wrath of the Sea Queen (105 page)

"
Sure thing
, Pops
.  We
wi
ll be there after one last drink.
"

Dr. Jacobs paid his tab and those of the men at the bar.  He informed the bartender that the men
were out of
money and should not be served any additional drinks.  That
sh
ould ensure their punctual arrival at the lighthouse.  As he walked out of the restaurant and got into his
gray
truck, Neal reviewed
the
plan in his mind.

It was a simple notion.  He wanted Dr. Erickson to trust him enough to turn to him
as
trouble brew
ed
.  This was going to be a test run as well as a chance to secure his relationship as a trusted colleague. 
With
Salma inside the lighthouse, he
could run in and lock the door.  He would explain about the
protestor
s he overheard while eating lunch and offer to call the sheriff
.  Of course, he would
stay with her until it was safe to go outside again.
  It didn't matter if her female traveling companion
joined them
or not.

In the meantime,
Scott's
hired help would show up and make demands o
f
Dr. Erickson
.  She should apologize for her work or stop her work entirely, things like that.  It would keep Salma off balance and feeling insecure.  She would lean on Neal for support.  He and his trusty handgun would save the day. 
With Salma's husband injured, it would also encourage her to look to Neal at the conference as a friendly face. 
The plan seemed virtually
flawless.  There wasn't much that could go wrong unless the young men were late or didn't play their roles well.  If that happened, Neal would adjust his plan to whatever the situation demanded.
 
Dr. Jacobs
smiled as he turned onto the road leading up to the lighthouse and floored the ga
s pedal
.

CHAPTER
25

The small plane touched down briefly
, but did not stop
in the middle of the muddy
, overgrown
lane.  It began
to sink even as the wheels came in contact with the ground
of t
his seldom used
runway
.  T
he
makeshift
airport
had been
shut down two years ago
after a police raid
.

A side door
o
n
the plane
opened
as it rolled quickly toward the encroaching tree line.  A
man in
dark
pants and
a
floral patterned
shirt was pushed out
.  He clung tightly
to a large object as he fell the short distance to the soggy ground below.  The plane accelerated and took off again, before it became permanently entrenched in the mu
d
.

The
ousted
man picked himself up and grabbed the handle of a large black
suit
case, which
had been
jarred from his hands as he hit the ground.  He didn't bother to
attempt to
clean himself off.  The mud he
would have
to walk through wasn't going to get any
cleaner
, so there was no need to worry about it yet.  He looked around and spotted his destination off to
the
left.

Sam headed toward a small building about eighty yards away, nearly hidden by the
surrounding
trees.  When he reached it, he found the door unlocked and stepped inside, out of the wind
and spitting rain
.  This
i
s where he was supposed to meet his partner
and former brother-in-law
, Neal
. 
He waited inside the
single-room, wooden structure
.

Looking around, Sam noted
a
loft covering half of the ceiling.  From the few contents hanging on the wall and
scattered
around the room
,
he
concluded that
it m
ust
be a storage building
for one of the local farmers. 
T
he dimly lit interior
received its only light from a window
spanning
a sect
ion of the roof over the loft.

There was no one else inside. 
Sam
glanced at his watch
; f
ifteen minutes before noon.  He was early. 
So, h
e
sat the
suit
case
on a crate and moved over to
the
utility sink to clean himself up while he waited.  He found a rag
and a gallon bottle of water
to help wash the
mud
from his skin, but his clothes were beyond hope. 
Thankfully, he had a change of attire in the suitcase and quickly donned the clean outfit, tossing the soiled clothes into a corner.

As
Sam
finished wiping the last of the grime from his shoes, the door opened
to the sound of laughter
, and two people entered the building. 
A
red-haired man, looking a bit disheveled
and
wearing a broad grin
,
stepped
in
side
first
.  He was followed by a younger woman, carrying a
picnic
basket in one hand and an unopened bottle of wine in the other.

"
Scott
!  What are you doing here? 
I was expecting your uncle
.  Is everything all right?
"
Sam
asked
,
with both
surprise
and
nervous
ness
edg
ing
his voice. 

"
Of course, and
Uncle Neal
would have been here, but he
i
s taking care of another matter
.  Besides, it
ha
s been such a long time.  I thought you might have missed me, Dad.
"
 
O
nly a
slight
hint of resentment
could be heard
in Scott's voice as he spoke to his father.

"
I
ha
ve missed a lot of things these past six months, Scott.  I came here to make sure the people responsible pay d
early.
"

"
Well, that goes without saying.  I promise you they will suffer.  None of this is going to be pleasant for them.  Just make sure that your plans don't endanger Dr. Erickson.  Uncle Neal has already berated me once for
my
own
carelessness
.  I
got
a bit overzealous when I
arranged to have
her husband shot
," Scott explained.

"Ben was shot?  Is he dead then?"  Sam hope
d
.

"No,
but he will be
laid up for a while
. 
However, i
t
so
happened that
t
he doctor was standing nearby
when it
occurred
.  Uncle Neal was furious.  I
woul
d hate to see you make the same mistake and have Uncle Neal throw you back in jail.  After all, he worked
very
hard to arrange your escape so that you could bring us
the book
.  Wh
o would
ha
ve thought the esteemed, former
chief of police would become a hunted fugitive
and petty thief
?
"
  Scott laughed.

"
Yes
.  T
hat is
quite amusing, Scott.  I
wi
ll try to remember your advice. 
How
badly
was
Ben injured
?
"

"
The bullet hit his
lower back
.  He
will likely be
spending
a day or two
in bed
and a good while in rehab
, given what I could see of his injury.  But, he
wi
ll survive
, for now
,
"
Scott informed him.

"
So, what's the plan from here, and who
i
s your guest?
"
Sam asked
, appreciatively eyeing the low cut top and short skirt of the woman who arrived with Scott
.

"
It is a
lways
straight to
business with you.  Ok, then.  I'm going to take that case off your hands, assuming you were successful in locating the book.  Your money is in the basket Jenny is carrying.  And, being the thoughtful son that I am, I brought you two of those things you missed while you were in jail.  First,
I have
your favorite wine
.  Second
, Jenny is paid up for the afternoon. 
So e
njoy
yourself
.  She
wi
ll drive you into town when you're
done
.
"