Pearl Cove (22 page)

Obediently Archer stroked over Liannes big belly, pausing to savor the bump and seethe of
hidden life before he stroked again soothingly.

Archer didnt know that he had a small, almost dreamy smile on his face, but Hannah did.
She stopped in the doorway to the suite and stared, frozen. The contrast between the hard
planes of his stubble-shadowed face and the tenderness of his smile was shocking. The
difference between his muscular body and the care of his hand soothing his petite and
visibly pregnant sister-in-law was equally shocking.

The child will know his or her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Most of all, the
child will know me.

Archers words echoed and reechoed in Hannahs mind, making her dizzy. She had assumed he
was threatening her because he was angry. Now she realized that he had simply told the
truth. Whether she liked it or not, whether she trusted him or not, he would be a part of
their childs life. If there was a child.

Ah, see? Lianne said, laughing softly. The little devils are settling down. Youre in for a
lifetime of babysitting, Archer.

Doesnt scare me a bit. When they get big and ornery, Ill give them back to you. Kyle
snickered. Im going to teach your kids how to make mud pies in the linen cupboard. Is that
the worst thing you ever did? Hannah asked from the doorway.

At her first word, Archer changed as he had in the gym, withdrawing into himself so
completely that Hannah could almost hear the doors closing and bolts slamming home. He
became again the man she

feared, cool and ruthless, watching her with emotionless eyes.

Sorry, she said, drawing back. I didnt mean to intrude.

No problem, Kyle said without looking up from the computer screen. You must be Hannah. Im
Kyle, and the beautiful Munchkin draped against Archer is my wife, Lianne. Id introduce
you to the twins, but we havent picked their names yet.

Twins? Hannah asked.

She didnt hear the wistfulness in her own voice, but Lianne did. Two of them, she said. At
least, thats what my doctor is saying. At the rate Im growing, Im wondering about triplets.

Bite your tongue, Kyle said.

She leaned over against him and whispered something that made her husband smile. He gave
her a promising-remembering kind of look along with a grin. Ill take a rain check on that,
he said, hut not for long.

Archer didnt say anything. He simply watched Hannah standing in the door with the elegance
of a dancer and the mouth of a siren calling to her man. The travel-wilted clothes she
wore couldnt conceal the curves and hollows, the lure and the promise of her body.
Distance couldnt conceal the deep wariness in her eyes, the tension that radiated from her
when she looked at the man she didnt trust. The man she feared. The man who wanted her so
much he had to remind himself to breathe every time he saw her unexpectedly.

Motionless, Archer waited, praying that none of the emotions seething beneath his calm
showed through. But they must have, because Hannah took another step backward. At her
retreat, his eyelids flinched in a reaction that was as involuntary as it was painful.

Deliberately he turned back to the computer, not wanting to look any longer at the woman
he loved backing away from him.

If control of the high-end pearl market wasnt motivation enough for Lens murder, Archer
said neutrally, our half brother had a talent for making enemies. Hannah could tell you
more about that than I could. In the end, it doesnt really matter. Len is dead and the
black rainbows are gone. Find them and youll find Lens murderer.

With a smooth, powerful surge, Archer came to his feet. Thats why I brought Hannah here.
She needs protection while I find the pearls.

Protection? Why? Lianne asked, turning to Hannah.

Whoever killed Len thinks I have the secret of making the black rainbows, she said. The
words came out tight, almost harsh, so curt that Lianne frowned. I dont.

Until Lens murderer is found, Archer said, shes at risk. He looked at his watch. Ill be
back by dinner.

You better be, Kyle said. Dad will want to talk to you.

Hannah knows more about Len than I do.

What I know, your father doesnt want to hear. Abruptly Hannah fell silent, thinking of a
graveyard in Broome, when Archer had asked her to remember the good things and let go of
the bad.

Ive already answered Dads questions about Len, Archer said as though she hadnt spoken.
There are more useful things for me to do than hash over a past neither one of us can
change.

