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?"