Divide & Conquer (12 page)

He still had on the catcher"s gear, but as Ty wrapped one arm around Zane"s waist to keep his balance, it was clear the pill he"d taken had finally gotten the best of him. His body was loose and relaxed, his movements not as controlled as usual.

Ty muttered obstinately as he turned to look at the scene behind them, his body still brushing against Zane"s as they stood together. He obviously felt certain he was right about the threat. But it was entirely possible they"d just evacuated a few hundred people in front of the local news because Ty was high. Zane sighed and kept his arm discreetly around Ty"s waist. Most of their co-workers would figure Zane was holding him back anyway.

The bomb squad techs directed a small robot down a ramp from the back of their truck, and another member of the team pulled out a bullhorn to address the crowd as the robot chugged away at a snail"s pace toward home plate. Besides that, it was hard to see what was happening on the field.

Ty cleared his throat and turned his head to look at Zane. He leaned closer and spoke quietly. “Where are Shannon and Elaina? They safe?”

“They"re in here somewhere,” Zane murmured. He splayed his hand flat on Ty"s lower back against the fabric. “You don"t look so good.”

“Shut up,” Ty muttered as he turned and looked further into the dugout. He kept one hand on Zane"s arm to hold himself steady.

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Zane sighed and resisted the urge to lay his forehead against Ty"s in a bid for support and comfort. This
definitely
wasn"t the place, or the time, no matter how much Zane"s instincts were screaming at him to drag Ty away from here to somewhere safe so he could take care of him. He"d have to deal with that—and the fallout of the other momentous realizations of the morning—later.

A voice blared over the bullhorn, and Ty startled against Zane before turning to look at the field as the announcer warned people to stay where they were and cover their heads.

“Tyler, get down here before you fall over!” Shannon shouted.

She stepped out and grabbed the strap of Ty"s chest protector. “What were you thinking, taking something before you came out here?”

“I was thinking, „Wow, my ribs hurt,"” Ty answered as he stumbled sideways.

Zane released him as Shannon took charge and pulled Ty down into the dugout. “He really wanted to be here.”

“Not getting what he wants won"t kill him,” Shannon informed them both. She shoved at Ty"s chest, and he fell back onto the old, scarred wooden bench with a thump and a rattle of protective gear. She pointed her finger in his face and waved it. “Something had better damn well blow up out there,” she warned.

“Mommy, I think you need a time-out,” Elaina observed, her young voice wry and amused.

Ty merely nodded as he looked up at her with wide eyes. It was kind of funny, really. Zane had never seen Ty act like that around a woman, except maybe his mama. Usually he was all charm and charismatic quips. Zane had to cover his smile with one hand and turn away. When he did, he saw one of the bomb squad team jogging their way. When he got to them, he leaned against the back fence of the dugout to speak to Ty through the chain-link.

“There"s definitely something down there,” the man told them quietly. “Looks like a pressure switch of some sort.”

Ty turned his head, and the man kept talking to him in lower tones for a moment before standing abruptly and jogging back toward 72 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

his truck. Zane stepped down into the dugout to stand next to Ty.

“Well?”

Ty looked up at him and licked his lips uneasily. “They think it"s a pressure switch,” Ty repeated for the people around them. “Bouncing Betty type thing. Bomb squad"s going to get one of those kamikaze robots out there to poke it,” he told Zane in a lower voice.

Zane sat down next to him. “The games were here yesterday, right? So this had to have been done overnight?”

“Had to be. I was practically laying on the damn thing last night,”

Ty muttered. “And it was crooked.”

“Jesus, Grady,” someone from close by said. “I"m never making fun of your superstitions again.”

“Told you touching home plate before the first pitch was bad luck,” Ty responded under his breath, looking away from Zane as he spoke.

Zane propped his elbows on his knees as he listened to the circus of bomb squad, firemen, news cameras, and cops circling the other ballfield. He didn"t want to think about how close Ty had been to bodily harm. He could wish Ty had been in the outfield, but he wouldn"t lay odds on someone else noticing the problem with the plate.

He sighed and dropped his head, shaking it.

Ty"s shoulder brushed his, and Zane could feel him thrumming with nervous energy.

“Are we safe here?” someone asked. “Should we get further away?”

“We"re good,” Ty assured them curtly. “If it does blow before they can disarm it, they say it"s not packed, so there won"t be any shrapnel. Unless it blows the arm off the robot or something.”

“I"ve seen that happen,” an unfamiliar voice said from further down the dugout.

“Bullshit,” someone else responded with a laugh.

“God"s honest truth. Arm flew through the air and landed like a damn lawn dart.”

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“Would it reach us if that happened?” a worried voice asked.

“The robot is made to blow shit up,” Ty answered in an annoyed voice. “The articulating parts don"t blow off,” he snapped. On the surface, his tone of voice said he was talking to a civilian who was getting on his nerves, but underneath that Zane recognized his partner was badly shaken. Zane straightened and leaned back, and when he scooted—not a big deal, since people were crammed onto the bench anyway—he slid enough so their legs touched from hip to knee.

“Everybody down!” someone called from somewhere behind Zane.

Ty"s hands were immediately on Zane, tugging at him and pulling him down with everyone else onto the packed dirt. Zane hit the ground hard on his knees, shifting his weight back just in time to avoid falling straight forward onto his face. Ty pulled Shannon and her daughter closer and huddled them all together, wrapping his arm over Zane and pressing him down into the dirt. His chest protector dug into Zane"s side as he tried to shield all three of them from the coming blast that supposedly wouldn"t reach them.

