Zane nodded but pulled Julian over to the table instead, gathering their things as quickly as possible. “Get his stuff.”
Julian did so, and he looked wryly at their joined hands. Zane wasn’t about to unlock him now. “Darling, I didn’t know you cared,” he said to Zane in a voice that was smooth as velvet. The irony was not lost in the tone, though.
“You give new meaning to ball and chain. Come on,” Zane said as he looked out the broken doorframe.
The corridor was clear, although Zane could hear the elevator moving with a whirr. He stepped out into the causeway, and Julian followed along, not offering another comment on their linked hands. After a mere moment’s thought, Zane turned away from the elevator to walk swiftly to the stairs at the far end of the balcony. It could be Ty and Cameron in the elevator. Or not.
Again, Julian trailed along quietly, cooperating to the point that it was suspicious. At the stairwell door, Zane turned a serious, measuring look on him.
“What?” Julian whispered. “I’m being good.”
“That’s what bothers me,” Zane muttered. With a shake of his head, he led the way through the door into the concrete stairwell.
They couldn’t be quiet as they thundered down the stairs, but they were past the need for stealth now. Speed was their friend.
Zane stuck his head out of the stairwell when they got to the ground level, and seeing no one around, he pulled Julian with him and they hurried toward the main office.
They reached the entrance to the hotel, a wild cast to their eyes as they looked around for any more suspicious men in suits.
As they stood there, a sleek black sedan came tearing into the parking lot, taking the hairpin turn and sliding up to a stop right in front of Zane and Julian.
Zane took a step back, wishing he had unlocked the handcuffs in the room. They had a better chance of splitting up and dividing their assailants than they did of fighting them off. He felt Julian coiling beside him, readying himself for their final stand. Zane pulled his gun.
The heavily tinted driver’s side window slid down, and it took Zane a moment to realize he was looking at his partner.
“Playtime’s over, kids!” Ty called to them, voice urgent and gruff. “I put them down, but I didn’t take them out. They’ll be after their car.”
Zane and Julian shared a look. They rushed for the back door, both of them diving into the car. Ty hit the gas before they could even get the door shut.
Cameron sat in the front seat, looking back at them with wide eyes. “Are you okay?”
Julian nodded. “What happened?”
“Two guys jumped us on the way to get food,” Cameron answered. “Ty is like… a ninja on crack. He beat them up pretty spectacularly. Then we stole their car.”
Julian let out a pent-up breath.
“This CIA issue stuff is really nice,” Ty told them as he fiddled with the buttons. “Why the hell can’t the Bureau spring for rides like this?”
Zane reached into his pocket and extracted the handcuff keys. “Ty,” he said in a low voice.
“I know, I know, you can kick my ass later,” Ty muttered. “Two suits get after you too?
“All over us.”
“Looks like we’re not the only ones after MacGuffin back there.”
“Are you seriously going to call me names after you almost got all of us killed?”
“You don’t want to be called names, how about telling us a real one?”
“Blow me, Grady.”
“That sounds Scottish.”
Julian lunged with one hand, fully intending to throttle Ty even if he was driving. Zane reached out and caught his hand, restraining him.
“Let me do it, Garrett, it would make our lives so much easier!” Julian said through gritted teeth as he struggled to free his hand. There was no trace of the calm and controlled Julian Cross they’d met in Chicago.
Ty had that effect on just about everyone.
Zane pushed Julian back against the seat to calm him. He held up his hand and growled. “If anyone is strangling the life out of my partner today, it’s going to be me.”
Julian huffed but finally nodded. “As long as I get to watch.”
Chapter 11
WHILE Ty was safely hidden away under the CIA vehicle, dismantling the GPS, Zane and Julian discussed their options. Cameron sat and listened, as he always did. They finally made the decision that they needed to get to DC as fast as possible, and to Cameron’s surprise, Julian agreed that making it to DC was now what they wanted to do, rather than escaping.
