White Jade (The PROJECT) (2 page)

Chapter
T
hree

Selena Connor didn't look like a fiftyish, gray-haired professor.
It wasn't the way
she
looked that got
Carter's
attention
, though that would have been enough
. I
t was the way she came into the room
,
all
contained
,
taut energy
, with the rippling grace of an athlete
.
She was in her thirties. Her
hair
was
short and
reddish blond
. H
er face was
tan
from the
outdoors
. S
he had h
igh cheekbones
and
violet
eyes. There was a small mole above her lip.

She
wasn't wearing
a
baggy suit
or big glasses
. She had on
a
smooth
silk jacket and slacks
and a
pale blouse
that
picked up the
violet
color. In her left hand she carried a black leather computer case.

Carter stood and Harker introduced him. They all sat down.

Harker said,
"
What have you got there?
"

"
M
y u
ncle
's laptop
. He
'd
never
left it with me
before. I
haven'
t
looked at it, but I t
hought you might want to
.
"
Her voice was controlled
. There were lines of tension in her face.

Got the lid on, Nick thought
.

"
Doctor Connor,
"
Elizabeth
said.

"
Please call me Selena.
"

"
Selena.
The people who killed your uncle
were
after a book
he acquired in Bhutan
.
W
e need
to know
what's in i
t.
"

Selena gave Harker an odd look. How did she know about the book?

"I
t's gone. I
don't know where it is
.
I haven't read all of it, but i
t
'
s a copy of a
n ancient
text
about immortality
,
mostly written in Sanskrit.
Books like that are rare
, but t
his one is unique
.
What's in it is impossible."

"Impossible?" Harker tapped her pen against her lip.

"
P
art of it is written in Linear A.
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I'd never believe it.
Linear A is
one of two
written language
s
from
the Minoan Empire,
before 1600 BCE. There
are
no books written in Linear A
.
There shouldn
'
t be anything Minoan
in the Himalayan region at
all.
"

"
You're sure the book is gone
?
"

"
My uncle kept it on his desk, but it
's not there now
. He was going to scan it onto his computer.
"

"
So it might be on that laptop you brought.
"

"
It could be.
"

Harker
began tapping on her desk.
"
T
he money from your uncle
'
s accounts went to
China
.
"

"
China
? Part of the book is about the first Chinese emperor, Qin Huang.
"

"
Emperor Huang?
"
Carter
said. "
The one with the soldiers and horses?
"

"
Yes. Huang placed an army of terracotta soldiers and horses outside his tomb.
Chinese farmers found it in '7
4
.
It's a big tourist attraction.
"

Selena brushed
a wisp of
hair away from her forehead.

"
The
book
describe
d
Huang
'
s search for immortality
.
He was obsessed with it. It also
repeat
ed
old
stories
of treasure in his
tomb.
Everyone knows where it is
but it's never
been excavated.
"

Harker told Selena about the intercept.

"
Then you know who did this! Can
'
t you arrest him, this…Colonel, or whatever he is?
"

"
We don
'
t have hard evidence
. Besides,
he ha
s diplomatic immunity
.
"

Nick
's
ear
began
itching.
Since he was a kid i
t
had
itched
when things were about to get complicated
, a
personal early warning system. Then again, sometimes it was just an itch.
He scratched it.

Harker set down her pen.
"
Maybe
there
'
s something on
that laptop
.
Let's take
a look
.
"

Selena handed her the case. H
arker
took
the
computer
out
and
plugged it into
a
port
on her desk.
The
display booted up on the
wall monitor
.
T
he
screen
filled with folder icons.

"
Lots of files
.
" She clicked on one
labeled Beijing.
The file was a list of
bank
account numbers in the Chinese capitol.

"
That
might help
track the money
. I
don
'
t see anything about
a
book
.
"

Selena said,
"
I
t looks like financial files labeled by location, like the
Bahamas
or Caymans, or by industry and city.
T
here
'
s one labeled Li Shan. That
'
s where
the
e
mperor
is buried. Open that one.
"

The file was a draft proposal to excavate the tomb of the
First
Emperor
, complete with time lines and cost breakdowns.
There was nothing about the book
in the file
.

"
There
'
s a file with my name,
"
Selena said.

"
Let
'
s see it.
"

It was a letter from William Connor to his niece, dated a
week
before his death.

My Dearest Selena,

You know how I hate clichés. Please forgive me for the one I use now. Quite simply, if you are reading this letter then something has happened
to me
. I do not contemplate this with equanimity, my dear, but life sometimes forces unpleasant possibilities upon us. I am leaving this note and my computer with you in hopes you never read it.

I think I am being watched by agents of the Chinese government and that it has something to do with the book I acquired in
Bhutan
.
My
translation is incomplete,
but
i
t
seems
there are historical inaccuracies regarding the death and burial of the
First
Emperor
, and that these relate to a supposed elixir of eternal life
.

I
have prepared
a proposal regarding possible excavation of the
First
Emperor
'
s tomb at Li Shan
. A week
ago I met with a
Chinese
consular official named Wu Chen to discuss
obtaining
permission to fund and participate in such an important project
.
Wu
offered to put me in touch with the correct
people
in
Beijing
.

In the course of
our meeting
I talked about the
book.
N
ot long after that I noticed a large and rather menacing Chinese man observing me
at a restaurant I frequent
.
Then
I noticed that same man in other places, at other times.
I
t
may have
nothing to do with Wu, but it seems too coincidental to me.

I
feel threatened. So I
write this letter to you, although
it may
be
just the foolish act of an old man.

I have placed the
book
in a safe place
.
If it does hold a clue to the secret of immortality or a key to the emperor
'
s treasures, it is a dangerous thing to have in one
'
s possession.

Do you remember, when we used to have our
s
ummer time together at the old mine, when you were a child, the special place you
found
to secret away your most precious
things
? That is where you will find the
book
.

My dear Selena, if you are indeed reading this, please know that you have always been a source of joy and delight for this old uncle of yours.

With all my love,
Uncle William

They read the letter again. Selena sat rigidly in her chair.
Carter
watched her. It was an old habit, watching. It told him things. Right now it told him Selena was wound up tight.
C
lose to her uncle, he thought, but she wasn't going to let anyone see it. How she really felt.

He knew what that was like.

Harker
said,
"
Do you know what he was talking about? The place he hid the book?
"

Selena's voice was controlled, neutral.
"
My
family found gold in
California
in 1850.
There's
a house at the old mine property. In the front yard there
'
s an ore cart full of rocks from the mine.
When I was a child I hid
things under the rocks. That must be where he put it
.
I
'
m surprised he didn
'
t put it in one of his safe deposit boxes.
"

"
No safe deposit box keys have turned up.
"
Harker twirled her pen.

"
He had at least three.
"

"
The FBI searched his office and home. We
'
ll check with them.
"

"
If they have the keys, they know what
'
s in the boxes.
"
Nick
looked at Harker.
"
I
'
ll ask
Jordan
when I talk with him.
"