Squad 6 | COMPLETED

Chapter 48- Diana

Diana

"Hey," Chloe sat on the edge of an armchair across from her.

Diana didn't look up from her laptop or take the headphones out. The latest episode of America's got talent was playing. America had no talent.

The common room was empty, aside from the two of them. It would be weird if it weren't empty given the hour. Three in the morning was a magical time where people who weren't Diana, slept. And it appears Chloe had come to join the wake and took the silence as a sign to talk. "I'm sorry. I had no other way to cope. I never wanted you to find out this way."

A week ago, Diana would've hugged her, stroked her hair, and made it better. "That makes me feel so much better." A thought crept into her head. "Did anyone know?"

Chloe didn't reply right away. "Bill."

"Great. Awesome." Diana threw her headphones over the keyboard, wincing at the sound of plastic hitting plastic. "Are there any more lies you want to get off your chest aside from the fact you've been on drugs for weeks and you're a thief?"

Chloe bit her lip. "You know?"

Diana leaned back into her chair. "You've gotta be kidding me. I knew all along you stole the money at the mall, but I made excuses because I didn't want to believe it."

Diana thought back to how Chloe had stiffened when a security guard came over to speak to her. She'd thought it was because Chloe was uncomfortable talking to people she didn't know. Looking back, she had probably done it because she assumed she had been caught.

"I wanted to—"

"I can't listen to this. I was raised to be a liar and I've never lied to you. I thought we had something here, Chloe."

"We do," Chloe stood up. She looked perfectly normal, if not a little healthier than she usually did. The color was back in her cheeks and her red hair was combed into a ponytail for once, nothing like the messy bun she wore most of the time.

Diana smiled, tears brimming her eyes. "We don't."

"Di,"

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Cassandra will need my help tomorrow."

"I'll help," she said with determination.

"You should help yourself first."

She slipped the earphones back over her head, pretending not to notice Chloe as she left the common room.

#

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Chase asked.

Diana, Chloe, and Cassie sat among the members of Squad 4, all cramped inside a small empty office Scott had given them the key to. There were no cameras and nobody had used it in months, so it was one of the safest places on the premises.

"I've looked at the database," Diana said. She had gone back to the computer room on her own in the morning, but this time Chloe had nothing to do with it. "There are sealed records that not even the main computer could access without special passwords. I'd call it shady."

She already knew what she would find and Scott had told Cassandra the truth. Snakehead was not in the business in which he claimed to be. They were all pawns in a game. Diana had expected as much of him which is why the rumor never fazed her. Her eyes passed over Chloe. She knew Snakehead was lying, but she didn't know Chloe was.

"We're not talking about shady here," one of the Squad 4 members said. "You're saying Snakehead's been trafficking people and Majesty has been trying to stop him."