Cut & Run (4 page)

When Zane turned his gaze on the other agent, his eyes glinted dangerously. His voice was frigid. “I bet you get off on it.”

Ty smiled slowly, his eyes glittering mischievously. “If I did, would you change?” he asked.

Zane merely shook his head as if he felt sorry for the other man, deciding not to comment as he stood. The words on his tongue were certainly Cut & Run | 17

ungracious and unbecoming, and he couldn’t afford it being reported. Not that his would rival Ty’s behavior.

Ty shrugged and stretched to retrieve his satchel from the overhead bin. He didn’t say another word as he followed the short line to the front of the plane and the exit. The stewardess stood there, smiling and saying goodbye to each passenger, and when Ty came up to her he grinned widely and nodded at her cheekily.

“You have a nice stay in New York, sir,” she said to him as she reached out and took his hand, discreetly pressing a piece of paper into his palm.

“Oh, it’s getting nicer already,” Ty responded brightly as he lingered there for a moment, looking her over rakishly, and then moved on to the exit.

“And just how is your image supposed to represent the Bureau better than mine?” Zane asked under his breath as they walked toward the concourse.

“It’s not,” Ty answered over his shoulder. “That’s the whole damn point, Shuffleboard.”

With his long legs, Zane easily caught up to walk alongside him. “So why the hell work for the Bureau at all if you don’t give a damn?”

“’Cause I ain’t in it for the status,” Ty answered blithely.

Zane stopped in his tracks, looking at Ty’s back with real hatred. The implication that the glory was Zane’s reason for working at the Bureau was way the hell over the line. He watched him walk away and seriously, seriously considered calling Burns and accepting whatever fucking demotion it would take to not have to deal with this bastard. His temper was already roiling, and that was not good. Not good at all. His hand clenched on his briefcase for a long moment as he stamped down on the anger, watching Ty walk toward the exit.

Ty knew Zane had fallen away, but he didn’t stop walking. If the dickhead wanted to sulk his way into being late for their meeting, that was his business. Ty was looking out for Number One. As always.

He also had a slightly more personal interest in this particular case.

Zane finally exited the main terminal and stepped out into the cool air as Ty was climbing into a black government Tahoe. Within a minute, he was seated inside as well, and the truck left the curb and pulled out into the airport traffic.

18 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty slumped in the backseat, trying to shake off the grogginess and think up new ways to annoy his new partner. He looked at the driver in the rearview mirror, seeing brown eyes and high cheekbones and short, curly hair.

This guy was too pretty to be an agent. And he looked like he was about fifteen. The light-haired man in the passenger seat looked even younger.

“What are you two, the Hardy Boys?” he asked them with a huff.

Eyes flickering forward, Zane took in the two agents in front of them and frowned.

“That’s very clever of you, sir,” the driver responded dryly without taking his eyes off the road. “I could point out that we’re too young to know who the Hardy Boys are and make you feel very old,” he added as his brown eyes glanced to the rearview mirror and looked back at Ty. “But I would never do that, sir.”

Zane’s lips twitched, but he didn’t comment. His eyes displayed his amusement as he glanced a little more carefully over the two young men.

They were both very young, but Zane knew that experienced agents were practically being churned out of preschools these days.

“Welcome to New York, Special Agent Garrett, Special Agent Grady,” the passenger greeted as he turned slightly in his seat. “I’m Agent Mark Morrison, this is Agent Tim Henninger,” he went on. His voice changed slightly to add a hint of sarcasm. “We’re the lollipop boys sent to take care of you.”

Ty narrowed his eyes and examined Morrison and then Henninger slowly. He turned his head and glanced at Zane critically. “I think that was supposed to be a cultural reference of some sort,” he explained to his partner.

“I don’t get it,” he huffed.

Zane snorted. “Big surprise,” he murmured, almost under his breath.

Morrison leaned around the seat to look back at them. “We’ll be your escorts and New York Field Office contacts while you’re here. We’re on the way to the office now to meet the Special Agent in Charge. Can we stop anywhere on the way? Food? Drink?”

