9

"Is that all?" Carmen panted, lying on the padded mat.

Colton stood over her, hands shoved in his pockets with an arched eyebrow. "You really can't do anymore?"

She shook her head and tried to take deep breaths.

What she hadn't expected was for what Colton's "basic" workouts turned out to be. The stretches weren't her favorite thing, but she could handle those. It was the constant suicides that he made her run, the squats, pushups, leg lifts, and bench curls that had her sore limbs feeling like jello by the end of it. As soon as he said that was her final set, she collapsed onto the mat; happy to feel the cool material against her slick neck.

"I guess that's all for today then, be ready to do the same thing by tomorrow." Colton chuckled.

To her surprise, Colton bent forward with an outstretched hand. She looked back and forth between him and the hand, she hesitated for so long that he was about to pull it back when she finally slipped her slim hand into his. He helped her up with ease, taking most of the weight. Carmen barely noticed as she had been more distracted by the fact that she thought his hand would have felt a bit more rough and callused, instead it was soft and warm. He helped keep her steady, one hand still holding hers and the other lightly gripping her elbow. She looked up to him. "You good to stand?" He asked.

Carmen nodded and let go of his hand. Colton picked up her half full water bottle on the ground and handed it to her, she instantly removed the cap and began gulping it down.

"Don't throw up," he warned and checked the time on his phone. "It's eleven, you should eat since you haven't today."

She recalled how he had scolded her earlier for showing up to training on an empty stomach, he told her to eat the next morning when they had training or else she would have more suicides to run.

Carmen nodded in agreement and Colton motioned for her to follow him out of the room. Together, they walked in silence to the kitchen which was on the same floor as the screening room.

When they entered the kitchen, Carmen needed a moment to register just how big it was. There was a large dining room table on the far left. On the right side of the room was a long black and white counter top against the wall with a couple small windows above the sink and several cupboards above the counter. The silver stove was next to the sink on the left side and the large silver fridge was on the right side. Colton immediately walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"No one made lunch today because we'll be going on a mission in a couple hours," Colton explained without turning to face her.

"We?" Carmen asked as she lingered in the doorway.

"Well, you'll be staying here with my mom," he said over his shoulder. "You're definitely no where near ready for any missions yet."

She didn't respond and he clicked his tongue as he searched the fridge. "They need to restock the damn pantry already." Colton glanced at her. "We still have some stuff left over from dinner if you want that."

"What is it?"

"Crab alfredo."

"Oh, definitely not." Carmen rejected a bit louder than she meant to.

He blinked in response. "Damn, what do you have against crabs?"

Carmen almost chuckled at the response but shook her head instead. "Nothing. I'm deathly allergic to shellfish."

"Oh!" Colton exclaimed. "Shit, my bad." He looked through the fridge once more.

"It's okay." Carmen found herself smiling softly.

"Not gonna lie," he began. "I don't think there's anything in here that's safe for you for right now. I'll go get some stuff tonight if you want to come with?"

Carmen shrugged. "That works."

"There's some fruit in the pantry for you if you want it. It'll be better for your muscles anyway."

Just as Carmen was about to respond a voice from behind her spoke up, causing Carmen to snap her mouth shut and grind her teeth. "Who wants fruit when you can eat Mac and Cheese?"

Ainsley slipped passed Carmen and went over to one of the many cupboards to pull out a glass cup. Her bright pink hair was smoothed back into a ponytail and she wore black leggings and a teal and grey sports bra. Carmen couldn't tell if Ainsley had just rolled out of bed or was getting ready to work out.

Even Colton had sensed the sudden flare of tension in the room and remained silent as Ainsley continued to pour herself some apple juice that she pulled from the fridge. She took a sip from the glass as she turned to lean against the counter, eyeing Carmen over the rim. Carmen had folded her arms over her chest to hide her hands that she'd balled into fists so hard her fingernails dug into her palms.

Ainsley nodded in greeting. "Hey."

Carmen scoffed and glared at her sister. "Fuck you."

Ainsley froze and Carmen stalked over to the pantry to grab a banana before leaving the kitchen without another word. Colton let out a long whistle and Ainsley shrugged. "She's always been dramatic."

She turned to Colton who was giving her a look of disbelief. "She'll get over herself eventually."

"She has five years of anger built up. I wouldn't bet on that just blowing over so smoothly. Soon enough, she'll explode." Colton shook his head.

"No one can stay mad at me for long."

