Shadow Men – 58 – Anders and Grant

At first Grant couldn't see more than two feet in front of him, if that. Then his eyes began to adjust to the dark and he was able to distinguish the tree trunks from the spaces between them. He also made out Anders just ahead of him and knew if he turned he might see Steele somewhere behind him, depending on how close he was.

They were moving slowly, taking each step with great care as they did their best to avoid making any sound which might be heard above the rustling of the leaves as a gentle breeze blew through the trees.

After what to Grant seemed like an endless amount of time, Anders stopped, his hand held up to let them know they were close to their destination. The clouds briefly moved, allowing the moon's light to make the scene a bit more visible. There was a small clearing ahead, the stream Anders had called The Gill meandering along one side. In the center of the clearing was a tall rock formation. Grant could just make out someone standing next to it.

Cautiously he and Anders entered the clearing. As ordered he remained a few feet behind Anders, his pistol now held at his side. He was hyper-aware of the sheathed knives, one on his forearm, another in one of the boots Steele had insisted he wear even though they were a size too large for him.

"Petya, it's been a while," Anders said, his voice pitched just loudly enough that Grant could hear him.

"It has indeed, Anders." The woman looked beyond him briefly. "This is the man who..?"

"Retrieved the information, yes."

"You have the papers with you?"

"I may trust you, Petya, but I'm not a fool. They're safely stashed for the time being. First I need to know how you're going to get them to…whomever."

Grant saw Petya lean close enough to Anders to whisper something to him, the name he presumed. He heard Anders' reply, "An excellent choice. Probably one of the few people the Colonel and the Senator can't corrupt."

"Precisely why I chose…" Suddenly Petya clutched her chest. Grant watched in horror as blood oozed between her outspread fingers. Then she fell back against the tall rock and slid down to the ground.

Before he could gather his wits enough to move back to the protection of the trees Grant felt something hit his arm. Pain radiated out. It felt as if his wrist had shattered. As he bit down to keep from crying out a strong hand gripped his upper arm and he was dragged forcefully out of the clearing.

"Stay," Anders ordered as he searched for the shooter.

Like I'm going to go dashing out there, Grant thought sarcastically as he sat and leaned against the nearest tree trunk. His wrist hurt but not as much as he'd expected. Adrenaline high still, he guessed, having heard about them.

There was a faint rustling a few yards away. Anders whirled to face that direction. Then Grant heard someone move behind him. Two men stepped into view, both carrying what were in Grant's estimation very large guns.

"Anders," one of the men said, a dark grin touching his lips for a moment as he limped closer, one knee seemingly locked into position.

"Colonel." Anders replied, not lowering his gun.

"As you said to Mrs. Goranov, it's been a while, Anders. Jackson, please relieve Mr. Eastman of whatever weapons he's carrying. We wouldn't want him hurting himself, being the novice that he is."

Grant pressed back against the tree. He knew he should do something to distract the men and give Anders a chance to do his thing. At the same time he wondered where the hell Steele was. He inched his good hand to the top of his boot in the hope that the darkness would shield the movement.

The man the Colonel had called Jackson shook his head. "Take it out, slowly."

Grant sighed and did, and the man took the knife. "Any more?" he asked as he grabbed Grant's arm, the wounded one.

Grant screamed in pain.