"It's ok, Max. I'm right here with you. I'm not going to let him hurt you." Caeli tried to help soothe Max's fear.
She began to slowly inch her way closer. The man continued to stare at her.
"What do you want?" She asked calmly of the man who backed closer to the edge and dragged Max along with him. Caeli moved, too, maintaining the short distance between her and Max.
The man in black stared at her and then looked down at the torn section of her blouse.
"You refuse. She demands payment. I take your boy."
His voice sent chills down Caeli's spine. It sounded like mud being sucked through a straw to drown the person on the other end.
"I don't want to go with him, Caeli," Max shook with fear.
It was the only time he had ever called her solely by her name. If she didn't act soon, Max would be severely traumatized and perhaps worse. The thought of Max suffering any further fright made Caeli angry. The distant storm clouds replicated the intensity of her emotion. Yet, the man's few words gave her a vague idea of who sent him and what he really came to retrieve. Her initial assumption had been at least partially incorrect. Caeli formulated a plan that should allow her to save Max because he wasn't her son.
"The boy is not mine to give, nor yours to take. You cannot collect him as payment for a debt that Rika wants to collect from me. Let him go!" Caeli demanded. She hoped her voice sounded as confident as she needed it to be. She was not at all certain that this tactic was going to work.
"You cannot decide. She decides," the man replied somewhat hesitantly.
Caeli noticed the hesitation and did not miss the opportunity. Putting as much authority into her voice as she could muster, and standing with a posture that implied power, Caeli offered what she hoped was an appropriate reply.
"It is my debt. It is my decision. I have decided that you cannot take Max. He is not my boy. Release him now or I will tear you into so many pieces that she will not be able to put you back together again."
Caeli reached out her hand to Max, inching a bit closer to him. He tentatively lifted his small hand toward Caeli. The man in black seemed to consider her words for another moment. Caeli maintained her unflinching and angry stare at the man. In her mind, she prayed the gamble would work. She had to convince him that she was not only capable of hurting him, but also that Rika could not protect him.
Unbelievably, she succeeded. The man finally released Max and pushed him forward into Caeli's waiting arms. She quickly scooped him up and held him tightly, whispering in his ear.
"Max, you're ok. I've got you. You were very brave. It's ok now. I'm going to put you down, and I want you to run up to the hotel and hide in your closet, ok? Don't come out for anybody. You wait there until your Papa gets home. Come out when he opens the closet door. Only come out then and only for your Papa. Don't come out before. Do you understand?"
Max nodded. Caeli set the boy down, relieving the increasing pain caused by his legs wrapping around her injured stomach. Max took off running through the sudden downpour as fast as his legs would carry him.
Caeli, keeping her eyes on the man, took a step or two closer to him, but did not get close enough for him to physically threaten her again. She watched as the man stood there assessing her, uncertain what to make of her. Apparently, he had never before been challenged by his victims. Perhaps he had never dealt with someone of Caeli's special heritage or perhaps Rika had given him limited instructions. The man didn't seem all that bright, so he could be having difficulty deciding what to do next. Either way, the man in black was temporarily uncertain how to deal with Caeli now that she was not running scared. Caeli did not know how long it would take for the man to recover his wits or get new instructions from his boss, but she did not want to wait around to find out. She took advantage of the brief window of opportunity. On a whim, Caeli leaned forward and shouted at the man.
"Boo!"
The man was so startled at the unexpected outburst that he jumped off the ledge and into the water below. He swam out to sea for several minutes before Caeli lost sight of him entirely. She seriously doubted that he would return any time soon unless Rika had the audacity to send him again.
Caeli climbed down from the ledge and walked slowly along the water's edge letting the cool rain calm her frazzled nerves. She also took a moment to assess her injury. The cuts were deep, but nothing she thought might have threatened her baby. She could tend the wounds until Salma returned to offer her professional opinion; but she would be fine. Caeli suddenly started trembling. An adrenaline crash, no doubt. She steadied herself as she turned toward the hotel to find and comfort Max. He was going to need her reassurance and his father's in order to feel safe again. As Caeli walked, the waves seemed to follow her course. The approaching storm was beginning to settle a little closer to shore straight out from Apela's hotel.
Rising unexpectedly, a strong surge of water hit Caeli from behind, knocking her from her feet. She was momentarily covered by the rushing tide. When the water receded, the beach was empty.
CHAPTER 34
"This isn't going to work! She still managed to bring him along and has other guests as well," Scott complained.
"Don't get so worked up. If I'm not mistaken, one of the men at the table is your date's brother. Isn't he, Lorrie?" Dr. Jacobs turned to face the thin, darkly tanned lady sitting close to Scott. Her black hair fell to her shoulders where she idly twisted the ringlets with her fingers. Lorrie's boredom lined her face as she glanced at the table beyond the buffet.
"Yep, that's Apela, and the man walking away is his friend Maku. He probably got this job to earn some extra money for his brother's medical bills. Knowing Maku, he is off to find his brother now. Pete is probably around here somewhere. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if Maku tried to get Dr. Erickson to cure poor Pete. It's a real shame what happened to him." Lorrie's eyes flashed angrily as she uttered the last remark. However, the anger seemed to pass quickly, and her boredom returned.
