The River of Bones v5 Read Online Free PDF

stranger following me.  Pink diamonds are the most precious things in the world, and everyone in Russia would kill for them.”
    Jake felt himself wanting to believe her, but there was the question of why she’d picked Anchorage, of all places.  And if she were being watched, how had she arranged traveling without being jeopardized further?  In addition, if Simon and he did get involved, there were surely about a million laws on both sides of the international line they’d be breaking—big fat, federal offenses—crimes that got you jailed forever, probably in a gulag the way their luck had been running.  Also, why hadn’t she explained where she’d learned such fluent English?
    “I’m still wondering why you speak our language so well.  Other than your accent, you sound fine.  I’m surprised.”
    Her eyes darkened.  “Your friend speaks Russian and do you distrust him?  My father and I were first and second chief directorates of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics.”
    Simon shifted in his chair and cleared his throat.  “Jake, most Russians speak English, and she would have been required to learn our language for the sake of her position.”
    Quietly, he stood and walked to the window and gazed out again.  The day had turned dark and the airport’s red, yellow, and blue lights had been switched on for the coming night.  Fresh snow glistened as it fell through the glow, like white moths meeting their deaths.  He faced Sasha Pavlov again.  Let’s get this nonsense over with.
    “How do you plan on paying us?  I hope you understand we can’t take rubles.”  He watched her.
    She paused.  A minute ticked by.  Finally, she reached inside her coat, pulled out a small black purse, opened it, and took out something.  She held out a bright object, the size of a pea, in her fingers.  “I have four of these and you can have one now.  I’ll give you the others after you come to Siberia.  I’m so sure my father is alive that I’ll even sleep with you if you want.”
    He heard Simon choke, then his own noisy gulps as he swallowed air.  Slowly, he stepped forward and pinched the pink object between his fingers.  Deep in his gut he knew what it was, but he walked back to the window and scratched the opalescent stone on a corner of the glass.  It cut a thin white line.
    He turned again.  “Can I search you?  I want to see if you’re wearing a transmitter.”
    She stood up, pulled off her coat, and threw it over the chair.  “I understand.  You should live in my country, because there is electronic surveillance everywhere.”
    He stepped over to her.  She spread her legs, lifted her arms, and stared into space with her blue eyes.  He reached for her shoulders and rubbed hard with his fingers, then kneaded her breasts, stomach, crotch, and legs, kneeling as he worked down to her shoes.  Then he stood, circled, and checked her back, buttocks, and legs again.  Finally, he walked back to the window.  She was clean . . . and now her other offer would haunt him forever, because her real beauty was under her clothing.
    She sat and stared at him.  What in hell should he do now?  He picked up the diamond he’d left on the window sill and tossed it back to her.  It flashed under the fluorescent office lights as it sailed across the room, and she expertly caught it with one hand.  Simon looked sick because he knew how much they needed money.
    “How did you smuggle that diamond into Alaska?” he asked.  “You have made airport security and customs look pretty stupid.”
    “I disassembled my laptop and glued my diamond inside so it looked like part of the motherboard.  There was plenty of room and airport x-ray wouldn’t see it as anything but a chip fuse.”
    “How did you get your visa, and what did you tell our embassy?”
    “The Pacific Rim Coal Conference starts tomorrow at your university, and I’m the chairperson for Siberia .  I asked to take my father’s place.  We often