Page 46 of Mongrels United
By then, Grady had given up any pretense that work was more interesting than the game. Nash didn’t dismiss the little screen in front of him, but he didn’t look at it, either. He watched the big screen as the game came all the way down to the wire, his gaze narrowed as he assessed the game with professional interest.
The moderately sized crowd in the stands went wild as the second overtime period began with the score at 1-1, slapping the tank in front of them, and stomping their feet.
Grady was startled to realize that more than a few of the people were screaming for the Grey Team. They were distinguishable because theydidn’twear Buccaneer blue.
She gripped the edges of the little table with one hand, turned in her chair to watch without cranking her head around, her heart hurrying, the tension building in her chest and her gut.
Comeon! she urged Kailash and his team in her mind.One goal! Just one!
When the Buccaneers’ scored close to the end of the overtime period, it was a fluke. A fortunate coming together of the ball switching to zero gravity, which threw the Grey Team player up against the roof of the tank, while the Buccaneer player floating in the top level reached out, gripped a ball handle, and used the Grey Team player’s ankle to swing himself in a slow climb up to the goal mouth.
The blast of the goal siren dropped Grady’s heart to the bottom of her belly.
“That was…close,” Nash murmured, sounding a touch awed.
The players all exited the tank, while the AI raved about the close game and the tight finish.
But the crowd around the tank didn’t move. The slow three-clap begun, indicating that they wanted the winners to take a bow so they could cheer them some more.
Clap-clap-clap-pause. Clap-clap-clap-pause.
Grady reached for her pad.
“No, wait a minute,” Nash said softly. He lifted his chin toward the screen. “Watch.”
The Buccaneers’ reappeared, all pushing off into the top level, where they floated, waving to the crowd.
Clap-clap-clap-pause. Clap-clap-clap-pause.Clap-clap-clap-pause. Clap-clap-clap-pause.
Grady drew in a sharp breath. “They want the Grey Team!”
Nash nodded, his gaze on the screen.
She pressed her lips together and her hands together, her heart fluttering wildly and proudly for Kailash and his underdogs. The Grey Team soared across the top level, toward the other side of the tank, separating themselves from the Buccaneers’, who had stopped waving and wore scowls, instead.
Most of the Grey Team looked a little stunned. Their waves were a touch sheepish.
The cheering, which had been thin all night, because of the minimal numbers of people watching live, seemed to leap up in volume, as if the arena was fuller than it actually was.
“Oh…!” Grady breathed. She wassohappy for Kailash! His team would feast on this moment. It would drive them to work even harder.
It was only then she realized she was standing up. She didn’t remember getting to her feet.
Once the players returned to the locker room, Grady switched off the screen and turned back to her notebook. There were nearly twenty names listed there. There would have been more, but the game had distracted both of them. Twenty was enough to start with, though.
Grady tore off the sheet and pushed it toward Nash. “If the Bridge asking questions will scare people away, then you must ask them, instead.” For he had been right about that. “I’m going to have to trust you to do the work, and to not expose our interest and warn the bastards we’re after.”
Nash reached for the page. He got to his feet and pushed the paper into his jacket pocket. “I’ll start tomorrow.” He came around the little round table and paused between it and the big working table, close to Grady.
“Yes, it’s late,” she agreed. “I shouldn’t have kept you here this long. I’m just used to long hours.”
“I’m used to late hours. It doesn’t matter.” He glanced toward the door. “But I suspect you’ll have to get me through the gate.”
His head turned, like that, showed her the profile of his strong jaw and the even stronger neck. The square chin with the dimple.
She was still buzzing over Kailash’s team’s encore. The near-win and a hard-fought game that did the Grey Team honor. That’s what she would tell herself later.
Grady wrapped her arm around his neck, in order to lift herself high enough to press her lips to his, which brought his gaze snapping back to her. She saw the startled expression in his eyes wipe out and something darker, deeper and hotter take its place, before his arm pulled her even harder against him.
