Internal Affairs by Alana Matthews Page B

that he’ll be back here, late one night. And you may not be able to get rid of him this time.”
    A feeling of dread worked its way through Lisa’s bloodstream. “You think I’m not safe here?”
    “Not in the least,” Rafe said. “I think you should pack some things and get out. You, your daughter and your housekeeper. As soon as you possibly can.”
    “But where will we go? A hotel?”
    “I wouldn’t advise that. As I told you, your ex has some very powerful associates and they’d undoubtedly find you at a hotel.”
    Something caught his eye and he reached to the end table and picked up the photograph Oliver had shattered when he broke into the house. The one with her and Chloe standing in front of the lake house.
    “Nice photo,” he said. “What about this place? Looks like Carlyle Lake.”
    She nodded. “We spent a lot of time there before we moved to St. Louis.”
    “A rental?”
    She shook her head. “No, it’s Oliver’s. He kept it in the divorce settlement. He’s pretty attached to the place. I think because it was the only time in our marriage that we were actually happy.”
    “Scratch that idea, then.” He set the photo back down. Then he said, “You remember back in college, when we came out here for the weekend?”
    She nodded, the pictures flooding her mind. “We stayed at your grandmother’s house.”
    “That’s right. Grandma Natalie. That house is way too big for her now, and she’s all alone, so I’m sure she’d be happy to have the company.”
    “I wouldn’t want to impose,” Lisa said.
    He shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’m her favorite grandson. She’ll be more than happy to do me the favor.”
    Lisa nodded again, thinking that if she could get Rafe alone in that big house, sharing a bit of quiet time as they’d had during that visit many years ago, she might be able to level with him. Tell him the truth about Chloe.
    Assuming she could work up the nerve.
    “All right,” she said. “We’ll start packing right away.”
    “Good. I’ve been up all night, so I’m gonna go catch a quick nap and I’ll be back to pick you up early this evening. Will that work?”
    “Of course.”
    “And if Sloan shows up on your doorstep again, tell your housekeeper not to hesitate to pull the trigger this time.”
    * * *
    A FEW MOMENTS LATER , Rafe drove toward his apartment, but soon realized he was much too wired to take a nap.
    As he had stood in Lisa’s house again, had knelt next to her beautiful little daughter, Undersheriff Macon’s demand kept running through his head.
    It’s simple. We want you to turn her.
    We want you to nurture the relationship and convince her to be our confidential informant.
    Rafe could fully understand why they’d want to use Lisa to spy on Sloan, but he would never allow it. He’d never put her in a position of danger like that. His job was to protect people like Lisa, not throw them to the wolves.
    It was one thing to bust a criminal and make him your confidential informant in exchange for leniency or a free pass. But Lisa was an innocent. A woman who had met the wrong guy and fallen for his ruse. It would be heartless to use that mistake against her, even if it meant bringing Sloan’s criminal enterprise to its knees.
    And there was no guarantee of that. Sloan was dangerous enough to Lisa as it was. If he were to somehow find out that she was working with the Sheriff’s department, he might very well kill her.
    Or keep his hands clean and have her killed.
    So the thought that Rafe would ever try to turn Lisa was insulting and ridiculous, and it annoyed him that his sister Kate had asked him to take a couple days to think about it. Even the carrot she’d dangled—a promotion to Homicide—wouldn’t make him change his mind.
    After seeing Lisa today, still as lovely and alluring as she had been in college, all thoughts of his career had abruptly vanished. Worrying about a promotion suddenly seemed so unimportant to him that he