Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

think, Ty?” Annie asked. “Are you two good enough to compete?”
    Zane tried not to smile too much as he glanced at his partner. They had no idea what he and Ty were capable of. Zane almost wanted to see Ty show them all what he could do.
    “I don’t know, we do okay,” Ty answered with a careless shrug. He took another drink of his beer, then glanced over at the large area they’d cleared for the shooting gallery. “Trick shots don’t usually have much to do with how good a shot you are.”
    Marissa leaned forward. She was sitting on Cody’s lap, and they’d been whispering and flirting for most of the day. “Why do you say that? I’ve been watching this stuff all my life, and it’s always the best shots who win.”
    Ty shook his head. “It doesn’t just take shooting straight. It takes practice. It’s kind of like playing mini golf; they’re more like puzzles than pure tests of ability. Same guy who can hit a moving target at a hundred yards can’t always hit a penny on a fence post with a mirror. And a dude who can shoot the fluffy part off a toothpick at thirty yards while he’s hanging upside down by his balls might not hit a moving truck if it was trying to run him over.”
    That drew a round of laughs, and Zane shook his head as he drank from his water bottle. It was hot, hotter than he remembered from his youth. He could feel the sweat making its way through his shirt. Ty had one of his Buffs around his forehead, sitting under his hat, and another around his wrist that he used periodically to wipe the sweat away from anywhere that needed. Zane imagined it was a system he’d created while in the Corps.
    “You get a lot of target practice working for the FBI?” Cody asked. “I didn’t even think to ask if you carry normally or if it’s just been since you came to Texas.”
    “Not exactly target practice,” Zane said under his breath. He ran his water bottle over his forehead.
    Ty shot him a grin and emptied his beer. “Nothing too exciting,” he answered, tongue-in-cheek. “But yeah, we carry all the time.”
    Cody nodded.
    “I think you should enter, Z. Someone from the family should,” Annie said.
    “Since when is Mark not family?” Zane asked.
    “Jackass,” Mark said with a snort. “You know she means a blood relative.”
    “You’ll have to talk to Mother about that,” Zane said, trying not to sound bitter and failing.
    “Come on, Zane,” Annie whispered. Zane shrugged.
    “How about it, Grady?” Mark said. “We’ll all enter, see who’s held onto their skills.”
    Zane glanced between them, not sure why Mark would warn him about Ty being unstable and dangerous and then try to get Ty to enter a shooting contest. Perhaps it was just a little too much testosterone for his brother-in-law to handle. Or maybe Mark was trying to find a reason to have a loaded gun pointed at Ty’s head.
    Ty glanced at Zane and gave a lazy shrug. “I got three beers in me, no way I should be trick shooting.”
    Mark laughed and threw back the rest of his beer.
    The sheriff walked up to their table as they talked, tipping his hat when they all looked at him.
    “Sheriff Barnes,” Zane with a smile. “Any news for us?”
    “Some,” the man said, as unflappable and unreadable as ever. “We found the vet practice the tranquilizers were stolen from.”
    “That’s great!” Annie said. She sat forward in her chair.
    “Yes, ma’am. Unfortunately, it was yours.”
    “What?” Her smile morphed into a horrified gape.
    Zane glanced at his sister, then he met Ty’s eyes. Ty was looking at the table, probably trying to observe Mark’s reaction without being noticed. There was another point against him.
    “I reported it missing the other night when I was taking stock of everything,” Marissa admitted, looking mortified.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Annie asked.
    “I thought it was drug seekers, not tiger poachers!”
    “We’ll flag ’em down,” the sheriff said. He tipped his hat. “Y’all enjoy the party.”
    He sauntered away, leaving a pall over their little gathering.
    “What does that mean?” Annie finally asked.
    Ty and Zane shared a look, but neither was willing to answer.
    “Oh no,” Annie said.
    Zane glanced up, but Annie was peering past his shoulder at someone else approaching. Zane turned to find Stuart walking toward them.
    “Garrett,” Stuart said. He touched the brim of his hat with a finger and Zane stood to meet him. “I come to apologize to you