wrath of the Sea Queen (195 page)

When she could no longer hear Ben's amusement, C
a
eli slowly pulled the sheet down to peek out
at Vin
.  Her
grin was still present and
her
face still red.  She could see the same hue on Vin's face as he smiled.
  Salma had caught him completely off guard, unprepared for their usual, carefree
joking
.

"
What did I ever do
to
that woman?
"
  Vin asked with a laugh, realizing that Salma had accomplished what he could not. 
For a
few
moment
s
,
C
a
eli
was
completely
distracted from her worries.

Vin was helping C
a
eli
ease
into the
warm
water
of the bathtub when s
he tightened her grip around his neck
.  H
e could feel her whole body tense
when
he
r shoulders
neared
the water
.

"
I'm sorry.  It's silly, isn't it?
"
  C
a
eli asked him.  She couldn't help it.  A feelin
g of dread welled up inside her at the thought of sinking into the water.

"
It's understandable.
"
  Vin turned and helped her gently onto the chair by the sink, giving her a
second
towel to wrap around herself.  He sat on the floor, lean
ed
back against the edge of
the tub, and looked up at her.  She looked so lovely, yet so sad.

"
I'm sorry, Vin.  This has been the worst vacation ever.  I didn't mean for any of this to happen.
"

"
Of course you didn't. 
You couldn't have known.  Honestly, I think this, or something similar, would have happened regardless of where you were, vacation or not.  Remember, this did
n
o
t
originate
here.  It started with those energy bars and Salma's accident. 
The trouble simply followed you. 
Rika and
y
our gift
w
ere
a
dded to the mix
down here.  Regardless
,
none of it is
your fault.  You have to stop
blaming yourself
.
"

"
But it is my fault, all of it.  Unless you know something I don't, then
Rika
wanting to use my body and Salma using my blood are both
the results
of choices I made.  Without th
ose decisions
, none of this would be happening.
"

Vin reached out and took C
a
eli's hand
as she sat there
.  He did know more, but he couldn't
bring himself to
tell her.  Not yet.  It would only upset her
further
.

"
No, C
a
eli.  Just because you are
involved
doesn't make it your fault. 
If someone chooses to exploit your vulnerability, that is not your fault
either
. 
You did not cause these events.  Others did,
"
Vin insisted.

C
a
eli noted the hesitation in his voice.  She could tell
that Vin
was keeping something from her.

"
Others?
  Vin, do you know who's behind
this?  Did you figure out
who's after Salma
? 
You did. 
That's what you and Ben were whispering about
earlier
. 
Was I right about
Scott
?  He
is involved, isn't he?
"
  C
a
eli dared to hope that Vin could give her
some answers
and
help
make sense of
this nightmare
.

"
Yes.  Scott and his uncle
we
re involved. 
Scott
crashed
the
plane
,
and
used
…
a local
girl
…
to
get the
protestor
s
fired up against Salma
. 
The three of them have been working to get hold of Salma and her blood. 
Thankfully, they did
n
o
t
account for
Ben
in their planning
,
"
Vin offered
a diluted explanation
.

"
So this is about Salma having one of the bloodlines and not
about
the use of my blood in
her research
?
  Are you sure?"  C
a
eli asked
uncertainly.  She
was under
the impression that, because of the repeated requests for the identity of the anonymous donor, the
se people
were after Salma in order to reach he
r
donor
. 

"I believe Scott must have connected Salma with her mother, and her mother to Antonius; there
by learning of Salma's heritage," Vin tried to explain his perspective.

"Wait a minute.  The Deacon?  That Antonius?  How did Scott link him to my grandmother?"

This was a topic Vin wanted to avoid at all costs. 
Rika had almost revealed that news earlier; but Vin had been able to stop her. 
C
a
eli did not need to know the truth about her grandfather;
especially
not after what the Deacon put her through in Idaho. 
That incident
was in the past, and Vin wanted to keep it that way.

"Let's not get sidetracked with that.  It doesn't matter, but I'm fairly certain
that's why they were after her.
  I don’t think they even realize the donor blood
i
s as special as Salma's blood.
 
Of course, t
hat's only
my
theory.  I
don't have any proof
.
"

"Then what about the requests for the name of Salma's donor? 
What about
the
protestor
s?"

"I think the
government
letters were a
ploy
to draw Salma out where she would be vulnerable.  They tried to arrange several meetings, but Salma
wisely
refused t
hem all
. 
Your aunt is
very
smart. 
That's why they
resorted to bringing
her down here to the conference. 
I believe Dr. Jacobs arranged for Salma to be a speaker and to
receive an
award at the ceremony to ensure that she would attend.  The
protestor
s are
probably
nothing more than a group of bored,
opinionated people
who
were easily rallied and
got carried away
," Vin
offered one possible
explan
ation; not the one he truly believ
ed.

"That makes sense, I suppose.  But there are still other matters, such as Max's talent."

"
C
a
eli, I don't have all the answers, only
possibilities,
suspicions
,
and questions.  I still don't know
exactly
what happened
to you
yesterday
;
but
I promise
we
will
figure it out
together
.  All I know
with certainty
is that you are
n
o
t responsible
for any of
this
. 
It is important that y
ou believe
it, too
,
"
Vin said earnestly.

"
I'm sorry. 
You are probably
right,
though
it
i
s difficult
to accept
.  My mind is so messed up
.  It might be be
tter if I don't think about it at all.
"
  C
a
eli
did
not completely agree with Vin's perspective.  This felt too personal.  She
did feel
responsib
le
for her involvement.