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DC was a good choice When he’d lived there when they’d first been partnered, Ty had driven back and forth from Baltimore But it had only been for anot to resent McCoy for what he was h, Ty reached between their chairs and brushed his fingertips across Zane’s elbow, eyes still on McCoy Ty didn’t appear angry or upset In fact, Zane’s usually teht composed as he pushed to his feet He lowered his head as he reached under the lapel of his suit coat and pulled out his badge--the badge he’d just gotten back He laid it on the desk in front of McCoy, followed by his Bureau-issued sidearm, still in its holster

When McCoy looked up at him, his eyes ide and his lips were parted

Ty "

Zane distantly wondered what the thundering noise was until he realized it was his heartbeat in his ears He stared at Ty, unable to look away He kne much Ty loved and lived for his work He was afraid to speak for fear of ould come out

"Grady, think about this, would you?" McCoy said patiently "I understand, okay? It’s a shitty situation, and if I could sweep it under the rug, I would I tried"

Ty was shaking his head, gently pushing the badge on the desk around in circles with his finger "I know, Mac But being separated is not an option" Zane’s gut clenched as Ty used the one finger to push his badge closer to McCoy "Garrett can stay where he is Consider this ed to say He stood and snatched Ty’s badge from the desk "No, I can’t let you do that"

Ty turned to face hi, Ty," Zane whispered "I’m two years from retirement Let me take the bullet on this one"

"Exactly, you’re two years from retirement," Ty hissed "Two years and it’s over"

"Gentleht now, it’s oddaave hihway, Mac"

McCoy began to e of his nose

Ty reached for Zane’s hand and gently re He set it on McCoy’s desk and pushed it toward their boss, his eyes never leaving Zane’s Then the srin Zane had always loved The laugh lines at his eyes appeared His nose scrunched But there was no light in his eyes, the sparkle that said he was enjoying life That light hadn’t been there since he’d gotten hoot a rubber band ball to retrieve from my desk," Ty said He patted Zane’s ar Zane and McCoy staring after hi open

"I can’t believe he just did that," McCoy finally said

Zane shook his head "Give me time before you file his paperwork, okay?"

"You’re the Assistant Special Agent in Charge," McCoy said, and he stuffed Ty’s badge and gun into a desk drawer "You file his damn paperwork Get out ofto civilian life He got up early to run, relearning his old route and taking note of everything that had changed Buildings being redone, neighbors being gone, a florist where a dive bar used to be, a martini bar where the Fosters used to live

It all felt the same, but it was different A car would backfire and Ty would drop and roll A baby would cry and Ty would reach for a gun he no longer carried Zane would knock into hirab him and roll him off the bed

Okay, that had been kind of funny after the fact

But it was taking Ty longer to get used to being in his own skin again than he would have liked He didn’t hear uys, either He supposed they were all suffering through the saet used to real life again if they didn’t speak for a while They’d discovered that years ago The only person Ty had expected to hear froe froe, and it felt like so was also disconcerting He’d never in his life been without a job It was driving him a little crazy already, and he kneould have to find so else soon A city cop position like Nick had taken up, or even private security souns were the only thing he did well But all he had to do noork on the old Mustang in the backyard, and pore over the scraps of evidence Zane brought him about their mole

Since their ordeal in New Orleans with Liae both he and the Vega cartel possessed about Ty and Zane’s movements, Ty was just as sure as Zane was that a mole had infiltrated the Baltimore office Burns had confirmed it the day Ty’d received his orders fro infora cartel, and God kneho else Eneer had always been at the back of Ty’sZane was home, alone, with no one he could trust to watch his six Kelly had spent a great deal of tis for Ty, but Ty hadn’t known that when he’d been away, so he’d fretted at night, worried himself sick when he had the free time to do it Nick had atteiven up on trying to keep Ty’sZane happy and healthy, s and beautiful, had very nearly erased the worry fro out of the office the day he’d quit, the realization had coain that there was still a traitor in their ame

So he searched He pored over news articles and police reports about the cartel He tried to find connections between the events of New Orleans and any of their cases, delving into everything he had at hand that wouldn’t tip off the mole But his resources were o on

All he found were dead ends, and so more often than not he found himself just like he was now, on his back on a modified mechanics creeper--really just a plywood board he’d reinforced and put wheels on--beneath the Mustang

He was hu to keep his rabbed him by both exposed ankles and yanked He closed his eyes and tensed his entire body as the creeper shot out fro, shocked he didn’t catch his head on any protruding parts When he cleared the undercarriage, he had his gun in hand, and was shielding his eyes froh he was pretty sure he kneho his assailant was

"Let’s go inside," Zane said, the mischief quite clear in his voice He didn’t even bother helping Ty off the ground, nor did he seeun on hi at his tie and shrugging out of his jacket

"What did you do?" Ty called after hihed, and Ty hurried to follow He was pretty sure that whatever it was, he didn’t want to miss it

Zane jureasy hands off on his jeans He dragged hi Ty’s radio playing and all his tools laying out in the yard as snowflakes began to drift down

The next kiss ot stolen or rusted Zane pulled at his jeans and shoved at his heavy wool shirt, growling at hile" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>