Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

a pawn in someone else’s game.”
    “We’ve never been pawns.”
    “No? Your code name is Rook. Make no mistake, you are just a player in a game. As am I.”
    Ty stared, fighting to calm himself. Liam stood with his hands at his sides, nonthreatening and earnest.
    “Let’s run, Ty. Come with me. We’ll bury ourselves and start over. With nothing to do but lie on a beach all day and drink and fuck.”
    Ty couldn’t answer, still torn between shock and anger. “Yeah,” he finally sneered. “Drink and fuck and run from the NIA.”
    “You bloody stubborn bastard!” Liam shouted, his façade finally cracking. “I’m telling you right here, I love you! We have a chance to cut and run, and I want you to come with me!”
    “Liam,” Ty said as despair and uncertainty began to seep in.
    “Fine. You still want to serve? I’m game. Come with me to the NIA,” Liam tried. “We’d be unstoppable.”
    “How?”
    “We’ll shoot it out. You take me down, I’ll clip you in a leg, make you unfit for service in the Corps.”
    “I’m not going to shoot you! And you’re sure as shit not shooting me!”
    “I’ll get you with a knife then! Come with me, Ty.”
    Ty took in a shaky breath, not allowing himself to ponder the possibility or even be tempted to desert. “I can’t.”
    Liam’s mask broke, and Ty could see the pain in his clear blue eyes. He recognized it well because he’d been feeling it ever since he’d discovered that Liam had been using his clearance to transmit on the CB frequency the rebels were monitoring. Ty gritted his teeth. He’d thought Liam a traitor, and though he was relieved to be wrong, it seemed he would lose him anyway. For the first time, uncertainty began to gnaw its way into him.
    Liam shook it off, rallying faster than Ty had been able to. “If you don’t intend to go with me, will you still help me? Will you join me later?”
    “How?”
    Liam shook his head sadly, his hands still held out to his sides. “You have to shoot me. And it has to be out there, in the common areas, to make sure you’re not at risk and to get scuttlebutt going.”
    Ty shook his head, his voice harsh. “I can’t do that.”
    “You can.”
    “I can’t let you go like that.”
    Liam gave him a weak smile. “Oh, how I wish you meant that like it sounds, darling.” He took a step toward the door.
    “Stop moving.”
    “Make me, Ty.” Liam took another backward step and put his hand on the doorknob. “You and I both know you can’t take me down without a gun, and you won’t even shoot me when I ask you to.”
    Ty drew in a deep breath. “Liam. We’ll figure something else out. Please don’t go.”
    “Why not? Would you miss me?”
    Ty looked into his eyes and nodded jerkily. “Yes, I would.”
    “So tell me why I shouldn’t go.” They stared at each other. Liam took a step back. “Or better yet, come with me and tell me every night.”
    Ty’s heart pounded, the blood rushing through him and making him light-headed.
    “If you don’t follow and shoot me somewhere that looks like a kill shot, I’m going to go find someone else who will. Someone without your aim.”
    Ty narrowed his eyes.
    “You could be killing me if they miss.” Liam turned and disappeared around the corner.
    Ty holstered his gun and darted after the man, knowing Liam would do exactly what he’d threatened. He caught up to him in the canteen. It was crowded with troops, laughing and eating, playing pool and darts, relaxing after a long, trying day.
    “Sergeant Bell!” Ty shouted.
    Liam stopped on the other side of the room, turning to meet his eyes.
    The room gradually quieted, confused by their combative stances.
    Liam glanced around at their comrades in arms. Ty understood now that Liam had always intended to leave them, known forever to them as the spy among them who was shot and killed. They would never know what he’d done for their safety, what he’d sacrificed, and Liam had known that all along.
    Ty grew angrier as the confusion ebbed. Who the hell had the right to ask them to be like this? Who decided it was their job to sacrifice their lives?
    Liam looked at him expectantly, silently begging him to announce he was a traitor, to draw on him. A low murmur of confusion and amusement began to rumble through the room.
    Ty couldn’t get the words out. They stuck in his throat. His hand wouldn’t reach for his gun. He shook his head, unable to come through for Liam when he needed him most.
    Liam