Shadow Men – 42 – Anders and Grant

Anders led the way down a flight of stairs to the basement, which looked perfectly normal to Grant, with a furnace in the corner and a washer and dryer along one side. The wall opposite the stairs was blank except for a workbench. Anders crossed to it, took hold of one corner and pulled it toward him. As he did a portion of the wall came with it.

Grant arched his eyebrows, feeling like someone in a spy movie, but then he supposed it was exactly what he was, except this wasn't a movie. It was very real and very frightening true life.

When Anders beckoned, Grant followed him into what at first glance looked like a hospital intensive care unit. There were two beds, a couple of chairs, and a small table. One bed was empty at the moment although it was obvious it belonged to someone. The second bed was surrounded by machines. A man laid there, his head heavily bandaged and tubes and wires running from the machines into various parts of his body. Grant could tell immediately it was probable that it was more than just sleep.

His gaze lit on a second man who stood tensely to one side of the room watching every movement Grant made, his hands held in tight fists at his side. There were fading bruises on every part of his body that Grant could see, as well as several healing gashes that still bore faint marks where they'd been stitched up.

"Show him your hands," Anders said quietly. When Grant did the standing man relaxed but only marginally. Anders walked over to him, asking something too softly for Grant to hear. The man's eyes lit on the figure in the bed and he shook his head.

It was impossible for Grant to miss the look of love and desolation on the man's face. He knew it echoed the same look he'd had on his face when he'd last seen Martin, moments before his partner had died.

"Grant…" Anders motioned for him to come over. "This is…let's call him Tom for the time being. The man on the bed is his partner, Harry."

For a second Grant was tempted to ask where Dick was but the impulse fled in the blink of an eye. "Nice to meet you…Tom," Grant said hesitantly, holding out his hand.

"You, too." The man shook it with surprising firmness. "I take it, from what I've been told, you came upon information someone would kill to get their hands on."

Grant nodded. Something about the man made him say, "In a battered backpack hanging from a tree branch. Your doing?"

"Yeah." He moved slowly to sit on the chair by the bed and take his partner's hand in his. "Our doing really." He looked at Anders. "No reason to use aliases. He's as deep into this as we are now."

"True, but…" Anders shook his head.

"I'm Steele, this is Rafe," Steele said before Anders could stop him.

Grant nodded. "How long has he been in a coma?"

"Since Anders and I got him here," Corrie said from the doorway. "Medically induced so his brain can heal."

"He took a bullet to his head," Anders explained, "along with a lot of other damage."

Grant could see that on the parts of Rafe's body not covered by the sheet. He shuddered involuntarily. "Did you at least take care of the people who did this to them?"

"One, yes. The other escaped despite being shot. It was his gun that did the damage to Rafe," Anders replied.

"He never believes me when I tell him garroting is safer and deadlier," Corrie said with an exaggerated eye roll as she crossed to check the reading on the machines monitoring Rafe. "By the way, Grant, Nicky's happily ensconced in front of the TV with his supper, in case you were wondering."

Grant felt an immediate wash of guilt. It hadn't even occurred to him to question where his son was and what he was doing.

Corrie chuckled. "From the look on your face you're feeling real guilty right about now. Don't. Anyone would be a bit overwhelmed by all this."

"Yeah but…"

Steele looked up at him. "It's safe here. No one knows about this place, and I mean no one."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," Anders replied before Steele could. "Not even the Colonel."

"Is he…the one who got away?"

Anders growled, "Yeah, but we're going to bring him down, with your help."

"Anders," Corrie cautioned.

Grant looked between them. "Why do I have the feeling I'm out of the loop here."

"Because we're what we are and never bring someone in 'til we're sure we can trust them," Steele told him tightly.

"So I'm supposed to trust you but not vice versa."

Steele nodded. "It's the way the game's played, Grant. Get used to it."

"Not sure I want to," was Grant's angry reply as he turned on his heel and left the room.

