It was another ten minutes, maybe more, before there was a scratch at the door and Zane heard the key card swipe. Ty pushed into the room, face flushed from the cold, flecks of snow melting on his shoulders. He was carrying a small paper bag.
He looked around the room as he stepped in. "Where are they?"
Zane gritted his teeth and swallowed the sharp remark that was his gut response. "In the bathroom," he said instead.
Ty nodded curtly. "That won"t hold him all night," he said, not even bothering to try explaining why walking a mile or two in the snow had taken him nearly an hour to manage. Zane played the whole prospective explanation and resulting argument through in his head and decided to just not go there. Ty had done a lot of walking in the snow tonight.
"Our options are rather limited."
"What have you come up with?" Ty asked. He shrugged out of his coat, then tossed it onto the tiny table between the television and the kitchenette.
"I thought about cuffing him to the underpinning of the bed, but it"s junk. He"d probably break it," Zane answered.
Ty stared at him, waiting for him to continue, and Zane resisted the urge to snap at him. Tempers were getting shorter, and it didn"t help that they couldn"t touch or even speak openly to each other in front of their prisoners. Zane reminded himself to stay calm. "We could attach him to the refrigerator. Even if he did get out, he wouldn"t be going anywhere fast."
Ty was nodding slowly as Zane spoke. "How?" he asked in a flat voice.
Zane shrugged, mind churning. "Use his belt and the chill grate? Fasten it behind his back."
"And essentially give him a nice sharp metal weapon when he gets lose," Ty said, sounding disgusted. He picked up the bag he"d been carrying and opened it up to extract a gas station box of Benadryl. He held it up, looking at Zane grimly. "How many of these things would it take to put you down?"
Zane looked at the package, then up at Ty, and it was all too clear how far Ty had been pushed: too far. "Absolutely not. You"re not drugging him."
"And he"s not smothering one of us in our sleep," Ty said, voice sharp and serious. "I don"t know about you, Zane, but I"m tired. I"m too f.u.c.king tired, and I"m afraid I"m going to fall asleep tonight, let down my guard, and not wake up."
"That"s not going to happen. If you need to sleep, sleep. I can stay awake."
"No, you can"t. You are just as exhausted as I am!" Ty tossed the box of Benadryl onto the table and pulled his gun out of its holster to check the clip.
Zane took in a deep breath through his nose, hanging on to his patience with everything he had. "You do need sleep, because you"d never try this in your right mind. Knock him out, tie him up, h.e.l.l, strip him nude, but you"re not drugging him." What if Cross had some crazy reaction to the drugs like Ty often did, and died? Burns would forgive them some surface damage to the a.s.set, but dead wouldn"t go over well at all.
Ty rammed the clip home, the noise unmistakable in the otherwise quiet hotel room. "You"re right. Plan B then," he said in a deceptively calm voice. He pushed away from the table and headed for the bathroom, gun still in his hand.
Zane wasn"t sure what was worse. He was certain-all right, almost certain-Ty wouldn"t just shoot Julian. Well, kind of certain. Maybe. "Grady... what are you going to do?" he called, hearing the dread in his own voice.
Ty didn"t answer him. Zane heard him push the door open and bark at Cameron to get out. Zane rubbed a hand over his eyes and waited, using the time to list possible worst-case scenarios, the fallout, how much paperwork would be involved, and if any said scenarios would afford him and Ty some peace and quiet sooner rather than later. Now that he thought about it, drugging Cross just a little might not be such a bad idea.
Zane rolled his eyes. He was sleep-deprived; just the fact that he had that thought was proof.
Ty grabbed Cameron by the arm and shoved him out into the suite. Zane watched the man stumble into the table, knocking over the box of Benadryl.
"What"s going on?" Cameron asked, rubbing his hip.
Zane just shook his head. "Better stay out of the way," he said, jerking a thumb back toward the bed. Cameron nodded, keeping his eyes on the bathroom door.
