wrath of the Sea Queen (3 page)

"
Oh, here
's Vin
now.  I need to get off the phone and get myself in the right
frame of mind before he gets to the door
.  Thanks, Lorrie.  You're the best
!
  I
can't wait to
see
.  Until
next week.
"

Vicki hung up the phone and rushed into the living room.  The front door was wide open.  She
hurriedly
sat down on the edge of a chair,
began to
star
e
dazedly
at her
blank
computer screen,
and
let the phone dangle from her hand.

Vin walked up to the front
of the house and, through the open
door
,
saw
Vicki
sitting there
, unmoving
.  He knocked on the door
frame
and called out to her, but she didn
’
t answer.  He tried twice more, but Vicki still did
n
o
t
respond
. 
Slowly,
Vin walked inside and made his way
carefully
over to her.  He walked around in front of her and knelt down so that he
was
n
o
t towering over her
. 
He did not want to startle her when she realized he was there.

"
Vicki?  Are you all right?
"
  Vin reached out and
lightly
p
laced
his hand on her shoulder.  She flinched at his touch, and he quickly
drew
his hand
away
.

"
Vin?  Oh, Vin, you have to
fix my computer
!
 
You just
have to
fix it
,
"
Vicki
responded in a panicky voice
. 
I
mmediately
, she
began to cry and threw her arms around
Vin's neck, leaning so far forward in her chair that it see
med as if she might fall out of it
without his support.

"
Vicki
,
w
hat happened?  What's going on?
"
 
When
Vin
pulled away
to
talk to her, he
noticed
Vicki's
black eye.

"
T
he boy's father stopped by
here
after I called you
.  He was furious.  He said it was my fault that his son was stuck
with a bunch of strangers
.  I couldn't get the computer running to correct
the
paperwork.
"

Vicki cried more and reached out to Vin
again
.  He held her lightly
until she
c
alm
ed down
.  She relaxed and enjoyed the comfort of his embrace for several minutes.

"
Did he do this to you
, the boy's
father? 
Did he hit you? 
Vicki, this is serious.  You should report
this immediately
.
"

Vin gently disengaged himself
again
and looked at her
bruised face
. 
Vicki
seemed to hesitate
and then
her panic set in again. 
Her entire body
began to shake with fear.

"
I can't call the police.  He
was really mad.  He
said he
blamed me and would never forgive me
if I didn't fix this.  Please Vin, you
have
to help me find the forms on my computer.  I don't even know what's wrong with it.  I have no idea what that man will do if I can't get his son re
tu
rned to him
today
. 
This
whole mess i
s
my fault.
"

She reached out to Vin a
third time;
and again he held her politely while she cried.  Vicki snuggled
in
close to his chin
, feigning the lack of strength to even hold her head up
. 
She inhaled a waft of his wonderful cologne, and his strong
arms
held
her
steady
. 
She
could definitely get used to this.

"
It's ok, Vicki.  It's
going to
be all right.  I
wi
ll help you, but
you have
to call the police.  I know
an officer
who can help. 
He's a good friend of mine. 
He will make sure that you are safe.  And look at you,
"
Vin said, gently putting his hand on the side of her face to get a better look at her eye
.

"
You're hurt.  You should go to the hospital and get
that
checked out.
"

"
Thank you, Vin, but
I'm
ok.  I don't know what I
woul
d do if you hadn't come.
"

Vicki leaned closer to Vin.  With slow movements, she worked her w
ay over and tried to kiss him.

Vin
backed
away before she could succeed.

"
Vicki, you're upset.  You're not thinking clearly.
"
  He stood up and moved a few feet away from her.

"
Of course, y
ou're right.  I shouldn't have done that.  I was
just
feeling so alone, and you are so kind to me. 
It was…I'm sorry. 
Please
forgive me.  W
ill you
still
help me with the computer?
"

"
Yes.  Let me see what I can do.
"
  Vin moved over in front of her again, this time with his back to her as he
sat on the floor to
work on her computer
tower
.  Vicki
remained seated in the
desk
chair behind him,
scooting
it closer to watch him work.  She
placed her hand on
the center
of
his back as she
looked
over his shoulder. 
His movements enticed her. 
After a short while,
Vicki
moved her hand up to his shoulder and leaned
even
closer. 

Vin began to feel uncomfortable with the entire situation.  Something was not right.  Her computer seemed fine.  When Vicki tried to kiss him again, Vin
moved to get up
;
but Vicki leaned
forward far
enough to knock him off balance.  She entangled his foot and fell over on top of him
as he fell backward to the floor
.  Vin quickly set her aside,
got up
,
and stalked to the front door, inten
t on
leav
ing
.  Vicki
rushed after
him, pulling on his arm, begging him not to go.

"
Please, Vin.  I know you feel something for me.  Why else would you have rushed over here to help me?  And the way you caressed my face.  I could see the
emotion
in your eyes.
"

As
Vin
reached the
front
door, Vicki threw her arms around his neck, pressing herself up against him and plant
ing
a kiss on him to which he did not respond.  Instead,
Vin pried her arms off of his neck and
pushed her away.  The wind stirred
briskly
around him
, keeping her from getting near him again
.  He was angry at
Vicki's
attempt to deceive him
and more so
at the fact
that
this foolish game
had
kept him from greeting
C
a
eli
at the airport
.

"
No, Vicki
!
  I have no personal interest in you.  I only came over because your call seemed urgent.  I thought there was a child
's welfare at stake
. 
As a friend,
I was concerned about your injury.  I wanted to help you
, n
othing more.  Obviously, you
lied to me about
both. 
Clearly, we are not friends. 
Don't
ever
call me again.
"