He walked toward the door as though Hannah wasnt blocking it.

Where are you going? she asked, watching Archer approach. Her voice was husky with
memories and something she refused to recognize as hope.

He stopped very close to her, expecting her to back away. She didnt. To see a man about
some pearls.

Lens pearls? she asked. Possibly. Then Im coming with you. No. The word was smooth and
cold, leaving no room for argument or interpretation. You need me to

No, he cut in. Not now. Not ever. Not in any way.

Kyle and Lianne exchanged looks. They hadnt ever seen Archer like this, leaving ice burns
with a few deadly calm words.

Ah, Hannah, Kyle said, trying to defuse the explosion he sensed coming.

If you think Im letting you go after the Black Trinity on your own, Hannah said in a low,
savage voice, youre as crazy as Len was.

Big as Len, cold as Len, and now as crazy as Len. Looks like your husband didnt die after
all. Archer shrugged. Too bad, Hannah. Youll just have to trust me not to take the Black
Trinity and leave you flat broke.

The calm words infuriated Hannah as much as having Archer look at her like a stranger, as
though they had never fused together in a naked tangle of limbs, hearts beating wildly,
hands gripping, minds empty of all but urgency and ecstasy.

If you want protection or sex, punch number six.

You wouldnt know the Black Trinity if it walked up and bit you on your bum, she said
distinctly.

It doesnt take a color-matching genius to recognize one of Lens experimental pearls.

One of them, sure. Even a color-blind cat could do that. But how will you be sure any
rainbows you find were once part of the Black Trinity? she asked.

Len didnt let any of his special pearls out. But some got out anyway. You bought one
yourself. You know there must be others. Archer did, and didnt want to admit it, so he
kept his mouth shut.

Hannahs smile was all thin edges. No one, not even a ruthless, clever man like Len, could
prevent some of the black rainbows from leaking out. How will you know if you find pieces
of the Black Trinity or just whatever was skimmed from the sorting shed or stolen from the
experimental rafts?

Silence stretched between them like a wire that kept getting tighter and tighter until it
hummed with tension.

Youll be safer here, Archer said finally. Im coming with you. Not trusting me could cost
your life. My life. My choice.

For just an instant something showed in Archers eyes. He dropped his voice so that only
she could hear. Not quite, Hannah. Theres the small matter of pregnancy.

I could be as pregnant as Lianne and it wouldnt change the facts, she said in a voice as
low as his. You need me to find Lens killer. I need you to keep me alive while Im doing
it. End of discussion.

Silence stretched again. You know, Archer said casually, its a bloody miracle Len didnt
leave visible scars on you to go with the invisible ones.

What are you talking about?

You. And Len. He never argued with anything but his fists.

I didnt argue with Len. He knew too many ways to make me lose.

But you dont mind going toe to toe with me at every opportunity.

You wont hurt me. Not like Len.

I know. Im just surprised that you do. You have ten minutes to make yourself up like my
mistress.

Your mistress? Why?

Why else would you be hanging around with a rich, ruthless man you dont like? Archer
smiled without any warmth, just a row of hard white teeth.

Her chin came up and her shoulders squared for battle. Im no bloody good with makeup.

I am. Remember?

An involuntary shiver went over Hannah. She hadnt forgotten the horrid public toilet where
Archer had stood close to her, so close, their breath mingling as he applied makeup to her
with deft touches. And then she had turned to look in the mirror, and his hand had slid
beneath her tiny skirt, touching her just once, slowly. It had been enough. She had turned
to liquid and kissed his finger as gently as it kissed her.

Yes, she whispered, shivering again. I remember. Damn you, I remember. But she was talking
to Archers back. He had already brushed past her and into the hall.

Seattles Pearl Exchange was an extraordinary mix of raw hustle and silky elegance.
Unaffiliated traders, shop owners, luxury stores, people looking for a bargain, and
salesmen looking for a mark all came together in a concrete hive six stories tall. Hannah
hadnt seen anything like it, even the August Pearl Festival in Broome, when imported
high-fashion models strolled down runways wearing European haute couture and millions of
dollars worth of borrowed Australian pearls.

