Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

about Zane’s ups and downs. He could imagine that Ty didn’t like the idea, either.
    Ty opened his eyes and looked at Zane through his fingers as he covered his face with his hand. He shrugged helplessly, as if to say he had absolutely no control over what was happening. Zane wrinkled his nose and resisted the urge to reach across the table and smack him one for being absolutely no help. Instead he turned his attention back to Earl. “Just how well do you know Assistant Director Burns, Mr. Grady?” he asked curiously.
    “You’re welcome to call me Earl, son. And I’ve known Richard for almost forty years,” Earl answered. “We went into Vietnam together, and we came out together,” he said with a hint of pride.
    Very good friends, then. Zane sighed and sat back. Earl might not know much of anything about him. But he also might know more than Zane would want to admit to anyone, much less Ty’s father, of all people. He leveled his eyes on his partner and waited.
    “What?” Ty asked defensively. “It’s not my fault,” he protested as Earl chuckled.
    Zane felt his lips curl up. It was actually amusing to see Ty’s reactions to his family. “What isn’t he enjoying about us?” he asked, going back to Earl’s first comment.
    Earl shrugged as he handed his plate to his wife, who was now rounding the table collecting dishes. “Apparently you’re making him do more paperwork than he wants to be doing. He mentioned something about throwing handguns and blue paint,” he said with a bemused frown. Ty snorted and covered the laugh with a cough. Earl looked at him with narrowed eyes and then back at Zane. Zane was hard-pressed not to chuckle. “He also told me he was worried about you both,” Earl continued. “He’s always worried about Ty, but him saying he’s worried about Ty’s partner is new,” he informed Zane as he studied him closely. “Ty usually takes care of his partners.”
    Zane automatically handed his plate up when Mara held her hand out for it, but he kept his eyes on Earl, not sure if there was more to hear.
    “Why’s he worried?” Earl asked him pleasantly.
    “Dad,” Ty said in warning, but Earl continued to look at Zane expectantly.
    After a long moment of silent standoff, Zane just shrugged one shoulder. He didn’t know what the man wanted him to say. Anything he could think of was far too personal. Earl’s eyes transferred from Zane to Ty without a word. Ty merely raised an eyebrow at him and bit into a piece of bacon with a loud crunch, obviously more immune to the gaze than Zane was.
    Deuce gave Zane’s arm a gentle pat, and he scooted his chair back noisily. “Come on, Zane, I’ll show you the mountain,” he offered under his breath.
    Zane glanced to Ty before moving to follow Deuce out. His partner was on his own with this one, and Zane wanted out from under Earl’s knowing eyes before he said something he shouldn’t. It wasn’t really Earl’s reaction he was worried about. Zane didn’t have to go home with him .
    They went through the back door, which was the nearest exit, and Deuce had to grip the railing as he thumped down the old wooden steps that led into the back yard. The grassy part of the yard rolled slightly and then dropped off suddenly into a deep ravine just twenty yards from the back of the house. The thick woods started at the edge of the far side, seeming to enclose the area with a wall of trees. Deuce took a few steps toward the ravine and waved at the land beyond it. “And there’s the mountain,” he told Zane with a small smile.
    Zane took a deep breath of the clean air and gave him a smile. “Thanks,” he said with a nod.
    Deuce waved him off. “Don’t let Dad get to you,” he advised. “If you can deal with Ty, Dad should be a cakewalk for you.”
    “I don’t care about offending Ty,” Zane answered. “Although I do have to work with him, so I try not to piss him off too badly.”
    “A fair plan. And Dad isn’t easily offended,” Deuce told him with a smile. “What are you worried he knows about?” he asked curiously.
    “I don’t exactly have the best track record in the Bureau,” Zane said quietly as he looked around at the trees.
    “You’re still in it, though, and I know Ty doesn’t rate second-hand partners,” Deuce countered.
    Zane would have answered in the affirmative, but he wasn’t quite sure if he really fit the bill. “I guess I’m a little off balance,” he said vaguely, gesturing to the