wrath of the Sea Queen (254 page)

"
I don't mind at all. 
I
am
rather
fond of
you
.
"
 

They turned and walked up the beach
, together again
. 

Nobody
was aware of
the lon
e
man standing
in the shadows near the cave entrance.  Unnoticed, he
reach
ed
into the water and retrieve
d
the blood
-
soaked shirt
discarded
by Vin
and
wrapped
it
in a large, dark
r
ag
.  He
stared at the
couple walking away
for several minutes before turning
, himself,
to leave.  No one heard
the
parting words
utt
ered
with
disdain for everyone he had
been
watch
ing the last couple of days.  He held a special contempt f
or Ben and C
a
eli.  His hatred for them was
now
boundless, and in turn, boiled over onto their
respective
famil
ies
.

"
Well
,
Scott, looks like you are the one who came up short this time. 
I should have been around more to teach you better survival skills.  This prize was beyond your
grasp
. 
D
on't worry,
S
on,
I
wi
ll make sure they pay
dearly
for
your death
, and I
wi
ll make a small fortune in the process.
"
 
With that,
Sam
w
alked away
.

CHAPTER
59

When
Vin followed C
a
eli inside
,
the
y found
two people in
the lounge
.  C
a
eli held tightly to Vin's hand and subtly moved to stand closer to him
; a
nervous reaction. 
S
he was feeling
unusually
vulnerable around other people, even her friends.  Vin squeezed her hand in support, letting her know that he understood, as they continued to move
across
the lounge.

Apela and Maku were hanging decorations
for Max's birthday party
. 
It reminded Vin that today was Ben's birthday as well. 
He w
anted
to wish him a happy birthday when the circumstances permitted. 
Now was not the time. 
Other than the two men
preparing for
the
party
, no one else was around.  Vin
noted a
surprising lack of activity in the
hotel
.  It seemed
empty.

"
Where is everybody?
"
  Vin asked.

"You just missed Ben.  He was entertaining Max for a while, but then decided to join his wife
.  She is
resting in their room."

Maku
further
explained that the guardsmen left
to return to storm duty
now that
the threat was
nullified
.  Since the
protestor
s, Lorrie, and Scott were the only known
sources of strife for
Dr. Erickson and C
a
eli, they
were confident
that the trouble was
finally
over.  Ben agreed with them. 
Apela
invite
d
Colonel Franks and Jeremy to stay for Max's party,
but
the
y n
eeded to return to
help their team
do paperwork
on this case
and tie up loose ends.  They said they would try to come back in time for the party.

"
So, Max's birthday is today.  Six years old. 
I'm sure that will be
a
fun age
for him
.  Wh
at time
is his party?
"
  Vin asked.

"
It will be l
ater this evening around dinnertime.  All of us are in need of a little fun and relaxation after t
his morning's
events and the
trouble
th
at has been following us all week
,
"
Apela answered. 
Maku
had
already told him about his sister, but Apela was determined not to let that dampen the joy of his son's birthday.  Apela did not want Max to remember his birthday as the day his aunt died.

"Pretty C
a
eli!  There you are.  It's good that you finally came in, but I don't want to play with you rig
ht now," Max told her seriously as he walked into the lounge carrying a half-eaten cookie.

"Max, I'm sorry
that
I was rude to you outside.  I
ha
ve had a rough morning, and it
ha
s made me a little bit grouchy," C
a
eli apologized.

"Harrowing," Max corrected her.

"What?"

"You had a harrowing morning, like pretty Dr. Salma.  So you shouldn't play right now. 
Mr. Ben says you need sleep after a harrowing morning so you can feel better. 
Y
ou should
sleep. 
Go sleep. 
T
ake Mr. Vin and go to
your room
," Max
order
ed.

It was all Vin could do not to bu
r
st out laughing.  C
a
eli, on the other hand, was
momentarily
speechless. 
Never
before
had she
been told to go to her room, much less by a six year old.  She didn't
quite
know
how to respond
,
though
it did
bring a
smile
to her face
.

"Max, go on and play with your cars.  Leave Vin and C
a
eli alone.  You
wi
ll have plenty of time to talk to them at
your party
."  Apela shooed Max away, but not before he
jumped up into a chair beside
C
a
eli to whisper in her ear
once again
.  This time she nodded
with a small
smile
in response.  Max ran away, loudly exclaiming to Apela that pretty C
a
eli said yes.

"Maybe I should be worried after all.  It seems this young man gets more compliance out of you than I do.  What did you just agree to?"
  Vin was extremely curious.

Before
C
a
eli
could respond, Apela put forth an answer for her.

"
I don't know
what he said to get her to agree
so quickly
, but
I believe
Max enlisted your wife as his personal chef. 
He has been pestering me about it all morning. 
He absolutely insisted that she would cook for him."

"C
a
eli, do really feel up to it?"  Vin asked.

Again, before she could answer, Apela chimed in
on her behalf
.

"Max
r
equested a special
birthday meal, and
your wife
agreed to fix it for him. 
He would be terribly disappointed if she change
s
her mind
;
but if you do, please let me know as soon as possible.  I'll find an alternative. 
However, f
rom what I understand, Vin,
this is
one of your favorites, too
.
"

"
Not unless we're having
pancakes for dinner
.  Wait a minute, are we
?
"
  Vin laughed.

C
a
eli nodded
af
firmation. 
It was a bitter-sweet request. 
Max asked her to fix Vin's favorite meal. 
She wanted to help Max celebrate his birthday, so
was
not
able to refuse such a simple request.
 
Yet
, the memory of the last such meal still pla
gued
her
.