The Curse of the Dragon God (4 page)

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Authors: Geoffrey Knight

Tags: #Mystery, #Suspense, #Adventure, #Gay

BOOK: The Curse of the Dragon God
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Eden put his shoulder into the bridge door, but he felt his cracked rib snap completely. He roared in pain, wrapping his arms around his naked injured torso.
The bow of the ship cut a wake through the water, already sending waves smashing against the dock, rocking the pylons.
Eden knew it was too late to do anything but abandon ship. He raced for the railing.
As the lift rose toward the deck, Yusuf pulled himself up onto the platform, Uzi in hand, ready to take vengeance on the man who had destroyed his family. The lift stopped on the deck, Yusuf turned, and through the pouring smoke he saw Eden climb onto the railing, about to dive.
In that moment, Eden turned and spotted Yusuf.
Yusuf raised the Uzi, then saw the look in Eden’s eye: Eden wasn’t afraid of the man with the machine gun; he was more concerned about abandoning ship. Now!
Despite the pain that shot through his body, Eden raised his arms into a diving position and leapt from the railing.
Yusuf turned and gaped at what he saw.
Eden hit the water and plunged deep beneath the surface.
A giant wave from the charging ship surged up and over the dock. Several powerful, fearless tugs tried to ride the wave and position themselves quickly between the oncoming vessel and the port dock, and although they worked hard, engines roaring, to lessen the damage the runaway ship might cause, the port of Aden would never be the same again.
The out-of-control vessel plowed into the end of the dock, snapping the wharf’s wooden planks and sending their splintered shards soaring through the air.
The Yemeni vessel tore into the French cargo ship, folding back curled sheets of steel before forcing the vessel backward, slamming it into the African oil tanker. Flames leapt from one ship to another. A sound—like a thousand car tires being knifed—filled the air as all three ships ignited. Yusuf turned to run, but he was too late.
The ball of fire that filled the air looked like an atomic blast, mushrooming into the bright blue sky and blanketing Aden in a veil of smoke that would last for days.
As the thunderous eruption sent shock waves through the ocean, the three ships began to sink. Eden held his breath for as long as he could, swimming deep and far. At one point he turned and looked back as burnt, twisted hunks of steel splashed into the water all around him. Every now and then he spotted the glimmer and sparkle of what could only be diamonds sinking through the water amid the debris. Raining down upon the seabed. Lost to the deep blue forever.
Just one,
he thought.
That’s all he needed to prove that these were Zhang Sen’s stolen diamonds.
II
San Francisco, California
“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO JUST OBSERVING, NOT intervening?”
Eden shrugged. “It wasn’t so much a case of intervening. More like saving my own ass!”
As the two made their way through San Francisco’s bustling airport terminal, Jake—dressed in a tuxedo, his shirt open-necked, and his untied black tie slung loose around his collar—took Eden’s bag off him in exchange for a second, neatly pressed tuxedo in his hand. Jake was the rugged type, a New York adventurer with a penchant for deadly situations and dangerous men—a stranger to caution and care who hated pomp and ceremony. Yet Eden couldn’t help but appreciate how handsome he looked right now, even with that angry furrow in his brow.
“The Professor wanted you to
see
, not
do
!”
“Is he upset?”
Jake shook his head. “Not at you. Jesus, he
never
gets mad at
you
. If I blew up a port in Yemen, different story. But
you
, he loves. If anything ever happened to you, God help the rest of us!”
Eden couldn’t suppress a smirk at Jake’s accusation of favoritism. “Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the pain. Nothing’s ever going to happen to me.” Suddenly he winced and clutched his side.
“You’re hurt!”
“I’m okay.”
Jake lightly touched Eden’s side, and the young Brazilian clenched his teeth, biting back a groan. “We’re taking you to a hospital.”
“No. I’m fine. Besides, don’t you know that doctors make the worst patients?”
“I don’t care, you’re hurt.”
“Later,” Eden insisted. “I need to see the Professor first. I think Zhang is in trouble.”
No sooner had they stepped out of the terminal and into the night air than a sleek black limousine pulled up before them. The driver was a young Chinese man, tall and muscular, wearing gloves and a chauffeur’s cap. Tufts of bleached hair, white as snow, peeped out from under the cap. Eden eyed him suspiciously.
“One of Zhang’s drivers,” Jake informed him, noticing Eden’s guarded gaze. “The party at the tower’s already started.”
“But we don’t mind being fashionably late,” said a voice from inside the limo. One of the back doors had already sprung open before the driver could offer assistance, and young Will Hunter, looking dapper in a tuxedo of his own, launched himself from the backseat of the stretch car in a maneuver that was straight off the football field. The 19-year-old college quarterback gave Eden a strong, hard squeeze, and the Brazilian tried not to let his pain show.
“Easy, kid,” Jake said, stepping in and prying Will away. “Walking wounded, here.”
“Jake, I’m okay,” Eden insisted.
“You’ll be fine once we get you to a hospital,” Jake lectured him.
“After the party,” Eden argued once more.
At that moment, Shane Houston, the gentlemanly Texas cowboy, stepped out of the back of the limo in his dinner jacket and cowboy hat, and embraced Eden even harder than Will did. “Are you okay?”
