The Project 01 - White Jade

stood up. He meowed loudly, gave her an insulted look and stalked off under the deck.
    " Let ' s look at the book , " she said.
    They went inside and he got the book from the safe. A t the kitchen table Selena began reading .
    He got a kit out and began cleaning his pistol. He watched her turn the ancient pages . She was concentrating, the tip of her tongue exposed between her lips.
    When Megan died he'd shut down any thought s of letting someone get close again. Selena brought up old feelings, feelings he'd thought were dead and buried. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to bring those kinds of feelings back to life. He wasn't sure he wanted to let Selena in. You let someone in, it made you vulnerable. You weren't in control anymore.
    S elena looked up.
    " There's a list of some ingredients for an elixir of immortality , like cinnabar and gold . And there's a map to someplace in Tibet . "
    " Cinnabar? "
    " Th at's what you make mercury from. Mercury was in a lot of the Chinese immortality formulas. It probably killed most of the people who took them. It might even have killed the Emperor. But China has known high grade deposits of cinnabar . T hey wouldn ' t care about that. "
    He held a bore light in the chamber of the .45 , looked down the barrel.
    " There ' s a reference to ' burning silver rocks ' in the formula that I don ' t understand , " she said.
    He ran a cleaning brush through the bore.
    She turned another page, studied it. " Do you think the Chinese government is behind this? "
    " No. I think it ' s Yang acting on his own. Maybe he's just nuts, looking for an elixir of life. "
    Selena brushed hair back from her forehead and frowned.
    " There has to be a rational purpose behind all this. I ' ll feel a lot better when we know what it is. "
    Carter watched her studying the text . She had retreated onto familiar ground, the expert linguist.
    He'd had his share of beds but he'd never been a woman chaser. Besides, t he Corps was hard on relationships . Then he'd met Megan and knew she was the one . It was a miracle to him that she'd felt the same way . When she died i t left a hole inside him, big enough to pull him in and cover him up if he let it.
    He'd plugged it with war . He was good at war, it was pretty much all he knew how to do. But m aking love with Selena had changed something. The hole was coming unplugged. It made him nervous, the feeling. It wasn't something he was used to.

Chapter Twenty

    Harker sent a Gulfstream GIVSP to pick them up at Beale. It was a government executive model, all leather and luxury and wood inside the cabin. Five hours later, the lights of Washington stretched away off the port wing.
    T hey stepped off the plane at Andrews. The air was hot and humid and smelled of jet fuel and diesel, with a hint of ripe garbage and stagnant water .
    Ronnie was waiting. He wore another shirt from his Hawaiian collection, this one a hallucinogenic riot of purple, red and orange featuring waving palm trees in green and dancing Hula girls.
    His black Hummer was parked inside the security zone barriers. On the way in Nick looked over at Selena, leaning back with her eyes closed. Maybe they' d ended up in bed because they ' d been under fire together . M aybe it was the mine. Maybe it was karma. Whatev e r it was, he knew he'd better be careful about her .
    At the Project building Ronnie went with them to the apartment.
    " The Director said tell you when you got in there isn ' t anything can ' t wait for morning, so the two of you should make yourselves at home. There are two bedrooms for privacy. "
    Ronnie ' s expression gave no indication of what he might be thinking, which told Carter everything he was thinking.
    " We meet with Harker at 0700. I ' ll see you then. "
    " Thanks, Ronnie. "
    " Hey, no problem. See you tomorrow. "
    He closed the door.
    The living area where they stood was furnished with a hide-a-bed couch, lamp, coffee table and two chairs. A self contained kitchen unit featured a sink, burners and small fridge. The overhead lighting was uninspired, the carpeting a faded blue government industrial. The bedrooms had twin beds.
    Selena turned to him .
    " I think he knows we slept together. "
    " You picked up on that. There ' s no law says we ought to hide it. "
    He looked at her and wanted her. He stiffened . She saw it.
    " Nick ." She was tense . " I can ' t do this right now. Have sex, I mean. Part of me wants to, but it ' s too much, everything is moving too fast. "
    He wanted