“Yeah, well. I’m sure you’re used to that,” Ty muttered. “What the hell,” he added with a sigh. “We can’t all be perfect,” he offered as he looked back down at his uneaten food in distaste. His foot was bouncing slightly as 110
he sat cross-legged on the bed. He was beginning to get edgy again. All the training in the world couldn’t rectify a natural nervous twitch.
Zane sighed quietly and turned back to the files. “Long way from perfect,” he murmured.
Ty rolled his eyes and banged his head back against the headboard.
“Don’t jar loose the few you’ve got,” Zane advised, eyes on the papers he’d pulled out.
“Well, get done with your little pity party, then,” Ty huffed.
“Party, great, where’s the drinks?” Zane sniped.
“And I was almost starting to like you,” Ty sighed under his breath as he twisted and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“God forbid.”
Ty nodded and glanced back down at his food. He had lost his appetite along with the desire to spend any more time with his self-pitying partner. “I need a break from this f**king room,” he muttered as he pushed to stand and stretch.
Zane glanced up from where he’d been staring blankly at the reports.
Ty was patting down his jeans as he searched for his wallet. Finally, he located it and pulled it out, retrieving a little piece of paper and unfolding it with a frown.
Zane didn’t say a word. He just made himself keep his eyes on the paperwork. He remembered when Ty had been handed that piece of paper, and he knew the implications. He fought hard not to be slightly jealous.
Ty reached for the phone and dialed, eyes straying to Zane and glinting in the low light. “Want me to see if she has a friend?” he asked with a smirk.
“I’ll pass, thanks,” Zane murmured, not even looking up.
Ty nodded, watching his partner as the pretty little stewardess answered her phone. Ty didn’t take his eyes off Zane as he set up the illicit rendezvous that he knew would rid him of some of the frustration his new partner had been creating.
The hair on the back of Zane’s neck rose. Ty was watching him.
Waiting another minute, Zane turned his chin to look toward him, a brow rising lazily. Hmm. Ty shouldn’t be the only one to vent his frustrations.
Maybe he’d go find someone to pass the time with, too, now that he thought about it.
Ty smirked as he watched Zane look up at him, grinning at the slightly breathless voice of the woman as she said goodbye. He hung up and looked at Zane. “Going to be okay on your own for an hour or two?” he asked rakishly.
“Me and my right hand will be just peachy, thanks,” Zane said down at the papers.
“Won’t get no sympathy from me, Lone Star,” Ty told him as he slid into his boots. “I served my time with you,” he said with a shake of his head.
“I’ll call you if I spot a tail,” he added as an afterthought.
“Have a good time,” Zane offered sincerely, finally looking up.
Ty just laughed as he walked out the door, waving his cell phone over his shoulder to let Zane know how to contact him as he went.
The other agent watched the door for a bit before shifting in the chair.
He stood up and paced a little before making a decision. He walked over to the desk and uncovered the area directory the hotel provided in each room.
Laying it open on the papers, he found a list of bars and nightclubs in the area.
There was even a little map of the ten-block area. Zane decided he might as well take a break while he could. He walked over to his duffel and pulled out a change of clothes. After getting dressed, he stuck his wallet into his back pocket and strapped on his holster, though he winced a few times. Then he pulled on his boots and a heavy button-up shirt to cover the gun, and he was ready.
Before he walked out, he shoved a couple condoms in his hip pocket, and the door shut behind him.
HE stood on the busy street corner outside the hotel Special Agents Grady and Garrett had moved their operations to. He had, of course, been keeping tabs on their location from the moment they’d stepped off the plane. When they’d declined the Bureau accommodations and moved to another hotel without telling anyone, he’d known he was in trouble. It meant they either suspected someone with inside resources or they were overly paranoid. Either scenario meant more work for him. It had taken a while to find their hotel, but they hadn’t been paranoid enough to check in under false names and he had finally tracked them down.
The new FBI team was a nuisance, but so far they weren’t proving to be as much of a threat as he had expected. When he’d gotten word that Washington was sending a crack team, it had very nearly scared him. So much so that he’d set up the computer in the FBI archives for them and removed vital bits of the files as bait before they even landed. These two, however, had turned out to be anything but a threat.
Still, it was better to be rid of them sooner rather than later.
The exploding rig he had set up in the computer of the archives had worked perfectly. Exactly to plan. The only problem with his plans to this point was the fact that Special Agents Grady and Garrett didn’t seem to give a shit about each other or about working with each other. They were both supposed to have been in that room. Even if Garrett was maimed to the point they had replace him, it still left Grady for him to deal with, and Grady was the real threat. He didn’t follow any rules, and that made him hard to keep ahead of. He had specialized training, too. Garrett just seemed to be a pushover trailing along behind him.
He took a deep drag of his cigarette as he waited. They had to come up for air soon, and when they did, he would take care of things.
y slid the room key into the electronic lock and winced as the lights blinked red. He tried it again, looking up at the door number to make T certain it was the right room as the lights blinked red again. He sighed and banged on the door with his fist. Waiting a few moments and hearing no movement inside, he banged again, harder.
“Garrett!” he called out, trying to keep his voice down. It was late, after all, and they didn’t want to attract any undue attention to themselves. He glanced up and down the hallway and grumbled to himself.
He looked at his card in annoyance, realizing that he’d put it in his wallet with his credit cards and probably demagnetized the damn thing. He muttered to himself as he tried it one last time to no avail. He turned on his heel, intending on going to his own room, but before he got even a step he remembered that his own room key was inside Zane’s room with the rest of his stuff.