Pearl Cove Read Free Page B

bust his ass. Hes crowding their sales monopoly too hard. Great cheese
     what is it?
    Gorgonzola with pesto. What about the smaller pearl farmers? Eyebrows raised, Teddy looked
     at the sandwich. Nothings changed. They still line up like milk cows.
    Surprising. Aussies are even more contrary than Americans.
    Oh, there are some holdouts, Teddy said, waving the ragged remnant of his sandwich. But
     theyre being squeezed down to the bone by the consortium. Their shelling licenses are
     being cut, theyre not given the results of the latest government research until long after
     their competitors have it, their pearls end up in the doggy lots at the auctions. That
     sort of thing.
    Whos their leader? Archer asked, though he knew very well. Just as he knew more than Teddy
     did about who was doing what and with which and to whom in the international pearl trade.
     But a man who stopped asking questions never learned anything new.
    Len McGarry, Teddy said, downing the last bite of his sandwich. I gotta tell you, that is
     one mean bastard. Whatever put him in that wheelchair might have cut off his balls, but it
     didnt soften him up one bit.
    For an instant Archer saw again the terrible image of Len covered in blood, broken, lying
     utterly motionless in the aisle of the small plane. The memory was one that could still
     awaken Archer from a deep sleep, covered in sweat and hearing whimpers of pain echoing in
     the silence. Some of the sounds were his own.
    Rumor is that hes sitting on at least five years worth of the best pearls, Teddy said. His
     own, some other farms, and maybe a few of the Tahitian farmers on the sly.
    Archer had heard about that, too. He believed at least part of it. For the past five
     years, Pearl Coves balance sheets had been sinking like a stone in still water. Either the
     oysters had stopped producing pearls reliably or Len was holding out. As half owner,
     Archer should have cared. He didnt. Whatever Len squeezed out of the ruins of his dreams
     was fine with his silent partner. Money was the least of Archers problems with his half
     brother.
    You always hear rumors about under-the-table alliances among pearl farmers, Archer said.
    Sometimes theyre true.
    Sometimes. He opened Teddys case and gave the contents a quick, comprehensive glance. No
     more Pearl Cove gems. But he wouldnt let Teddy go away empty-handed. The Hawaiian was too
     good a source of gossip. Even outright misinformation intelligently processed could be
     as revealing as a sworn version of the truth.
    In any event, Archer planned on buying that black rainbow pearl. He just didnt plan on
     making Teddy rich in the process.
    Youve been busy, Archer said.
    The interest in his voice was a balm to Teddys pearl-trading soul. He smiled and leaned
     forward over the table. So, what do you see that you like?
    That orange pearl. The one from a Vietnamese conch. Teddy looked surprised, then laughed
     ruefully. Damn. I was hoping to stump you on that one, too. Too? Like the black pearl.
     Archer looked at the pearl, night-dark, yet brooding in all the colors of the rainbow.
     Nothing is like
    that pearl. It was the type of gem men killed for.

Donovans 3 - Pearl Cove
    TWO
    Know you, perchance, how that poor formless wretch The Oyster gems his shallow moonlit
     chalice? Where the shell irks him, or the sea-sand frets, He sheds this lovely lustre on
     his grief.
    SIR EDWIN ARNOLD
    Sunlight hammered down on the land. Even the Indian Ocean lay flattened beneath the weight
     of the summer sun. The water was a shimmering turquoise stillness unmarked by any wind,
     any breeze, any stirring of air. Nothing moved but sweat sliding over flesh in oily
     silence.
    Hannah McGarry didnt notice the brutal heat or the slickness of sweat on her own skin or
     the weight of the Chinese child she held in her arms. Len McGarry was dead. Victim of a
     cyclone.
    No one else from Pearl Cove had been killed, though a few other men had been