Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

"It stands to reason they're too smart to leave a trail leading to their doorstep."

Pitt nodded. "Government prosecutors will never find enough hard evidence to convict them. If they're ever punished for their hideous crimes, it won't be under the law."

Kelly walked across the lawn from the house to the gazebo. "You two hungry?"

"I'm always hungry," Giordino said, smiling.

"I fixed a light dinner while Josh mixed the drinks. He makes mean margaritas."

"Dear heart"-Pitt put his arm around her waist-"you just said the magic word."

To say that Dr. Elmore Egan's taste in decorating was eclectic would be an understatement. The living room was furnished in early Colonial, the kitchen had obviously been designed by a high-tech engineer whose passion ran more to exotic appliances than gourmet cooking and the dining room looked like it had come straight from a Viking farm, its chairs and tables crafted from heavy oak, with matching chairs carved and sculpted with intricate patterns and designs.

While Pitt, Giordino and Thomas savored margaritas that could have jumped from their glasses and walked away, Kelly dished up a tuna casserole with coleslaw. Despite the trauma of the day, everyone ate normally.

Afterward, they retired to the living room and replaced the uprooted pieces of furniture to their proper positions while Thomas poured everyone a glass of forty-year-old port.

Pitt looked at Kelly. "You told Kanai that your father's formula was hidden in the laboratory."

She glanced at Thomas as if seeking permission. He smiled slightly and nodded his approval. "Dad's formula is in a file folder that fits in a hidden panel in back of the door."

Giordino swirled the port slowly in his glass. "He'd have fooled me. I would never have looked for it inside a door."

"Your dad was a clever man."

"And Josh is a brave man," Giordino said respectfully. "Despite a nasty beating, he told Kanai nothing."

Thomas shook his head. "Believe me, if Dirk had not walked into the room when he did, I would have spilled the secret of the formula's hiding place to save Kelly further torture."

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; "Maybe," said Pitt. "But when they saw they couldn't beat it out of you, they switched their efforts to Kelly."

"They could come back, perhaps even tonight," said Kelly uneasily.

"No," Pitt assured her. "Kanai would need time to put another team together. He won't try again soon."

"We'll take every precaution," said Thomas seriously. "Kelly must leave the house and go into hiding."

"I agree," said Pitt. "Kanai will no doubt assume that you'll secrete the formula someplace other than the farm, which still leaves the two of you their only key to finding it."

"I could go to Washington with you and Al," said Kelly, with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I'll be safe under your care."

"I'm not sure yet whether we're going back to Washington." Pitt set down his empty glass. "Could you please show us Dr. Egan's laboratory?"

"There's not much to see," said Thomas. He led them from the house to the barn. Inside were three counters upon which sat the usual apparatus seen in most chemistry laboratories. "It's not very exciting, but it's where we formulated and developed Slick 66."

Pitt walked around the room. "Not exactly what I was expecting."

Thomas looked at him queerly. "I'm not following you."

"This can't be where Dr. Egan conceived and designed his magne-tohydrodynamic engines," Pitt said firmly.

"Why do you say that?" asked Thomas cautiously.

"This room is a chemistry lab, no more. Dr. Egan was a brilliant engineer. I see no drafting tables, no computers programmed for displaying three-dimensional components, no facilities or machinery to construct working models. I'm sorry, but this is not where an inventive mind would create a great advance in propulsion technology." Pitt paused and stared at both Kelly and Thomas, whose eyes were cast on the stained wooden floor. "What I can't figure out is why you're both stroking me."

"Kelly and I are hiding nothing from you, Mr. Pitt," said Thomas seriously. "The truth is, we do not know where Elmore conducted his research. He was a fine man and a good friend, but he had a secretive streak that was nothing short of fanatical. Elmore would disappear for days, sometimes weeks, in a secret research laboratory whose location was known only to him. Kelly and I tried to follow him on different occasions, but he somehow always knew and eluded us. It was as if he were a ghost who vanished whenever he desired."