Colton let out a loud laugh. "You sure about that? Clayton is still pissed that you sold one of his favorite guns."

She rolled her eyes in response. "Clayton is a crybaby."

Colton looked at her, amused. Well, he was more looking over her and Ainsley didn't really need to turn around to sense that shadowy presence behind her. Somehow, Clayton had managed to walk into the kitchen undetected and it always managed to drive Ainsley crazy.

"I'm a what?" Clayton said in a deep voice. Ainsley recognized it as the voice he used whenever he attempted to be intimidating. But if there was anyone on the whole planet who couldn't be intimidated easily, especially by Clayton, it was Ainsley.

Colton smirked and Ainsley forced one of her fake, yet realistic, smiles before turning around to face him.

He stared down at her with his usual brooding expression and had his arms crossed.

"Clayton! My best pal," Ainsley exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

Clayton rolled his eyes and ignored his younger brothers laughter. "Ainsley, you should know by now that your deception doesn't work on me."

Her expression shifted from joyful to offended. "Are you questioning my skills, dickhead? I'm a professional!"

"Yeah, a professional pain in my ass," Clayton muttered and walked past her to head for the pantry.

Ainsley clenched her jaw for a moment before forcing a wicked smile. "I'll be back. I'm gonna go sell another one of your guns."

Clayton stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to see Ainsley walking out of the kitchen when he shouted to her, "Ainsley, stay out of the armory!"

**

Carmen had taken at least a 40 minute long bath. The hot water felt amazing against her already sore muscles all over her body. She can definitely say that she wasn't expecting the training to be as extensive as it was. Knowing she would have to do it all over again the next day sent a wave of distress through her.

She walked out of the bathroom, wearing a long sleeve grey shirt and blue jeans that hugged her body tightly. As she began brushing through her wet hair, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Carmen called out.

"Alexa!" the soft voice announced loudly.

"Come in."

The door opened and Alexa peeked her head in, her long blonde hair was half tied up, leaving her beach curls to fall around her shoulders. She smiled at Carmen. "Is this a bad time?"

Carmen shook her head. "No, not at all. Come in."

Alexa did so and shut the door behind her. She took a few steps closer to Carmen and stopped at the front of the large bed. "I just wanted to see how you were doing and say that we never really got a proper introduction."

"I'm doing okay." Carmen nodded. "You don't really have to worry about a whole proper introduction, it's okay. I don't really see a point."

Alexa attempted to mask the discomfort in her blue eyes with a polite smile. Carmen cleared her throat. Alexa was trying her best to be nice, Carmen knew this, she seemed kinder than anyone she had talked to here so far. "I was actually hoping that we could talk?"

After a moment of contemplation, Carmen nodded and took a seat on the bed and motioned for Alexa to do the same.

When Alexa sat down she turned her body to fully face Carmen.

"We haven't had anyone new in a long time," Alexa started. "The last new person we had was Ainsley. So, I just want to make sure that you have everything you need and if you need anything at all to let me know. Our rooms are right next to each other so I'm close by if you need anything."

It was the kindness. Carmen had taken in so much hostility, animosity, and distrust within the past 24 hours that the mere kindness in Alexa's voice made Carmen smile, gratefully.

"Thank you, Alexa. That actually means a lot."

She nodded in response and Carmen chewed on the inside of her cheek as she contemplated asking the question that came to her mind. Colton hadn't given her a full answer, but she wasn't sure whether or not she should put any trust in Colton yet. Alexa might give her the explanation she need. "I actually have a question, I was hoping you could give me an answer?"

"Shoot."

"Do you know why Ainsley came here?"

Alexa's pressed her lips into a hard line. "I only know a small bit of the story, but I think that's something that you should talk to Ainsley about. I'm sure that she'd tell you if you asked."

Carmen scoffed. "I don't see Ainsley and I having many opportunities for story times."

"You'd be surprised." She shrugged. "Ainsley was happy that you were coming here."

Ainsley being happy to see her? Carmen highly doubted it. However, Alexa was trying to be nice and Carmen had no idea how long she would be stuck here for. So there was no point in not returning the kindness and treating her with the mutual respect that she was being given. There was no reason for Carmen to correct her.

Another knock came at the door and Alexa turned to glance in the direction of the noise.

"Come in!" Carmen announced.

The large door opened and one of the Mendoza twins stepped inside. The thick glasses were the only indicator to Carmen that the girl standing before them was Sophie.

