Shadow Men – 29 – Rafe and Steele

Foot by foot Rafe made his way around from the road to the side of the house. He stayed well within the trees, each step taken with care not to tread on a twig or fallen branch that would give away his position should there be anyone near enough to hear. At the same time he listened for telltale signs of an approaching foe. The closer he got to the back of the house and the lake, the louder the sound of the water lapping at the rocky shore got. A blessing and curse as it would cover any slight noise he might make but would do the same for anyone on his tail.

He got to the edge of the trees at the back of the house, stopped then studied it and the garage behind it to the far side, which appeared large enough to house a fleet of vehicles. No light showed there either. He was contemplating how to get from the trees to the wall of the house unseen when a slight movement by the garage caught his eye. For a moment he thought it might be Steele but if it was he was being stupid, and Steele was anything but that.

As he watched a figure came into view, male from its build, in camouflage gear and carrying a rifle with a spotter scope, if he didn't miss his guess. The man crossed swiftly to the porch at the back of the house. Rafe heard him give what sounded like a coded rap at the door and it opened to let him in.

Once the door closed Rafe looked for the best way to reach the garage. The ground at the end of the yard sloped down to the shoreline, not by much but if he crawled it should give him enough cover to make it to his destination unseen. After he holstered his pistol he set out, damning himself for his choice of disguise. Bare knees on rocks did not make for a delightful experience.

He made it behind the garage, stood with some relief and seconds later planted his body tightly against the garage's back wall. Now all he had to do was wait for Steele to join him, and worry until he did. Luckily for his mental health, the wait was minimal. Steele appeared only a few minutes later, a bit of a smile on his face.

Softly, his lips to Rafe's ear, Steele said, "I think we can get in without anyone knowing. Well, unless it's a setup, of course."

"Won't know until we try, now will we," Rafe murmured. "Where?"

Steele returned the way he'd come with Rafe on his heels. At the corner of the garage he paused to point to the basement windows. Sotto voce he said, "It's too dark now to see, but there's a barely opened one halfway down."

Rafe rolled his eyes even though he knew Steele wouldn't know he had. "Too cliché so it's definitely a setup, all things considered."

"Where there's a setup, there's hope. We can take out whoever's waiting there and lessen the odds against us."

"Better idea," Rafe replied. "Play both ends against the middle." He told Steele about the guard and the entry code the man had rapped out on the back door to be allowed inside.

"Nope, we're not splitting up so pick A or B."

"Basement window," Rafe said immediately.

With a sharp nod Steele led the way through the trees until they stood opposite it, with several yards of lawn between them and their destination. They studied the blank wall of windows that faced them, all of them curtained and dark.

"Odds are someone's watching."

"No shit," Rafe muttered. "So we draw their attention away." He glanced around, found what he wanted and went to pick them up. "This should do it, with luck." He moved a few yards through the trees toward the back of the house. Then he hurled one rock hard enough that it landed in the center of the path that led from the house to the garage, followed seconds later by the second one. He knew whoever was inside would figure out quickly that it was a ruse but it should still catch the attention of any watchers long enough to…...