Shadow Men – 41 – Anders and Grant

"A truck?" Grant looked at it askance when Anders got out and came over to the car.

"Just for the time being. It'll meld in better with where we're going. Get Nicky, I'll get his seat."

"Hang on." Grant slid the gun from between his legs to hand it to Anders who quickly holstered it as he moved out of the way of Grant's exiting the car.

Grant picked Nicky up then waited as Anders dealt with the child seat, which just fit on to the narrow rear seat in the cab of the truck. Grant put Nicky in it, noting as he did the bags sitting beside it.

"Clothes," Anders told him as he slung the saddlebag on top of them.

Grant got into the truck, saying as he did, "That was fast."

"Just grabbed the first things I saw in the right sizes." Anders slid into the driver's seat and moments later they were exiting the garage.

* * * *

It was almost dark when Anders pulled the truck off of the main road onto a side road. They had stopped at another fast-food place to pick up lunch. This time they ate in the truck as they drove. Twice they stopped just long enough for all of them to relieve themselves. Other than that, it was one continued blur of highways and smaller roads, at least as far as Grant was concerned, during which Nicky was asleep more than awake.

As it got darker, the road they were on turned several times, going deeper into the sheltering trees. From the road signs he'd seen, Grant figured they were now somewhere just inside Tennessee.

Finally Anders turned once more, this time onto a narrow one-lane byroad. After a mile or a bit more, the truck's headlights lit up a small house.

"We're here," Anders announced as he parked beside the house and turned the lights off.

"Where is here?"

"The middle of nowhere, and safe," was all Anders said in reply as he got out of the truck and opened the back door. He picked up the saddlebag and the other bags, and walked to the tiny front porch.

Grant got Nicky and hurried to join him. Anders rapped twice on the front door, waited then gave three more raps. A moment later the door opened a crack and Grant saw one blue eye as whoever stood there peered out. Seconds later the door swung open.

"About time you got here, I was getting worried," said the woman standing there. She was three or four inches shorter than Grant's six foot height, not particularly beautiful but striking in her own way with short-cropped dark hair, which accented her high cheekbones. She held out her hand to him. "I'm Corrie, Anders' partner in crime. You must be Grant and you…" she grinned, "have to be Nicky."

"Umm hmm," Nicky whispered as he buried his face in Grant's shoulder.

"You hungry, Nicky?"

Nicky turned his head enough to peek at her. "Umm hmm."

"Want to come with me while I finish fixing supper?"

Nicky hesitated before he asked, "Can I, Daddy?"

"Sure, why not." Grant put him down and smiled when he instantly took the hand Corrie held out to him. Moments later they vanished into what Grant presumed was the kitchen.

While that was going on, Anders had dropped the bags on one end of the sofa. Then he said, "Come on, there's a couple of people I want you to meet."

Shadow Men – 40 – Anders and Grant

Two hours later, Anders suddenly barked out, "Duck down."

Without even thinking Grant did as he was ordered. From behind him he heard Nicky say, "Hide and seek?"

"Yes, so do what Anders said, and bury your head in your arms. Don't look until I tell you to."

The car sped up. Grant could feel it swerve as Anders changed lanes once and again and yet a third time. Suddenly he was thrown against the door as the car veered sharply to the right. He could hear the engine groan slightly and thought they must be going up an exit ramp. Another sharp turn then a blast of horns let him know they were on a street and that Anders had probably cut some driver off in the process.

"Stay down, Nicky," Anders said sharply.

Grant reinforced his words. "Do as he says, Nicky."

The car continued forward for what seemed like an interminable length of time before Grant felt it turn again. After a minute there was another turn, then it slowed, took one more turn, and finally came to a stop.

"You can sit up now," Anders told him.

Grant did and saw they were in a parking garage. "Did you lose them?"

"For the time being, yeah, but we're ditching the car."

He knew it was only tension speaking but Grant said with a small smirk, "Do I get to choose the next one."

