Free Death is Forever by Elizabeth Lowell Page A

iron.
    “They’re vsi or vvsi, or flawless,” Cole said.
    “What?”
    “Very small imperfection or very, very small imperfection.”
    “I wasn’t looking for flaws. It’s just… the colors . My God, I didn’t know that colors like this existed short of rainbows and lasers. So pure. So damned pure.”
    “You should look in your mirror more often,” he said.
    “What?”
    “The green diamond is a dead match for your eyes.”
    Her head snapped up at the personal comment. Suddenly she realized she was standing very close to a man she didn’t know, his hand was cupped beneath hers, and his breath was mixing with hers in an intimacy that should have terrified her. For the space of one shared breath, two, three, she waited for fear to spread through her body, a fear that had been brutally beaten into her seven years ago.
    Her pulse raced, but not from fear. It came from an elemental female response to being close to a man she found very attractive. The realization that she was once again capable of a sexual response to a man went through her mind like sunrise through night, changing everything it touched.
    “Which of Abe’s mines did those diamonds come from?” she asked, her voice low, almost husky.
    “I don’t know.”
    “Are there more like these?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Does anyone?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Erin looked at the powerful, impassive stranger who was still standing close to her. “What do you know, Mr. Blackburn?”
    “That I prefer to be called Cole.”
    She retreated across the room, opened the curtains, and looked out over the glittering city that was condensing from the darkened sky.
    “What do you know about the source of these diamonds, Cole Blackburn?”
    “They’re probably Australian, but not from any known mine. They’ve been out of the mother pipe a long, long time. The green diamond is unique. The pinks are superb. All but one of the whites is of the first water.” He paused, then added calmly, “I also know that if you keep your inheritance, you’ll have to give up standing in front of windows.”
    Swiftly she turned to face him. “What does that mean?”
    “Ask your father.”
    “My father is a difficult man to reach. You’re right here. I’m asking you.”
    “If I tell you,” Cole said, “you’ll have a thousand doubts and questions to match. If your father tells you, you’ll believe him. That will save time.”
    “It would be even quicker if you tell me right now.”
    “Whoever owns the Sleeping Dog Mines is a deer at the beginning of hell’s own hunting season,” Cole said.
    “Why?”
    “The colored diamonds are unique. ConMin has nothing like them in its vaults.”
    “So?”
    “If there’s a mine full of stones like yours, ConMin has to control that mine’s output or lose its monopoly. Monopoly is power. Right now ConMin has enough power to cut deals with First World nations, to control Second World nations as often as not, and to buy Third World nations outright. The Sleeping Dog Mines threaten ConMin’s power,” Cole said, “which threatens the entrenched interests of various nations who have a stake in the diamond tiger. When you ride that tiger, the only rule is survival. ConMin has ridden for more than a century.”
    Erin looked at the gleaming, shimmering stones. “You make my legacy sound more like a curse than a gift.”
    “It is.” Cole looked at his watch. “Call your father. The first thing he’ll want to do is have the diamonds appraised. Make very certain that the appraiser does not have ConMin connections, or the appraisal will be worse than useless. I’d give you the name of a reliable appraiser, but then your father would assume conspiracy.”
    “You must know my father quite well.”
    “I’ve never met him, but I’ve dealt with men like him. I’m one myself.”
    “CIA?” she asked coolly.
    “No. Survivor.”
    When Cole looked up from his watch, Erin froze. His intensity was as real as the diamonds she held. He