The River of Bones v5 Read Online Free PDF Page A

for diamonds in the Sakha Republic, above Lake Baikal.”
    He looked at Simon.  His friend’s eyes and mouth were wide open, and he wondered if his own face looked as shocked.  What in hell was the woman doing in Alaska?
    “Why isn’t your country looking for him?  I don’t understand.”
    “They did for a short time, but gave up.  The Yakutsk District Guard said he drowned in a river after a helicopter crash.”  Her lips quivered.  “There isn’t anyone I can turn to in my country, because I’m so afraid of everyone.”
    He saw Simon narrow his eyes and felt his own face tense up as well.  Why should they even believe she was Russian, and what were the feds up to now?
    “Why on earth have you come here?  I don’t get it—”  Walrus ivory?  Polar bear hides?  What was the dirty trick going to be?  The Fish and Wildlife Service was forever setting up stings to catch people . . . or were the state troopers up to something.  Everyone knew Simon and he were desperate for money.
    “The concierge gave me several names of businesses that rescue people and recover wrecked aeroplanes, and your advertisement said that you fly helicopters when I looked online.  My father was riding in a Mil Mi-8 when he went down, the one your military calls the Hip.  I thought it would be easier for you to understand what might have happened to him.”
    Bingo, she had answered the first question right!   The sign out front read— Whirlwind Aviation , Helicopters & Fixed Wing , Flightseeing , Expeditions , Searches & Salvage .  Trouble was he couldn’t afford airplanes and helicopters anymore.  Simon and he were living hand-to-mouth, begging aircraft and money from friends around town.  They had sunk really low in life.
    Still . . . her answer was understandable.  None of the other air taxi operators around Lake Hood flew helicopters.  Maybe she was for real, but her story didn’t make any sense.  Why would she be afraid of her own countrymen?
    “Tell me why you’re afraid of your own people and decided to come to Anchorage.  You speak English really well and that makes me wonder about you.  My friend and I are just bush pilots and no one has ever asked us to go to Siberia before.”  He leaned back once more.  Sometimes a sting operation could be turned against the government and you could make a few bucks, which they desperately needed.  You simply let them pay and pay with their hundred dollar bills, meanwhile letting them think you meant to break the law . . . someday soon.  You simply made sure that you never did.  Instead, you gave them excuses.  “Oh, my plane broke down last week—that’s why I couldn’t come.  Maybe if I had enough money . . .”  Eventually, they caught on, but what good did it do them?  They couldn’t arrest you for obeying the law or sue for breach of contract, and fat chance they wanted to tell the Department of Justice they’d just been screwed out of a few thousand dollars.
    Finally he heard her say, “Aeroflot comes here, so it’s easy to travel to Alaska.  I understand why you doubt me, but if you will listen, you will understand why I’m so afraid.
    “This past summer a stranger came to my father’s office in Akademgorodok and told him that he must help find diamonds in the Sakha Republic . . . a special kind of diamond, rose-colored ones.  Father went willingly, but thinking the man might be working for the Mafiya , or someone just as dangerous.  My country is filled with corruption and one never knows who he’s really working for, or if you will be simply killed in the end, instead of paid.  My father told me that he wanted some of the diamonds for himself.
    “This fall I was told that my father had been lost in a helicopter crash on the Marcha River, drowned in white water.  The guard officer who found the wreck gave me a few things belonging to him, clothing and camera equipment.
    “My apartment has been broken into since, and I’ve seen a