Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run 5)

For once Ty didn’t have anything snappy or clever to say to Julian. He was still sitting stock-still, now staring at the food counter where Julian had been standing.

Julian sat fluidly next to Cameron and handed him his lemonade. He glanced at the agent in mild surprise when he wasn’t greeted with at least a derisive grunt, and Cameron saw him do a double take when he looked at Ty.

Cameron looked from Julian to Ty and back. “What?”

Ty inhaled deeply and turned to look at them. He shifted his shoulders so that he was facing Julian directly, and he met Julian’s eyes with a look so grim that it almost scared Cameron. “To my five thirty,” Ty said to Julian, almost under his breath. “What do you see?”

Julian’s black eyes carefully drifted to gaze over Ty’s right shoulder. Outwardly he didn’t change, he still looked relaxed and somber, but Cameron could almost feel the alteration come over the table when Julian spotted whatever Ty had pointed out to him.

They met each other’s gaze again and sat staring at each other across the table.

Cameron cleared his throat. “What is it?” he whispered.

When Julian looked at him, there was a hint of apprehension in his lover’s eyes. That alone terrified Cameron, and he had to try to swallow twice to get the last bite of his sandwich down.

Ty cleared his throat and stood. “Come on,” he prompted as he slid one arm into his jacket and used the motion to glance over his shoulder.

“What about Zane?” Cameron asked as he stood, abandoning his pretzel and drink on the table. They left the tray of barely touched food.

“Take your things,” Julian said under his breath. He held his cup in his hand, looking down as he stirred it with his straw.

“Zane should be okay, we’ll circle back for him if we can,” Ty answered as he led them out of the café’s sitting area and into the crowded concourse. After Cameron shouldered his bag, Julian took Cameron’s hand and followed, not even hinting that he might try to escape while Ty was distracted.

Cameron tried to ignore the tension and dread curling in his gut. If he wasn’t safe with Julian and Ty, he wouldn’t be safe anywhere. But it wasn’t himself he worried for. He caught himself before he could glance behind them to check for Zane. Soon he’d be coming out to find them gone.

When Cameron gave in and turned his chin, he saw a man in a dark suit step away from a magazine rack and begin making his way after them. Another man moved out of the alcove of a service door, and yet another got up from a table at a deli further down the causeway.

“Julian,” Cameron whispered.

“I know, love,” Julian murmured, voice tight.

Ahead of them, Ty stopped abruptly. Julian drew up and pulled Cameron closer to him. Three more men in various shades of dark suit had materialized ahead of them. Julian turned to face behind them, putting Cameron between himself and Ty.

“FBI?” Julian asked doubtfully, though there was a hint of hope as well.

“Wrong letters,” Ty answered.

Cameron didn’t like not being able to see, but taking a quick look made him more scared, not less. “What now?”

Ty actually reached back and put a hand on Cameron’s arm, turning just enough to look behind them. Cameron heard his breath catch. “You’re not meant to get to DC, are you?” he whispered to Julian.

Julian glanced behind him, and Cameron saw him lick his lips in a rare show of nerves. “I’m the last living witness to a high-level CIA man who was using CIA assets to carry out murder for hire. I’m the only person left who can identify him.”

Ty cursed. “They’re not here to take you into custody.”

“Then what?” Cameron froze as one of the dark-suited men brushed up against a passing traveler. His jacket moved, revealing a gun stuck into the waistband of his pants. “Oh. We’ve got to get out of here.”

“There’s nowhere to go, love,” Julian said, voice grim.

Ty was looking over the heads of the crowd milling around them, and Cameron could practically feel the man coiling against him, like a snake cornered and about to strike.

“They won’t shoot us in the middle of the terminal and all these people,” Cameron insisted. He cast around, desperate.

Ty turned around and grabbed Julian by the arm, yanking him closer until they were almost nose to nose. He didn’t say a thing; they merely stared at each other for a moment before Ty let him go and turned to dart into the tiny gift shop several yards away.

Cameron gaped. Had Ty just cut and run on them? “What just happened?”

The six men were closing in, and the crowd seemed to teem with danger now that Cameron was aware of them. Julian squeezed his hand, squaring his shoulders like a lion might fluff its mane, trying to appear bigger as it was attacked.

A second later Ty came strolling out of the gift shop with a brown paper bag held to his lips. He was blowing it full of air. He calmly held it up, then shouted at the top of his voice, “He’s got a gun!” and slammed the paper bag into his open palm.

Utter chaos ensued. Shrieks and yells filled the air, and the crowd stampeded every which way, creating a jumble of confusion and fear. Mothers snatched their children up and ran. Senior citizens ducked behind pillars and newsstands.

Cameron didn’t think Ty could have caused more of a ruckus if he’d gotten up on a table and danced naked in front of the arrivals and departures sign. Apparently, disorder was Ty’s specialty.

A moment later Ty was at Cameron’s side, urging both him and Julian to move through the panicking crowd. He and Julian both ducked to hide their height, but it didn’t take long until they were confronted with a charcoal suit amidst the zigzagging crowd.

Ty reached out for the man, who was drawing his gun, and he pulled him closer by his shoulder. He shoved the heel of his hand into the man’s chin, snapping his head back, then rounded on him with his left and sent him to the ground. His actions were remarkably quick and powerful, all done in a split second and hard to follow. Cameron had only ever seen Julian move like that. Ty held up something he’d taken from the man, showing it to Julian over his shoulder. Julian still held Cameron’s hand as they vaulted over the fallen man and broke into a run.

Cameron chanced a glance over his shoulder as Julian dragged him down the concourse, looking back at the mess and the agents coming out this side of the crowd. “They’re still coming!”

The crowd was too thick, and there were just too many men after them for Cameron to see how they could get away. The exits were a logjam of people and confused airport security. There seemed to be nowhere to go.