Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

and shook his head. Ty
    smiled at him before he could stop himself. That Perrimore didn‟t know
    the Honda Valkyrie wasn‟t a Harley probably irritated Zane more than
    the fact he thought Zane used it to pick up girls.
    “One more word from the front row, and I will fire you all on the
    spot,” McCoy threatened. “Now. We have a speaker from Public
    Relations here to have a talk. You can all thank Special Agent Grady
    after it‟s over,” he announced to the room, then stalked off the stage
    and told the guest speaker to go on.
    The PR guy started by replaying the news broadcast for them.
    When Ty and Zane came on camera and Ty spoke this time, his finger
    pointing at the camera, the room of agents erupted into cheers, whistles,
    and applause. Ty sank lower and covered his face again so McCoy
    wouldn‟t see him smiling and fire him. He felt a nudge of a toe to his
    foot. A sideways look at his partner earned him an amused wink. Zane
    had told him last night that he agreed with what Ty had said and the
    delivery of the message, despite the fact that McCoy would blow a
    gasket. Zane‟s prediction had come to pass. There were gaskets galore
    this afternoon.
    “Now, while I must agree that Special Agent Grady‟s phrasing
    could have been more diplomatic,” the PR rep said, showing off his
    perfectly aligned, extra-bright white teeth, “I do have to say that the
    image being presented can only help us. People have been demanding
    action, and they‟ve just been given some big and bold action.”
    “Now that is what they should call us,” Ty said with a satisfied
    nod.
    “Oh Jesus,” Alston muttered.
    “And to be frank,” White Strips continued, “procedural and
    agency shows are all over TV and are big hits, and Grady and Garrett
    here looked just like the rogue agents do on TV.”
    44 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Zane choked on his sip of coffee, setting off a round of tittering
    and outright laughter.
    “Well,” Alston said, just loud enough for Ty and Zane to hear,
    “McCoy did say you two were pretty.”
    Ty reached over and flicked him on the tip of his nose. Alston
    laughed even as he turned his head away.
    “… and we estimate public opinion of the FBI rose as much as 8
    percent after the very first broadcast,” White Strips continued.
    “Ooh, so Garrett and Grady are sexy TV stars now,” Special
    Agent Michelle Clancy crowed as Zane talked over her, saying, “Those
    percentages don‟t mean anything.”
    “It means, Special Agent Garrett,” White Strips said with a
    smarmy smile, “that due to your sudden rise in popularity, you and
    your high-profile partner just earned another three months of
    community class duty.”
    “Oh son of a bitch!” Ty blurted out with a flurry of hand motions
    and stomp of one foot, sending another ripple of laughter through the
    entire conference room.
    “I didn‟t even say anything,” Zane objected.
    “Your bad-boy biker image did your speaking for you, Special
    Agent Garrett,” White Strips pointed out. “You should have thought of
    that before zooming however-many hundred feet down the pier on that
    motorcycle.”
    “Yeah, Garrett, next time curtail your hotness,” Ty sniped. He
    crossed his arms and slumped in his seat like a sulking child. More
    classes, more lectures, more dealing with people and being nice to
    them. He was going to go insane. “And do I get no credit at all for
    running the same distance in the same amount of time that he rode ?
    Come on!”
    There was a brief chorus of pandering, unsympathetic
    “awwwws,” followed by Alston drawling, “And why is it—”
    “We shop at the same grocery,” Zane said sweetly, cutting off
    whatever Alston was starting to spin out.
    Divide & Conquer | 45

    “Ty doesn‟t eat real food,” Alston observed with a frown.
    Ty waved him off.
    “Back to business,” White Strips insisted, picking up a stack of
    thick manuals and starting to pass them out. “Time for a general review
    of agency public-relations guidelines.”
    Ty groaned inwardly. He hoped the sudden support from his
    fellow agents would hold after being bitch-slapped with a regulations
    manual for the next hour. He doubted it.

    ZANE parked near the ambulance that sat to the side of the softball
    field and climbed out, leaving the truck running with the heater on. It
    only took him a few steps to get to the open back doors of the
    ambulance where Ty sat, looking awfully dejected. He wore a loose
    blue and gray