Divide & Conquer (43 page)

“So it"s over,” Zane said slowly.

McCoy raised one shoulder. “For now. This time.”

“I"m going to go get drunk,” Ty stated, pushing himself up out of his chair.

Zane stood as well, tapping the file folder on his other palm.

“You coming to the wake, Mac?”

“I"ll drop by,” McCoy said. “At least make an appearance and then bow out so the real drinking can begin. You two go on. And you, 284 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Garrett, have a drink yourself. That was a dumbshit thing to do, but you"re the hero of the hour.”

“Yeah, he"s a real fucking hero,” Ty grumbled as he walked out of the office, but Zane could hear the undertone of pride in his voice.

Then Zane grimaced. “I"m going to be on TV again, aren"t I,” he said, dread building.

“Running for the end zone,” McCoy confirmed. “We"re going to have a talk about your newfound popularity next week. But for now, go on. Get out of here. I"ll see you two later.”

“I"VE got Garrett"s first drink,” Perrimore announced as Zane walked into the pub the Bureau had taken over for the night. “He"s damn well earned it.” Applause broke out, and Zane felt his cheeks heat—he was glad he"d decided not to shave off the beard. He hadn"t planned to be a hero.

“He"s also our DD, so make it a Coke,” Clancy answered as she pulled Zane by the elbow around some tables to join the rest of the crew.

“Hell, I"ll buy whatever drinks Garrett wants all night if it means I don"t have to drive home,” Alston said, toasting Zane with his bottle of beer.

Zane shrugged out of his jacket and sat down next to Lassiter, who bumped their shoulders together companionably.

“Good one, Zane,” Lassiter said seriously, holding out his hand.

“Thanks, Harry,” Zane replied as he shook it.

“Where"s your partner, Garrett?” Alston asked.

“Went home to change,” Zane said, frowning a little. “I figured he"d beat me here. He was more than ready for a drink after this afternoon.”

“Amen to that,” Perrimore added as he set a tall glass bottle of Coke in front of Zane.

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Zane smiled his thanks. “They practically had to cuff him to a chair to keep him still long enough to debrief.”

Everyone who had ever tried to keep Ty focused on something in the office for more than an hour laughed, and the table dissolved into meaningless chatter. They talked about work, mostly, because to a group of FBI agents, there wasn"t much else, and because they"d all worked with Lydia Reeves in some way. But they also talked about softball, their kids, their spouses, their exes, the Ravens winning and the Orioles losing, about the weird smell that had been emanating from the third-floor supply room for a week now, and anything else that would fill the companionable silence.

They were on their second round when Alston sat up straighter and waved at someone who"d just come into the crowded bar. When Zane turned, he saw Ty making his way through the standing-room-only floor toward them. Ty smiled and nodded as he pardoned his way past people, sliding his hand down one woman"s arm as he squeezed by her, patting someone on the shoulder and smiling like he knew the guy as he slipped past.

He waved two fingers at the bartender he probably did know very well, since they were just a block or two from his house, and he stepped up to the table to put his arms around Alston and Clancy.

“What"d I miss?”

“You"re two rounds behind, Grady,” Alston announced.

“What took you so long?” Clancy asked practically on top of Alston"s words. “And why didn"t you keep the uniform on?”

Zane just watched his partner, again feeling the rush of thankfulness for being able to see. Ty was, as the cliché went, a sight for sore eyes, and Zane wished they were anywhere but a bar crowded with their friends and co-workers. He swallowed hard, feeling his pulse pick up as the same thoughts that had been racing in circles in his head the past few hours started right back up again.

He"d told Ty that he loved him, no ifs, ands, or buts. There was no going back now, and Zane wouldn"t if he had the chance. But damn, they
had
to call some kind of moratorium on important declarations during life-threatening situations.

286 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty gave them all his trademark crooked grin, either oblivious to Zane"s gaze on him or ignoring it like he often did when they were together in a crowd. “I had to change and take everything to the cleaners before the burnt smell settled in,” Ty told them just as the bartender called out his name.

Ty turned and stretched across the bar to take the two beers he"d ordered. He stood right there at the bar and gulped down one bottle as the others heckled him. He slammed the empty on the bar, nodded to the girl cheekily, and then brought his other bottle to the table with him.

He sat on the edge of Clancy"s stool, the two of them using each other as backrests. Ty"s knee brushed Zane"s as he settled in, and when Zane caught himself watching his partner, he was glad it was fairly dark in the pub"s interior but for the colored light of the beer signs and the several LCD TVs mounted on the walls.

Zane could see how very tired Ty was in every move he made, when he"d stare blankly at nothing and then shake it off, how he was so still. He"d been through the emotional wringer today, and the whole past week certainly hadn"t been a cakewalk. Zane was even more concerned now than he had been earlier.

When they"d spoken briefly before leaving the office, Zane had honestly thought Ty might drop on the spot, and he"d suggested they just skip the wake. But Ty had insisted he wanted to go, so Zane had relented. They"d stay until the party started to break up; then Zane would drive people home and take Ty home with him. Maybe now, finally, they"d be able to sleep one night in peace, without dreading the coming day. More than anything else, he wanted to hold Ty through the night and know he"d be there in the morning, safe and sound.

“We thought Mac locked you up somewhere,” Alston said. “They about had Garrett shackled to the table all evening for the debrief.”

