“Of course,” I said. “If we’d found anything, we would have called you. That’s protocol, after all. And it’s so important for us to work with GSAF.”

If he caught my loaded tone, he didn’t react to it. “All right, then, Isaak,” Joseph Condor said smoothly. “Thank you for your time. We’ll call on you again if we have any further questions.”

My heart pounded as I moved toward the door, and I could only pray that Condor and his goons wouldn’t hear it. It seemed impossible, but I was off the hook—for now.

Then, as the door swung shut behind me, I heard: “Send in Tamara Randall-Torres.”

◦ • ◦

“Isaak? What are you doing out here?”

I’d been waiting on the sky bridge between Tamara’s classroom and Tyson, hoping to intercept her. There was no point in going back to class now. I had to talk to Tamara before Joseph Condor did, and then I needed to go. I was sure my grounding sentence was going to get extended now—possibly for the rest of my life, this time—but there was no way around it.

“GSAF knows about the thing Scylla found,” I said.

“What?”

“Yeah. Gilbert saw more than I thought he did. Condor’s playing dumb, but he knows we’ve got it. And he must have figured out that you’re involved, that’s why he’s calling you in now.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and scowled. “Dammit.”

“Tamara, you’ve got to let me take it,” I said.

“No,” said Tamara firmly, her hand on her hip.

“But if Condor figures out you’ve got it, you guys could be in huge trouble. Your moms could lose their jobs.”

“What, and you won’t be in trouble if they find it at your house?” Tamara argued. “Your mom depends on GSAF, too. Probably more than my moms do.”

I sighed. “It won’t be at my house. Henry’s found someone—someone who doesn’t like GSAF any more than we do. He can help.” I paused, then added, “I think.”

Tamara made a noise of exasperation and moved over to the window, looking out at the river below us, and, beyond, the bustling valley of Tierra Nueva. “I don’t know if I would trust some guy Henry found on the internet.”

“I—I don’t. But at least it gives us a chance. And this guy might be able to give us the answers, which is more than I can say for Joseph Condor.”

She put her hand on the glass, not looking at me. Finally, she said, “Fine. There’s a spare key card in my locker. Do you remember the combination?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go get it now. Don’t let a word out to Joseph Condor.”