Eva turned and looked up into the smiling face of the spearfisherman who was kneeling behind her.
"Where are the men who tried to kill me?" she asked in a frightened voice.
"They left with the tide," the stranger answered with an icy cheerfulness.
"Tide?"
"I was taught never to litter a beach. I towed their bodies beyond the surf. When I last saw them, they were drifting toward Greece."
She stared at him as a chill swept through her. "You killed them."
"They were not nice people."
"You killed them," she echoed dumbly. Her face was ashen and she looked as if she was going to be sick. "You're as cold-blooded a murderer as they were."
He could see she was still in shock and not reasoning sensibly. Her eyes were filled with revulsion. He shrugged and said simply, "Would you have preferred I hadn't become involved?"
The fear and revulsion slowly left her eyes and was replaced with apprehension. It took a minute for Eva to realize that the stranger had saved her from a violent death. "No please, forgive me. I'm acting stupidly. I owe you my life and I don't even know your name."
"It's Dirk Pitt."
"I'm Eva Rojas." She felt oddly flustered as he smiled warmly and gently grasped her hand in his. She saw only concern in his eyes and all her apprehension fled. "You're American."
"Yes, I'm with the National Underwater and Marine Agency. We're doing an archaeological survey of the Nile River."
"I thought you had driven off before I was attacked."
"Almost, but your friends made me curious. It struck me odd that they parked their car a good kilometer away and then walked across a deserted beach directly toward you. So I hung around to see what they had in mind."
"Lucky for me you're the suspicious type."
"Do you have any idea of why they tried to kill you?" Pitt asked.
"They must have been bandits who murder and rob tourists."
He shook his head. "Robbery wasn't their motive. They carried no weapons. The one who was smothering you used his hands instead of tape or a cloth. And they made no attempt at rape. They were not professional assassins or we'd both be dead. Most unusual. I'd bet a month's pay they were only hired hands for someone who wanted you dead. They followed you to a secluded spot intending to murder you, and then force salt water down your nose and throat. Afterward, your body would be left at the high-tide line to make it look like a drowning. Which would explain why they tried to smother you."
She said hesitatingly, "I can't believe any of this. It seems so purposeless and makes no sense at all. I'm only a biochemist, specializing in the effects of toxic materials on humans. I have no enemies. Why on earth should anyone want to kill me?"
"Having only just met you, I can't even guess."
Eva lightly massaged her bruised lips. "It's all so crazy."
"How long have you been in Egypt?"
"Only a few days."
"You must have done something to make somebody pretty mad."
"Certainly not to any North Africans," she said doubtfully. "If anything I'm here to help them."
He stared thoughtfully into the sand. "Then you're not on vacation."
"My work brought me here," Eva answered. "Rumors of strange physical abnormalities and psychological disorders among the nomadic peoples of the southern Sahara were brought to the attention of the World Health Organization. I'm a member of an international team of scientists who have been sent to investigate."
"Hardly fodder for a murder," Pitt admitted.
"All the more puzzling. My colleagues and I are here to save lives. We pose no threat."