wrath of the Sea Queen (23 page)

When the water outside
began to
sp
lash
droplets onto the plane, C
a
eli suddenly felt another presence clinging to her. 
She looked down to see that Max had squirmed away from
Apela
and
now clu
ng frantically to her
.  He crawled up into her seat and folded himself across
her lap, scared witless, w
ant
ing
the security that his mother
most likely
would have offered him.  She held tightly to the child with one arm wrapped protectively around him, knowing there was not enough time to send him back to his
father
.  In the next instant, the plane struck the water, and C
a
eli's last thought before the impact was of her husband
.

"
Vin!
"

CHAPTER
7

"
Ah, now this is the life, L
ad,
"
Ben commented lazily as he relaxed in his lawn chair at the end of the dock, fishing pole resting in one hand, feet propped up on the tackle box in fr
ont of him.  The midday sun
was
already
well on its way
toward the horizon
. 

"
Just remember, biggest catch before we leave on Friday, that's the bet.  Loser buys the first round when we arrive in Hawaii.  I can almost taste the little pineapp
le drink that you
wi
ll owe me,
"
Ben laughed.

Vin, sitting similarly next to
Ben
and toying with an envelope he had been holding in his hand all day
, suddenly threw his fishing pole down and shot up out of his chair, startling Ben with the sudden upheaval.  A gust of wind blew across the dock rustling his dark hair, but doing nothing to cool Vin's sudden feeling of
uneasiness
.

"
What's the matter?
 
Did something bite you?
"
  Ben asked.

"
Did you hear something?  I could have sworn that I heard…nah; I must have been dozing off.  I've probably been out in the sun too long.  Either that or your mighty fisherman boast is
putting me to sleep
.  I've yet to see you drag anything bigger than a minnow out of that water,
"
Vin replied, trying to return the
good
humor, but his tension would not ease as he paced a few steps away.

"Have you
caught
anything
better
to brag about?"  Ben joked.
 

"
No, and
I think I
a
m ready to
call it a day
, Ben.  Why don't we go up to the house and get some
thing to eat
?
  I think we missed lunch.
"

"
Well, would you look at the time?  You're right.  It will be dinnertime before too long.  No wonder my stomach
is
grumbling loud enough to scare the fish away
.
"

"Don't use that as an excuse
, you old sea dog," Vin joked in reference to Ben's former Navy days
.

"
Hey
,
show a little respect
or I
wi
ll make you cook
for the rest of the week
.
 
Come on, then. 
I'm sure we can find something to hold us over
until dinner
. 
Are you sure you're all right?  You still look a little edgy.  What was it that you thought you heard?
"
  Ben asked again.

"
I thought I heard C
a
eli
calling
me. 
You
a
re going to say I'm crazy
, right?
"
  Vin answered sheepishly, feeling foolish for reacting like such a
n alarmist
when he knew she was on a plane headed toward a tropical climate.
  He was probably the farthest thing from her overly
-
excited mind right now.
 
Since reading the n
ote she had written him, C
a
eli had been on
Vin's
mind all
day
.

"
No.  I wouldn't
say that at all
, especially with
the special talents that run in
your
famil
ies; a
nd not
after what you two have been through. 
Nonetheless,
you
were
probably starting to drift off.  You younger lads can't keep
pace
with us more experienced folks,
"
Ben said in jest. 

"
Besides,
C
a
eli
ha
s been gone a lot recently.  You can probably c
halk it up to a young pup missing his wife and daydreaming about her.
"

"I'll grant you that.  You should have seen the outfit she
modeled for
me before she left this morning.  It was well worth
the
daydream.  Heck,
it
seriously
tempted me to follow her to the beach," Vin changed the subject to try to ease his tension.

"I can only imagine. 
What was she up to? 
Knowing C
a
eli, I'm sure s
he had a good reason.
"

"Now that you mention it, she didn't say
specifically
.  She
did
give
me this note
at the airport and told me that she had another surprise for me that would be better than her new outfit
.  I have been puzzling over it all
day
.
"

"
What does it say?
"

"
Th
at
she
is
going to
return a gift to me; thereby
giv
ing
me a challenge
that
w
ill
change my life. 
It
'
s very cryptic
in typical C
a
eli fashion
. 
Of course
,
I have to wait until Friday to find out what she means
," Vin admitted.

"
And you don't have any
idea?"

"Not yet.  There are dozens of possib
ilities
. 
We have been discussing several trips and adventures that we might like to try; and this could be related to any one of them
. 
I have no idea what she means by returning a gift. 
I have given her many over the years.  To my knowledge, she has never returned a single one of them. 
The only
other
clue she left me was her change of outfit from conservative to knockout, and wow, what a clue
.  I
do
have to admit that I love her surprises
."

"
Well,
it seems to me that C
a
eli left you a puzzle to
solve
before Friday.
 
For n
ow, let's go get some
food
and a cold
drink
.  I can't beli
eve you let me sit out here and miss
lunch
,
"
Ben
continued their friendly banter
.

The two men started collecting their fishing gear and were
heading
toward
the house when something in the lake caught Vin's eye.  He stopped and turned to look directly at it.  Ben, noticing Vin
had stopped
, turned to see what his friend found so captivating.  Ben could not see anything, but Vin's focus
didn't waver
.

Vin
watched
a bright ring of light,
the size of a basketball
, shining below the surface of the water
fifteen
feet
from the dock
. 
It
mov
ed
slowly
toward
shore
.  As it approached, it gr
e
w larger and
rose
slowly into the air.

"
What
do you see
, Vin?
"

"
I'm not sure yet.  Can't you see
t
he light straight out in fron
t of us, heading toward
the dock
?
"