Donovans 02 - Jade Island

could accept. Design, no problem. But to have similar burial stains in similar places?”
    Frowning, she stared intently at the ceremonial blade.
    “You’ll get lines if you keep that up,” Kyle said after a time.
    “Only Americans are obsessed with youth,” she said, not looking away from the jade.
    “And Chinese are obsessed with age.”
    “Obsession is cross-cultural. Human. The object of obsession is cultural.” As Lianne spoke, she walked around the case, viewing the jade from all angles.
    “Thinking of bidding?” Kyle asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Then I hope you or your client is wealthy. That’s a very fine piece of Neolithic jade. The sort of thing that might be found in an emperor’s grave.”
    Lianne barely heard Kyle’s words. She was already mentally rearranging the contents of her checking and money-market accounts. She could cover the probable cost of the jade. Barely. If the rattle in her car turned into a problem, she would have to max out her credit cards. Either way, she would have to give up the exquisite Eastern Zhou pendant she had had her eye on, at least for the time being. Once she had solved the mystery of the Neolithic blade, she could sell it and balance her books again. Unfortunately, by then the lovely pendant would be sold.
    With an unconscious sigh, Lianne said good-bye to the twenty-five-hundred-year-old bit of jade she had promised herself for her thirtieth birthday.
    “You don’t look happy,” Kyle said.
    “Excuse me?”
    “Most collectors hot on the scent of a new acquisition look tight, glassy-eyed, panting to get their hands on whatever their obsession is. Sort of like Seng looking at you.”
    Lianne shot Kyle a sideways glance from eyes the color of very old whiskey. It didn’t take her long to decide she would rather talk about Seng than about the Neolithic blade that she was almost certain belonged to her grandfather.
    Or had. The card in front of the blade stated that it was owned by SunCo and had been donated for the auction.
    “Mr. Han—”
    “Seng to his friends,” Kyle interrupted dryly, “and he wants to be your friend. A close one. Real close.”
    “Mr. Han,” Lianne repeated, “has a variety of enthusiasms. For the moment, I appear to be one of them. Itwon’t last. But while it does, I wouldn’t mind having an escort of a certain type while I attend jade events.”
    “A certain type?”
    “Large. Like you.”
    “Ah, we’re back to the stuffed elephant.”
    “Your words, not mine.”
    Kyle examined Lianne as though she was a piece of jade that was on the market. “You’re serious.”
    “About needing you? Yes.”
    “What do I get out of it?”
    “The satisfaction of being a white knight,” she shot back, embarrassed by the certainty that there was a flush climbing her cheeks.
    “Sorry, but I traded in my metal underwear for good old cotton.”
    Lianne hoped her professional smile concealed her irritation. And her disappointment. “Understandable. I’m sure chain mail chafes something fierce. Excuse me, I have a lot of jade to see. Nice meeting you, Mr. Donovan.”
    For an instant Kyle was too surprised by Lianne’s cool, swift withdrawal to do anything but stare. Before he had time to think it over, he was moving, cutting off her escape.
    Lianne came to an abrupt stop. It was that or walk headfirst into Kyle Donovan. Automatically she stepped to the right. He stepped to his side, cutting her off again. She moved to the other side. So did he.
    “The dance is after the auction,” she said in a clipped tone.
    Kyle smiled. He liked the spark and snap of anger in her eyes much better than the blank, remote politeness that had been there when she brushed him off like dandruff.
    “I have a suggestion,” he began.
    “Lovely. Get out of my way and I’ll find someone who cares.”
    “My suggestion has to do with trading favors.”
    Lianne’s eyelids lowered, concealing the dark whiskey blaze of her eyes. “Such as?”
    “Every hour I’m a stuffed elephant for you, you’ll give me an hour and teach me what you see when you look at various kinds of jade.”
    Her eyes widened in surprise, dark centers expanding. “What?”
    “I have a fair working knowledge of ancient and archaic jades, but I could learn a lot from listening to the thought processes of an expert like you.”
    “I’m hardly that expert.”
    Kyle managed not to laugh out loud. If Wen Zhi Tang had an apprentice, it was Lianne Blakely. And when it came to jade, Wen