Shadow Men – 12 – Rafe and Steele

"That little bastard should be castrated," Rafe said angrily once they were in the car.

"Bit late for that," Steele replied with a tired smile. "Back to Great Yarmouth, or keep going west?"

"Back, but only long enough to get our things." Rafe leaned his head against the window and seconds later he was asleep.

"Yeah, pass out on me, you son of a bitch," Steele muttered, but there was amusement in his voice.

When they got back to the city, Steele found a covered car park two blocks from their hotel. He shook Rafe awake long enough to tell him he'd be back in half an hour or less, urged him to lie down on the seat so he'd be out of sight from any casual observation, and then took off.

His first stop was the hotel where he retrieved their belongings. Next he found a car rental place, got a small, unobtrusive vehicle, and returned to the car park. After they traded out cars, Steele left a note on the windshield of the one they would leave behind to let someone know that it needed to be returned to the rental agency. Then, very cautiously, he pulled out onto the street. For the next hour he drove around the city while Rafe, who was wide awake now, checked for any sign they were being followed. Once they were certain it was safe, they headed west out of the city.

A day and a half later, they were at the southern tip of Italy. On their way there, Rafe had placed a secure call to one of the very few people he thought they could trust at this point. A brief conversation ensued, during which Rafe told the man what he required. When he'd hung up, he told Steele exactly where they needed to go.

After they entered Agnana Calabra under the cover of darkness, Steele found a safe, out of the way place to park the car and leave it. By now they had switched the bags they'd had in England for backpacks. The information from Goranov had been split up between them and was buried at the bottoms of their packs.

"One more stop and we're on our way again," Rafe told Steele as they walked down the quiet streets of the city. They reached their destination, where Steele hung back, standing in the shadows to wait while Rafe went inside.

The man at the front desk eyed Rafe warily as he told him the name he was using. "Come è il tempo a Columbus?"

"Caldo e appiccicoso con un tocco di pioggia."

"Caldo in inverno?"

"Sì, e freddo in estate."

"Welcome, Signore," the man said, the proper responses having been given. He handed Rafe a key. "Third floor on the left, number thirty-six ten."

Rafe nodded, picked up his bag and headed to the elevator. He rode it up to the third floor, then took the stairs back down, limping as he did, and left the small hotel by the side door. When he reached the street, he beckoned to Steele. They walked down three blocks and then turned left. A car sat at the curb with the license plate number AGH610. After he'd checked to make certain no one seemed interested in them he unlocked the car, handed Steele the keys and they got in. An envelope sat on the console. Rafe slit it open to read the contents then told Steele which way to head out of Agnana Calabra.

Shadow Men – 11 – Rafe and Steele

Rafe took the blond down with a fast roundhouse kick followed by a chop to his throat. Steele fired once and Lou, who was still stunned at the swiftness of the knife attack, was thrown backward by the force of the shot, blood and brains spattering the huge man.

The behemoth had switched his gun to his other hand. Now, with a wide grin on his face, he pulled the trigger. Both Rafe and Steele moved but not quickly enough. The bullet hit Rafe's thigh and he dropped to the floor. That didn't stop him from firing back at the same time Steele did. The behemoth growled in pain as both shots hit him, but kept firing.

"Damn, it's like trying to stop an elephant," Steele said in frustration as he made a dash to the side of the room. A heavy lamp stood on a table there. He hefted it and hurled it at the man. The man ducked as Steele had expected. With the man's concentration momentarily broken, Steele took careful aim and fired. The bullet entered the man's cheek and traveled up and back. It left a large hole in the back of the man's head as it exited. For a moment the man stood there as if unaware of what had happened. Then he fell to his knees and face forward onto the floor.

"Don't they know to search people if they plan on taking them captive?" Steele shook his head in disdain as he knelt beside Rafe. He was about to check his wound when they both heard a faint moan from the fallen Jensen. They immediately turned to him as he tried to say something.

Steele leaned in and heard, "… brick… fireplace… inside…" Then Jensen's voice gurgled out and he was dead.