Sophie smiled and lifted a hand in a slight wave to Carmen before looking to Alexa.

"We need to get ready to go."

Carmen detected the slightest accent rolling off of Sophie's tongue.

Alexa nodded and rose from the bed, then looked to Carmen. "We've got a mission we need to get to. But, I'd be more than happy to keep talking later. Like I said, our rooms are right next to each other and I'm here if you need anything."

"Thanks, Alexa." Carmen smiled.

She received a friendly smile in return. Alexa turned to Sophie whose hand was outstretched to her. Alexa took it and laced their fingers together as they left the room and shut the door behind them.

After Alexa left the room, Carmen dedicated the next couple hours of her time to inspecting the contents inside of her closet and trying on some of the clothes. Colton wasn't kidding when he said that they'd guessed on her sizes, a lot of the clothing that she put on was mostly too tight and wildly uncomfortable. She's set aside most of the clothes that didn't fit and was mostly left with tank tops, leggings, a few pairs of jeans and some casual tops. Only one jacket fit Carmen enough, besides the one she was currently wearing, to the point where she decided to keep it. The rest of the too small clothes were folded up and stacked on her bed. She frowned at the sight, the clothes were indeed her style so she was slightly sad to see it have to go. While she stared at the piles on her bed, her stomach loudly grumbled and her hand flew to her abdomen in response.

It was now nearly 3:30 in that afternoon and Carmen had only eaten a banana in the past 24 hours. Her mind wandered to the last time she ate and a memory of her eating leftover lasagna in her apartment before heading to her mothers house the day before came to mind. She took a deep breath as she remembered this. They had confiscated her phone upon arrival and she could only imagine the amount of phone calls and texts that her mother had been sending out of panic from no reply. There was no way they would dream of giving it back to her and she found herself trying to figure out what she would even say to her mother: Hey, mom! Sorry I haven't been answering your calls. I got recruited into a secret spy organization, oh, and I found your missing daughter. Maybe we can talk about this over some coffee? You'll have to ignore the CIA agent who will be following me around though.

With a shake of her head at this thought, she walked out of the room and headed to the elevator so she could make her way to the kitchen. It was eerily quiet in the hallways. She felt so uncomfortable walking around this building and instantly found herself beginning to grow anxious. It wasn't home. Not even close. Home to her was working on tech in her apartment, spending time with her mom and watching movies with her in Carmen's childhood home. Not this.

Yesterday, Carmen sobbed aggressively just trying to fold Ainsley's old laundry and put it into boxes. But, Ainsley was here the whole time. She was making a life for herself, one that had nothing to do with Carmen. This reminder alone was enough to rid the anxiety from her body and replace it once again with fuming anger as she entered the kitchen.

Kendra was standing at the stove, stirring something in a small sauce pan. She looked over her shoulder at Carmen and smiled softly.

"Hello."

Carmen folded her hands behind her and nodded. "Hi."

"Are you hungry? I'm making grilled cheese and tomato soup. If I don't make it while the kids are gone, I'll never get to it when they're home. You'd think that people who are trained to be so patient would have some manners when it comes to not eating the food that other people claim." Kendra shook her head and looked back to the sauce pan of soup.

Carmen was about to deny her offer when her stomach grumbled loudly once again, causing Kendra to look at her once more before she motioned to the table. "Sit. You need to eat something."

She didn't object to Kendra's demand and sat down at the table. A few minutes of silence passed while Kendra cooked. Eventually, she turned to Carmen with two bowls and two plates perfectly balanced in her arms.

She placed one bowl full of tomato soup before Carmen as well as a plate with a cooked grilled cheese sandwich. She sat on the opposite side of the table from Carmen and handed Carmen a spoon and a napkin.

"Thank you," Carmen said softly.

Kendra nodded with a kind smile and scooped a spoonful of the sauce into her mouth. Carmen did the same and instantly became aware of just how hungry she actually was.

Kendra spoke up to break the silence. "How was training with Colton?"

Carmen lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "It was okay. He's very... intense."

Kendra chuckled in response. "He definitely is. I like to think that he gets that drive from me, but truthfully, I think he got it from his dad."

It then dawned on Carmen that there hadn't been any appearance of the McGuire boys father, only their mother. She didn't feel like it was a good idea to ask where he was, it wasn't her business.

"Is he usually the one who trains the new comers?"

