Cut and Run 5 - Armed and Dangerous

think I’m going to die, but it can be pinged remotely in case I go off grid and he needs to find me.”
    Zane was staring at him, wide-eyed.
    Ty shrugged and dropped the watch, raising his booted foot to stomp it. Julian grabbed his arm before he could bring his foot down.
    “Leave it. They may think it’s you lying dead on the floor and give us some extra time.”
    Ty nodded, and he spared one last glance for the watch on the expensive rug before he followed the others out.
    “Was it a special watch, Ty?” Cameron asked as they made their way down the back stairwell of the hotel.
    Ty shook his head, too troubled to answer. Burns was the only one who knew that tracking device was there. How had the CIA known to ping it?

    “M Y MAN just went offline,” Burns said, voice grim as he leaned against the desk and stared at the large screen on the wall.
    “What could do that?” Jonas asked as he stood to join Burns.
    “Well, he could have turned it off. But he wouldn’t, not when he’s in the wind like this. Something’s wrong.”
    “Can you turn it back on remotely?”
    Burns nodded and went to his computer. A few clicks later and the tracking device in Ty’s watch came back to life, the blue dot flickering before it gained strength. It was still in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It had been there for over twenty-four hours.
    “They haven’t moved,” Jonas observed, brow furrowed.
    “No,” Burns whispered. “He took the watch off.”
    Jonas turned, looking at him in alarm. “Why would he do that?”
    “He figured out that we weren’t the only ones using it.” Burns slammed his hand down on his desk.
    “How do you know that?”
    “Because I know how he thinks. Someone must have found them.”
    “We have no way of tracking them now.”
    “No.”
    “What’s the plan?” Jonas asked.
    “Their orders were to get Cross here to me. We have to trust them to do it.”
    “Richard, I don’t trust anyone that much.”
    Burns met his friend’s eyes and smiled. “Luckily, I do.”

Chapter 14

    T Y KNEW the names of the valet and the concierge, so it didn’t take anything for them to make it inside the swank Regatta building in downtown Philadelphia. They rode the elevator all the way to the eighteenth floor, to the penthouse suites. Instead of knocking on 1802, though, Ty pulled out a small lock picking set and bent toward the doorknob.
    “You could just knock,” Zane said as Ty fiddled with the lock.
    “Shh.” There was a click and Ty opened the door. “Let’s hope he hasn’t changed his code,” he said as he slipped in and disappeared.
    Zane sighed and turned to glance at Julian and Cameron. Both men had been quiet since leaving Gettysburg. They all had. Ty especially had been concerned about the watch he’d left behind, but Zane couldn’t decide if he felt guilty for having been the reason they’d been found or if there was something more troubling him. Knowing Ty, he felt guilty about something .
    It was clear now that someone very powerful did not want Julian Cross to get to Washington. Zane had to wonder why Burns hadn’t told them what they faced, but that was just how Burns worked.
    There was a small sound within the condo, a sweeping sound and a barely audible click. Zane had enough time to turn his head and peer through the doorway before he saw a shadowed figure moving inside. He moved to stand with his back against the hallway wall, next to the open door, chin turned to the side to watch for movement. It wasn’t that he was scared of who was inside—quite the opposite. He just knew the Gradys well. He didn’t want to get shot, smacked, or stabbed, accidentally or otherwise.
    There was silence for a few moments, and then a sudden shout, and the sound of a scuffle ensued.
    “Ow!” Ty cried out finally. “Deacon, it’s me!”
    When Zane peered around the doorframe, he could barely make out the scene in the dim light from the moon through the windows. Ty lay on the floor with his hands held out in front of his face, his younger brother standing over him wielding a wooden baseball bat, raised and ready to swing it down again. A sharp bark of laughter escaped before Zane could stifle it, and he leaned against the doorframe, chuckling.
    “Ty?” Deuce Grady said as he lowered his bat and looked down at his brother, who was still cowering on the floor. He looked over at the doorway and then back down at Ty. “What the hell, man? You have a key!”
    “Oh, Jesus.” Zane