“I was,” wheezed Eden. “Where’s Luca?”
Indeed, the five of them were only four tonight; Luca was missing. “He’s in Krakow,” Will replied. “Still tryin’ to dig up skeletons.”
“It scares me to think what he might find,” Eden said gravely. Then as Shane gave him another tight hug, Eden grimaced once more.
Jake hauled the cowboy off him. “Guys, you’re killin’ him with love. Back up. It’s time the doctor saw a doctor!”
“What’s all this about doctors and hospitals?” The question belonged to the Professor, who sat in the open doorway of the limousine, a look of concern on his face. “Eden, are you all right?”
“Professor, I’m fine. Probably just a broken rib or two. When we get back to the house I’ll do a full checkup on myself. In the meantime, all I need is a stiff drink!”
“The bar is stocked!” Will winked, gesturing to the open back door of the limo.
“Sounds good to me,” Eden said, smiling.
“Eden, are you certain you’re all right?” the Professor asked again. “We’re attending this party as a measure of security, not necessity.”
Eden took a deep breath and said, “I’m not so sure about that, Professor.” He shot another wary glance at the driver. “I’ll tell you more on the way to the tower.”
The screen between the driver’s compartment and the back seats of the limo was closed. As the stretch car headed for the shimmering skyscrapers of downtown San Francisco, Jake helped Eden strip off his shirt, easing it off his broad brown back with care. The sleeves rolled inside out, freeing Eden’s hands in time for him to receive a tumbler of scotch on ice from Will.
Eden drained the glass at once, then nodded at the rearview mirror in the driver’s compartment, watching the driver’s face. “Can he hear us?” The young driver didn’t take his eyes off the road for a second.
Jake shook his head. “Intercom’s off. So what surprises you got for us?”
Eden answered by unzipping his trousers and digging his hand deep into his underpants. He rummaged around for a moment or two, while Jake watched the sizable package shift from left to right and back again.
Shane caught the pleased glint in Jake’s eye. “I don’t think it’s that sort of surprise.”
He was right. Eden pulled his hand free, opened his palm, and everyone sat forward including the Professor, whose unseeing eyes sparkled in the reflection of the small diamond in Eden’s hand.
“Is that what I think it is?” Will asked.
The Professor’s sensitive fingers reached forward slowly and touched the tiny object in Eden’s palm. “Zhang Sen will know for certain. Every one of Sen’s diamonds contains a watermark, undetectable to the human eye. If this diamond bears that signature, then I think it’s safe to assume the stolen jewels are ending up in some very dangerous hands. Which is precisely why he wants us there tonight.”
“Mr. Sen wants us there to protect the diamonds?” Will asked.
“Actually, Will, it’s Mr. Zhang,” the Professor replied. “Sen is his first name. Traditionally, the Chinese surname comes first. And to answer your question, no, we’re not there to protect the diamonds. We’re there to protect
one
diamond. A diamond called the Eye of Fucanglong. It is one of the largest, most precious diamonds in the world, found fourteen centuries ago and placed in the eye of a golden dragon. It is the jewel in the crown of the Zhang Diamond empire.”
“Hence the big shindig,” Shane observed.
“The new Zhang Diamond Tower here in San Francisco is now complete, and the corporation is in the first phase of its expansion into the United States market. This event signifies the coming together of two great cultures, two unsinkable economies. What better occasion to unveil the Eye of Fucanglong to America? What better way to begin a multibillion-dollar international business venture than by showcasing the company’s greatest treasure and putting it on display here in America for all the world to admire?”
“Or steal,” Eden added.
“Why does he need us to help?” Jake asked. “Doesn’t he have his own security team to keep an eye on the Eye—so to speak?”
“Sen is a very old friend of mine—we went to Oxford together. He has voiced concerns that the recent spate of thefts from his collections could be the work of someone within his own organization.”
“He thinks it’s an inside job?” Will asked.
“He’s not taking any chances. Which is where we come in. If Sen has a concern for the Eye of Fucanglong, then we’ll do everything in our power to safeguard it against those who may want to get their hands on it.”
“I hate to say it, Professor, but I’m not so sure it’s the diamond they want to get their hands on,” Eden added. “Whoever’s stealing from Zhang Sen is trading the diamonds for weapons on the international black market.”
“What kind of weapons?” Jake asked.
“Bombs. I think the diamonds are being used to fund some sort of terrorist act.”
“Are you sure?” the Professor asked.
“I’m positive. I saw two devices before the dealers made off with them. Professor, they were zidium bombs.”
“Zidium?” the Professor breathed. “My God! Are you sure?”
“I’ve never seen one before, but I know what I heard and I know what those things can do.”
“What the hell’s a zidium bomb?” Will asked, his eyes glancing nervously from Eden to the Professor.
“I’ll explain later.” The Professor’s tone was cool and collected, but not without a hint of urgency. “Shane, as soon as we get to the party, find us a copy of the guest list as well as a company staff listing for Zhang Diamonds. We need to know everybody who’s invited, everybody who has any kind of connection with Sen, every employee who has ever worked for him. If this is an inside job, we must find out who these people are immediately. And more importantly, what they want.”

