Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

down the stairs to the living room and stopped, looking
    around to find Shannon. She‟d given them a ride to Ty‟s house, since
    Zane‟s truck had been behind the cordoned-off safety line. They had
    decided they needed to get Ty home, away from the television cameras
    that seemed to love to torment him, where he could fall apart in peace.
    He found her sitting in an armchair, and Elaina was crashed out
    on the couch, so Zane moved to join them.
    “How is he?” Shannon asked dubiously. “I know how he felt
    about that truck.”
    Zane shook his head as he stripped out of his heavy sweatshirt
    before sitting down. “He‟s still in shock. Not pacing or ranting or
    anything else I would expect out of him. I‟m not sure which is better.”
    He glanced up to the ceiling. “He‟s supposed to be getting in the
    shower.”
    “Silent and still is not a good sign,” Shannon advised as she
    straightened and put her hands on her knees. She stood and glanced up
    at the ceiling as well. “You want a beer? I think we all deserve one
    after today,” she said quietly as she headed for the kitchen.
    “Dr Pepper is fine,” Zane said. “I was thinking about suggesting
    we order in some food. I want to keep an eye on him after the reaction
    he had to the painkillers.”
    “It‟s not the painkillers I‟m worried about. He talks about that
    truck like it‟s a person. He just lost his oldest friend out there.”
    “I know,” Zane said grimly.
    78 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “The pills will just make it worse. How many did he take,
    anyway?” Shannon asked as she rummaged in the refrigerator. She
    certainly behaved like she‟d been there before. Zane had to force
    himself not to wonder how long it had been. He‟d never heard Ty speak
    of her, and he‟d never seen her before.
    She let the door swing shut as she moved back toward Zane with
    a bottle of beer and a can of soda.
    “I didn‟t see him take the pill. After the shape he was in last
    night, I‟d say he took a whole one today, which makes me think I
    should smack him upside the head,” Zane rambled, accepting the Dr
    Pepper with a quiet thank-you as he thought about how sick Ty would
    be tomorrow.
    Shannon laughed at him quietly and sat down opposite him. “You
    two are funny,” she commented with a shake of her head.
    Zane blinked and focused on her, thinking back over what he‟d
    just said and deeming it safe. “Why do you say that?”
    “I mean, don‟t take offense or anything,” she said quickly,
    keeping her voice down as Elaina snored beside her. “You just don‟t
    take any of his bull. And seeing him today, he obviously trusts you. It‟s
    just… unusual to see him show that much real emotion around
    anyone.”
    Zane studied her for a long moment before relaxing back into the
    chair. “Well. We‟ve been through a lot together.”
    “So I hear,” she acknowledged with a slow nod. She licked her
    lower lip and looked down at the rug, tapping her finger on her beer
    bottle uneasily, as if she‟d run out of things to say and couldn‟t seem to
    decide on a safe new topic.
    Zane resisted the urge to smile. She wasn‟t a field agent; she was
    too easy to read. “And what have you heard?” he prompted, curious
    about her. “I‟m guessing you‟re assigned here at the Baltimore office,
    but I‟ve not seen you before today.” He gave her an honest grin. “I‟d
    have remembered.”
    Divide & Conquer | 79

    She snorted at him and smiled wryly. “You can‟t charm me,
    Agent Garrett,” she warned, pointing upward to where they could hear
    Ty moving around. “I‟ve been baptized by fire.”
    “Please, call me Zane,” he requested. He was starting to see why
    Ty had been drawn to her. Not only was she attractive, she was smart
    and straightforward.
    She smiled more and nodded in thanks, then looked down at her
    hands as she played with the peeling label of her beer. “I‟m an analyst
    focusing on the Middle East. That‟s how I met Ty. A couple years ago I
    needed a native speaker for a recording, and someone pointed me to
    him for help.”
    Zane continued to watch her. “Elaina told me you and Ty used to
    date.” He glanced up at the ceiling again as he heard the water turn on
    in the shower upstairs.
    She cleared her throat and nodded, gazing at her daughter before
    looking at Zane. “We were together for a few months. Nothing really
    serious, more….” She shrugged and shook her head, searching for the
    right