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sahara by mr bower an orange dinghy floated seemingly unattended not far from shore and the martha ann calm waves lightly lifted and lowered the orange single motor dinghy on their way to the white sandy beach after holding his breath far longer than the average person was capable of dirk pitt rose quickly through the water with his outstretched arm that held his harpoon once at the surface pitt quickly without looking reached over the side of his small boat and dropped his harpoon amongst his other tools with both arms near his side he bobbed deeper into the water without submerging his head and then scissor kicked causing enough momentum to thrust him out of the water he reached over the side of the dinghy with both arms and with proper leverage pitt s upper body flexed while he pulled up into a seated position inside the boat with one flipper propped up he slipped his leaky goggles up onto his forehead on the shore a white suv with an impressive amount of supplies strapped to its roof approached the white lighthouse stationed on the beach during the day the lighthouse wasn t of much use but during the night many ships used its signal for guidance pitt reached for his spear gun when his keen sense of withitness told him something was ashore typically such a vehicle was not of any interest but in this part of africa such a nice white suv would have to be owned by someone up to something waves continued to lift and lower the dinghy while balancing he gathered the empty spear gun and began searching for the matching spear pitt began to load the gun as he returned his attention to the suv on the shore dr eva rojas stepped from her world health organization who suv and stepped onto the sand from the moment her door cracked open the vehicle s overworked air conditioning unit succumbed to the abrasive heat being from spain eva once knew of the heat but her time spent in washington at the united nations had conditioned her for a much cooler climate even with her shoes and socks on she could sense the heat emanating from the sand a small moped with an old milk carton box over the rear wheel leaned on its kickstand just short of the white stone steps that led to the lighthouse door eva knocked on the hollow wood door and saw that it was not properly latched hello she announced after knocking she pushed lightly on the door and it opened with no effort there was no response impatiently eva stepped inside the lighthouse interior was as hot as the outside not even the shade could offer protection from the sun s relentless beam.

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eva slowly entered the lighthouse she continued to carefully make her way through the entry of the lighthouse with a very noticeable spanish accent eva called for the man she was looking for mr nwokolo again there was no response despite not wanting to be rude but pushed by curiosity eva walked further making her way around a corner when she saw a man seated unconscious on the floor slumped to one side the man s dark skin contrasted with his white undershirt that exposed much of his black upper chest at first eva thought he could be asleep so she approached him quietly but her instinct knew otherwise mr nwokolo eva asked timidly hoping that he would simply awaken by the sound of his name mr nwokolo didn t respond with her medical glove eva placed two fingers on his neck in search of a pulse and looked towards her watch but she quickly realized her watch would serve no purpose because there was no pulse eva dropped her gloved hand and with a heavy heart looked at him and then reached for his upper eye lid with her thumb eva gently lifted on his eye lid only a slight adjustment was necessary for her to see his mangled eye that looked as if it were a vehicle s window shield that had been scratched and smashed from a barrage of rocks red veins in the eye had covered what should have been the white part of the sclera expressionless eva quickly dropped her gloved hand and returned to her suv she opened the rear door while disposing of her medical glove and reached for her brown leather satchel that contained blood and saliva samples collected from others with similar symptoms as she slung her satchel onto her right arm she began to turn from the suv when a man dressed entirely in black including his turban grabbed her left arm eva was stunned and she let out a small cry as she tried to flee she realized that the man in black was not holding onto her but he did have a firm grip on the brown leather satchel despite eva s tiny frame and fragile appearance she was not to be taken lightly and she wasn t going to give up her satchel without a fight without another thought she lifted her knee driving it deep into his groin the man in black released the bag while he crumbled in agony eva ran walking with the satchel would have posed no problem to eva but when she started to run she felt just how cumbersome and bulky it actually was in an effort to run faster she began to pump her arms wildly flinging the bag to and fro after taking a number of strides she realized she was heading toward to the water and with great relief noticed two other bystanders talking on the beach eva yelled out of panic hey but her tiny voice was mostly stifled by her exhaustion the two men looked up to see a woman running out of control they waited for her to approach.

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eva ran right into the arms of the taller man she was going to be okay until he suddenly threw her to the ground eva screamed again out of total shock and now uncontrollable fear the taller man loomed over top of eva s thrashing body and began to turn her over eva resisted but was turned over nonetheless when a monstrous black hand belonging to the taller man almost wrapped completely around her throat instantly eva s esophagus and trachea were squeezed despite her predicament eva continued to resist while flailing her arms about she reached for a weapon or object that didn t exist so she grabbed at the sand throwing it feebly in the direction of the taller man who was choking her out as if the taller man needed any help his accomplice reached for her hands and knelt on her wrists which would have caused unbearable pain to eva had she not been paying so much attention to being choked to death in a deep and sinister voice the taller man said you have no business being here and he looked at her with real hatred eva had been ambushed by three assassins and she might have weighed 120 pounds soaking wet with rocks in her pockets she was beginning to comprehend the total futility of her struggle despite the seriousness of being choked to death eva suddenly realized that the man in black was hovering over her he slowly brought his knife into her field of view as if to taunt her the man in black s eyes were expressionless until his knife was forced from his hand and replaced by the three-pronged end of a spear the man in black s eyes blew wide open in shock while he stared at his bloodied hand that held a spear through his palm now he shrieked in pain eva s breathing began to echo inside her head and as a doctor she realized she was fading in and out of consciousness her brain was not receiving the oxygen required the man in black s accomplices looked up eva while on her back looked to the sea the horizon was turned upside down but she could see another man approaching before she could see more she was forced to recoil in agony extending and stretching your neck while being choked only made breathing more impossible quick get her bag the taller man barked the taller man released his death grip on eva s throat ironically eva replaced his hand with hers in attempt to dull the pain she looked to the sea again dirk pitt had watched the white suv stop at the lighthouse he was all but sure a very pretty girl had exited the suv and entered the lighthouse when three other ominous looking men had seemingly followed the pretty girl pitt s suspicions proved correct when the man in black began the assault now he exited the water after throwing his emptied spear gun to the water he picked up his pace and ran for the taller man pitt blocked the taller man s first punch with his left and unleashed a left undercut that struck the taller man square in

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the sternum despite the taller man s height advantage pitt s uppercut had lifted him from his feet but before he could fall to the sand breathless pitt finished him off with a sweeping left striking him square in the mouth breaking his jaw and leaving him unconscious the taller man s accomplice picked the man in black s knife from the ground and stabbed at pitt as he approached pitt struck the man s arm that contained the knife effectively blocking the attack pitt immediately threw his knee into the man s leg forcing him to the ground in a defenseless position pitt released another right the accomplice began to stand while still holding the knife pitt backed away when he suddenly became aware of the man in black however he did not make for pitt rather he quickly grabbed the leather satchel and took off on foot pitt returned his attention to the man with the knife who was now to his feet the accomplice lashed violently with the knife so pitt leaped to his left effectively spinning behind the accomplice it was all but over as pitt now on the accomplice s flank placed him in a half-nelson while still mindful of the knife in a stunning role of reversal the accomplice now unsuccessfully struggled for air pitt fell forward on top of the now unconscious knife bearer eva still on her back stared up to the sky despite being released by her would be assassin she still struggled to breathe easily the sun blared over top of pitt s shoulder as he looked down into eva s eyes pitt s superior fitness and physical presence had handled the three assassins with little effort and he showed only mild signs of exertion are you okay pitt asked eva registered the question but failed to respond as she finally lost consciousness.

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