wrath of the Sea Queen (158 page)

"
Well, t
hat's a new development," Ben noted.

"I suppose, but it's not important
.  Neither are tho
se
," Vin did not want to think about
the spark
or the photos
.

"
I'm sorry.  I thought you should
see
them
since C
a
eli assuredly
has
,
"
Ben said.

"
Thanks
, Ben
. 
I know you
a
re trying to help. 
I
wi
ll deal with
Vicki
later. 
C
a
eli's trust in me will not
dissolve
at the sight of a few potentially compromising
photos
, and we
ha
ve more important
matters
to
discuss
before Salma finishes her test
. 
Let's
start
from the beginn
ing.  I need to
grasp
the big picture. 
I can't wrap my mind around it. 
What do we know about the car accident?
"
  Vin asked, putting the photos completely out of his mind.

"
Well, f
or starters, the car accident was
n
o
t the beginning.  It goes further back.  It started with C
a
eli's friend, Lara.  The one she visited
with
during her trip to New York.  The same one who recommended the energy bars.
"

"
What
does Lara
have to do with
this?
"
  Vin
did not
immediately
follow
Ben's logic.

"
I know we
originally
thought otherwise, Vin, but
th
ose
bars were
n
o
t
poisoned by
accident.
"

"Someone
poisoned
C
a
eli
intentionally?"  Vin was shocked.

"
You remember that
Salma asked me to do
some research
before she
c
ould report the incident
?
 
I found
no
product
recall
.
 
T
he
re was no registered business license for the
company
and
no such product
approved for sale
.  It was a false company. 
Once I
discovered
that
bit of news
, I did some additional digging and
asked
one of my men run it down
even
further
.  The address
provided on the website
was legitimate, but the mail was forwarded to a marketing company in California.  It turned out to be the company where Lara
was
work
ing
at the time
.
"

Vin furrowed his brow and sat forward in his chair.  He placed both elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands.

"
That doesn't make any sense.  C
a
eli and Lara have known each other for years.  Sure, they competed against each other in school, but I always thought it was friendly competition. 
They were never antagonistic toward each other. 
Why would Lara want to hurt
C
a
eli
?  Why
now?
  I would be more inclined to believe that Chief Matthews, if anyone,
would be
responsible.
"

"
That's not a bad thought, but I don't think so.  I don't see how he could be involved.  And I don't think
Lara
wants to hurt C
a
eli
, at least, not directly.  I
believe i
t was Lorrie who wanted to hurt Salma.
"

"What?  I'm not following you, Ben."

"
I know it sounds crazy, but y
ou're going to have to
bear with
me on this
.  I
t will make sense
when we reach
the end.  Do you remember the letters
I told you
Salma
was receiving?
"

"
Do you mean the letters f
rom the government?  Yes. 
And
I suppose there was also something
important
about the letter you showed Maku in the elevator, but I don't know anything more than what I overheard
at the table.
"

"
Forget the government letters. 
I
a
m satisfied that they came from Dr. Jacobs.  No, the letters I'm referring to
were personal. 
They started with the letter that
Maku sent Salma several months ago, requesting help for his father
.  S
he did not respond
because of the guidelines for the drug trials
.  His father died
soon thereafter. 
Maku
was forced
to abandon his own pursuits so that he could focus on taking care of his
younger
brother.
  In fact, they are both here
at the hotel
now."

"I know.  They arrived when I first came out.  Apela is
down the hall with
them
now.

"
If you remember, I invited them to dinner
before all the mayhem started," Ben explained.

"Maku seems like a good man
.  Do you think he is involved?
"

"
No. 
After Maku's father died, Salma received several threatening letters.  T
hey were t
ypical threats, but more than
mere angry
words.  Whoever wrote the letters made it clear that they intended to follow through on the promise that Salma would watch those she loved suffer and die without being able to help them.  I know the difference between a lot of hot air and a real threat.  Trust me, these were real. 
I
tried
everything to track down the source.
"

"What did you find?"

"Not as much as I would have liked.  I
determined that
the
letters
were
written by a female, but they were
obviously
never signed.  I always lost the trail
at a marketing company in
California. 
I'm sure you can guess which one. 
At the time, I figured the person was merely using that
company's
mailbox. 
I even enlisted the aid of a few friends at th
at
local FBI office, but they didn't have any more luck than I did.  Then the threats stopped about
a month
ago,
right
around the time that
C
a
eli was introduced to those bars.
"

"
I still don't get it, Ben.  What do the two ladies and the two incidents have to do with each other?
"

"
Here, look at this. 
This will clear it up. 
Max show
ed
me some old photos
earlier, and he happened to point this one out
.  This is one of Lorrie's
high
school
yearbooks.  Look familiar?
"

"
Yes, it's the same as mine and C
a
eli's,
"
Vin confirmed with a perplexed look on his face.
  He still didn't understand.

"Believe it or not,
Lorrie
went to school with you for a while. 
I talk
ed briefly
with Apela a
bout
Lorrie’s visit to our table
this morning
.  Several things that she said made it obvious that you two
ha
d
met before
," Ben continued
.

"Tha
t much I figured out for myself, but
I couldn't place
where
or when
," Vin confirmed.

"
I was hoping Apela could tell me
that
.  He confirmed that Lorrie
spent
her last year of high
school
and
then
college
in Washington.  Apela knew that you and C
a
eli were from there because of
that
photo C
a
eli let Max borrow on the plane.  C
a
eli also
told him
that was where she met you. 
Apela
easily put two and two together," Ben explained.