Page 58 of Smart Ass

“How were you able to track him with a takeover mod running?” Rashid finally asked when he was done.

Ben froze. “Uh… I work at Orbit, so…” He spread his hands vaguely. Hopefully they wouldn’t know that it was illegal to track a robot by the tracer in its BIOS without permission from the owner, or in the case of a spark, by the spark themself or a subpoena.

Justice nodded slightly, giving nothing away. Okay, they totally knew. “And your friend Evan’s car?”

That was much easier. “We both use each other’s cars sometimes. He put my credentials in when he bought his.”

They both nodded with approval.

“That’s good. Though the traffic patterns were strange that day,” Justice began.

“Almost like someone was manipulating them to back up traffic in one area and clear it in another right before the time of the attack,” Rashid finished.

“Shit. You noticed that?”

They both stared at him.

Okay, obviously.

“So, if I have this, uh, friend. He’s an unregistered knowledge and…”

“No,” they said in unison.

“Don’t tell us anything,” Rashid clarified. “You do not want anything complicating this case. Especially not a court worried about the possibility of a collaborating spark who’s flagrantly ignoring core safety protocols.”

Ben sucked in his breath. “Okay, okay. Cool, cool.”

“We will demand evidence from the car and the cops’ body cams. I suggest that you and your friend stay as far away from this case as possible.”

That makes sense,Max wrote across the bottom of the screen, echoing Ben’s thoughts.

“In fact,” Justice put in, “now would probably not be a great time to introduce any new friends to each other. If Evan’s called to the witness stand, we want to keep things simple.”

“But get your friend registered,” Rashid added.

“Now?” Ben asked.

Two brows furrowed in unison.

Finally Rashid said, “This is off the record. As a friend, I’d suggest that you let things lie low for a while. As a lawyer, of course, I would advise you to get him registered immediately.”

Ben nodded. “That was about what I was thinking.”

“And for god’s sake, Ben, stay out of trouble,” Justice added.

Ben shrank into himself. Why was he always fucking up? He thought he’d done the right thing, sending Evan out to help Quincy, but all he’d done was put Evan’s life in danger and landed Quincy in jail.

Now he was endangering Max, too.

“Hey, Ben,” Rashid’s calm voice called him back. “I know this isn’t an easy time for you. We’re still here if you need anything from us.”

His offer was clear, and Ben could practically feel the lashes falling across his back. The pain. The high. The absolution.

“Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?” Ben asked.

“We’re representing Quincy, not you,” Justice told him. “And our work with sparks is always pro bono or sliding scale. You’re not paying us. You look like you need a scene.”

Ben looked around the room. He wanted it. He needed it.