"What happened to him?" Dr. Jacobs asked.
"He turned up in a bad accident and received contaminated blood during a transfusion. The particular contaminates bonded with his blood, and nobody has found a way to remove them. It has cost him his health and will eventually take his life. But, let's not dwell on Pete's problem. As for the other two men at my brother's table, I can't see their faces from here."
"Well, why don't you make yourself useful and go say hello to your brother and his guests," Scott dismissed her rudely, hardly giving her a second glance.
Lorrie glared at the redhead for a moment before pushing her chair away from the table and storming off toward Apela's table.
"You really shouldn't treat her like that, Scott. One day you are going to push her too far and she is going to be done with you."
"Lorrie? Nah! She's got nowhere else to turn. All the locals adore her, but they know she is damaged goods. None of the upper class, the ones who come here with real money, will have anything serious to do with her. She will be eating out of my hand for as long as I like. She is certainly pretty enough to amuse me for a while longer. Once she has served her purpose, I will toss her out with the rest of the trash."
Scott's nonchalant manner with women constantly surprised Neal. He was no saint by anyone's standards, but Neal did have his own set of principles. He did not find it necessary to treat women with the same callousness that Scott found so amusing. However, Neal also had no desire to waste time debating the pointless topic any further.
"You're right. Lorrie's not important. We have more pressing matters. Tell me about the device you rigged. It's beneath the stage, right? It isn't going to hurt her is it? Please tell me you have planned this better than you did the decommissioning of her husband. I don't want to have to start over because of your sloppiness again," Dr. Jacobs warned. His tone was a clear reminder of his displeasure at Scott's risky and improvised attack on Ben.
"It will be enough of a blast to knock her off her feet and perhaps set off the
sprinklers. The worst she might get is a few bumps and bruises, maybe a scratch or two. All you have to do is rush in and save the doctor. Be ready to move quickly. You don't want her husband reaching her ahead of you. He's pretty sprightly for an older dude. Ah, geez! It was a joke. Don't look so worried. You are always so serious. Besides, I will run interference for you," Scott added as he noticed the sour look on his uncle's face, not appreciating his jest.
"See to it that we are not followed. If I can get her out to the car, then I can knock her out long enough to get away from here. Once I get the identity of her donor, then I will have an endless supply of wealth."
Scott finally saw his uncle smile. So Neal did take pleasure in the good things this life had to offer, after all. They were simply not the same things that Scott enjoyed. Scott glanced down at the timer on his watch as it silently counted down the remaining twenty minutes.
"Apela, what are you doing here?" Lorrie walked up to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. All three men stood as she walked up to the table. Vin ended his silent conversation with Caeli so that he could pay attention to the new arrival.
"My, my! You do make a girl feel welcome. I haven't seen such gallantry since the last time Maku sat at my dinner table. Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes? The conversation at my table was getting incredibly dull. All they wanted to talk about was blood disease and the fabulous Dr. Erickson." Lorrie seated herself in the chair Maku had vacated, without waiting for an answer or an invitation.
"Lorrie, perhaps I should introduce you to my friends before you say anything else." Apela gave her a stern look, but she ignored him.
"Yeah, it's Dr. Erickson this and Dr. Erickson that. It's enough to make you want to kick the woman," Lorrie remarked in irritation.
"Lorrie! The gentleman across from you is Mr. Erickson and this is Dr. Erickson's nephew. Considering the family at the table, I think it might be wise if you refrained from any further comments along those lines," Apela emphasized the last names and Lorrie's attention suddenly became more focused on the two men.
Without missing a beat, Lorrie smiled and continued.
"I apologize, gentlemen. I meant no offense. I'm sure she's a wonderful person. Her work is tremendous and the speech she is giving is quite interesting. Between you and me, it's difficult to sit and listen to your boyfriend drone on and on about another lady for two weeks, and then have him drooling over her in person. I'm sorry, please don't take it personally. It's more of a matter between me and him, and not really her fault at all." Lorrie winked at Ben as she finished.
"Understandable, Miss. Apology accepted." Ben smiled politely, but Vin could tell that he wasn't buying her story. Neither was Vin for that matter.
"So, you traveled all this way to hear your wife speak? That's very supportive of you. Most men would rather go fishing."
That comment hit home, and Ben did feel guilty that he had ever considered spending the week doing just that. Although Salma would never have complained, Ben realized belatedly how selfish and entirely unsupportive it was of him when this presentation was so important to her. But Ben stoically refrained from showing any outward reaction.
"And how about you, Vin? She is not even your mom, just your aunt. What brought you out by yourself? I'm sure your wife wasn't happy about being left behind, was she?" Lorrie asked bluntly, staring across the table at Vin.
Vin was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, covering his hands.
"Lorrie!" Apela whispered harshly and nudged her with his elbow.
"What? I'm curious. You don't see it very often."
"And you wonder why you're still single," Apela said in a harsh whisper.
"It's ok, Apela," Vin spared him.
He now leaned forward, placing his right hand on the table and picking up his glass of tea with his left. As he finished a few sips of the drink and returned the glass to the table, Vin interlaced his fingers and offered Lorrie an explanation.
