Read Cut & Run for Free Online Page A

Ty ordered in exasperation.
    Zane glanced over the Hardy Boys, struck again by how young they seemed. Surely, they’d seen some version of Batman. This was making him feel old.
    “Well, how the hell are we supposed to know that? You old guys saw all that original crap. The new stuff’s a lot better, and the Bat Cave is not a lab,” Morrison blustered.
    Zane blinked. Old guys? He glanced to Ty, wondering what sort of fireworks that little comment would set off.
    “Do I look like I saw the original anything, SpongeBob?” Ty asked with a smirk and a point to his own chest. “What are you doing reading comics anyway? When I was your age I was in the Gulf, man,” he continued.
    “The Gulf of what?” Morrison responded, a blank look in his eyes.
    “The Persian Gulf,” Zane answered sharply, not at all amused. He noticed Henninger closing his eyes in exasperation and shaking his head.
    Ty didn’t know whether to be more shocked at Morrison’s idiocy or at Zane’s sudden apparent support. He just stared at Morrison for a minute, all joking aside, then glanced at Zane, who met his eyes for a moment, and sighed. “Kids these days,” he muttered as he stepped between the two younger agents and punched the button on the elevator.
    The elevator ride was a short one, and when the car jerked to a stop Henninger led the way out. “The team has been a little scattered since the deaths of Special Agents Reilly and Sanchez,” he said quietly as they walked down the hall. “We all knew them. I’m afraid we’re not really organized right now.”
    “Has the team had any off time?” Ty asked.

    Cut & Run | 25

    Henninger glanced at him defensively as if expecting a jeer. “No,” he answered curtly as he opened the door to the main laboratory.
    “Give it to them while we get ourselves acquainted with the case,” Ty ordered.
    Zane frowned. He had no problem with giving the overworked team a day or two off, but how were they supposed to do any of the things Burns ordered if none of the team was around to observe? “We should have access to all the subsidiary case material,” he said slowly, not arguing openly. “I’d like to spend some time with the photos.”
    “I’ll have them pulled,” Morrison responded diligently, obviously knowing he’d insulted the two older agents and hoping to make up for it.
    “Are any of the crime scenes still intact?” Ty asked.
    “Uh … I believe the most recent one is,” Morrison answered uncertainly. “May I ask why?”
    “I’d like to visit it,” Ty answered.
    “Me, too,” Zane added. He wondered if Serena Scott would mind going along and seeing the site in person. He’d have to ask her—unless Ty got it into his head to go right this minute.
    That thought made him realize that he really had no idea what Ty was trained to do or how he would behave on an actual case. The other man at least knew what department Zane came from, although that certainly didn’t expose his training. Some research to learn a little more about his asshole of a partner might not be a bad idea. It was obvious from the fact that he had been stationed in the Gulf that he had been military of some sort, and when Zane pondered that it didn’t really come as much of a surprise. It wouldn’t take long to request a file on Grady.
    “When would you like to go?” Morrison asked.
    “As soon as we’re done down here,” Ty answered with a nod to the lab doors as they approached.
    “That may be a bit of a problem,” Morrison answered nervously as Henninger slid his key card through the security slot.
    “Then fix the problem,” Ty said to him coldly.
    “The NYPD detectives assigned to the case haven’t returned our calls for two days. They don’t know you’re here,” Morrison told him.
    “So, what’s the problem?” Zane asked, stopping at the security desk.

    26 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “Technically it’s still a joint case. The site was left in NYPD
    custody,” Morrison