Shadow Men – 24 – Rafe and Steele

"What I want to know," Rafe growled as he stared at the four walls of a room in a vacant building they'd found, "is how the hell they knew where we were. And before you say it, Angelo would not have given us up even if one of the Colonel's people had contacted him."

"I wasn't going to suggest that. Honest opinion, I'm wondering if it was our contact, or someone close to him. The way our luck's been running that's the most obvious answer."

"How 'bout we just get a couple of sniper rifles and take the whole damned lot of them out," Rafe muttered, only half kidding.

"Trust me, if that was feasible I'd be all for it at this point."

"Then we make it feasible, but not until after we've paid a covert visit to our contact. I'd hate to off him if he's really in our corner."

"Rafe, damn it, do you have a death wish? Things are bad enough as is and you want to walk into a possible lion's den now?"

"Well not this instant," Rafe replied with a tight grin. "First I opt for a decent meal and a soft bed."

"And just where do you suggest we get those?"

"I'm sure Angelo will have an idea. However, we are not calling him from here. We'll wait until dark then find a safe payphone."

Steele nodded after he checked the angle of the sunlight coming through the dirty window. "About an hour, give or take." He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes only to open them what seemed like seconds later when he heard Rafe say, "Time to move it, sleepyhead." He realized the room was almost pitch-dark.

"You let me sleep," he said in a reproving tone of voice.

Rafe shrugged as he offered a hand to help his partner stand. "Not like there was anything else to do. I did slip out long enough to call Angelo. He gave me an address and before you start worrying, he was smart enough to do it so anyone listening wouldn't have a clue. It's his aunt's place and she's out of the city for the weekend."

"Close by?"

"Close enough."