"No, me, Daddy," Nicky piped up.

Grant turned to look at his son. "You all right?"

"Uh huh. That was fun. Like the merry-go-round." Since Nicky always closed his eyes when he rode on one, Grant could see how he'd think that.

"Wait here, I'll be back in thirty or less," Anders said as he got out of the car. For a moment he hesitated then came around to Grant's side, opened the door and knelt. "Ever use one of these?" he asked, sliding his gun out of the holster. He kept it low so Nicky couldn't see it.

Grant took it hesitantly. "Long time ago. Safety?" After Anders showed him, he put the pistol between his legs. "Do you think..?"

For a second Anders flashed a grin. "As little as possible." Then he immediately sobered. "Ninety-nine percent chance against it…"

"But there's always that one percent."

"Yep." Anders stood, closed the door and quickly walked away.

Grant stared after him, a feeling of abandonment washing over him. What if he doesn't come back? Then what do I do? Don't be a dork, he's coming back. But what if...? The thoughts warred in his head. Needing to stop them, he turned to look at Nicky. "What do you want for lunch?"

"Umm, chicken nuggets… or hamburger."

"Or both?"

"Can I?"

"Since this is a special day, sure. Why not?"

"Daddy, when are we going home?"

Good question. Grant didn't say that aloud, replying instead, "As soon as possible." It was the truth, he hoped, although the 'possible' part could be a long time off.

Shadow Men – 39 – Anders and Grant

When they reached a car parked on the verge of the road, Anders nodded toward the passenger-side door, indicating Grant should get in. Then he walked around to the other side, opened the door, tossed the saddlebag into the back seat and slid into the driver's seat.

About to protest there was no child seat for Nicky, Grant bit back the words when Anders leaned over the back of the seat to pull one up from the floor.

"I'm not stupid, Grant, I figured you'd want this," Anders said tersely. "Get him in it and let's get moving."

Grant nodded, put Nicky down long enough to set up the child seat to his satisfaction then put his son into it and got into the car as well. "Bought or 'borrowed'," he asked.

"What do you think?" Anders checked for traffic, pulled out onto the road and they were on their way again.

Grant didn't bother to reply. The fact there was no key in the ignition was sufficient answer. "Where are we headed?" he asked instead.

"As I've said before, the less you know the better. You'll find out when we get there." Anders glanced quickly at Grant then returned his concentration to driving.

After a few minutes Grant realized Anders spent as much time checking the mirrors as he did watching the road ahead of them. "What are we looking for?" he finally said as he found he was doing the same.

Anders smiled tightly. "Any car that seems to always be behind us, or in front of us, though the people looking for you will be clever enough not to be obvious."

"That makes no sense. If they're not obvious how will we spot them?"

"You won't. I might, as it's instinctual with me."

"Daddy, breakfast," Nicky whined.

Grant glanced at his son then Anders. "Can we?"

"Yes. Can he handle takeout?"

Grant snorted. "In this day and age, is there any kid who can't?"

Anders nodded and a few minutes later turned off the road at a fast-food place, pulling around to the side where the drive-up menu stood. After Grant and Nicky decided what they wanted, Anders placed their orders then moved on to the pick-up window.

Once they had their food, Anders did a quick check of the surroundings before driving out of the parking lot onto a service road. Half a mile later he pulled the car off to the side beside a tall stand of trees and parked. "Now we eat," he announced succinctly.

Grant immediately got out, took Nicky from the child seat, picked up the bags with their food and walked over to sit under one of the trees.

Anders watched, frowned, then with a shrug of his shoulders he joined them. He took a bite of his breakfast muffin before saying, "What sizes do you and Nicky wear? You're going to need clothes."

"I guess the three of us walking into a store to shop is not an option," Grant replied with a small smile. "When we get back to the car I'll write them down."

"All right." With a quick look to make certain Nicky was more involved in eating than listening he asked, "Divorced?"

