wrath of the Sea Queen (141 page)

"
Boo!
"

The man was so startled
at the unexpected outburst
that he jumped off the ledge and into the water below.  He swam
out to sea
for several minutes before C
a
eli lost sight of him
entirely
.  She seriously doubted that
he would
return
any time soon
unless
Rika
had
the audacity to
sen
d
him again.

C
a
eli climbed down from the ledge and walked
slowly
along the water's edge
letting
the cool
rain
calm her
frazzled
nerves
.  She also took a moment to
assess her injury.  The cuts were deep, but nothing she thought might have threatened her baby.  She could tend the wounds until Salma returned to offer her professional opinion; but she would be fine
. 
C
a
eli
suddenly
started
trembling. 
An adrenaline crash, no doubt. 
She
stead
ied
herself
as she
turn
ed
to
ward the hotel to
find and comfort
Max. 
He was going to need her reassurance and his father's in order to feel safe again. 
As
C
a
eli
walked, the waves seemed to follow her
course
. 
The approaching storm was beginning to settle
a little closer to shore
straight out from Apela's hotel. 

Rising unexpectedly
, a
strong
surge of water hit
C
a
eli
from behind, knocking her from her feet. 
She
was momentarily covered by the rushing tide.  When the water receded, the beach was empty.

CHAPTER
34

"
This isn't going to work
!
  She still managed to bring him along a
nd has other guests as well,
"
Scott complained.

"
Don't get so
worked up
.  If I'm not mistaken, one of the men at the table is your
date's
brother
.  I
sn't he, Lorrie?
"
  Dr. Jacobs turned to face the thin, darkly tanned lady sitting close to Scott.  Her black hair fell to her shoulders where she idly twisted the ringlets with her fingers.  Lorrie
's
boredom
lined
her face as she glanced at the table beyond the
buffet
.

"
Yep, that's Apela, and the man walking away is his friend Maku. 
He p
robably got this job to earn some extra money for his brother's medical bills.  Knowing Maku, he is off to find his brother now.  Pete is probably around here somewhere.  Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if Maku tried to get Dr. Erickson to cure poor Pete.  It's a real shame what happened to him.
"
  Lorrie's eyes flashed angrily as she uttered the last remark. 
However,
the anger seemed to pass quickly, and her boredom returned. 

"
What happened to him?
"
  Dr. Jacobs asked.

"
He turned up in
a bad
accident
and
received contaminated blood during a transfusion.  The particular contaminates bonded with his blood, and nobody has found a way to remove them. 
It
has
cost him his health and will eventually take his life.  But
,
let's
not dwell on
Pete
's problem
. 
As for the other two
men
at
my brother's
table, I can't see their faces from here.
"

"
Well, why don't you make yourself useful and go
say hello to your brother and his guests
,
"
Scott dismissed her rudely, hard
ly giving her a second glance.

Lorrie
glared at the redhead for a moment before pushing her chair away from the table and storming off to
ward Apela's table
.

"
You really shouldn't treat her like that
, Scott
.  One day you are going to push her too far and she is going to be done with you.
"

"
Lorrie?  Nah!  She's got nowhere else to turn.  All the locals adore her, but they
know
she
i
s damaged goods.  None of the upper class, the ones who come here with real money, will have anything serious to do with her.  She
wi
ll be eating out of my hand for as long as I like.  She
i
s
certainly
pretty enough to amuse me for a while
longer
. 
Once
she
ha
s served her purpose, I
wi
ll toss her
out with the rest of the trash.
"
 

Scott's nonchalant manner
with women
constantly surprised Neal.  He was no saint by anyone's standards, but
Neal
did have his own set of principles
.  He
did
n
o
t find it necessary to treat women with the same callousness that Scott found so amusing.  However,
Neal
also
had no desire to
waste time debating the
pointless
topic
any further
.

"
You're right. 
Lorrie's no
t
important
. 
We have more pressing matters. 
Tell me about the device you rigged
.  It's
beneath the stage
, right?
  It isn't going to hurt her is it?  Please tell me you
ha
ve planned this better than you did the decommissioning of her husband.  I don't want to have to start over because
of
you
r sl
opp
iness
again,
"
Dr. Jacobs warned.  His tone was a clear reminder of his displeasure at Scott's
risky and
improvis
ed
attack on
Ben
.

"
It will be enough of a blast to knock her off her feet and perhaps set off the sprinklers.  The worst she might get is a few bumps and bruises, maybe a scratch or two. 
All you have to do is
rush in
and
save the doctor. 
B
e
ready
to move quickly.  You don't want
her husband
reaching her
ahead of
you.  He's pretty sprightly for an old
er
dude. 
Ah, geez!  It was a joke. 
Don't
look so
worr
ied.
You are always so serious.  Besides,
I
wi
ll run interference for you,
"
Scott added as he
noticed
the sour look on his uncle's face, not appreciating his jest.

"
S
ee to it that we are not followed.  If I can get her out to the car, then I can knock her out long enough to get away from here
.  Once I
get the identity of
her donor
, then I
wi
ll have an endless supply of wealth.
"

Scott finally saw his uncle smile.  So
Neal
did take pleasure in the good things this life
had to
offer
, afte
r all
.  They were
simply
not the same things that Scott enjoyed.  Scott glanced down at the timer on his watch
as it
silently count
ed
down the remaining twenty minutes. 

"
Apela, what are you doing here?
"
  Lorrie walked up to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  All three men stood as she walked up to the table.
  Vin ended his silent conversation with C
a
eli so that he could pay attention to the
new arrival
.
 

"
My,
my
!
  You do make a girl feel welcome.  I haven't seen such gallantry since the last time Maku
sat at
my
dinner table
.  Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes?  The conversation at my table was getting incredibly dull.  All they wanted to talk about was blood disease and the fabulous Dr. Erickson.
"
  Lorrie seated herself in the chair Maku
had
vacated, without waiting for an answer or an invitation.