Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

of a bitch Kennedy gets it all.”
    “He can have it. I got what I wanted.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What was that?”
    “You.”
    Kate blinked.
    “Kennedy had already cut my transfer orders to Fargo,” Sam said. “I didn’t figure you’d want to work gems in North Dakota, so I made a little deal with a big horse’s ass and the transfer papers were shredded. Of course, I can’t guarantee I’ll keep out of FBI trouble for the next three years, ten months, and seventeen days…”
    “But who’s counting, right?” she asked, smiling.
    “Wrong. I am. That’s a long time to stay on Kennedy’s good side.”
    “Does he have one?”
    Sam shrugged. “I haven’t found it yet.”
    “Don’t kill yourself looking for it. As long as you bring me coffee, I’ll happily cut gems anywhere.”
    He gave Kate a long look, the kind that made heat uncurl through every part of her.
    “You sure about that?” he asked intently.
    She met his eyes. “Very sure.”
    “I’ll hold you to that.”
    “I’d rather be held by you.”
    “It’s a deal.”

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    She’d follow them.
    It made perfect sense. Tessa gritted her teeth and managed to wedge herself into the tight space at the head of the pickup’s covered bed. The vehicle came to a stop, and she concentrat-ed on keeping her breathing shallow but even, telling herself the men had no reason to suspect that there was a stowaway aboard. No reason, that is, until one of them slammed shut the plastic bin she’d hidden beneath. She hadn’t even realized they had opened it, and started badly when the whole thing reverberated half an inch from her nose.
    Her cell phone fell with a clanging noise onto the metal truck bed.
    “What was that?” a male voice demanded.
    “Shhhhhh,” the other voice hissed.
    At that moment, her cell phone received a text message. It lay against the metal of the truck bed and vibrated like a crazed hornet. She snatched it up, hoping the men hadn’t heard it. But, of course, they had. Ricky Hedges threw back the black tarp covering the pickup’s bed and shined a flashlight inside.
    Tessa flinched away from the brightness and knew she’d been caught.

Chapter 1
    Hollywood, California
    Saturday, February 20
    2:00 A.M .
    I f being raped by a hulking professional football player was the price she had to pay to make it big in Hollywood, Kelly Martin figured she should pull up stakes and head back to Kansas. Even working the Blizzard machine at Dairy Queen had to be better than what she had endured over the last few hours.
    With a sideways glance at the huge man driving her home in his Hummer, Kelly pressed a hand low on her abdomen to quiet the burning, grinding pain there.
    She was positive Britney never had to do anything like this to get her first recording contract.
    Kelly felt tears well in her eyes and pushed the thought away. When that didn’t work, she bit her lip hard. I will not let this jerk see me cry. At least not again.
    Without turning her head, Kelly checked the position of the man next to her in the front seat, then decided she couldn’t move farther away from him without opening the door and bailing out. Which she would do if he made a single move toward her.
    She almost laughed out loud. All of her friends at Central High School in Hays, Kansas, would probably kill to be in her position—being driven home in a luxury car after an evening spent in Hollywood with an all-Americanhero. Sledge Aiken was the most sought-after celebrity quarterback in the country, especially after his team’s dramatic Super Bowl win last month in New Orleans.
    With his slow Southern drawl, light brown hair, and wild green eyes, he would be considered a catch anywhere. When those were paired with six-feet-one inch of heavily muscled physique and a talent for football handed straight down from God, Sledge was the kind of man most girls dreamed of at night.
    When Kelly had been offered a chance to go on a date with him, she’d taken it in a heartbeat. After all, every girl in the club was after him. And Jerry had told her going out with Sledge would increase her chances of being seen by celebrity photographers—which in turn would boost her prospects for getting a recording contract.
    But Kelly hadn’t known the price she would have to pay. She flashed back to