Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

the tiger’s ear as he went. Barnum chuffed and threw his heavy body against the fence.
    Zane smirked. Either Ty was taking a page out of Deuce’s book and trying some exposure therapy, or he had just fallen hard for a tiger.

“I don’t understand what any of this has to do with tigers,” Beverly said as they sat around the dinner table. “And I certainly don’t understand why Mr. Grady needs to be here to offer wild theories.”
    “Mother . . .” Zane scowled. He’d known she’d be rude, but he hadn’t expected it to embarrass him. He met Ty’s eyes, and Ty smiled and winked at him.
    “Mother, you should have come with us today,” Annie said. “The sanctuary is beautiful. And Ty and Zane were like real FBI agents, flashing their badges and asking questions.”
    “We are real FBI agents,” Zane told her with a smirk.
    “You say potato . . .”
    Zane rolled his eyes.
    “So, two of their tigers are missing,” Harrison said as he cut into his steak. “And you think what I saw was someone stealing them.”
    “Yes, sir,” Ty and Zane said in unison.
    “Huh.”
    “Ridiculous,” Beverly hissed.
    Zane met Ty’s eyes across the table. It was an odd theory, but well within the realm of possibility. Exotic animals were a big trade.
    Ty nodded and gave Zane another smile. He seemed to have sensed that Zane was uncomfortable and embarrassed, and he kept trying to reassure him. He held Zane’s gaze for another few seconds, then looked down at his own plate. The cut of steak he’d been given was at least twenty-four ounces. It filled almost his entire plate.
    Ty pointed his knife at it. “You Texans really take your steak seriously, huh?”
    Everyone at the table stopped eating to stare at him. He glanced around and cleared his throat, smiling that self-conscious half-smile that made Zane want to do unseemly things to him.
    Ty poked his steak with his knife. “Did this one have a name, or . . . ?”
    “Ty, shut up and eat your steak,” Zane said with a smirk.
    Ty nodded and started in on it. After their initial burst of conversational effort, they ate the majority of the meal in silence. It wasn’t a comfortable one like the dinners in West Virginia.
    When most of their plates were empty, Mark put down his fork and asked, “So, what do we do?”
    “About what?” Zane asked through a mouthful of food.
    “About the cat thing. How do we handle it?”
    “Well, we could take it to the local authorities.” Ty shook his head, so Zane added, “But they’ll probably laugh at us at this point.”
    “We need more,” Ty agreed. “I’d like to go out to the spot and look around, see if we can get something solid. Check the ground for cave entrances.”
    Zane nodded.
    “What do cave entrances have to do with tigers?” Mark asked.
    “Not a damn thing.”
    Mark raised an eyebrow at Ty.
    “We’ll gather the boys and head out there tomorrow,” Harrison said.
    Beverly’s fork clattered to her plate. “Harrison, I forbid all of you to go rampaging over the ranch, wasting time that should be spent in more lucrative endeavors.”
    “Rein it in, Beverly,” Harrison said, calm as ever. He didn’t even look up, just kept eating.
    Beverly inhaled noisily and glanced at Ty as if it was all somehow his fault. Ty either didn’t see it, or he ignored it. The urge to defend his lover was getting stronger, but Zane pushed it down.
    “It won’t take but a few hours to ride out that way,” Harrison said. “We’ll take it easy.”
    “I’m sorry.” Ty looked up from what remained of his food. “Did you say ‘ride’?”
    Harrison nodded.
    “On a horse?”
    “What other kinds of things do you ride?” Zane asked.
    Ty glared at him. He licked his lips, and Zane had to look away before his body could react any further.
    Harrison either missed the double entendre, or he was ignoring it. “We’ll give you a trail horse, Ty, you’ll never know she’s there.”
    “Great.”
    “Well, I think Ty and I need to call it a night if we intend to ride tomorrow,” Zane said. He pulled his napkin out of his lap and set it on the table.
    Harrison nodded between bites of mashed potatoes. “Meet here for breakfast,” he said.
    “Don’t y’all want to go out with us tonight, Z?” Annie asked. Her eyes were shining like she knew Zane was counting the seconds before he could get Ty in bed. “Cody and Joe are coming, and I think Marissa and Jill said something about wanting to see you.”
    Zane glanced to