"Fucking mess," Rafe growled as he tried to get up. Steele put an arm around his waist to help him stand, then ordered him to sit on the unoccupied chair. After he retrieved both their knives and wiped them clean on Lou's shirt, he gave Rafe's back to him and used his own to cut open Rafe's pants so that he could see how much damage had been done. "You'll live," he told him a few moments later. "Don't move 'til I see what this place has in the way of a first aid kit."

"Such sympathy," Rafe said with a low chuckle.

"You want sympathy, get a girlfriend." Steele walked quickly to a door at one side of the room, opened it, shook his head and tried the second one. Behind it was a bedroom with a bathroom off of it. There he found what he needed and came back to kneel beside Rafe. Expertly he cleaned and bandaged the wound. When he was finished, he immediately crossed to the fireplace.

He used his knife to test the joints between the bricks. "Got it," he said after a few minutes. He pulled the brick out and stuck his hand into the deep space behind it. "We have lift-off." He began taking out rolled-up papers wrapped in plastic. When he was finished, he went to find something to carry them in and returned with a pillowcase.

"Now we get out of here," Steele said after the papers were packed up. He helped Rafe stand and, with his arm around his partner's waist and Rafe's arm over his shoulders, they left the cottage.

Shadow Men – 10 – Rafe and Steele

"Shit," Rafe growled several minutes later when Jensen had finished talking.

"Bit of an understatement," Steele said. "Why the hell hasn't someone done something about this?"

"Because getting the information to the right people means finding ones who will believe it. You know as well as I do that the Colonel is everyone's golden boy. Besides it's not just him, it's the man who runs him, and he, my friends, is virtually untouchable."

"How did Goranov collect all the information?" Rafe wanted to know.

"That is his story to tell. If you're ready I'll take you to him." Jensen slowly got to his feet, waving off Lou's offer of help. "Lou, if you'll drive, Steele and Rafe can follow us."

With nods, they retrieved their weapons and went to Steele's rental car, which was parked at the end of the block. When they saw Lou drive past, Steele fell in behind him, not too close but near enough he could see when Lou made turns, which took them out of the city proper into the countryside to the west. As they drove, Rafe kept careful watch behind them on the off chance someone might have followed them. Once they were well into the county, on a straight two-lane road, he relaxed marginally.

"So what should we do once we've heard what Goranov has to tell us?"

"If it all holds together, and the papers and other information he has really do prove what Jensen says they do, then we find that elusive person high enough up the chain of command who will listen to us, believe us, and do something about it."

"Any suggestions? I can think of a couple but…" Rafe shrugged.

"Yeah, but… I think we can't come to a decision until we've got what we're going for." As he talked, Steele saw Lou take a left turn onto a side road. Soon they passed through a tiny village. Once past it Lou continued on for two miles before he turned again onto a narrow twisting lane that seemed to meander for miles with nothing in sight but trees and green fields. Eventually, however, it ended at a small cottage set in a stand of trees.

When both cars were parked at the edge of the lane, Rafe and Steele joined the others. Jensen led the way to the front door where he knocked out what was obviously a code. It took a moment or two before the door opened slowly.

A middle-aged, blond man stood there, a pistol in one hand. "It took you long enough," he said, looking at Lou. Then he beckoned with the pistol for the others to enter. Two more men were in the small front room. One was tied to a chair, naked and quite obviously dead. "Goranov," Rafe heard Jensen whisper in shock. Behind the dead agent was a behemoth of a man, bald and so muscular as to be almost grotesque. He also held a pistol, which he leveled at Jensen.

"Walked right into it, didn't we?" Rafe muttered.

"Like a couple of amateurs," Steele agreed as he sidled to one side of the door once he was inside. "Decent odds though, three on two."

"How do you figure? I count three of them," he shot a look at Lou who had moved to stand beside the huge man.

            "Two," Steele disagreed as one of his knives appeared in his hand. With a quick flick of his wrist the knife pierced Lou's shoulder. One of Rafe's followed seconds later. It ended up buried to the hilt in the back of the huge man's gun hand. Then Rafe and Steele pulled their guns. Not, however, quickly enough to stop the blond man who had let them in from firing his weapon. Jensen let out a sharp gasp, hand to his chest, and collapsed.

Shadow Men – 9 – Rafe and Steele

"I take it you and Goranov met." Steele said.

"We did. He's now stashed in a very safe place."

"Where?" Rafe asked.

