Donovans 02 - Jade Island

been waiting for Lianne to appear. Most of the time the telephone conversation was in Chinese. The few times it had been in English, all he could overhear were descriptions of jade and repeated denials that the owner of the establishment knew anything about the discovery of the Jade Emperor’s Tomb.
    Kyle looked at his watch. Seven o’clock. Lianne had told him to be here at six-thirty to pick her up for dinner at the Donovan penthouse. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his dark, casual slacks and made another round of the waiting room. Nothing new. He would give her three more minutes before he sent up a flare to Archer.
    The telephone rang again. The receptionist picked it up, resettled his glasses on his nose, and barked into the receiver in English. Then he looked up and motioned to Kyle.
    “For you.”
    Kyle crossed the room in a few swift strides and took the phone. “Yes?”
    “She there yet?” Archer asked.
    “No. Maybe you better check with Uncle, see if something unexpected came up.”
    “I did. Her car license was put into the computer as a southbound entry through the Pace Lane at three forty-eight.”
    Kyle thought quickly, balancing distances with time of day. “She’s probably stuck in traffic on I-Five north of the Ship Canal Bridge.”
    “That’s what I figured. I called the condo and told them you would be late and I’d be later.”
    “I’ll save a bone for you to gnaw on.”
    “If that’s all you save me, you’ll be gnawing on my knuckles.”
    Smiling, Kyle handed back the phone, picked up an auction catalog, and began thumbing through it. The Burmese jade choker featured in the catalog was very beautiful, almost mesmerizing with its inner light. Its sale price was also mesmerizing: more than seven million dollars U.S. Burmese jade seemed overpriced to someone raised in a culture that valued clear gemstones such as rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. Yet for Asians, no stone was as prized as jade.
    Kyle looked at the glossy pages of the Highly Important Jadeite Jewelry catalog without a desire to possess any ofit. For him, beauty came from history, worth came from history, and rarity came from history. The rest was simply pretty.
    The door opened just behind Kyle. He didn’t need to look up to know that Lianne had arrived. The clean scent of lilies, rain, and woman curled around him like a caress.
    “Sorry,” she said tightly. “My appointment ran overtime.”
    “No problem.” Kyle’s swift glance took in the sleek lines of her teal business suit, the no-nonsense clip holding her hair at the nape of her neck, and the tension around her eyes and mouth. “Long day?” he asked.
    “Very.”
    “We can call off tonight.”
    For an instant Lianne was tempted. She was still raw from Daniel’s contempt. Worse than that was the fear that just kept growing the more she thought about the Neolithic blade, the pale Tang camel, and the jade burial suit. Though she had stayed several hours longer than she had planned, hoping to do a fast check of the inner vault and the burial shroud—or at the very least to open drawers to see if anything else was missing or replaced by less valuable goods—there had been no opportunity.
    Every time she got close to a drawer, Daniel had loomed over her like a vulture. As much as she had wanted to inventory the vault, she hadn’t wanted to explain her actions to a man who watched her with hatred and contempt crackling in his black eyes. Nor could she open the room with the jade suit as long as he was there.
    Grimly Lianne locked away in her mind what she couldn’t change and concentrated on the present. “Just give me a minute to comb my hair and put on some lipstick and I’ll be ready to go.”
    Staying home wouldn’t do her any good. She had had more than three hours to think during the drive from Vancouver to Seattle. Plenty of time.
    Too much.
    The more she thought, the more certain she became thatsomething was horribly wrong. Then there was the fear she couldn’t deny and couldn’t ignore; Daniel either blamed her for the missing jade or was planning to put the blame on her.
    Lianne’s stomach clenched as she fought back tension and a surly nausea that wouldn’t be banished. She had worked a lifetime to prove her worth to the family of Tang. Now she was being treated like a thief.
    Little bastard girl.
    Kyle watched the tight lines around Lianne’s mouth deepen as her mouth thinned. Her skin was pale, almost waxy. When she