“What, you didn’t pack your lunch?” Ty asked sarcastically as he shifted around in the seat and wedged himself against the door. He kicked a foot up and propped it on the console between the two front seats.

“Sure, in my SpongeBob SquarePants lunch box. I have the thermos, too,” Morrison shot right back.

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Zane kept his mouth shut, eyes moving between the two men, and occasionally back to the driver, who was casually paying attention.

Ty stared at the kid and narrowed his eyes further. “Spongewhat?” he asked flatly.

Zane didn’t even try to hold back the chuckle when Morrison looked at Ty like he’d lost his mind.

“Spongewha … you’re yanking my chain, aren’t you?” Morrison said. “Henny, he’s yanking my chain.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what you getting for waving it in his face,” the driver answered reasonably.

“What the hell is a SpongeBob?” Ty asked Zane quietly in the backseat.

Zane turned his chin, taking a moment to gauge if Ty was serious and if he’d slam Zane for answering. “It’s a cartoon character popular recently,”

he answered, voice low. He could see the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror again, watching them.
Examining
them.

Ty stared at Zane incredulously for a moment and then looked away with a shake of his head.

“Perhaps you prefer Scooby Doo?” Henninger offered politely.

“More like the Dark Knight,” Zane muttered without thinking first.

Ty smirked and glanced over at the man. “Does that mean I can call you Robin from now on?” he asked with an amused glint in his eyes.

“That’s Boy Wonder to you,” Zane answered flatly, turning to look out the window as Morrison stared at them both.

“Ugh,” Ty grunted as he looked away again and propped his other foot up on the center console. “You’re too easy,” he grumbled disconsolately.

Zane barely restrained a snicker as Morrison blinked. The young agent looked at his partner. “Well, we got the right two guys,” he said grimly.

He turned to look back at the two older men suspiciously. “They told us this was your first time working together, and that you’d probably not be too fond of each other.”

“They were right,” Ty and Zane both answered, practically in unison.

“Shut up,” Ty huffed at him.

20 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

“GENTLEMEN, so glad you made it. Special Agent in Charge George McCarty. Nice to meet you both. Let’s get on with this, shall we?” the head of the New York Field Office greeted hurriedly without giving either of them a chance to respond in kind. He dropped a few files onto the table and adjusted his tie. “I trust you’re both familiar with the case? Good, then we can get on to your arrangements and right into it.”

Ty raised an eyebrow at the whirlwind tour and glanced at Zane. Not noticing, Zane flipped open his file where he had a list of notes and questions, waiting for McCarty to continue.

“As we all know, this case has claimed two of our own,” McCarty continued as he bent over the table and looked down at his file. “Which has made it of the highest priority. You’ll be working alongside the other leads, Special Agents Sears and Ross. They couldn’t be here this morning; they’re still in the process of interviewing the staff from the hotel where Special Agents Sanchez and Reilly were found,” he said tightly. He sighed briefly, as if the little speech were taking a lot out of him. “You’ll be given a car and a driver, if you want one. We have booked you two adjoining rooms at the Tribeca Grand. It’s within walking distance of the office here and has the highest security. All our records and resources are open to you, although I will tell you right now cooperation from your new teammates will likely be at a minimum despite my orders to work with you,” he told them candidly, making no secret of the field office’s bitter feelings toward anyone from outside being sent in to handle their cases. “Any questions?”

“You provided the contact list, right?” Zane asked.

“It’s all in the file,” McCarty answered with a nod. “Anything you need during the course of your investigation is at your disposal, including the team Special Agents Reilly and Sanchez were using. Anything else?”

“Have you found out how the killer knew where the agents were staying?” Ty asked as he turned in his seat and propped his feet up on the chair next to him.

The Special Agent in Charge turned to one of the men at his side.

“No,” Morrison answered as if obeying the silent cue. He was the shorter of the Hardy Boys, but wiry, with spiked blond hair and bright blue eyes. “We don’t believe it was an inside thing, though. We speculate he may have tailed them from one of the scenes.”

“Is Serena Scott in town? I’d like her opinions on the crime scenes,”

Zane asked in reference to New York’s head profiler.