"All in good time. First, I'm going to tell you a bit of what he told me. Then you can make the decision on whether you want to be involved."

"And if we don't, we'll be joining your lady friend in that pond," Rafe said with a chuckle.

Jensen shrugged. "Anything is possible."

"Why bring us in on this in the first place?" Steele wanted to know.

"Two reasons, one you're one of the best teams in the business, which I presume is why the Colonel chose you to find me. Secondly, and more importantly, the two of you have a reputation for being absolutely honorable, both in your lives and in your dealings on the job."

"If we're that honorable wouldn't you presume we'd just capture you and take you back to him? Why risk the chance we'd listen to and maybe believe what you're going to tell us?" Steele said.

"A gut feeling perhaps, I really can't put it down to more than that. We knew he'd sent someone after me and there were only three teams I could think he'd use. Lou's been at the pub where he met you since we found out the Colonel was hunting me."

Rafe nodded. "The bartender's one of your people, I take it."

"A friend of mine," Lou put in. "If anyone came in looking for Jensen, he was to let me know. He doesn't know what's going on, just that I needed his help."

Steele studied Jensen for a moment as he took in the damage to the man's face. "Who caught you and how did you manage to get away?"

"Another team, soon after the aborted meeting with Delango. I was on my way out of London and I thought I was being more than careful. I had a car rented in an alias I only use in extreme emergencies. I was on A11, halfway here, when a car ran me off the road. Two men, well trained of course, got out of it. If it had been during the day I'd be back in the States now in the Colonel's hands, but it was well after midnight. Naturally they approached cautiously, one on each side of the car. I stayed the way I'd landed, face on the steering wheel. Stupidly one of them opened the driver's side door." Jensen smiled slightly. "He didn't stand a chance. His partner was smarter. He hit the ground then got the passenger side door open. He stayed low and shot twice, to injure not kill. One missed, one got my leg. I shot him in the shoulder and head. Then, battered and bruised as they say, I got the hell out of Dodge."

"Sounds like a fun time was had by all," Rafe commented with a laugh. "So now we're caught up, what's this information you got from Goranov?"

Shadow Men – 8 – Rafe and Steele

"Gentlemen," Jensen said firmly, which brought a halt to the conversation. When Rafe took a seat in an overstuffed chair, with Steele sitting on the arm beside him, and Lou sat on the other end of the sofa, Jensen asked what exactly the Colonel had said.

"Basically," Steele replied, "that you had gotten in touch to say you were meeting with an informant, someone middle-European who came in on a fishing boat. He said this informant had information about 'the plan' but wouldn't say more than that."

"There was a bit more in the file. You came here after you'd talked to one of the Colonel's people in London, someone named Delango, who I, for one, have never heard of." Rafe smiled slightly. "Not that I know everyone on every team."

"Well, Delango you wouldn't know, he doesn't exist," Jensen said. "The Colonel sent me to London on the premise that he did. He gave me the name, location, proper recognition words, a description, the whole lot. It was damned lucky that I decided to arrive at the meeting place early. I don't know if you know Bluegate Pond in Wimbledon Common, but it's not exactly on the beaten path. Anyway, as I said I got there early since I didn't know the area that well. As they say in bad novels, imagine my surprise when I saw a couple of the Colonel's assassins talking to a man who matched Delango's description. They faded from sight a few minutes before I was due to arrive. Needless to say, I did a scamper."

"What made you think they were there to take you out?" Steele asked, then answered his own question. "Because they didn't stick around, I'd say."

"Precisely."

"What about this informant you were going to meet?"

"He doesn't exist, at least not the way the Colonel told you. Do you know the name Goranov?"

They both nodded and Rafe said, "He's a renegade from the organization. Supposedly took some secrets and sold them to the highest bidder about three weeks ago."

"Supposedly being the operative word there, Rafe. He and I were good pals before he vanished. He called me four days ago to tell me he'd run because he found out some information about the Colonel. Information our esteemed boss would kill to keep secret."

"How did the Colonel know you were going to be in touch with Goranov?" Steele asked.

"I stupidly told someone I thought was a friend that he'd gotten in touch with me. She passed the information on to the Colonel. At least that's what I'm presuming, given what happened with this so called Delango. She's the only one I told."

