wrath of the Sea Queen (160 page)

"
Y
ou said your men confiscated
all
of
the
stolen
blood, right?  So it never reached its
intended
destination. 
Dr. Jacobs or Scott never received it."

"That's right," Ben nodded in confirmation.

"
C
a
eli told me that Scott ran into Salma twice at the airport. 
On t
he second
occurrence,
he cut
Salma's
arm
enough to draw
blood. 
I think he was
trying to get
that
sample
without anyone knowing
about it
.  Since the
first attempt
failed
,
Scott
intervened directly. 
I
t
could
also
explain why they would bring the plane down
, t
hough it was risky and way over-the-top; probably Scott's idea. 
He does seem to enjoy the drama. 
Scott
could have used the lightning that Antonius taught him to bring the plane down in a somewhat controlled manner.
 
Once rescued,
I suspect that Scott
met up with his uncle,
who got himself assigned to that rescue ship as a veteran of the coast guard and active reservist, and
g
a
ve him the blood sample
.  They
would have
had
the perfect
opportunity to snatch Salma
anytime
during the chaos of the
trip to shore
. 
She
c
ould
easily
have been another casualty of the
crash
. 
No one would have been the wiser if you hadn't been on that ship
, Ben
.  They obviously didn
'
t
anticipate
you
r arrival
,
"
Vin relayed the information he learned from C
a
eli and the conclusions he
drew from it
.

"
Well, the bullet in my back wa
s proof that they ha
d
the means to change their plans on the fly,
"
Ben stated coldly.

"
Indeed.
"
Vin
finished.

"
There is one other matter.  Maybe the black van was not a coincidence. 
Not completely. 
There was one person who knew about that van
.  It was only mentioned briefly in the police report,
which
was not public knowledge. 
Very few people
could
access that report.  C
a
eli and I sent one of th
ose people t
o prison, and he just escaped," Ben left an open-ended implication that Vin was quick to pick up.

"You mean Chief Matthews? 
You just said you didn't think he could be involved.
"

"
Not with the poisoning, but
I think there is a lot more going on than we realize
.  A
fter seeing
Scott
at the confer
ence, it made me wonder. 
Sam did have a son.  I never met the kid
in person
, and the photos on Sam's desk were not recent.  However, I do remember that
his
hair
was red
. 
Apela gave his last name as Matthews. 
I
a
m fairly certain that Scott is Sam's son.  But, I can't tell i
f Sam
, himself,
is involved
.  If
he is
, we
wi
ll have to deal with
him
when he shows his hand.
"

"
C
a
eli
recognized Scott
, too.
 
Salma would
n
o
t have known
that Scott
was part of the ordeal in Idaho
, but C
a
eli
will likely never forget it
. 
She saw
Scott
with my sister
when they brought the Book of Elements to Antonius
,
"
Vin explained.
 
He already believed that
Sam
had to be
involved.
  The timing of his escape was too convenient.
 

Vin
now
sat quietly
again
, hands clasped tightly together in front of him. 
Then h
e stood up and began pacing slowly around the
lounge
. 
At one point, Vin stopped
,
placed his hand over his stomach
, and winced as if in pain
.

"
Are y
ou all right?"  Ben asked.

"Fine
;
it was
a passing twinge.  All of this has me so worried that
I suppose
my stomach is
tied
in knots. 
It
was a
little painful
, but it's gone now
," Vin assured him.

 
After a few minutes,
Vin
sat down again, turn
ed
a chair from the table around backward
,
and st
raddled
it facing Ben.

"
Ben, there is something else I've want
ed
to ask you, but
I
was waiting for the right time to mention it.  If
this first question is
too
painful to think about
and
you don't want to answer, I
wi
ll understand.
"

"
Nonsense, Vin.  If I can help, you know I will. 
Ask your question.
"

"
When Salma was in the hospital Friday morning and we left C
a
eli alone with her, did you happen to notice the change to the cut on Salma's head when we got back
to the room
?
"

"
Yes, it was much
improved
, and Salma was awake.
 
I
t
was
such a blessing, and I was
greatly relieved.
"

"Didn't you find it odd how quickly that happened?"

"Not at the time, but now that you mention it, yes.  In hindsight,
C
a
eli
obviously had something to do with Salma's recovery.
  I wonder why neither of them said anything about it.
"

"
I thought so, too. 
And, I don't think either of them was certain about what happened at the time.  I think it was an accidental discovery and the first that time
C
a
eli
healed anyone.  I'm a little curious about all of that, but I'm worried about what happened next. 
Did you
also
see where C
a
eli hit her head on the door?
  She received a bruise and small cut over her eye t
hat
match
ed
Salma's injury.
"

"
Yes, I'm sorry about that…
"

"
No, no. 
That's not
exactly
what this is about
.  There's more
going on with her
.  When you were shot and C
a
eli helped you, do you remember
what she did
?
"

"
Well, I don't really know what she did
or how she did it
.  The results, however,
a
re
unforgettable
.  She removed the bullet that lodged in my back as well as a second bullet that I
carr
i
ed
for
many
years.  Then she stopped the bleeding. 
C
a
eli
made a joke about me being like a box of cracker jacks,
"
Ben smiled at the memory.

"
That s
ounds like her,
"
Vin remarked as he
imagined C
a
eli saying that with her typical
, tension-lifting humor and concurrent
grin
.