Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

up at him, and his partner glanced at him before looking back at Ty.
    “We apologize for the necessity of the strip search. But it seems you have a reputation for… producing keys.”
    Ty shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, that’s not even the first one I’ve had this week,” he said, voice wry. He looked at Agent X and grinned widely. “It was the most fun, though, huh?”
    Agent Y blinked rapidly, as if trying to hide his reaction.
    Ty grinned and pointed two fingers at Agent X. “This guy, man. He likes it rough,” he said with a chuckle. He topped it with a suggestive wink at Agent X, pointing his thumb and pinky at himself and mouthing “call me.”
    “That’s enough,” Agent Y murmured. Ty enjoyed that the man was uncomfortable, probably more than he should have. “Your task was to retrieve and deliver a CIA asset by the name of Julian Cross, correct?”
    “No, no, you’ve got this all wrong. I was sent to get milk. I got 2 percent instead of skim and everything went ballistic. I mean you’d think I brought home soy milk or something!”
    “Special Agent Grady, you can drop the act now or you can do it next week.”
    “Next week’s no good for me. Do you have a calendar?”
    The two CIA agents sat stolid, staring at him.
    “Wow. Tough crowd.” Ty hummed and looked down at his hands, beginning the tune to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
    “Special Agent Grady, the sooner you answer our questions, the sooner you go home.”
    Ty stopped humming only to let it turn into a whistle.
    The two agents waited for a few more moments, then stood and exited, closing the door behind them with an echo of finality.
    Ty couldn’t help the shiver that ran up his spine, but he looked up at the mirror with a grin, the hum turned into muttered words, and soon he was singing. He mangled the lyrics to the chorus, though, replacing the word “hallelujah” with “paranoia” and making up his own words to the rest of the song.
    He hadn’t finished the song before the door opened again. He glanced at the newcomer, relief washing over him. “Am I glad to see you,” he told Richard Burns.
    “Yes, well, I wish I could say the same,” Burns growled as he tossed a pair of handcuff keys on the table. They slid past Ty’s fingers, just out of reach. Ty tried to reach them with the tip of one finger as Burns sat opposite him.
    “That’s so unnecessary,” Ty mumbled as he continued to try and reach the keys.
    Burns sat snickering at him for a few moments before he finally took pity on him and reached out to cut through the zip tie and unlock the handcuffs. He handed Ty the keys so he could release his feet.
    “Everything’s settled down?” Ty asked as he ducked under the table.
    “That depends. The CIA currently has in its custody two FBI agents and one Boston police detective who is demanding they pay for the damage to his boat.”
    “He’s okay?”
    Burns nodded. “Emptied a double-barreled shotgun at a couple of Company lackeys, and then they arrested him. He spent all night claiming he thought they were the Men in Black coming to scan his brain.”
    Ty bit his lip so he wouldn’t laugh.
    “They returned him to his boat this morning, and he’s on his way home. Safe.”
    Ty breathed a sigh of relief at that.
    “Julian Cross is responsible for the deaths of half a dozen CIA agents.”
    Ty nodded, pressing his lips tightly together. It was true that every man who’d lost his life had fallen to the hands of Julian Cross. “That’s unfortunate. It was self-defense, though, he thought they were trying to kill us.”
    “We’re aware of that, Ty, but here’s the problem the Company has right now. It seems the man you brought in was not, in fact, Julian Cross.”
    “No?” Ty asked, feigning surprise as he sat back up and doing it badly just to annoy his superior. “Huh. That’s weird.”
    Burns hummed, meeting Ty’s eyes and trying not to smile. “You want the CIA to believe that you mistook your partner for your prisoner, handcuffed him, and delivered him to Langley?”
    Ty shrugged. “I mean… he grew a beard. It was an honest mistake.”
    Burns nodded. “Fair enough.”
    Ty stared at him, waiting for the other shoe to drop. A man appeared at the doorway, all clean-cut and dashing and looking official with his badge and gun. Ty looked Preston up and down in surprise.
    “They’ve changed my code name to avoid further confusion,” Preston said with a smile. “Thank you for