Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

better news.”
    “I’ll take what I can get. Keep on Seguro. If you hear he’s back in town—”
    “I’ll be on him like a streetwalker wanting out of the rain,” Mecklin cut in.
    “Thanks.”
    Sam punched the end button, saw the battery was low, and wentto the suitcase he’d brought to Kate’s house. By the time he’d set up the charger and plugged it in, then unloaded his files and computer onto various worktables, Kate appeared in the door of the workroom. She was carrying a tray of sandwiches and fruit. A big pitcher of iced tea unbalanced the tray.
    “I’ll take that,” Sam said, lifting the pitcher.
    “Thanks. That should keep us going until the coffee is ready.”
    He looked at the half gallon of tea. It had been hot outside, but not that hot. “Thirsty?”
    “Sure am. Gee, I wonder why.”
    He smiled slowly. “Same here.”
    “You wonder why?”
    “I know why I’m thirsty. Want me to tell you?”
    Her lips turned up in a very female smile. “Sure, but only if you’re not going to slip into cop mode at the wrong moment.”
    “Is there a right moment?”
    “Last night was a good one. It saved our butts.” She handed him a thick sandwich made from the leftovers of last night’s chicken. For the first time in hours, looking at food didn’t make her stomach flip. “Did, uh, Meckler—”
    “Mecklin,” Sam said around a big bite.
    “Mecklin have anything interesting to say?”
    “Two men died in L.A. last night.”
    “And this was unusual how?”
    “They were the two men most likely to have handled the big sapphire on its way to Purcell.”
    Her hand hesitated before it reached a sandwich. “How so?”
    “One laundered Colombian money through the gold market in L.A. The other was a cutter in L.A. Both were de Santos, cousins of a cousin of a friend of a cousin to Seguro in Florida, the man who insists he didn’t buy the big blue gem from the her/him act.”
    Kate blinked, almost smiled, and said, “I want a big kiss.”
    “Why?”
    “I understood that.”
    A corner of Sam’s mouth turned up. “I’ll owe it to you. Every time I get my hands on you, we end up on the floor.”
    “Or against a wall.”
    He grinned and kept taking big, efficient bites of food.
    “Were any more sapphires found?” Kate asked as she took a cautious nibble of sandwich.
    “No.”
    “Anything to connect the deaths with Purcell?”
    “Does a necktie and torture count?” He saw the look on her face and kicked himself. “Sorry, darling. I keep forgetting you aren’t a cop. You sure handled yourself like one last night.”
    “Pure, undiluted practice. I was terrified.”
    “Why do you think repetition and drills are such a big part of any cop’s or soldier’s training?”
    “I was still screaming in my mind,” she said.
    “You think I wasn’t?”
    “I don’t know why that makes me feel better, but it does. Even if it isn’t quite true.” Kate blew out a long breath and returned to her sandwich.
    Sam had already finished his and was looking hopefully at the tray.
    “Go ahead,” she said. “I’ll be lucky to eat this.”
    He scooped up the last sandwich and went to the worktable where he’d spread out his files.
    “Why hasn’t Kennedy called?” Kate asked.
    “You mean to grovel?”
    “Yes.”
    “Don’t hold your breath on that. He’s probably checking facts and then checking them again while he looks for other explanations. He sure as hell isn’t going to be eager to pull the trigger on his old buddy Sizemore.”
    “Neither are you.”
    Sam didn’t argue. “Sizemore is a prick, but that’s not a good enough reason to ruin his reputation. The evidence we have is largely circumstantial. And…” After a moment, he shrugged.
    “And what?”
    “And I’d like a backup position if Kennedy doesn’t go for our interpretation of the facts.”
    “What backup position?”
    “Good question.” He looked at the files and tablets and sticky notes. “Let’s hope we find an answer.”

Chapter 64
    Scottsdale
    Sunday
    8:10 P.M .
    Kennedy’s expression was grim. His office was wearing a shroud of cigarette smoke. The ashtray looked like a funeral pyre.
    “It’ll never stand up in court,” he said the instant Sam and Kate walked in.
    Sam looked at Doug.
    Doug looked like he had a toothache.
    “What’s the problem?” Sam asked, turning back to Kennedy.
    “Circumstantial,” the SSA said succinctly. “All of it. No hard evidence. Any defense lawyer could shove it up