“I’m glad.” Zane turned in a half circle and then sat on the couch nearby. A part of Zane, a very small, dark part, had been worried that Ty had fled to Boston and Nick O’Flaherty when he ran from Baltimore.
Ty merely nodded as he stretched to flip over the last corner of the air mattress. He stood carefully, obviously sore and stiff, and he rolled his shoulders and neck as he straightened. He turned and jumped when he found Julian standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching them.
“Jesus Christ!” Ty hissed at him. “Stop doing that!”
Julian’s lips twitched in what might have been a smirk. Zane couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated. Ty did that to him all the time.
“Tell your brother not to touch the handle of the front door,” Julian said as he stepped over the flattened mattress and moved to sit in a leather club chair close by.
“Great,” Ty muttered.
“How’s Cameron holding up?” Zane asked.
Julian shrugged, looking down the dark hallway. “About as expected. I think he’s still in the washroom.”
“How do you rig a doorknob with kitchen utensils?” Ty asked, still exasperated but also sounding a little too keen to learn a new trick.
“A large percentage of accidental deaths occur in the kitchen. It’s a dangerous place,” Julian drawled, almost seeming to enjoy himself.
Zane turned his attention to Julian. “Will you still be with us in the morning?”
Julian’s eyes cut over to Zane, but nothing else moved. “If I still intended to run, I would have done so already. The time for escaping cleanly has long passed. As far as I’m concerned, the more weapons and people who know how to use them, the better.”
“Including baseball bats.”
“I’m sure we’ve all been in situations where we longed for something as appropriate as a baseball bat.”
Zane nodded as Deuce came back down the hall. He stopped and tilted his head at Julian. “I believe your friend needs you,” he murmured, his voice gentle and soft. He sounded almost like the psychiatrist he really was.
Julian stood immediately and moved toward the hallway. “Good night, gentlemen,” he said as he left the room.
Zane watched him go, feeling confident that he could trust the man to keep his word. He seemed to have reached a decision to stick with them after the Pittsburgh airport, after Ty sacrificed himself to let them escape. Besides, Zane knew Cameron needed downtime, and Julian would probably move heaven and earth to give it to him. Zane turned his gaze to Ty and figured he understood. His partner was exhausted. They all needed time to rest.
Deuce had moved to help Ty plug in the electric pump. His limp was less pronounced than it had been the last time Zane had seen him, but he still let Ty do all the kneeling as they hooked the pump up and turned it on. Deuce was still wearing the boxers in which he’d been sleeping, and for the first time Zane could see the railroad track scars on his leg and knee.
He stood with his hands on his hips as Ty knelt beside him, both of them watching the air mattress inflate with their heads tilted to the side, like a pair of puppies trying to figure out a strange noise. Zane had to smile. He could really see the resemblance. How their mother had raised them both without having a nervous breakdown was anyone’s guess.
“Hey, Ty, can we talk for a minute?” Deuce asked after a moment.
Ty glanced up at him and then over at Zane with a nod. “You got this?” he asked.
Zane nodded and gestured for them to go on. He watched them curiously as Ty followed Deuce down the hall to his bedroom, then turned his attention back to the air mattress and flipped the pump back on. The noise would make it impossible to overhear what they were saying, and Zane knew better than to allow himself the temptation of eavesdropping anymore.
“WHAT’S up?” Ty asked as he watched Deuce close the door to his bedroom. Deuce wasn’t exactly a private person, and he knew Zane better than he did most people, so Ty couldn’t fathom what he had to say that couldn’t have been said in the living room.
Deuce turned to look at him, crossing his arms over his chest and covering his mouth with his hand. Ty recognized the signs all too well.
“Something’s wrong.”
Deuce shook his head. “No, I just… I need your advice.”
“Okay.” Ty said the word carefully as he studied his brother. He glanced around Deuce’s bedroom. It was immaculate, as usual, all flat and modern and… weird. He pointed at a tray on top of the dresser. “Seriously, is that a blunt?”
