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Ty’s jaw muscles jumped, but he stayed straight and tall, matching Zane’s glare with his own. When he spoke, though, it came out broken. “No. ”
Zane gritted his teeth and slammed his palm against the wall. “Tell me the truth or I walk!”
Ty swallowed hard, but it was obvious that he was weighing whether or not he should speak.
“You really have to think about it?” Zane shoved away from Ty, unable to tear his eyes from him even as the pain twisted in his chest like a knife. “I guess we finally found the one thing more important to you than I am. ”
Ty’s face hardened. “You know that’s not true. ”
“Fuck you, Ty! I feel like I don’t know a goddamned thing now!” Zane jabbed his finger toward Ty. “I tell you I’m going to walk and you have to fucking think about it? Just fuck you!”
Ty took a deep breath, but it didn’t help the strength of his words when he tried to speak. “If I told you . . . I’m afraid you’d walk anyway. ”
Zane threw his hands out. “What have you got to lose?”
Ty’s jaw tightened. Zane held his breath, waiting, giving him a last chance to come clean, unable to imagine what Ty could have been keeping from him that he was so afraid to admit to.
Ty shook his head, his jaw set.
Zane took a step back. He was devastated to have been backed down, called on his bluff. He had no idea where to go from here.
Only one place came to mind, one place to retreat from the stone wall Ty had just raised. It wasn’t just a wall to protect Ty or his secrets. It was a wall to protect Ty’s secrets from Zane.
He turned on his heel and grabbed up his cigarettes and lighter from the floor. He brushed past Ty as he headed for the door.
“Zane. ”
Zane turned.
“There’s a man out there who wants to hurt you. And he’s good. Please don’t go off alone. ”
“Go to Hell, Ty,” Zane grunted, and he wrenched the door open and stalked out.
Chapter 6
Nick was waiting when the door opened, but Zane brushed past him when he tried to stop him. He had to jog to catch up with Zane’s angry strides, and he felt like a puppy hopping along with its master as he tried to keep abreast of the man stalking down the hall.
“I know you’re pissed, man, I am too. But Ty keeps secrets, that’s what he does. That’s what he’s trained to do. ”
“You don’t have to defend him,” Zane snarled. “Is that what you’ve done for twenty years? Defend Ty? You must be goddamned exhausted. ”
“Yeah, pretty much. ” Nick reached out and took Zane’s arm. “Would you slow down? Jesus. ”
Zane stopped and turned to face him. Nick could tell he had about two seconds to make his case. “Look, I’m not stepping into this, okay? Whatever he said in there, it’s between you and him. But I knew Liam Bell. And if Ty says he’s out to get you, I believe him. Don’t go out there alone just because you’re pissed. ”
Zane rolled his eyes and huffed. Nick tightened his grip on Zane’s arm, hard enough that Zane looked down at it pointedly.
“Imagine that you’re out there in this city, and Ty is hunting you down,” Nick said.
Zane’s nostrils flared and his eyes darkened.
“Now imagine him smarter. Faster. Imagine him more ruthless and with less to lose. Now imagine that Ty, and he wants revenge. I don’t know about you, man, but that scares the living hell out of me. ”
Zane swallowed hard. He looked mutinous for a moment, but then nodded. “I see your point. ”
“Will you let me go with you?”
Zane grumbled and glanced down the hall at the door to their room.
“Let me tail you, then,” Nick tried. “You’ll never know I was there and I’ll watch your six while you do whatever it is you need to do to cool down. ”
Zane laughed and finally wrenched his arm out of Nick’s grasp. “Just leave me alone, all right?”
He stalked away before Nick could argue. Nick stood and watched Zane’s retreat for a few seconds, torn. He trusted Ty when he said Zane was the target, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t tag along with the man if Zane refused to let him. Zane would shake him easily, and in the end Zane was responsible for his own safety.
He turned and headed back down the hall to knock on Ty’s door.
