Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

of breath and sounding quite contrite. “This is Agent Grady.”
    “Hey, doll,” Zane said, lips curving into a smile just at hearing Ty’s voice.
    “Zane? Thank God. I knew I was going to get written up for that.”
    Zane laughed. “Having a rough night?”
    “I’ve had worse.”
    “A ferret, huh? Well, I was close.”
    “Not as close as I was. How’s your dad?”
    Zane sighed. “He’s all right. They’ve got him in a regular room now. Talking about sending him home in a few days.”
    “That’s good. How are you?”
    Zane considered how to answer that, though the pause told more of the truth than any words he could speak. “More tired than I should be.”
    “I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do,” Ty said in the whispered, intimate tone Zane had been so desperate to hear.
    “Got a few minutes to talk to me?”
    “Yeah, give me one second.” Ty said good-bye to whoever else had been involved in the business with the ferret, and a moment later Zane could hear traffic and a breeze brushing over the speaker of Ty’s phone. He’d obviously been at a bar, been assaulted by a ferret, and was now walking home. It was a typical night for Ty. “I’m all yours.”
    Zane hummed. “That’s nice to hear.” He rubbed one hand over his face. “Listen, the situation down here appears to be a little more . . . complex than I first thought.”
    “How so?”
    “They’re saying that Dad getting shot was a byproduct of trespassers, but I’m not buying it. Something feels . . . weird.”
    “Like, ‘our job’ weird, or ‘you’re in Texas’ weird?”
    “Both?”
    “Tell me.”
    “Dad says he was out riding on the far end of the property and came across trespassers near the old pump house. They took a few potshots and got lucky as they drove off.”
    “Jesus.”
    “The thing is, there’s nothing near that old pump house. No reason for anyone to be there. I can’t figure it out.”
    “So, what, you’re calling in Jim Bowie and Sam Houston to clear shit up?”
    Zane laughed despite the gravity of the situation. “I’m going to make some calls, yes, but I spoke with the sheriff this afternoon. He told me this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Dad’s reported it before.”
    “Kind of far from the border for the usual stuff, aren’t you?”
    “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t make it this far. Could be drugs, could be sex trade, could be horses.”
    “If the next option is sex with horses, I need you to stop right there.”
    “We’re not in that part of Texas.”
    “I bet you look hot in the hat though.”
    “Stop trying to distract me!”
    “I’m sorry,” Ty said, though he didn’t sound sincere.
    “As I was saying . . . Jesus, Ty, what was I saying?”
    “You’re not sleeping, are you?”
    “No.”
    “You want to stay and look into it, don’t you?”
    “Yeah,” Zane said with a sigh of relief. He should have known Ty would understand. “So that means I might be here a little while longer than I’d planned.”
    Ty didn’t say anything to that, but the silence spoke volumes about his disappointment. Zane could imagine his broad shoulders slumping as he walked. He wanted to reach through the phone and hug his partner, who was, for all intents and purposes, a large teddy bear with a gun.
    “Do you need anything from my end?” Ty finally asked.
    Zane could think of plenty, first and foremost being Ty himself. He didn’t say that, though, because he knew Ty couldn’t take time off work for Zane’s personal problems. “No, I think I’ve got it covered. I thought I might call and get a sanity check in the evenings.”
    “Call whenever you want. Mostly I’ve been in the office, trying to inflict a paper cut on myself serious enough to require medical leave.”
    Zane grinned. “Mac would just tell you to suck it up.”
    “Hence the many failed attempts at tripping on the rug at the entryway. The one time I managed it, I tucked and rolled and popped back up before I could think twice about it.”
    Zane laughed—the first real laugh he’d managed in days. It was hard to tell if Ty was serious or just playing with him, and that was one of the things Zane loved so much about him. Ty really was the type of guy who would ninja roll through the lobby of a government building and just keep walking as if nothing had happened.
    A door opened and closed, and Zane heard rustling as Ty took off his jacket and moved around the house. Ty whispered to