wrath of the Sea Queen (94 page)

C
a
eli laughed and cautiously got out of bed.  She walked slowly over to her suitcase. 
Unzipping
the top section and setting aside a manila envelope she discovered inside, C
a
eli pulled out one of the bars. 

"
Here, take this out to the lobby or whatever
lounge area
they have here.  I'll be along in a minute.  Gotta make a pit stop first,
"
C
a
eli said as she tossed the bar to Salma and
made her way to
the
bath
room.

"
Difficult patient,
"
Salma muttered and shook her head as C
a
eli managed to disregard her instruction to stay in bed.  Salma left the room with a smile on her face, glad to see C
a
eli
up, moving, and
feeling better. 

Ben met
Salma in the lounge
, having just returned from their room
.  He carefully folded a piece of paper and placed it in his front pocket
right
before she
joined him
.  In his other hand, he carri
ed
several sheets of paper, which Salma traded him for the energy bar.

"
Here, you hold this, and I'll take that report.
"

"
What is this?  Oh, one of her bars.  Are they really a
s
bad
as Vin says
?
"
  Ben had not t
asted them
.  They were supposed to be for women, so he
did
n
o
t see
the need.

"
If you
a
re feeling brave, you can find out for yourself,
"
Salma dared him.

She
skimmed
through the pages
Ben
handed her, brow furrowing the more she read.  When she finished, Salma started over, rereading each page thoroughly.  After completing the second reading,
Salma
looked up at Ben. 

"
Was there another page?
"

"
I
…
po
ssibl
y
.  Do
you want
me to look
?
"
Ben stumbled over his answer.

"
No, that's ok.  I have the important part.  I
ran that last test because
she
asked me to do so
, but it won't make any difference
based on what I'm seeing here
. 
I
ha
ve the answer, b
ut
it doesn't make any
sense, Ben.
"

"
Bounce it off of me,
Love
.  What's troubling you?
"

"
Well, I was right about the toxin.  There are high levels of drugs in C
a
eli's system that should
no
t be here
at all
.  They most certainly would explain her symptoms. 
I
t's
very
strange.  It
resemble
s a cocktail of drugs you would give to a cancer patient; and they would have to build up over a period of time, perhaps three weeks
or more
, to reach these levels.  I can't imagine where she might have been exposed to the drugs, much less over time or in such high doses.  If I didn't know any better, I would say
C
a
eli
i
s being poisoned.
"

Ben did not reply right away.  He rubb
ed
his chin, which Salma knew was a sign that he was working through the puzzle.  She waited patiently for him to come up with
a
solution. 
Ben
always did.  This time was no different. 

"
Salma, can you test a food sample to see if it has those
same
chemicals in it?
"
  Ben finally asked her.

"
I suppose I could if I had
a large enough
sample
.
"

"
Catch.
"
 
Ben tossed the energy bar
back to her
.

Seeing the puzzled look on Salma's face, Ben explained his logic.

"Think about it.  You said she started eating those about a month ago, and she eats at least two of them every day.  I would say that's a significant change of habit, wouldn't you?  It fits your requirements for the exposure."

"Seems unlikely, Ben.  She showed me the company's website.  It looked legitimate and was recommended by one of her friends.  Commercial products have to undergo rigorous quality testing before being approved for distribution to the public."

C
a
eli had been eating the bars ever since Lara shipped her a few box
es
to try over a month ago.  Wh
at neither Ben nor Salma knew was that wh
en C
a
eli told Lara that she intended to stock up on the bars, Lara explained that she made a huge mistake with her own order and had more bars than she could eat in a year.  So, when they met up at the conference in New York, Lara gave C
a
eli enough of the bars to last more than three weeks; and then promised to send her another case when she returned home.  Lara had shipped the case overnight, and it arrived Saturday evening. 
C
a
eli never actually ordered from the website herself.

Nonetheless
, she
had been eating
the
bars daily for breakfast and sometimes snacking on a second or third bar during the day or as a meal substitute.  As a matter of fact, because C
a
eli was not familiar with New York and did not want to venture out to explore the local cuisines, she practically lived on the bars during the two weeks that she
stayed
on the east coast.  While she couldn't honestly say that the bars delivered on their energetic promise, C
a
eli did enjoy them.  Salma, on the other hand, thought they were disgustingly sweet,
almost to the point of tasting
bitter.

"
Perhaps
she got a
bad batch.  Can't hurt to test it, can it?
"
  Ben persisted.

"
I guess not
.  I
wi
ll
see if anything turns up
.  C
a
eli should be out in a few minutes.
"
  Salma walked over and kissed
Ben,
then went off to run the new tests. 

Ben sat down in a chair
and pulled out a gold chain with a flattened metal object dangling from it like a pendant.  Using the edge of his small pocket knife, Ben spent almost forty five minutes meticulously etching images on both sides of the pendant.  When the task was completed to his satisfaction, Ben returned the chain and pendant to his pocket
and promptly fell asleep, enjoying the warm air and peaceful setting.

"
Hello, pretty C
a
eli,
"
a little voice said from the porch
outside
her room.

"
Hello, Max.
"
  C
a
eli was slightly startled by the unexpected visitor as she exited the
bath
room
.  After being sick again, she had freshened up and changed clothes.  That little bit of effort wore her out,
though
he
r outward appearance fared
much better for it.

"
I brought you
a
flower to help you feel better.
"
  Max stuck out his
thin
arm and offered her a beautiful,
pale
blue flower on a long stem.
  The bud was large, with blue petals tipped in silver.  It was one of the prettiest flowers
C
a
eli
had ever seen.

"
That
's
very nice of you. 
Thank you, Max. 
I
t's
beautiful.  I love blue flowers.  What is
it
called?
"

"
It's a sea rose.  My Mama used to put them on the tables for the guests. 
I can put it in water for you.  Papa keeps a flower cup under the sink.
"
  Max
dodged around C
a
eli and
ran into the bathroom
.  He
pulled a clear, glass vase from
the cabinet beneath
the sink
and
climbed up on the
counter
to
fill
it
half full
of water.  Max
br
ought
it back,
insert
ed
the
flower, and
place
d
it on the dresser.