Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

"Please call me Loren," she replied sweetly. "The honor is mine. I knew your father. Please accept my condolences. He was a brilliant man."

Kelly's face brightened. "You knew Dad?"

"He appeared before my committee investigating price-fixing among the oil companies. We also met several times in private and discussed matters of national security."

"I knew Dad had gone to Washington occasionally, but he never talked about meeting with members of Congress. I always thought his trips had something to do with the Commerce and Transportation Departments."

Giordino stepped from the plane at that moment and hugged Loren; they exchanged kisses on their cheeks. "Still gorgeous, I see," he said, gazin

g from his five feet four inches up at her height of five feet eight.

"How's my favorite Roman?"

"Still fighting the barbarians. And you?"

"Still battling the Philistines in the nation's capital."

"We should change places sometime."

Loren laughed. "I do believe I'd be getting the better of the bargain."

She gave Pitt another hard kiss. "Just when I think you've gone to the great beyond, you turn up again."

"What car did you bring?" asked Pitt, knowing she always showed up in one of his collector cars.

She nodded toward an elegant dark green 1938 Packard with long sweeping fenders and two covered spare tires set deep into wells. The beautiful lines of the custom body design by Earle C. Anthony, a noted Packard dealer for five decades, symbolized the very essence of a classic car. This particular car was a model 1607 formal, all-weather town car with a wheelbase slightly over 139 inches and a magnifi-cently quiet V-12 engine with 473 cubic inches that Pitt had tweaked to put out 200 horsepower.

There is an erotic love between a woman and a spectacular automobile. Kelly ran her fingers lightly over the chrome cormorant mascot on the radiator, her eyes glinting with reverence at touching a masterwork of engineering art. She knew her father would have appreciated such a wonderful car. "To simply say it's beautiful," she said, "doesn't do it justice."

"Would you like to drive it?" asked Loren, giving Pitt an imperious look. "I'm sure Dirk wouldn't mind."

Pitt could see he had little choice in the matter and resigned himself to helping Giordino throw their luggage in the trunk and climbing in the backseat with Loren. Giordino sat in the open front seat next to Kelly, who was in seventh heaven behind the big steering wheel.

The divider window between the front seat and the rear passenger compartment was rolled up. Loren looked at Pitt provocatively. "Is she staying with you?"

"What an evil mind you have," Pitt answered with a laugh. "Actually, I was hoping she could stay with you at your town house."

"This isn't the old Dirk Pitt I once knew."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but her life is in danger and she's safer at your place. The Cerberus Corporation is run by maniacs who won't hesitate to kill her in order to lay their hands on her father's formula for a super oil. I assume they've traced me to my hangar, which is why I think it wise that she not stay too close to me."

Loren took his hand in hers. "What would the women of the world do without you?"

"Do you mind baby-sitting Kelly for me?"

Loren smiled. "I could use some feminine company for a change." Then the smile faded. "Seriously, I had no idea you were mixed up with Cerberus."

"The investigation has been kept quiet by the FBI and CIA."

"I'll say it's been kept quiet. Nothing has hit the news media. What do you know that I don't?"

"NUMA proved conclusively that the fire and sinking of the Emerald Dolphin and the explosion that put the Golden Martin on the bottom were deliberate. We're certain that Cerberus and their covert Viper operation are behind the disasters."

She looked at Pitt steadily. "You're certain of this?"

"Al and I have been involved up to our ears since the beginning."

She sat back in the luxurious leather seat and stared out the window for a few moments. Then she turned back. "I happen to head up the committee that's looking into unfair practices by the Cerberus Corporation. We believe they are trying to build a monopoly by purchasing most of the oil and gas-producing wells in North America."