Deep Six (Dirk Pitt 7)

"Sally, I need you to contact someone."

"One sec." There was a pause. When Sally's voice came on again, it glowed with efficiency. "I've got a pad and pencil. Who do I contact and what do I say?"

"The congressman who opposed and shot down my Rocky Mountain water project."

"You mean old prune-face Mo-"

"He's the one," Loren cut her off.

"I want you to talk to him, face to face if possible. Start with his home. If he's out, ask his wife where he can be reached. If she balks, tell her it's a matter of congressional urgency. Say whatever it takes but get to him."

"When I find him, then what?"

"Nothing," said Loren. "Say it was a mistake."

There were a few seconds' silence. Then Sally said carefully, "You drunk, boss?"

Loren laughed, knowing the puzzlement that must be running through Sally's mind.

"Dead sober."

"Can this wait until morning?"

"I have to know his location as quickly as possible."

"My alarm clock reads after midnight," Sally protested.

"Now!" Loren said sharply. "Call me the second you see his face and hear his voice."

She hung up and walked back toward her suite. The moon was directly overhead and she lingered a few minutes on deck, wishing Pitt were standing there beside her.

Loren had just finished putting on her morning face when she heard a knock at the door.

"Who's there?"

"Steward."

She went to the door and opened it. Her cabin steward raised his hand in a casual salute. He peered self-consciously at the cleavage revealed by her loosely knotted dressing gown.

"An emergency call for you from the mainland, Congresswoman Smith," he said in a heavy Slavic accent. "They're holding it for you in the communications room."

She thanked him and hurriedly dressed. A new girl directed her to a booth and the waiting call. Sally's voice came through the earpiece as if she were in the next booth.

"Good morning, boss," she said tiredly.

"Any luck?"

"Moran's wife said he went fishing with Senator Marcus Larimer," Sally snapped out before Loren thought to stop her. "She claimed they went to a place called Goose Lake, a private reserve for the good ole boys a few miles below the Quantico Marine Corps reservation. So I hopped in my car and drove down. After bluffing my way past an outdoorsy type guarding the gate, I checked every cottage, boathouse and dock. No congressman, no senator. Then back to the capital. I called and woke up three of Moran's aides. Don't ever look for favors from his office. They backed up the fishing story. As a double-check, I tried a couple of Larimer's staff too. Same bull. In fact, nobody has seen either of them in over a week. Sorry I failed you, boss, but it looks like a smoke screen to me."

Loren felt a cold chill run through her. The second man she saw manhandled from the helicopter, could he have been Marci.is Larimer?

"Shall I stay on the hunt?" asked Sally.

"Yes, please," Loren answered.

" Do my best," Sally declared. "Oh, I almost forgot. Have you heard the latest news?"

"How could I at ten in the morning on a boat in the middle of the ocean?"