Darker Shades of Elise novel · Chapter 11 of 24

Chapter 11: The Drop

Rafe counted the money on his kitchen counter, standing.

I had given him twenty thousand dollars, half of Mitchell's envelope, and kept the rest in my coat.

He sorted the bundles into two neat stacks and ran his thumb along a paper band.

He stopped.

He read the two lines of tiny type, and then he looked up at me with a slow, delighted smile.

"Well," he said.

"Your husband is generous."

My stomach dropped.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"It means he's generous."

"Rafe."

"It means that Mitchell Reddick writes a very large check for a man who wants to keep a marriage quiet," he said.

He tucked the money into a canvas bag and zipped it.

"I'm just saying I like his taste in banks."

I stared at him.

He stared back, patient and bright-eyed, waiting for me to ask the right question.

I knew he was baiting me again, and that he wanted me to ask what he meant.

I didn't ask.

I nodded stiffly, and I saw him enjoy it.

"The rest comes in two weeks," I said.

"The rest comes Thursday, with you."

"I'll bring the rest in two weeks, or you can send it, and you'll never see one dollar."

He tilted his head.

"You've been practicing."

"I've been learning," I said, and left.

I didn't look at the smoke detector on my way out.

I didn't look at the little door at the back, either.

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