Kendra nodded and dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "He's trained almost everyone here in combat except for Luke and Alexa. Clayton was trained by others, of course, since he's older than Colton."

"Why didn't he train Luke and Alexa?"

"They had some training prior to coming here, but that's probably another story for another day."

Carmen exhaled deeply. "That seems to be what everyone says lately."

Kendra's green eyes lifted to Carmen at this response and took in the expression on her face. She set her spoon down before folding her hands in front of her. "You want to know why Ainsley is here."

Carmen looked up from her soup to meet Kendra's eyes and slowly nodded.

"I wish I could give you the answers you want, Carmen," Kendra said. "But these stories that everyone comes here with, they aren't mine to tell. Whatever is going on between you and Ainsley is none of my business as long as it doesn't become a problem for the others. Ainsley is your sister, yes, but she's entitled to her own story and she doesn't tell it to many people so it wouldn't be fair for me to take that opportunity from her to share it with you."

"She was fine one day and the next she left." Carmen swallowed hard. "Whatever reason she had for leaving couldn't have been drastic enough that it changed in a matter of a few hours."

Kendra shook her head and closed her eyes. "Don't forget that Ainsley's skills also lie in deception. That kind of skill isn't one that you just have after training here, you have to be very good at hiding your emotions for a very long time. I assume that Ainsley had been keeping her feelings to herself long before she left all those years ago."

Carmen scoffed. "We weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other."

Kendra opened her eyes and they softened. "At the end of the day, remember that your sister is a hero."

She nodded in response. "And I'm the criminal."

"We've all done things that we aren't proud of. You have your own story for how you got here, it's just as valid as anyone else's. You're not the first person to come here after committing crimes, and you're not going to be the first person to redeem themselves."

"You think that I will?"

She shrugged in response. "Do you think that you can?"

Carmen didn't know how to answer. She didn't know how she could redeem herself, or where to even begin. She found herself wanting to change the topic to something more important. "My mom," Carmen started. "She has really severe panic disorder. I can't just fall off the face of the planet without telling her."

Kendra nodded. "We used your phone to send a message to her saying that your friend from work was taking you on a trip for a couple weeks and you probably wouldn't have signal to talk to her. We can figure out what else to do in the next couple weeks to keep her from worrying."

Carmen blinked. She wasn't sure what response she expected from Kendra when she'd voiced her concerns about her mother, maybe tough luck, Carmen. Instead, Kendra had thought ahead and been understanding. "Thank you."

"I'm a mom too, I would be worried about my kids if they fell off the grid for a while without speaking to me and I don't wish that kind of fear on anyone."

It was at that moment that both of them heard a loud slam of a door followed by yelling.

"Looks like they're done with the mission." Kendra chuckled.

That smile faded as soon as they heard a voice, that they'd recognized as Ainsley's, start shouting, "You need to get off your fucking power trip, Clayton!"

That was when Clayton and Alexa walked into the kitchen with a red faced, angry Ainsley following behind them. Clayton looked annoyed and Alexa looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole to escape Ainsley. They were all wearing different types of clothing but the clothing was all black. Ainsley had a tank top with tight pants on, there were several knives and a single gun holstered on her hips. Alexa had two guns, and Clayton only had one. Clayton wore a tight shirt that hugged his bicep muscles that Carmen hadn't seen before or realized exactly how large they were. Alexa had a tank top on with thinner straps than Ainsley had and the same pair of pants that she had.

Clayton walked over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a glass as Ainsley continued.

"Excuse the fuck out of you." Ainsley pointed at him. "I was speaking."

Clayton threw her a glare and braced his hands on the counter. "I don't care. You could've cost us the mission!"

Kendra rose from her seat and held up her hands. "Stop. What happened?"

At that moment, the rest of the group flooded into the kitchen. Colton caught Carmen's glance and he offered her and polite nod in greeting.

"Clayton has a hard time figuring out how to hold up his end of the deal we've had since the day I got here."

"Ainsley," Clayton rose his voice. "Shut up about that fucking deal."

"Don't fucking start with me, Clayton! We've had a deal since day one. Don't act like that just magically went away!" She was seething. The energy surrounding Ainsley was enough to make Carmen want to bolt out of the room.

Clayton faced her fully, his own agitation and anger shining through. "I don't give a damn about the deal. I'd say that we've held up our end plenty of times. The one time I tell you to wait outside, you fucking wait outside. You don't storm in with a gun when he's about to speak! You're damn lucky that he didn't get away and that he's in interrogation right now!"

