Ty drew in a deep breath. “Liam. We’ll figure something else out. Please don’t go.”
“Why not? Would you miss me?”
Ty looked into his eyes and nodded jerkily. “Yes, I would.”
“So tell me why I shouldn’t go.” They stared at each other. Liam took a step back. “Or better yet, come with me and tell me every night.”
Ty’s heart pounded, the blood rushing through him and making him light-headed.
“If you don’t follow and shoot me somewhere that looks like a kill shot, I’m going to go find someone else who will. Someone without your aim.”
Ty narrowed his eyes.
“You could be killing me if they miss.” Liam turned and disappeared around the corner.
Ty holstered his gun and darted after the man, knowing Liam would do exactly what he’d threatened. He caught up to him in the canteen. It was crowded with troops, laughing and eating, playing pool and darts, relaxing after a long, trying day.
“Sergeant Bell!” Ty shouted.
Liam stopped on the other side of the room, turning to meet his eyes.
The room gradually quieted, confused by their combative stances.
Liam glanced around at their comrades in arms. Ty understood now that Liam had always intended to leave them, known forever to them as the spy among them who was shot and killed. They would never know what he’d done for their safety, what he’d sacrificed, and Liam had known that all along.
Ty grew angrier as the confusion ebbed. Who the hell had the right to ask them to be like this? Who decided it was their job to sacrifice their lives?
Liam looked at him expectantly, silently begging him to announce he was a traitor, to draw on him. A low murmur of confusion and amusement began to rumble through the room.
Ty couldn’t get the words out. They stuck in his throat. His hand wouldn’t reach for his gun. He shook his head, unable to come through for Liam when he needed him most.
Liam mouthed the word, “Please.”
Ty’s hand settled on his gun. His body was cold all over and his hand shook. There was no way he could take that shot. He’d miss the target and kill him.
Liam sneered and peered at Ty with icy blue eyes. He drew his gun. Shock and alarm rippled through the soldiers and Marines as Liam aimed at Ty. “I’ll shoot you, Tyler,” Liam murmured.
Ty went cold, seeing the truth in the man’s eyes, and yet he still couldn’t pull his own weapon. If he had to die, he wanted someone worthy to take the kill shot.
Liam fired and the bullet caught Ty in the left shoulder. He cried out and stumbled back, fighting past the shock to realize that if he didn’t shoot Liam, someone else in the room would. He pulled his service pistol, not taking the time to think, not letting his nerves overtake his hands, and put two rounds in Liam’s chest.
“You shot him because he asked you to?” Zane asked.
Nick released Ty’s shirt and backed away. They all gaped at Ty.
“Technically, I shot him because he shot me.” Ty pressed his back against the wall. He was breathing hard, like he expected one of them to come at him again. He looked cornered.
Zane knew what happened to Ty, and to the people around him, when he was cornered. He moved forward, brushing past Nick. “You need to sit down,” he said under his breath.
Ty nodded, taking a deep breath. He locked eyes with Zane, refusing to look away as Zane placed a hand on his shoulder.
“If he asked you to shoot him, why would he be here for revenge? Why are you scared?” Owen asked.
Ty cleared his throat, taking a step toward the bed and then reversing and pacing past Zane. He met Zane’s eyes again briefly, then turned back to the bed.
Nick caught him by the arm to stop him. “Answer him.”
Ty took another deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?” Nick demanded.
Ty cleared his throat and glanced around the room. He gently pulled his arm out of Nick’s grasp. He sat down hard. “Liam is the reason Sidewinder was discharged.”
A chorus of questions and complaints arose, but all Zane could do was watch the line of Ty’s shoulders as he leaned forward and rested his face in his hands. He suddenly looked like a man who’d been carrying a great weight, and Zane knew there were other secrets Ty carried, secrets as big as this one. Secrets that weighed on him in ways no one could understand by merely looking at his façade.
Nick took a step into the center of the room, raising his hands to calm the other three. He turned to Ty and knelt in front of him. “Tell us what happened. Please, Ty. You’ve obviously been keeping this on yourself, it’s time to trust us.”
Ty straightened, both hands on his knees. He looked down at Nick. “Once they had him declared dead and he’d recovered enough to move, I think Liam pulled strings with NIA. He convinced them we’d make a good asset, the whole team, that we could be military assets for NIA just like he’d been.”
“NIA made a deal with the Marine Corps?” Kelly asked.
Ty nodded, looking sick. “They tried to, from what I was able to gather. I was never given the full briefing, but I do know we were to be released into the umbrella of the National Intelligence Agency to be used as part of a new ultra-militarized arm of the CIA. We’d have had to jump whenever they called. We wouldn’t have been real Marines anymore, we would have been spooks in Marine uniforms. When I was informed of the orders, I . . . I refused them.”
“You spoke for the whole team?” Zane asked.
“Yes, I did.”
“You’re telling me I got kicked out of the Corps because you had a lover’s spat?” Owen growled.
Ty stood, baring his teeth like an animal. Nick stood with him, just managing to stop him from advancing. He shoved him back to the bed. Ty bounced on the mattress, grabbing his side and grunting.
“Shit, sorry!” Nick said. He patted Ty’s head but kept his body between him and Owen. “Why would Bell be back here for revenge?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what he told me in the hospital. His plan all along was for me to join him. I chose the Corps, all of you, over him. I can only assume.”
“And now you’re here with Zane,” Nick added. “Who is the partner you never let Liam be.”
Zane’s stomach flipped to hear someone say that. He probably should have been ashamed to be thrilled by the words, but he wasn’t.
“So you think he’s here in New Orleans, murdering people because he’s pissed at you?” Kelly asked. “Why?”
Ty shook his head.
