Page 46 of Play the Game

Alder touched my shoulder. “But I’ll be here, helping you look for any signs of life from the thugs who abandoned the warehouse last night. And TJ and Bond will be in and out of meetings for the rest of the day, so there will be four of us for dinner.”

Great fucking job. I’d managed to split our team in half, even if it was for just one day.

The three tactical agents stood to leave.

I stood as well. “Alder, can you hold down the fort for a bit? I’ve got all the frequencies set correctly, and alarms will sound if any of the three guys turn on a phone or computer.”

“On it.” She frowned. “But you’re not going after her, are you?”

I shook my head. “Just need to have a word with TJ.”

Hart linked her arm with mine as I walked with the three women. When we reached the path that led to the lake trail, they split off from me. By the time I reached the side door of the house, they’d taken off at full speed and disappeared into the woods.

They and Alder had spoken, had intervened, and I had listened, unlike the times Tam had asked me to do things I didn’t want to do. I’d always told myself she didn’t mean it, that she didn’t really care, and it wouldn’t matter when everything worked out in the end. Finally, I’d pulled my head out of my ass. It might be too late to make amends, but at least I could give Tam the one thing, the one tiny, reasonable ask she’d made of me. Distance.

I pulled open the side door and stepped into the house. I followed TJ’s voice to one of the front rooms where he and Bond sat across from each other with a task list between them on the coffee table. They both looked up when I entered the room.

“Good, you’re both here. We need to talk.” I shuffled into the room and dropped into an armchair.

“We’re listening,” TJ said.

I took a deep breath, finally ready to give Tam not only what she’d requested, but also what she needed. “I’m turning over IT to Alder. I’ve already put in some calls to line up the best backup the rest of the agency has to offer, with X’s sign-off, of course.”

Bond glanced at TJ, then at me. “What, precisely, does that mean?”

“It means I’m resigning from this mission. As of noon today, I’m officially sitting this one out.” I turned to TJ. “If you’re not willing to sign off—”

He held up a hand. “I think that’s a good idea, Jensen. In fact, I think it might be better if you flew home.”

His suggestion chilled me. I hadn’t expected him to send me away. And now that Melissa and I were divorced, I didn’t even know where home was.

“I’ll want you here until tomorrow to make sure Alder’s covered, then we’ll put you on a plane,” he finished.

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

And just like that, I was suspended from the Alpha Team.

CHAPTER 18

Jason

I spentthe rest of Monday working with Alder, ensuring she was ready for the operation without me. We held three different calls with resources from HEAT’s central IT group. Their competence notwithstanding, their temperaments didn’t leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Of the five people who were on standby to provide whatever backup Alder and the Alpha Team needed, I was pretty sure three of them would shit the bed, and the other two would at least piss in it, if they actually had to react in real time with lives on the line.

I checked Slogova 1 before dinner time. We were at the outer tolerance of time the search should have taken, but it still didn’t have an answer for us. I texted my dad in Singapore, hoping he’d be awake by the time the meal wrapped for the night. I needed his reassurance that we could count on getting an origin point for Pasco. Using that, we would have to backtrack through street cams and transportation hub footage, movements of every kind of vehicle near the area where Pasco had been held—where he’d still be if I hadn’t screwed up—to try to track him.

Our spirits were low as we sat around the table, eating the catered meal of surf and turf that had been delivered. Kessler halfheartedly mentioned we should set up the sundae bar we’d missed the night before, and Li and Hart helped her pull out ice cream and toppings.

I stood up at the table. “There’s something I need to say.” My teammates went silent all at once, a rare occurrence “We’re all feeling pretty down tonight, and that’s my fault.” A few of them tried to protest, but I held up my hand. “I’m leaving tomorrow, but I’ll be thinking about you and rooting for you. And as a token of good luck, I’ve made a special drink for the evening.”

Bond smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. She understood the importance of this bonding ritual. My throat tightened as I wondered who would take up the tradition of terrible bartender when I was gone. I asked Alder to gather some tall glasses for us while I retrieved my latest creation from the fridge. The frothy mixture was pale green, almost white, and smelled slightly minty.

“In the spirit of our sundaes, this has an ice cream base.” I poured portions into glasses, which Alder handed around.

Hart lifted her glass to her nose.

“Haven’t you learned your lesson about smelling it first?” Li asked.

“Actually, it smells kind of good.” Hart tilted her head as she observed me.

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