“You know as much as I do. I thought they were filming a movie until somebody took a few shots at me.”

“It's a good thing for us that their aim was bad.” She paused. Austin was studying her face the way he had earlier. “Is there anything wrong?”

“I'm almost embarrassed to say.”

“I find it hard to believe that you'd be embarrassed. You hardly seem the shy type.”

Austin shrugged. “Well, in a manner of speaking, you might say we've met before.”

“Sorry, I'm sure I would have remembered.”

“Not literally. Believe me when I say this. You bear a striking resemblance to the face of a princess I once saw painted on the wall of an Egyptian temple.”

Kaela was tall, with a good part of her height invested in long shapely legs. She had a smooth mocha complexion and ebony black hair that she kept long with a natural tight curl. Her mouth was full and almost perfect, and her eyes were a dark amber. As an attractive woman working in a man's profession, she thought she had heard every male line invented - but this was a new one. She gave Austin a sidelong glance. “That's funny, I was thinking that you looked as if you'd fallen off Captain Kidd's pirate ship.”

Austin laughed and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “I suppose I do look like a pirate, but I'm not joking. You're a ringer for the young woman in the temple. You're quite a bit younger than she is, though. I believe her portrait dates back to about four thousand B.C.”

“I've been called a lot of things,” she said, “but never an Egyptian mummy. Thanks for the compliment, if that's what it was. And for saving our necks. There's no way we can ever repay you, Mr. Austin.”

“You can start by calling me Kurt. And may I call you Kaela?”

She smiled. “Of course.”

“Now that we're old friends, how about being my guest at dinner?”

She glanced up and down the deserted coast. “What did you have in mind, something out of the Boy Scout handbook? Roots and berries?”

“I only made it as far as Cub Scout, and foraging was never my forte. I was thinking more of something like duck a l'orange. I can almost guarantee a table with a water view.”

“Here?” she said, going along with the game.

“No, there.” He pointed out to sea, where a turquoise-hulled ship could be seen steaming in their direction. “Casa Argo. They say the chef used to work at the Four Seasons before NUMA stole him.”

“My mother didn't raise any stupid kids,” Kaela said. “I'd be a fool to refuse an invitation like that.” Conscious of her unkempt state, she said, “I don't think I'm dressed for a fancy dinner.”