Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1)(54)
Author: Abigail Roux

Pierce rolled his eyes. “They got too many people dealing with the details, f**king up the evidence, and then they wonder why the case is so screwed. Then, of course, they call us and expect us to snap to. I’m thinking this time, they can wait.”

“Yeah, that won’t piss them off,” Holleman muttered as he picked up his pen again. “Whatever. I’ve got too much shit to do as it is.”

“I’ll call them tomorrow morning. You got that paperwork from Trenton?”

“Somewhere,” Holleman answered distractedly. “You got that statement from the chick who didn’t like buttoning her shirt?” he asked as he looked back up.

“Yeah, in that stack,” Pierce pointed to the corner of his desk.

“Singleton put a photo in there, too, of course.”

Holleman rifled through the stack until he found the folder. He plucked it out of the stack and looked at it with a smirk. Turning it around to show Pierce, he laughed softly and said, “Think we got any of her face?”

Pierce glanced over and did a double take. “Aw, shit. Singleton’s gonna get his ass in a sling.” He rubbed his hands over his eyes. “The cases keep getting weirder, and then that damn serial pops up again.” He sighed and looked up to gaze across the two desks at his partner.

Holleman’s tongue was hanging out of his mouth again, stuck to the side like it always did when he was deep in thought. “Wanna go get food?” he finally asked after pondering the universe for a time.

It took a moment for Pierce to blink himself out of his stare. “Ah, yeah. Sure. I could use more coffee.”

“Then we can call back those clowns and get it over with,” Holleman muttered as he stood and pushed away from the desk.

Pierce followed Holleman out of the office, grumbling to himself disconsolately the whole way.

TY slid carefully out of the bed and padded around the room, cleaning up and getting dressed almost silently. He risked a few glances at his bedmate and his frown deepened every time he did so. What the hell had they been thinking?

They hadn’t stopped with just one try. Hours after falling asleep in each other’s arms, they had awakened again and gone at it without any thought to the consequences. Ty had taken his turn, giving as good as he’d gotten from Zane. At least they’d both be sore as hell today.

Ty shook his head and went to the window, glancing out at the light rain. His entire body ached, and not altogether in good ways. He frowned even harder as he stood there, waiting for Zane to wake.

The bed growing cool pushed Zane from his sleep and he slowly shifted under the sheet. He made a soft sound deep in his throat when he rolled carefully onto his back. It wasn’t just his back that hurt. He opened his eyes to focus on the ceiling before turning his eyes to the other bed. Empty.

He turned his chin and saw Ty standing at the window. He looked tired and tense. Zane stifled a sigh. He knew he should have expected something like that.

Ty glanced over his shoulder when he heard the rustling and he cleared his throat. “Hey,” he offered lamely.

Zane raised his uninjured hand to rub at his eyes. “What time is it?

How long did we sleep?”

“It’s nine-thirty,” Ty answered without glancing at his watch or the clock. He looked away from Zane and back out the window. “How you feelin’?” he asked as he stared at the rain coming down.

“Groggy,” Zane said, his voice still thick and warm from sleep. He ran his hand over his hair and yawned, considering turning over and going back to sleep.

Ty lowered his head and considered the pros and cons of admitting how f**king sore he was. Everywhere. It might go to easing some of the awkwardness anyway. “My ass hurts,” he finally admitted with a small, wry smile.

Zane reopened his eyes to look at the other man. He had no idea how to respond to that, so he just looked at him. Ty shrugged lopsidedly when Zane didn’t respond. The cell phone at his hip began to sing, saving him from having to say anything further. He answered it with a clipped murmur after looking at the number.

Once Ty was distracted, Zane let his eyes slide down the wiry, half-clothed body. Ty’s ass hurt. Zane’s lips twitched. Not a good idea to laugh, he was sure. But damn … what a boost to the ego. He pushed away the sheet and got out of the bed.

He lifted his arms slowly and started to lengthen his body in a long stretch. He bobbed his head from side to side, and bones popped. He relished the stretch for a moment before heading over to his duffel and digging for clothes.

Ty watched him, listening distractedly to the man on the phone as he did so. He realized with some annoyance that he was pondering the advantages of jumping his partner again. Finally, he looked away and shook his head. When he spoke into the phone after a long time of just listening, it wasn’t in English.

Zane glanced over when the lyrical language poured out in Ty’s raspy voice. He didn’t know which language it was, but something Middle Eastern; it had that sound. Maybe Farsi. Much more melodic than Zane’s own rapid-fire Spanish. The sound of it didn’t seem to fit Ty’s voice—or him—at all.

The conversation didn’t last long, and Ty bid the man farewell softly before ending the call and clipping the phone back onto his belt. He turned around and looked at Zane thoughtfully. “You feel up to a little trekking today?” he asked, not even pretending to try and explain who had been on the phone.

“Sure,” Zane answered, shrugging off any curiosity. “Moving around will keep my back from getting too stiff.” Before he thought better of it, Zane glanced to Ty, then down to Ty’s ass, then back up to Ty’s eyes. Ty raised an eyebrow and sneered at him. Zane bit back the smile and picked up his clothes. “What do you have in mind?” he asked as he walked toward the bathroom.

“I want to go see a body dump,” Ty called in answer, telling himself to let it go. He had offered the information, after all. He knew he risked a little razzing for it. Perhaps he had been looking for a sincere response, something to build up a little trust, instead of what he had gotten. Oh, well.

“Are you going to call Morrison or Henninger to set it up? Or are we still steering clear of the office for now?” Zane got into the bathroom and couldn’t hold back the grin any longer. Then he shook his head and started cleaning himself up to go.

“None of them are still cordoned off, so we can just go. I just need to see them,” Ty answered as he turned back to the window and frowned at his watery reflection.