"No." Ainsley took a step closer, and raised a finger at him. "You're lucky that I'm not kicking anyone's ass right now! I had one condition. One! He's a pe-"

"Knock it off!" Kendra was yelling now. "If I felt like dealing with childlike behavior then I would've taken up running a daycare. Ainsley, you knew the rules and you know that the information we need is far more important than your own vendetta."

Ainsley parted her lips to speak but Kendra held up a hand, halting her.

"Enough talk about this. It was out of our hands as soon as you delivered him to headquarters."

Clayton exhaled slowly, still glaring at Ainsley. She huffed a sigh and stomped over to the table where she plopped down in the seat beside Carmen. She began tapping her foot anxiously and stared at the wall. The rest of them went about their chatter, trying to diffuse the thick tension in the room.

Colton walked over to the other chair beside Carmen and leaned against the back of it.

She looked up to meet his eyes. "Me, Sophie, and Alexa are going into the city tonight. You can come if you want."

Carmen knew what this was, a way to try to make her feel welcome. A way for him and her to bond over being 'partners'. Carmen felt far from welcome, and it would be a while before Carmen decided to see him as a partner.

Right when she was about to open her mouth to deny his offer, Kendra spoke up, "Not tonight you're not."

Colton looked over to her and shrugged. "Why?"

"Because," she said as she pulled a cup from one of the cabinets. "You have another mission and you need to leave tomorrow afternoon."

Luke groaned in response. "We literally just finished one an hour ago. Why do they keep throwing so many at us lately?"

"Because it's your job." Kendra filled her glass with water from the sink and turned back to everyone. "There's also been a high spike in crime activity. Especially on the black market."

Carmen didn't even try to mask her discomfort as Clayton and Alexa's eyes slid to her. Alexa reverted them quickly but Clayton held his stare, or rather his glare.

She shifted in her seat in response.

"What areas?" Carmen asked Kendra.

"Drugs, arms dealing, pharmaceuticals, and anything explosive."

Carmen gulped. Carston's face popped up in her mind and she tried to focus on anything else other than the possibility of her friend being arrested. She also had another ally in the explosive area of the black market, and while Carmen hadn't seen her in months, she was still associated with her. If they were to be caught, they wouldn't be as lucky as she was. The only reason that she wasn't sitting in a jail cell right now is because she was Ainsley's sister. The thought made her sick to her stomach and she began to think about how she wouldn't be able to finish the soup before her.

"So," Sophie began. "What's the mission?"

**

"Ryder Hanson," Kendra said.

The group had moved to what Carmen recognized as the screening room. The massive screen against the wall was lighting up the entire room. Carmen was standing side by side with Colton, both of them had their arms folded over their chests. Carmen occasionally stole glances out the corner of her eye at Ainsley who was sitting in one of the spinning chairs, leaning back with both legs propped up on the desk in front of her as she chewed on the end of a pen cap.

The photo that Kendra had displayed was a black and white surveillance picture of a man with pale skin and dark hair walking in front of a random building, his attention ahead of him and completely unaware of the camera that had been on him in order to snap the picture. Beside the picture was a list of details about him.

Age: 27

Height: 5'11

Weight: 152 LBS

The words beneath the picture were in two rows, the first row read: Interrogate. The second row said: Execute if necessary.

"He's an arms dealer and has a history of making deals and selling to countries that the US isn't allied to. Evidence shows that he could be lending a hand in certain terrorist groups plans to attack the US. The CIA has been handling him for months and has been speaking to him as an undercover alias named Isabelle. In two days, Ryder will be hosting a charity event in Las Vegas with the intention of meeting up with Isabelle to strike a sale. When he arrives, he will actually be met with Sophie. Half way through, Sophie and Santana will be switching since this is a perfect opportunity for their side task. You need to set up a time and meeting place, report back to me so I can deliver the information to The Director and Ryder will be arrested when they go to the meeting. In the event that you are compromised and, for some reason, he notes the switch or something else goes wrong, then you have permission to do whatever is necessary to get out of there alive even if you have to eliminate him."

Ainsley perked up and rose from her seat. "Just let me have a few minutes alone with him and my knife."

She then reached to unstrap one of the many knives that were clipped to her belt and pulled one out as the silver metal glistened in the dark, casting a slight glare across her face to reveal a small, despicable, smile. "I can get him to do whatever we want."

