Julian took a moment to explain what was going on to Zane, and it was mostly news to Cameron too.
"Burns must be protecting someone," Ty said, voice still strained. "Or investigating on the down low."
"Rogue or not, they"ve had the resources and the manpower to stay on us this long. I don"t see that mess stopping them from keeping after us," Zane said as he shifted his attention back and forth from traffic and the rearview.
"We need to get somewhere safe. Unexpected," Ty said. Cameron couldn"t see him, but he sounded worn and beaten.
"And soon. Your partner is bleeding," Julian informed Zane without a hint of sympathy.
Zane finally looked over his shoulder back at Ty. "How serious?"
"Shut up, that"s not my blood," Ty murmured. His voice sounded weak.
"Ty," Zane said, his voice brooking no humorous pushover. Cameron heard leather squeak, and when he looked, he saw Zane"s hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
"What? It"s not my blood!"
"Let me see it," Julian demanded, and a moment later there were sounds of a scuffle from the back seat.
"I am AB positive and this is distinctly type O blood!" Ty finally shouted at him. "Look at the little Os!"
"Jesus Christ, Grady, can you not take one f.u.c.king thing seriously?" Julian yelled back in utter frustration. Cameron wondered what it was about Ty that made Julian lose his composure so easily. If he weren"t so secure in their relationship, he might actually be jealous of it.
Cameron gasped as the SUV jerked over to the shoulder of the road and came to a sudden stop. Zane threw it into park and turned in his seat. "Enough!" he shouted, grabbing Ty"s wrist when it flailed within reach. Cameron shrank back, leaning against the pa.s.senger-side door as Zane growled. "Grady, give me a clear answer, dammit!"
"I"m not bleeding!" Ty insisted, sounding a mixture of exasperated and hurt that Zane didn"t believe him. "Would you put the car back in drive before we"re strafed by CIA fighter jets or something?"
"I swear to f.u.c.king G.o.d," Zane cursed under his breath as he let go, turned back around, and got the SUV moving again.
Cameron leaned his head back against the leather headrest and closed his eyes. This was like National Lampoon"s Vacation, but with death, property destruction, and an Irish accent. He groaned and covered his face with one hand, only to touch sticky blood all down his cheek and jawline. He groaned again. The second time it sounded pitiful, even to his ears.
There was a tense silence for several seconds, and then Ty opened his mouth one last time. "I think the kid is bleeding."
" WHO are these people?" Agent X asked his superior in utter frustration.
"We"ve finally discerned their ident.i.ties. They"re FBI."
"Real FBI?"
"It would appear so. Richard Burns is pulling no punches when it comes to old friends."
"Do you wish us to continue? They killed two of my men."
"And stole two of your vehicles."
"I don"t mourn the cars."
"Now that we"re certain we know the names of the men involved, it will be easier to find them."
"If you say so, sir."
"Keep on them."
"Yes, sir."
He hung up and looked around the concourse of Pittsburgh International Airport. FBI agents. They had done this with two prisoners in tow and no weapons. He was beginning to wish he"d been sent to Alaska instead of this a.s.signment.
" OKAY, if this is the CIA, what else are they doing?" Ty asked Julian as soon as they were satisfied that they"d lost any tails and disa.s.sembled the GPS in their stolen car.
"What do you mean?"
"We know they were pinging the GPS in the bureau car." "Wait, I thought you dismantled that," Cameron said as he turned around.
"Bureau issue vehicles have two types of GPS. The backup is covert, meaning it"s pa.s.sive," Ty said.
"The Agency was pinging us with their remote systems," Julian explained.
"You knew," Zane said as he looked in the mirror at Julian. "Well, at the time I was hoping to pit the sides against each other and escape."
"At least he"s honest," Ty grumbled.
Zane glared at both of them for a moment.
Cameron waved a hand. "Okay, I get how they found us in the car you stole."
"Borrowed," Ty said.
"Whatever, psychopath. But how did they find us after?" "Any number of ways," Julian said in a troubled voice. "Credit cards. The tolls when we pa.s.sed through. Our cell phones. Depending on how high this goes, they could have even diverted a satellite." "How high does it go?" Zane asked.
"I don"t know his name, I just know his voice."
"You said cell phones," Ty murmured "Yes. You turned the GPS off, but again, if it goes high enough, they can turn it back on remotely."
"Right. But do they have the firepower to listen in on calls?" Ty asked.
"Yes," Julian said with a simple nod.
Ty looked from Julian to Zane, and Zane had to take his eyes off the road long enough to meet Ty"s eyes in the mirror. He could tell Ty was formulating a plan, and the fear behind those hazel eyes told Zane that Ty didn"t like what he was thinking.
"What?" Zane asked with a growing sense of dread. "If they"re picking up on our calls, maybe we can call for help." "What?"
"I"m sorry, I believe you lost me as well," Julian said. "At least I"m not the only one," Cameron muttered.
"They"re big, we"re little. Their strength is the information they gather and how they do it. We have to turn that against them." "A skewer," Julian said in a surprised voice.
"A what?" Ty asked.
"Chess. A skewer is a chess move. Use their strength against them. Their queen is opposite our rook. They"re supported by their knight, and we only have a p.a.w.n. But if their queen takes our rook, our p.a.w.n takes their queen."
"I"m sorry, was that English?" Ty asked in exasperation. Zane looked up at the mirror to see Julian again. He was a fascinating person once he opened up enough to allow them insight into his mind. Zane was glad he was on their side now.
