Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

sent you here like good little errand boys.”
    Zane leveled a look at Ty that would have crushed a lesser man, but Ty was immune. He also had no clue why Zane wanted to be such a hardass in front of this guy. The Batman types were the most fun to annoy.
    “We’re supposed to escort you to DC, Mr. Cross,” Zane said. “Anything beyond that is need-to-know.”
    “Someone must really have it in for you two.”
    Ty rolled his eyes. He half suspected the man was just trying to screw with them, but he knew Richard Burns well enough to think he probably had kept something from them. Ty was used to it. That was just the way Burns operated. Ty trusted him implicitly. He didn’t ask questions.
    “Look, O’Doul, I have the patience of a bouncy ball right now, so how about shutting your mouth and getting your friend in there to hurry the hell up?”
    “Ty,” Zane said in that quiet, calm-down voice that Ty hated.
    “Zane,” he responded in the same tone. He turned to Julian. “Get him out here. I don’t care if he’s packed.”
    “Cameron?” Julian called without taking his eyes off Ty. “The irritating one is getting more irritating.”
    “His name is Ty,” Cameron called back from behind the screen.
    Ty saw the big man give the entry to the bedroom a curious glance, as if wondering why he should care what their names were. Ty snorted at them both in annoyance. He glanced at Zane, raising one eyebrow and tilting his head toward Julian. They would have to restrain him before leaving. There was no way they could trust him. Ty was all for using Cameron to keep him under control, but they were damn sure tying Cross up and making sure he couldn’t do any damage either way.
    “He’s got five seconds,” Ty said as he looked at Zane for one more moment.
    “Cameron,” Julian called. “Unless you want the irritating one to help you pack, I suggest you hurry.”
    “He always do the heavy lifting for you, Cross?” Ty asked the man in a low, amused voice.
    “Yes, he does. Cooks and cleans too. Makes me feel more like a man,” Julian said without a hint of sarcasm. “Wanker.”
    “At least you’ll have someone to argue with,” Cameron said as he emerged with two bags, one on each shoulder, one of which Julian took as soon as Cameron stopped beside him.
    “I would prefer to shoot him, not argue with him,” Julian mumbled. He adjusted one of the straps and looked up at Ty and Zane, raising his chin. “I suppose you’ll be wanting to confiscate my weapon?”
    Ty glanced at Zane and smirked. “He’s got the stiff upper lip going now,” he said as he pulled his gun.
    “That would be the British,” Julian said.
    “Same thing,” Ty said, knowing it would upset an Irishman. He pointed his gun at Julian’s feet. “Guns on the couch. Mr. Jacobs, if you would please join my partner over here,” he said with a tilt of his head at Zane, mimicking Julian’s proper speech, “he’ll be kind enough to handcuff you again and frog-march you downstairs.”
    “Do you work at being this rude?” Cameron asked. Ty could hear Zane choking on what might have been a laugh.
    “I said please.”
    Zane was tamping down a smile as he took Cameron in hand and cuffed him. “Now, Mr. Cross,” Zane said, “I’m betting that you’re going to be quite willing to cooperate as long as we treat Mr. Jacobs well.”
    “Is not treating me well a possibility?” Cameron asked, his voice wavering as he kept his eyes on Julian.
    Julian shook his head as he looked at Cameron. He extracted the weapons hidden on his person and put them on the couch as he’d been told, continuing to keep his eyes on Cameron. They seemed to be communicating. Ty recognized the way one lover could speak to another without words. He cleared his throat and moved toward Julian with care.
    The man put his hands up behind his head, but something about him still made Ty wary. He could almost smell the capabilities of the man. He very carefully moved his hand up one of Julian’s arms and down the other, then slid the handcuffs onto one wrist and clicked them into place.
    “Those are some impressive cats,” he said as he holstered his gun and used both hands to secure Julian’s behind his back. “How long have you had them?”
    “As long as they can remember,” Julian answered without looking away from Cameron.
    Ty looked over the man’s shoulder at Zane and rolled his eyes. He snapped the other cuff down hard, then patted him down. He found a long