Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death
out the hard way that not everyone is as honest and straightforward as she is.”
“Yeah. Watching good people get manipulated and chewed up by the system is never fun,” Luke said.
And I ought to know it.
Chapter 5
Downtown Los Angeles
Friday, February 26
“I ’m sorry to drag you into this, Ed. As soon as I can find another investigator to look into the credit cards, I’ll stop bugging you to come along and hold my hand every day,” Tessa said.
Ed Flynn snorted and followed her through the early-morning pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk. They were headed to a popular local coffee shop where Ed would meet Kelly Martin for the first time.
“Luke Novak is one of the best investigators in Southern California. He’s got a list of informants that any active cop would kill to have. I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t hire him.”
“He didn’t have the right personality,” Tessa said vaguely.
“What the hell does that mean?” Ed asked.
“I need someone who can help me work within the system, in Kelly’s favor. Novak doesn’t want to work with the system, he wants to burn it down.”
Ed coughed at the edge in Tessa’s voice. She glared at him.
“Luke Novak is a cowboy. I need someone a little more…” She searched for the right word.
“Tame? Obedient, even?” Ed suggested.
“I don’t require obedient,” Tessa shot back. “But housebroken would be nice.”
Ed laughed out loud. “So he pissed on your case, did he?”
“He basically said he didn’t believe Kelly’s story. He told me I had blinderson and might not like what I saw when reality unceremoniously ripped those blinders away.” Her pride still smarted at that one.
There was a long silence. Finally, Ed said with a sigh, “Let’s go meet your victim, Tessie. I want a chance to understand this girl who’s got a hold on your tender heart.”
She let out a relieved breath, thankful he hadn’t agreed outright with Novak’s analysis of the situation. “Come on, that’s her in the corner booth.”
They greeted Kelly—who barely looked up from the coffee she was stirring—and sat down across from her. Tessa frowned as she saw the girl was wearing a high-necked sweater despite the mild day. She had also stuffed her long, platinum blond hair under a large-brimmed hat.
When Kelly felt Tessa’s eyes on her, she glanced up briefly, revealing oversized black sunglasses. The room was bright, but not enough to need them. She quickly looked back down at the table and continued stirring the cup in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked gently.
Kelly shrugged, then lifted her thumb to her mouth and started chewing the ragged cuticle.
Tessa slowly reached across the table and pulled Kelly’s sunglasses away from her face. The girl said nothing as Tessa gasped out loud.
“Your face! Who did this to you?” Tessa carefully turned Kelly’s head toward the sunlight, revealing raw looking bruises around her left eye, cheekbone, and the corner of her mouth.
“I tripped getting out of the pool,” Kelly said, pulling away from the gentle touch.
“What did you trip on?” Tessa asked angrily. “Someone’s fist?”
Ed put his hand on Tessa’s arm to silence her, then held it out to Kelly. “I’m Ed Flynn. It’s very nice to meet you. I understand California hasn’t been too kind to you.”
Kelly looked down at the weathered hand he offered her, then up into Ed’s warm brown eyes. He looked like such a dad, with an expression of concern and gentleness that made tears well up in her eyes. Instead of latching on to his offered hand like the lifeline it was, Kelly snatched the sunglasses off the table and put them back on her face.
Ed knew she was trying to put distance between them, and he let her. If she felt safer with the Jackie O glasses on, maybe she’d relax enough to tell them what had happened.
“I won’t let anything happen to you now, Kelly. Neither will Tessa. But you have to trust us,” Ed began. “Can you do that?”
Kelly resumed biting on the thumbnail she had been mauling. “I just want to go home,” she said with a break in her voice.
“We’ll take you there. Is home in Colorado?” Ed asked.
Kelly hesitated, then nodded jerkily.
“Then why don’t you have a driver’s license issued from that state?” Ed asked.
“My family didn’t have a car for me to drive,” Kelly mumbled.
Tessa’s eyebrows shot up. She knew that even when an individual didn’t have a
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