“They didn’t even tell you about the other agents?” Henninger asked them in disbelief.
Zane shook his head. “Just the basics,” he said tightly.
Henninger looked between them, clearly surprised. Ty stared back at him, not appearing at all fazed.
“The murders when he resurfaced, medical examiner Karen Bryce and her assistant, Mina Holmes,” Henninger told them regretfully. “They found the two of them in the morgue, locked inside. Looked like a nasty, bloody fight. Karen’s throat was cut, and Mina had been strangled.”
Zane cursed quietly and looked away, fighting back the desire to throw something.
Henninger frowned. “How do they expect us to make progress on finding this guy if we keep starting over? I mean, you got pulled right in the middle of things. You hadn’t been killed yet; you were ahead of the curve,”
he pointed out wryly. His eyes shifted back and forth between the two, still puzzling over the changes in them.
“That knock on my head was a bit worse than we thought at first,” Ty answered shortly. “I wasn’t making much sense there at the end.”
Henninger watched him silently for a moment, frowning and pursing his lips. Finally, he seemed to accept that and sat back.
Zane pushed his plate away, unable to eat any more after the news about Karen. “The Bureau has pretty much accepted that he’s one of us now, right? Has anyone done anything about security in the offices?”
“Aside from more locked doors in the building and lengthier pass codes? Not really,” Henninger answered with a shake of his head. “They don’t want to spook him.”
“Jesus f**king Christ,” Zane spit out under his breath, sitting back with a thump and crossing his arms.
Henninger boggled at them. “What’d you two do? Switch brains?”
Ty sat silently and glared at the kid, remembering why he might have disliked him. Zane’s glare matched Ty’s, and Henninger shrank back a little.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“This is what’s going to happen,” Zane bit off after a little more glaring. “You’re going to get us all the case files—the originals, not copies—
and the personnel files we were working before. I want the manifest lists from evidence, including everyone who’s touched every single piece, and everyone who’s filed a single piece of paper in this case.”
“And you have clearance from on high this time,” Ty added. “No sneaking required.”
Henninger blinked, looked vaguely worried, and opened his mouth to utter a very obvious word, but caught it just in time. “I don’t want to know, do I?”
Ty just shrugged and looked back down at his untouched food.
“Just get it. Then call us when it’s together, and we’ll meet again to pick it up. You’ve got my number.” Zane scooted out of the booth and stood up, pulling a wad of cash out of his pocket and tossing a twenty on the table.
Henninger watched him rise with a slightly stricken look and then looked back at Ty, who was still sitting and staring at him blankly. “I kind of liked him better when he was you,” Henninger grumbled to him.
Ty gave him a weak, sympathetic smile and slid out of the booth.
Zane rolled his eyes and nudged Ty to get moving. Ty nudged him back, hard, and snarled at him as they left the restaurant. Henninger turned in his seat and watched them go, frowning at them thoughtfully.
Zane pulled out a cigarette and lit up as soon as they were outside. “I still don’t like him,” he said as they started walking.
“What do you mean, still?” Ty asked.
“He’s a puppy dog. Didn’t we have this conversation?” Zane said around his cigarette. He stopped at the curb to wait for the light to change.
“I didn’t think you had a problem with him?” Ty questioned.
“At first I didn’t, but I think that’s because I was so wrapped up in being annoyed with you,” Zane admitted. “But damn, he’s eager. I was never that shiny.”
Ty gave Zane a sidelong glance and shrugged. “Guess that depends on who you ask,” he said.
Zane looked at Ty with narrowed eyes. “You met a caricature. You know that.”
“Yeah, but it’s still fun to watch you get all puffy over it,” Ty laughed softly, a glimmer of the man Zane had first met shining through in his eyes.
Chuckling as they crossed the street, Zane smiled and winked at Ty.
“You just like to poke and poke and get me riled up,” he said with a purposeful double meaning.
“Damn right,” Ty said with a grin, and then he stopped suddenly and kicked Zane in the shin.
“Ow!” Zane cried, though he was laughing slightly in surprise as Ty turned back around and began walking.
“I’m gonna start wearing steel-toed boots,” Ty said over his shoulder.
Zane snorted as they walked. He stopped without warning as he glanced across the street. “Oooh—detour.”
“What?” Ty asked in confusion as he turned and then followed Zane’s line of sight worriedly.
“Come on!” Zane ordered. He actually sounded happy all of a sudden.
He pulled Ty along to the corner and then crossed to the other side of the street and walked partway back up to stop in front of the classy storefront window of a privately owned bookstore.
“What?” Ty asked again as he looked up at the hand-carved sign.
“I’ve heard about this place,” Zane said, looking up at the sign. “It’s all mysteries, suspense, thrillers....” He nearly bounced in place.
“Do you not get enough of that shit in your real life?” Ty asked with a roll of his eyes. “Come on,” he ordered as he turned away. “I don’t do books.”
“Well, I do. Get an espresso or something,” Zane said, pulling open the door and going inside.
“I don’t do espressos,” Ty called after him stubbornly. As he stood outside the doors, his shoulders slumped, and soon he obediently followed Zane into the store.
Zane was already browsing on a table marked “Old Favorites” when Ty stepped through the door. Quiet jazz played in the background, and a slim, white-haired man with spectacles sat behind the counter reading. A full coffee and espresso bar was set up to the side, steaming gently.
Ty forced himself not to groan. He hated these f**king places. Give him McDonald’s black coffee and a copy of Guns and Ammo to read on the john and he was set. He didn’t even like coffee.