winston hesitated, his eyes darting from me to the agents standing ready to intervene if things got rough. “Then why are there secret agents following you?” His voice rose to a whine, as if it wasn’t fair he didn’t have his own personal secret agents following him around, too.
I lifted my shirt to show him my mangled side. Half a week of healing doesn’t really do much for your appearance.
His eyes widened and he took a step back.
“Will you just shut up now?” I snapped through clenched teeth as I tucked my shirt back in. “They’re not here because we’re spying, they’re here to keep all of us from getting killed. This isn’t a stupid game.”
“I...” Winston looked back at the agents climbing into their car. “I don’t think I want to go with you after all.”
“Your choice,” Matt said as he got out and crossed his arms on the roof of my car. “Though, personally, I think church might do you some good.”
Winston gave Matt a withering look and opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by click as the doors locked and a soft hiss as smoke began to rise from the beneath the seats of my car.
“What in the world?” I stepped back away from my car as the smoke thickened and rose though the open doors. If we hadn’t been out dealing with Winston, we’d have been trapped inside the smoke-filled car.
The agents. I turned sharply to see smoke curl out of the cracks around the doors of the SATURN sedan. A hand pressed through the smoke against the windshield, then slid away.