Cut and Run 1 - Cut and Run

worked perfectly. Exactly to plan. The only problem with his plans to this point was the fact that Special Agents Grady and Garrett didn't seem to give a shit about each other or about working with each other. They were both supposed to have been in that room. Even if Garrett was maimed to the point they had replace him, it still left Grady for him to deal with, and Grady was the real threat. He didn't follow any rules, and that made him hard to keep ahead of. He had specialized training, too. Garrett just seemed to be a pushover trailing along behind him.
    He took a deep drag of his cigarette as he waited. They had to come up for air soon, and when they did, he would take care of things.
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Chapter Five
    Ty slid the room key into the electronic lock and winced as the lights blinked red. He tried it again, looking up at the door number to make certain it was the right room as the lights blinked red again. He sighed and banged on the door with his fist. Waiting a few moments and hearing no movement inside, he banged again, harder.
    "Garrett!” he called out, trying to keep his voice down. It was late, after all, and they didn't want to attract any undue attention to themselves. He glanced up and down the hallway and grumbled to himself.
    He looked at his card in annoyance, realizing that he'd put it in his wallet with his credit cards and probably demagnetized the damn thing. He muttered to himself as he tried it one last time to no avail. He turned on his heel, intending on going to his own room, but before he got even a step he remembered that his own room key was inside Zane's room with the rest of his stuff.
    He growled to himself and glanced down the hall at his own room, frowning at the Do Not Disturb sign on it. What if someone had been in there earlier? What if someone knew where they were? With that thought, a sudden cold swelled in his chest. What if his erstwhile partner was hurt? What if Ty had gone to get laid and someone attacked Zane? He had very little confidence in his new partner's ability to protect himself when he was healthy, much less injured and relatively defenseless.
    Ty hurried toward the elevators and jabbed the button for the lobby, but when it took too long he headed for the stairwell and began jogging down the eight flights of stairs. He muttered to himself impatiently, dread rising as he thought about the myriad of things that could have gone wrong. He tried to tell himself he was merely being paranoid and feeling guilty. No one knew where they were, right?
    Except for Sears and Ross, who had been tailing them earlier, and probably every other agent in the New York office, including whoever they were after. He pushed through the stairwell doors and stalked across the lobby, trying to get a hold on his irrational panic.
    Moments later, he stood at the lobby desk. He had some difficulty at the front desk in getting Zane's spare key reprogrammed, mainly because he wasn't exactly Zane. Finally, he had to flash his FBI identification and growl at the woman to get it done. By the time he got back to Zane's room, he was tense and almost shaking with dread.
    "You better be fucking taking a bubble bath or something,” he muttered as he swiped the card and the lights blinked green.
    He was further dismayed to find the hotel room empty. He stood in the entryway, calming himself before walking around the room in search of some clue as to where Zane had gone. There were no signs of struggle or a hasty departure. Everything was ordered and in its place, insofar as order went amidst the chaos of their files.
    Finally, he spotted the hotel directory, open and sitting on the dresser. He stepped over to it and placed his hand gently on the laminated pages, peering down at the small map and the list of nightclubs and bars.
    With a groan, Ty realized that Zane had merely gone out to get his drink on.
    "Fucker,” he snarled to the empty room.
    * * * *
    Zane walked along the busy street, looking idly in shop and restaurant windows, just letting his mind wander. Thinking about anything but the case was a relief. He stopped on a corner, waiting for the light to change, and lit up. He rolled his shoulders, winced just a little, and sighed. He felt pretty decent after relieving some of the tension that sparked between him and Ty. A hot grapple in the dark bathroom of a club would do that.
    He glanced at his watch. 10:10. He figured Ty would take every bit of his mentioned two hours