Donovans - Pearl Cove Part 34

"So do I."

She took his arm. As she did, she tried not to notice his heat, his strength, everything about him that was male. "Show me some pearls, Archer."

The simple pressure of her fingers went through him like electricity. It brought a tingling awareness that heightened each of his senses. Taking a slow, hidden breath, he clamped down on his body's intense, unruly response to this one woman.

As though they had nothing more urgent than browsing on their minds, Hannah and Archer went from booth to booth, commenting on the rarities they saw. One booth specialized in South Seas baroque pearls. Some were the size of peas. Others were the size of marbles. A few magnificent ones were the size of a man's thumb.

Archer stopped at the booth. "h.e.l.lo, Sun. How's the new granddaughter?"

The man with spa.r.s.e silver hair and a face like a well-used map looked up from a table where he had been studying pearls. When he saw Archer, he leaped up with a grin. "Archer! I missed you the last time you were here." He reached into his pocket, brought out a worn black wallet, and pulled out a picture. "My new granddaughter is as bright as the sun and more beautiful than a spring moon."

Archer looked at the picture and couldn't help smiling back.

The newborn baby's black eyes were clear and very intent. Her little hands were fisted. "Look out, world. This one's a tiger."

Sun Seng laughed. "She will run her brothers ragged. High time, too. We had all but given up hope of a granddaughter."

"Congratulations," Archer said. "You're a very lucky man."

Seng grinned like a boy as he put the picture back in the wallet. When Archer introduced Hannah, Seng shook hands and watched her with barely concealed curiosity. Archer had never brought a woman to the Pearl Exchange before.

"Are you looking for anything special today?" Sun asked, glancing from one to the other.

"Do you have anything special?" Hannah countered easily, smiling.

Seng laughed approvingly. The first rule of trading was to keep your true desire to yourself. "My life is consumed by special pearls."

"Baroque pearls, from what I can see," Hannah said.

"Round pearls are so boring," Seng said, his voice bland and his eyes as intent as his granddaughter's. "I prefer pearls that call to my imagination rather than my greed. Faith understands that."

Archer smiled. "In this case," he explained to Hannah, "Faith isn't a belief. Faith is my other sister, Honor's twin. She makes incredible jewelry from baroque pearls. Seng is one of her best sources."

"It is my pleasure," Seng said simply. "Someday her jewelry will be as famous as Georges Foquet's or Rene Lalique's."

"Uh-oh," Archer said. "I hear prices going up. Yours, to be exact."

Seng smiled. "For Faith, only the best."

"Translation: most expensive," Archer said dryly. "Okay, show me what it's going to cost."

"It's her birthday," Seng said.

"Christmas is sooner."

"Whatever." Seng opened a drawer and pulled out a velvet-lined box. "This will make Faith smile. When I saw it, I thought of her eyes. That odd silver-blue..."

"Thank G.o.d it's not a diamond," Archer muttered.

Hannah looked at the ring on her finger and wondered again how much it had cost. Certainly too much for her to buy, which was a pity. It was the first faceted stone she had seen that appealed to her as much as a fine pearl.

"Here we are." Seng came back to the gla.s.s counter that ran along the front of his booth. He set the box down and opened it carefully. Nestled in pale blue satin was a semicircle baroque pearl. It was nearly three quarters of an inch long and half an inch wide at its center.

"May I?" Hannah asked, reaching for the pearl. "Of course." Seng lifted the pearl out and put it on Hannah's palm.

"Cool, smooth, heavy," she murmured. "Very heavy. It's either a natural or came from a seeded sh.e.l.l that got lost for a few years. Most likely a natural. It has the sheen of fresh water rather than salt."

"I should have known you were in the business," Seng said ruefully. "This came from a little creek in the deep South whose name is my secret. I've seen no other shade quite like it."

"Neither have I," Hannah said.

"The New World's freshwater pearls are famous for their regional variations in color," Archer said. "But you're right, Sun. I haven't seen one this shade."

"Considering its rarity, the price is quite reasonable. Two thousand dollars."

"Six hundred is reasonable," Archer said.

"Plus one thousand. That would be sixteen hundred."

"That would be bull dust."

"Excuse me?" Seng said.

"Ask Hannah. Seven hundred."

"But its rarity-"

"Will make it nearly impossible to match," Archer cut in. "As a solo in the hands of someone less skilled than Faith, the delicate shade of the pearl would be overwhelmed by the setting, and the result would look like chalk. Eight-fifty and I'm out of here."

"You're breaking me," Seng said, giving Archer a distressed look. "Think of my granddaughter's college fund!"

"Don't believe him," Archer said to Hannah.

"I don't. But I believe this pearl could be set against rose gold like an Arctic moon set against dawn."

