Deep Six (Dirk Pitt 7)

Pitt made no move to wipe away the spittle. He simply stood there and grinned wickedly, looked down and saw the evil viciousness erupt as she cursed him in Korean.

Pitt pressed the code numbers Casio had given him into the transmitter and watched as the doors to Liftonic QW-607 opened.

But there was no elevator, only an empty shaft.

"Bon voyage, you diabolic old crone."

Then he shoved the wheelchair into the vacant opening and stood listening as it clattered like a pebble down a well, echoing off the sides of the shaft until there was the faint sound of impact a hundred stories below.

Loren was sitting on a bench in the concourse as he came through the main door of the Trade Center. She came toward him and they met and embraced. They clung together without saying anything for a few moments.

She could feel the fatigue and the pain in him. And she sensed something more. A strange inner peace that she had never known was there. She kissed him lightly several times. Then she took his arm and led him to a waiting taxi.

"Sal Casio?" she asked.

"With his daughter."

"And Min Koryo Bougainville?"

"In hell."

She caught the distant look in his eyes. "You need rest. I'd better check you into a hospital."

Suddenly the old devilish look flashed on his face. "I had something else in mind."

"What?"

"The next week in a suite in the best hotel in Manhattan.

Champagne, gourmet dinners sent up by room service, you making love to me."

A coquettish expression gleamed in her eyes. "Why do I have to do all the work?"

"Obviously I'm in no condition to take command."

She held on to him comfortingly. "I suppose it's the least I can do after you saved my life."

"Semper Paratus," he said.

"Semper what?"

"The Coast Guard motto. Always Ready. If their rescue helicopter hadn't arrived over the barge when it did, we'd both be lying on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico."

They reached the taxi and Loren held on to Pitt as he stiffly entered and sank into the seat. She eased in beside him and kissed his hand while the driver sat patiently looking out his windshield.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"The Helmsley Palace Hotel," Pitt answered.

Loren looked at him. "You're getting a suite at the Helmsley?" she said.

"A penthouse suite," he corrected her.

"And who's going to pay for this opulent interlude?"

Pitt looked down at her in mock astonishment. "Why, the government, of course. Who else?"