Rat-face was so intent on smothering the life from Eva that he didn’t notice his friend had fallen away. Then for one second, maybe two, he froze as a pair of large hands materialized and tightly clamped around his chin and the top of his head. Eva felt the pressure over her nose and lips die as her assassin threw up his arms and furiously tore at the hands that were gripping his skull. The utter unexpectedness of this new development only added to the unreality of the nightmarish shock in Eva’s mind.

Before blackness closed over her, she heard a crunching sound, like a person biting down on an ice cube, and she had a fleeting glimpse of the killer’s eyes, wide open, protruding, staring sightlessly out of a head that had been twisted around in a full 360-degree circle.

<<3>>

Eva awoke with the hot sun on her face. She awoke to the sound of the waves pounding the African shore. When she blinked open her eyes, it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

She groaned and stirred, squinting at the dazzling beach, the peaceful sun-splashed panorama of scenic beauty. She sat up suddenly, her eyes widening in fear, terrorized by the sharp recall of the attack. But her killers were gone. Had they really existed? She began to wonder if she had been hallucinating.

“Welcome back,” said a man’s voice. “For a while there I was afraid you lapsed into a coma.”

Eva turned and looked up into the smiling face of the spearfisherman who was kneeling behind her.

“Where are the men who tried to kill me?” she asked in a frightened voice.

“They left with the tide,” the stranger answered with an icy cheerfulness.

“Tide?”

“I was taught never to litter a beach. I towed their bodies beyond the surf. When I last saw them, they were drifting toward Greece.”

She stared at him as a chill swept through her. “You killed them.”

“They were not nice people.”

“You killed them,” she echoed dumbly. Her face was ashen and she looked as if she was going to be sick. “You’re as cold-blooded a murderer as they were.”

He could see she was still in shock and not reasoning sensibly. Her eyes were filled with revulsion. He shrugged and said simply, “Would you have preferred I hadn’t become involved?”

The fear and revulsion slowly left her eyes and was replaced with apprehension. It took a minute for Eva to realize that the stranger had saved her from a violent death. “No please, forgive me. I’m acting stupidly. I owe you my life and I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Dirk Pitt.”

“I’m Eva Rojas.” She felt oddly flustered as he smiled warmly and gently grasped her hand in his. She saw only concern in his eyes and all her apprehension fled. “You’re American.”

“Yes, I’m with the National Underwater and Marine Agency. We’re doing an archaeological survey of the Nile River.”

“I thought you had driven off before I was attacked.”