"Where is she now?"

Jensen smiled tightly. "A bit of poetic justice, she's deep in the middle of Bluegate Pond, hopefully keeping the fish well fed."

Shadow Men – 7 – Rafe and Steele

Steele kept well in the shadows as he walked cautiously down the narrow street. He found the address Rafe had given him, a small home neatly tucked away behind a brick wall. There was no way he was just going to walk up to the door and knock, however. All he had were Rafe's words that all was good and he knew from experience it was very possible, under the right circumstances, to make anyone say what you wanted them to.

He studied the house, what he could see of it over the wall, and then walked away. When he reached the corner of the street, he made his way to the backyards of the homes and worked his way down to the one he needed. It was also surrounded by a brick wall but for him that was no barrier. Soon he was beside the small back porch. He pulled both his guns, used the butt of one to rap on the back door when he got to it, then waited.

The door opened slowly to reveal a slender young man who then stepped back, hands held out from his sides. "Rafe's in the other room," he calmly told Steele.

"I'm sure he is, but by his own volition is the question." Steele pointed one gun at the young man's chest as he moved in just enough to check what turned out to be a very tidy kitchen. "Take me to him and no dumb moves. I will kill you if necessary."

"I'm sure you will." Without another word the young man headed to a door at the other side of the kitchen and swung it open.

Steele remained several steps behind him as he followed him into the living room. Then he holstered his guns when Rafe said with a grin, "Hi honey, you're home." That was their code to let the other one know that everything was all right in a situation such as this.

Steele ignored the slight look of shock on the young man's face when Rafe immediately crossed the room to wrap an arm around his waist. Rafe didn't ignore it, however. He chuckled and said to the young man, "Guess you don't know everything about us after all."

"Well…apparently not," the young man replied with an expression of disgust.

"Look, kid," Steele started to say, and then decided it wasn't worth the bother to chastise him. "Where's Jensen?" he asked instead.

"Close by. I'll let you know once you get rid of your guns."

"No way in hell," Rafe and Steele said at the same time even though they both had known that would probably be part of the deal. Steele looked at Rafe then, shrugged, and set his guns down on a small table well out of the young man's reach.

Rafe hesitated, more for show than anything else. If this had been a trap the young man would have taken his already, by force. He set his on the table as well and returned to Steele's side. "Now?" he asked the young man.

The young man nodded then whistled a sharp series of notes. Rafe and Steele immediately stiffened. Steele swung around so his back was to Rafe's, both of them prepared for the worst. Rafe's stiletto, which he had put back in its sheath on the way to the house, was again palmed in his hand. Steele was equally armed.

Footsteps sounded, a door opened, and Jensen stepped into the room. Rafe saw him first and hissed angrily. "Who the hell ran you through a blender?" he asked.

"People who work for our mutual employer," Jensen told him as he limped over to the sofa and sank down onto it. "Well," he added once he was comfortable, "your employer. I'm out of the picture and out of the game now." He looked up at the young man. "You're certain you weren't followed, Lou?"

Lou rolled his eyes. "I do know what I'm doing. Of course I can't speak for him." He nodded toward Steele.

"Kid, I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. I wasn't."

Lou seemed to do a quick mental calculation and replied, "You're fifty?"

"That was a figure of speech," Steele growled.

Shadow Men – 6– Rafe and Steele

There was a soft chuckle before the man replied, "Considering who you probably work for, you shouldn't. Especially if he told you why he wanted," there was a slight hesitation, "me found. The real reason that is."

"Which would be?" Rafe asked. "What he told us was that you, well, I'm presuming it's you if you're Jensen, had disappeared after meeting with an informant."

"And he was just oh so terribly worried for my safety," the man said, a sneer in his voice. "So he sent his best team out to 'rescue' me."

"You know who I am?"

"I do. I recognized you when you came into the pub. You're infamous among those who work for the Colonel. Oh, and to answer your question—no, I'm not Jensen but I can take you to him."

Rafe snorted. "I should just walk out of here with you, not even knowing who you are or if you're on our side or not. I don't think so." He heard something drop to the floor then the man kicked it into the light. It was a small metal box about the size of a cigarette pack. Cautiously, while he kept his gun trained on the area where the man stood, Rafe knelt to pick it up.

