Donovans 02 - Jade Island

understood, the logic of personal loyalty. Lianne might not like being in debt to the Donovans, but she accepted it.
    “What do you know about Wen’s suit, the one you say Farmer has?” Archer asked.
    “It’s styled after the Han burial suits, but since I’ve never examined it, I can’t guarantee its age. The shroud is nephrite rather than serpentine.”
    “Back up,” Archer said. “You lost me.”
    “Serpentine is softer, easier to carve, and not as rare as jade,” Kyle explained, understanding what his brotherwanted. “Before the nineteenth century, a lot of what the Chinese called jade wasn’t even nephrite, but a bunch of other ‘virtuous’ stones.”
    “Okay. Go on, Lianne.”
    “Not all jade burial suits are made of nephrite. The imperial workshops had a monopoly on artisans and materials; only the upper crust of royalty was permitted the best. Serpentine was a common substitute for jade in burial shrouds because it was more easily carved and more readily available.”
    “But Wen’s suit was the real thing,” Archer said.
    “Yes. The jade was extraordinary—a translucent, deep green with cloud markings over the most important organs of the body. A piece of art as well as a summation of Chinese beliefs in life, death, and the hereafter.”
    “You’re certain that Farmer has the same suit that Wen did?” Kyle pressed.
    She hesitated, then accepted what she knew to be true. “Yes.”
    “And that it’s true jade?” Kyle asked.
    “As certain as I can be without a chemical analysis. It felt right. Looked right. Took the right polish. There was none of the wear at the corners you would expect from softer stone. And Wen’s attitude toward the suit was reverent. He had a modern preference for nephrite over other kinds of ‘jade.’”
    “Why would Wen sell Farmer that suit?” Kyle asked.
    “Money,” Archer said succinctly. “Millions.”
    “Not good enough,” Kyle said. “Wen is a collector. Parting with that suit would be like selling his soul.”
    Archer looked at Lianne.
    “He’s right,” she said simply. “Of course, if the family of Tang was desperate…” Then she sighed and shook her head. “No. Wen would have used his entire jade collection as collateral on a loan before he would sell any of it, much less the jade shroud.”
    “Maybe he did take out a loan,” Archer said. “Maybe he defaulted and the bank sold off the collateral.”
    Kyle got up and paced across the kitchen to the stove. Lianne watched him go from sunlight to shadow and back to sunlight again, and couldn’t decide which was more beautiful to her—the golden-green blaze of his eyes in the darkness or the shimmering gold of his hair in the light. But in light or dark, what drew her was his intelligence, his humor, the promise of strength in his easy stride.
    Too bad all he wanted from her was information and sex, Lianne thought bitterly. In that order. Yet, to be fair, he gave as good as he got. And he had saved her life.
    “Lianne?” Archer said. “What do you think about the loan scenario?”
    She blinked and forced herself to look away from Kyle. “Unlikely.”
    “Why?”
    “It would be impossible to keep such a loan quiet. First, the collection would have to be appraised. That alone would start a furor in the jade world. Whoever appraised the pieces would have friends, associates, lovers, rivals. No matter what vows of silence were sworn to, word would get out simply because the Tang jades are unparalleled. It would be like…” She hesitated, trying to think of an analogy Archer would understand. “Like De Beers getting the contents of their London diamond vaults appraised for a loan.”
    Archer grunted. “That would set off shock waves.”
    Kyle looked up from measuring coffee. “Would anyone in the Tang family have a reason to set Farmer up for a fall?”
    “I don’t understand,” Lianne said.
    Archer did. He gave Kyle an approving look. The boy definitely was not thinking with his dick.
    “Farmer is getting into bed with SunCo,” Kyle said. “What does that do to the Tangs?”
    “Nothing good,” Lianne said, frowning. “The Suns have much better mainland access than the Tangs. Three of the Suns have married ’red princesses.’ Sun Sen, the granddaughter of the Sun patriarch, is engaged to DengQiang, a grandnephew of the dead leader and one of the most powerful men in China today.”
    “The new aristocracy,” Kyle said, disgusted. “The ultra-privileged children and