Donovans 03 - Pearl Cove

that proved your rule.”
    Teddy grimaced and didn’t argue. “There’s something about those pearls . . . .”
    “They blunt a man’s judgment,” she said curtly. “I’m surprised you sold them.”
    “I’m a trader, not a collector. For me it’s the deal, not the goods.”
    “What time tomorrow are you meeting Yin?” Hannah asked.
    “Six A.M. ”
    “I didn’t think the Dragon Moon opened that early,” Archer said.
    Teddy shrugged. “They probably feed a lot of the invisible workers.”
    “Illegal immigrants,” Archer explained to Hannah. “The ones who work for a few bucks a day in eight-by-ten sweatshops or fancy restaurants to pay off the smuggler who got them into the U.S. Obviously a Red Phoenix Triad smuggler, in this case.”
    Teddy winced. “C’mon, Archer. The place is a dump, but not that bad.”
    “The Dragon Moon is the Red Phoenix base in Seattle,” Archer said matter-of-factly. “There are apartments above the restaurant for visitors from Hong Kong, Kowloon, Shanghai, the southern provinces of China, and anywhere else the triad has its tentacles. Everything the triad buys, sells, steals, or makes in illegal labs can be found inside the Dragon Moon’s riot-proof metal doors.”
    “How do you know?” Teddy demanded.
    “Does it matter?”
    “Not to me,” Teddy decided instantly, remembering again the rumors he had heard about Archer’s past. “Anything else you need before I catch my plane?”
    “How will I recognize Yin?”
    “He’s got a black eye the size of a pizza and a gash across his chin.”
    Archer’s eyebrows rose, but all he said was, “Does Yin speak English?”
    “No. He put out a pearl, I put out money, and when the amount was right, we exchanged. But there was a translator a few tables over. She was working with a bunch of guys in silk suits. She was pretty fancy herself. Sexy enough to make a man sixty feel like sixteen.”
    “Chinese?” Archer asked.
    “ABC.”
    Hannah glanced at Archer.
    “American-born Chinese,” he said without looking away from Teddy. And probably her name was April Joy. The description certainly fit. So did the method. It wasn’t the first time she had worked as a translator in order to penetrate a triad. “How many more pearls are we talking about?”
    “Twenty times what I bought before. Two hundred pearls. Maybe more. Hand signals only go so far as a way of counting.”
    Another shot of adrenaline kicked into Archer’s bloodstream. “Does he expect cash?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Are you telling me you were going to walk into the Dragon Moon with a hundred thousand in cash?”
    Teddy looked pained. “That’s what he wanted. Besides, I got him down to one eighty-five.”
    “Did you see the pearls he wants to sell?”
    “You bet I did.”
    “Describe them.”
    “Three sizes. Twelve, fourteen, and sixteen millimeters. Round as marbles. Same black opal orient.”
    Hannah felt as though her stomach had dropped through her shoes. She examined her fingernails and prayed that nothing showed on her face.
    “Matched?” Archer asked.
    “Hard to tell in that light. They looked good to me. No big surface flaws. Fine orient. And they rolled across the table without staggering. Round. Really round. Beautiful goods.”
    Deliberately Archer picked up his coffee and drank a swallow. “Drilled?”
    “Nope. Virgin. Just like the others.”
    “Sounds like a steal at ten times the price,” Archer said casually.
    “Yeah.” Teddy’s voice was wistful. “I was going to put half of what I made in a school fund for my grandchildren. I’ve got eight of the little darlings and another on final approach.”
    “Look at it this way. Now you’ll live to see them graduate.”
    “Oh, Yin didn’t look like that tough a monkey.”
    “I wasn’t talking about Yin.” Archer stood up. “Have a nice trip. And if you see any more of those pearls, Teddy, call me. Just me.”
    The Donovan was an inch taller than his sons, and Susa was inches smaller than her daughters. Despite that, Susa wasn’t as fragile as she looked. The steely discipline of an artist underlay her porcelain skin. The even tougher will of a mother lay beneath her warm smile. Because it was a party, she had dressed in a turquoise silk tunic top with slim black pants underneath. A necklace of baroque abalone pearls and handmade silver links circled her neck. Matching earrings and bracelet gleamed with each movement. The pearls had been a birthday present from her