"Open it. I think you'll see the proof you need."

Rafe did so and then cocked one eyebrow. "This works. Take me to him."

The man stepped into view. He was younger than Rafe would have expected from his voice, slender but obviously well-muscled under the turtleneck he wore. "The gun," the man said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

Rafe nodded, holstered it, and at the same time let a thin stiletto drop from its wrist sheath into his other hand. He might feel a bit more trusting than he had a moment ago but he was no fool. Until he was quite certain this wasn't a trap, he would not remain totally unarmed.

"Follow me," the man said as he crossed to the back of the office, to a door with a keypad beside it. He tapped in a code then opened the door to step outside.

"Stay in view," Rafe ordered. When the man moved under the overhead light above the door Rafe waited for a heartbeat and then joined him, quickly stepping behind him and turning to make certain no one was outside the door. "Where to now," Rafe asked a moment later.

"You'll see, but first I'd like your partner to join us. He has as much of a vested interest in the story Jensen has to tell as you do."

"This sounds interesting."

"I think you'll find that it is." The man drummed his fingers lightly on his thigh then gave Rafe an address. "Have him meet us there, please."

Shadow Men – 5 – Rafe and Steele

After dinner, Rafe returned to his room to change clothes. The plan was for him would work two sides of the area around St Nicholas Church while Steele would take the other two. Neither of them had high expectations they'd actually find Jensen but they hoped they might come across someone who had at least seen and remembered the man, no matter how vaguely. To that end they each had a picture of Jensen tucked in their wallets.

With the Do Not Disturb sign hung, Rafe locked the door behind him and went down the hall to the fire stairs, descended, and exited by the side door of the hotel onto the street. Not too much later he was looking at the church from across the lawns that surrounded it on three sides. After staring at the impressive building for a long moment, he turned and started methodically working his way from shop to pub to restaurant in the immediate area. To anyone who asked rather than just shaking their head when he showed the photo, he said that Jensen was his brother-in-law who had walked out on his family. Some commiserated, some asked for details, which he freely gave, but still no one admitted to having seen Jensen.

As he moved farther afield to the next streets over from his starting place, Rafe wondered if Steele was having any luck, even though he knew his partner would have called if he had. He also wondered if this was, in fact, a wild goose chase. In the two days since Jensen had last communicated with the Colonel's people, he could have gone, or been taken, anywhere.

With a bored sigh he walked into his next stop, a small pub. It was apparent after he entered that someone was celebrating something they considered momentous from the number of well-dressed people happily mingling around, ties hanging loose on the men, shoes kicked off the women's feet.

Rafe inched his way through the crowd to the bar and after a few moments managed to catch the tender's eye. He ordered ale then showed the man Jensen's picture. The tender studied it for a moment, shook his head and disappeared, returning soon with Rafe's drink. As he did his eyes flicked toward a hallway door off to one side of the main room before he turned to take care of the next customer.

Interesting. Rafe casually took a small sip of his ale while resting back against the bar. He looked around as if he was just interested in the goings on, chuckling when one of the men staggered and had to be held upright by his less than happy female companion. His eyes landed momentarily on the door the bartender had glanced at and he saw it was open just a crack. The hallway itself led to the restrooms if Rafe didn't miss his guess. He pushed off the bar, and headed in that direction.

As he got to the door he stopped to make certain no one was paying attention to him while his slipped hand under his jacket to slide his gun from its holster. Then he quickly shouldered the door open and stepped in, the gun now held at his side. Light from outside the room did little to illuminate the interior but Rafe could tell he was in an office.

"Please close the door," a voice said quietly from Rafe's left. "And re-holster your gun if you would. I have no intention of harming you unless it becomes necessary."

"Just why should I believe that?" Rafe asked, making no move to defer to either request.

Shadow Men – 4 – Rafe and Steele

"Ralph Lincoln?" The hotel clerk looked from the ID picture to Rafe and back again. "You don't look like a Ralph," he commented.

"Blame the looks on my mother; she was pure Italian through and through."

The clerk nodded, ran Rafe's credit card and then handed him the keycard for his room.