 

“They want power. It’s the curse, you see.” Zhang Sen finished examining the small stolen diamond Eden had given him and put it down on the table with a heavy-hearted sigh. “And yes, this is one of mine.”
Suddenly a cork popped like a gunshot and the champagne flowed, its bubbles filling up Sen’s glass, although, right now, celebrating was the last thing on his mind. The waiter turned and left, closing the door to the mezzanine boardroom behind him, completely shutting out the sounds of the party that filled the 52nd floor of the glittering new Zhang Diamond Tower in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district.
There were five of them in the room: the Professor, Eden, Jake, Will, and Sen, a gray-haired gentleman in his midsixties, small and dignified, his composure calm and his gestures understated. Yet beneath his poised facade there lingered a sense of disquiet and concern.
“It began almost fifteen hundred years ago. Legend has it, a beautiful but evil witch fell in love with a young man who lived in a village in the mountains of Shandong. He was a handsome man of purity and clarity. The witch desperately wanted his love; she wanted him to be with her for all time. But for all her spells and hexes—all her power—she could not make him love her. So one day in a fit of rage she cut out his heart and turned it into a diamond, something she could possess forever. This angered the gods, who sent Fucanglong, the dragon god of the underworld, the guardian of precious jewels and lost treasures, to kill the witch.

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