"No." Grants mouth tightened. "My partner died about a year ago. Before you ask it was a heart attack, unexpected and sudden."

"Sorry. Then Nicky's adopted?"

"No. He was ours. Is ours. Martin's sperm, our son." There was pain in his eyes that belied the calm tone of his voice.

Anders nodded then changed the subject. "We really should have stayed in the car."

"No one's around but us."

"That we know of. Not to scare the sh…" he glanced at Nicky, "the heck out of you but we're up against people who know what they're doing."

"I get that and I trust you to keep us safe," Grant replied, and realized he did. Seconds later, however, the depths of what they were involved in hit him. Until now he'd been so scared and then so exhausted it had all seemed like a bad dream he'd wake up from at any moment. Now, in an instant, he knew it wasn't even close to that. He and Nicky were on the run from killers, their only protection a man he knew nothing about except that he seemed dedicated to keeping all of them alive.

Anders must have seen the fear in Grant's expression because he gripped his shoulder tightly as he said, "We're going to make it through this."

"God, I hope so," Grant whispered.

"Daddy, I gotta pee." Nicky's small but desperate voice broke the moment.

Quickly Grant stood, picked Nicky up, and took him deeper into the trees. He chuckled softly when Nicky seemed to find it a great adventure to pee against a tree, something he'd never done before. As long as they were there Grant also relieved himself then walked back with Nicky at his side. By then Anders had picked up the remains of their breakfast and stood waiting beside the car. When everyone was in and ready, they took off.

Shadow Men – 38 – Anders and Grant

"Daddy, Daddy."

Grant woke to Nicky's pulling on his arm as he stood by the edge of the bed.

"Daddy, come with me."

It was very early morning Grant thought from the small amount of light the came around the edges of the curtains. He looked at Nicky and asked, "Bathroom? You can go by yourself."

"I can't find the light."

"Ahh, yes, light would be good." He got up slowly, feeling like he could use another five hours sleep, or barring that, a good hot shower. Then he realized Anders wasn't in the other bed.

"He left," Nicky informed him. "But he said he'd be back."

Grant frowned, nodded, and took Nicky into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later they'd showered and he'd gotten Nicky dried off and back into his clothes. He pulled on his boxers, reached for his jeans and realized his hair was still wet. As he dried it he started to open the bathroom door. He heard a quiet sound, quickly pulled it closed again and with a finger to his lips pointed to the space between the toilet and the sink. Nicky didn't say a word as he scurried to hide. Then, very cautiously, Grant inched the door open again. While he figured it was only Anders, he had no intention of taking any chances. Not that there's much I could do if it wasn't him.

"It's safe," Anders told him from the other side of the door.

Grant opened it the rest of the way with a sigh of relief.

"Were you going to whack an intruder with the towel," Anders asked with a trace of amusement.

Grant looked down, saw he was holding it like it was a baseball bat and chuckled. "I actually forgot I had it."

Anders nodded as he studied Grant momentarily before turning away. Grant reddened when he realized he was wearing nothing but his underwear and hurried back into the bathroom.

Nicky was out of his hiding place by then and dashed to jump onto the bed. He watched while Anders disarmed the window alarm and put it back in the saddlebag. "You got a gun too?"

"I do."

"Can I see it?"

Anders hesitated before taking it out. "Look only, no touching."

"It's kinda not too big," Nicky proclaimed. He sounded disappointed.

"Big enough to do the job, small enough not to be noticed when I'm wearing it under my jacket," Anders told him.

"Okay. Are we going to eat breakfast?"

"Sure are, as soon as your dad's ready to go."

"Daddy, hurry up," Nicky shouted as if Grant was across the street not just a few feet away.

"Nicholas," Grant cautioned, "inside voice, please."

"Sorry."

Grant ruffled his hair as he sat down beside him. "Put these on, please," he said, handing his son his shoes.

