“Promise?” Ty responded calmly. In contrast to the other men, Ty seemed to actually be enjoying the meeting, and that was just making the two detectives angrier. “Look, despite the fact that you’re idiots and I’m bored, we’re all working at the same thing here. You arrange for us to see some more scenes, we’ll consider your theory about a copycat,” he bargained. “Even though it’s f**king stupid,” he added after a brief pause.
Pierce looked between the two men facing him before answering.
“You know, Grady? You’re more annoying than I remember. You make Garrett here feel like a walk in the f**king park,” he said, almost pleasantly.
“The Bureau had to dig real deep, I guess. You want to see the scenes? You go through the chief’s office and request access like everyone else.”
Holleman sighed slightly, shaking his head and closing his eyes.
“Look, even if we could personally grant you access, which we can’t,” he was careful to inform the FBI agents as Pierce grew more and more ornery, “all of the scenes have long been released. There’s nothing to see anymore.”
His stubborn partner sat back, looking like he was chewing on a lemon.
“There’s nothing for you to see,” Ty corrected with a pleasant smile.
“You can’t tell me you think you’ve got some special skills or something to let you recreate a goddamn murder scene weeks or months old,”
Pierce scoffed, his skepticism clear.
“He’s got skills you couldn’t learn even with a cattle prod up your ass,” Zane said, temper boiling.
Ty glanced at Zane but remained silent. He was slightly surprised to hear Zane defending him, and not a little flattered, but he didn’t want Zane snapping, not here.
“Oh, how touching,” Pierce said with a goading laugh. “I got no reason to like you, Garrett, much less trust you and your skilled partner. You two Feebs come riding in here like Hell’s Angels expecting to pick up our cases and magically solve them. Well, I’m calling your bluff. No access to scenes, no goodwill, and no sharing of information. You want to chase off and try to find whoever those girls were f**king, you do it without us.”
His blood pressure rocketing, Zane stood up so fast his chair slammed back and hit the floor. “I need some fresh air,” he muttered as he stalked past the detectives to the door and walked out, letting it shut loudly behind him.
Holleman watched the man storm out and then turned to Ty with a raised eyebrow. “Never thought I’d see the day when you were the calm part of the equation,” he remarked in amusement.
“Yeah, well. I’m the calm one, you’re the smart one,” Ty sighed as he stood slowly. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa.”
Pierce sat back with a satisfied chuckle. “What’d you do to get stuck with that f**king suit?” he asked Ty.
Ty walked around the table slowly, hands in his pockets as if he were idly wandering the room. He stopped behind Pierce’s chair and bent over him, placing a not-so-friendly hand on his shoulder. The man stiffened nervously, turning his head slightly as if he expected Ty to actually hurt him. “Be seein’
y’all later,” Ty drawled in a low, friendly voice before he straightened back up and left the room.
Pierce relaxed and gave a small sigh, shaking his head in annoyance.
As soon as Ty had closed the door behind him, Holleman turned in his chair and glared at Pierce. “I know it’s fun to poke them, but Christ, man, what the hell?” he asked.
Pierce snorted and waved his partner off. “They needed to be knocked off those damn high horses they always ride in on. But hey, at least we don’t have to worry about a serious Fed investigation.”
Holleman frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. Grady doesn’t seem to give a shit, but Garrett seemed pretty … into it.”
Pausing, Pierce turned to eye his partner. “Don’t let him fool you.
I’ve had the rundown from Serena Scott on that one. Garrett used to be slightly useful, but now he’s got a bad record and gets shuffled around. He’s probably blowing somebody in DC.”
“Or he f**ked Serena and ran off so she’s pissed,” Holleman pointed out in amusement. “Look, whatever. I don’t know about you, but I’m more than happy to hand this over to them. Let them chase their tails with this whackjob so we get back to our real jobs.”
“But they’re our cases in our backyard, and I don’t want them out there screwing around,” Pierce insisted.
Holleman frowned slightly. “Why not?” he asked curiously.
Pierce’s shoulders stiffened, and his face darkened. “’Cause Feebs don’t belong on the street. They make us all look bad, that’s why. And Garrett’s a prick.”
“So are you,” Holleman laughed fondly. “Come on. I’m hungry.”
Pierce muttered under his breath and followed his partner out.
ZANE pushed roughly through the reading room door, ramming it back against the wall as he stalked in, immediately pulling out his cigarettes and lighting up. No smoking policy be damned, he thought darkly. After such a piss-poor day, he figured he deserved something for not going totally postal up there.
After the first cigarette, he stopped long enough to light another and kicked a chair for good measure, sending it clattering across the room.
Ty took his time following, visibly irritated enough that people got out of the way as he walked through the halls. He opened the door to the reading room—the only place he really knew to look—and was just in time to watch the little tantrum silently.
“What the hell do you want?” Zane growled as he flicked ashes onto the industrial-grade carpet. He didn’t have to be polite to Ty. He didn’t even have to be civil.
“What’s the problem?” Ty asked calmly, sliding his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants and leaning against the doorway.
Zane turned his back to Ty to stare at the whiteboard. Some of their notes were still written on it from the day the computer exploded. He forcibly calmed himself and buttoned up the anger and frustration. “They’re ass**les.
That’s the problem.”
“I’ll tell them to go play in another sandbox, then,” Ty responded wryly.
“They shouldn’t even be in the one they’ve got if they’re so blasé and uncaring as to suggest two young women deliberately lured the killer to their house for sex,” Zane spit out.