“The enemy is too powerful. We need someone on our side. These two and their boss will have to do until we find someone bigger,” he explained to Cameron.
It made sense, in a very Julian sort of way.
They headed for the nearest airport, which happened to be Pittsburgh. Ty and Zane didn’t flash their badges this time, going for low-key as they went through the security checks. They had ditched their guns and wallets. Julian behaved himself, staying close to Cameron. It all went smoothly, which immediately put all of them on edge.
While standing in line with Zane to get a sandwich, Cameron watched as Julian moved around the sizeable shopping area in the airport, Ty trailing only a few steps behind him. Julian had assured the FBI agents that he wasn’t going anywhere, but Ty didn’t trust him.
Cameron couldn’t help but watch his lover. When other people noticed Julian, they tended to do one of three things: stare at him, hustle away, or some odd, jerky combination of the two. Cameron shook his head as a couple of teenage girls stopped and watched him pass.
“I really feel for people sometimes,” Cameron said once Julian was within hearing.
Julian raised an eyebrow and gave Cameron a fond smile. “And why is that?”
“Oh God, don’t make him talk about his feelings,” Ty muttered as he joined them.
Cameron shook his head. “You’re like a shark. You walk around and all the little minnows go swimming away.”
Julian hummed and glanced around the room. Ty began to snicker quietly, and Julian looked over his shoulder at him.
“Dude,” Ty said as their eyes met. “Your boyfriend just called you a shark. That’s a besotted burn.”
Cameron saw Julian just barely roll his eyes as he looked away from Ty and back at him. Cameron edged up a shoulder. He heard Zane laugh behind him.
“While I appreciate the spirit of the observation, there is a flaw in your theory,” Julian told him, voice lowering as he took a step closer.
Cameron tried not to grin. “Really? Because you do like to bite.”
“Oh Lord, TMI,” Zane muttered.
“This whole trip has been TMI, Zane,” Ty grumbled.
Julian ignored both of their comments, returning them with a mere smile before he explained. “A shark, while frightening to us, is not a threat to the minnow at first sight. We know what a shark can do, the minnow doesn’t.”
Behind him, Ty rubbed his eyes. “Oh God, now I’m actually agreeing with him.”
Cameron shifted his weight to peer around Julian at Ty. “Excuse me?”
Ty looked up and waved a hand at the airport around them. “Sharks eat fish, right? Or seals or… whatever. But if a seal is afraid of a shark on sight, then the shark will never get close enough to the seal to do anything.”
Julian was nodding, looking moderately surprised that Ty knew what he’d been talking about. “What he’s saying is if the prey recognized the predator as a danger, they would instantly flee. So the shark regulates its behavior. The majority of the time, a shark swims peacefully through schools of its prey, never causing trouble, never being pegged as a danger, barely noticed by the very things it hunts.”
Cameron looked back and forth between them. “So… if you’re not a shark, then what are you?”
Julian winced, and to Cameron’s surprise, he flushed as he looked down at his shoes. “I’ve always associated myself more with a lion,” he mumbled.
“I’ll buy that,” Ty said as he stepped away from the counter so Cameron could see him more fully.
“I’m not convinced,” Cameron said, crossing his arms. He looked over his shoulder at Zane. “Does Julian look like a lion to you?”
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it’s stupid,” Zane said, mimicking Julian’s way of speech, before stepping up to order his food.
Cameron turned back to Julian. “Well?”
“Big cats are the only predators on earth who are known to kill for fun,” Ty provided almost merrily.
“Meow Mix,” Zane said over his shoulder in a flat tone.
“You said that before, at the apartment,” Cameron remembered. “When Ty picked up Wesson.”
“Wait, he picked up Wesson?”
Cameron nodded.
“How?”
“Grady has a codependent relationship with big cats.”
“Why?”
“One tried to eat me,” Ty said, the answer flippant.
“Actually, that explains so much,” Zane muttered to himself, looking between Ty and Julian.
Cameron rolled his eyes. “Why a lion, Julian?”
