Page 52 of Play the Game

“You’ll sleep during the first shift, TJ. I’ll take the second.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him down the long length of the conference table.

The rest of the team remained silent and stone-faced. No one particularly enjoyed seeing the mom and dad of the team argue. But I grinned. I couldn’t help myself. It was such a TJ-Bond moment, the kind I’d thought I wouldn’t get to witness again.

“Jensen, piss off to bed,” TJ growled. But even his grumpiness was music to my ears, which made me grin wider.

Kessler kicked me under the table. “Seriously, go get some sleep. Your giddiness is exhausting me.”

“For fuck’s sake,” TJ muttered, but he left the barn, with the rest of us assigned to the first shift filing out behind him.

As we walked with the group, I caught Tam’s eye. She was the only one who mirrored my smile, which was fine by me. I liked sharing private thoughts and emotions with her, and doing it on an almost daily basis for the past eight months had been a true joy. Even though we couldn’t hold hands and amble off to the same bed, we were still connected.

A few minutes later, I climbed into my lonely bed and set my phone alarm to sound in four hours. I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to sleep. The next thing I knew, my alarm shrieked. I turned it off and checked it, assuming I’d set it for the wrong time. To my surprise, it was already after 10. I stared at the wall between Tam’s and my rooms. By now, she should be drowsily waking herself. I indulged myself for a minute, imagining crawling into her bed next to her. For now, it was just wishful thinking, but one day soon, I was going to make my fantasy of morning sex with her come true.

I took ten minutes to shower and dress. By the time I entered the kitchen, everyone but Tam and TJ were there, gathered around a feast of bacon, eggs, and toast.

“Come, enjoy the feast we prepared,” Kessler called to me.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” I looked at Alder. “And shouldn’t you be at your computer until I take over?”

Alder flashed a brilliant smile. She held up her small notebook computer. “We are no longer casting a wide net and listening to every inane conversation those bozos are having.”

My heart amped up like I’d just run a mile. “We got a lock on Pasco?”

“He’s in Chicago,” Alder said. “You’ll never guess where.”

“So, they never abandoned that building, after all,” I said, then whooped. This was it. We were going to be able to save Pasco’s sorry ass.

“We’ve been making that noise for an hour,” Kessler said. “I can’t believe you slept through it.”

“Yeah, seriously, Jensen,” Li said. “Hart and I have been down here for over half an hour because they woke us. You must have been sleeping like the dead.”

“I guess so.” Those four hours had felt like the best sleep I’d had in months. Maybe it was because I was at peace with my decision. Tam had finally admitted our feelings to each other, and we’d figured out how we could be together. Sure, our new plan was a slight violation of HEAT policy, but she was okay with it, so it was fine by me. “Who made breakfast?”

“Kessler and I did,” Bond answered. “And before you ask, no, we did not use minced fennel and fresh cardamom and oven-roasted whatever.”

“Those aren’t ingredients that make any sense.” I shook my head at her. “Has Prescott taught you nothing these past few months?”

The conversation devolved into lighthearted banter. Now that we knew where Pasco was, and we could fill in the final details of rescuing him, everyone was as giddy as I’d been earlier. Weirdly, now I was the one falling into a funk. Tam still hadn’t joined us. Not that I should worry. She’d been at least as exhausted as I’d been since we’d never even fallen asleep last night.

I sat down beside Alder and spoke quietly. “Did Tam come down for breakfast?”

“She’s been awake for a while,” Alder answered. “She was with me when we got a lock on Pasco and immediately started plugging in the details to update her plan.”

“I should take some breakfast to her.” I shoved a bite of egg into my mouth and stood to grab another plate.

“Hart already did,” Alder said. “And she brought food for Penn, too.”

The bite turned to dust. I dropped back into my chair. “Penn’s already here?”

Kessler leaned forward and propped her arms on the table. “Apparently, X expedited his trip after you figured out the whole pinhole thing last night.”

“Pinhole?” I remembered the way I’d explained how we were going to track the Carbonados. “Right.”

“He’s reviewing Sparks’s preliminary plan,” Alder said.

I spoke quietly just to her. “So, Tam works all night on a solid plan, and he waltzes in to take over?”

Alder cocked an eyebrow. “That’s kind of how things work around here,boss.”

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