Valhalla Rising (Dirk Pitt 16)

"It's a date."

She called down to him an hour later that dinner was ready. After he cleaned up, he entered the kitchen and found Loren wearing nothing but a silk smoking jacket that she had given Pitt for Christmas but which he never wore, protesting that it made him look like a phony gigolo. He peered into the pot of boiling pasta.

"It has a nice aroma for pure pasta."

"It should. I poured half a bottle of Chardonnay into it."

"Then we don't require predinner cocktails."

They enjoyed the casual dinner, trading sarcasms and little jabs between them. It was a regular routine between two people of equal wit and intellect. Pitt and Loren contradicted the old maxim that opposites attract. They were as similar in their likes and dislikes as two people could be.

"Are your h

earings about over?" he asked.

"Tuesday is the final day. From then on, the Justice Department takes the high road. My job is done."

"You were lucky Sally walked through the door."

Loren nodded as she held up a glass of the Chardonnay. "If not for her, Zale would still be walking the earth and causing mayhem and murder. His suicide solved a multitude of problems."

"What does Justice have in store for his cronies in crime?"

"The Cerberus cartel members will be indicted. Every agent in the Justice Department is working overtime to build cases against the thousands of bureaucrats and elected politicians who were known to have taken bribes. The consequences of this scandal will be felt for a long time."

"Hopefully, it will discourage others from going off the deep end for money."

"A huge task force is out there now, tracking down the offshore investments and bank accounts of the guilty parties, as provided by Hiram Yaeger."

Pitt stared into his wine as he swirled the contents around in the glass. "So where do we go from here?"

She touched his hand lighdy with her fingers. "We go on as before."

"You in Congress and me under the sea," he said slowly.

A soft look came into her violet eyes. "I believe it was meant to be that way."

"So much for my illusion of becoming a grandfather."

She pulled her hand away. "It hasn't been easy competing with a ghost."

"Summer?" He said the name as if he were seeing something far in the distance.

"You've never quite gotten over her."

"I thought I did, once."

"Maeve."

"When Summer was lost in the sea and Maeve died in my arms, it left an emptiness inside me." He shook away the memories like a dog shaking away water. "I'm too sentimental for my own good." He came around the table and kissed her lighdy on the lips. "I have a lovely, wonderful woman and don't appreciate her the way I should."

At that tender moment, Pitt's door buzzer sounded. His brow raised and he turned and peered into the monitor of the video security camera mounted inconspicuously outside. The image of a young man and young woman filled the screen. They were standing at the door beside a pile of luggage.

"Looks like they've come to stay," Loren said sardonically.

"I wonder who they are?"

Loren held Pitt's hand from pressing the button to the intercom. "I left my purse sitting on the fender of the Packard. I'll run down, pick it up and get rid of them."