Ty opened it almost immediately. Nick shook his head in answer to Ty’s questioning look.
“Goddammit,” Ty spat. He ran his hands through his hair and paced into the room.
Nick held the door open for Kelly and Digger, who’d been standing by, waiting to see what would happen next. Owen was long gone. They filed into Ty’s room, gathering around him.
“What do we do?” Digger asked.
Ty had his hands on his hips and his head lowered. He looked pale and drawn, and Nick could see he wasn’t running on all cylinders yet. But years of training forced them to look to him first.
Ty shook his head. “I . . . I don’t know. ”
Nick watched him for a long moment, and when it became obvious Ty wasn’t pulling it together, Nick cleared his throat. “We can leave town. But I got a feeling Bell isn’t here ’cause he can’t find us at home. He’s here because he wants us all together. He wants us here. And he knew we’d be here. ”
Kelly shrugged. “I agree, but how?”
“Sanchez,” Digger said. “He knew we’d get together for Sanchez’s birthday. ”
“Which means he also has the resources to know Eli is dead, and that Digger is confined to the state,” Ty murmured. “He’s either here on company business, or he’s using those resources and gone off the reservation. ”
“What does he have to do with the gris-gris bag?” Digger asked. “You really think he killed that girl last night?”
Nick’s brow furrowed. Ty grimaced and shrugged.
“Sneaking in as a maid and leaving towels on the bed is a little sloppy for Bell,” Kelly said.
Ty held up a hand. “We’re running off the rails here. ” He rubbed at his face, massaging between his eyes.
“Why would he approach Zane first?” Digger asked. “He couldn’t know you’d find that note, or that Zane would tell you about meeting him. What’s his game?”
“Everything is a game to him. It’s like chess. ”
“You don’t play chess,” Nick said.
“Yes, thank you!” Ty barked.
Nick shrugged.
“We need to take care of this, right here, right now,” Ty said. “While we’re all together. ”
Nick nodded. He knew he wouldn’t feel safe heading back to Boston with a man like Liam holding a grudge. “What about Zane?”
Ty hesitated, breathing faster. “I’ll send him home. ”
“Will he listen?” Kelly asked, looking dubious. “He’s pretty understandably pissed. ”
Nick snorted. “Ty. He’s not going to leave you here, in danger, even if he is pissed at you. Even I know him better than that. ”
Ty ran a hand over his eyes again. “You’re right. ”
“We have to get him back here,” Nick said. “Use him as our sixth. ”
“Is he up for that?” Digger asked.
Ty straightened and shot Digger a look. “I trust my life to him every day. He’s up for anything we throw at him. ”
Digger pursed his lips. “Okay. So go fetch him. ”
Ty growled. “And you two go find Owen and drag his ass back here. ”
Kelly and Digger nodded and turned, almost synchronized in their movements. There was something comfortable about sinking back into that uniformity, into that chain of leadership and trust.
Nick watched Ty rummage through Zane’s jeans, looking for something. “What about me?”
“Stay here. If someone’s not back in an hour you’re the cavalry. Turn on the GPS tracking on the phones. ”
“Great. ”
Ty stood, holding a bronze sobriety chip. Nick’s father had dozens of them in a drawer at home.
“Zane’s?”
Ty nodded, looking grim and distressed. “He might need it. ”
“Really? Is he that easy to knock off the wagon?”
Ty glared at him for a moment, but then he swallowed hard. “No,” he whispered. “No, he’s not. ” He headed for the door and was almost out of the room before Nick called after him.
“Take your piece!”
Ty cursed and went back to his suitcase to rummage through it.
“Are you sure you’re okay to do this? I can go out there and bring him back. I wasn’t on a morphine drip all day and he’s not quite as pissed at me as he is at you. ”
Ty checked the clip of his service weapon and jammed the magazine home, then stuffed it in the back of his jeans and covered it with his flannel shirt.
Nick watched him with a growing sense of unease. His movements weren’t measured, his mind was all over the place. “Ty,” he whispered.