Ty had his bottle to his mouth. He looked from Alston to Zane and nodded, still drinking. After he set the bottle down, he reached out and patted Zane"s knee. “My partner did all the heavy lifting. They didn"t have too many questions for me, just the basics. Do you like risking your life for your stupid partner, do you have suicidal tendencies, does the dark still make you piss yourself?”

Divide & Conquer | 287

“Oh, par for the course, then,” Perrimore egged.

Zane didn"t try to hold back the chuckle. “Now, now, Freddy, don"t get him all riled up when we finally get to relax.”

Ty just gave him a raspberry and continued drinking his beer, wearing a decent enough approximation of a smile. The whole table laughed, and Zane soaked in the unusual feeling of camaraderie as the group fell into casual talk again.

The chatter was interrupted when one of the assistant SAICs stood on a chair and yelled to get everyone"s attention. The whole pub calmed, and Dan McCoy stood up, drink in hand.

“Okay, I think everybody"s here who"s coming. It"s been an absolute hell of a day, more for some than others, and I want to tell you how proud I am that you all stuck with it through this mess. It would have been way too easy to knuckle under when the public turned on us and the bombs kept coming. But we all did our jobs, even when we knew we"d get nothing but shit for it.” McCoy lifted his bottle. “To Lydia Reeves, who died in the line of duty. God bless her memory.”

“Hear, hear,” Alston said, just loud enough for the table to catch.

Zane and the others echoed the sentiment as everyone raised their drinks in a toast to their fallen comrade.

A few moments of expectant silence later, the hairs on Zane"s arms rose as Ty began to sing the first few lines to “Amazing Grace.”

When he reached the second verse, no one joined in with him, all of them either too stunned or too entranced by his voice to do anything but listen as they mourned.

SUNLIGHT glowed buttery yellow as it beamed through the open curtains in Zane"s bedroom. His eyes just barely open, he sleepily admired the light, soaking it in, a quiet joy filling him simply because he could see it. He lay still in the mussed bed for long minutes, waking up slowly and savoring it.

Finally he yawned and shifted in the sheets, smiling despite the impressive array of aches and pains from the bruising all over his body.

288 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty hadn"t added to the bruises last night. They"d both been so tired that all they could do was strip and collapse into bed, where Ty had burrowed into Zane"s arms, wrapped around him like a limpet, and kissed him gently over and over between their whispers of achingly tender words that were so difficult to say in the light of day, until they"d drifted off to sleep.

Zane hummed and rolled to his back, reaching out for Ty only to feel cool sheets. Frowning, Zane sat up, and as the sheet pooled across his lap, he heard a soft crinkle. He picked up the sheet of paper and unfolded it to read two short lines written in Ty"s messy scrawl that brought Zane"s happy morning crashing down around him.

I’m sorry. Walls are closing in and I need to go.

Love you.

Armed & Dangerous |

Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Check out this exclusive sneak peek at the sequel to
Divide & Conquer
ARMED &

DANGEROUS

By Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

“WE SHOULD be getting close,” Zane said as the cab cut through the architectural jungle of downtown.

“How do you want to play it? Go in soft or heavy? Good cop, bad cop? Shoot first and ask questions later?” Ty asked with a hint of sarcastic amusement.

Zane shrugged. He slid his hand into his new jacket out of long habit to check his weapon. “Are you expecting trouble?”

“From this guy? Almost certainly,” Ty confirmed. “I"m also expecting him to not actually be at this address. If he was this easy to find, he wouldn"t be Batman.”

“If he"s there, it would be novel for it to go so smoothly,” Zane agreed, pulling on his gloves as the cab came to a stop in front of an old building converted into condos.

Ty checked his gun and got out as Zane paid the driver, who didn"t even blink at the weapons, and he clucked his tongue, trying his best not to smile as Zane joined him. Ty"d been told not long ago that he shouldn"t enjoy the almost-getting-killed part of his job as much as he did. Zane didn"t know who had said it, but Ty had been making a concerted effort ever since to hide his unholy glee during melees. It was still pretty clear to Zane, though.

Armed & Dangerous |

He surveyed the light traffic passing by on the side street. It was evening, and there weren"t many people out and about. Hopefully that would work in their favor.

“Ready?” he asked Ty.

Ty glanced up and down the street, then nodded and stepped up to the double glass doors of the building. They would have to be buzzed in, which never helped the element of surprise. Ty stared at the panel for a moment, obviously contemplating how to go about it. He glanced back at Zane and shrugged one shoulder, then pushed the number they"d been given.

After a short pause, the small speaker clicked. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jimbo!” Ty practically shouted, actually startling Zane.

Ty"s words slurred as he leaned toward the speaker. “Dude. You should not have left early tonight.”

There was a short pause. “I think you have the wrong apartment.”

“Come on, man, don"t be like that! I swear I didn"t know you were into her! I left my good pants on your couch. If I go in to work hungover in my boxers again, they"ll can me for sure,” Ty whined.

“Four strikes and you"re out, brother!” He bit his lip to keep from laughing as he turned his head away from the speaker box. Zane grinned and shook his head, covering his mouth and reminding himself that they were trained federal agents. Professionals. In theory.

“You"ve got the wrong apartment. There"s no Jimbo here.”

“Oh,” Ty drew out. “Shit, man, I"m sorry! Didn"t mean to go buzzing you so early in the morning.” The last glance at his watch had told Zane it was nearing seven in the evening. “But hey, do you know Jimmy, man? Could you grab my pants for me?”