wrath of the Sea Queen (127 page)

"
You're
right. 
I should have known
better
, and
I should have
told
you
as soon as I found out what Salma was doing
. 
Forgive me?"

"Yes, of course
, Vin
."  Already, she could feel
the water
clearing the
medic
ine
from her
bloodstream
.  After five minutes, C
a
eli
sensed
the majority of it
had been cleansed from her system
.  She glanced
up
in the mirror and saw Vin standing behind her
still wearing
a guilty
expression
on his face. 
Sh
e
understood that he
was only trying to help
and
wanted
to do something to let him know
that she did
n
o
t
hold it against him.  She
c
ould n
ever
do that to him.  C
a
eli dried her face and hands with a towel and playfully tossed it at Vin.

"You know, if you wanted to get me into bed, there are much better ways to go about it."

That did the trick.  Vin walked up and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry."

"
You're
hopeless
.  Now, are you going to join me or do I have to sleep alone
again
tonight
?  What's a gal got to do to get a little rest around here?"

Vin laughed
out
loud
.  C
a
eli really did understand.  Not only did she understand, but she was also trying to make him feel better
a
s well as
accommodate his
original intent
.

"You're amazing.  How did I ever get so lucky
that you could love me
?"  Vin
never tired o
f
rediscovering
the depth of
C
a
eli
's love
. 
He whisked C
a
eli off her feet, hearing her delighted laughter in response.  The sound made Vin's heart soar.  He carried
C
a
eli
to bed despite her assertion that she was not a sack o
f potatoes to be lugged around.
Of course, not being able to keep a straight face did not help her case.  They both
enjoyed
a
much needed
laugh.

C
a
eli
nuzzled
on Vin's shoul
der and fell asleep
wrapped
in the comfort of his arms.  Vin
watched her
sleep
for almost an hour.  When she started to toss fitfully, Vin shook her lightly
.  It was
one of
a
few
habit
s
he had developed over the years. 
G
enerally
, it
would
interrupt whatever
disturbed
her sleep
, but
would
not
actually
wake her
.
 
Regrettably
, this time, it did.

"Did I kick you again?"  C
a
eli asked drowsily.

"No.  Go back to sleep."

"Can we talk?
  I know you weren't sleeping.
"

"What's on your mind?"

"
I'm worried about
Salma
. 
She
ha
s had
no end
of trouble ever since
the plane went down
. 
And t
here was something odd about
that crash
."

"
How
do you mean?"

"I don't think the storm brought our plane down. 
The crash
was too carefully controlled.  The
lightning
strike caused enough damage to force us out of the air, but not enough to end in disaster. 
Lightning is not generally so polite.  I'm not certain that the crash
was an accident.
  Do you think the
protestor
s
could have managed something like that?  Why would they?
"

"I don't
know, and I don't
think we'll ever know for certain.  There
i
s no way to investigate the
wreckage
."

"
W
hat
about
Ben getting shot?  I don't think that was an accident either
.
"

"I've considered that."
  Vin kept his answers short, hoping
C
a
eli
would not want to get into the details right then.

"What
about th
at truck
on the ride to the hotel?
"

"I'm surprised you noticed it with as bad as you were feeling."

"
I didn't, at first; but you seemed concerned by it."

"Ah, so you were watching
me
then.  I kind
of
like that," Vin teased.

"You're kind
of
hopeless," she smiled and leaned up to kiss him.

"
T
h
e
n there was
also
the
episode at the
lighthouse.
"

"I understand
your concern, Honey
.  When you lay it all out like that, it does give the appearance of a series rather than a bunch of independent mishaps."

"
Vin,
I
a
m
really
scared for
Salma
.  I'm afraid the
se people
are going to continue until they end up
seriously
hurting
her
or worse
.  I know you
and B
en
have talked
.  Does he have any idea
s
?
"

"
After the incident at the lighthouse,
h
e
suspect
s
that
Dr. Jacobs has a key role in Salma's trouble," Vin replied
honestly
.

"
Wasn't he t
he doctor from the ship?  That would
certainly
explain th
e redhead
from the airport
. 
I knew he had to be
involved
.  He is
, isn't he
?"

"I
honestly
don't know
; not yet
. 
Try
not to worry
about
all of this
. 
Ben w
on't let anything happen to
Salma
.  S
he
is as safe as she can be
.  Try to
f
ocus on getting yourself well. 
Will
you do that, for me
,
C
a
eli
?"

"Of course, Vin, only…"  C
a
eli let the thought trail off unfinished. 

"
Only
y
ou
can't
.
  You
a
re not well
and
can already feel the damage. 
H
e suspects your
improvement is temporary
, and he will blame you
when things go wrong
again
.
"  Rika's voice plagued her
mind
again.

"
Vin will
not blame me
. 
I
will
explain everything to him, especially you.
 
Nothing
is
go
ing to
go
wrong.
"