“Well, I wasn’t anticipating the FBI breaking down my door tonight.”
Ty closed his eyes and shook his head. “That’s fair. What’s the problem?”
Deuce took a deep breath. “It’s about Livi.”
“Yoga girl.”
“She really has a real name.”
“Okay,” Ty said with a smirk.
Deuce rolled his eyes and paced toward the window. “What did you think of her when you met her?”
“She’s cute,” Ty answered, confused by the question but willing to go along with Deuce’s unique way of getting around to a point. He’d spent a day with Deuce after leaving Baltimore, and he’d met his girlfriend when she’d dropped by. “She was genuine and smart and probably very bendy. Good job.”
“Ty.”
“What? I’m not really sure what you’re getting at. I met her for like five minutes.”
Deuce stared at him, looking almost ill, and Ty stood waiting for him to continue. They stood in silence for a few moments, Deuce fidgeting and Ty forcing himself to be patient.
“Deacon,” he finally said.
“She’s pregnant,” Deuce blurted in a rush of relief. Ty couldn’t mask the surprise, and Deuce read him well. “Before you say anything, yes, I love her. Yes, I’m excited as hell. And yes, she’s very bendy.” For the first time, Deuce cracked a smile. He seemed to be trying to contain his excitement, but Ty recognized it anyway.
Ty nearly laughed in relief. He waved a hand through the air and stepped closer to hug his brother. “Congratulations, Deacon,” he said as Deuce clapped him on the back.
“Thank you,” Deuce said as he pushed away and took Ty by his shoulders to meet his eyes. “The problem.”
“Why does there have to be a problem?”
“Because there’s always a problem.”
“Okay, what’s the problem?” Ty asked with a growing sense of dread.
“Livi wants to be married before our families find out.”
“What?”
“She doesn’t want to tell her parents she’s pregnant before we’re married.”
“Well, that’s kind of a time-sensitive condition.”
“That’s the problem.”
“That leaves you, what, like a month? Maybe less?”
Deuce nodded.
Ty blinked at his brother as the problem hit him. He gasped and pointed at Deuce’s face. “You want to elope!”
“Yes,” Deuce said in relief.“Deacon!”
“I know!”
“You can’t do that to Ma, she’ll kill you. She’ll kill me! Not to mention seriously bad relations with your future in-laws.”
“Now you see my problem,” Deuce said as he waved a hand through the air and sat on the end of his bed.
“I’m assuming this wasn’t planned. How does that happen, anyway?”
“I think you’ve been doing dudes for too long if I need to answer that.”
“Touché,” Ty murmured with a frown. He grimaced and shook his head, bypassing half a dozen smartass remarks as he sat down beside Deuce. He really gave the question some thought, as much thought as he was capable of when being hunted down like a dog by the CIA.
“I mean… Deacon, if this is what you really want to do, then I’ll cover your play. I’ll do whatever you need to take the heat off after. Unless you do it without me there, and in that case I’ll disown you.”
Deuce smiled and nodded, and he put his arm around Ty’s shoulders. “I knew I could count on you,” he said quietly.
“But… if you’re asking for my advice?”
Deuce nodded.
“Wait. Tell everyone, let them be excited about a baby, let them know you’re committed to her whether you’re married or not, and go from there. Don’t go… sneaking around and trying to hide things from your families. You’ll… you’ll regret it.”
Deuce looked at him in silence, his eyes sympathetic and warm. If anyone understood how well Ty knew what he was talking about, it was his brother. “Thanks, Ty.”
Ty nodded, and they sat in silence for a long time, long enough that the pump to the air mattress stopped its loud whine and the light coming under the bedroom door turned off.
Deuce took a deep breath. “I’m going to be a daddy.”
Ty smiled as he watched his brother’s profile in the dim light. He could hear the mixture of excitement and fear in Deuce’s voice. Then the smile faded as cold realization began to seep through him. “You’re going to be a daddy,” he echoed, almost to himself. He stood suddenly, looking around the room and patting his jeans as if he’d lost something.