Twenty minutes after Rafe had entered into the elevator, Steele stepped up to the front desk. "I'm Lloyd Rogan; I believe you have a room reserved for me."

The clerk checked, and after the formalities were completed he gave Steele his keycard. When Steele got into his room he set his bag on the desk and immediately called Rafe.

"What room?" Steele said without preamble when Rafe answered. After he got a reply and told Rafe his room number he hung up and unpacked. By the time he'd finished there was a light rap on the door. He checked to make certain it was Rafe then let him in.

"Food," Rafe told him once he'd received a toe-curling kiss. "Real food, not that cardboard they fed us on the plane."

Steele immediately handed Rafe the room service menu. Once they'd decided what each of them wanted, Steele ordered. "I have the feeling they think I've already picked up some woman to keep me company since I ordered two meals," he told Rafe with a laugh when he'd finished.

"Good, that makes your cover even better." Rafe flopped down on the bed with a sigh, which caused Steele to lift an eyebrow in question. "Just jetlag," Rafe told him, folding his arms behind his head, "and we still have to check out places around the church tonight before things close down."

"That's presuming Jensen's last communication really was from a public venue and not a house or hotel, or the church itself."

"We have to start somewhere." Rafe rolled over, face in the pillow.

A moment later, Steele heard a soft snore and smiled fondly at the only man he'd ever loved. Rafe could sleep any time, anywhere and wake up feeling at least somewhat refreshed, a trick Steele wished he could master. As he couldn't, he sat down on the other bed and spent the time before their dinner arrived going over what they needed to do.

Shadow Men – 3 – Rafe and Steele

"Job well done," the Colonel said as he studied the two men standing at attention in front of his desk.

Rafe smirked. "It always is when you use us."

"Careful, boy. Thinking like that can get you in trouble. Nothing wrong with confidence, but you overdo it sometimes."

Rafe shot a look at Steele who was fighting not to grin, and then nodded. The smirk still touched his lips as he apologized.

"Two days R&R, then I want to see you back here. I'll have a new assignment for you, both of you," the Colonel told them. "You're dismissed."

Once they were outside the office Rafe snorted. "He still thinks he's in the Army."

"In his head he probably is," Steele agreed. "So what are you planning to do with two whole days off?"

"The same thing you are, I expect—spend it in bed."

Steele chuckled as he pressed the elevator button. "Yours or mine?"

"That depends. You have food and beer stocked in?"

"Don't I always? Do you?"

Rafe grinned. "Do I ever? So your place it is."

* * * *

The two days passed in a whirl of hot sex, cold beer and occasional time off to sleep.

Rafe had hooked up with Steele during their first assignment together ten years previously. Since then, neither man had the least problem with letting anyone who asked know they were a team in and out of bed. As Rafe had put it early on, "At least no one can threaten to blackmail us over our sexuality."

They'd had their fair share of disagreements, some severe enough that the Colonel had partnered them with other people until they'd settled things between them. No matter how bad the fights were though, in the end they had always reconciled, physically and emotionally.

Now they stood outside the closed office door as they waited for the Colonel's order to enter. Rafe looked at Steele with a small grin on his face, which immediately made Steele mutter, "Behave."

"Always do, mostly," Rafe replied. "But damn, he's so easy to rile at times."

"Yeah, well, one day you're going to push it too far and end up in Upper Mongolia tending sheep, or yaks, or whatever, as penance."

At that moment, the Colonel called out, "You may come in now."

Rafe winked, gave Steele a quick hug, put on his serious look and opened the door. Once they were inside the Colonel indicated they should sit. When they had, he tapped his fingers together as he studied them.

"Jensen is missing," he said finally.

"Details?" Rafe replied, all business now.

"The last contact we had from him was from England. Great Yarmouth to be specific. He was to meet with an informant that evening."

"Do we know if he did?" Steele asked.

"We don't even know who it was. He was very closed-mouthed about that, just indicated that the person—male or female, he didn't say—had come in via a fishing boat. He hinted they were central-European and had information that would make a huge difference in our plans but that was it."

"Plans?" Rafe cocked one eyebrow in question.

"Need to know, and you don't need to know," the Colonel replied shortly.

Rafe shrugged. He and Steele were used to working in the dark when it came to things like that. "You have a location for his last communication?"

