wrath of the Sea Queen (228 page)

She
climbed into
her car and drove away, letting the guardsman think she left
the area
.  In reality, Lorrie only went about a half mile down the road and turned in at the lighthouse.  She walked down to the beach, getting soaked
in
the pouring rain. 
Lorrie looked out at the rolling waves as s
he
walked up to the water's edge. 
This was her last task on Scott’s behalf,
dealing with
C
a
eli.  Lorrie wasn’t actually going to
perform
this one herself. 
Lorrie
would let Rika use her body to accomplish th
e
deed while a
ddition
ally
fulfilling Rika’s own purpose.

Kicking off her shoes,
Lorrie
let the water cover her feet and the now familiar sensation of a
nother
presence c
a
me to meet her. 
She
welcomed the
sensation of letting herself go,
letting Rika take over the responsibility of her body.  Lorrie was tired of pretending to belong in this world.  The part of her
that once
might have
been happy in this life
died many years ago.  Rika
had
helped Lorrie
after that incident and
many times since
. 
She was the only one who truly understood Lorrie.

All three boys who hurt Lorrie back then were now dead. 
Rika
had
helped Lorrie arrange the
demise
of two of them
by teaching
her
which chemicals would cause them to suffer most severely before killing them. 
Lorrie
had
discovered the travel plans of her two former assailants, and it was
Rika
who
brought the rain that caused the terrible accident
th
at
night. 

Lorrie
arranged to be
working
in
the emergency room when the two men, along with other
accident
victims, were delivered into her care. 
She
was shocked to find that
Maku's father,
the on
ly
man who ever tried to help her,
and
Maku's
younger brother
were victims of the multi-car
crash as well
.  She greatly regretted that
t
he
y
would share the same fate as the two
who deserved this punishment.
  It was sad
that
these two
would
suffer
in order
to accomplish her goal, but Lorrie no longer cared enough
about anyone else
to change her mind.  She
would have
her revenge as Rika
assured
her she would.  At the time,
i
t was all that mattered to Lorrie.

After the incident in her youth, Lorrie
went
to the mainland
to
stay with relatives and attend school.  Against all odds, Lorrie f
e
ll in love.  But her love was not returned.  In fact, it went completely unnoticed.  The man she loved was in love with
someone else
.  He didn't even realize that Lorrie
was
interest
ed
. 
He was one of the most handsome boys in school, though he was completely unaware of it. 
H
e gave Lorrie no more attention than he gave to the other girls who incessantly flirted with him.  Vin's heart
belonged to C
a
eli.  Lorrie tried
for months
to win his favor by competing with C
a
eli in
different ways
, but
she
always seemed to come up short
by comparison
.

Therefore
, when Dr. Erickson refused to help Maku's father, it had been easy for Lorrie to punish the doctor through her relationship to C
a
eli.  As soon as Lorrie found out that C
a
eli was Salma's niece, she decided it was fitting to use the same poison on C
a
eli that Salma
had
refused to treat in Maku's father.  The only thing Lorrie could
n
o
t understand was how C
a
eli
had
survived for so long. 
The dosage of chemicals in the energy bars was high enough that C
a
eli should have lived
only
long enough to make this trip;
long enough for Lorrie to deliver her to Rika.  Yet, C
a
eli was still hanging on
and even seemed to be improving
.  When Lorrie mentioned this unexpected result
to
Rika
, she
was told
about C
a
eli's special
talent
.
  That special quality was why
C
a
eli was still alive, and why
Rika
had requested that Lorrie allow herself to be used so that
Rika
could confront C
a
eli directly
.

Now it was time to finish what she started.  Lorrie found that she was glad to be done with it all. 
Her miserable existence was
coming to an end
.  Scott would
finish off
Dr. Erickson.  All
that remained for
Lorrie was pay her debt to
Rika
.  She willingly let Rika take control
as she stepped into the water
. 
Lorrie kn
e
w that
Rika had unfinished business
of her own
with C
a
eli.

Lorrie
only
regret
ted one
task
that
she
had been
asked to perform.  Before she set out on her adventure this
morning
, Lorrie sent an email to her friend, Vicki, at the
Federal
Department of Child Protective Services
.  Vicki primarily worked
in Washington
, but
could act in any state
. 
That was how she and Lorrie met.  Lorrie
had
reported a suspected case of child abuse, and Vicki
had been
assigned to investigate during one of her stints
on the island
.  They became
friendly and kept in touch over the years.  Lorrie discover
ed
that Vicki also knew Vin
.  T
hey shared a common irritation with his attachment to C
a
eli.

Vicki
was in town this week.  She flew
down
to
arrange
one final
surprise for C
a
eli
.  This was
Lorrie's
last
strike at her long-time rival's happiness
, and the beginning of Vicki's happily ever after
.
 
Lorrie
only
slightly
regretted that
it was necessary to
harm her brother and nephew in order to
make it work
.

In her email, Lorrie described a man raising a child that was not biologically or legally his ward.  The boy's mother
had
died, but nobody ever came to claim the
child.  Lorrie attached lab resul
t
s which contained proof that the man and the child were not
related by
blood.

Dear Vicki,

Please find attached the necessary documentation, including a complete blood work up for the man and the
boy
.  The comparison leaves no doubt that the child
cannot be
his
son
.  Though there is no immediate threat to the boy, State law requires
that
a
ll
such discoveries
be reported
to Child Services for further investigation.  As such, Apela and Max's
full
medical files are included for your reference.

Sincerely,

Lorrie

It truly
saddened
Lorrie to do this to her brother, but Rika insisted that it was necessary. 
The copy of Salma’s test results were exactly what Vicki needed to pursue the case and remove Max from Apela’s care. 
Lorrie hoped that Vicki would take good care of
her nephew
.
  If Vicki pulled off this miracle and somehow managed to end up with Vin, Lorrie had no doubt that Vin would
en
sure Max
's
well-being
.  Vin would, of course, try to
legally
return Max to
Apela
.  But, if unable to do so, Vin would take good care of him.