Luke scoffed from across the room, Carmen glanced at him to see that he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and one leg bent as it rested against the wall. He cocked an eyebrow at her sister, "When was the last time that you even threw knives, Ainsley? How do you know your skills aren't rusty?"

Carmen barely caught a glance at the smile that had faded from Ainsley's face before Ainsley suddenly, and very quickly, adjusted her hold on the knife. Before anyone could even get in their next breath, Ainsley turned her body to Luke, and pulled back her arm before throwing the knife, full speed, in his direction. Carmen gasped loudly as the knife had landed itself beside Luke's skull. A mere two inches away from his blonde hair. Luke didn't even flinch.

When the knife embedded itself into the material of the wall, Luke only held his stare at Ainsley who had winked and smiled mischievously once again. "Don't underestimate me, Thornton."

Insane. Carmen thought to herself as her eyes widened while looking back and forth between the two. My sister is fucking insane.

"Ainsley!" Kendra hissed. "Focus. We've had to patch up enough holes in these walls from your little points that you feel the need to prove."

Ainsley rolled her eyes, catching Carmen's eyes. She looked her twin up and down before reverting her attention to Kendra once more.

"Anyways," Kendra started again as she brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face. "We just need to set up a meeting and get out."

Santana was sitting on one of the desks with her arms crossed and tilted her head to the side. "Easy enough."

"Too easy," Ainsley added.

Clayton, who was standing beside Santana, nodded in agreement. "What's the catch?"

Kendra smirked. "You kids know me too well."

"You never fail to throw in a challenge," Santana said with a smile.

"This shouldn't be much of a challenge. You each have your roles to play. Ainsley, Luke and Alexa, you three will be on the rooftop two buildings away. It has a perfect view into the room that the event will be taking place at and you will be snipers in case something goes wrong. Colton and Santana will be in the surveillance van. Santana, you will be there until Sophie signals that it's time to switch, then Sophie will sit in the van while Santana stays inside. Clayton, Sophie, and Carmen, you will be on the ground."

Silence.

Then, an aggressive voice spoke, "What?" Clayton didn't even attempt to hide the disbelief in his voice.

"You're putting Carmen on the ground?" Alexa asked with wide eyes.

Kendra nodded. "I am."

"That girl has had one day of workouts. She's never even gotten to weapons training," Clayton stated and shook his head. "There's no way she'd make it on the ground. She has no idea what it takes to go undercover."

Carmen glared at him and shoved her hands into her back pockets, slouching her shoulders. "I have a name."

Clayton didn't look at her or respond, but Carmen didn't miss the clenching of his jaw at the tone in her voice.

"Santana and Sophie had a week of training before they were already in a mission." Kendra shrugged.

Santana held up a hand. "Sophie and I had years of weapons and hand to hand combat training before we came here. I don't mean any disrespect to Carmen, but if something were to go wrong, she wouldn't stand a chance."

This response only resulted in Kendra inhaling deeply and sighing. "Carmen has experience in the black market and has dealt with arms dealers before. I think that if anyone here needs to be on the ground most, it's Carmen. You're forgetting that she kept this part of her life hidden from those around her for years. She can handle keeping herself collected at the benefit and not giving herself away. I need someone there who can read these kind of people and see what's coming. You guys may not like this, but Carmen has an advantage over all of you with this."

"I don't like it," Clayton disagreed.

"You don't like anything," Ainsley added.

"You think it's a good idea to send your inexperienced sister into a mission with no training?"

Ainsley opened her mouth to speak but Carmen beat her to it. "It isn't her choice. She doesn't get to say whether or not she thinks it's a good idea."

Clayton finally met her eyes, and Carmen was sure that the knife in the wall would end up in her chest next.

"Colton," Kendra broke the tension filled silence and Colton straightened beside Carmen. "You're the only one who's opinion I'm taking into consideration here. Do you think she can do it?"

Colton twisted his mouth to the side in contemplation as he tore his gaze from his mother to Carmen who was staring at him in return. He took a deep breath after a couple seconds of silence and nodded. "I can walk her through a few basic things that she'll need to know if things go wrong. But, as long as she stays off to the side and doesn't draw any attention to herself then everything should be okay."

Clayton scoffed and Colton gave Carmen a small smile. "You can do it."

Carmen couldn't help the grateful smile that appeared on her face at the encouraging tone.

At least someone believed in her.

"Then it's settled." Kendra drew everyone's attention. "The private jet leaves tomorrow."