Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

have to defend him,” Zane snarled. “Is that what you’ve done for twenty years? Defend Ty? You must be goddamned exhausted.”
    “Yeah, pretty much.” Nick reached out and took Zane’s arm. “Would you slow down? Jesus.”
    Zane stopped and turned to face him. Nick could tell he had about two seconds to make his case. “Look, I’m not stepping into this, okay? Whatever he said in there, it’s between you and him. But I knew Liam Bell. And if Ty says he’s out to get you, I believe him. Don’t go out there alone just because you’re pissed.”
    Zane rolled his eyes and huffed. Nick tightened his grip on Zane’s arm, hard enough that Zane looked down at it pointedly.
    “Imagine that you’re out there in this city, and Ty is hunting you down,” Nick said.
    Zane’s nostrils flared and his eyes darkened.
    “Now imagine him smarter. Faster. Imagine him more ruthless and with less to lose. Now imagine that Ty, and he wants revenge. I don’t know about you, man, but that scares the living hell out of me.”
    Zane swallowed hard. He looked mutinous for a moment, but then nodded. “I see your point.”
    “Will you let me go with you?”
    Zane grumbled and glanced down the hall at the door to their room.
    “Let me tail you, then,” Nick tried. “You’ll never know I was there and I’ll watch your six while you do whatever it is you need to do to cool down.”
    Zane laughed and finally wrenched his arm out of Nick’s grasp. “Just leave me alone, all right?”
    He stalked away before Nick could argue. Nick stood and watched Zane’s retreat for a few seconds, torn. He trusted Ty when he said Zane was the target, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t tag along with the man if Zane refused to let him. Zane would shake him easily, and in the end Zane was responsible for his own safety.
    He turned and headed back down the hall to knock on Ty’s door.
    Ty opened it almost immediately. Nick shook his head in answer to Ty’s questioning look.
    “Goddammit,” Ty spat. He ran his hands through his hair and paced into the room.
    Nick held the door open for Kelly and Digger, who’d been standing by, waiting to see what would happen next. Owen was long gone. They filed into Ty’s room, gathering around him.
    “What do we do?” Digger asked.
    Ty had his hands on his hips and his head lowered. He looked pale and drawn, and Nick could see he wasn’t running on all cylinders yet. But years of training forced them to look to him first.
    Ty shook his head. “I . . . I don’t know.”
    Nick watched him for a long moment, and when it became obvious Ty wasn’t pulling it together, Nick cleared his throat. “We can leave town. But I got a feeling Bell isn’t here ’cause he can’t find us at home. He’s here because he wants us all together. He wants us here. And he knew we’d be here.”
    Kelly shrugged. “I agree, but how?”
    “Sanchez,” Digger said. “He knew we’d get together for Sanchez’s birthday.”
    “Which means he also has the resources to know Eli is dead, and that Digger is confined to the state,” Ty murmured. “He’s either here on company business, or he’s using those resources and gone off the reservation.”
    “What does he have to do with the gris-gris bag?” Digger asked. “You really think he killed that girl last night?”
    Nick’s brow furrowed. Ty grimaced and shrugged.
    “Sneaking in as a maid and leaving towels on the bed is a little sloppy for Bell,” Kelly said.
    Ty held up a hand. “We’re running off the rails here.” He rubbed at his face, massaging between his eyes.
    “Why would he approach Zane first?” Digger asked. “He couldn’t know you’d find that note, or that Zane would tell you about meeting him. What’s his game?”
    “Everything is a game to him. It’s like chess.”
    “You don’t play chess,” Nick said.
    “Yes, thank you!” Ty barked.
    Nick shrugged.
    “We need to take care of this, right here, right now,” Ty said. “While we’re all together.”
    Nick nodded. He knew he wouldn’t feel safe heading back to Boston with a man like Liam holding a grudge. “What about Zane?”
    Ty hesitated, breathing faster. “I’ll send him home.”
    “Will he listen?” Kelly asked, looking dubious. “He’s pretty understandably pissed.”
    Nick snorted. “Ty. He’s not going to leave you here, in danger, even if he is pissed at you. Even I know him better than that.”
    Ty ran a hand over his eyes again. “You’re