“They’re large and territorial. They’re feared on sight no matter if they’re hunting or sunning on a rock. They take advantage of environmental factors to hunt and kill their prey. And they occasionally go rogue.”
“And start killing for fun,” Ty finished with a flourish of his hand.
Cameron turned up his nose. “And what about you, Mr. Killing for Fun?”
“I don’t kill for fun.”
“I meant what are you? A bulldog?”
Zane let out a sharp bark of laughter. Ty grunted at them both, no longer enjoying the game now that he was the focus.
Julian turned to look at him. He nodded as if coming to a decision. “You see, Cameron, of us all, Agent Grady is the real shark.”
Ty looked at Julian in outrage.
Cameron narrowed his eyes, studying Ty, trying to fit the description Julian gave earlier to what he’d seen of Ty. Julian and Zane both turned heads with their imposing dark looks and brooding auras. They were both somber and controlled. Like sharks patrolling their territory as they weaved through a crowd. Ty, though, sort of struck Cameron as a playful puppy in comparison, flopping along, cracking jokes, handsome face usually open and smiling.
Maybe Julian was right.
“Do you play poker?” Cameron asked Ty.
“Sometimes,” Ty answered distractedly, still looking at Julian. “What the hell do you mean, I’m the shark? I’m not a shark!”
“You’re a shark,” Zane said as he turned away from the counter with a drink in hand, though his words sounded begrudged.
Ty gave him a wounded look, and Cameron almost felt sorry for him.
Julian nodded, satisfied. “Of all of us, he’s the one someone in trouble would approach for help,” he told Cameron. He waved a hand at Ty. “He doesn’t seem outwardly dangerous, in fact, quite the opposite. So the wounded little fishies just swim right up to him.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Ty grunted, shoulders tightening.
“But he has probably killed more people than myself and Agent Garrett combined.”
“Now you’re just being mean,” Ty muttered.
Zane shrugged. “You remember what Clancy said. You go around bitching and people still like you because you’re charming. You can’t help yourself.”
“You’re not helping, Zane!”
“Maybe Ty’s a big cat too,” Cameron said, not comfortable with the talk of kill counts and still feeling sorry for Ty and the wounded look in his eyes. Maybe Ty really was a shark, dangerous and dashing and still managing to make Cameron feel sorry for him.
“No,” Julian murmured, still looking at Ty. “He’s a shark.”
Cameron glanced to Zane. “What about him?”
“I was born in the year of the horse,” Zane said. He was leaning against the counter, waiting for their order.
“You’re not a horse,” Ty told him, sounding truly offended by the entire conversation now.
“I think maybe… a bear. A big grizzly bear,” Cameron said as he studied Zane.
“A bear fits,” Julian agreed.
“A bear?” Zane shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
Ty was silent, looking at Zane with narrowed eyes. “Oh!” he said suddenly, pointing at his partner. “He’s an elephant!”
Julian looked back at Ty and then at Zane, almost laughing, but then he nodded in surprise again. “That’s… disturbingly fitting.”
Cameron had to laugh when he saw the look on Zane’s face. He was staring at his partner in clear disbelief. “An elephant?” Zane said.
“They’re killers, man,” Ty told him, voice trembling with laughter.
“As much as I hate to agree with him,” Julian murmured, waving at Ty with a grimace.
“An elephant?” Zane repeated. “What the hell?”
“They lose their tempers and trample and gore and cause mayhem all the time,” Ty said, his voice flippant but his eyes glittering.
Zane crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, glowering.
Cameron cleared his throat and whistled as he turned to look at Julian. Julian was trying desperately not to smile.
“Elephants are unpredictable creatures,” Ty told Zane, voice lower and mockingly earnest.
Zane cocked his head to one side. “Do tell.”
Cameron edged away from Zane and reached down to pick up the second tray of food they’d been waiting for. “How do you two know so much about killer animals, anyway? I know you don’t watch Discovery Channel, Julian.”