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.