Death is Forever

They’re the cream of the diamond geologists, the expert elite. They have never—repeat, never —found a diamond mine. Not once. The only new mines in the last fifty years were found by prospectors who didn’t get paid by ConMin, prospectors who were working over ground that ConMin geologists had already thoroughly explored. Does that suggest anything to you?”
    “Either ConMin’s geologists are very bad, ConMin’s luck is incredibly bad, or ConMin doesn’t want to find new mines,” Erin said.
    “Fast, brief, and right on target. Too bad you hate your daddy’s profession,” Faulkner said. “I could use you, but only if you use your damned brain. Think about anonymous diamonds and warnings, ConMin, and Crazy Abe’s jewel box. The diamond cartel has its hand in any new mine, anywhere in the world, that’s capable of producing significant amounts of gem-quality rough diamonds. That monopoly has political as well as economic ramifications.”
    “The diamond pivot again?” Erin muttered, not wanting to believe, but finding less and less justification for doubt.
    “You got it,” Faulkner said. “The balance of power is just that—a balancing act. When something is that delicately poised, it doesn’t take much to rock the boat. At the moment, there’s nothing the U.S. would like better than to get control of a diamond mine that would give us more leverage within the cartel. So would a great many other nations.”
    “Do you understand now?” Windsor asked quietly. “If Crazy Abe had a diamond mine, whoever owns it will find himself a moving target. I don’t think you have the skill to survive. I do. Let me handle your inheritance, baby.”
    Silently Erin went to the window. Without consciously remembering Cole’s warning, she stood to one side, able to see out without being seen. The lights of the city were like a lake lapping against the base of black mountains.
    “You’d both like Cole Blackburn,” Erin said finally. “He wants me out of the game too. I’m supposed to see him tomorrow, to give him my answer to his offer to buy out my inheritance.”
    “How much is he offering?”
    “Three million dollars.”
    “That plus those thirteen diamonds would make you rich,” Windsor said quickly. “You’d never have to do a thing you didn’t want to do. How much money do you need, anyway?”
    “If you need more than three million,” Faulkner put in smoothly, “I know investors who would top Blackburn’s offer. We’d all be a lot more comfortable with American investors than with a loose cannon like him.”
    The room was quiet for a moment. Erin looked at the stones on the table. Even in the dim room, fugitive light shimmered through them like whispered secrets, vanishing as she looked, reappearing along unexpected curves, then vanishing once more. The crystals fascinated her as nothing ever had, not even arctic ice.
    “Thank you, but no,” Erin said softly. “I’m keeping my inheritance. Every last undiscovered bit of it.”

10
Los Angeles BlackWing offices
    Cole Blackburn sat with his feet on the map table, staring out over the city of Los Angeles to the darkness that was the Pacific Ocean twelve miles beyond. He was trying to interest himself in the task of plotting a new run of computer data onto the LandSat maps of Western Australia, which were spread on the flat table. No matter how he told himself he should do it, he just wasn’t interested.
    Crazy Abe had been a dinosaur. He hadn’t belonged to the modern age, so his secrets weren’t likely to yield to modern methods.
    On the other hand, there was little else for Cole to do but look at satellite maps until Erin allowed herself to be bought out. If she allowed herself to be bought out. If not, he might have to resort to the IOU Wing had thoughtfully provided.
    Cole didn’t like that idea, because it would mean that Erin was staying in the game. Far safer to buy her out and be done with it.
    He glanced at his watch. He had an hour to kill before Erin and her father came to BlackWing for a meeting.
    Matthew Windsor’s sudden appearance wasn’t surprising, but it was a complicating factor. Cole hoped that Windsor would tell his daughter to sell out rather than buck the diamond tiger.
    At the same time, Cole knew that Windsor was CIA, and the CIA had a vital interest in the diamond cartel. Corporations, clans, and government institutions were all alike in one way. Each required complete loyalty, the sacrifice of children,