Digger stood and ambled toward the balcony. “This explains so much. I feel like I’ve just finished a crossword puzzle.”
“How do you know what that feels like?” Kelly asked.
“I don’t.”
Kelly sniffed.
“This is why they paid us off, to keep quiet about the NIA. And why they gave us those release terms,” Owen said. “Good God, Ty, why didn’t you tell us any of this?”
“It was top secret,” Ty answered. He sounded and looked exhausted. “I couldn’t.”
Zane stepped forward, frowning. “What terms?”
They all turned to look at him, as if they’d forgotten he was there.
“Are you serious?” Owen blurted. He looked from Zane to Ty. “You talk about how much you love this guy and you haven’t even told him?”
Ty pointed a finger at him and snarled, “Shut up.”
“Told me what?” Zane asked cautiously.Owen glanced at him, curling his lip. “Ask your boyfriend. He’s the one with all the secrets.”
Nick strode toward Owen, giving his shoulder a shove. “Johns, shut your fucking mouth.”
But Zane turned his attention to Ty. The look on his lover’s face didn’t do much to dispel the sudden bout of nerves. “Ty?”
Ty stood. His hands balled into fists as he glanced from Zane to Nick. Nick nodded.
“Tell him, Grady!” Owen shouted. Nick shoved Owen into the wall and pointed a finger in his face, hissing.
“Get him out of here,” Ty growled. Nick grabbed Owen’s shoulder, but the man shrugged him off.
“Don’t have to tell me twice. I’m fucking out of here.” He stormed out, letting the door slam behind him.
Nick squared his shoulders, regaining his calming demeanor with impressive speed. He gave them one last glance, then headed for the door. Kelly and Digger followed, murmuring good-byes to Zane as they passed.
As soon as the door closed, Zane heard Owen shouting in the hallway. He turned to Ty, though. “What the hell is going on?”
“Zane,” Ty said, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. He seemed to be fighting to meet Zane’s eyes. “There’s something . . . something I’ve been keeping from you.”
Zane’s stomach flipped. “I thought we got all the secrets out.”
Ty shook his head, looking sick. “Not this one.”
Zane took a deep breath, trying to come to terms with the flicker of fear in Ty’s eyes. “So tell me.”
Ty struggled to meet Zane’s eyes as he began to speak. “I was never completely discharged from the Marines.”
Zane barked a laugh. “You’re so full of shit.”
“I’m not joking, Zane.”
Zane’s smile fell and he took a step toward Ty. “What are you talking about?”
Ty glanced at the door. “The boys and me . . . the team. We’re still obligated to the Marines.”
Zane stared, mouth hanging open. “What?”
Ty ran a hand through his hair. “It happens with a lot of Special Ops crews; the military never really lets us go. We’re too highly trained, too much money and time has been put into us. And the terms we signed when they released us compel us to go back if they order it. If they want us back . . .”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Zane.”
“No, Ty, I mean . . . what the hell are you talking about?”
“I was never discharged from the Marines. Sidewinder wasn’t disbanded, even though the official paperwork cited disobedience as the reason for leaving. We were just . . . put on reserve because of the fuss the NIA made. They took my refusal of the orders and used it as the excuse to put us all into cold storage.”
Ty looked both riddled with nerves and relieved to have said the words. Zane tried to speak, but nothing would come out. He took a staggering step back and pressed his hand to his stomach, feeling sick and dizzy.
After a few moments of tense silence, Ty leaned closer. “Zane?”
“You’re saying you’re still a Marine.”
“Not technically. Sort of.”
“You can’t be sort of technically a Marine, Ty. You either are or you aren’t!”
Ty put a hand up to calm him, but Zane batted it away. “You’re still a Marine! You’re telling me that any day, you could be called back into service and you’d have to prance off with your little go bag and be gone for months on the front line?”
“You’re upset.”
“You’re damn right I’m upset!” Zane roared. “This is something you stay prepared for, isn’t it? The bag in the closet, never missing a morning run. When the fuck were you planning on telling me this?”
“I was . . . I was hoping I wouldn’t need to. The contracts expire in December.”
Zane sniffed in disgust. “Jesus Christ, Ty.”
Ty raised both hands. “It’s not like it’s something I can just go around telling everyone.”
“I’m not everyone!”
“I know that! But Zane, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“And that makes it okay not to tell me?”
Ty shook his head.
“Give me details,” Zane demanded.
“I can’t tell you more. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that much.”
“The fuck you can’t. You’re standing here telling me you’re still a fucking Marine, that you and your team are still on some sort of long-term fucking—”
“Zane, calm down.”
Zane slammed his fist into the wall. Blood was roaring through his ears and he had to shout to hear himself. “I’ve been living with you for a year and you can’t tell me more?”
“I’m—”
“Bullshit!”
“I can’t tell you, Zane!” Ty shouted. “God! What I’ve said already could get me thrown in the Disciplinary Barracks at Leavenworth! Do you understand? I am still subject to USMC laws and codes of conduct!”
Zane ran his hands through his hair.
“And frankly, Liam Bell scares me more right now than any secrets I’ve been keeping from you.”
“Are there more?” Zane asked sarcastically.
Ty hesitated, and Zane caught a flicker of guilt in his eyes.
“Oh my God,” Zane whispered. “There’s more. There’s something worse than this?”
“Zane.”
“Tell me what else you’re hiding.”
Ty raised his head and squared his shoulders, his nostrils flaring. “No.”
Zane stared. His heart was pounding. He’d known they had secrets between them, things they weren’t ready to share. They’d discussed these things, shady parts of their pasts they’d rather not take out of the box. But Zane had never expected Ty’s secrets to be something that could hurt him. Hurt them.
Zane studied his lover, letting that truth settle somewhere deep inside him.
“Tell me now, tell me everything I need to know.”