"My wife is here with me. I would never leave her behind. Salma is actually her aunt. As such, she sort of adopted me." Vin smiled, trying to avoid Lorrie's unrelenting gaze. The way she stared gave Vin the impression that she was trying to look inside his mind and read his thoughts.
Lorrie, seeing that Vin was politely avoiding her attempt to catch his eye, turned her full attention on him. She increased her blatant flirtation; smiling and batting her eyes at him.
"So you didn't really come to hear the good doctor speak then. You followed your wife. She must be quite a woman to bring you all the way from the States to our little island. I mean, you're a good looking fella. You probably have women making up reasons to see you; throwing themselves at you all the time."
Vin showed no outward reaction as he recalled the incident with Vicki, which Lorrie's words brought to mind. She seemed to have an uncanny attenuation to the recent events in their lives.
"I certainly wouldn't think twice about accepting a date with a man as handsome as you if you had ever asked me out, but you never did. What I'm trying to say is that you could have any gal you wanted following you, rather than traipsing after a woman who couldn't even be bothered to show up with you. So, your wife must be pretty special."
By now, Apela's face was bright red with embarrassment on his sister's behalf. Lorrie didn't seem to mind at all as her hand reached out to cover Vin's hands on the table. Vin, refusing to be baited by the woman's poorly veiled attempt to insult Caeli, politely removed his hands, folding them in his lap.
"Well, I don't know about all that, but I do think she is both pretty and special," Vin agreed. Thinking of Caeli reminded him of her condition, and it brought a genuine smile to his face once again.
"There, see now, Apela? Here is one of those honest men you keep telling me to find. I am flirting with him, building up his ego, and what does he do about it? Nothing. All he did was get a little embarrassed by the flattery, and his face lit up like the midday sun when he talked about his wife. Tell me where I can find such a rarity, one who is not already taken, and maybe then we'll be in business," Lorrie good naturedly smacked Apela on the shoulder.
"Lorrie, please!" Apela pleaded with her to stop.
"Oh, all right. It seems I have overstayed my brother's welcome. Well gents, it has been a pleasure. I better get back to my own table, though I doubt my fella has missed me as much as Vin here seems to miss Caeli. But, Scott might realize I'm gone when his glass is empty." Lorrie got up and sauntered over to her table with a parting wave to Vin, who thought the gesture seemed vaguely familiar.
Ben stared after her, wondering if Vin noticed her slip of the tongue. There was definitely something unsettling about Lorrie's demeanor, harmless though she seemed to be. Vin wondered if Ben noticed Lorrie's seeming familiarity with himself and Caeli. Lost in their private contemplations, neither was paying much attention to Apela.
"I'm sorry. Sometimes Lorrie can be a bit dramatic," Apela hung his head.
"Three minutes left. I will work my way over and wait near the side of the stage. And here's Lorrie. She can keep you company during the commotion," Neal said as he looked up from Scott's wristwatch and stood up from the table. He offered his seat to Lorrie as she returned. She graciously accepted, seating herself on Scott's left this time.
"Interesting folks you sent me to meet. I suppose you already knew that was the doctor's husband?" Lorrie asked casually.
"Of course I did."
"You sent me away so that you could talk to your uncle in private." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Scott turned to look at her.
"No, I just wanted to be clear. Did you figure out your puzzle yet?"
"Not yet. It won't be much longer though. We are very close."
Lorrie smiled a wicked grin and laughed. She knew that Scott had no intention of keeping her around for anything long term, but that suited her purpose just fine. The relationship was mutually beneficial. She was using him as w
ell.
Lorrie had an innate talent for web design and graphic communication. After college in Washington, she had started her own business and tried to make it on her own. Unfortunately, she could not generate business as well as she could create the final product. Therefore, in order to support herself, Lorrie finally returned home to Hawaii and earned her two-year nursing certificate, with which she quickly became bored.
That boredom led her back to the States where she first met Scott. A few months earlier, Lorrie was staying with a cousin and doing some graphic design work for his printing firm. Scott came into the office to pick up a brochure proof that she helped design. They hit it off and dated for a few weeks, until Lorrie's help was no longer needed at the printing house and she returned to Hawaii once again.
That brochure, coincidentally, turned out to be for the medical conference they were currently attending. Lorrie learned, after the fact, that Dr. Jacobs was Scott's uncle. The doctor had taken up residence in Lorrie's hometown more than five years ago. He was in charge of coordinating the conference this year. Dr. Jacobs was the one who had placed the order for the brochure. Lorrie never actually met Neal until she returned home and Scott showed up a week later with intentions of renewing their relationship.
It was the longest that Lorrie had stayed in any relationship since she was a teenager. She had been running from her past for years, but no matter how hard she tried to escape, it always seemed to catch up with her and draw her back to this town. At this point in her life, Lorrie was finished running and had decided to take matters into her own hands. She was now hunting down her past and bringing it to justice. Lorrie did not care who else got hurt along the way. Scott, however, turned out to be a useful tool and pleasant distraction for accomplishing her task.
Wrath of the Sea Queen Page 43