Free Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) by Seleste deLaney Page B

wrong.
    …
    “Well?” Trevor stalked over as Cal turned from the pickup window with his lunch.
    “Christ, Trev. I need to eat, okay?” He wound his way toward an uncomfortable-looking bench near the windows—and, more importantly, away from everyone else.
    Trevor scowled as Marissa elbowed him. The big man stepped to the expanse of windows, crossed his arms, and pretended to look outside. Marissa eased her supermodel frame onto the bench with Cal and swept a long swath of golden blond hair off her tanned cheek. “What he’s trying to say is we’ve had no luck and Marron is looking for an update. Have you found some magical portal to grant us access to the screening?”
    “You mean your grifter skills didn’t pull off the ultimate heist of a ticket to an exclusive movie screening at a sci-fi convention?” He just wanted to eat and get back to work, but he couldn’t help but poke at Marissa. Like most people at TRAIT, she had an incredible record for getting shit done. Criminal past or no, Marissa Joens was one of the best.
    “We didn’t have time to prep a foolproof persona for me. Greta did her best, but I had to wing a lot of it and I don’t play vulnerable very well without some serious hypnotic encouragement. And the one time I slid my fingers in a pocket…let’s just say it’s a good thing I can play vixen.” Marissa shrugged, the compact muscles shifting as her skin caught the light. Shine and faux substance at their finest.
    “I told you before, that shit was destined to fail.” He stuffed a bite of Pad Thai into his mouth. Twisted on the bench to face Marissa, he caught sight of Pen striding into the food court. He wanted to wave her over, spend at least these few minutes with her before he had to get back to work. Unfortunately, until the Takamaki mess was dealt with, he couldn’t do anything of the sort. Probably just as well. She looked pissed. If he talked to her, he’d want to calm her down, and that would lead to…not working. He let out a deep sigh. Soon. He’d see her soon enough and get her the hell out of here for the night.
    “Have you heard a word I said?” Marissa snapped her fingers in his face. “Hello? Come back from Narnia or wherever you are.”
    “Sorry.”
    “I asked how your plan was working. If you can get at least one of us in, we’re golden. That person can disable the guards at a door and let the others inside. Two would be better, but one will do.” She reached out and plucked a shrimp from his plate, popping it into her mouth.
    Cal tugged his food out of her reach. “I went the simple route and hacked straight into his film company. Details for the tickets were easy enough to find from there. Duplication is the bigger issue. The tickets have holograms as well as computer chips embedded in them. I managed to find the program that generates the code for the chips. As soon as it’s done compiling, I’m taking it back to the field office to make the actual tickets.”
    For the first time since she sat down, Marissa looked something less than proud and beautiful. She squirmed in her seat, looking over to Trevor as if for backup. “You need the T-1000 for that, right?”
    “No. I don’t need a Terminator. I do need the TCL-1000, though.”
    She slouched and turned away from him. “It’s uh…offline.”
    “What do you mean? It was fine yesterday when I was in the office. I saw one of the new guys using it.” That machine was his baby—the ultimate physical creation device. It could do card forgeries and props and even masks like they used in the movies. Though so far he’d only tested that on costume pieces…just to make sure it worked. He’d busted his ass to get the funds for it approved, and the TCL had saved their asses more than once.
    Marissa threw her shoulders back, straightening with obvious effort, and cleared her throat. “There was a coffee incident.”
    “A coffee…” Cal clutched his plate and mentally counted backward.
    “The tech