"We do, more or less. Somewhere in the vicinity of St Nicholas Church."

"Oh, that narrows it down a lot," Rafe muttered.

"If it were easy, I wouldn't be sending the two of you in," the Colonel told him acerbically.

Steele could tell Rafe was about to say something he probably shouldn't and gave his ankle a sharp kick, the one thing he knew would shut his lover up. Rafe winced and kept quiet.

"Your plane leaves in two hours," the Colonel told them as he slid a file across the desk.

Steele opened it, scanned the contents then handed it to Rafe who did the same. He made a few quick notes and extracted Jensen's updated photo before he slid the file back to the Colonel. Then the two men stood, shook hands with the Colonel, and left. When they had, a satisfied smile briefly crossed the Colonel's face before he picked up the phone receiver and placed a call.

Shadow Men – 2 – Rafe and Steele

The two men met a few minutes later in an alley behind the sleazy hotel where their target was holed up.

After checking their respective weapons, Steele asked, "Which room?"

"Four sixteen," Rafe replied as he began to work on the locked backdoor of the hotel. When he got it open he stepped aside to let Steele in, joined him, and they moved quickly and silently up the fire stairs. Upon reaching the fourth floor they paused long enough to get their bearings then moved in tandem to the room they wanted. Rafe tested the door handle and then knelt to deal with the lock. A quiet click told him he succeeded.

Steele swung the door open. He moved his gun right to left, as Rafe did the same from his kneeling position. Dim light from the far window let them see the man in one of the beds as he jerked awake and reached under his pillow. Steele fired, his silenced gun making a small popping sound. The man froze when the bullet whistled by his ear.

"That wasn't a miss," Steele told him softly as he pointed his gun at the man's chest.

Rafe crossed the room quickly and removed the pistol from under the pillow. "Nice. Something to add to our collection," he murmured with a smirk as he stuck it in his waistband.

"You, up," Steele ordered the man.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" the man growled as he complied.

"We're the transportation system. Someone wants a few words with you," Steele told him. "Get dressed."

"How much to forget you found me?" the man asked as he picked up a pair of slacks laid out neatly on the other bed.

"You couldn't afford it," Rafe replied with a small chuckle.

"Tell me."

"A mil each."

The man snorted. "Think highly of yourselves, don't you?"

"We'd need that much and more to go into hiding if we let you go," Rafe said seriously.

"Enough with the banter. Finish dressing and let's get on our way," Steele barked out.

The man did. When he was ready he stepped toward the door—and Steele. Suddenly he was a blur of fists and feet as he attacked. Steele countered easily, deftly avoiding the worst of what the man threw at him while Rafe watched with an amused smile on his face. The fight was over almost before it began, the man prone on the floor with Steele's knee in the small of his back.

Rafe stooped to pick up Steele's gun from where it had slid under the desk. Then he handed Steele a pair of cuffs, which immediately went around the man's wrists.

Steele stood, pulled the man up and swung him around. "Got that out of your system now?"

"I had to try," the man replied.

"Can't blame you for that."

Shadow Men – 1 – Rafe and Steele

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," Rafe de Lorca growled as he grabbed the man's arm.

"You and what army's going to stop me?" the huge man replied. His other hand gripped the wrist of the blond beside him while he glared at Rafe.

Rafe smiled evilly and then expertly brought the man to his knees with a sharp twist of his arm. "Army of one." When the man struggled to regain his feet, Rafe shook his head in disbelief and brought the edge of his hand down fast and hard on the man's collarbone. The sharp crack of bone breaking and the man's shout of pain told Rafe it was safe to release him for the moment. He did not, however, take his eyes off of him as he told the blond young man to get out of there.

"He'll… he'll just find me later," the blond said fearfully.

Rafe cocked an eyebrow. "You his sub?"

The blond nodded, his eyes lowered.

"Not anymore. Now beat it, and next time, boy, find a Dom who'll respect you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." With a frightened look at his now former Dom, the blond scurried out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"As for you…" Rafe ignored the man's cry of pain as he hauled him to his feet. "You and I are going to have a long, serious talk about a certain person I'm interested in."