Ty just shook his head.
“Ty, you’re not up to this. ”
“I will be,” Ty growled. “A few hours for the drugs to clear, I’ll be fine. ”
“Ty, I’m telling you as a friend. You’re not up to this, drugs or not. ”
Ty turned to meet his eyes.
“Liam Bell. He’s the only person I know who was ever as good as you. And right now, he’s better than you are. ”
Ty breathed out harshly and looked away. “I know,” he said, heading for the door. “He always was. ”
There was no finding a quiet spot in the French Quarter, especially when half the revelers were wearing huge Easter hats, bunny ears, and layers of beads.
Zane had wandered toward the outskirts of the Quarter, looking for familiar ground. His steps tried to follow in those of the past, trying to find that little bar he and Becky had visited so long ago. His memory wouldn’t lead him there, though, so he settled for a little tavern on a side street with empty tables.
His mind was roiling, seething, replaying the look in Ty’s eyes when he’d refused to tell Zane what he was holding back. They had been living together for a year. Lovers for almost two. Partners for longer than that. The idea that Ty had been able to keep something from him, with so little effort, was staggering. And he could feel there was worse, lying in wait.
This Liam Bell business was only the half of it.
By the time he reached the bar, his entire body was shaking with anger and adrenaline. He ordered a whiskey straight and took the glass to sit at the corner table.
He placed it in front of him. A challenge. A test of how far he’d come. He’d done everything in the last year for Ty, trying to be worthy, trying to make himself a better, healthier man. He’d fought the withdrawal that had wracked his body and the cloying need that filled his mind every morning when he woke, all to prove to himself that he deserved to be happy, that he deserved Ty’s love.
Had Ty even been worth it?
He stared at the whiskey glass, letting the pull envelop him just to see how strong he was to fight it now.
Ty thumped into the empty chair across from him, rattling the table. The whiskey in Zane’s glass sloshed. He stared at it, not looking up to meet Ty’s eyes.
“Please don’t do this, Zane. ”
“Go away, Ty,” Zane said without looking up from the glass.
“You’ve worked so hard to get past this, don’t do this now. Not like this. ”
Zane glowered at him. “Who the hell are you to tell me anything?”
Ty recoiled like Zane had slapped him, but he jutted his chin out and squared his shoulders. “I’m your partner. And I’m your friend. And I love you. ”
“You’re a liar. ”
“You’re right. And you can hate me if you want to, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love you. And I’m not going to sit idly by while you do this to yourself because of me. ”
Zane glared, but the pain in the pit of his stomach was overpowering the anger. He looked back to the glass, still full of whiskey.
Ty reached out and slammed something onto the table. When he moved his hand, Zane’s one year sobriety chip remained.
Zane stared at it, then transferred his glare to Ty. “You think I need that?”
Ty shrugged, looking pointedly at the glass.
“I really am that weak to you, aren’t I?
Ty’s eyes were steady and dark as they stared at each other, neither man flinching. “You’re not weak, Zane,” Ty said. “But we all need help sometimes. ”
“And now you need my help, right? To deal with this Liam Bell guy, this guy from your past you were never going to tell me about. It’s okay to lie to me, keep things from me, but when you need a spare gun, oh, go pick Zane up at the bar. ”
“Don’t sulk, it doesn’t suit you. ”
“Fuck you, Ty. ”
Ty snorted and finally looked away. “Will you come back with me? Help us figure this shit out?”
“You’re not on the first plane home anymore?” Ty shook his head. “You’re going to make a stand here?”
“Here we’re all together. We know where he is. He’s lost the element of surprise and we have the stronger force. ”
Zane nodded. “Fine. ”
Ty gave a curt nod and pushed his chair back to stand.
“On one condition,” Zane added.
Ty sat back, resigned.
“Tell me everything. You’re hiding something, something big, and I want to know what it is. And if you tell me it’s classified, I will smash this glass into your face. And then I’ll be on the first plane home. ”