wrath of the Sea Queen (241 page)

Scott turned his view from the water and looked up toward the street.  All of the
protestor
s were gone, hauled off in buses. 
The
blonde lady's car
was still there
, but he did not know who she was
or wh
at s
he was
doing
.  Of course, the vehicles belonging to the guardsmen were still
parked in the lot
as well.  Scott's own truck was
a safe
distance down the road so that it wouldn't be spotted.  The scene was clear enough for him to
make
the
attempt on Vin
.
 

He pulled his rifle out of the case and carried it over to a short ladder that led to a roof hatch.  Scott worked his way up and out onto the roof of the hotel, keeping to the shadows and hidden behind whatever cover he could find. 
He stopped behind a chimney, concealing himself from
Vin on
the
beach
below. 
Scott
p
e
er
ed
through the crosshairs, watching as
Vin conti
nued to pace away from the hotel
.  T
he
shot was clear.  Scott needed to wait for Vin to turn
around
and head
toward
the hotel
, coming back within range
so the wind would not blow the shot too far off course
.

"
Go now, Ben!  He
i
s on the roof, and he's g
oing
to shoot
Vin
!
"

Salma opened her eyes suddenly.  She
ha
d
spent the last ten minutes trying to focus on the Book of Elements. 
Because t
his was
only
her
second
attempt at
using her gift in this manner
, it took her a while to fine tune the process.  Once Salma located the
b
ook, she explored the boundaries of her gift and tried to find Scott nearby. 
Thankfully
, Salma was able to see him
; a
nd
the sight
was frightful.  Scott
was on the roof with a
rifle
aimed
at the beach below. 

This once, Ben agreed with Salma.  She would be fine in the room while he went to
deal with Scott
.  Ben had
a
score to settle with the redhead.  He rushed out the door,
leaving Salma to wait anxiously.

Of course,
Salma knew Ben would not have left her alone if
s
he
had told him
the
rest.
 
Salma
was
also able to read Scott's thoughts
, a
brand
new skill
.  He
had revised
his
plan
s
. 
Scott was going
to kill
Vin
,
thus
removing him as a
continuing
threat. 
Then he would use
Vin's death
as
a distraction
so that he could come after Salma
again.  If Scott somehow
eluded
Ben, Salma would be in
serious
danger.  Ben would be furious if she did
n
o
t do something to mitigate the fact that she hadn't told him.

She decided that the best thing she could do would be to find some company so that she was not alone.  Salma knew that Maku was out in the lounge
keeping
Vicki
company
.  Ben
had
personally
asked
both
Maku
and Jeremy
to
stay close until Scott was caught.  Salma decided she would join Maku.  After all, she wanted to get a look at this woman
who
seemed to have an agenda that involved
Vin. 

As Salma
exited
her room, she was
immediately
met at the door by Jeremy, who was leaning casually against the wall.  He offered Salma his support as they made their way to the lounge where she could sit down again.  Unfortunately, the
blonde lady, Apela, and Max had
already
stepped outside.  Maku was not with them.

"
Dr. Erickson,
are you
looking for
someone
in
particular
?
"
  Jeremy asked, noting the way she searched the room when she entered.

"
I thought Maku would be here.  I was hoping to find him and let him know what was going on,
"
Salma replied.

"
Oh, if that's all, then there's no need to worry.  Your husband snatched
up
Maku
when he ran out
, and they ran off in that direction.  I'm not entirely certa
in where they were going. 
Mr. Erickson barely
took
the
time to ask me to keep an eye
on
you
before he rushed off,
"
Jeremy
smiled
in his ever-charming manner
as he
informed
Salma.

She and Jeremy sat in the lounge, waiting for someone to return.  The tension was almost too much for Salma to bear
.  Even Jeremy's jovial nature could not dispel her anxiety
. 
Salma jumped up when
they
heard a gunshot outside echo
through
the building.  It was all Salma could do not to run outside.
  Jeremy
hopped
up and ran to the door, looking down the beach. 
U
pon seeing
what happened
, he remained
in the lounge with Salma, keeping her away from the door.

Ben and Maku reached the attic storage room to find it empty.  Maku wanted to have a quick look around, but Ben wasn't wasting any time.  He spotted the ladder and was up and out onto the roof before Maku could stop him.  He emerged into
the
storm
-tossed air.

He
consider
ed
different scenarios
as he went
.  Why would Scott want to shoot
Vin
now? 
In the cave,
Salma
s
aid he planned to kill
C
a
eli
for her
blood
. 
The change
was an easy mystery for Ben to solve. 
Aside from the fact that
C
a
eli
was missing,
Scott
now
had the perfect chance to take Vin out of the picture
for good
. 
F
urthermore,
Scott
w
ould
us
e
this as a distraction
so he could
go after Salma again. 
Salma would
once more
become his path to C
a
eli. 
And Salma knew it
.  Yet
she still sent Ben up here to save
Vin
.  Ben couldn't fault her
choice
.
  There was wisdom in it, though it irritated him to admit it.

There was no easy way to conceal his presence if
the gusting wind did not conceal the sound of his approach from
Scott
's ears
.  Ben had to take the chance.  He worked his way over to where the redhead st
ood
with t
he barrel of his rifle
pointed
at the beach below.  Thankfully, Scott's attention was focused on his shot, and
t
he
sounds of the storm helped
disguise
the sound of
Ben's
footsteps
.  Scott
did not hear
him
creep
up
from
behind.  A sudden
lightning strike off shore
urged Ben into action.

Ben jerked the rifle to Scott's left
just
as he pulled the trigger
and then wrapped his arms around Scott in a bear hug
.  The shot rang out loudly
, and
Scott now turned his full attention on Ben.  Using the electrical jolt he learned from
his time with Antonius
, Scott tried to break Ben's hold on him.  Though pain coursed through Ben's body, he was not about to let go of the man who tried to kill his wife, tried to kill
Vin
, and caused so much
harm
to others
. 
Instead, Ben used all his strength to swing Scott around, forcefully slamming him into the side of the chimney.  Ben repeated this motion three times before Scott's jolts ceased to
pain
him
.  Scott stopped moving and went limp in Ben's grip, so Ben released him and let him slide to the roof's surface, b
elieving him to be unconscious. 
Ben turned and walked toward the hatch as he heard Maku c
limbing up
to join him.