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Authors: Elizabeth Lowell
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high-tech kind that could be shot from a canon without taking a scratch.
Archer watched, thinking about Len and pearls, greed and obsession, cruelty and accident.
Len had loved pearls, but only one kind of pearl had obsessed him enough to make him take
crazy risks. What
shade of black?
For the first time Hannah hesitated. Once she told him, she wasnt certain she would be
able to trust him. But she didnt really have any choice. If she went after the murderer
alone, she would end up like Len, facedown in the warm, pitiless sea.
The Black Trinitys pearls are every color of the rainbow, all at once, she said flatly.
Red, green, blue, gold, all of it gleaming under a clear black surface, like liquid
gemstones under black ice.
So he did succeed. I assumed he had, but I never saw the proof of it. Swiftly Hannah
turned toward Archer. Her eyes were wary. She was very much afraid that she had
just invited the wolf to dine with, and possibly on, the lamb. You knew about the black
rainbows?
I knew Len found an extraordinary pearl in Kowloon. I knew he was determined to discover
where it came from, no matter who got hurt. I assumed he had found what he wanted, put it
to work, and kept the results to himself. It would be like him.
Breath trickled out of her lungs in a hidden sigh. Len found out where that first black
rainbow came from. Then he found out how to culture more.
No surprise there, Archer said. Len could have pried secrets out of the Sphinx.
The casual tone of Archers voice disarmed Hannah. Do you want to know the secret? she
asked, curious.
What will it cost me?
Oddly, his answer reassured her. She had seen enough envy, enough obsession to possess,
enough plain greed, to recognize their presence at a glance. Archer was interested, but he
wasnt avid.
Even so, she hesitated. It was one thing to know your life was at risk. It was another to
simply hand over the means of your own destruction.
It wont cost you a cent, Hannah said, her voice low. I dont know the secret of producing
the rainbow pearls. She took a broken breath, let it go. And if the vultures circling
around Pearl Cove discover my ignorance, I suspect that my life wont be worth a handful of
broken shell.
This time Archer couldnt resist offering some comfort, however small. Gently he put his
right hand on her cheek. Her skin was cool, too cool. On some cellular level, Hannah was
running on empty. But there was nothing he could do about that right now.
He had an urgent appointment with a dead man.
Can you stay awake for a few more hours? he asked.
She shivered and raised her chin. Of course. The children will help.
Children?
When I have time, I teach English to some of the workers children.
He almost smiled. For a few hours, kids would be as good as an armed bodyguard protecting
Hannah. Ill leave when the kids get here and Ill be back as soon as I can.
Where are you going? Broome. Hannah didnt ask why. She knew. Len McGarry.
Donovans 3 - Pearl Cove
five
Before Hannah called the children, someone knocked on the front door. Reflexively Archer
stepped to the side and stood deep in the shadows, invisible against the brilliance of the
light outside.
Uncertain, Hannah looked at him. He jerked his head, silently telling her to answer the
door. She went through the front door, crossed the verandah in a few steps, and opened the
screen door that offered a thin, useful shield against the blazing light.
Christian, she said, surprised. She noted the cuts, scrapes, and bruises on his arms.
Fighting with sunken oyster cages wasnt easy work. Is something wrong?
Hello, luv. Christian Flynn looked her over thoroughly. Cutoff jeans, a tank top the color
of a peach, and full lips to match. Eyes a blue so deep it slid off into purple. Breasts
that would just fill a big mans hands. Bare, narrow, arched feet. Pretty as a pearl. How
do you do it?
I sleep with oysters.
She
Archer watched, thinking about Len and pearls, greed and obsession, cruelty and accident.
Len had loved pearls, but only one kind of pearl had obsessed him enough to make him take
crazy risks. What
shade of black?
For the first time Hannah hesitated. Once she told him, she wasnt certain she would be
able to trust him. But she didnt really have any choice. If she went after the murderer
alone, she would end up like Len, facedown in the warm, pitiless sea.
The Black Trinitys pearls are every color of the rainbow, all at once, she said flatly.
Red, green, blue, gold, all of it gleaming under a clear black surface, like liquid
gemstones under black ice.
So he did succeed. I assumed he had, but I never saw the proof of it. Swiftly Hannah
turned toward Archer. Her eyes were wary. She was very much afraid that she had
just invited the wolf to dine with, and possibly on, the lamb. You knew about the black
rainbows?
I knew Len found an extraordinary pearl in Kowloon. I knew he was determined to discover
where it came from, no matter who got hurt. I assumed he had found what he wanted, put it
to work, and kept the results to himself. It would be like him.
Breath trickled out of her lungs in a hidden sigh. Len found out where that first black
rainbow came from. Then he found out how to culture more.
No surprise there, Archer said. Len could have pried secrets out of the Sphinx.
The casual tone of Archers voice disarmed Hannah. Do you want to know the secret? she
asked, curious.
What will it cost me?
Oddly, his answer reassured her. She had seen enough envy, enough obsession to possess,
enough plain greed, to recognize their presence at a glance. Archer was interested, but he
wasnt avid.
Even so, she hesitated. It was one thing to know your life was at risk. It was another to
simply hand over the means of your own destruction.
It wont cost you a cent, Hannah said, her voice low. I dont know the secret of producing
the rainbow pearls. She took a broken breath, let it go. And if the vultures circling
around Pearl Cove discover my ignorance, I suspect that my life wont be worth a handful of
broken shell.
This time Archer couldnt resist offering some comfort, however small. Gently he put his
right hand on her cheek. Her skin was cool, too cool. On some cellular level, Hannah was
running on empty. But there was nothing he could do about that right now.
He had an urgent appointment with a dead man.
Can you stay awake for a few more hours? he asked.
She shivered and raised her chin. Of course. The children will help.
Children?
When I have time, I teach English to some of the workers children.
He almost smiled. For a few hours, kids would be as good as an armed bodyguard protecting
Hannah. Ill leave when the kids get here and Ill be back as soon as I can.
Where are you going? Broome. Hannah didnt ask why. She knew. Len McGarry.
Donovans 3 - Pearl Cove
five
Before Hannah called the children, someone knocked on the front door. Reflexively Archer
stepped to the side and stood deep in the shadows, invisible against the brilliance of the
light outside.
Uncertain, Hannah looked at him. He jerked his head, silently telling her to answer the
door. She went through the front door, crossed the verandah in a few steps, and opened the
screen door that offered a thin, useful shield against the blazing light.
Christian, she said, surprised. She noted the cuts, scrapes, and bruises on his arms.
Fighting with sunken oyster cages wasnt easy work. Is something wrong?
Hello, luv. Christian Flynn looked her over thoroughly. Cutoff jeans, a tank top the color
of a peach, and full lips to match. Eyes a blue so deep it slid off into purple. Breasts
that would just fill a big mans hands. Bare, narrow, arched feet. Pretty as a pearl. How
do you do it?
I sleep with oysters.
She
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