Seng turned quickly toward her. "You're a designer, too, like Faith?"

"No. Just someone who loves pearls."

"Nine hundred," Seng said without looking away from Hannah.

Archer sighed. "Nine hundred."

They shook hands.

"I have something else to show you," Seng said to Archer. "It's not for sale, unfortunately."

"That's a relief."

Seng laughed and went back to the locked desk. He pulled out another ring box and opened it. The pearl was as big as a Georgia peanut, black as midnight.

Rainbows swirled just beneath its surface.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Seng asked.

"Not for sale?" Archer asked, his voice neutral.

"I sold it today. I would have shown it to you six weeks ago, but I missed you."

Hannah reminded herself to breathe. She didn't dare reach for the pearl because she knew her fingers would tremble.

"Then a few minutes ago this Hong Kong gentleman saw it and bought it on the spot," Seng continued. "As soon as his bank faxes confirmation, he'll take delivery of the pearl."

"Ian Chang," Archer said.

"Yes. Do you know him?"

"We met a few days ago. Do you have any other pearls like that one?"

"I wish I did. But no."

"Have you ever seen others?"

"I've heard rumors about such pearls for several years, but this is the first one I've seen."

"The person who sold it to you do you know him or her well?"

Seng frowned. It was unlike Archer to pry into another trader's contacts. "Why?"

Archer hesitated, thought of the new granddaughter, and decided that secrets killed more people than knowledge did.

"The man who developed these pearls died recently. He never sold a single black rainbow. Not even the baroque ones."

"Are you saying that this was stolen?" Seng asked, looking unhappily at the beautiful gem.

"Very likely. The rightful owner won't pursue the issue, but it would help a great deal if you could give me the history of the pearl as you know it."

"Who is the owner?"

"We are," Archer said, indicating Hannah.

Seng's eyebrows shot up. "I don't doubt you, but I don't understand."

"The pearl is Australian," Hannah said. "My late husband developed the strain of oysters that produces these black rainbows. He kept it as secret as he could. Now that he's dead..."

"I was Len's partner," Archer said, picking up the thread. "Mrs. McGarry asked my help in tracing the stolen pearls."

Sighing, Seng closed the box and handed it to Hannah.

"No," she said, pushing the box back across the counter. "It's our gift to your granddaughter. But if anyone comes to you with pearls like these, please call us immediately."

"Don't tell anyone else what you know about rare black pearls," Archer added. "Gems like these "

" are to die for," Seng finished dryly. "I understand."

"If anyone comes to you with a handful of these pearls, or an unstrung necklace of matched spherical pearls, pay whatever you have to," Archer said. "Just get those pearls. Better yet, call me and let me take care of it. You'll get a generous finder's fee."

Seng measured both Archer's restraint and his intensity, and nodded.

"Whatever you do, Seng," Archer continued softly, "be careful. No pearl, however rare and beautiful, is worth dying for."

Again Seng sighed. "Tell me. Are the rumors true? Is there such a necklace as the Black Trinity?"

"Yes," Hannah said before Archer could decide. "Two people have seen it. One is dead. The other is on the run. Do you want to try your chances?"

Seng crossed himself and shook his head. "What I want is to see my granddaughter grow tall enough to look me in the eye."

"Then call me if you hear anything," Archer said. "If other people come to you with rumors, call me."

"I bought the black pearl from Jason Taylor," Seng said. "He had a bill of sale from a pearl farm I'd never heard of, owned by Angelique Dupres."

Hannah was glad Seng wasn't looking at her. She didn't think she had managed to conceal her shock very well. Angelique Dupres was Coco's half sister, who had stayed in Tahiti to have babies and run a tiny pearl farm for the family.

"What's the name?"

"Moonbeam Limited."

Archer almost smiled. "After the old legends?"

Seng smiled. "I hadn't thought of that." He saw another customer approaching. "Is there anything else?" he asked Archer politely.

"Nothing that we haven't already talked about."

"I will be in touch," Seng promised. Then he smiled at the elegantly dressed, very large woman who was looking into the display case. "Mrs. Janzen, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to see me. Is your family well?"

Leaving Seng and his formidable customer to exchange greetings, Archer and Hannah drifted off to another booth.

"Unless there are two women named Angelique Dupres " Hannah began.

"Later," Archer cut in softly.

She looked around. While no one was close enough to overhear what they were saying, that could change at any moment as people wandered from booth to booth.

"Okay. What's this about moonlight and legends?" she asked.

He took the change of subject without a pause. "Some folks Pliny the Elder was among them believed that pearls were formed when oysters swam up to the surface of the sea at the full of the moon, opened themselves, and were delicately impregnated by moonbeams."

The tension in Hannah's face dissolved into a smile. "Talk about the ridiculous and the sublime..."