Devil in Dress Blues by Karen Foley

him a hero?
    “Sara, listen to me,” he said carefully. “There was something about those guys who were following you. They were hit men.” He drew in a deep breath. “I’m almost certain they wanted to kill you.”
    Sara blinked at him, uncomprehending. “What?”
    He sat down beside her, reminding himself that she had no experience with the dark underbelly of society. She’d probably never had anyone say so much as a cross word to her, never mind deliberately try to harm her.
    “Why would you think that?” she asked in bewilderment. “There’s a big difference between someone following me into an alley and someone wanting to kill me.”
    “Think about it.” He paused for a moment. “You saw Edwin Zachary with a woman who is a call girl. If that wasn’t bad enough, she leaves her appointment book in your car and that book not only contains the initials and sexual preferences of her clients, but also contains the phone number of the woman responsible for running an exclusive sex ring.”
    “But how would anyone know that?”
    She was so naive that Rafe couldn’t help but give her a quizzical smile. “Sara, you called her. You gave her your name. If the Feds really were tapping her phone, it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out who you are. Within five minutes of you revealing your identity, there wouldn’t be an aspect of your life that the Feds didn’t know about.”
    Sara waved her hand for him to stop. “Yes, I get all that. But why would the Feds want to kill me? I have nothing to do with the Glass Slipper Club.”
    “I’m not saying it’s the Feds, but if anyone has the means to kill you, someone in Zachary’s position would. You’re a journalist, Sara, and he knows that. There’s no telling what he might be willing to do to keep you from exposing his involvement with this club.”
    Slowly, Sara leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t believe this,” she breathed. “I felt someone watching me while I was waiting for you back at the café. But the man I thought was staring at me turned out to be a father waiting for his wife and child.”
    Rafe’s lips compressed in sympathy. “These men didn’t want you to notice them. From the way they moved and communicated, I’d say they have some military background.”
    “But why do they feel they have to kill me? Why don’t they just warn me off?”
    “At a guess, I’d say they want to keep you from sharing whatever information you have.”
    Her gaze shot to him in alarm. “What do you mean? What information? Why would they think I have any information beyond what they might have overheard during my telephone conversation with Juliet?”
    Rafe sharpened his gaze on her, instinct telling him that she was hiding something.
    “You write for a popular magazine,” he said, carefully. “You have Colette’s date book. Even if you can’t prove who her clients were, you happened to see something the other night that could incriminate Edwin Zachary and perhaps even cost him his bid for the presidency. At the very least, if you decide to share your story with the world, people will begin asking questions and his reputation would undoubtedly suffer. Perhaps he wants to avoid that. At any cost.”
    Dropping her hands, Sara stared at him in disbelief. “I don’t stand a chance, then. I mean, what do I know about evading someone with that kind of experience?” She gave a bitter laugh. “They probably know where I am right now. I’ll be dead by morning.”
    She was so obviously freaked out, that Rafe decided not to tell her about the shorn bolts on her balcony. Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss. He would just need to be extra vigilant and make sure that she didn’t do anything or go anywhere without him. But first he needed to gain her trust and make her feel safe.
    “That’s why I brought you here,” he said, returning to sit beside her on the sofa, although he was careful to keep some distance between them.