Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban, Abigail Roux Read Free Book Online Page B

him just fine. He didn’t want to be within ten feet of the fucker if he didn’t have to be. Arrogant priss. God, the man probably slept in his tie.
    Having separate rooms would work well if Ty intended to start into this the way he usually did. He wasn’t used to the normal channels and he did far better working a case from the underbelly rather than in conventional ways. He doubted Zane would go with him tonight, and he’d just as soon go on his own, anyway. He’d always been more comfortable slinking around in the shadows than waving his authority around.
    In a room down the hall, Zane Garrett sighed as he threw down his duffel bags and briefcase. He ran his hands through his hair and then stretched. He and Ty ended up several doors down from each other, but it wasn’t far enough as far as Zane was concerned.
    A hot shower sounded good, so he started stripping down. Next order of business was food, and then he’d go back to the office. He reminded himself that he’d at least need to call Ty and tell him where he was going. If they were real partners, they’d have stayed in the same room, but Zane sure as hell wasn’t going to suggest it. He wasn’t that masochistic.
    Pulling on comfortable worn jeans and a rust-red V-neck sweater after cleaning up, Zane picked up his holster, checking it all over before settling it comfortably on his shoulders and buckling it down. He checked the thin sheaths he wore just inside his wrists, then knelt down and strapped another sheath around his ankle. Completely armed, he felt better than he had all day. He hated airplanes. The security tended to get a little strident when you tried to take knives through checkpoints, even if you were a federal agent who always carried a gun.

    32 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    His canvas jacket went over that, and with a look in the mirror, he rolled his eyes. Ty would probably think he was trying to copy him, looking less stuffy and more street-worthy. Zane sighed at the mirror, then grabbed his wallet, cigarettes, lighter, and key card and headed down the hall to the other agent’s door for a quick check-in.
    Ty answered the curt knock in a towel, body still dripping wet and steam roiling out of the bathroom door behind him.
    Zane raised an eyebrow as his stomach flip-flopped in reaction.
    “Yeah. That’s real safe,” he commented, forcing his voice to sound wry.
    “What?” Ty asked with a tilt of his head.
    Zane looked significantly up and down Ty’s barely covered body.
    Ty looked down at himself and then back up at Zane with a sniff as he realized what Zane was blathering about. “I’m a lethal weapon, man,” he grunted. He turned and gave a wave over his shoulder, gesturing for him to come in.
    Zane would have snorted except he figured Ty wasn’t overstating all that much. There was no telling what Ty’s background was (although Zane had already discerned he was military of some sort) but he did indeed look capable. And fit. Very fit. Zane swallowed as he stepped inside and pushed the door shut behind him, leaving the odd feelings in the hall and withdrawing back into his professional persona for safety.
    “I figured you’d want to know if I wasn’t going to be home by curfew,” he said, sliding a hand into his jacket pocket.
    “I’m not your fucking keeper,” Ty grunted as he shucked the towel and reached for his briefs. He glanced back to see Zane’s hand in his pocket and tensed instinctively.
    Zane’s eyes narrowed, and he slowly pulled his hand free to let it fall limp at his side. His partner was obviously tenser than he let on. “I remind you of the ‘You’re coming with me, I don’t plan on losing another agent’
    comment,” he said mildly, once more strongly scolding himself inside for wanting to ogle—and grope—when he got a free show. He sighed inwardly.
    He always behaved these days. Maybe he was a pansy-ass now, just like Ty said. The thought made him slightly ill.
    “What you do in your free