When they both were ready with their jackets on, Anders hefted the saddlebag over one shoulder and cautiously opened the door before he stepped out. "We're going that way," he told them, pointing to the line of trees across the narrow parking lot from where they stood.

With a nod, Grant picked Nicky up and followed Anders.

Shadow Men – 37 – Anders and Grant

It was well after dark when Anders turned off the frontage road into the dimly lit parking lot of a motel. "Wait here," he said succinctly as he hung his helmet on the handlebars and strode to the motel office.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy, and hungry." Nicky yawned prodigiously.

"You and me both so let's hope we can stay here."

Five minutes later Anders returned. "We've got a room on the backside. It'll probably be easier if we walk around to it." As he talked, Anders' eyes flicked left and right. Grant figured he was making certain no one was watching them.

The room was small with two twin beds separated by a battered nightstand. Grant set Nicky down on one of them and took off his shoes. Before he'd finished his son was sound asleep. He moved him enough to get the covers out from under him then tucked them over him.

With that done, Grant turned to look at Anders. "Now, would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

Anders pointed to the saddlebag containing the papers, which he'd brought in with him. "How much did you read before you called the Senator?"

"Enough to know that someone's dirty and getting away with it. I guess that's how you'd describe it."

"It is. Obviously you told that to the Senator."

"Well, sure. He had to know what I'd found."

"Unfortunate. You're now as good as dead."

Grant shook his head. "I don't get it."

"I told you, he's in league with the Colonel. In point of fact, he's running the Colonel."

"Running him?"

"In words of one syllable, he's the Colonel's boss." Anders sounded somewhat put out Grant didn't get it.

Grant got it, he just wasn't certain he believed it. "Why should I take your word for that?"

"You did see what the man I shot was holding, right?"

"Yeah." Scrubbing a hand through his brown hair, Grant went to pull back one curtain and look out the window as he tried to sort out his feelings. Seconds later he was forcefully dragged back into the center of the room.

"Do you have a death wish?" Anders snarled.

"No." Grant pulled himself free of Anders' grip. "You think someone's out there?" He hated that his voice shook as he asked.

"Ninety-nine percent sure no one is. It's the one percent I worry about."

Grant nodded, sitting down hard on the end of the bed where Nicky slept. "Who are you anyway that you're doing this? Who sent you?"

Anders didn't answer for a long minute. Then he said, "People who are working to make sure the Senator and the Colonel are brought down, taken out."

"How did you find out I had those papers?"

"That I won't tell you. All that's important is we did and I was close enough that I could get to your place in time to save your and your kid's hides."

Grant laid back, putting an arm across his eyes to block out the light from overhead. "Now what happens?"

"First, I put some distance between you and whoever's looking for you, because trust me, they are and they're well trained."

Moving his arm, Grant looked at Anders. "Aren't we a bit obvious on the bike?"

"Yeah, so I'm changing transport. I'll deal with that in the morning."

"By then they could have found us. I mean it's sitting right outside."

Anders' eyebrow went up. "You're right. I must be more tired than I thought. Don't go anywhere." He was out of the room seconds later.

"Like where would I go?" Grant muttered. He got up long enough to pull back the covers, kicked off his shoes, and lay down again, putting one arm protectively around Nicky.

* * * *

When Anders came back a few minutes later Grant was dead to the world. He locked and bolted the door, then took two alarms from his saddlebag. One he hung from the doorknob and activated; the second he attached to the window so that the least attempt to slide it open would set the alarm off. "Best I can do for now," he murmured under his breath. After he turned off the light he sat down on the edge of the other bed, pulled off his boots, and set them by the head of the bed so he could get to the knives hidden in sheathes inside them. He took his gun and holster from the back of his waistband and put them under his pillow. Then he lay down and stared up into the darkness until he finally fell into a restless sleep.

Shadow Men – 36 – Anders and Grant

Grant opened the door to find a dark-haired man standing on the small front porch. He introduced himself as John Greene, Senator Rogers's assistant, and asked if he could come in. Grant nodded and stepped aside.

