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.