Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1)(16)
Author: Abigail Roux

Zane slowly stirred his tea, eyes distant as he reviewed lists and lists of details in his head. “I don’t have anything concrete, but the state of the victims really catches my interest. He’s being creative. That’s unusual.”

“Aside from the tokens, the dye job is what’s getting me,” Ty returned with a nod. “I feel like I should know why he did it. Why dye a natural blonde jet-black, then take her dark-haired roommate and bleach her blonde?”

“Could be he was trying to switch them before he killed them, but they weren’t raped,” Zane said. “I’ll have to give it some thought. Chew on the details.”

“That’s what you’re doing now, genius,” Ty huffed.

“No, right now I’m just tossing stuff out. Working the details requires more concentration and less distraction.” Zane looked at him significantly.

Ty rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “You wanted to work together,” he reminded.

“When did I say that?” Zane asked quietly.

“It’s in the silent pleading in your eyes,” Ty answered sarcastically.

“What’s it going to be, Grady?” Zane asked, feeling very tired.

“Decide now, so we can get to work. Together or not?”

Ty looked at him thoughtfully and then smiled slowly. “Well, I’m quite enjoying you so far,” he answered.

Zane studied that smile for a long moment before scooting his chair back. “Ready to go?”

Ty reached for the empty bottle of Guinness and the flat Bud Light and tucked them under his jacket. “Ready,” he said cheerfully.

Frowning at the concealed beer, Zane stood and flipped a large bill from his wallet onto the table. He figured the rest of the night would be interesting. Ty was enjoying him so far. Well, whoop-dee-doo.

As soon as they hit the street, Ty extracted the beer and reached out and took hold of Zane’s elbow, pulling him to a halt. The taller man stopped and looked back at him, eyebrow raised in question. Ty raised the full bottle and sloshed the beer around, the scent wafting on the cool night breeze.

Zane blinked, and then he raised his chin sharply. “Hell, no.”

“You do it or I will,” Ty told him matter-of-factly.

Zane’s lips pressed together firmly on the simmering anger. There was no doubt in his mind that Ty would follow through. “Asshole,” he muttered, snatching the bottle from Ty’s hand. He knew why Ty wanted this; if they looked like cops they wouldn’t get close enough to ask a question. But that didn’t mean he liked it one little bit. Pouring the beer messily out into his left hand, he smeared the liquid on his shirt and throat, and up under his chin, like where a drunk would have dregs trailing. Wiping his hand off on his jeans, he stalked over to the nearest bin and threw the bottle into it so hard it shattered as it hit bottom. “Let’s go.”

Ty would never let the man know it, but the sacrifice earned him just a little bit of respect. He nodded and fell in beside Zane, beginning to whistle as he walked. As they got closer to the working girls, he began to sing softly, the words slightly slurred and off-key as he swung his empty beer bottle happily at his side.

After the fifth street corner, Zane and Ty found a girl who knew the second victim. It took a couple of C-notes to get her to talk in the alley where she usually worked, and they came out with nothing more than finding out that the victim had been from Oklahoma and had run from her abusive husband.

“Any reason she’d have some expensive sheets at home?” Ty asked the girl as she glanced around nervously.

“She ain’t made the money to buy things like that,” the girl answered as she kicked her platform heel against the pavement. “She ain’t nearly made the money to feed herself,” she added with a shrug.

Ty just nodded and looked her over carefully. She looked back at him defiantly, seeming to think he was contemplating taking her up on her services after all. Instead, he reached into his back pocket and took out three more bills and handed them to her. “Buy yourself a couple days off, huh?

Safer,” he grunted as he turned around and began making his way back down the alleyway.

Zane turned silently away as the girl stared at the money in her hands.

Stalking after Ty, he lit a cigarette and pulled the collar up on his jacket as the wind picked up. It just made him crankier, blowing the stale smell of the beer off his shirt into his face.

He nearly ran into Ty, who was standing and watching a couple walk slowly down the sidewalk, scowling impressively as they neared him.

“Looking for a date, sugar?” the woman asked Ty. The man with her snorted and shook his head, looking away and sighing.

“You look a little too official to be throwing out hooks,” Ty responded wryly. The woman smirked and nodded, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. “They tailed us,” Ty muttered as he turned to Zane and sneered.

Zane grimaced, his mood going even further south with yet more trampling on his nerves. He should have known the Bureau would go looking for them when they didn’t show up at their prearranged hotel room. Annoyed, he turned to the side, watching the area around them, leaving Ty to talk to the newcomers.

“Special Agent Marian Sears,” the woman introduced herself, showing her badge to them. Ty reached out and snagged it quickly, taking the woman’s arm and none too gently escorting her away from the alley. “And that’s Special Agent Gary Ross,” the woman continued, unfazed by the rude and slightly violent handling.

“Do you have any concept of how much you stand out?” Ty asked the woman conversationally, not even acknowledging the introductions. “Or how very much I hate you both already?”

“My feelings are hurt, they really are," Ross muttered as he followed along.

Sears extricated herself from Ty’s grip and stopped, turning to face him. “We understand the need for secrecy in certain circumstances, Special Agent Grady,” she said in clipped tones. “But when the new detail on a case that just lost two agents to a serial killer doesn’t show up when and where they’re supposed to, we tend to get concerned.”

“Next time I’ll have Momma write a note,” Ty drawled. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You two are outside orders,” Ross sneered in response to their rude welcome.

“Your assignment does not include going undercover amongst the working girls,” Sears added.

“If you’re even working the case out here,” Ross muttered as he looked down the alley and shook his head in disgust.