"Crazy intuition," replied Perlmutter. "Nothing more."

The border of the puzzle is in place, thought Perlmutter. Now he had to fit the inside pieces. Exhaustion finally caught up with him, and he allowed himself the extravagance of a short two-hour sleep. He awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He allowed it to ring five times while his mind came back on track before answering.

"St. Julien, Juan Mercado from Panama."

"Juan, thank you for calling. Did you turn up anything?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid, on the Princess Dou Wan."

"I'm sorry to hear it. I'd hoped by chance she might have made passage through the canal."

"I did, however, find an interesting coincidence."

"Oh?"

"A Canton Lines ship, the Princess Yung T'ai, passed through on December first, nineteen forty-eight."

Perlmutter's fingers and hands tightened around the receiver. "What direction was her passage?"

"West to east," answered Mercado. "From the Pacific into the Caribbean."

Perlmutter said nothing, soaking up a wave of jubilation. Several pieces were still missing in the puzzle, but a visible pattern was slowly emerging. "I owe you a great debt, Juan. You've just made my day."

"Happy to have been of service," said Mercado. "But do me a favor next time, will you?"

"Anything."

"Call me during daylight hours. Any time my wife thinks I'm awake after we've gone to bed, she gets amorous."

48

WHEN PITT RETURNED to his hangar in Washington, he was pleasantly surprised to find Julia waiting in his apartment above the car collection. After a hug and a kiss, she presented him with a margarita on the rocks made the right way-without the sweet mix and crushed ice popular in most restaurants.

"You are so nice to come home to," he said happily.

"I couldn't think of a more comfortable and secure place to stay," she said, smiling seductively. She was wearing a blue leather miniskirt with a tan nylon mesh one-shoulder top.

"I can see why. The grounds outside are crawling with security guards."

"Courtesy of the INS."

"I hope they're more alert than the last group," he said, sipping the margarita and giving an approving nod.

"Did you fly in from Louisiana alone?"

Pitt nodded. "Al is in a local hospital having a cast put on his broken leg. Admiral Sandecker and Rudi Gunn came in earlier to make a report directly to the President."

"Peter Harper filled me in about your heroics on the Mississippi. You prevented a national disaster and saved countless lives. The newspapers and TV news programs are filled with stories of terrorists blowing up the levee and the battle between the United States and the National Guard. The whole country was rocked by the event. Strangely, there was no mention of you or Al."

"Just the way we like it." He raised his head and sniffed the air. "What's that appetizing aroma I smell?"

"My Chinese dinner for the party tonight."

"What's the occasion?"

"St. Julien Perlmutter called just before you returned and said he thinks he and Hiram Yaeger have the inside track on a solution to the disappearance of Qin Shang's treasure ship. He said he intensely dislikes meeting in government buildings, so I invited him for dinner to hear his revelations. Peter Harper is coming, and I also sent invitations to Admiral Sandecker and Rudi Gunn. I hope they can find time to come.""They're fans of St. Julien," said Pitt, smiling. "They'll be here."

"They'd better, or you'll be eating leftovers for two weeks."

Tags: Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt Thriller
Source: readsnovelonline.net