Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

been
    caught and wasn‟t McCoy glad he was so good at his job so he didn‟t
    have to punish him?
    “Care to share?” McCoy asked drily.
    Ty looked around at the other people around the table and sighed
    heavily. Perrimore reached into his lap and grabbed the phone from
    him. Ty didn‟t try to resist; that would just have made them even more
    Divide & Conquer | 19

    curious. He‟d never been more thankful that he rarely put real names
    into his contacts list, though.
    Perrimore read the last message from Zane out loud, eyebrows
    raised. “Who‟s Lone Star?” he asked with a grin as he looked at the
    name Ty had stored in his phone. “And does she carry a whip?”
    “Everyone get out before my eyeballs explode,” McCoy ordered
    as he sat rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands.
    Ty snatched his phone from Perrimore and whapped him in the
    head as they stood to leave. Alston trailed behind them, laughing the
    entire way.

    ZANE looked up from the files he was stacking when he heard Ty‟s
    voice, low and wry and borderline aggrieved. A smile pulled at Zane‟s
    lips. There hadn‟t been a reply to his last message of a little less than
    ten minutes ago.
    “Hey, Garrett, have you met Grady‟s latest fling? She sounds like
    a real piece of work,” Alston said as they arrived, chuckling. “Probably
    has the key to his handcuffs pierced through her tongue.”
    That certainly wasn‟t what Zane expected to hear when they came
    back from the meeting. So that probably meant Ty had been caught. He
    didn‟t appear to have that “just outed by his co-workers” look about
    him, though, and Zane knew Ty nicknamed all his phone contacts, so
    he was relatively certain they were okay.
    “Getting texts at work again, partner?” Zane drawled as he looked
    over to see Ty.
    “Well, you know my type,” Ty responded with a saccharine smile
    as he passed Zane‟s desk. “No self-control and loads of mental issues.”
    He did sound exasperated, though.
    “That‟s never seemed to bother you,” Zane answered as he stood
    up and lifted his suit jacket off the back of his chair.
    Alston laughed and took off with a wave, not bothering to stick
    around to hear the banter the whole team had become used to. Clancy
    and Lassiter had departed half an hour ago, and Zane had seen
    20 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Perrimore detour toward the elevators as the group came back from the
    meeting. So once Alston disappeared down the hall, it was just Zane
    and Ty as Ty locked up his desk drawers.
    Ty glanced up at him darkly, and Zane grinned. Oh, he was so
    going to pay for his mischief tonight. The look in Ty‟s eyes promised
    as much.
    Ty looked around the nearly empty floor as he moved closer to
    Zane. He held his phone in his hand, overcoat draped over his arm. He
    stepped closer to Zane, his knuckles brushing against Zane‟s stomach
    as he held the coat between them.
    “Me scream for you, huh?” he asked in a low voice, his nearly
    green eyes raking across Zane‟s features.
    “Since you can‟t take the pun ishment,” Zane said, feeling himself
    warm a little under Ty‟s scrutiny.
    “One more, Garrett,” Ty warned as he raised one finger. “One
    more and we‟ll see who can go the longest in a cold bed.”
    Zane frowned and huffed quietly. “Fine. You, screaming,” he
    reminded. “I did offer to bring you dinner.”
    “Dinner later. My house. Bring clothes for the weekend, ‟cause
    you won‟t be making it home.” Ty didn‟t say another word, just turned
    and headed for the elevator at a stroll, shrugging into his overcoat as he
    went.
    Zane watched him go, enjoying the sight. “Score,” he said under
    his breath before he grabbed his phone and keys and hurried to follow.

    Divide & Conquer | 21

    Chapter Two

    IT TOOK skill to juggle a small duffel bag, a suit jacket, a large sack of
    hot food, and a key, especially when standing on a small concrete
    stoop. But Zane succeeded and pushed the door open with his foot.
    “No friendly fire, please,” he called out as he crossed the
    threshold.
    The main floor was silent and somewhat dark. Only one light was
    on downstairs, in the kitchen at the back of Ty‟s row house. Light
    streamed down from the upstairs, though, and Zane could hear Ty up
    there, talking with someone.
    “Hold on!” Ty shouted. Then his voice dropped back to a low
    murmur.
    Zane kicked the door shut behind him and flipped on a light
    switch with his elbow. He walked through