A moment later Ty dragged Julian out of the bathroom, quite the noisy affair since Julian was threatening Ty with all matter of bodily harm if he touched Cameron again. Zane was pretty sure the only reason Julian didn"t fight back was the gun in Ty"s hand. Cameron had to hop out of the way as Ty propelled Julian forward and slammed him into the table, shoving at him from behind and pressing his face and chest to the tabletop.
Ty had done that to Zane a few times. Only he"d never pressed a gun barrel to the base of Zane"s skull like he did to Julian"s right now. It occurred to Zane that he should probably rein Ty in any time now. He was supposed to be the rules lawyer of the two of them, the one who kept his partner from blithely charging into serious trouble.
"You probably shouldn"t cripple him," Zane said in place of further caution.
Julian turned his head just enough to meet Zane"s eyes. For the first time since they"d picked him up in Chicago, the man looked worried. He didn"t look scared like a normal person would be in that situation, but he did seem to be acknowledging that Ty had reached the end of his rope and just might shoot him.
"He"d already freed himself," Ty told Zane through gritted teeth. He was using his entire body to keep Julian pinned under him.
Zane glanced at Cameron, who gave him big, innocent doe eyes. "You"re next," he warned the younger man. Cameron shrank back, guilt written all over him.
Ty gave the room one last scathing glance, obviously looking for something to secure Julian to that would keep him the entire night. But Zane knew there was nothing in the room that would alleviate Ty"s concern, or his, enough to let them sleep.
Ty knew it too. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his spare handcuffs, pushing into Julian from behind with the sharp part of his elbow. Julian winced but didn"t make a sound as Ty put the handcuffs onto one of his wrists. Ty yanked the arm behind him, and Julian did gasp in complaint as his arm was jerked around.
"You"re going to enjoy this about as much as I am," Ty snarled at him. Then he slapped the other half of the cuffs onto his own wrist with a loud clink.
Zane"s eyes widened as he fought down a spate of hysterical laughter. What kind of fickle b.i.t.c.h was Karma that they kept getting these insane cases? He was about to comment when Cameron beat him to it.
"What are you going to do? Sleep with him?"
"No, Cam, we"re gonna slow dance!" Ty shouted. He tossed his gun to Zane, where Julian couldn"t reach it, and he took a step back and jerked Julian"s arm to make him stand as well.
Zane caught the weapon out of pure reflex. Out of all the things Ty could have chosen to do, this hadn"t made Zane"s top ten. He was about to offer a cra.s.s comment when the deep shadows under Ty"s eyes arrested him, and Zane just nodded his consent.
The way Ty and Julian fought reminded Zane of him and Ty when they"d first met. What had sparked them to go from hating each other like these two did, to loving each other like they did now? Some random tumble of Fate, a fly-by jumble of chance. Zane didn"t know, but he thanked G.o.d for it every day.
Ty and Julian stood toe to toe, now locked together for the night. Ty held up the keys to the handcuffs so Julian could see them, then tossed them to Zane as well. Zane was tired of having things thrown at him. He pocketed the keys and shoved Ty"s gun in the back of his waistband.
"Unless you smother me in my sleep and gnaw off my arm, I don"t really see you getting out of this one," Ty said to Julian.
Julian was breathing heavily, obviously trying to calm himself. Then his shoulders sagged, and he nodded minutely. "A truce for the night," he said, voice soft. "I won"t break your arm to get away, and you won"t break my neck in the middle of a war flashback."
Ty"s eyes narrowed. "Deal."
Zane looked back to Cameron, still standing off to the side like a spectator at a c.o.c.kfight. "I guess you two are taking that bed," Zane said, hating the thought. He and Ty would barely fit on the double bed together, and they were friendly, to say the least. There"d be no way two big men like Ty and Julian could do it without contact.
When he looked back, Ty was staring at him. He looked like he hadn"t slept in a week, worse than he"d looked before he"d bolted in Baltimore just weeks ago. He hadn"t given details, but his trek through the snow to find a car had to have been harrowing.
