Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

stopping to think, Kate threw herself at Sharon, knocking her to the side. The elevator doors jammed on her suitcase, tripping Kate.
    Sam got to the elevator just as the two women hit the hall floor, each slugging and kicking for an advantage. Kate had been ham-strung by the suitcase just long enough for Sharon to get on top. He saw the flash of a gun in her hand and lashed out with his foot. Sharon screamed as her wrist broke.
    She was still screaming when he kicked the gun away from her, yanked her head back by the hair, and rammed the muzzle of the Glock under her chin.
    “Don’t move,” he told her. “Don’t give me an excuse.”
    Sharon looked at his eyes and went completely still.
    “You all right, Kate?” he asked without looking away from his prisoner.
    “Yes. What about the kids?”
    “They’re fine, thanks to you.” He glanced for an instant at the children. “Right, girls? Don’t worry, I’m FBI. One of the good guys.”
    Kate looked at Sam’s blazing eyes and the gun jammed under Sharon’s chin. The older girl looked at him too. Then the girl shoved the suitcase out of the way, the elevator doors slammed shut, and the car went down.
    “Guess you didn’t look like a good guy,” Kate said.

Chapter 71
    Phoenix
    Evening
    Five days later
    Kate sat on a hunter-green leather couch and watched Sam walk in from the condo kitchen carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. Like the condo’s decor, he was relaxed and masculine. He handed her one mug, picked up the TV remote from the coffee table, and settled onto the couch next to her. Right next to her, thigh to hip to shoulder. She leaned into his solid warmth and sighed.
    “You make better coffee than I do,” she said, saluting him with the mug.
    “I grind my own beans.”
    “Yikes. Way too much trouble.”
    He kissed her nose and nibbled at the corner of her mouth. “Good is never too much trouble. Great is worth all kinds of effort.”
    She smiled and took a bracing swallow of caffeine. The last two weeks had been long on adrenaline and short on sleep.
    The television flickered to life. It was one of the plasma types, two inches thick and four feet wide.
    “Your TV makes mine look like it belongs in a museum,” she said, yawning.
    “It does.”
    “It still works. If something works, I don’t throw it away.”
    “I’ve noticed.” He looked at her intently. “You’re loyal.”
    “So is a cocker spaniel.”
    He laughed and wondered how he’d gotten through the years before he met Kate.
    Life hadn’t been as good, for damn sure.
    “Look, that’s Kennedy,” Kate said, pointing at the TV.
    Sam looked. “Yeah, that’s Kennedy.” Front and center and being adored by Tawny Dawn’s wide, wide blue eyes.
    The camera angle shifted, drawing back.
    “And there’s Doug Smith, and…” Kate hesitated, trying to remember.
    “Raul Mendoza,” Sam said. “He’s the strike force’s federal entry from Homeland Security.”
    “Who’s that other one?”
    “A Phoenix PD captain. Ralston, I think.”
    “Where’s Mario?” Kate asked, frowning. “He’s Phoenix PD.”
    “At home with his wife and kids, if he’s lucky.”
    “But didn’t he really help with—” Kate objected.
    “The whole crime strike force wouldn’t fit on a TV screen,” Sam said before she could finish her question.
    Kate reached for the remote and switched on the sound.
    “—being here tonight with us,” Tawny said in an unusually husky voice. “I know how tight your schedule is.”
    Kennedy nodded, managing to appear both busy and gracious.
    “He looks more important on camera than in person,” Kate said.
    “Are you saying you like him at a distance?” Sam asked dryly.
    “Yeah. The more the better.”
    “We’re all sleeping soundly again in Phoenix, thanks to the FBI. Mr. Kennedy, could you tell us in your own words how you cracked this murderous gang?”
    “The usual way,” Sam muttered. “Underlings and gofers.”
    “Ssshhhh. I want to hear.”
    He rolled his eyes and took a drink of coffee.
    “First of all, I want to make it clear that although it is an FBIsupervised crime strike force, we had the help of the Bureau of Homeland Security and many police departments across the United States, from New York to Florida, Chicago to Phoenix to Los Angeles.”
    “Cut to the chase,” Kate said under her breath.
    “That is the chase,” Sam said. “Just one big happy family of crime busters taking a bow in front of the taxpayers.”
    “Working