“Ty!” Zane said in exasperation from the front seat.
“Glock, paper, scissors. I win.”
“You are an ass,” Julian muttered.
“Ty, put your gun away,” Zane muttered, less sarcastic than his partner. “To Gettysburg, then?”
“Fine. And when we get there you can shave that f**king ferret’s nest off your face,” Ty said to Zane as he shoved the gun back into his coat.
“And on the way we’ll get some Cheetos and Dr Pepper for Ty’s blood sugar,” Zane added, unperturbed.
In the front seat, Cameron clapped a hand over his mouth so no one would hear him snort.
Chapter 12
CAMERON looked up at Julian as they rode the elevator in the Gettysburg Hotel up to the third floor. “Do you think this man you used to know is still here?”
“I’d like to think so. If he’s not, he’s dead, and that would distress me a little,” Julian answered, deadpan.
“Did you know him well? He was a friend?” Cameron asked.
“More an acquaintance. A coworker.” Julian glanced sideways at Cameron and smiled. “He retired of his own volition. That doesn’t happen often to people I know.”
Cameron rolled his eyes and smiled as the elevator doors opened. “I imagine not, though I like to dream.”
“You talk when you dream,” Julian said in a low voice, fighting hard to keep the smile out of his voice. He took Cameron’s elbow and let his fingers drift down his lover’s arm as they stepped out of the elevator. Ty and Zane had let them go alone to scout the area. Julian knew they were testing him to see if they could trust him, and he also knew that Ty hadn’t made it out of that brawl as easy as he was leading them to believe. He was hurt, and Zane had sequestered him in the hotel room as soon as they’d arrived.
“We have a room to ourselves tonight,” Julian murmured to Cameron with a smirk. “I’m quite looking forward to it.”
“Ty and Zane will still be next door,” Cameron said, but his smile didn’t fade. If anything, it grew wider.
“Like I care at this point.” Julian allowed himself to grin as they came to the door of the first room. He gave Cameron a wink as he rapped his knuckles on the door three times.
“You never cared,” Cameron murmured with a laugh. “About what they think, anyway.”
“I maintain they’re both idiots,” Julian muttered, albeit more fondly than he would have a day ago.
The door opened. “I heard that,” Zane said as he stepped back to let them in the room.
“I know.” Julian waved for Cameron to go in first, then followed with a smirk at Zane as he passed.
Zane shut the door behind them a little harder than strictly necessary, and he stalked past them to thump down in the chair at the desk. His face was set in a deep frown as he glared at Ty, who sat sprawled in a wingback chair near the bed, bottle of water in hand. He’d been bitching about the lack of Dr Pepper for a few days now. He was apparently going through some sort of caffeine withdrawal, and he refused to drink Coke or Pepsi or even Red Bull. They were going to have to force something caffeinated down his throat soon, or he was going to kill them all.
Julian raised one eyebrow at Zane but didn’t comment on his crankiness. The room was thick with tension that almost buzzed between the two FBI agents.
“What’d you find out?” Ty demanded of Julian.
“Well, dinner is quite pricey in the tavern downstairs, there’s a ghost walk that begins at eight o’clock a few blocks away, and the young lady at the front desk is unnaturally friendly. I believe her to be a clone of some sort.”
Ty pinched the bridge of his nose, as if desperately trying to keep himself from shooting Julian where he stood.
Cameron thumped Julian’s arm. “You’re not helping.”
“That’s all we found out,” Julian said with a shrug. “There’s a great deal of construction in town. And it’s been a while since I’ve been here, so it will take me some time to orient myself. I’m afraid I was confounded when I arrived at Nestor’s shop to find that it was no longer Nestor’s shop. He’s moved location, and while I did find the new building and leave him a message, it will be morning before we hear anything from him.”
“Morning. Great,” Ty said as he stood.
“We could all do with a night to sleep,” Zane said.
“I’m antsy, Zane.”
“You’re high on exhaustion and Cheetos.”
“One walk around the block isn’t going to kill any of us.”
“We don’t know who’s looking for us out there.”
“Am I allowed to interject an opinion yet?” Julian asked with a frown.
“No. Shut up,” Ty snapped.
“We need more information and more sleep before going back out. You can’t just run around blind,” Zane stated, his voice dropping into an angry growl.
“You’re one to bitch at me about running blind,” Ty muttered as he sat back down with a thump.
“Ty, put on your big girl panties and stop bitching, okay?” Zane growled, sitting up straighter. Julian noticed one of his hands clutching in and out of a fist. “There’s no way in hell you’re leaving this room tonight.”
“Guys—” Cameron started. Julian reached out to touch Cameron’s shoulder and stop him. He’d seen discussions like this in his line of work, and they sometimes ended bloody. With these two it seemed prudent to stay out of the argument.
“No way in hell?” Ty repeated incredulously. “What are you now, the stroll police?”
“We wait for Cross’ contact and at least wait until dark to go wandering around,” Zane said with finality. “And that’s still a bad idea.”
Julian cleared his throat. “Really, we won’t hear from him until morning. Until then….” Julian shrugged and trailed off as he tried to gauge the tension between the two men. Zane’s back was ramrod stiff as he sat unmoving, and he hadn’t taken his eyes off Ty. Ty was the exact opposite, antsy and agitated, appearing to be moving even as he sat relatively still.
Cameron shifted closer to Julian, taking his elbow as he waited for the ensuing fight.
“I hate it when mother and father fight,” Julian said under his breath.
“Shut up,” Ty snapped at him, then turned on Zane, who stood to meet him. “Sit down, take a bubble bath or something. I need to take a walk.”