Free Descent from Xanadu by Harold Robbins Page A

moment later she left the two women in the dressing room.
    Ginny looked at Sofia. “I told you before, but no one would know from your clothing, what a fantastic body you have.”
    “Thank you,” Sofia said.
    “No wonder Mr. Crane wants you to get a new wardrobe.”
    Sofia smiled. “I thought he did this for all his girl friends.”
    Ginny laughed. “Not all of them. But this is the first time he’s ever done it for his doctor.”
    Sofia looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She saw Ginny stand behind her.
    “Did you ever have your breasts done?” Ginny asked.
    She met the girl’s eyes. “Never.”
    “I can’t believe it,” Ginny said. “They’re absolutely perfect.”
    Sofia still watched her in the mirror. “You can check them if you don’t believe me.”
    Ginny hesitated a moment, then put her arms around Sofia’s back and cupped her breasts in her hands. Sofia looked at Ginny’s eyes in the mirror. The stewardess’s hands were almost hot; Sofia felt her nipples harden.
    “Do you believe me now?” Sofia asked.
    Reluctantly, slowly, Ginny withdrew her hands. Their eyes were still meeting in the mirror. Ginny’s voice whispered harshly, “Yes.”
    After a moment, the door to the dressing room opened. Ginny returned to her chair as several girls entered with piles of clothing.
    ***
    The sun was hot and the air humid above the water on the far side of the island. Li Chuan and Judd stood next to the sailor driving the mahogany Riva. Li Chuan pointed out a motor yacht half a mile in front. “That’s his boat. It’s always in Repulse Bay.”
    “Would he be on board?” Judd asked.
    “No, according to his schedule he should be swimming,” Li Chuan replied. “He said the earliest appointment he could give you is three days from now.”
    Judd’s voice was flat. “We’ll talk to him right now. Slow down to two knots and keep a sharp lookout for him.”
    The powerful motors softened to a whisper. Slowly the Riva began a wide circle. Ten minutes later they saw the yellow balloon bobbing in the water and three black heads before it.
    Judd began to take off his clothes. “Head as close to them as you can with safety.” He pulled off his shoes and socks when the Riva was twenty meters away from them. He stepped over the windscreen onto the prow of the Riva. He waved his arms over his head. The black heads in the water suddenly grew faces as they turned to him. “Cut the engines,” Judd ordered.
    Judd stood naked except for his bikini. He could see one of the men treading water lift an Uzi submachine gun in a waterproof plastic wrapper, which he tore off expertly.
    Judd dove into the water and came up close to the man. “Be careful with that toy,” he said. “Use it and we all wind up blown apart in this water.”
    Another man next to the one with the Uzi spoke. There was no fear in his voice. “What do you want of us?”
    “I’m Judd Crane,” he said, treading water.
    The man looked at him. “Didn’t your man tell you that we gave you an appointment three days from now?”
    “Yes,” Judd said. “But I thought it better that we meet immediately.”
    “Here? In the river?”
    “It’s as good as any other place.”
    “Very irregular, I must say.” The man’s face creased into a faint smile. “Do you always hold your meetings like this?”
    “Not usually,” Judd said. “But then, business doesn’t offer me many opportunities to meet such men as S. Yuan Ling.”
    Mr. Ling laughed. “You are younger than I thought, Mr. Crane.”
    “Thank you,” Judd said. “Do I have your ear?”
    “That is a Chinese proverb,” Mr. Ling said. “A deaf ear doesn’t listen to opportunity.”
    Judd moved closer to him and they tread water face to face. “My information tells me you have a twenty-million-dollar deposit on six ships that Mitsubishi is constructing for you. Also that the first three are going to make their trials next spring.”
    Mr. Ling nodded. “That’s true.”
    “My