Page 42 of Play the Game

When she was gone, TJ motioned to the conference table. “Have a seat.”

Tam sat two seats down from Bond, at the end, ensuring I couldn’t sit beside her unless I wanted to awkwardly squeeze in between the two women. Not that we needed to sit close, but I’d hoped we might to show—and have—some solidarity. I sank into a chair across from Bond.

“TJ, why don’t you start.” X’s voice came through the conference phone.

Tam and I both jumped, then she sank her head into her hands. TJ had brought in the big gun. The situation was deteriorating by the minute.

TJ crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Tam, then glared at me. “Obviously, this isn’t working.”

I was ready to jump to our defense, but something about Bond’s presence unnerved me, and for once, I kept my mouth shut.

“Before I tell you what I think,” TJ continued, “I’d like to hear Sparks’s side of the story. Did anything else happen tonight other than the warehouse fiasco?”

Tam lifted her head and sat up straight. I desperately tried to catch her gaze and warn her away from answering him, but she refused to look at me. “Yes. We went to two of the relay device locations and Jensen upped the signal booster.”

“And did you know?” TJ asked.

No. No, no, no, no, no!I tried to silently convey to her.Deny all knowledge. Pin it all on me.

But Tam still ignored my existence. “About the warehouse, no. About the rest of it, yes.”

TJ opened his mouth to speak, but X beat him to it.

“To be clear, Jensen,” she said, “you changed the parameters of our signal interception without an updated warning. Is that correct?”

When she put it that way, the same way Tam had put it last night, it sounded bad. “We won’t intercept any more civilian signals than we would have otherwise because I created a filter—”

“Yes or no?” TJ demanded.

I shrugged. “Yes, but—”

“There is no ‘yes, but,’” he said. “There’s only yes. Alder checked the outputs and concurs with your assessment.”

So, they knew there was more to our outing than my warehouse break-in, which meant they’d been testing Tam’s honesty. That pissed me off, but arguing the point would probably only make her distress worse. But they also knew I’d mitigated the situation. “See, we’re not violating the spirit of the warrant.”

“Our puppet masters on the Senate subcommittee won’t give a flying fuck about the spirit of the court order,” X said. Even through the phone line, I could tell she was clenching her teeth. “But theywilldamn well care about the letter of it.”

“It’ll be worth it,” I promised. “And with the bugs I planted in the warehouse—”

“Stop right there,” TJ said. “One violation at a time. X, if Alder sends you the details of the signal boost, can you get the warrant expansion request in front of a friendly judge?”

“We’re running out of friends,” she answered, “but I’ll make it happen. I’ll coordinate directly with Alder while you handle the rest of this mess.”

I was sure the rest of the mess meant Tam and me.

“Bond, you have sign-off from me on what we discussed,” X said.

Tam and I both glanced at the doc, but her face was unreadable.

“Thanks, X,” Bond said. “I’ll have the paperwork done tonight.”

X hung up her end of the call. The four of us in the barn spent an uncomfortable few seconds in silence until I jumped in to fill it.

“TJ, the warehouse gambit will pay off,” I explained. “If the guys holed up there come back tonight, I should be able to intercept their cell phones, and if at least one of them calls a contact at the Carbonados, we should be—”

“A lot of ifs and shoulds in that statement,” TJ interrupted. “Let me finish for you. If all the ifs and shoulds line up, you’ll get a bead on Pasco sooner than the Slovoga 1 software will.”

“Exactly.” I sank back in relief. He was beginning to understand.

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