Touch&Geaux (16 page)

Nick dragged both hands through his hair and turned

around again. “You missed center mass to help him escape,

and you’re the one who covered it up!”

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Zane stood, intending to try to calm the emotions he

could see brewing, but the movement stirred the room

instead. Ty stood with him, stepping toward Nick. But Nick

whirled around when he felt Ty behind him, grabbed Ty by

his shirt front, and slammed him into the wal .

“Hey!” Zane called, taking a step to intercede. Kelly

grabbed his arm and held him off, patting him on the chest

like he would to calm a dog.

Nick snarled in Ty’s face. “I swore under oath you had

nothing to do with it, Ty!”

“So did I,” Ty gritted out. He shoved at Nick’s chest,

forcing him to loosen his hold.

Kelly let Zane go. His voice was grim. “You helped a

traitor escape.”

Ty glanced around at everyone before meeting Nick’s eyes

again. He squared his shoulders and raised his head, preparing

for the worst. “Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

2000. Location classified.

“All this time!” Ty shouted as he stalked around the room.

He was too angry to be still. He gripped his gun so hard that

his knuckles were turning white.

“Tyler, I know you’re angry, but–”

“Angry? Liam! This is beyond angry!”

Liam nodded and took a step to the side.

“Stop moving!” Ty shouted. He raised his gun and

pointed it at Liam’s head.

Liam stopped and stared, meeting Ty’s eyes without

flinching. “Do you intend to shoot me, Ty?”

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“We’ve been looking for this mole for months,” Ty said

through gritted teeth.

“I’ve been right by your side.”

“You’re a traitor!”

“No, I’m not. Not to you,” Liam said, remaining calm in

the face of Ty’s growing rage. “And not to them.”

Ty shook his head.

“I’ve never betrayed you, mate. I’m just doing my job.”

“So am I.”

“If you’ll let me explain.”

Ty growled, his grip tightening on the gun. “I don’t want

to fucking hear it, I’m tired of spy games.”

“That’s funny, Ty, because you’re one of the best players

I’ve ever seen.”

“Likewise,” Ty snarled.

Liam nodded, taking a harsh breath.

Ty could barely look the man in the eye, and he lowered

his gun for fear of shooting him in the face just to wipe that

wounded look off it. “Fine. Explain. Do it quickly.”

“I was planted here by the NIA.”

“The NIA? Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Tyler, I think you’re anything but.”

“NIA is a toothless old aunt in the CIA’s basement. They

don’t get involved in this shit.”

“They didn’t. They’re being militarized. Dipping into

military personnel who already have the access to build their

stable. The NIA pulled me from SAS and recruited me for

military ops they couldn’t get their own people into. I know

you know about this, because they tried to pull you too.”

Ty gritted his teeth, fighting not to react to that

knowledge. Chas Turner had tried for months to recruit

him for the National Intelligence Agency’s first wave of dark

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military ops, but Ty never bit. He’d worked a few missions

and become a valuable piece of artillery, but he took his orders

from the Marine Corps, not suits at the NIA.

“They put me here to feed false information to the

opposition.”

“Why you?” Ty demanded.

Liam licked his lips. “I have family in Russia. They created

a KGB past that could be exploited, and waited for someone

to find it and contact me.”

“That’s weak, Liam.”

“It worked nonetheless. I’ve been transmitting false

information for months. I’m not your enemy.”

The gun lowered as Ty stared at the SAS sergeant he’d

called his friend and lover for the past few months.

“Every day you’ve looked me in the fucking eye and lied

to me.”

“I never lied.”

“Bullshit!” Ty raised the gun again and jabbed it at Liam

in utter frustration.

“Stubborn wanker! Listen to me. Life isn’t black and

white! You know that better than anyone. I’m not the bad

guy here.”

Ty realized he was nearly hyperventilating. He was so

livid the edges of his vision were beginning to blur.

Liam continued talking, voice soft and low, like a man

trying to calm a wild animal. He’d done it before to Ty,

soothing him and coaxing him back to sanity.

“Now listen, I need your help. Word has to get out the

spy’s been rooted out and eliminated, or the insurgent forces

will try to extract me. I don’t know about you, but I don’t

fancy that sort of homecoming. If they can’t extract me and

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they don’t hear of my death, they’ll know all those messages

were fake. It will cost lives. Many lives.”

“You’re asking me not to turn you in?”

“No. I’m asking you to come with me.”

“Come with you?”

“I have to fake my death, I’ve known that all along. It was

always the only exit strategy. But then you came along and . . .”

He licked his lips, wincing. He sighed and flopped his hands.

“I’m in love with you, Ty.”

Ty took an involuntary step back, gaping and grasping for

words, and nearly tripped over a pair of boots. Liam followed

and Ty raised the gun again in unsteady hands.

Liam noticed the tremble and shook his head. “I need you

steady tonight, darling.”

“No.”

“Help me die tonight. Then you can come with me, we’ll

start over somewhere.”

Ty shook his head, at a loss for words.

“I’m offering you a chance at a life without orders, without

rules, without being 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.”

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“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.”

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“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.

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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 mouthed the word, “Please.”

Ty’s hand settled on his gun. His body was cold all over

and his hand shook. There was no way he could take that shot.

He’d miss the target and kill him.

Liam sneered and peered at Ty with icy blue eyes. He

drew his gun. Shock and alarm rippled through the soldiers

and Marines as Liam aimed at Ty. “I’ll shoot you, Tyler,” Liam

murmured.

Ty went cold, seeing the truth in the man’s eyes, and yet he

still couldn’t pull his own weapon. If he had to die, he wanted

someone worthy to take the kill shot.

Liam fired and the bullet caught Ty in the left shoulder.

He cried out and stumbled back, fighting past the shock to

realize that if he didn’t shoot Liam, someone else in the room

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would. He pulled his service pistol, not taking the time to

think, not letting his nerves overtake his hands, and put two

rounds in Liam’s chest.

“You shot him because he asked you to?” Zane asked.

Nick released Ty’s shirt and backed away. They all gaped

at Ty.“Technically, I shot him because he shot me.” Ty pressed

his back against the wal . He was breathing hard, like he

expected one of them to come at him again. He looked

cornered.

Zane knew what happened to Ty, and to the people

around him, when he was cornered. He moved forward,

brushing past Nick. “You need to sit down,” he said under his

breath.

Ty nodded, taking a deep breath. He locked eyes with

Zane, refusing to look away as Zane placed a hand on his

shoulder.

“If he asked you to shoot him, why would he be here for

revenge? Why are you scared?” Owen asked.

Ty cleared his throat, taking a step toward the bed and

then reversing and pacing past Zane. He met Zane’s eyes

again briefly, then turned back to the bed.

Nick caught him by the arm to stop him. “Answer him.”

Ty took another deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“For what?” Nick demanded.

Ty cleared his throat and glanced around the room. He

gently pulled his arm out of Nick’s grasp. He sat down hard.

“Liam is the reason Sidewinder was discharged.”

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A chorus of questions and complaints arose, but all Zane

could do was watch the line of Ty’s shoulders as he leaned

forward and rested his face in his hands. He suddenly looked

like a man who’d been carrying a great weight, and Zane knew

there were other secrets Ty carried, secrets as big as this one.

Secrets that weighed on him in ways no one could understand

by merely looking at his façade.

Nick took a step into the center of the room, raising his