* * * *

An hour later Rafe strolled casually out of the room. He had the information he needed and the man he'd talked to would undoubtedly think twice about abusing a sub again, now that he understood exactly what true pain felt like. If not, well, Rafe knew someone who would be willing to administer another lesson to him; to wit, the owner of this particular club.

Rafe saluted said owner when he arrived on the ground floor of the club. The owner tilted his head in question and Rafe nodded. After he received a thumbs-up from the man, he left the building.

The street was dark between the weak streetlights. Rafe waited until his eyes had adjusted to it before he moved on, every sense alert. He heard a brief sound behind him and whirled around, then chuckled when a large rat stared back at him defiantly before it continued on its way.

When he reached his car, which he had parked in a lot two blocks from the club, he paused to consider his options. He could go after his target on his own or call in his partner. No grandstanding, he told himself and took out his phone. A call and a quick text message let Steele know where to meet him. When Steele texted back to acknowledge he'd be there, Rafe closed his phone, slid into his car, and took off.

One Plus Two Equals... - 54

Duane was feeling a bit like a third wheel. Stupid he knew, but he still couldn't help it. Between Auden's working with Julyan to control his shifting, and then taking him with him on an assignment, Duane had seen almost nothing of him except in the mornings before going to work. As soon as he'd come home in the evening he'd eat and then shift so Auden could take over.

I know I'm being stupid, and selfish, but damn it.

He rolled over to look at the other side of the bed even though he was well aware Julyan wasn't there. He'd been so exhausted after the assignment and then the aftermath that Auden had made him sleep in his own bed, coming back to the master bedroom to fall into bed himself, barely managing to shift before passing out.

He heard a light knock on the door and then it opened and Julyan peered at him. "May I come in?"

Grumpily, Duane nodded. "If you want, but he's not here."

"Uh oh." Julyan moved swiftly to the bed, pulling back the covers to slide in beside Duane. "Is someone feeling just a bit jealous?"

Duane was tempted to deny it but didn't. "A bit, yes."

"Why?" Julyan rested on one elbow as he looked at Duane. "You know I love you."

"I know you do." Duane smiled ruefully. "Sometimes though, knowing and knowing are two different things since I'm well aware you love him too."

Tracing his fingers lightly over Duane's chest, Julyan smiled. "Look at it this way. When you're you and here, you have my entire attention. And things should be, umm, fairer now, I suppose, since I've mastered this whole shifting thing." He grinned, nipping lightly along the line of Duane's jaw. "Of course if you want, I could shift and you could play with Xander."

"I think I'll pass on that, thanks. I prefer the man to the cat. Besides, with those fangs, kissing would be out of the question and I do like to kiss you."

Julyan arched an eyebrow and waited. A very long moment passed before he finally said, "So why aren't you?"

"Why aren't I what?" Duane replied innocently.

"Kissing me."

"Oh, you wanted me to?"

"It's that or I bring Xander out and you can play chase the ball with him." Duane's hand went instinctively to cover his balls, thinking what a big cat like Xander could do to them. Julyan burst out laughing. "Not those balls."

"I know, but in the interests of being safe…" Duane cupped the back of Julyan's head, drawing it closer. "Since you asked for it, let the kissing commence."

It commenced. And quite a while later there were more kisses, but first they had other things which needed taking care of.

Finally, happily sated, Julyan lifted his head from Duane's shoulder to look up at him. "Feeling a bit less jealous?" he joked.

Duane tapped a finger on his lips, looking thoughtful. "A bit. It's going to take a lot more to completely eradicate it however."

"Well, we have the rest of today, and all of tomorrow, barring emergencies." He leaned over to snag Duane's phone from the bedside table, turning it off before he tossed it onto a chair across the room. "And if there is one, the boss will just have to interrupt someone else's weekend because the next twenty-four hours are all about you."

"All about us," Duane replied softly. "Although…"

Julyan stopped him with a kiss. "I'll deal with the third part of our strange triangle later, you know that. This…" he kissed him again, "is you…" another kiss, "and me. So deal."

Duane smiled in amusement. "I'm dealing, I'm dealing."

And he did, several times, with no feelings of guilt. He knew Julyan loved him, and Auden, and as far as he was concerned that was the way it should be and would be for as long as they lived. Which, given what all of them were, could be more than a few lifetimes.

The End