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She had to have learned something to earn that degree.
    Or was she really a Ph.D.? She might have made up her title; he had no proof of anything about her. Only her say-so.
    Besides which, he thought with a little grin, Egyptian antiquities had become tourist attractions and perhaps she had come to add them to a private collection. And even if she was an Egyptologist, she probably knew nothing of the Arab world she was about to enter. In the actual desert, life was not so civilized, according to Western standards.
    He was suddenly wondering just how much she actually knew about the Middle East—about the emirs and sheikhs who ruled their tribes in the United Arab Emirates today almost as they had through the centuries.
    She must know something, he thought. She had had the sense to hire a guide to enter a world where women were still treated as property rather than as individuals. Yet even with a guide, a woman—especially a blonde—might find certain places, ruled by tribal law for centuries, dangerous.
    He began to worry a little. What if she was someone special to Crosby? He really couldn’t allow the man’s fragile mistress to go traipsing alone into a desert where just the shade of her hair would make her worth countless camels and goats, a land of Islam where slavery was permitted in the Koran, the holy book of those who “submitted to God.”
    A slow grin worked its way along his mouth as he thought of a way both to teach her a lesson and to protect her.
    Ali would probably find the plan amusing and lend his full support. And, Dan decided, mentally doing a bit of arithmetic, he should have plenty of time to set his little scheme into action.
    He rolled over on the bed, suddenly awake and alert. First he called Raj. “Can you get a few days off from the hotel?”
    “For you, Mr. D’Alesio? Certainly. My father will be most happy to replace me in order to accommodate you!”
    “Wonderful,” Dan said shortly. “What I want you to do is this: First, get me a private plane out of here tonight. Second, call that guide agency and cancel Dr. Randall’s request. I want you to appear tomorrow morning at her hotel as her guide.”
    Raj started chuckling. “I will be the best guide in the world, Mr. D’Alesio! But won’t we wind up in trouble?”
    “Trust me, Raj; I’ll handle anything that comes up. All you have to do is go along with the lady. …”
    He detailed his plan for Raj and hung up the phone to start packing the few things he would need for the trip. Raj called him back to tell him his plane would be leaving in an hour.
    Dan had one more phone call to make.
    Jesse Coffee, Dan’s makeup man, thought his request a bit strange, but when Dan was on a streak, it was best not to question him. Dan was a great employer, confident in himself, confident in those who worked for him. He never questioned his employees’ abilities once he had hired them, but he was also a private man, working his ideas out in his own mind before bringing the others in and asking their opinions. D’Alesio was charismatic, adventurous, fascinating. Life with him was never dull.
    Jesse Coffee enjoyed his job too much ever to rock any boats. He agreed to have everything Dan wanted in fifteen minutes. When Dan was ready, he would let the film crew in on whatever story he was off chasing now.
    Dan knew this was one adventure the film crew would never be in on.
    He was out of his hotel room in another five minutes. His taxi stopped at the Cairo Hilton, where Coffee gave Dan the paraphernalia.
    And then, with plenty of time to spare, Dan headed for the airfield and the small private plane he had hired.

CHAPTER THREE
    A S THE SMALL PLANE soared over eastern Egypt, the Red Sea and Saudi Arabia toward the United Arab Emirates, Alex reviewed the time spent—or wasted—that had brought her to this rattling flight across endless deserts. She had tried not to panic when Jim hadn’t been at the airport when she had arrived two weeks ago. She