“What’s wrong?”
“We have to go,” Ty said as he looked at Deuce with wide eyes.
“What? Why?”
“If someone tracks us here, I mean they shouldn’t, but if they do—”
“Ty, it’s okay. I knew someone was after you when you broke into my house. I know it’s a risk for you to be here.”
“No, but it’s not just about you now, and this isn’t just someone after us.” Ty was already heading for the bedroom door.
Deuce hopped up to follow him, barely able to keep up on his bad leg. “Ty!”
“This isn’t up for discussion, Deuce, it really isn’t,” Ty said. He banged on the bedroom door as he passed by, and Zane had turned the lights on again by the time they got to the living room.
“What’s wrong?” Zane asked as soon as he saw Ty’s face.
“We can’t stay here, we need to move.”
Zane looked between the two of them, seeking some clue in Deuce’s face before he met Ty’s eyes again.
“He’s being ridiculous,” Deuce told him.
“What’s this all about?” Julian asked from behind them.
Ty turned to look at him. He was still wearing his jeans and T-shirt, but it was obvious that he’d been asleep.
“We can’t stay. We need to move.”
“No. No! One of you, talk some sense into him,” Deuce said to them.
“What’s wrong?” Zane asked again, more insistent. Ty met his eyes and tilted his head toward Deuce. It wasn’t his secret to tell, and he hoped Zane would just trust him.
Deuce sighed in exasperation. “My girlfriend is pregnant. We found out yesterday.”
Julian snorted. “That is the most remarkable non sequitur I think I’ve ever heard. You’re right, he is Grady’s brother.”
Cameron jabbed Julian in the ribs, causing him to double over and groan pitifully.
Ty glared at him for a minute, but he could see that Zane knew exactly why Ty wanted to leave. “It’s not just you we’re jeopardizing by being here now,” Zane said, looking from Deuce to Ty. “You’re going to have a family. He’s right, we have to leave.”
“Come on,” Deuce said as he stepped closer to Zane. “I know damn well that if Ty thought there was any danger to me with you coming here, he wouldn’t have come to start with.”
Zane looked between them again. Ty held his breath as they waited for Zane to respond. He silently pleaded with his partner to back him up.
“I’m sorry, Deuce. He’s right,” Zane finally said with a shake of his head. Ty sighed in relief.
“Just stay for the night, okay? You’re all exhausted; you’re barely functioning. And hell, if someone’s going to be coming to kill me, I’d really appreciate it if you’d stick around with your guns and pointy things ’til morning, you know?” Deuce said in exasperation.
Ty cleared his throat and met Zane’s eyes.
“That’s a fair point,” Julian murmured.
Ty nodded. “You’re right,” he said to Deuce.
“I know,” Deuce said with a bright smile. He reached out and hugged his brother, holding onto him tightly. “Go to bed, okay? Be here in the morning?”
“I promise,” Ty muttered.
ZANE had to look away as Deuce hugged Ty tighter. He could sympathize with the feeling, knowing Ty was in danger and wanting desperately to hold on to him and keep him safe.
When he finally let Ty go, he turned and hugged Zane as well. Zane smiled as he looked over Deuce’s shoulder at Ty.
“We’re keeping you up, Deuce,” Zane murmured as he pondered the two brothers and patted Deuce’s back. “Why don’t you go back to bed? I’m sure Ty knows where things are if we need anything else.”
Deuce let him go and looked him over, then looked at Ty, who was nodding in agreement.
“Just stick to your regular schedule in the morning, but don’t touch the front door,” Ty muttered.
“Why?”
Ty gestured helplessly to Julian.
“Just trust him; don’t touch it,” Julian said with a curt nod. They all stared at him. “Trade secret.”
Ty rolled his eyes. He reached to the small of his back and took out the backup gun he’d taken off one of the bodies, checking it before handing it to Deuce. “Put that under your pillow.”