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Zane huhtly, and his eyes remained trained on Ty When he spoke, it caet used to it I expect a lotbest, reave him a weak smile and nodded

Zane shook his head and poked Ty in the ribs "Quit thinking so hard," he said as he tried to ed hiently from chest to knee "Sleep," he murmured, his lips close to Ty’s te his face into Zane’s and inhaling his scent deeply Just as it always did, it sent a thrill through him and caused a dull ache to start in his chest

What he was afraid of, he’d cohts or being buried alive His greatest fears, in the end, were letting down those he loved and saying the words "I love you" without any hope of hearing them in return

He knew, deep down so alone

RICHARD BURNS sat back in his chair with a long sigh He waited a few moments to ponder what Earl Grady had related to him on the phone It had been a week since Earl and the boys hadthe full story At first blush, it was hard to tell whether the debacle would fall under FBI jurisdiction It ht be handled by the Parks Department or the local law enforcement Hell, treasure hunters and a booby-trapped mountain could even fall to the National Guard Burns really hoped the Bureau wouldn’t need to deal with it

A teah they’d had to co was being half-heartedly investigated, but Burns had no doubt Zane would be cleared He had three goodthat he’d saved Ty’s life and that deadly force had been required There was no trace of the third hunter And so far four bodies ofhikers had been found in the area of thethat concerned Burns was how Earl and the boys were handling themselves since they’d co to be some fallout over the events Earl Grady had described Earl had sounded close to tears as he’d told Burns about what he’d said to his son Burns had been du but call his old friend an idiot and tell hiet around to fixing it was the real question And knowing Ty like he did, it ht just roll off him like water off a duck It was hard to predict ould hit that boy hard and ould glance off Ty had been through a lot of things like they were a walk in the park, things that would have mentally destroyed a lot of people But when his cat had died of old age a few years ago, Ty had been inconsolable for a week

Burns told his would be resolved, or they wouldn’t It was one family affair he would stay out of if at all possible

They were all ho Ty had stayed in West Virginia for a third week of vacation along with Deuce Burns kept expecting to hear about a inia mountains

Zane Garrett had returned to DC earlier than his partner, but as Burns had ordered, he hadn’t turned up at the office at all and hadn’t le noise about the extra week of vacation tacked on to his original three Burns did know, through regular channels, that Garrett had shown up at the Bureau clinic and requested an appoint the therapy sessions like clockwork, and the results were already very pro Apparently, whatever had happened up on that ether

Burns sat staring at the packet of transfer papers on his desk, tapping it with his finger Zane had passed all his evals earlier that day--blowing the acade an excellent score on the physical; and squeaking by on the psych exam, to Burns’ relief Ty was alh he’d be in the cast for a couple more weeks, probably They were about ready to be reinserted into light fieldwork Burns needed to sign these last papers, and the transfers to Balti before he could in good conscience put Grady and Garrett on another assignether He picked up his personal cell phone and hit the speed dial

"Talk to me, son," Burns requested after the man answered He pushed the button to turn on the speaker and set the phone on his desk "I need you to tell me about them"

"First of all, sir, I feel the need to reiteratefrom the speaker said seriously

"Believe me, son, I know it feels a little dirty But it’s for his own good," Burns responded wearily He was so tired of worrying, and he knew that while it felt slightly wrong to be doing this, it would also ease his mind both professionally and personally "You kno hard-headed he is, he’d never let us do this with his knowledge Now tell me what you know"

"Sir--"

"Deacon," Burns bit off sharply "I would not ask this of you if it weren’t important Please I don’t want to hear about Garrett, there’s doctor/patient privilege involved now," he said before Deuce Grady could remind him of the fact For all the rules the Grady brothers had stretched, bent, crossed, and broken over the years, Deuce was admirably inflexible when it came to his work

"Ty also speaks to me with the expectation of confidence," Deuceto talk about him to you, Dick"

Burns kne Deuce felt Dirty and dishonest Burns had felt that hen he’d all but ordered Ty to go home He’d felt that hen he’d called Deuce to request he observe them closely But he knew that if the Gradys weren’t as close as fa with these issues at all He’d just send Ty to a therapist and get a nice clinical evaluation of his ether to determine how they worked as a teao to a psychiatrist and not say just what needed to be said He had to be tricked into it And until just recently, Zane had to be pushed with a cattle prod to even get him into the doctor’s office

"I don’t want to knohat Ty talks to you about," Burns assured him softly "Just tell me," he continued sympathetically, "is he still--"

"Sane?" Deuce provided flatly

Burns sighed loudly "Is he?"

"I’ve never seen him like he was up there on the mountain, Dick," Deuce confided "But then, I’ve never seen him at work, so that could just be how he handles the stress of nearly being killed all the time Hard to say In my professional opinion, he’s nuttier than squirrel shit," he claihed before he could stop hiht too "But as his brother, I’d say he’s as sane as he’s ever been," Deuce continued confidently "I’m not certain how o on and rely

Burs pursed his lips and scowled "I don’t want to kno you know about those cases," he grumbled "When he’s done he’ll tell me," he stated in a voice that said that line of conversation was done "Do they function as a team?" Burns asked slowly "That’s all I want to know, Deacon Can I, in good conscience, keep theh it?"

Deuce was silent Burns could hear hi a pen on a pad of paper as he mulled over the question "I think," Deuce drew out hesitantly, "‘function’ is perhaps too strong a word"

Burns closed his eyes and placed a hand over his forehead, feeling his heart sink