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SHADOW AND SILK
Ann Maxwell




Zebra Books
Kensington Publishing Corp.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
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Copyright ┬й 1997 by Two of A Kind, Inc.
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First Printing: January, 1997
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 Chapter One

Lhasa, Tibet October
You canтАЩt put it off any longer, Danielle Warren told herself forcefully. ItтАЩs now or never.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped once again into LhasaтАЩs random, narrow streets. The stone city was infused
with the weight of time and the silent pleas that fluttered up from prayer flags fading into the late-afternoon light.
Dani felt like sending up a few prayers herself. She was afraid that she was being followed by more than the chill
wind sweeping down from the ramparts of the Potala Palace.
Shoving her hands more deeply into the pockets of her ragged down coat, she bent against the icy air. Her cold
fingers curled tightly around two rolls of Chinese currency as though she was afraid that TibetтАЩs wind demons might
steal them.
But what Dani really feared were the two-legged variety of demons, the ones she was working so hard to elude in
OctoberтАЩs chill, slanting light.
Shivering, Dani took shelter in a doorway that was older than Christ. At two miles above sea level, the air was thin
and cold as a blade of ice. Because she had been living for weeks in tribal dome tents on the high, dry deserts of Tibet,
the altitude didnтАЩt bother her.
The shadow Dani thought she had seen out of the corner of her eye did.
Breathing lightly, she waited and stared into the slowly fading light. Nothing moved nearby but prayers strung
from ropes, left like laundry to ride the dry wind.
With quick, determined strides, Dani emerged from the cover of the doorway and headed toward the market. Her
steps made little noise on the streets and stairs and pathways that had been worn smooth by time and the passage of
countless other feet.
Every few minutes she stepped abruptly into the lee of doorways or posts, as though she sought relief from the
wind despite her warm clothing. Each time she stopped, she watched her back trail.
Each time she saw nothing but shadows.
I must have gotten away from them, Dani reassured herself silently. They were watching the front of the hotel, not
the service entrance at the back.
Letting out a long breath, she hurried toward the market once more. As a field archaeologist whose specialty was
textiles, she was accustomed to traveling in Tibet and other rough places around the world.
But she was not used to the feeling of danger that chased her on the cold Himalayan wind.