Shadow Men – 66 – Anders and Grant

"Get your ass in gear, I'm leaving in ten with or without you," Anders barked out.

Things had been tense when the two men finally woke up just after dawn. Grant felt as if he was walking on egg shells as he made a quick trip to the bathroom to take care of business and then came back to get dressed. From the way Anders was acting, he suspected he felt the same way but with a touch of anger mixed in.

Or frustration, it was hard to tell which under the circumstances.

Grant shook his head while he checked to be certain he'd left nothing behind. Then he slung his backpack over his shoulders, grabbed his helmet, and stepped out of the motel room.

"Damn it, Grant, haven't you learned anything in the past few days?" Anders growled from behind him. "You don't just walk out a door without making certain there's not someone on the other side with a gun trained on you."

"Well there wasn't, was there?" Grant wanted to be angry as he swung around to look at Anders but the look of worry on his face did much to mitigate it and he felt guilty instead. "Sorry. Next time I'll remember."

"Good." Anders smirked then, just marginally. "Guess since you're still alive, it's safe for me to come out."

He did, getting on the bike after putting the saddlebag where it belonged. Grant climbed on after him, wrapping his arm around Anders' waist, and they were off.

* * * *

"Just where are we headed? I thought we were going to her office."

"Patience," Anders replied to Grant's question. "We're making a side trip to somewhere we can leave the bike and our gear."

"Somewhere safe?"

"No, I thought we'd park ourselves next door to the Senator's house."

Grant shook his head. "You're smirking right about now, aren't you?"

"Big time," Anders agreed.

If he hadn't known he'd probably hurt himself as much as Anders, Grant would have smacked him with his cast.

A few minutes later they were in an alley behind what Grant presumed were apartment buildings. Anders pulled up to a row of garages behind one of them, told Grant to get off, then followed suit and lifted one of the garage doors to wheel the bike inside and park it beside an small, older model car. He locked the door, and the bike, opened the door to the building and ushered Grant inside.

There was the strong odor of cooking in the hallway that led to a flight of stairs going up. Grant's stomach rumbled, which had Anders shaking his head and saying, "Are you ever not hungry?"

Grant flipped him off then followed him up three floors and down to end of a dingy hall. Anders paused by the door with his head tilted before he unlocked it. Moments later they were in an apartment, which made the hall look clean and neat.

"This isn't a safe-house or whatever you call them, is it?" Grant asked.

"Nope, because the Senator undoubtedly knows all of them thanks to the Colonel. I use this place only in emergencies."

"The last one must have been five years ago," Grant muttered as he gingerly put his pack down on a dust-covered table at one side of the room.

"Five months ago actually, but this is a big, industrial city so…" Anders shrugged as if saying that explained everything. "Go change into something a little less road-worn and then we'll get going." He pointed to a door, which Grant found out moments later led to a small bathroom. Rust marks stained the sink and shower but when he turned the water on it ran clear, for which he was thankful. He found towels in a cabinet above the toilet, stripped down, did a quick wash-up then redressed in clean jeans and a dark turtleneck, because that was the only type of shirt he had whose sleeves would fit over his cast.

He came out expecting to find Anders waiting to get in. He wasn't but Grant located him by the sound of running water from the kitchen. Before he could join him, Anders came into the main room. He looked Grant over, nodded then said, "Okay, let's do this."