Flood Tide (Dirk Pitt 14)

"A baby-sitter," Pitt muttered, rolling his eyes upward. "As a matter of pure optimism I have to ask if she's seen combat."

"I'm told she shot down two aircraft and saved your ass on the Orion River."

"Julia Lee."

"The same."

Pitt's lips stretched into a wide grin. "It looks as if the evening won't turn out to be a bust after all."

25

PlTT KNOCKED on the door of the address given him by Peter Harper. After a short wait, it was opened by Julia Lee. She stood radiant in a white silk cashmere dress that came slightly below the knees with open shoulders and back to the curve above her hips and was held up by a thin strap around the neck. Her black hair was swept back in a wrapped ponytail high on the head with spiky ends. Her only jewelry was a thin gold chain around her waist and a gold cuff necklace. Her legs were nude, her feet showing in open gold shoes.

Her eyes widened and she murmured, "Dirk, Dirk Pitt!"

"Oh, I hope so," he replied with a devilish grin.

After her initial shock at seeing Pitt standing there resplendent in a tuxedo with vest and gold watch chain, she recovered and threw herself against him, her arms encircling his neck. He was so surprised he barely caught himself from tumbling over backward down the steps. Impetuously, she kissed him hard on the mouth. Now it was Pitt's turn for his eyes to widen. He had never expected such a spontaneous reception.

"I thought I was the one who said I'd kiss you full on the mouth when next we meet." Reluctantly, he gripped Julia by the upper arms and gently eased her away. "Do you greet all your blind dates in that manner?"

Suddenly, she cast her dove-gray eyes to the ground shyly. "I don't know what came over me. Seeing you came as a shock. I wasn't told who was escorting me to Qin Shang's party. Peter Harper only said he arranged for a tall, dark, handsome man to act as my backup."

"The dirty sneak led me to believe that you were my backup. He should have been a theatrical producer. I'll bet he's drooling in anticipation of Qin Shang's reaction when the two people who queered his operation at Orion Lake walk in uninvited to his party."

"I hope you're not disappointed at having to escort me. Under all this makeup, I still look pretty awful."

He gently lifted her chin until he could look down into her misty eyes. He might have said something witty and clever, but it wasn't the moment. "About as disappointed as a man who has discovered a diamond mine."

"I didn't know you could say nice things to a girl."

"You wouldn't believe the hordes of women my silver tongue has seduced."

"Liar," she said softly as her lips broke into a smile.

"Enough of this endearing talk," he said, releasing her. "We'd better get a move on before the food runs out."

After Julia briefly returned inside the house to find her purse and coat, Pitt led her to the stately and majestic machine parked at the curb in front of the townhouse where she was staying with an old sorority sister from college. She stared in open astonishment at the mammoth car with its big chrome wire wheels and wide white wall tires.

"Good Lord!" she exclaimed. "What kind of a car are we going in?"

"A nineteen-twenty-nine Duesenberg," answered Pitt. "Since we've been ordered to crash a party thrown by one of the world's richest men, I thought it only fitting and proper that we arrive in style."

"I've never ridden in a car this grand," said Julia admiringly as she slid onto the soft tan leather seat. She marveled at the hood that seemed to stretch halfway down the block as Pitt closed the door and came around behind the big steering wheel. "I've never heard of a Duesenberg."

"The Model J Duesenbergs were the finest examples of American automaking," Pitt explained. "Manufactured from nineteen-twenty-eight until nineteen-thirty-six, they were considered by many automobile connoisseurs as the handsomest cars- ever built. Only about four hundred eighty chassis and engines came out of the factory and were sent to the most esteemed coachmakers in the country who produced magnificent designs. This car was custom-bodied by the Walter M. Murphy Company in Pasadena, California, and styled as a convertible sedan. Not cheap, they sold as high as twenty thousand dollars when the Ford Model A sold for around four hundred. They were owned by the wealthy celebrities of their day, particularly the Hollywood crowd, who bought Duesenbergs as a show of pride and prestige. If you drove a Duesy, you had made it big-time."

"She's beautiful," said Julia, admiring the artistically flowing lines. "She must be fast."

"The engine was an outgrowth of the Duesenberg racing engines. A straight eight-cylinder engine displacing four hundred twenty cubic inches, it produced two hundred sixty-five horsepower when most engines at

the time put out less than seventy. Although this engine doesn't have the supercharger that was installed on later models, I made a few modifications when I restored the car. Under the right conditions she could touch one hundred forty miles an hour."

"I'll take your word for it without a demonstration."

"A pity we can't drive with the top down, but it's a cool night and I put it up to protect milady's hair."

"A woman loves a considerate man."