Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

teeth closed around his thumb, she tasted him, then she released him slowly.
    “You’re killing me.”
    “Funny, I thought I was seducing you.”
    He groaned and rested his forehead on her fragrant hair. He wanted her in a way that was new to him. He wanted to take what she wanted to give. He wanted—
    But he couldn’t. Not until he told her. And after he did, she wouldn’t want to give him anything but the back of her hand.
    “Kate,” he said, not able to let go. “I shouldn’t be doing this and neither should you.”
    “Speak for yourself.”
    He closed his eyes and fought against what he wanted so much he could taste.
    Kate looked at the unhappy lines on his face. Abruptly, she swore and stood up, ending the sweet contact.
    “Forget it,” she said. “This isn’t fair to either of us.” Arms crossed over her grit-smudged blue shirt, she met Sam’s eyes squarely. “How long do you think it will take for your damn strike force to be finished so you can be seduced by a woman who was once your confidential informant without getting fired?”
    Sam opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head. “I must be certifiable.”
    “Why?”
    “I understood what you said.”
    She opened her mouth, shook her head, and laughed almost helplessly. “We’re a real pair.”
    “Wild cards,” Sam said.
    She looked at him curiously.
    “That’s what my SSA called us. Jokers. Wild cards.”
    “He knows about me? I thought—”
    “Kennedy knows about Natalie Cutter,” Sam interrupted, “thanks to a big mouth called Bill Colton.”
    “Who’s he?” she asked.
    “A Phoenix-based special agent who would like to cut me off at the knees.”
    “Any particular reason?”
    “The usual,” Sam said.
    “And that would be?”
    “Office politics.”
    Kate raked a hand through her loose hair. “Okay, so your, uh, SS-whatever—”
    “Kennedy.”
    “—knows that you collared someone called Natalie Cutter. So what?”
    “So I was told to check her out and report back.”
    “And you found me,” Kate said. Her arms tightened defensively across her breasts. “I don’t like where this is going. You said you could keep your confidential informant confidential. ”
    “I have.”
    “Then what’s the problem?”
    “Two problems.”
    She waited tensely.
    “The first one is this,” he said, reaching over to the Mandel file and tapping the envelope he’d brought with him. “It was faxed to the hotel for me.”
    “What is it?”
    “Lab work from the trunk of a rental car.”
    Kate flinched and said hoarsely, “Lee’s dead, isn’t he?”
    “We can’t be sure until we find a blood type match from his medical files, or better yet, a DNA match from hair follicles on his brush or comb in his apartment. Or maybe he cut himself shaving and the trash hasn’t been emptied. We won’t know until we get a look inside.”
    She nodded tightly. “How soon?”
    “I’ve applied for warrants. There shouldn’t be any problem, as a crime strike force gets precedence over routine Bureau stuff. One day, two, maybe less. Depends on who the judge is. The lab is working with some faster tests for DNA, so once we get the warrant, it shouldn’t be too long. I hope.”
    “Do you think it’s Lee?”
    Sam hesitated, shrugged, and said, “I think it’s a real good bet.”
    “How good?” Her voice was raw.
    “Ninety-nine percent.”
    She sagged. “Even though my common sense said he was dead, I kept hoping…”
    He reached toward her, then let his hand fall away without touching her. “We won’t be certain without lab confirmation.”
    Kate made a broken sound that could have been a laugh or a sob.
    “The bad news,” Sam said neutrally, “is that the instant the blood work gets into the system, Lee’s file will be updated. If—and we’re by no means certain—your ghost caller has access to FBI records, he’ll know that the file is active again.”
    “But he won’t know I’m the one who forced the case to be reopened,” Kate said quickly.
    “You’re assuming he’s reasonable and won’t blame you.” Sam held up a hand to stop her protest. “That’s an assumption I can’t make. Even if I could, it’s just a matter of time—short time—until your name is connected to the case again.”
    “Why?”
    “Kennedy is getting restless about my CI,” Sam said.
    “So?”
    “There are the Bureau rules, and then there’s the way things really work. The reality is that Kennedy dislikes me, Bill Colton