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“We’ve not brought her in on this one. Yet,” Henninger answered.

Out of the truck, Zane could see the young agent was tall and lanky, and his short haircut couldn’t restrain the dark curls that had to be natural. “Did you want to meet with her personally?” he asked with an indiscernible look at Ty.

“Absolutely,” Zane answered firmly. “Her insight is invaluable, and some things just don’t translate from paper.”

“We’ll arrange the meeting ASAP,” the man assured him, looking again at Ty almost questioningly.

Zane glanced at Ty to see if he had anything to add. His new partner was kicked back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling idly, a slight curl of distaste on his lip.

“We won’t need the driver. Thank you, sir,” Zane said as he closed his file and stood.

“You need anything else, you just go through Agents Henninger or Morrison, here,” McCarty said with a gesture of his thumb over his shoulder at no one in particular. “They’ll get you anything you need,” he assured them as the Hardy Boys nodded.

There was a discreet knock on the boardroom door, and McCarty straightened up and called out a curt “Enter!”

The receptionist stuck her head through the door. “Sir, the Assistant Director on line four for you and Special Agents Grady and Garrett. He says it’s urgent.”

“Thank you, Denise,” McCarty grunted, and she withdrew silently.

McCarty watched the door until it clicked closed, and then he leaned forward and pressed a button on one of the units in the middle of the large boardroom table. “Richard,” he greeted.

“Good morning, George,” Dick Burns’ voice said clearly over the speakerphone. “I trust Grady and Garrett are there and already causing problems?”

“You always did take the safe bet,” McCarty responded wryly. “I must repeat my disapproval of this little operation, Richard. I just don’t believe one of my staff here is responsible for this madness.”

“I understand how difficult your position is, George,” Burns responded easily. “But unfortunately, Director Radshaw and I disagree.”

Behind McCarty, Henninger and Morrison both shifted uneasily and shared an indiscernible glance. Ty cocked his head, frowning slightly at the 22 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

speakerphone. He wasn’t liking the sound of this conversation, but he thought maybe he understood why they were here now. His sharp hazel eyes traveled up to observe McCarty curiously as the two men spoke over the phone.

McCarty sighed and looked up at Ty and Zane with narrowed eyes.

“They look slightly confused, Dick,” he told Burns with a hint of amusement.

“Gentlemen,” Burns said loudly over the phone. “I do apologize for not filling you in more completely while you were here, but the finer points were still being ironed out.”

“Finer points?” Zane asked, a bit peevish at being left out of the loop.

Ty rubbed his nose and squeezed his eyes closed. “Why do you always do this to me?” he asked plaintively.

“Because I dislike you quite a lot,” Burns told him in amusement.

“You
will
be working the Tri-State case,” he went on without waiting for a response. “You will appear, to the members of the New York team, to be inexperienced, inept, and lackadaisical. If you happen to stumble across any leads, then good for you.”

Ty glanced over at Zane and smirked, restraining himself from commenting. Zane was hard-pressed not to sneer back at him.

“On the periphery, and more importantly to your own assignment, you will be concentrating not on the serial murders, but on the deaths of Special Agents Reilly and Sanchez.”

“Because you suspect an inside job?” Zane inquired quietly.

“Precisely. We believe if we can uncover how the killer got to them, we’ll have him.”

“And our parameters for operating?” Ty asked eagerly as he sat forward, closer to the speakerphone.

“Don’t kill each other,” Burns ordered with a smile in his voice. “Any future questions, you come directly to me. George is to be left out of the loop on the off chance he needs to deny knowledge of your operations,” he added.

Ty and Zane both looked up at McCarty. The man did not look pleased, but it was obvious that he’d already had words with Burns regarding the plan.

“That will be all, gentlemen. Good luck,” Burns told them. “George, give my love to your girls,” he added before the line went dead.

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McCarty looked at the two agents sitting across from him and snorted. “Anything else?” he asked them with a raised eyebrow.

“No, sir,” Zane answered with a shake of his head.

McCarty merely nodded. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the mayor.” He grunted unhappily and swept out of the office, leaving Morrison and Henninger behind.