wrath of the Sea Queen (171 page)

Scott
also
knew that Lorrie's provocative words
were
the fuel that
kept
the protestors
fired up
.  They even made several bomb threats. 
Scott didn't think they would
resort to violence
unless Lorrie told them it was necessary. 
She seemed to have them wrapped nicely around her finger. 
But that was not part of his plan.  T
hey were not supposed to blow anything up.  They were
merely
supposed to be a distraction so that he and his uncle could slip away with Dr. Erickson when the time was right
.  The whole plan
went
terribly wron
g. 
Scott's
uncle paid for the failure
with his life.

S
cott tr
ied
to
discover the source of
the additional
, larger explosions
that were set off in a chain reaction
trigger
ed
by
his small device.  Knowing that none of the protestors would have been able to get inside the secured facility,
he eliminated them as the culprits.  T
here was only one other person who knew what they were planning.  Lorrie!  And the manipulative little bitch
could easily have convinced one of the guards
to let her inside when no one else was around.  She could have planted the extra devices.

"
I know it was you who put the other bombs in the hotel.  I just don't know why.  Tell me!
"
  Scott demanded.

"
Because you don't need her alive
and
I
want her dead,
"
Lorrie's
cold
response was
f
illed with hatred.

"
What's gotten into you?  Of course I need her alive!  Without her, I have no way to replicate her work and no access to C
a
eli. 
Dr. Erickson
is very important, at least for now.  If you have some personal score to settle with her, it will have to wait until I'm through with her.  Then you can do whatever you want
, but not before
.  Are we clear?
"
  Scott shouted a
t
Lorrie
, but inwardly
, he
admired
her
mettle
in taking such
bold action. 
Lorrie
had
also very
easily discovered C
a
eli's identity
as the anonymous donor
.  Perhaps
Lorrie
was not as meek or
needy
as Scott original
ly assumed.  The thought of her spirit
excited him.

Lorrie
noticed his reaction. 
Just like a man, she thought. 
N
ow
,
seemingly calm after her initial reaction
to
being struck,
Lorrie
strolled over to Scott and kissed him casually on the cheek. 

"
Of course, whatever you say, Scott.
"
  She planted a
strong
knee kick to his groin and walked
away with a smirk on her face.

Scott doubled over in pain.  He thought he
probably
deserved
that
, but he was definitely going to have to keep a closer eye on her.

Lorrie returned
from a room down the hall
about an hour later to find Scott sitting on the
living room
sofa watching the midday news
and drinking a beer
.  The hotel fire
was one of the big stories
, along
with
update
s regarding
the tropical storm that
remained
over the island.  There was
mention of the
venue
change for the
medical
conference
, but f
or security purposes
, they did not disclose the new
location
.  Lorrie held several pieces of paper in her hand, but waited for a commercial
break
before she spoke.

"
I found something very interesting.  I think you'll want to see these,
"
Lorrie handed the pages to Scott.

"
What are they?
"

"
Faxes from the equipment I keep at my brother's place.  I use it for clini
c services from time to time.  It is
set up to send a copy of all the issued reports
to my home email
in case
my files over there
a
re
ever destroy
ed
.  It seems someone has been using my equipment
recently
,
"
Lorrie explained.

Scott glanc
ed
through the pages, but there was no patient name listed.  He only
read
Apela's name and the hotel address.  He could tell that the patient was female, that
her blood contained
some odd chemicals, and that she was pregnant.

"
I don't understand.  What's so unusual about a pregnant lady at the clinic?
"
  Scott asked puzzled.

"
The clinic is closed this week, as is Apela's hotel.  However, my brother was sitting with Dr. Erickson's husband and Vin at the seminar; and C
a
eli was conspicuously absent.
"
  Lorrie had figured this out right away, but only now found the information useful.

"
Vin?  Do you mean Eyvindr?
"

"
Yes
, o
f course.  Who d
o
you think I meant?  Anyway, don't you get it?  Do I have to spell it out for you?
"
  Lorrie tried
to
quickly cover her slip of the tongue.  Scott
had
never called Vin by his nickname, so she should not have known it. 
Lorrie
rapidly got Scott
thinking about something else.

"
You think they are staying with your brother?
"

"
Yes, and
you should be able to confirm it with your tracking device."

"No, it hasn't worked since Uncle Neal's lighthouse incident.  I suspect they located it and destroyed it."

"Well, I'm fairly certain they are there.  And,
not only that, but I think the pregnant patient is
Eyvindr’s wife.
"
  She intentionally neglected to mention what the other chemicals in C
a
eli's system were doing to her chances
of
staying alive, much less
her chances
of keeping
her
child.  Lorrie
tried to imagine the pain that kept
C
a
eli
away from
the seminar.  She should be feeling pretty
miserable
by now, according to the
chemical
levels reported on the printout.

"
Yes
!  If there was
ever a
powerful blood to be
harvested
,
a
child
of
both bloodlines would be the place to get it
. 
Imagine what power such a combination could produce. 
Then again, I
would
have to wait
up to
nine months.  But, it
c
ould be worth it. 
Oh, this keeps getting better and better.  We need to figure out a way to get those two ladies away from the protection of their husbands. 
Do you have a
ny idea how we might do that?
"
  Scott asked conspiratorially.

"
As a matter of fact, I do.  Since we know where they are staying, we can spring a little leak to the
protestor
s. 
We could
even
select
a couple of them for a test run
.  We could tell them that capturing Dr. Erickson and forcing her to make a public apology for her work would give them a great media bit
e
. 
Everybody wants their fifteen minutes of fame.  It's a
ploy
similar
to the one your uncle tried
at the lighthouse. 
Of course, they
wi
ll probably get caught, but it would let us test the
security
assigned to Dr. Erickson, if any
.  We c
an
see how tough it's going to be and plan appropriately.  If we hit them the next day, they won't have time to
bring new security
measures
into play
.  T
hey won't be expecting another attempt so soon
after the first one fails
.  What do you say?
"
  Lorrie gave him a wicked grin
.