Shadow Men – 20 – Rafe and Steele

"This baby runs good for being so old," Rafe said, not for the first time, as they drove toward Rome.

"I agree. Too bad we have to dump her soon."

"Let's hope whoever finds her gives her a good home." Rafe watched the signposts for the exit they wanted and turned off the highway into Salerno. As they'd been there several times in their careers they knew exactly where to head to accomplish the trade-off. Less than half an hour later they were back on the highway in a car that looked nothing like the one they'd driven out of Canolo.

* * * *

"He's willing to listen to us," Rafe said after he'd closed the phone. He tossed it into a nearby trash container and they continued on their way.

Steele nodded. "But can we trust him? So far we're zero for two in that department."

"It's a chance we'll have to take." Rafe paused to glance in a shop window. He saw two well-dressed men staring back at him. Again he and Steele had become other people. His green eyes were now a deep blue while Steele's blue ones were brown. Under the clothes they wore was padding that added thirty pounds to their lean, muscular frames. Both were clean-shaven except for Rafe's mustache. He caught Steele looking as well and winked. Steele's lips curled up in a brief grin before they moved on.

They had been in Rome for two days but now, with that phone call, they would soon head halfway across the world. Both of them were hyperaware of every person around them on the busy sidewalk, their eyes flicking from face to face even though they knew that if some of the Colonel's people were here they would be hard pressed to know it until it was too late. The man was no fool; he wouldn't send someone they'd recognize—not now.

Their next stop was an office building just ahead of them. As they reached it the doors opened and a small crowd of people came through—employees off for their lunch hours. Rafe and Steele fought the flow to enter a modern lobby. With a nod of his head to the security guard at the front desk, Rafe headed to the bank of elevators with Steele right beside him. They caught one just as it emptied, stepped in and waited for the door to close. Steele saw a woman racing to catch it and held the door for her.

Seconds after she entered Rafe pushed the button for the top floor. The elevator rose swiftly. As it did, the woman reached into her large purse and handed Steele an envelope. He opened it, checked the contents and then gave her a similar, if somewhat thicker, one in return. She smiled, pressed the button for the twelfth floor and when the elevator came to a stop she stepped off. Rafe hit the '14' button, and just before the two of them left the elevator he pressed two more.

They moved quickly down the carpeted hallway to the men's room. As they entered, a man turned from the sink, dried his hands and gave a brief nod toward a stall before he left. Steele went to it, picked up one of the two suitcases it held and handed it to Rafe.

Ten minutes later two different looking men walked out of the men's room. One was tall, blond and carried more weight than a man of his age should around his stomach. The second one was equally as tall but much less pudgy. His hair was brown with gray at the temples. Each man wore a business suit and carried an attaché case as well as a suitcase or garment bag. The blond pushed his heavy glasses up on his nose when they slid down. They entered the elevator when it arrived, mingling with the others who were on it. When it reached the ground floor the blond haired man hurried out of the lobby as if he was running late. He flagged down a passing taxi, got in, and it disappeared around the corner.

The brown-haired man strolled out of the building, turned left and meandered down a block before he made another left onto a side street. A cab pulled over and he got in. Forty-five minutes later Rafe and Steele, each ignoring the other, boarded the flight from Rome to Chicago's O'Hare airport.