The lower floors of the Pearl Exchange were for tourists and people new to the allure of
pearls. The sales outlets on those floors were little more than stalls placed around the
perimeter of the building. The center was taken up with a maze of stalls. Strands of
pearls dangled from every possible variety of hook, knob, rod, and handle.

... finest of Japanese pearls, fresh from the sea to you. Note the delicate blush of pink
against the flawless...

The womans voice faded beneath others, but the sales patter made Hannah lift her
skillfully darkened brows. Archers skill, not hers. And if she had gotten lightheaded
standing so close to him, breathing his scent, all but tasting him, it was her problem.
Obviously he didnt have one. His hand had been steady while hed stroked cosmetics over her
face.

Impatiently she tugged at the forest-green dress she had borrowed from Honor. The dress
kept trying to creep up her hips. Hannah was an inch taller and at least two inches more
around the bust and hips than Archers sister. As a result, the silk sheath dress fit too
well. She was certain her hips were stretching the seams across the butt. The bra she had
borrowed made the most of her breasts, pressing them front and center so that they mounded
above the scoop of the neckline.

Borrowed jewelry finished out the picture of a well-shaped, well-kept woman. To keep up
with or live down to the new image, Hannah had switched the blue diamond wedding set to
her right hand. The rest of her jewelry was also borrowed. She hoped that Susa truly
wouldnt mind a stranger wearing her diamond-and-citrine rope and diamond stud earrings.

Impatiently Hannah ran her hands over her hips again, trying to coax the dress to lengthen
by an inch or two. Then she made herself stop fussing. She was supposed to be for sale,
wasnt she? Or at least up for a short-term lease.

Archer certainly looked the part of a man who could afford to keep her. Though he had
dumped the Euro-silk and Krugerand, the handmade pearl-gray Egyptian cotton shirt he was
wearing didnt look like a Kmart special. Nor did the black wool slacks and soft leather
shoes. The thick black stubble on his face set off his pale eyes and the clean line of his
mouth. A black Gore-Tex jacket with high-tech fleece lining was carelessly folded over one
arm. The jacket was Honors, on loan to Hannah.

The stubble should have made Archer look badly groomed. Instead, he looked so sexy she was
having trouble keeping her hands to herself.

When Hannah realized that she was staring at Archers mouth, remembering what it felt like
all over her, she forced herself to focus on the pearls and ignore the explosion of heat
deep inside her, heat turning her bones and her body to warm honey. After a few moments
she managed to see the booth in front of her. It was draped with pearl jewelry. The pearls
were six to eight millimeters in size and of one dominant hue. Pink.

Akoya rules here, she said. They didnt stint on the pink dye, either.

Americans like pink.

Hannah picked up a strand and ran it through her fingers. Decent surface. Uneven drill
holes. Poor depth of nacre. Adequate matching. Good graduation in size.

Japan has tons of Akoya pearls, Archer said. Literally. Size matching is rarely a problem.

Relieved to find something neutral to talk about, she dove into the discussion. Color
matching shouldn t be a problem either, if the stalls on this floor are any example. If
the pearl doesnt look good, throw it back in the pink dye for a while longer. Or the
black. How can they sell this? she asked, holding up a steel-colored string of dyed
pearls. Ball bearings would have more character. If you want black, stick to the South
Seas. The color comes from the oyster, not from a chemical bath.

He didnt pick up the conversational ball. Instead, he watched the room around them with
eyes as clear and hard as diamonds. It beat watching Hannah fidget and wiggle in Honors
clothes clothes that had never looked like that on his sister. It was all he could do to
keep from lowering his head and running his tongue deep into the cleavage that was so
nicely displayed.

Irritated by his bodys relentless hunger for the woman who had no use for him beyond sex
and protection, Archer turned his back and forced himself to focus on the room. The tail
they had picked up as soon as they left the condominium was somewhere in the crowd behind
them, fingering pearls as though she cared. The man who was with her didnt even pretend to
care. He looked at everything but pearls.

