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Showing no hint of a s-ass desk job--Zane turned and walked through the other agents he’d worked with in the division that pursued cybercri he did his job, and sometimes theirs as well, with complete and utter focus Zane knew o as stay; his strict adherence to the rules and logical, single- to those around hioals, several of them, and they were all thatwith this division any longer than necessary

Looking around the open office, Zane kneith complete certainty he wouldn’t miss it While his obsessive attention to detail had steered hinments, he kneorth far , nuet his chance to prove it

Shaking soo"

back slaps, he waved off his soon-to-be-former co-workers, told the office administrator he would be back later to clear out his desk, and walked out the door He looked forward to seeing what the Assistant Director of the Criative Branch had in store for hiood, since the man wanted to see him immediately

Zane stopped into the bathroohten his tie and check to make sure his close-cropped brown hair lay down neatly The suit he as sharply tailored to his 6’5" frame, but it didn’t hide the bulky muscles that moved under the fabric His was not a body you’d expect to see riding a desk, a fact he was reents orked around hi the crow’s-feet at the corners of his eyes and the ridges of his twice-broken nose With a displeased twitch, he ran his hands over his close-shaven cheeks and dis upstairs

THE secretary gave Ty Grady a look over her glasses that clearly said she disapproved of the air he breathed She lifted her chin and looked hi her nose at his appearance "You’re early," she announced with a touch of surprise to her voice

Ty looked her up and down in return and cocked his head to the side

"I used the flashy blue lights," he told her with a helicopter lanced over his unshaven face, scuffed leather jacket, jeans, and dirty cowboy boots His T-shirt see to her sensibilities, even though it was clean It was black and had the words Cocke County FBI in large white print on the front Upon closer inspection, there were ser ones, and when she squinted she was able to read the entire shirt: "I was probed in Cocke County by the FBI" She made a small, insulted noise as she looked back up at hihtly scandalized as he headed for the Assistant Director’s door

"You can’t go in there yet!" she hissed as she stood from her desk and pointed at him

He stopped at the door and turned around to look at her, blatantly putting his hand on the door handle and pushing it doith a smirk Her mouth worked soundlessly, and she turned and scraet inside

Assistant Director Richard Burns looked up at him in surprise and annoyance as Ty stepped into the office and closed the door behind hireeted, the words perfectly professional, but the tone somehow just as insolent as it alas

"Sit down," the man ordered with a jab of his pen at one of the seats across fro for one more person"

Tyup a tiny little cloud of dust as he flopped into the seat He did a fairly good job of concealing his surprise "So lynched?"

"If you keep your mouth shut for the next thirty ht in jail How about that?" Burns answered seriously without looking up fro

Ty cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat

ZANE Garrett entered the wide outer office to see the Assistant Director’s secretary scurrying around her desk, obviously flustered He paused, folding his hands behind his back "Ma’am?" he asked politely when she didn’t notice his entrance

She looked up at hi pro in approval of the tailored blue suit and silk tie "You o in now"

"Thank you,to the door as she announced hih the intercom

Burns looked up froestured his to thrash out," he said to Zane, with a narrow-eyed look at theslumped in a chair in front of the desk

"Yes, sir," Zane answered, estured His eyes followed Burns’ gaze Only a blink betrayed Zane’s surprise The unke opposite Burns was a coe to sneer at him Maybe he was an inforety look to hiain, Zane waited, coh the next set of hoops

Ty shifted in his seat, slouching further down and glancing over at the newpress or so, a how-to manual?" Ty asked the Assistant Director sarcastically "Before and after?" he suggested wryly with a gesture at himself and then at the other et fired," Burns answered studiously "And he is taking your job after you leave"

Ty pressed his lips tightly together and looked down at the shiny desktop sedately Zane shifted his eyes between thethe when the guy was obviously being fired It seemed overly cruel He clamped down hard on any further reaction and waited to see ould happen

Ty licked his lips and looked up again to meet his superior’s eyes almost defiantly

"Fortunately for you, Grady, you have more lives than a cat," theanother chance to prove to us that you can do this job without blowing shit up I won’t say oneyou et yourself killed Meet your new partner, Special Agent Zane Z Garrett"

Zane couldn’t have been more appalled, and it showed clearly in his reaction This wreck of an agent was his new partner? "Director Burns," he started irip on the chair What kind of reas this?

"The hell he is!" Ty interrupted as he sat up straight "I can’t do my job with a … a … poster-boy partner," he practically stuttered angrily as he flopped his hand toward the squeaky-clean man next to him