"I"m agreeing with you, you w.a.n.ker," Julian snapped. "Well, stop, it"s weird."
Julian grunted and sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. "I have no idea how to play chess," Ty said in a flat voice. Zane glanced at his partner. Talk about fascinating, though, Zane didn"t have to go further than Ty. Zane would never get tired of watching the way Ty"s mind worked. "But yeah, I guess, that"s exactly what I"m talking about. We need a p.a.w.n."
"A rook."
"Whatever!"
"You want to make a phone call to someone and make the Agency think we"re heading there for help," Zane surmised, voice grim.
"Basically. Yeah."
"And where would we go instead? To DC?" Cameron asked. Ty nodded, remaining silent as the sound of the tires on asphalt seeped into the quiet car.
"It"s sound, in theory," Julian said with a frown.
"Who would you call? I mean...." Cameron trailed off, sounding troubled. "Whoever you call will be in just as much danger as we are." Ty was still looking into Zane"s eyes. Zane nodded, knowing exactly what his partner was thinking.
"I know a few guys who can handle themselves."
Zane waited a breath. He knew Ty was talking about his Recon team. And probably Nick f.u.c.king O"Flaherty.
"Call one of them."
J ULIAN sat in the backseat of the stolen CIA Tahoe, watching Ty as he made the call. He was surprised when Ty spoke in French. He was quite fluent, even using a convincing accent. He sounded almost like a native speaker.
Julian blinked at him in shock, looking at the two men in the front seat to see if either of them was surprised. Cameron glanced back, but he didn"t seem to comprehend anything other than it was a foreign language and it was far too dainty for a man like Ty to speak. Zane glanced up, eyes on Ty more than the road.
Julian had known Ty could speak French. He hadn"t seen him in Paris like he"d led them to believe, but he knew from a reliable source that he had indeed been there. It was still a shock to hear him speak it. Julian knew enough of the language to decipher that Ty was basically telling the other man, "We"re in trouble, we"re coming to you to lay low."
Ty switched the phone from one ear to the other, clearing his throat. He spoke in English. "And Digger? Make sure you have coconuts when we get there, okay? Lots of them."
Julian could hear the tinny voice on the phone responding, and then Ty ended the call. He glanced at Julian and narrowed his eyes as he rolled down the window. The frigid wind whipped through the car, ruffling Julian"s hair, tugging at his coat. Ty tossed the phone out the window and rolled it back up.
Julian stared at him, and Ty ignored him like only children and felines were typically capable of doing.
"Coconuts?"
"It"s... Monty Python. Coconuts were the fake horse. It"ll make sense to him."
"Right."
"I was telling him it was a ruse."
"Got it."
"Where to?" Zane asked in a solemn voice. The heavy sense of impending doom hung over them, making everything sedate and surreal.
Ty shook his head. "I feel like I just threw one of my best friends under a bus."
"You said the bayou would handle it, right?"
"Yeah," Ty whispered.
Julian looked between them. For the first time, the two FBI agents were beginning to take on an air of defeat. He had formed a grudging respect for both men, and he wasn"t so blind that he couldn"t see what they"d done. They could easily have handed him and Cameron over when they realized they were being followed and were outgunned. They had no vested interest in getting Julian to DC, other than they had orders. They were fighting and running and risking their lives simply because Julian and Cameron now needed their help. There was no other reason for it.
"I might know someone who can help us get to DC," he said after a few more moments of silence to ponder it.
He saw Zane"s dark eyes looking at him in the mirror, and Ty was looking at him as well, messing around with his belt as if something was jabbing him.
"He retired several years ago, bought a... an antique store in Gettysburg."
"A real antique store, or the kind that can help us?" Ty asked.
"A real one, unfortunately. But I believe he could still help us. He flew biplanes, it was his hobby. He would loan us one for a price."
"Loan us one?" Zane asked as he kept his eyes on the road.
"A biplane? What are we supposed to do, duct tape ourselves to the wings all the way to DC?" Ty grunted. "I"m not a f.u.c.king Wright brother, okay?"
"Well, no, but this will all be over when I get to DC. Two of us could go, the other stay with Cameron."
"Can you fly a plane?" Ty asked with an incredulous glance at Julian.
"No. I was hoping you could."
"Do I look like I can fly a plane?" Ty snapped, getting more irritable the more he messed with his ribcage.
Julian pursed his lips as he looked at Ty. "I just a.s.sumed, since you enjoyed the TSA so much."
"Okay, let"s stop right there," Zane said hastily.
"Julian, would your friend be able to find a bigger plane for us? One he could fly?" Cameron asked as he turned in his seat.
Julian shrugged. "We could ask him."
"Yes. Let"s go ask him," Ty muttered. "That"s f.u.c.king stupid."
"Fine," Julian said, his tone making it clear he was reaching the end of his patience. "We"ll solve this like men."
"What do you want, MacGuffin, a duel?"
"No." Julian held out both hands, one palm flat, the other held over it in a fist. "Rock, paper, scissors. Two out of three."
Ty rolled his eyes and held out his fist, apparently willing to play. Julian hit his palm three times, and Ty kept time with his fist in the air. But when Julian threw a paper, Ty reached into his jacket with his other hand and pulled his gun, aiming it at Julian.
"Ty!" Zane said in exasperation from the front seat.