wrath of the Sea Queen (172 page)

Scott liked the idea.  They spent the next few hours sorting out the details and mak
ing the necessary arrangements. 
Lorrie kept to herself the
additional
information she received.  Apparently, Apela and Max also g
ave
blood samples, though for what purpose Lorrie couldn't guess. 
Lorrie
had been told she would receive this information and that she should use it to disprove paternity.  She was not ready to do that yet
.  Since none of that
would affect S
cott
's plans
,
Lorrie
said nothing
about those details.

From his place of concealment beneath the open living room window, a man sat listening to the exchange between the rowdy couple, occasionally glancing inside to keep an eye on the situation.  Knowing Scott's temperament, he was not surprised at the way he mistreated the woman who was his accomplice. 

It was the woman who surprised him.  She had spunk and gave Scott several opportunities to appreciate the value of their partnership.  Scott, however, was not picking up on the clues she carelessly dropp
ed
.  Sam, seasoned by a career of observing people and deciphering truth from lie by
careful
listening, clearly noticed that the woman was keeping something important to herself.  He didn't even need to see her remove several pages before passing the
report
to Scott to know there was more information to be gleaned.  Lorrie was much smarter than Scott realized. 
W
hat was most apparent to Sam was the fact that
she
was allowing herself to be used
while p
u
rsuing
an agenda of her own, and Scott was
merely
a tool to help her accomplish it.
  S
cott
seemed
completely clueless
to that fact and still didn't realize the woman's full motivation.

When the couple left the house, Sam
crept inside to read through the papers left on the table.  He helped himself to a shower and then raided the refrigerator to scrounge up something for dinner. 
Sam
was long gone before the couple returned.

CHAPTER
39

Vin poked his head out of the door a
s
Salma walk
ed
into the lounge.  He caught her eye and silently waved her over.  She walked up to the door, and he
moved
out in the hall to talk to her
, keeping the door cracked so that he could still see C
a
eli
out of the corner of his eye
.

"
How are you, Vin?
"

"
I'm ok. 
Thank you, Salma, for taking care of
C
a
eli
and me through
all of
this
."

"How is she?"

"S
he's s
leeping
,
"
Vin replied.

"Still?
  I don't like that.
  When did she fall asleep?
"

"
S
he hardly slept at all last night.  She
has been
up for a while
this morning
, but
now
she is
finally
resting. 
C
a
eli
i
s all right
for now
.
 
Are you busy
, Salma
?  I was wondering if I might impose on you to sit with C
a
eli for a little while
.  I don't want to leave her alone
.
"

"
To be honest, I'm in the middle of some blood work with Pete, but I could set it aside
and
finish it later.  I
do
want to check
on
C
a
eli
, but I was waiting until you were ready to come out.  I
didn't
w
ant
to in
trude on
your privacy.
"

"
Thank you.
 
You don't know how glad I am to have you
with us
.  We
woul
d be
completely
lost without you
, Salma
.
"
  Vin reached over and hugged her tightly
, kissed her on the cheek, and
then stepped back again.  He even managed a small smile. 

"
Just don't tell Ben
I did
that.  Seriously though, I don't want to take you away from
your
work.  I can wait.
"

"
Don't tell Ben what?  How
are
you holding up,
L
ad?
"
  The voice came strolling up behind Salma along with its owner.

"
I'm all right
, Ben.  I was
just
asking Salma if she was free to sit with C
a
eli for a few minutes, but she's busy.
"

"
Well, it's a good thing I came along then.  If you need to step out for a while, I
woul
d be happy to
visit with
her. 
O
ne question before I go in
side
; what does
C
a
eli
think about being kept under surveillance
?  I
woul
d like to know what kind of reception to expect.
"

"
I believe C
a
eli would be happy to s
pend some time with
her favorite uncle if she w
as
awake
.  S
he
's
exhausted and
still
in a good deal of pain
.  We talked for a while, and then she wanted to rest
again
.  She
ha
s been out for about
an hour
.  I realized I hadn't eaten anything since her pancakes yesterday, so I thought I would grab a
quick
bite while she
'
s sleeping.
"

"
Oh for goodness
'
sake
,
Vin
!
  Come with me.  I
wi
ll fix you something.  Ben, go on in and sit with
C
a
eli
,
"
Salma ordered, grabbing hold of Vin's arm and pulling him along behind her.  She turned and headed toward the kitchen.  Vin looked back at Ben and shrugged helplessly.  Ben
chuckled
and ducked quietly into the room.

Max
watched
as
Salma tugg
ed
Vin
down the hall
.  It reminded him of
times
when he
was
in trouble with his Mama. 
He
set aside
the tools he
was holding
for Maku and crept out of
the
room
to
follow.  Vin noticed
the boy
sneaking
along behind them
, but didn't say anything. 
He was curious to find out what Max was
doing
. 
The boy p
ok
ed his head around the corner
of the kitchen door
when Salma wasn't looking and motioned
silently
for Vin to
come with
him.

Vin slipped out of the kitchen and
trailed after
Max, who led him
further
down the hall
,
into his own room
,
and
closed the door behind them.

"
What's going on
,
Max?
"
  Vin asked
conspiratorially
.

"
I saw that you were in trouble with pretty Dr. Salma, so I rescued you.
  You can hide in here.
"

Vin laughed lightly
as he explained the situation to Max
.

"
I wasn't in trouble, Max. 
Dr. Salma
is
going to
cook
me breakfast because I forgot to eat
this morning
. 
In fact,
I haven't had a bite
since C
a
eli's pancake
breakfa
s
t
yesterday.
"