"Thank you," Greene said. "If you'll give me those papers, I'll be on my way. The Senator sends his sincere thanks for all you've done."

Grant hurried across to the desk at the far end of the living room, taking the papers from the drawer. He prayed Nicky wouldn't come see who had rung the bell.

"Eastman, down," a sharp voice shouted. It was followed by a soft popping sound, and then a second one.

Grant swung around to look in horror at Greene's body sprawled on the carpet. It took him only a moment to see the gun clutched in his outstretched hand. Then he looked at the man standing in the door to the kitchen.

"I did warn you," the man said as he slipped his revolver into the back waistband of his jeans, crossed to the desk, and picked up the papers. "Now get your son and let's get out of here. There's another one in the car out front. It won't take him long to figure out something's gone wrong."

Feeling numb from shock, Grant did as he'd been asked, calling to Nicky to come downstairs. Grant met him at the bottom, gathering him into his arms to hurry into the kitchen where the man now waited.

Nicky looked at him then asked, "Who are you?"

The man smiled slightly. "A friend of your dad's"

"But who are you?" Nicky persisted.

"The name's Anders McDowell." He looked past Nicky at Grant. "Shall we?"

With a frightened nod, Grant followed him out the kitchen door into the backyard, snagging his and Nicky's jackets off a hook on the way. The only thing keeping him from losing it was the fact he had to remain calm for Nicky's sake.

Anders led them to the back gate in the high cedar fence and held up a hand as he opened it and stepped cautiously into the alley. He carefully checked in both directions before he motioned for Grant to join him. There was a motorcycle parked behind the neighbor's garage. Anders stuck the papers into one of its saddlebags before he got on and then held out his arms for Nicky. Reluctantly Grant handed him over after he'd made Nicky put on his jacket. Once he'd put his own on as well, he climbed on behind Anders who then passed Nicky back to him.

"Keep him between us and hold on to my waist," Anders ordered. "Ever ridden one of these before?"

"As a passenger, a couple of times, yes."

"Good, then you know the drill." Anders turned the key in the ignition then put on the helmet hanging from the handlebars. "Sorry, I've only got one, but I'll try not to dump us," he told Grant as he pulled the bike onto the alley pavement.

"That would be good of you," Grant muttered under his breath as he held on tightly to Anders while trying not to squish Nicky between them.

* * * *

"Where are we going?" Nicky asked, echoing Grant's thoughts.

"Someplace safe," Anders told him.

They were parked on a narrow dirt road well away from the highway about five miles outside of South Bend. Grant asked Anders if that's where they were headed. All he got in reply was a shake of his head and a "The less you know the better," from the man.

"Are we at least going to stop somewhere to eat?"

"Yeah, probably, if I think it's safe."

"Safe?" Nicky looked up at his father.

"Umm, well, we're playing a sort of game of keep away from some not so nice men," Grant told him. Unfortunately, so far, he still wasn't all that certain that Anders was one of the good guys. On the other hand Anders hadn't forced him to come with him, which he guessed was a plus.

"Oh," Nicky said. Then his eyes lit up. "Like in that movie where the dogs are running away from the dogcatcher?"

"Something like that, yes."

"So we're going to hide under the hay?"

Anders chuckled and ruffled Nicky's hair. "Not quite that bad I hope, kid." He looked at Grant for a moment, to which Grant arched an eyebrow in question. "I'll ask later," was all Anders said.

Grant shrugged. Anders said it was time to get moving again, and they got back on the bike.

Shadow Men – 35 – Anders and Grant

Grant hung up the phone with a sigh of relief. The papers he'd found, or rather that his son had found when he'd seen the backpack hanging in the tree, were to be picked up by one of Senator Rogers's people. He hoped it would be soon. The less time he had them in his possession the better as far as he was concerned. He didn't understand much of what they contained but it was obvious that they centered on a traitor high up in one of the covert government organizations.

"Daddy?"