Julian was messing with the sleeve of his shirt, and when he raised his arm, he pulled Ty"s hand with it. Julian looked at Ty and flailed his hands in a rare display of frustration. "I finally get to sleep in a bed, and I can"t even get out of my shirt now?"
"Shut up," Ty growled, and he pushed Julian toward the bed. He gave Zane one last glance, and Zane met his eyes long enough to nod, hoping it conveyed his tacit acceptance of the situation. He didn"t have to like it; he just had to get to tomorrow.
C AMERON shot straight up, pulse going into overdrive, when a piercing alarm blared in the darkness now lit by red lights flashing from small boxes on the ceiling. It was so loud he had to cover his ears, and he panted for breath, trying to wake up and remember where he was and why Julian wasn"t with him.
There was a shout and a cry of pain from the next bed over, followed by a thump loud enough to be heard over the blaring alarm.
He saw a tall shadow move in front of him, and he relaxed. "Julian?" he called out, trying to be heard over the wailing alarm.
But it wasn"t Julian who Cameron saw when the shadow stopped at the foot of the sagging bed. Cameron"s brain finally kicked in with the details: it was Zane standing in front of him; they were in a scarya.s.s motel somewhere in Ohio; and Julian was in the next bed, sleeping while cuffed to Ty.
Cameron started trying to push himself out of the hollow in the center of the drooping mattress, but Zane was already flipping on the light. It took some wiggling and a push to get off the creaky bed, and Cameron was finally able to see Ty and Julian. Or at least see where they were supposed to be.
Ty was sprawled sideways across the double bed, lying on his belly, arm stretched over the edge of the bed to the point that his muscles were straining and taut under his thin T-shirt. Cameron could see Julian"s hand sticking up over the edge of the mattress, fingers limp and attached to the handcuffs on Ty"s wrist.
Cameron winced and hurried over to crouch next to Julian, who was sprawled on the floor, arm turned back at an awkward angle. "Julian, are you okay?"
Julian groaned and turned his shoulders, trying to get off the floor while still in that position. "I"m okay," he muttered as he reached for Cameron.
Cameron leaned over to slide an arm around Julian"s waist and give him some leverage to clamber to his feet. When Cameron looked up, Zane was standing right there, looking at the cuffs.
"Careful," Zane said, grabbing Julian"s cuffed wrist and holding it still, stopping the yanking motion. "Ty? You okay?"
"Yeah," Ty said in a strained voice. He pushed to his hands and knees and shook his head. "Tried to go opposite ways."
Julian rubbed his shoulder and winced. The chain between them clanked accusingly. "Apparently I either weigh more than he does or I got out faster," he muttered with a hint of a smirk.
"And then you fell on your a.s.s."
Before anyone could answer, the alarm shut off just as suddenly as it had started.
They all stood in the ensuing silence, Ty"s harsh breathing really the only sound to be heard.
Julian moved his arm, rotating his shoulder, and Ty allowed his hand to go with the motion.
"I"m fine," Julian grumbled.
"Liar," Cameron said. "Should we check to see if there"s a real fire?"
"Call the front desk," Ty suggested. He was still frowning, and he looked oddly haunted by the events of the evening. Julian"s words about having flashbacks now seemed like more than mockery between the two men.
Zane moved to the phone and called the front desk. After a moment of listening, he hung up. "There"s a short somewhere. They"ve got people coming to fix it."
"How long will that take?" Cameron asked, reluctantly pulling away from Julian to let him work out the kink in his shoulder. He"d no more than gotten the last word out when the alarm shrieked again for about five seconds and quit.
"Answers that question," Zane muttered.
Ty sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed at his eyes. Julian was forced to take a step closer, hovering over him and looking mutinous.
"Sit down and chill," Zane told Julian. "Or I can break out the bungee cords and fasten your wrists to your ankles. It"s great for the circulation."