Wistfully Hannah ran her fingertips over strands of gleaming dyed pearls. It had been nice
to have a neutral conversation with Archer, if only for a few moments. Perhaps he could be
lured back into it.

Culturing pearls, she said, inserting a bead, feeding and scrubbing the oyster for a year
or two, then harvesting and grading the pearl I understand that. Once the seed is in
place, the oyster is responsible for the color and luster of the pearl. How can they call
this kind of manufactured dyed stuff pearls?

No problem. Deciding their shadow was harmless, Archer turned back and faced the woman who
could pierce his self-control with a word, a touch, a look. Some folks are calling
imitation pearls semicultured.

Thats deceptive.

Thats business. Let the buyer beware. Besides, pearl growers arent eager to get into a
public pissing contest over cultured versus manufactured. Then people might start asking
at what point a cultured pearl becomes a manufactured one.

When you add or subtract color, Hannah retorted.

Not to the Japanese. Or the Chinese, for that matter. Then there are the Arabs. To them,
cultured is manufactured. Imitation. And were not even touching on Majorica pearls. He
tipped his head toward the next booth.

Glass beads dipped in fish scales and glue, she said, dismissing the legitimacy of the
Majorica process.

The people who produce Majoricas call the dip pearl essence, he said blandly.

More like essence of bull dust. At least Majoricas have a brief history to recommend them.
Theyve been made for a hundred years,

theyre heavier than plastic, cooler to the touch, and more expensive to buy. But still
imitation. Not pearl. He didnt argue the point. No part of a Majorica pearl had ever seen
an oyster.

Hannah went to another booth. This one also featured Akoya pearls, but of a higher
quality. Sighing, she fingered the cool, silky weight of several necklaces. They had the
pale blue overtone that was common to Akoya pearls in their natural state. The weight of
the necklaces suggested that the pearls had spent a year gathering nacre in the oyster
shell rather than the six months she suspected was the maximum for the previous booth.
This booth also had the pink Akoya as well, but they had been handled with care and dyed
with discretion. The drill holes were smooth and uniform. Not surprisingly, the price
reflected the higher standard of production.

Quietly Archer urged her on around the room, milling at random through the booths, trying
to make sure that only the government was following him.

Wait, she said suddenly. Arent these beautiful? Odd, but beautiful.

He looked at her hand on his arm. She didnt seem to be aware of having touched him. He
wished he could say the same.

Biwa, he said curtly.

What?

Freshwater pearls from Lake Biwa in Japan.

What a lovely, icy, iridescent white, she murmured, fingering a strand of the oddly shaped
yet nearly identical pearls. A necklace of little crosses. Natural or cultured? she asked,
turning to him.

Natural, probably. But the ones in the next booth certainly arent.

She looked at the next booth and laughed softly. Little Buddhas. How on earth...?

Same way maybe pearls are produced, on the shell itself rather than in the mantle of the
oyster. Take a bead shaped like a flattened Buddha. Cement it on the inside of the shell.
Cement lots of them, actually, like measles erupting all across the interior of the shell.
The oyster just covers the intruders over. Six months later, the shell is harvested and
the Buddhas are cut away. The Chinese have been doing it since the eleventh century.

Like blister pearls.

Archer smiled slightly. Nothing is like blister pearls. Theyre naturals all the way. I
have one in my collection thats as big as Summers fist.

The pearl? Hannah asked, startled.

No, the blister. I havent opened it up yet to see if theres a pearl inside the blister.

The rise and fall of conversations around Hannah faded as she concentrated only on Archer.
If there is a pearl, it would be natural. Priceless.

And if there isnt, if the blister is full of organic goo, the shell is worthless. You wont
know until you open it. Ive opened other blisters and found nothing but tar. But you wont
know about this one, she insisted.

