Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

you?”
    “Sleep?” Zane suggested, ignoring the playful threat. “Or something equally relaxing. We’re supposed to be on vacation, remember?”
    “Vacation?” Deuce asked in surprise. “I thought you used up all your vacation already.”
    Ty looked at him, pursing his lips. The two brothers stared at each other expectantly for a tense moment. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” Ty said finally.
    “Neither do I,” Deuce assured him gratefully as he went back to eating.
    “Talk about what?” Mara asked distractedly.
    “Nothing,” Ty insisted.
    “Ty and his partner are on punishment,” Earl told her, frowning. Zane’s head popped up in surprise.
    “Did Dick tell you that?” Ty demanded angrily.
    “No, Ty, I figured that one out all by myself,” Earl answered with a tap to the side of his head. Eyes darting from side to side, Zane leaned back a little out of the line of fire.
    “If you two are gonna fight, you take it outside,” Mara told them, unaffected by the suddenly tense atmosphere. “Zane, honey, how long have you been with the Bureau?” she asked.
    “A little over twenty years, ma’am,” Zane said hesitantly.
    ”You’d think twenty years would get you better than Ty,” Deuce muttered as he reached for the orange juice.
    “Well…” Zane drew out, smiling a little, “no. Afraid not.”
    Ty glared at them both. Earl watched Zane with his head slightly cocked. He had the same quality Ty did, the one that always made it look like he knew something more than he was letting on.
    “I believe it was more Ty getting stuck with me than me getting stuck with him,” Zane clarified as Ty gave him a gesture that probably meant for him to shut the hell up.
    “Why do you say that?” Deuce asked curiously.
    “I was transferred from another division, and Assistant Director Burns dumped me on him with no warning,” Zane said, trying to talk around it enough that Ty might not kick his ass later.
    “So you consider each other punishment?” Deuce asked as he set his elbow on the table and leaned forward in interest.
    No way was Zane touching that one. He’d let Ty throw the first insult.
    Ty wagged his fork in his brother’s direction. “Stop psychoanalyzing us,” he warned.
    “But that’s my job,” Deuce protested.
    “If I wanted to see a shrink, I’d go to the one Dick told me to,” Ty told him. Zane did a double take between the brothers.
    “Why do you need a shrink?” Earl asked Ty.
    “We really don’t like to be called shrinks,” Deuce informed them in annoyance.
    Zane’s chin turned toward Deuce. “You’re a shrink?” was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
    “I’m a psychiatrist, yes,” Deuce answered. “Ty didn’t tell you?”
    Zane snorted. “I know as little or less about you all than you know about me. I didn’t even know Ty had a brother ’til this morning.”
    Ty’s fork clattered into his plate, and he held up his hand. “Can we stop sharing, please?” he requested in frustration.
    “Why do you need a shrink?” Earl asked him again.
    “I have daddy issues,” Ty answered with a smirk.
    Earl pointed his fork at him and narrowed his eyes as he chewed, though there was a hint of amusement in his expression. It seemed all of them enjoyed brandishing that quick wit. If Zane weren’t so off balance, it would have almost been fun to see Ty bested by someone else.
    “If Richard said you needed a shrink, then you need a shrink,” Mara told Ty with certainty.
    “I don’t need a shrink,” Ty insisted with a gesture of his hand to calm his mother.
    “We really don’t like to be called shrinks,” Deuce repeated again in annoyance.
    “Honey, you’re lucky that’s all we call you,” Mara told Deuce as she dished out more grits.
    Ty snorted, and Deuce grumbled at them both.
    “I think Burns just enjoys yanking us around,” Zane said under his breath.
    “He doesn’t enjoy much about either of you lately, son,” Earl told him, growing serious once more.
    Zane glanced up at him, surprised. He wondered what the two men could legally even talk about. Ty—maybe. But certainly not himself, except in the most general of terms. With a quick look, he saw that Ty wasn’t paying him any attention. His eyes were closed, and he was pinching the bridge of his nose.
    “Ty?” Zane said significantly. He hated the thought of someone checking up on him without his knowledge. Especially if it was someone who might really care and be upset by hearing