Julian turned his head to look at Zane, and Cameron recognized the look in his eyes. His lover was about to kill something. A glance at Zane revealed the same look, and it made Cameron very nervous. Zane and Julian seemed far too much alike for his comfort.
"Why don"t you cuff him to me?" Cameron asked.
"Because you"re not a resistant force."
"A what?"
"You"re not exactly trying to keep him here," Zane said as he paced over to the window and looked out through the gauzy curtains.
"But he...." Cameron stopped, looked up at the intensity on Julian"s face, and then nodded. "Yeah, okay."
Ty still had his head down, rubbing at his eyes. He sniffed but offered nothing to the conversation.
Zane looked over his shoulder at them, his eyes flickering from person to person. "It"s 4 a.m. Get some more sleep," he said before walking past the bed to the light switch. "Come on, Cam."
"But Zane-" Cameron started.
Julian"s hand reached out to catch at him in the dark. "Cam," he said in a low voice.
Cameron turned back to his lover.
Julian pulled him closer, pressing his lips to Cameron"s ear. "It"s okay," he whispered. His words were followed by another blast of the malfunctioning fire alarm. Ty gave a jerk.
Cameron winced as he felt Julian"s arm jerked. "All right," he said.
Julian nodded and let go of him. "Good night, love." "Oh G.o.d," Ty grunted.
In a fit of frustration, Cameron huffed at Ty. "Don"t you have someone who misses you? Someone you miss?" The alarm cut off again.
Ty looked up at him, and there was an odd flash in his eyes as the light reflected in them. It instantly made Cameron nervous. Ty stood to tower over him. "You know what? I do," Ty said. "And the longer you two f.u.c.k around and draw this out, the longer I"m away, the longer I go without being with the person I love. So how about you take your G.o.dd.a.m.n simpering advice on romance and stick it up your a.s.s!"
Cameron felt a pang of both shame and pain in the face of Ty"s blunt honesty and obvious frustration. He"d never thought about the lives the two agents had been pulled away from to do this. He backed up until he b.u.mped into something, only to turn around and find out he"d run into Zane, who was watching his partner, a slight smile pulling at his lips. Cameron shook his head and detoured around him, unable to say a thing in response.
Zane flicked the light off, and the room fell into silence. As soon as Cameron settled on the bed, the alarm cranked to life again. He curled up on his side, pulling a pillow over his head.
J ULIAN waited until Zane had shut out the light again. Then he sat gingerly on the edge of the bed next to Ty. He was hesitant to speak at all; the agent"s outburst had caught him just as off guard as it had Cameron. He absolutely loathed the moments where enemies became men with emotions and feelings.
"So," he said awkwardly, wincing in the dark. Ty sighed loudly. The silence stretched on until Julian was fairly certain that both Cameron and Zane had dozed off once more.
Julian strained for something to say to the man that would border on polite, or even civil. But he was still fighting the almost overwhelming urge to throttle him. He cleared his throat and shifted, taking Ty"s arm with him as he turned. "The last time I found myself handcuffed to someone and we had to sleep, we found it was actually more comfortable-"
"To sleep on your sides on the opposite arm, yeah," Ty said with a solemn nod.
Julian found himself staring in the low light, surprised. "You and your partner, you"re not really the average field agents, are you?"
"Zane is not an average anything," Ty said, voice soft and hoa.r.s.e.
Julian frowned, confused by the answer at first, but he realized what Ty was doing. The man was as good at avoiding an answer as Julian was. Only he did it with such good ole boy, backwater sincerity that it probably worked better than Julian"s methods.
"I believe I"ve just discovered why you and I hate each other so much."
Ty snorted.
"I"m serious. You and I were the same person at one juncture. You took one path, I another."
"Are you saying you"re my evil twin?" Ty asked. His voice was too tired to have any sarcasm in it.
Julian pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"f.u.c.k it, just.... You take this side, I"ll take that one, see if we can keep our arms from going to sleep."