Would you open it? Of course. Not knowing would drive me crazy. Even if you had opened
other blisters? Yes. Thats what hope is all about. Knowing the odds are against you but
going for it anyway. His black eyebrows rose. I should have been an oyster. What?

Then you wouldnt be afraid to open me and see whats inside. But youre sure its tar and
theres no point to this conversation. Lets go. The bureaucrats following us are getting
impatient.

Touching her for the first time, he put his hand under her upper arm and led her toward a
bank of elevators. Though the touch would look familiar to anyone watching, Hannah felt
its lack of intimacy like a slap. There was no hidden circling of her skin, no tender
caresses, no sweet feeling of connection, nothing but an impersonal pressure that directed
her through the crowd.

Where are we going? she asked as the elevator doors closed.

They were alone in the cage that smelled of musty carpet, spilled espresso, and Chinese
cigarettes. Asian nicotine addicts simply didnt get Seattles no-smoking rule.

To the next floor. And then? she asked. To the next. Then the next. Do you really expect
to find the Black Trinity in one of the retail stalls?

It isnt likely, but the Linskys arent expecting me until eleven. If Im lucky, Ill find a
black rainbow in one of the wholesale booths. Then Ill trace it. If Im not lucky, Ill have
gotten a feel for whats new at all levels of the pearl market, and the two government
bureaucrats following us will have learned more than they ever wanted to know about pearls.

Hannah smiled slightly. What about the black pearl you already have? Why not trace it?

Dead end. Teddy bought it from a man who bought it from a woman who bought it from a man
nobody can find, who supposedly got it in Tahiti. Thats the reason Teddy showed me the
pearl. He thought I might know where it came from.

You did.

He doesnt know that. Thats why he sold it to me. Hes been looking for over a year and
found nothing more than rumors. He decided to take cash for a pearl curiosity rather than
trying to assemble enough black rainbows to make a piece of jewelry.

The elevator door opened. The second floor was slightly better maintained than the lower
one, but its atmosphere still was more carnival than restrained luxury. Despite not having
the studied elegance of a high-end jewelry outlet, the goods on the second floor were
obviously more expensive than those on the street level. Video cameras covered every angle
of the area. The booths were more spacious, less jewelry was dangling within reach, and
rent-a-cops watched everyone with bored eyes and big holsters.

It didnt take Hannah and Archer long to circle the second floor. The pearls were bigger
and of better quality than on the first floor, but the emphasis was the same: finished
jewelry. There was a very nice pair of Tahitian black earrings with violet overtones, and
a tangerine South Seas parure consisting of brooch, necklace, bracelet, ring, and
earrings. The latter made Hannah pause, but when the salesman came forward, she shook her
head and moved on.

There were few loose pearls for sale. None of them was a black rainbow.

The elevator smelled the same on the way to the third floor. When Hannah and Archer
stepped out, they were confronted by a desk and an armed guard who was even more bored
than his buddies downstairs. Archer wrote his name, corporate identity, and wholesale
number in the logbook on the desk, took two tags, and gave one to Hannah. He clipped his
to his pocket. After several tries, she managed to clip hers on the neckline without
wrinkling the material.

As he watched her smooth the borrowed dress beneath the tag, his hands itched to help her.
Then he could savor again the creamy warmth and resilience of her breasts, feel their tips
harden beneath his hands, his tongue.

Cursing silently, he turned away from the endless temptation of Hannah McGarry. A quick
scan of the

room told him that the same traders were in the same places. No new faces. In fact, he
would have sworn that some of the same people were leaning across the same counters
arguing the same prices as they had been six weeks ago, when he had strolled through the
Pearl Exchange just for the pleasure of seeing so many varieties of loose pearls gathered
under one roof.

Hannah scanned the various booths and almost smiled. This she understood: the people
haggling over a tray of pearls, the other people watching as though placing side bets, the
dramatic gestures of disdain on the part of buyer and seller, the handshakes, the voices
rising and falling. Chinese, Japanese, Australian, American, European the languages
varied, but the focus didnt.