Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

you.”
    “I think people make their own fate.”
    Ty could think of nothing to say to the anger in Zane’s eyes.
    Zane glared at him for a moment. “This is cozy,” he said, sliding his hand along the doorjamb. “Nicer than my warehouse, that’s for sure.” He stepped inside. “Did you do this to the walls?”
    “Yeah. It’s The Three Musketeers . Mostly.”
    Zane’s brow furrowed as he stepped closer to the pages. “In French.”
    Ty shrugged. “It’s better that way.” Since Zane read novels in Spanish, Ty figured he’d understand.
    Zane had one hand in a pocket. “This place is . . .” He shook his head. “Gothic.”
    Ty nodded wistfully. “That’s part of what I loved about it.”
    “Yeah?” Zane moved a few steps closer. “Another new side to Ty Grady.”
    They faced each other, the silence heavy and tense.
    “I wonder what other sides I don’t know about,” Zane finally murmured, as if talking to himself.
    Ty swallowed hard. “Zane.”
    “What did you take with you when you left?” Zane asked. He turned away, unwilling to let Ty explain. “Anything? Or just the memories?”
    Ty scowled. “Just a book I carried with me. It had a cut-out in it with my real passport.”
    Zane’s jaw clenched, like he was physically holding back his emotions. “What did you miss most?”
    Ty frowned, confused by the questions, until he finally recognized what Zane was doing. This was how his partner interrogated suspects. He would start with that intense stare and then ask mundane questions to throw the suspect off. Then he’d ease out just enough to make it seem okay before he punched through to the real queries in a quiet, frightening voice. It was quite effective, and Ty had seen Zane break people no one else could get to talk.
    Ty chewed on his lip thoughtfully, trying to give Zane a real answer even as he dreaded the punch of the final question. “I missed the smell,” he finally decided.
    Most people would have taken that as a joke, but Zane would take it seriously. He’d been there, that somewhere you remembered by feel and scent more so than sight or sound. It was a visceral answer.
    “Why?” Ty asked when Zane didn’t respond.
    Zane slid his other hand into his pocket and shrugged. “No one ever asked me to remember the good things.”
    Ty sighed. He’d done things here he hadn’t necessarily been proud of. But for the most part, it had been two of the better years of his life. He remembered all of it fondly until the end. He knew Zane’s experience in Miami had been vastly different.
    They were still standing there, silent and uncomfortable, a few minutes later when Ava returned.
    “You find what you need?” she asked, her voice breaking the spell.
    Ty cleared his throat and shook his head. “Got distracted,” he said, surprised when his voice came out hoarse.
    “I called Shine. He wasn’t home. I can go out there, snoop around.”
    “No, I can’t let you do that,” Ty said.
    Ava smirked. “You won’t be letting me do anything.”
    Zane snorted. Ava looked him up and down, then whistled and shook her head. “Tyler does have a type.”
    “Okay,” Ty said loudly.
    She merely smiled at him. “I’ll go keep a lookout for your friends.” She turned away.
    Zane leaned sideways to watch her walk down the hall. “I like her.”
    Ty nodded, unable to say anything.
    “Is there anything else you want to tell me before the others get here?”
    Ty took in the rigid line of his shoulders, the tension in his jaw, and the hardness of his eyes. Zane had every right to be angry. The timing could have been better, but all of this mess was on Ty’s head.
    “I love you,” he said quietly.
    “That’s it?”
    Ty nodded.
    Zane met his eyes for a few seconds before turning away and disappearing down the hall.

“I would very much like to know what the hell is going on,” Kelly said.
    He was sitting across from Nick at the largest table in the place. Nick had his eyes on Liam, who was wandering around the edges of the barroom and refused to sit with the rest of them. Nick didn’t trust the man one bit, but he was willing to hear an explanation from someone before punches were thrown.
    The woman who’d let them in, Ava, had subsequently barred the door and disappeared behind a curtain. Nick could hear her moving back there, but he had no idea what she was doing, nor did he really care.
    Ty sat to Nick’s right, sedate and unusually flustered. And to Nick’s left sat Zane,