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.