wrath of the Sea Queen (187 page)

C
a
eli could not wait idly on the floor.  She wanted to help.  She wriggled out from under the blanket
that
one of the men had
tossed
over her
,
and inched her way across the floor until she could lean against the end of the bed.  C
a
eli located a metal bracket on the bedframe and hastily began to
cut
through the thick layers of duct tape binding her wrists behind her back.  It was difficult to do without being able to see, and she missed a few times. 
T
he slips caused her arms to scrape painfully down the metal.  One such mishap even dr
e
w blood.

"Ug
!
Salma will
lecture me again
," C
a
eli said to
herself
.

Her progress with the tape was interminably slow
as each movement
aggravated
the pain of her existing injuries
.  As she continued to saw away at the tape, a gunshot rang out.

"Salma!
"

C
a
eli feared the worst for her aunt.  She cursed herself for being unable to help.  The only help she
had been able to provide was calling
Vin.  The thought spurred C
a
eli to greater efforts to remove the tape.  Unfortunately, increasing the speed of her sawing made her miss more often.

"C
a
eli
stop.  Y
ou're scraping your arms. 
Let me
get it," Vin said as he hurried over
and knelt down beside
her.

C
a
eli tried to reply, but the tape covering her mouth prevented it.

"Hold still."  Vin reached up and
gently
removed the tape
.  He kissed her
briefly
and began removing the tape
from
her wrists.

"Vin, where's Salma? 
I heard a gunshot.
 
They didn't hurt her did they
?
 
Tell me she's ok. 
What happened?"  C
a
eli rattled off a
n urgent
string of
questions.

"Salma's ok.  Please stop squirming.  You're going to make yourself worse.  I promise you, Salma is fine.  I'm not going to
tell you anything else until you stop thrashing around.  It's important that you be still.
"
  Vin finished removing the tape from C
a
eli's wrists and ankles.

He told C
a
eli to stay put while he got up and closed the sliding door, making sure it was locked, then pulled the curtain across it.  Vin then walked over to the open window and shut it, locking it as well.  When that was done, he finally returned and sat on the floor beside C
a
eli.  Vin took C
a
eli's left hand in his, rubbing her wrist to remove a swatch of adhesive residue and to help calm her down as he continued his explanation.

"
Salma is with
Ben.  She was a bit shaken up, but she's not hurt. 
The men were
a couple of
protestor
s who found out that
Salma
was here
and thought they could get their fifteen minutes of fame using
her as a headline
. 
They didn't really want to hurt her, just scare her."

"I
woul
d say th
ey succeeded
. 
I
ha
ve never seen her
so frightened
," C
a
eli added.

"Luckily, Colonel Franks' son,
Jeremy, got wind of their plans
,
and
they
showed up with
several members of the guard
team
as the men were heading
toward
the parking lot
.  The
c
olonel
shot
one of the men in the leg, and the other
one
surrendered
without a fight
.  The team took the
men
into custody and headed back to town
.  Since
both Ben an
d I refused to let them take us, too,
the Colonel and Jeremy
are going to
stay to make sure nothing else happens tonight. 
They are taking the first
watch
themselves," Vin
shared the details with her
.

"
T
hat's
comforting
," C
a
eli breathed a sigh of relief
and let her head rest
against the footboard of the bed
.

"The colonel was concerned about us staying here when the storm breaks o
ver
this part of the island.  Apparently, other areas are already getting pummeled.  He tried to
appeal to
Ben
's sense of duty, as a veteran,
t
o convince him t
hat we should move inland
;
but Ben was adamant that we were not going anywhere
more populated
.  Since
the focus on Salma
is
becoming more aggressive,
Ben wants to keep her as isolated as possible.  He wouldn't even consider
the crowded city shelters
.  Therefore, Colonel Franks is
going to
schedule
security
patrols
at the hotel
for the rest of the week
.
"

"I'm sure Ben will appreciate that," C
a
eli noted.

"
H
e did. 
Maku came out
to see what all the commotion was about and
also
offered to
help keep watch.  He
said
the conference officials
changed his
assign
ment.  He is going
to be
Salma's
personal
security
escort
for the
duration of the
conference
.  So he
and Pete will
be hanging around
, too
. 
You haven’t met them yet, but they
a
re
nice
guys
.  Maku is one of the
men
who helped
me
at the levee.
"

"Why does his name sound familiar?"

"That's a story for later.
  Anyway,
Ben
was on edge, but readily
agreed to the
entire
arrangement on Salma's behalf.  To be honest,
I've never seen Ben lose his cool like that
before
.  I think he was
more upset than Salma.
"

"
I
want
to go talk to
her,
"
C
a
eli started to raise herself
off the floor
, but Vin
placed hi
s hand
on
her
shoulder
to stop her.

"
No, C
a
eli.  She's fine. 
L
et Ben take care of her.  That's his job
now
; and mine is taking care of you. 
Y
ou need to stay put, please.
"
  Vin paused a moment before asking his next question.

"
C
a
eli, why didn't you call
us
sooner
?
  If you had called when they first came in, we might have been able to prevent them from laying a hand on either of you.
"

Vin was kicking himself again.  Although he had not left C
a
eli alone,
i
t was only sheer luck that had kept her
safe.  He was not
there
to protect her
, and he should have been
.  Vin
had made that promise to C
a
eli the first week they met.  H
ow many more times was he going to break it
during this trip
?  He hoped
,
none.

"
It all happened so
fast.  T
hey
were pointing
a gun
at
Salma's
head.
  I called as soon as I could
focus my thoughts
,
"
C
a
eli answered
somewhat defensively
.