Fish & Chips Read Free Page B

We can get a lot of information out of this if you two take their places and play your cards right.”
    “I"m not sure I like the sound of this,” Zane said. “We"ve not got word one on the case until today, and now we"re supposed to impersonate these guys?”
    “You"ll be given a crash course. And you"re both professional bullshit artists; you"re perfect for it,” McCoy replied carelessly. Zane frowned at him.
    Ty scratched slowly at his cheek. “Okay,” he said carefully. He still didn"t understand why McCoy seemed to be enjoying the prospect so much. There was a catch coming.
    “You leave at nine in the morning. The rest of your team has already been put in place,” McCoy told them as he pushed another stack of files toward the center of the table.
    “Our team?” Zane repeated. Ty sighed heavily and closed his eyes. There was the catch.
    “You know the drill, Garrett, a team. Team leader, two more field agents, and tech support. Read the files so you don"t end up shooting one of them when you meet them. And Grady, we"ll be needing you to 12 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    make just a few… alterations… to your appearance before you go,” he said as he studied Ty critically.
    “What the hell are you talking about, McCoy? It"s not like he can gain fifty pounds overnight,” Zane said crossly.
    “Nothing like that. Some hot wax and a little bleach, and he"ll be set,” McCoy continued, barely keeping himself from laughing now.
    “Hot wax?” Ty asked in alarm. He heard Zane stifle a snort.
    “Del Porter is what you would call… arm candy,” McCoy drawled with a smirk.
    “Oh hell,” Zane muttered, leaning back, rubbing his hand over his face, and shifting in his chair uncomfortably. Ty glanced at him, not following.
    “I see that Garrett has figured it out,” McCoy said, his voice nearly bubbly. Ty shook his head in confusion.
    “I didn"t mention that?” McCoy asked in feigned innocence as he flipped through his notes as if he needed to check his information.
    “Corbin and Del Porter aren"t brothers, gentlemen. They"re lovers.
    Legally married, in fact.” He reached out and placed two silver rings on the desk in front of them. “Go ahead and put those on,” he instructed.
    Zane went totally still, his eyes locked on the jewelry. Then his chin rose as his gaze shifted to McCoy. “Are you sure this is necessary?” he asked flatly.
    Ty very carefully didn"t say anything in response as he stared at the shiny rings. He"d worn a wedding ring before as part of a cover.
    But this was different.
    “The Porters are a very out gay couple,” McCoy continued, ignoring their reactions to the news. “The fact is well-known to all their contacts. It would be an alarm bell if you weren"t wearing the rings,” he said to Zane. “Corbin is what you"d call the brains of the operation. Del is… pretty.”
    Ty still sat motionless, staring at McCoy with a churning in his gut as he realized what they were being thrown into. A very out gay couple amongst people who would expect them to act as such—
    including a team of their own people. He slowly reached out and picked Fish & Chips | 13

    up one of the rings, turning it over in his hand. It was a simple silver band, flat and wide. He glanced at Zane apprehensively. Zane still wore his own gold wedding ring on his finger. Ty didn"t know how his partner would react to replacing it, even temporarily. But Zane didn"t move a muscle, didn"t even twitch as he stared at the single ring still there in front of McCoy.
    “Now understand: this may put you both in a few uncomfortable situations,” McCoy went on sincerely. “But you"ve both got UC
    experience, and I"m sure you"d both rather have to kiss each other than be shot at,” he joked. Ty cleared his throat and tried to restrain a smile.
    McCoy had no idea how right he was. “Those rings are all we"re going to provide you for this one,” he continued. “We"ve appropriated the bags they"d already packed for