Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

investment, as well as their traditional pearls and jade.”
    “Any of the other regulars there too?” Sam asked. A moment later he began writing quickly. Then he stopped writing and started putting checks next to names Baxter had already given him. “And that was from the eighth through the ninth of November?”
    “Yes, but everyone who knew ruby from spinel left after the first day. There were no previews, so it was nonstop from eight in the morning until nine that night. After that, the good stuff was gone. Excuse me, but I really have to go now. I’ll be late.”
    “Thank you for your help,” Sam said. Then added quickly, “Someone might be calling you on a follow-up.”
    “Whatever, just not now.”
    Baxter hung up.
    Sam finished his cup of coffee and reached for the pot.
    Kate put a plate of cheese, fruit, and crackers underneath his hand and looked at him.
    He took the hint and started eating. Once he got past the first few crackers and some really prime red grapes, he began to realize just how hungry he was. He ate faster, with real interest. When he discovered salami hidden under the cheese he grinned.
    “Did you get anything from Baxter?” Kate asked.
    “A lot more than I got from the tight-ass citizens at CGSI.” Samswallowed salami and chased it with cheese and a swallow of coffee. “I’m going to enjoy dropping a warrant on them. Any of these names familiar to you?”
    She scooted her work chair closer to him and looked at the names. “The names, yes. The people, no. They’re collectors and traders. I’ve cut stones for two of them.”
    “Are they clean, dirty, crazy, what?”
    “You mean would they kill for the Seven Sins?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I don’t know them well enough to say.”
    “Guess.” Sam crunched into a grape and reached for some cheese. “If you had to start, which name would you draw out of the hat?”
    Kate frowned over the list. “Basilov, I guess. He came on the scene five years ago out of nowhere.”
    “In his case, nowhere was Georgia, former Soviet Union.”
    “He has a lot of cash to spend. He’s not like Art—he doesn’t buy what he falls in love with and to hell with ‘value’—but Basilov’s a real force when it comes to buying choice material.”
    Sam swallowed some coffee and said, “I’ll tell the boys to start with him.”
    “Did you talk to Art?” Kate asked curiously.
    “Yeah, while you were on the phone with your mom.”
    “Was Basilov one of the names you got?”
    “I got zip from McCloud. He said if he felt like talking to anyone in the Bureau, he’d get in touch with the director.”
    “Ouch,” Kate said.
    “Yeah. Nothing personal, from all I know about the man. He’s just a prick with money and connections.”
    “I suppose it would be tactful for me to disagree with your description of Art, seeing as how I’ve worked for him in the past.”
    Sam smiled as he snagged some more cheese and grapes. “Only if you want to cut more stones for him in the future.”
    “Arthur McCloud is a fine, upstanding—”
    “Yada yada yada,” Sam cut in. “If I’m ever privileged enough totalk to him, I’ll be sure to tell him you defended him to the last gasp of hypocrisy.”
    Kate looked at the dates Sam had circled. “Eighth?”
    “November.”
    “When Lee…”
    “When Lee was murdered,” Sam said evenly. “Yes.”
    Kate flinched.
    Sam knew he sounded cold. He also knew from experience that dancing around the reality of death didn’t do anything except draw out the painful process of acceptance.
    “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he said, standing up and drawing her close.
    “I know.”
    Her breath was warm against his neck. Her body was warm against his. And if he didn’t let go of her right now, he wasn’t going to let go of her until it was way too late.
    “Anyway,” he said, stepping back and grabbing a handful of grapes, “according to Baxter, the same people who were likely to know about the Seven Sins, the same people who bid for the rough, were all in Fort Worth on the day Lee was killed.”
    “Convenient,” Kate said bitterly.
    “Maybe, maybe not. I get the feeling a lot of these people go to a lot of the same sales.”
    She sighed. “Yes, they do. Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply…. It’s just that I’m…”
    “Yeah.” He looked away because it was that or reach for her. If he did that, he’d be making love to her instead of trying to save her life. As much as he wanted her, it was no