wrath of the Sea Queen (137 page)

"
A
s
you said, I am a resourceful guy,
"
Maku replied with a grin. 

"
Clearly.  You were able to find an address for a house titled under her maiden name and not published in any
public
directories.  She went to a lot of trouble to keep her personal
information out of her patient
s
'
and colleagues
'
hands. 
Your
success is no small feat.
"

"
Thank you
, I think
. 
If you
wi
ll excuse me, I really must
check on
my brother.  He
i
s sitting at a table
closer to
the front.  He will not believe that I have spoken with you.  Thank you for understanding.
"

"
Before you go, if Apela is agreeable, I would like to invite you and your brother out to have dinner with us
at his hotel
.  If you promise not to let anyone know where we are staying, that is.
"

Maku grinned broadly. 

"
Of course, yes, I mean, no
.  W
e would never
betray your confidence
.  I can't wait to tell Pete.  He will be thrilled.  Thank you, Mr. Erickson.
"
  Maku
vigorously shook Ben's hand before walking
briskly toward the front of the room.  Vin
tracked him through the
crowd
until he sat
down next to a thinner man at a table with eight other guests.  The
thin
man's head started to turn toward the back of the room, but Maku quickly recalled the man's attentio
n and kept him from looking in their direction
.

"
Ben, I know that look on your face.  What are you thinking?
"
  Vin asked quietly.

"
I believe that you were right when we first started this journey.  There
i
s something larger brewing, and
it
i
s not the impending storm. 
I'm beginning to get a
whiff
of what it might be
and, u
nfortunately,
our wives are
at
the center of it.
"

"
Then we agree, somewhat.  I think C
a
eli's part has already been
played
, but I think Salma's turn is yet to come; and I spotted the two people who might be instigating most, if not all, of this trouble,
"
Vin indicated with a nod of his head, before ducking inconspicuously behind a
seminar booklet that h
e snatched off
the table
. 

Dr. Jacobs, his nephew Scott, and a
dark-haired
young lady walked in twenty minutes late, and
sat
at a table directly in front of theirs.  Thankfully, the guys' table was further back in the room, away from the main
audience
, behind even the main buffet and coffee tables.  They
were
seated with the security detail, away from the
primary
guests.

Ben looked over at the redhead he met on the ship.  Now that
t
he chance to get a better look at the younger man
presented itself
, he
took
full
advantage of the opportunity
and
recognized something he missed before.  It had been several years, but he was nearly certain of his recollection.  If
Ben
was
correct
, it added
yet another
layer to the intrigue.

"
Oh, great!  She
i
s still with that weasel,
"
A
pela commented upon following Ben's gaze.

"
You know the couple with Dr. Jacobs?
"
  Ben asked so that Vin would not have to blow his
poorly
crafted cover.

"
Yes, the redhead is his nephew, Scott Matthews.  The lady is my sister, Lorri
e
.
"

CHAPTER
33

C
a
eli cleaned up he
r
room and the
n the
lounge.  She and Max played card games and talked about baby names for nearly an hour.  As they sat in the lounge reading one of Max's storybooks, C
a
eli suddenly
had the
unsettling
feeling that she was b
eing watched.  She glanced out the
screened
window and saw a silhouette of a man standing on top of the circular ridge of Max's cave
,
n
ear the water.  C
a
eli could not discern any of the man's features,
washed out by the glare of the
sun. 
However, s
he had the impression that it was the same man th
at was
on the beach during their walk.  Who could he be?  Why was he hanging around the hotel?  C
a
eli did not like the idea of him returning
now
.

She was alone with Max and
, given her condition,
did not
want to risk a confrontation. 
Even though, under normal circumstances,
C
a
eli
had the skills to
adequately defend
herself
against a single man
. 
T
he week so far had been anything but normal, and she wanted
to avoid
such
a situation
. 
Nor
did
she
want to scare Max
or let him
know that she was
somewhat alarmed by the man's presence
.

"Max, how would you like to
help
me
bake cookies in the kitchen
?"

"Yes!"
  Max thought
found
that
to be
a gr
and
idea and raced ahead of her.

C
a
eli gave one last glance
in
the man
's direction
before stepping into the kitchen, but she could no longer see him.  The
top of the
ridge was
deserted
. 
She didn't know if that was a good or bad sign.
  As she followed Max toward the
pantry
, C
a
eli
, slightly rattled,
called to Vin through their link to get his opinion.

"
Vin?
"

"
Hi, Honey. 
Everything ok with you and the baby?  A baby!
"
  Vin's excitement about the new development still
danced
near the forefront of his thoughts.

"
Yes,
our
baby.
"

"
I'm sorry for sounding so silly.  I'm thrilled,
and
I
'
m still processing the reality of it.  Is everything ok there?  Max isn't pestering you too much is he?
"

"
You don't sound silly at all.  I am glad that you are
so
excited
. 
It makes me that much happier.  And
Max is no bother at all.  That's not why I called you,
" C
a
eli replied as she closed the kitchen door until only a two inch gap remained.

"
No?  Wh
y
then?
"

"
Vin,
that man
is
out on the beach again
.  I'm not sure if I should be
concerned
about him or not
.
"

"
What man?
"

"
The one that Max and I saw
during our walk t
his morning
; the one with the undertaker's full black suit and black fedora. 
Oh,
wait
!
  Y
ou were still sleeping.  I forgot to mention it
with the other news on my mind
.
"