Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

all without something disastrous happening.
    Ty hesitated at the door, looking around the room as if searching for someone else before he took a single step into the room. Zane frowned slightly but kept his eye on Ty while also watching the cards dealt out in the hand of five card stud on the table. Ty didn’t move closer, though. He merely stayed at the entrance and watched. After thirty seconds dragged by, Zane threw in his cards, picked up his half-empty glass, and excused himself, nodding to the dealer who said he’d hold back Zane’s chips for the time being. Within another few breaths, Zane joined Ty at the door just as another couple passed by.
    “Miss me, doll?” Zane asked casually, staying in character.
    “I definitely missed something,” Ty murmured as his eyes searched the room again furtively. “We need to get to a computer. Now.”
    Zane raised one brow and slid his arm around Ty’s waist, turning them out to the game room. “By all means, lead the way.” Then he lowered his voice. “And who are we looking for?”
    “Armen,” Ty hissed in answer. “If he sees me here with you right now, we’re both in deep shit.”
    “I’ve not seen him tonight,” Zane said as he dropped his arm and moved to put himself between Ty and the bulk of the game room as they walked, just in case.
    “I have,” Ty said grimly. He took Zane’s hand and began pulling him through the casino faster, barely slowing when someone got in his way.
    Zane pressed his lips together hard as they wound their way out of the room and out into the promenade. Ty wouldn’t sound so grim if it didn’t have to do with a death threat. Del sure was a target. Zane quickly angled Ty off into the next hallway, which was thankfully empty. “We can cut around the back way to the library and avoid the public areas. What’s going on?”
    Ty stopped and put his back to the nearest wall, looking over Zane’s shoulder first and then meeting Zane’s eyes. “I was sitting out on the deck watching the storm roll in,” he started in a low voice. “Armen found me out there. The short of it is that he hired Del to get close to Corbin, to spy on him. He came to me to make certain I was still up to the job. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t too attached to my mark,” he spat out.
    Zane swallowed on his surprise and cleared his throat. “He hired Del to spy on Corbin — on his own husband? And Del agreed to it? Jesus.” He set his hands on his hips. “Can this case get any more fucked up?”
    Ty closed his eyes in frustration. “Del is a merc, Zane,” he said through gritted teeth. “He’s not married to Corbin because he loves him. He married him because he was hired to seduce him. We have to contact Baltimore and let them know he’s dangerous.”
    Zane went absolutely cold as fury threatened. Yes, Corbin Porter was a thief, a thug, and an asshole. But no one should be taken in and played like that. Not with marriage. Zane forced himself to take even breaths and look Ty over. “You’re okay?” he checked, just in case. For all they knew, Del turned tricks for Vartan Armen too.
    “I’m pissed,” Ty answered emphatically. Whether he was angry for the same reason as Zane was anyone’s guess, though. “And I’m worried that if Del is able to contact Armen, our cover will be blown all to hell. Which is why we need to get to a computer.”
    “Let’s go. If Del turned on Corbin, he might have weaseled his way out of custody,” Zane said as he turned to lead the way to the satellite Internet terminals in the library. Then a thought occurred and he stopped still. “Is it possible Armen was playing you? Trying to make you flip cover? That he already knows?”
    “Anything’s possible at this point,” Ty muttered unhappily. “I played it as straight as I could.”
    “I know you did,” Zane said, already trying to think of contingency plans. “Come on.”
    They were in the library in under ten minutes, and Zane sat down at one of the terminals in the back. He quickly logged in, paid for the account time, and launched an anonymous browser session, and within a couple of minutes had gotten through the umpteen layers of encrypted and password-protected server gateways to launch a secure e-mail on the Bureau’s extended system.
    As soon as the e-mail was sent off, Ty leaned over the computer desk and banged his head on the table. The little white ball on the tip of his Santa hat flopped over disconsolately. “That’s the most