Rarities Unlimited 04 - The Color of Death

he ran the name.”
    “What else did he tell you?”
    “He said that his informant might be able to help with the Mandel case in Florida,” Doug said.
    “Mandel, Mandel, Man—You mean the courier that ran offshore with McCloud’s package?”
    “It’s possible, perhaps even probable, that the courier in that case was murdered.”
    “Fuck me!” Kennedy’s fist slammed down on the desk. “That’s all I need, another murder under my nose. You find Groves. Get his ass in here. He can talk to me or he can turn in his credentials and piece. I don’t much care which happens. You get that?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Doug turned away and was nearly hit by someone opening the door from the narrow hallway. Sizemore rushed in, barely pausing long enough to nod at Doug as he slammed the door in his face.
    “Remember Natalie Cutter, the woman who switched the stones?” Sizemore asked Kennedy.
    “Yeah.”
    “Her real name is Katherine Jessica Chandler.”
    “And I care because…?” Kennedy asked.
    Sizemore grinned. “She’s the CI that Groves has been hiding. She goes all the way back to the courier in Florida. Lee Mandel. His half sister.”
    Kennedy shot Doug a deadly look. “Get that son of a bitch and bring him here. Now .”

Chapter 50
    Glendale
    Saturday
    9:10 A.M .
    Sam spread the sketches on a worktable that Kate had cleared for him. She hovered at his elbow, looking at the papers and smelling like sex. It was making him nuts.
    And he savored every breath he took.
    What am I going to do about her?
    The only idea that came to mind was expressly forbidden by the Bureau’s rules for dealing with informants.
    The other ideas he had weren’t mentioned by the Bureau but were still illegal in some states.
    “Okay,” he said, telling himself he couldn’t really feel the heat of her body, couldn’t taste her breath. “You recognize anyone?”
    “No.”
    “That was quick.”
    Kate glanced at him, at the smoky dark blue eyes and a mouth that could light fires, beard shadow on his cheeks just waiting for a woman’s appreciative palm. Abruptly, she turned back to the sketches.
    Much safer.
    The cop was in full control again. The man wanted to come out and play, but it wasn’t going to happen.
    Damn it.
    “I was looking at these while you laid them out,” she said, gesturing to the sketches.
    He pushed the drawing of the slender male closer to her. “You sure? None of these look even faintly like anyone you know?”
    “Yes.”
    “Not even this one?” he insisted, pushing the drawing at her.
    “Not even that one,” she said patiently.
    “Well, hell.”
    “Who are they?” she asked.
    “They’re different takes on the same person. He/she tried to pawn one of McCloud’s Sins in Miami soon after Lee vanished.”
    “Which one? The one Purcell ended up with?”
    “Yes, but I can’t prove it yet. Not courtroom proof.”
    Kate’s mouth flattened. “So this is Lee’s murderer.”
    “Maybe,” Sam said. “And maybe he/she is just one link in the corrupt chain.”
    Kate studied the sketches silently. Intently.
    “I’m not asking for a cross-my-heart-and-swear-to-God match,” Sam said. “Do any of these sketches even remind you of anyone?”
    She shifted one of the work lamps and stared some more. “I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I can’t help with this.”
    “None of these sketches even faintly resembles Lee?”
    Her head lifted and she turned sharply toward Sam. “Is that what the pawnshop said? That this is Lee?”
    “Not in so many words. The person came in dressed as a woman, but a lot of what was up front wasn’t real. He/she had light blue eyes and blonde hair, just like the woman Lee was supposed to have run off with to Aruba.”
    “Wait a minute,” Kate said. “Let me be sure I’ve got it straight. The he/she had light eyes and blonde hair?”
    “Yes.”
    “Millions of people have light eyes. The ones who don’t can buy colored contacts. Ditto for hair. So what?”
    “So how close is this sketch to Lee Mandel?” Sam asked. “Forget the hairstyle and color. Concentrate on bone structure, thickness of the lips, the line of the jaw, and nose and eyebrows.”
    “That’s just it,” Kate said. “Lee was broad shouldered, raw boned, with a crooked nose and a wide mouth and…” Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “This sketch is nothing like Lee,” she said neutrally.
    Sam’s thumb brushed away the tear Kate hadn’t been able to hold back. “Sorry,