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through anything. Like a cockroach.
    An amused smile slowly pulled at Zane’s lips as the elevator doors opened onto the parking deck. “Just what is it you’re afraid of?”
    Ty pursed his lips and waited a moment before moving out of the elevator without bothering to answer.
    Zane huffed quietly and followed him. “Grady, you’re going to answer my question.”
    “And you’re going to sprout wings and fly,” Ty shot back over his shoulder. “Do you have camping gear?”
    “Camping… why the hell would I need camping gear in DC?” Zane asked, throwing up a hand. “Answer the question.”
    “There are places to camp in DC,” Ty answered as he headed for his Bronco.
    “Yeah, if you’re homeless in a city park,” Zane retorted. “Answer the question, Grady.”
    “I did,” Ty said to him with a smirk he tried to hide. He seriously enjoyed riling Zane up. The results were often… heated. “I mean, if you want specific places to camp, I’m gonna need a map. And maybe some squeaky pens, you know, the ones that smell good?” he rambled, knowing it would annoy Zane and trying not to smile as he said it.
    Zane stopped in place as Ty kept walking. After a long moment he shook his head and changed directions, heading for the far side of the parking garage. Zane had learned not long after they’d been reassigned that he didn’t have to stick around to deal with Ty’s verbal sparring. In some ways it was a nuisance, because now Ty had to work harder to annoy him, but it was refreshing, too, in that Zane wasn’t willing to be batted around like a mouse being taunted by a cat anymore.
    “Hey!” Ty called after him with a melancholy smile. He did miss the verbal sparring sometimes.
    “What?” Zane yelled back as he kept walking to his Valkyrie, parked in the corner about thirty yards away.
    “You want to know why I don’t like going home?” Ty asked as he jangled his keys, the sound echoing in the cement parking garage.
    “I believe I asked what you were afraid of, Grady. Two different things,” Zane responded as he picked up his helmet from the seat of the motorcycle. His voice bounded off the concrete of the parking deck and reached Ty almost as an echo.
    “I’m afraid of the dark,” Ty answered immediately with a tilt of his head, his voice soft and serious.
    Zane paused and turned back to study him. Ty smiled slightly. They were both still dealing with hangups and problems. While Zane certainly had a harder time dealing than Ty did, every once in a while it did Zane good to be reminded that he wasn’t alone in his struggles.
    “You really want me to come?” Zane asked him uncertainly.
    Ty nodded.
    “What are we going to do while we’re there?”
    “Eat home cooking and take a little hike in the woods,” Ty answered with a negligent shrug.
    Zane’s shoulders relaxed. “There’s a difference between a little hike and needing camping gear.”
    “Is there?” Ty asked innocently. He shook his head. “We just go up on the mountain. Stay there a week, maybe ten days,” he explained.
    “Ten days,” Zane repeated flatly.
    “Sometimes less,” Ty answered.
    “I’ve never been to the mountains,” Zane said doubtfully as he set his helmet down.
    “All the more reason to go,” Ty countered, though he was silently wondering how in the hell Zane had lived all his life without going into the mountains. Any mountains.
    Zane nodded slowly. “Are we still getting coffee?” he asked after a moment.
    “If you want it,” Ty answered with a shrug. “We need to go shopping. You’re gonna need some boots,” he told his partner with relish.

Chapter 3

    I T WAS warm enough that they could leave the windows of Ty’s Bronco down as they drove along the winding roads that led to Bluefield, West Virginia. The fall leaves had turned, making the road a blinding corridor of oranges, yellows, and reds. And even though the sun had just barely risen, the sky was an amazingly clear blue as they headed