Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

could be. “No, you‟re
    right. We are … together. Not just at work. „Partner‟ just makes me
    think work first.”
    “Well, good-looking man like that, I‟d say you should think
    „together‟ first and „work‟ second.”
    Zane could hear the smile in Ryan‟s words. “That‟s good advice,”
    he agreed.
    “I know. Okay. All the cleanup‟s done, food‟s in the fridge. Is
    there anything else I can do to help?”
    Zane shook his head, still a little thrown. He‟d have to remember
    to tell Ty about this. Maybe he‟d drop his crusade against
    Chiapparelli‟s. “Thank you for helping with the mess.”
    “No problem. When you need more food, just call, and somebody
    will bring another package over or Ty can pick it up.” Ryan moved past
    him, toward the front door.
    “Hopefully it won‟t last that long,” Zane said as the door opened.
    “We‟ll keep our fingers crossed. Oh, I put the mail on the end of
    the island there. Take care, Zane.”
    The door shut before Zane got out another reply. Bemused, he
    slid onto a bar stool, then curiously reached out to pat the top of the bar.
    He occasionally got junk mail and circulars left on the steps out front or
    half-jammed under his door, and that was what the crumpled stack felt
    like. A couple of envelopes, one with no stamp, some single-sheet
    pieces of paper folded in halves or thirds, some large sheets of glossy
    paper with perforations. Zane set the stack back down to look at—to
    have Ty look at—later.
    Right now he needed a shower or he‟d smell like Florida‟s
    Natural the rest of the day.

    Divide & Conquer | 165

    “WHAT have you got?” Ty asked as he walked into the conference
    room where Scott Alston sat working over stacks of paper.
    “You‟re not on this one, Grady,” Alston answered seriously. “Go
    home.”
    “I went home.”
    “Yes, but then you came back.”
    “Who won the pool?” Ty asked as he shrugged Zane‟s leather
    jacket off.
    “Lassiter. Dammit,” Alston muttered. “I had you for four hours.”
    Ty snorted as he sat down across from the man to reach for the
    file he was working on. Alston pulled it away and taunted him with it,
    waving it just out of Ty‟s reach.
    “You‟re wearing each other‟s clothes now?” Alston asked wryly.
    “Long story,” Ty muttered. He gestured for the folder.
    “No,” Alston told him firmly. “Boss‟ orders, man.”
    “What?” Ty demanded.
    “They saw you on that newscast, they blew up your car, they
    blew up your partner. You cannot be involved in the investigation.”
    “Give me information or I start making a scene.”
    “Like that‟s new,” Alston muttered as he held the file protectively
    to his chest and reached for a phone in the center of the conference
    table. He picked it up and pressed a button, then said in a deep,
    mockingly serious voice, “I need backup, Conference Room 4.”
    It wasn‟t ten seconds later that Harry Lassiter and Fred Perrimore
    showed up at the door and looked in at Ty in amusement.
    “You need to go see McCoy,” Alston said neutrally.
    Ty pointed his finger at Alston and waved it threateningly. “Next
    time you get blown up, don‟t come whining to me.”
    Alston smirked crookedly at him. “Game next week is at seven,”
    he reminded as Ty stalked out of the office. “Don‟t forget you‟ll need a
    ride!”
    166 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “Kiss my ass, Alston,” Ty shot back over his shoulder as he made
    his way to the Special Agent in Charge‟s office.
    “You might as well come in, Grady. My trouble meter started
    dinging the minute you stepped in the building,” Dan McCoy said
    before Ty had even darkened his threshold. He sat behind his desk
    expectantly, smoothing his tie.
    Ty‟s jaw tightened as he bit back the response that immediately
    came to mind. He breathed out slowly through his nose, then calmly
    asked, “How long am I being kept out of the loop on this case?”
    “As I said, we‟re considering you a possible target,” McCoy said
    in his deep, gravelly voice, repeating what Alston had said. “You and
    Garrett were at both locations during the events. Now, I know it could
    just be coincidence,” he added, holding up a hand in a “wait” motion.
    “But until we know for sure, you‟re grounded.”
    “I‟m not asking to be part of the investigation,” Ty pointed out as
    he stepped into the office. “I just want to know what we‟ve found. Do
    we have suspects? Has forensics gone