wrath of the Sea Queen (136 page)

Maku offered to take the guys up to their table
right away
, and they followed him to a
n
earby
elevator.  As they rode, Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out a
folded
envelope, which he silently
offered
to Maku.

"
Go ahead, open it,
"
he said when Maku stood there staring at
it
.

"
I don't need to, Sir.  I know what's in it.
"

"
I thought so.  You are quite resourceful.  I
suspected that you might
find your way
to Salma's seminar
.  Why don't you join us
at our table
, Maku?  I think you and I ought t
o have a chat,
"
Ben said calmly, but
he
clear
ly
wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Apela and Vin stood quietly
during the exchange
.  Vin listen
ed
carefully
and
caught a
glimpse of the envelope as Maku
handed
it back to Ben
.  It
looked like a
normal
letter
a
ddressed to Salma
Erickson
at her home.

Salma was greeted with a warm welcome from a room packed full of
nearly
four
hundred
medical professionals.  Ben watched from
their
isolated table at the
rear
of the room.  The pride in his eyes
shined clearly
to Vin
. 
Ben
had
not
simply
fall
en
in love with a pretty face.  He admired Salma's passion for her work and
the genuine
car
e she
provided to
each of
her patients
.  Salma gave more of her time and herself
than most people realized.
  Ben also liked the spunk in Salma's confident manner that allowed her to accomplish the amazing things she did. 
He
still found it incredible that they were actually married
,
and
h
e thanked God for Salma every day.

The
men were
seated at a round table, much like all the others
up front
, only smaller.  This one only
accommodated
fo
ur chairs, two facing the front
and two turned to face the
rear
of the room.  It was adorned with a white tablecloth and a centerpiece consisting of a glass decanter with red decorative beads and red roses.
 
Ben and Vin
occupied
the two chairs facing the front of the room.  Maku and Apela sat with their backs to the
podium
.  Maku's security jacket could be seen clearly by any who
glance
d
in th
eir
direction
.  The
bodies of the
two island men obscured both Ben and Vin from the view of
a
ny
one
seated
in the front
section
of the room
.

After a few minutes of listening to his wife's presentation, Ben turned his attention away from Salma and looked at the man seated
across from h
im.

"
Maku, what is it, exactly, that you want from my wife?
"
 
Ben got straight to the point.

Apela glanced at his friend in surprise.  He had no idea what was going on, but he did know that Maku's younger brother was sick.
  Perhaps it
was related to
that.

"
I
only
wanted her to talk to my brother.  I thought that if she could meet
Pete
, then perhaps she would be able to help him.  Somehow, I
got it in my head
that
she w
ould.
"

"
Why d
oesn't
your brother participate in the trials?
"

"
We could not afford the
treatments
, so
Pete
was
denied,
"
Maku explained and hung his head sadly.

"
What do you mean?  The trials are supposed to be free.  Who
told
you
it was necessary
to pay?
"

Vin watch
ed
Ben as he questioned Maku.  He could see that
focused
look on
Ben's
face again and
recognized Ben's
p
rofessional
persona.  Ben
was in the midst of a
puzzle and
already
working
rapidly toward
its solution.

"
The doctor who runs all the major trials on the island, Dr. Jacobs
, sets the price
.  He has been in charge for five years and has always charged
participation
fees
for drug trials
. 
He says it is to cover the cost of setting up the program
s
.  Dr. Jacobs
i
s also the one
responsible for bringing the
medical
conference to
the island
this year.  He said that since he held a key position in the trials for Dr. Erickson's
w
ork, that the
committee
would have to host the event here; and it seems to have worked.
  For that, I am g
rateful.  Otherwise, Pete might not have had this opportunity to speak to her
.
"

As Maku explained, Vin beg
a
n to make a few connections of his own
regarding Salma
.  C
a
eli's warning was beginning to make a little more sense. 
Scott would have learned about the Book of Elements from Antonius. 
If Scott
wanted
the power
it
conta
ined
, then Salma was a good target.  Salma's research was based on
one of the
bloodline
s
that
could access
the
B
ook
, and
Scott could easily have made that connection. 
He probably
intended
to get Salma to reveal the
donor, not
realizing
that Salma herself was
a member of that
blood
line
. 
That
could be
what Urim was referring to when he said Salma's work caught the attention of some very bad people
; people unlike Maku and his brother
. 
Of course, if Scott or Dr. Jacobs had tested Salma's blood, as C
a
eli suggested, then her
heredity would not
have
remain
ed
a
secret for long.  Salma could, indeed, be in serious trouble
for multiple reasons
. 
No wonder C
a
eli was worried. 
Vin
had
already shared
Urim's news
with Ben, but B
en did not yet know about Scott.
 
Currently, Ben's attention was focused on determining whether or not Maku posed a threat to Salma. 
Vin would mention
Scott
to him as soon as they had a moment alone.

"
My wife read both of your letters many times.  S
alma
was in tears when she read
that your father died, but
she was not permitted to answer you.  There are all sorts of rules and guidelines that she has to follow or her work w
ill
never reach the public.  She is not allowed to
assist with
the trials or select recipients, otherwise the results could be considered biased.  However, she did take copies of your letters to
each
of the selection committees and begged them to consider both your father and your brother.  It was tearing her up not knowing if your brother
had been
selected
.  It will hurt her more
when she finds out
that he was not.
"

"
I am sorry, Mr. Erickson.  I
did not mean to cause
your wife
any distress
.  I can see
that
I was wrong to write to her.
"

"
No, Maku
.  It wasn't wrong
. 
I never
truly
believed you meant her any harm or I would not have permitted
you to get this close to her
.  I understand that t
here are times when such
pleas as you made
are necessary.  Fighting for your family is definitely one of them.  You have no need to apologize. 
I just wanted you to understand
the
full scope of Salma's situation
.  I am curious, though, how did you find our home address?
"
  Ben smirked at him.