wrath of the Sea Queen (6 page)

"
They caught th
e guy a few miles down the road,
"
Vin said as he slid one of the coffee cups across the table.

Vin
got straight to the point
.  He knew it was the main question Ben
needed answered
and there was no sense beating around the bush.  Be
sides, in Ben's line of work,
you really couldn't
hide
much
from
his keen observations. 
He
had
called Vin
and asked that he bring th
e report
, though C
a
eli was unaware of
Ben's request
and the additional
details
he provided to Vin
,
th
inking that
C
a
eli might have missed
them
when she called to let Vin know what happened
.  Ben
was
fully
expecting Vin to have some news to share with him.

"
I figured as much or you wouldn't have called me away. 
Was it
a burglary or a carjacking
?
"

"
Both.
"

Ben raised an eyebrow in question,
and
Vin continued. 

"
The man is
a local
junkie
.  He
ha
s been arrested several times for minor stuff
-
check fraud,
petty
theft,
possession, and
even hit
ting
a convenien
ce
store.  The only thing that was different this time was
the stolen van and
his drug of choice.  After your men threatened him with several years in prison, he confessed that he
intended
to
earn a
load
of cash
by
selling
the stolen
blood
to fighters
in an illegal tournament later
this
evening
.  Apparently, he was caught with
several units
taken
from the hospital's blood bank.
  Your men are already planning
a
raid
on
the fight scene.
"

Vin looked across at him.  Ben was not rubbing his chin, which was his typical mannerism when working on a puzzle.  That meant he was either already a step ahead or he simply di
dn't care.  Perhaps Ben was
too worried about Salma to think about this right now. 
Ben's next question proved that, despite his worry, he was already thinking the matter through and was at least a step or two ahead of Vin
.

"
And
what did they learn about
the black van?
"

"
It was
reported
s
tolen
from a youth center
last week
.
  It was not the same one that was used by C
a
eli's attackers.
"

"
That's
a relief
.  I will admit that
I
was concerned when I saw another black van
. 
Although
, I
a
m not even sure if
C
a
eli
knew about
the van
from the
botched abduction
," Ben said.

"She
knew
.  We discussed nearly all of the details about what happened that week
, but she
has tried to put th
e
ordeal
behind her.  I
would
prefer not to remind her of it unless
it
'
s
necessary
," Vin
replied.  He had been
suspicio
us about the vehicle as well.

"
Well,
i
t was
just a coincidence. 
That's one less thing to worry about. 
I'm actually worried about the increased
amount of correspondence
Salma's been getting from these government people.  Each letter gets more
aggressive
.  They keep insisting that she reveal
her donor.  The letters
border on threatening, but
always
stay
below the legal action
limits
.  It was one of the first thoughts that popped into my mind
.
"

"
Do y
ou think this
accident
had
somet
hing to do with the letters?
"
  Vin asked, trying to decide
for
himself which of the scenarios was most likely;
junkie
fleeing the scene or government
conspiracy
against Salma
.

"
It's hard to say, but it wouldn
'
t surprise me.  I don't
rule out
anything
when it comes to
government folks looking to line their pockets
. 
Salma's work
will be quite lucrative when it hits the market, even though that is not why Salma did it."

"I know, Ben.  Salma only wants to help people," Vin fully understood Ben's frustration with the greed of others imposing on his life.

"
Speaking of which,
I
woul
d like to
get
back to Salma now, if
that's all
you have
.  Oh, by the way, C
a
eli loved the rose.
"
  Ben offered Vin a quick smile
as t
hey got up
from the table
and
walked
down the hall
, retracing their original path
.

"
Thanks, Ben, though it seems trivial now. 
But w
ait 'til you hear what happened at my client's house.  C
a
eli is going to flip
!
"

"
Trivial?  Nonsense
, Lad
.  It makes me wish I
ha
d done something
special
like that for Salma last night.  Then, at least she would have something nice to think about while she's lying
in
there
resting
.  Don't you ever stop treating that young lady like
royalty
or else you might have to answer to me
,
"
Ben quipped, but Vin could hear the underlying note of seriousness in his voice as well.
  Ben treated C
a
eli as if she were his own daughter.
 

"Point taken, Captain," Vin replied.

"
Oh,
one
other thing while I’m thinking about it. 
C
a
eli
was sick at the airport.  Maybe she's
still
getting over
th
at
flu," Ben told
Vin
about C
a
eli's trip to the restroom.

"
Th
is is
not exactly the homecoming I
ha
d planned
for her
,
but
at least s
he's home
. 
I
wi
ll make sure she gets some rest
and takes care of herself.
"
Vin thanked
Ben
for letting him know.  C
a
eli would not have told him about it.  She did
n
o
t like
to have Vin fuss
over what she considered
to
be no
big deal
.
 

"
So,
what exactly will C
a
eli be
upset
about?
"
  Ben asked as they walked
the long corridor
.

"
You
wi
ll get a kick out of this. 
You know that
C
a
eli
doesn't take kindly to other women putting their hands on me
, even politely
. 
She
gets a bit…territorial. 
Call me
weird and don't tell her, but I have always
lik
e
d
that about her," Vin began
.