wrath of the Sea Queen (106 page)

With that, Scott picked up the case from its place on the crate and walked out of the b
arn
, leaving Sam alone with the
young
lady.  Scott always did have a fla
i
r for the dramatic
and an appetite for the fairer sex
.  The former chief
never
spent
much
time with
the boy
in his
young
er years
.  He divorced Scott's mother when
the
child
was seven.  She moved away
to live
near her brother, Neal
.  Scott always resented
Sam
for deserting them and
blamed
him
for
the
misfortunes in
his
life.  Scott didn't care about the numerous times that Sam used his
police
influence to get
him
out of serious trouble.  Sam
, on the other hand,
certainly
did
n
o
t trust his son's motivations for being nice to him
now
.

"
Well,
let's
see what you've brought me, Jenny,
"
Sam said to the lady standing a few feet away.  He walked over and took the basket from her hand.  He removed the b
lanket laced through
the handles and tossed it back to
Jenny
.  Looking inside the basket,
Sam
saw a few sandwiches, two wine glasses, a corkscrew, and several bundles of money. 
He
pulled out a few of the money stacks and stuffed them into his
pant
and shirt
pockets. 
He
smiled and sat the basket aside
, reaching
out
to take
the bottle of wine from
Jenny's
other hand.  It was
,
indeed
,
his favorite. 
Scott seemed determined to please him with these gifts.  Sam
grabbed the corkscrew out of the basket and worked at opening the bottle.

While he did this,
Jenny
spread the blanket on the floor.  She then sat down and kicked off her shoes.  Sam, after getting the bottle open, sat down beside her.  He offered her a drink straight from the bottle.  At first, she refused, but
Sam's
insistence soon won out, and
he watched her
enjoy a few drinks.  Sam moved closer to her on the blanket.  It had been a long six months
in jail
.

"
So, Jenny, what exactly do you get paid to do?
"
 

Scott waited outside for about thirty minutes.  When he no longer heard any sound coming from the interior of the building, he chanced a quick peek through the door before going in
side
.  Sam and Jenny lay on the blanket as if they
were sleeping
, the wine bottle between them.  Scott walked over to the basket, careful not to disturb anything else, and removed the money
from within
. 

"
Sorry, Dad
,
I c
an't have you getting in the way.  This is too important.
"

CHAPTER
26

"
Really, Ben
,
I don't see why I need a jacket to eat lunch,
"
Salma protested.  She and Ben returned to their room after leaving C
a
eli
resting
.  Ben
had
stopped briefly to
speak
quietly
with
Apela before following
Salma
into their room.  Now he insist
ed
that she bring a jacket, and he pulled a blanket down from the closet shelf
as well
.  S
alma
knew
Ben
was up to something, but hadn't quite figured out
the mystery
.

"
Take my word fo
r it.  You will want the jacket, especially if we get caught in the rain.
  Are you ready?
"
  Ben smiled at her.

"
I don't know.  You haven't told me where we're going, so I don't know if I'm ready or not,
"
Salma answered, hoping to pry a few more details out of him.

"
Oh, did I neglect to mention that?
"
  Ben
's
smile
remained
.

"
Yes,
you know very well that you
did.
"
  Salma enjoy
ed
the game.

"
I'm sorry.  How inconsiderate of me.  Shall we go?
"
  Ben laughed this time,
relishing
the surprise Apela helped him prepare for her. 
It was the first time since their arrival that they were going to get to spend some quality time alone.

"
All right, then. 
Wherever we're going,
I hope
the food is
good.  I'm
starving
,
"
Salma finally gave up. 
She grabbed her jacket and her purse, and walked out of the room with
Ben
.  He succeed
ed
at
keeping
his
secret.

Apela met them in the hall and
handed Ben a backpack and a set of keys.  Ben thanked him and quickly ushered Salma away before she could pester the man about
either of the items
. 
Ben pocketed the keys.  Then he
hung the backpack over one shoulder and led
Salma
out of the lounge and into the
damp
afternoon.

Salma glanced over a
t
the
porch entrance to
C
a
eli
's room.  Nothing
noticeable
had changed.
  Salma started to walk over in that direction, but Ben's hand on her arm held her back.

"
Leave
her
alone.  You were in there twenty minutes ago.  You can check on her when we get back,
"
Ben said kindly.  He
sympathized with the fact that
Salma was worried about C
a
eli.
  He was too, but Salma needed a break.

"
But
what if she wakes up
like she did before
?
"
Salma argued meekly.

"
You said the medicine would knock her out for hours. 
She
wi
ll be fine
, and we won't be gone that long
. 
Apela will keep an eye on her.
Come on, you
a
re off the clock for a while.  It
i
s time for you to relax and enjoy your vacation.  Since your original tour guide is temporarily indisposed, you
wi
ll have to settle for me,
"
Ben insisted as they walked along the beach.

"
I don't think of you as settling, Ben.  I held out for you
, and you were well worth the wait
.  Do you want to tell me where we're going now?
"
  Salma gave
Ben
her full attention.  He was right, of course. 
There was nothing more she could do for
C
a
eli
.  She should enjoy whatever special outing
Be
n
had planned
.  Though, when Ben found the time to
devise this adventure
, Salma did
n
o
t know.  He was quite resourceful. 

"
You
wi
ll find out soon enough.  What I want right now is for
my wife
to take a walk along the beach with me.
  It's
not exactly
a beautiful day
, but at least
it's not raining
.  A
pela told me about this great place not too far away
, and I
woul
d like to take you there.  I think you
are going to
like it,
"
Ben explained without giving any specific details.

"
This s
ounds interesting.
"
  S
alma
held on to Ben's arm as they walked along the water's edge looking at the buildings in the distance.  They only
encountered
a few people as they walked.  The first man was a bit creepy
.  His pale skin was covered by
a full black suit and black fedora.  He
strolled by
Max's
cave
and
walk
ed
in the direction of the hotel when they
passed
him.  They continued on.  One young couple reminded
Salma
of Vin and C
a
eli. 
They were so enamored with each other that they seemed to float through the world around them. 
Another man jogg
ed along
with his dog.