Part 45 (2/2)
She hesitated, then nodded, watching April Joy uneasily. The woman was pet.i.te, beautifully formed, with raven hair and matching eyes, delicate Chinese features, and a way of moving that could set fire to brick. The crimson wool suit she wore was both elegant and severe. Though there was no badge in sight, she wore authority and ruthless intelligence the way other women wore perfume.
”What's on your mind?” Archer asked April.
”How to make the kind of pearls Yin's brother is dying for,” she said coolly. ”That would be the merry widow's department, I believe.”
”You knew Len,” Archer said, his voice hard. ”You will apologize to Hannah for that crack.”
”It's not necessary,” Hannah said quickly.
April's smile was as hard as Archer's voice. She turned to Hannah. ”I'm sorry your husband was a p.r.i.c.k. If he had been mine, I would have put him under years ago and danced on his grave. Now, how do you make those d.a.m.ned black pearls?”
”I don't know.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t.”
”Wrong,” Hannah retorted.
”Prove it,” April said.
”How can she prove a negative?” Archer asked.
”Good question, slick. I'm waiting for an answer.”
Chang looked at Hannah, who was even now flushed from Archer's arms. It galled Chang, but he didn't allow it to get in the way of business. ”How do you think Len got his black rainbows?”
”I don't know. He never told me.”
”Once I got past the lick-me lips and hall-breaking a.s.s, I learned that you're a very bright lady,” Chang said coolly. ”I want your best guess.”
Archer gave Chang a look that had April's hand sliding into her neat black purse.
”I suspect some kind of cloning of the mantle material,” Hannah said. The neutral tone of her voice said it wasn't the first time Chang had talked about her body.
”Explain,” April said.
”When we seed an oyster,” Hannah said, ”we carefully pry open the sh.e.l.l and make an incision in the living flesh. That's where the seed goes. With it we put in a bit of living mantle the flesh that lines the sh.e.l.l and deposits nacre from another oyster. It's the bit of introduced mantle that starts the process of pearl formation around the implanted seed.”
”So you think the secret was in the bit of mantle he inserted, which told the oyster how to produce the rainbow blacks?” Chang asked.
”You told me to guess,” Hannah said. ”That's one of my two best guesses. The second possibility is that Len cloned the experimental oysters himself and used mantle from sacrificed experimental oysters for seeding.”
Frowning, Chang absently shot the cuffs of his creamy linen s.h.i.+rt. The heavy wool and silk blend of his suit was an intense indigo that almost matched Hannah's eyes. The realization annoyed him.
”I know Len raised the experimental oysters himself,” Hannah added. ”They were never wild sh.e.l.l. That's why I lean toward the second possibility.”
”Cloning?” April asked.
Hannah nodded. ”It would explain the narrow color variation among all the experimentals.”
”Coffee,” Mitch.e.l.l said from the door.
”Bring it in,” Archer said.
Mitch.e.l.l wheeled over, put the tray on the low table next to the unusual gla.s.s vases, and looked at his boss.
”I'll take it from here,” Archer said. ”Thanks. If anyone calls, I'm still in Australia.”
”Is Ms. Joy here?” Mitch.e.l.l asked.
”Ms. Joy,” April said distinctly, ”is not here. You've never heard of her.”
”Mr. Ian Chang,” Mitch.e.l.l said, ”is he here?”
”Who?” April retorted.
Mitch.e.l.l nodded and rolled out, closing the door behind him.
While Archer poured coffee, April looked around the office. She tried not to stare at the vivid landscape, but couldn't help it. Outside of a museum, it was as close as she had ever come to a Susa Donovan painting.
”You can doctor your own coffee,” Archer said, indicating the tray of sugar, cream, cinnamon, and various other spices.
April ignored coffee and additives alike. ”What happened to the pearls you bought from Yin?”
”Did I buy pearls from him?” Archer asked, sipping coffee made the way he liked it hot and very dark.
”Don't go sideways on me, slick. We both know where you and Hannah spent the morning.”
”Since when is sleeping late a crime?” Hannah asked.
”Sleeping isn't. Neither is s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g. Sawed-off shotguns are.” April flicked a black glance at Hannah. ”You have guts, Ms. McGarry. Not much sense, but real guts. What's it like to love someone enough to die in his place?”
Hannah went pale. She didn't want to think about the dream she had had, or the instant early this morning when she had been certain that Archer would die if she didn't do something. She hadn't considered the implication of her action at the time, her reckless disregard for her own safety.
She didn't want to consider the implication now. It frightened her as nothing else had but the thought of Archer's death.
”She would have done the same for a stranger,” Archer said curtly. ”That's just the way she is.”
”Saint Hannah?” April shrugged. ”Whatever you say, slick. But I say you're wrong.” She c.o.c.ked her head slightly to the side, studying both Archer and Hannah for a long minute. ”Okay, we'll try it your way. If that doesn't get to the bottom line in one h.e.l.l of a hurry, we'll do it my way.”
Archer waited, revealing nothing of his feelings. The thought that Hannah had chosen to put herself in the line of fire to save him both angered him and moved him as nothing ever had in his life.
”Two big white guys walked into the Dragon Moon shortly after six this morning,” April said calmly. ”Yin is drinking tea, counting money in his tiny little mind, and holding stolen black pearls. Five of his triad brothers are sitting around a nearby table scratching their b.a.l.l.s. A few minutes later, a tall white woman walks in and throws herself at one of the white men's head. If she'd done the smart thing and jumped the other way, his head would have been blown off and we wouldn't be having this conversation. You hear me, slick?”
”I hear you.” He glanced at Chang. ”You look like you've heard it all before. Do you like green tea and dried fish for breakfast?”
Chang simply watched him with clear, clever black eyes.
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