Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

little message icon in the corner of his phone‟s display began
    to blink, indicating he had yet another message. He hadn‟t even seen
    Ty move. Was it possible to schedule these texts ahead of time? That
    would take quite a bit of forethought, but it was just the kind of plot Ty
    would favor. Zane shifted around his stack of folders, took a drink of
    coffee, and checked the message.
    You know you want to laugh.
    Score one for Zane Garrett. He looked up slowly, face composed,
    raising one eyebrow.
    Ty was watching him. He winked when Zane met his eyes, but he
    wasn‟t fully smiling yet. He still wore that infuriating smirk. Instead of
    answering in any way, Zane sniffed and turned to his computer. That
    reaction would surely get another out of his partner. Besides, Zane was
    intrigued now to see what Ty would come up with that would be
    enough to get Zane to laugh despite his practiced control.
    He didn‟t have to wait long for Ty‟s next attempt. His phone lit
    up, and Zane was able to catch a glimpse of Ty reaching out to set his
    own phone on the desk. Zane deliberately waited a couple of minutes
    before turning in his chair to change out files and check the message.
    Did you hear about the guy downstairs who lost his left arm and
    left leg in a wreck? Hes all right now.
    Zane stared at the little screen really hard for a long moment
    before he was able to shake his head ever so slightly and turn away
    from the phone.
    He slowly looked around at the rest of the team, wondering how
    none of them had caught on. Did they really pay so little attention? Or
    was it that they weren‟t at all surprised to see Ty texting someone , and
    they just didn‟t connect him with his partner? Zane knew Ty received
    about half a dozen text messages from various people on a normal day,
    but Ty rarely checked them or responded when he was working.
    Zane deliberately shoved some files into his outbox and did not
    look in Ty‟s direction. He turned his attention to a conversation
    between Clancy and Perrimore about calling a judge for a search
    warrant, but he was hyperaware of his partner.
    Divide & Conquer | 13

    He heard Ty‟s chair squeak as he moved. Ty‟s chair always
    squeaked because he was so damn hard on the thing, always moving
    around and fidgeting. His chair stayed broken and noisy, just like his
    computer.
    Zane‟s phone lit up again, and he keyed it with his right hand
    while answering a question from Clancy.
    When she turned away, he finally glanced down at the phone.
    What do you call a monkey in a mine field? A baboom.
    He had to admit: that one was funny. This time Zane had to close
    his eyes to keep his reaction under control. When he opened them, he
    deliberately turned his chin to look right at Ty in an open challenge.
    Ty‟s feet were still propped up, and he was leaning one arm
    against his desk, fingers strategically covering his mouth as he shook
    silently. He was watching Zane, and his hand couldn‟t cover the smile
    lines around his sparking eyes or the slight dimples that formed when
    he laughed.
    Damn, Ty Grady was a fine-looking man. Even more so when he
    was relaxed and smiling.
    Zane didn‟t feel the urge to laugh anymore. Instead, he found his
    thoughts slightly more erotic, thinking about the man sitting several
    feet away and just exactly how fine-looking he was, both in and out of
    that suit. Zane pulled himself toward his desk in the rolling chair, just
    to get his lap under cover. Then he offered Ty an angelic smile.
    Ty shook his head and bit his lip to stop his silent laughter,
    though the dimples were still there as he grinned. Zane stared after him
    for a few moments, thinking about just how amazing it was when Ty
    smiled or laughed and his eyes lit up and the hard shell melted away
    from him.
    Ty waved his hand at Zane in apparent surrender as he turned his
    chair to face his own desk again, still shaking his head and laughing.
    Zane doubted that was the end of it and expected another text
    message within a few minutes, but Special Agent Scott Alston chose
    that moment to stand up.
    “Time to meet with McCoy,” he said to Ty and Perrimore.
    14 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “Have a good time, guys,” Clancy teased as she sipped at her
    melting smoothie.
    Ty stood with a decent amount of grumbling and fanfare, making
    a show of gathering his files and his suit coat and getting his gun out of
    its drawer to slide it into his holster. Zane tidied a file, set it aside,