Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

law
    enforcement intend to do about these continuing threats?” the reporter
    asked hurriedly.
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    The man stopped at the last question, his head down, and the
    camera was briefly filled with his broad shoulders squaring and the face
    of his partner, who was looking at the reporter over one shoulder with
    narrowed eyes.
    Then the agent turned and looked the reporter up and down before
    turning his eyes directly into the camera. “Baltimore law enforcement
    is going to kick this threat in the ass,” he answered heatedly, his oddly
    colored eyes flashing angrily. He pointed one long finger at the camera,
    as if speaking directly to the bombers who had set Baltimore on its ear.
    “We‟re coming for you.”
    A nearby parent cheered, and several other parents, aquarium
    staff, and officers broke into spontaneous applause as the man‟s
    partner, who was failing to conceal a smile, steered him away with a
    hand on one shoulder.
    Video cut to the Baltimore police chief. “Of course we‟ll consider
    this threat as seriously—if not more so—than any others,” he said
    firmly. “Baltimore‟s children are our greatest treasure, and we‟ll be
    working closely with the FBI to find the perpetrator of this heinous
    hoax.”

    “„HEINOUS hoax‟? Who talks like that?” Special Agent Scott Alston
    complained.
    “Always attempt to avoid alliteration,” Ty said with a straight
    face. Alston barked a laugh.
    “You shut up,” McCoy snapped as he pointed a finger at Ty.
    The entire department was gathered in one of the auditorium-like
    lecture halls on the main floor of the field office late Saturday morning.
    People had still been filtering in as McCoy watched the tape of the
    news story from that morning again. He pulled at his hair as Ty
    appeared on camera, and Ty sank lower into his chair, hiding his face
    behind his hand and trying to make himself smaller. He knew he was in
    deep shit this time. But he would say it again if presented with the
    opportunity.
    42 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “And you, Garrett! You were right there! You should have known
    better than to let Grady talk to a reporter!” McCoy added from where
    he stood on the small stage, clearly working up an angry head of steam.
    Ty heard Zane draw in a breath, but nothing else. He turned his
    chin to see Zane sitting still, staring at McCoy, his lips pressed flat. Ty
    knew that meant his partner really wanted to say something but was
    stopping himself. Ty would have liked to have heard it. It wasn‟t often
    Zane let his temper loose.
    To Ty‟s surprise, it wasn‟t Zane who finally spoke. It wasn‟t even
    someone on his immediate team. A voice in the back piped in. “Sir, all
    due respect, but it was about time someone said it.”
    A rumbling of agreement passed around the lecture hall.
    “We‟ve been getting nothing but shit from the press and people
    out there since the fall,” Special Agent Fred Perrimore added, his deep
    voice easily carrying through the room. “Then today I drive in, and
    nobody threw water balloons at my car. They‟re still yelling that we
    should be doing something, but it‟s an improvement.”
    McCoy began to rub at the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes
    closed.
    Ty cleared his throat and sat straighter. He tended to think people
    needed someone to kick a little politically incorrect ass, and do it
    loudly, but he wasn‟t paid the big bucks to make those decisions. He
    was paid to kick ass quietly. “I‟m sorry, Mac,” he offered. “I shouldn‟t
    have said it, but… it can‟t make things any worse.”
    “It can make you a target, Grady!” McCoy shouted, obviously at
    the end of his rope.
    Zane finally spoke up. “No more than the rest of us,” he said
    evenly. “If they‟d known his name, they would have splashed it all over
    the broadcast.”
    “Do you have any idea how many calls we‟ve fielded asking who
    the two FBI agents at the aquarium were? It won‟t be hard to find out
    who you are, and they will eventually. For right now they‟re calling
    you „the Rider‟ and him „the Runner‟.”
    “Original,” Alston observed sarcastically with a glance at Ty.
    Divide & Conquer | 43

    “Catchy,” Ty responded with a nod.
    “Thought that reporter was gonna pass clean out when you rode
    up on that hog, Garrett. Good one,” Perrimore said with a light punch
    to Zane‟s bicep. “Must do you good with the ladies.”
    Zane just rolled his eyes as he sighed