wrath of the Sea Queen (170 page)

CHAPTER
38

Lorrie picked herself up off the floor, but she refused to wipe the blood from her busted lip.  She turned defiantly to
glare
at Scott, who stood less than two feet away from her, still fuming.  He looked as though he might hit her again, but once was all that she would permit. 
Scott
only got away with the first strike because he caught her
off guard
after luring her in with a kiss.  She would
n
o
t fall for that again.  After all,
Lorrie had
endured much worse
than this
and had long since learned how to handle men like
Scott
and their tempers.  Standing there staring into Scott's anger-filled eyes reminded Lorrie of
a time in her teenage years
when she once faced a simila
r
scowl
. 

She
was
excited that her father
had
finally allowed her to begin dating.  Of course, it
was
Maku, her brother's best friend, who
was
among the
first
to
ask
Lorrie
out.  They
grew
up together, and she knew Maku cared a great deal for her.  Lorrie caught the eye of many young men back then, but Maku
's
strong physique
and kind heart
appealed
strongly
to her. 

They
had been dating
for nearly a year. 
One
particular
evening, they planned to picnic
in the cave
and watch the stars
as they walked
along
the shore.  Perhaps they would
even swim out to their favorite island.
  It was a good swim, almost half a mile, but they
were
both
well acquainted with the trek, having
made
it
many times over the years.
 

On their way to the cave, t
hey
encountered
three boys, around their same age,
stumbling along the beach.  The boys were obviously drunk and let slip a few indecent remarks
about Lorrie
before continuing on their way with a stern warning from Maku. 
T
he
couple
quickly put the boys out of their
thoughts
and continued on their
route
. 
When Maku and Lorrie reached the cave, Lorrie realized that she
had
forgot
ten
to bring a blanket and asked Maku to run up to her father's hotel and grab one for them to sit on. 

Maku
was
gone for no more than
a few
minute
s
when Lorrie saw shadows lo
oming at the mouth of the cave. 
The
trio
they passed earlier
had
returned.  They must have seen Maku leave and
realized
that
she was alone.  Lorrie
sensed
the impending
trouble.  She stared into the eyes of the boy standing closest to her. 
There was
only anger and hatred
within
. 
Lorrie
tried to call out for help, but they quickly overpowered her and covered her mouth.  She struggled, trying to fight them off, but her efforts were in vain.  Two of them held her down while the third committed a
violent,
unforgivable act
, shattering her childhood innocence.
  When he was finished, and the second boy was about to take his turn, Maku returned.  In his anger, Maku threw wild punches at the boys as they ran from the cave
, succeeding in breaking one of their noses
.
  He didn't
even
notice the pain as
he
broke his wrist in the
flurry of fists
.

Unfortunately for Lorrie, Maku
's r
eturn
had not been
soon enough.  He
had been
briefly
delayed by his father, the local sheriff at the time.  The sheriff was up at the hotel looking for a band of drunken boys who robbed a grocery store about an hour earlier.  They
stole
a case of beer
and
a handful of
cash
and headed toward the beach
.  Maku guessed these were the same boys who
were now running away
.

Lorrie lay huddled on the cave floor, clothes torn, body beaten and bloody.  Maku quickly wrapped her in the blanket
he had dropped at the cave entrance
and rushed her up to the hotel.  Thankfully, Maku's father was still there.  They left Lorrie in the care of her parents and went to track down the boys who assaulted her. 

The boys were caught and charged with Lorrie's
rape and
assault.  Maku and his father testified on her behalf.  The two boys who had not actually committed the
invasive
act were let off with probation due to their juvenile age.  The other boy, whos
e
father was a local politician, might also have squeaked by with a mild punishment if not for Maku's father.  The sheriff
cleverly
pointed out some key evidence
that the defense
attorney
tried to bury.  With
the concurrent charges for the grocery store robbery
,
Maku's father
made it impossible for the
judge to
reduc
e
this boy's sentence.  As the boy was taken away, Lorrie again saw the look of hatred in his eyes.  That look was
now
burned into her soul.
 

Th
e only man Lorrie ever cared about after that was Maku's father.  She admired the way he fought to make sure her attacker received the punishment he deserved. 
She only wished the other two boys received harsher sentences as well. 
Nonetheless, she was grateful for the sheriff's help.  N
obody else ever stood up for her like
Maku's father
did that day
, especially not against a more prominent citizen. 
Maku
had
arrived
too late to be her white knight, and
Lorrie
could not find it within herself to forgive him for not coming back sooner. 

By the time the
long
drawn out
trial was over, Lorrie bec
a
me aware of another unfortunate change.  Not only had she been raped, but she bec
a
me pregnant as a result.  She did not tell anyone about this.  She was too ashamed.  Instead,
Lorrie
sought
what she believed to be
a much simpler solution
.  Every night, right up until the full moon, Lorrie went down to the cave where the assault
took
place.  Not to find peace or closure, but to partake of the special nature of the
Sea Queen's
cave
rn
.  She
fully
believed the island legends about the
lady of the sea
who would grant special favors on the night of the full moon.  Each night
, Lorrie
begged to have this unwanted child taken away from her.  She said that she would pay whatever price was asked, but she
absolutely would not carry this
child
.

Maku walked along the beach on the night of the full moon
, lost in his sadness over what happened to Lorrie and how it destroyed their relationship
. 
He
approached
the cave and glanced inside. 
It was the second time he found Lorrie in distress in that cave.  This time, she was again lying on the floor and bleeding
.  T
he source of the blood was obvious.  She
tried
to convince him that
stress had caused her to
miscarr
y
, and
Maku
allowed himself to believe the lie.  As Maku helped
Lorrie
pull herself together, a
rushing
inflow of water filled the cave up to their
waists
and then receded as quickly as it
arrived
.  When the cave floor was
uncovered
again, there was no visible sign of
the discarded child.

Lorrie never again went out with Maku.  She went away to the mainland to finish
high
school
and attend college
, but she never forgot the look in the eyes of th
e
boy
who
had
changed her life
.

She and Scott
were in the living room of Lorrie's small house, a mile down the road from Apela's hotel. 
They
decided to return there after the hotel fire to spend the night, even though all of the conference guests
were
offered alternate accommodations.  Scott wanted to keep a low profile until all the media attention died down.

In his mind,
Scott replay
ed
the events leading up to the bombing.  He knew that his small explosive
could
not
have
cause
d
all the damage they witnessed. 
The fir
e
raged out of control. 
If not for the sudden
and unusual
rainstorm, everyone in the
suite
would have perished.  No, Scott was certain
that s
omething
amplified
the effect of his small bomb
.