Grant smiled when Nicky raced across the room and came to a dead stop in front of him. "Yes?"

"Can we go to the park now?"

"Didn't you get enough exercise on our walk?"

"Nuh uh 'cause we had to come home too soon."

"I know. Sorry. But we can't leave again just yet. Someone's coming to get that bag you found."

"Oh." Nicky looked crestfallen for a minute then perked up again as five-year-olds inevitably do when another thought crossed their minds. "Can Jerry come with us? Please, please."

"We'll see. It depends how long it takes for the man to get here."

"Goody." Nicky immediately raced out of the room again.

Grant stood, stretched, and went to look out the front window of his small house. They'd only lived here for six months and he was still getting used to the place and the neighborhood. So far Nicky had more friends here than he had but that didn't really surprise him. He wasn't the most outgoing of men even under normal circumstances and with Martin's death he'd become even less so. But that was in the past and once again he pushed it to the far back corners of his mind.

Fifteen minutes passed and Grant started to pace while wishing he'd asked the Senator how long it would take for his man to get here. He realized pacing wouldn't make the time go any faster so he headed to the kitchen to see what there was he could throw together for supper.

As he checked the fridge for ideas he though he heard a sound from behind him. Figuring it was Nicky playing one of his 'sneak up on daddy' games he smiled and ignored it.

"Mr. Eastman," a voice said quietly.

Grant spun around to find himself facing a tall, lean, muscular man dressed in jeans and a dark blue turtleneck. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house," he asked, anger and fear warring for supremacy as he looked for something close at hand to defend himself with.

"My name's of no importance at the moment. I have to get you and your son out of here and we haven't much time. Where are the papers you're planning on handing over to Senator Rogers?"

"Why the hell should I tell you." Grant inched his way toward the butcher-block knife holder, praying he could get to it without the man realizing what he was doing.

The man sighed as he stepped over to move the holder out of Grant's reach. "The man who's coming to get them has orders to kill you and your son."

Grant looked at him in shock. "Why?"

"Because you saw what was in those papers. Unfortunately, you chose the wrong person to give them to. He's in league with the Colonel."

"Why should I believe a word you're saying?"

"Why shouldn't you?" the man countered with a small smile.

"Well, for one, I don't know you, and two, you managed to sneak in here. Hell, there's a million reasons why I shouldn't. For all I know you're working with this Colonel and this is your way of getting the papers before I give them to Senator Rogers."

The man tapped his fingers against his thighs. "All valid points but it's too late to argue. You're about to have a visitor. Just do me a favor, act natural and don't tell him I'm here."

Before Grant could ask how the man knew, the front doorbell rang.

"Go," the man urged, and Grant did.

Shadow Men – 34 – Rafe and Steele

"Well?" Senator Rogers looked up from the sofa, marking the place in the book he was reading by turning down a corner of the page before he closed it.

The Colonel shook his head in anger and frustration. "I don't understand it. No amount of pain, no threats to kill one unless the other gives up the location of the information, is working. How can they claim to love each other and yet not break when one of them has to watch the other one endure what we've put them through?"

"Perhaps you're not trying hard enough?"

The Colonel smiled coldly. "We know what we're doing. No, I think it's more than that. They truly believe in…" he snorted derisively, "God and country. They'd rather die than give in."

"Perhaps now is the time to cut our losses. Kill them and then vanish. We can afford to."

As he paced the living room, the Colonel considered the Senator's words. Finally he turned to look at the man. "I do believe you're right."

* * * *

Rafe barely managed to lift his head enough to look at Steele when he felt the barrel of a pistol press against the back of his head.

Steele raised his eyes to return Rafe's gaze. "I love you," was all he was able to rasp out.

"Love you," Rafe whispered.

Two gunshots echoed through the room.

* * * *

* * * *

"Daddy, look." The child pointed at a tree as they walked along the path by the side of the road.

