Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

didn‟t know what to do to help
    him.
    He turned and headed for the door while Zane shrugged into his
    heavy woolen coat. Zane double-checked his wallet, badge, phone, and
    firearm, and followed Ty out.

    THE gravesite lay beneath a copse of giant oak trees. It would be well
    shaded in the summer, but for now the bare branches reached up to the
    heavily clouded sky. Green Mount was a beautiful cemetery of great
    historical significance, filled with monuments and mausoleums that lent
    a solemn air to that beauty. Even now, in the dead of winter, the grass
    was green and wet, shining dully against the uneven paths of gray
    pavers. Tombstones and statues too numerous to count stood vigil over
    the graves, marble and weathered rock figures that peopled the
    cemetery when no other living soul was present.
    The pallbearers moved silently into the crowd after carefully
    setting Lydia Reeves‟ flag-draped casket just so, and the minister began
    speaking. Zane noted distantly that the man had a good speaking voice;
    it carried out over the tidy gravesite to the family under the green
    awning as well as the crowd standing in small clusters amidst the other
    headstones and monuments. He estimated at least a hundred present,
    many from the Bureau, and then assorted friends and family who
    gathered closer to the family for the service. The press had been
    surprisingly considerate so far, not approaching the family or any
    attendees, standing to the side, only a couple of digital video cameras
    running silently.
    The minister didn‟t speak long. He nodded to a woman standing
    nearby, she read the twenty-third Psalm, and then the gathered lowered
    their heads for a final prayer. At the amen, the bagpipes, positioned
    discreetly to the far side of the crowd, wheezed to life, and Zane
    couldn‟t repress a shiver as the player began the traditional “Amazing
    Divide & Conquer | 269

    Grace.” Two servicemen in dress uniforms, agents Zane recognized
    from work, moved to lift and fold the American flag.
    Movement from Ty drew Zane‟s eyes, and when he glanced to his
    side at Ty, a sudden and unexpected thrill ran through him. Ty had
    come to attention, body taut in a smart salute. His jaw was tight and his
    eyes were unreadable, staring ahead from the shadow of his white
    cover. He stood straight and tall, every ounce of him perfect and rigid,
    the bright colors and harsh white of his uniform in sharp contrast to the
    washed-out sepia of the day. Zane didn‟t think he‟d ever seen anything
    more incredible and heart-wrenching than Ty right then. The bagpipes
    played on, a soundtrack to the very picture of self-sacrifice and loyalty.
    Zane‟s thoughts inexplicably landed on Elias Sanchez, a man
    he‟d never met, a member of Ty‟s Marine Recon team who had also
    joined the Bureau. Sanchez had died in the line of duty, murdered by a
    fellow agent turned serial killer. Sanchez would have had a funeral like
    this, with the honor guard and the gun salute, with men and women in
    pristine uniforms standing in silent respect for the dead. As Ty stood
    now. How many times had Ty done this, said goodbye to a fallen
    comrade in that uniform?
    Zane dropped his gaze, giving his partner what modicum of
    privacy was possible. He didn‟t need to continue staring. The sight
    would be forever burned in his memory.
    He blinked when movement from his far right caught his
    attention. He‟d been without his sight long enough that he was still
    overreacting to quick, unexpected movements. This was out of place,
    hurried, and he turned his chin to look.
    A young man, late teens, Zane suspected, with messily styled
    blond hair, was pushing his way through the crowd, obviously
    searching for someone in particular. The music covered any noise he
    was making. The kid stopped to speak to a woman, who looked around,
    made eye contact with Zane, and pointed right at him. Zane blinked as
    the kid made a beeline for him. He was fairly sure he‟d never seen the
    young man before.
    Zane was aware of a change in Ty, as if he‟d sensed Zane‟s
    attention, but he didn‟t move, still saluting the flag as it was folded.
    Zane glanced at him, then watched the kid fumble toward them.
    270 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    He walked right up to Zane like he knew him. Zane had to lean
    over a little to hear him over the bagpipes and the people who had
    started singing. “You have to get everyone out of here. Pierce is crazy,”
    the kid said, practically