Sirens blared across the parking lot, and someone shouted into a bullhorn to make certain the area was clear. The scene had to be easier to handle than most, considering everyone there was involved with the city and knew emergency procedures in some fashion. Hell, half of them probably would have been working the scene if they"d been on duty.

It was a long, drawn-out ten seconds of what seemed like pure silence before the explosion sounded. Obviously disarming it hadn"t gone well.

Zane winced. It was really, really loud for a bomb little enough to fit under home plate.

A whoosh of dirt and small pieces of trash filtered through the chain-link to flutter over them, and Ty curled above him protectively as the air wafted past. He waited a long moment, his fingers digging into Zane"s shoulder as he held him, his breaths harsh in Zane"s ear. Zane closed his eyes, thankful that Ty was here next to him rather than across the field. He slowly started to sit up.

74 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Ty pushed himself up when he felt Zane moving, and he raised his head and looked around to survey the damage. People around them were coughing and scrabbling around on the ground of the dugout, everyone trying to gain their feet at the same time. Ty pulled himself up unsteadily and looked through the fence as he offered his hand to help Zane or Shannon up.

“Oh God,” he said suddenly, his hand going limp at his side as he pulled his face closer to the chain-link.

Zane got to his feet next to him and looked out across the field with a frown. “What?”

“Garrett,” Ty practically whined as he grabbed at Zane"s shoulder. “The Bronco!”

The green Bronco rocked as the robotic arm of the bomb robot rolled slowly off the hood. The dent it left behind was massive, giving the distinct impression that the grill was scowling.

“Ouch,” Zane breathed.

“My truck,” Ty whimpered.

“Oh, Ty,” Shannon said sympathetically as she stood and peered out into the parking lot.

Someone else down the dugout gave a low whistle, and several of the other agents began laughing. “The articulating parts don"t blow off, huh?” someone asked in a teasing voice.

“My truck,” Ty repeated pitifully.

“I"m sure that"ll… buff out, man,” one of them told Ty in a voice that was attempting to be consoling but only managing to waver as the man tried not to laugh.

“In three years, nothing has ever landed there!” Ty cried suddenly. Everyone in the dugout began to laugh.

Zane moved slowly, deciding that turning to face Ty and standing between him and the dugout exit was probably not a bad idea. With Ty"s state of mind, he was liable to run out there and lay himself out over the truck to protect it. After another look at Ty, Zane took hold of his forearm. Just in case.

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“Who the hell thinks that shit"s funny?” Ty shouted at everyone.

“Where"s my gun?” he demanded with all seriousness as he began to pat himself down.

“Who are you gonna shoot? The robot?” Zane asked with a sigh.

He saw one of the bomb squad men give the all clear sign, and he tugged at Ty"s arm. Reporters began to crowd toward the cordoned-off area as people began to stir. “Come on. We"ll go check the damage.”

Ty swung out of the dugout and began stalking toward the Bronco, muttering angrily as he started shedding his catcher"s gear.

Zane jogged after him, dodging the shin guards and chest protector as they bounced to the ground.

“I can"t fucking believe this,” Ty exclaimed. “What"s the likelihood of that shit, huh?”

“Special Agent Grady!” a reporter called out, and Zane turned to see her running after them in an impressive pair of stilettos.

Ty turned to her and flopped his hands. “Seriously?” he shouted angrily.

“Is that your car, Agent Grady?” she yelled after him, microphone out as she and her cameraman continued hurrying toward them, trying to catch up from twenty yards behind. Zane wondered how she knew Ty"s name.

Ty turned to look at the Bronco, waving his hand at it. “Yes, it"s mine! Look at it!”

He took one more step toward the frowning Bronco, and the hood blasted upward, belching flames. The sound followed, a scream of metal and machinery, like a terrified mechanical plea for help, and the old Bronco jumped into the air, flame and heat blasting out of it as the gas tank exploded. The concussion of the explosion knocked Ty and Zane backward and to the ground, heat whooshing over them with what Zane would have sworn was a pained groan from the vehicle.

The dying breath of Ty"s beloved Bronco.

Ty rose slowly, looking with absolute horror at the flames that licked at the tree branches above. He suddenly pushed himself up and made to run toward the wreckage. Zane grabbed for him, tripping him 76 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

up and then tackling him to the ground. Zane had no doubt Ty would try to put the flames out himself and probably go down in a fiery blaze of glory trying to save the damn thing.

“She"s burning, Zane!” Ty yelled, in a panic, voice full of anguish as he tried to squirm out of Zane"s grasp.

The sound broke Zane"s heart. He had to wrap both arms around his partner and put all his weight into him to keep Ty from lashing out blindly as firemen ran past them. “Ty,
stop
,” he said firmly.

Ty tensed like he was going to lunge again, but then he relaxed beneath Zane as if someone had let the air out of him. He didn"t make a sound, and he seemed to be holding his breath as he craned his neck, staring at the crackling flames and pillar of black smoke.

The cameraman skidded to a stop beside them, filming the burning Bronco, filming the firemen trying to stem the flames with extinguishers, and filming them as Ty lay beneath Zane and watched his oldest friend burn.

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ZANE jogged down the stairs to the living room and stopped, looking around to find Shannon. She"d given them a ride to Ty"s house, since Zane"s truck had been behind the cordoned-off safety line. They had decided they needed to get Ty home, away from the television cameras that seemed to love to torment him, where he could fall apart in peace.