The father looked up and frowned. "Now how on earth did that get up there?" He jumped and was able to get a hold of the bottom of a battered backpack that looked as if it had been in the tree for quite a while. He yanked hard and it came loose from the branch. Once he had it, he opened the pack to see what it contained.

"What's in it, Daddy?" his son asked, capering around him as he tried to see inside.

"Just stuff, nothing exciting," his father replied. He took out one bundle of plastic-wrapped papers to see if they were anything important. As he read through them his eyes widened in shock. "Damn," he muttered, then apologized to his son for using a bad word. He stuffed them back in the pack, picked up his son and hurried back to the car.

An hour later, after consulting with a friend of his, the man was on the phone. When it was answered he told the secretary he needed to talk to her boss and why. After a brief time on hold he was put through.

"I found some papers. They're… I don't know how to describe them but I think they're important and you're the only one I can think of who would know what to do with them." He listened for a moment then nodded and gave his address before he said, "I'll be here until your man arrives to pick them up, Senator Rogers." Then he hung up.

Shadow Men – 33 – Rafe and Steele

Instead of whoever was there making an attempt to gain entrance to the room, a man's panic-stricken voice said, "Help me. Let me in before they find me."

"Who are you?" Steele called out.

"Senator Rogers."

"Prove it."

The man spoke three words, paused, and then added a short phrase.

Steele turned to look at Rafe. Rafe nodded but mouthed, "We don't let down our guard." With a sharp nod in return Steele went to the door and moved the low cabinet he'd used to block it. He pulled the door open just enough to confirm that the short, pudgy man who stood on the other side was indeed their contact, Senator Rogers. Steele let him inside and closed the door, his gun now held at his side.

"Why are you here?" Rafe asked, even though he had a damned good idea what the answer would be.

Rogers stood rigidly, his eyes flicking between the partners as he replied. "I was surprised by one of my aides, a man I trusted, and was kidnapped. He works, as you may gather, for the Colonel. If I had doubts before about the legitimacy of your claims, I don't now."

Steele watched him, attempting to ascertain if he was telling the truth. "How did you get free?"

"They had me locked in one of the upstairs rooms. When the shooting started the man who was guarding me left. I…well…" He smiled slightly. "Maybe I watch too many TV shows but I figured if it worked on them… I kicked the door open and then ran like hell down the hall to the back stairs."

Steele glanced at Rafe, who gave the barest shake of his head. Then he returned his gaze to Rogers. "Now that you're here we need to figure out how to get away."

"Maybe…" Rogers seemed hesitant to continue.

"Maybe what?" Rafe asked.

"Just an idea. If you give me the papers and then make some sort of ruckus I can get out…" Rogers looked around, his eyes locking on the windows on the far wall, "through the window. I'll find a way back to the city and then…"

Rafe snorted in derision. "How stupid do you think we are Senator? First off, there's no way we'd have brought the information with us. Secondly, even if we had we wouldn't give it to you. Not now."

"You're good," Steele added. "You've got the fear and panic thing down pat. Unfortunately," he looked the small, pudgy man up and down with a sneer on his face, "even we would have a hard time kicking a locked door open. That's movie shit, not real life. By the time you managed to break the lock someone would have heard and come to stop you."

"Got to give me points for trying to do this the easy way," Rogers replied. He quickly took two paces to the door, swung it open and stepped aside as four men with guns flowed into the room, followed by the Colonel.

"You had to make things difficult, didn't you?" the Colonel said angrily as he watched his men disarm Rafe and Steele. "Search them thoroughly; they're known to carry more than just guns and knives. Then take them down to the basement room."

"Oh boy, do you have a pool table down there? I love pool," Rafe said cockily even as two of the men pulled him roughly to his feet. He bit back a cry of pain when one of them yanked his arms back to cuff his hands behind his back.

"Always the wiseass," the Colonel growled. "We'll see how smart-mouthed you are by the time I'm finished with you." He stepped aside to let his men take Rafe and Steele from the room.