"Caeli, it's nice of you to offer, but leave the doctoring to me," Salma stated.
Caeli's sudden desire to act like a medical professional seemed way out of line to Salma, who really wasn't listening to the confidence in Caeli's voice.
"Salma, trust me. Go get the blankets and the bandages."
"It will take time. Ben could bleed out by then. No, I need to stay with him. I need to do something to help him," Salma insisted.
"Aunt Salma, please! Let me help him. I can help if you will let me. Ben will be all right." The firmness in Caeli's tone finally got through to Salma.
"Ok, Caeli. Perhaps I can get Dr. Jacobs or Scott..."
"No! Don't do that. And don't use my name or Vin's around either of them." At Caeli's vehement insistence, Vin turned to look curiously at her, but still did not question her. Now was not the time to get into detailed explanations. This reaction, along with the list of curious behaviors Caeli displayed today, would have to wait.
"Maybe I should go with Salma," Vin offered.
"That's a good idea. Just don't let that redheaded guy see your face."
Salma first went to get the blankets and returned quickly with the ones that Caeli had used earlier. Once Ben was covered, she and Vin went below deck to get the other supplies. Ben and Caeli were left alone for a few minutes.
"Ok, Uncle Ben, this is not going to be easy. Will you trust me work on you? I have to put my hand on your back where the bullet entered."
"Of course, Lass. Do whatever you need to do. I'll let you work the magic this time around."
"Good. I've got to see if I can get you fixed up before Salma returns or she will be a basket case. Then we would have absolutely no fun at all on this vacation."
As Caeli talked, she slid her hand under Ben's back and placed it over his wound. She was careful to keep the blanket covering everything so that anyone who might happen to see them would think that she was merely keeping him company. Caeli closed her eyes and concentrated on the flow of blood. She had no idea how her new gift functioned in this manner, but she had felt the pull of her ability the minute she touched Ben's blood. Recalling that her grandmother had been able to heal small things, Caeli did not find it unreasonable to believe that she had inherited a bit of that talent; although she had never noticed the ability before.
Nonetheless, whether it was Caeli's gift, an inherited trait, or some combination of both, she could feel the damage done to Ben. She not only became aware of the obvious rupture in the blood vessels, but also discovered the area where Ben's blood flow was impinged by the bullet lodged in his body. Caeli used the fluidity of the blood to move the smashed piece of metal until it fell into her waiting hand below. Ben groaned a little as she worked, but he endured it well. Caeli tried to hurry while still being careful not to cause any further damage or too much pain. With the bullet in her hand, Caeli was surprised to feel something else continuing to impede the blood flow on a smaller scale.
"Are you sure you were only shot once, Uncle Ben?"
"Yes. Why?" Ben grimaced again having felt additional movement after the bullet had already exited his back.
"Hmm…hang on; there's something else blocking your blood flow. I've almost got it."
Caeli continued to concentrate, trying to remove the second obstacle. To her surprise, another bullet fell into her hand, but this one appeared different than the first. It looked much older. Nevertheless, it had been the object causing the remaining resistance. Now that Ben's blood flowed freely, Caeli used another aspect of her gift to congeal the blood around the edges of the torn vessels and stop the bleeding. By the time her gift completed its work, Caeli was sweating, despite the rain. She was exhausted and the pain in her left side had worsened. Yet, she snickered softly as she placed two objects into Ben's hand and closed his fingers around them.
"You are like a box of cracker jacks. You never know what you're going to find inside."
"And you are hurting again. What did you do to your side, young lady?" Ben asked with fatherly concern.
"Ah, it's nothing serious. I think I may have pulled something when the plane crashed. It's nothing Salma's help and a few days on the beach won't cure. I think we will both feel better after a good night's rest." She smiled down at him as Vin walked up beside her with Salma a step behind.
Vin handed the supplies down to Salma after she got situated on the opposite side. Caeli explained to Salma what she had been able to do.
"I stopped the bleeding, but I could not actually repair all of the damage. He is still going to need you to examine him further and stitch him up properly."
Vin helped Caeli to her feet, and they stepped a few paces away to give Salma and Ben a little bit of privacy. Salma applied the antibiotic ointment and bandages. Using her own empathic gift, Salma was impressed to find that all of the bleeding had indeed stopped as Caeli reported. Ben laughed lightly.
"That girl is full of surprises." He opened his hand to show Salma what he held. There were two bullets, one shiny, and the other dull. He rolled them around on his palm.
"I thought you were only hit once? How did she manage to get those out of you? And so quickly…" Salma was astounded.
"I was hit once. The second one is a memento of my younger days. I have been carrying it around for the majority of my career. I don't even know how Caeli was aware of it; and I have no idea how she removed them. As I said, she is full of surprises." Ben closed his fist over the bullets again.
"Help me up, Love. I don't want to stay on this cold metal any longer than necessary."
Salma motioned to Vin, who walked over to help her. Between the two of them, using Vin's aerial gift to lighten the load, they carefully got Ben to his feet. Salma let the captain know that his injury had been managed for the time being, and they would be getting further medical attention as soon as they could. With that, they were ready to disembark.
CHAPTER 15
The house was dark. It sat at the end of a long, paved driveway amidst a well-manicured lawn. When he entered through the back door, Sam roamed the ground floor for nearly an hour. He could tell that someone had been in the house recently. As he moved through the rooms with a small flashlight, he noticed that each was in good order. No dust accumulated on the furniture and there were lots of signs of recent use. Somebody lived here, though nobody was home at the moment.
Sam expected this to be the case, having planned his visit accordingly. Still, he had carefully ensured that every portion of his body, from head to feet, was covered. He wore thick gloves to avoid leaving any fingerprints. His shoes were overly large in case a shoe print was left behind. All of his clothing was black and it would not shed fibers. Lastly, Sam hid his face. He shielded it completely, right down to the black sunglasses with reflective lenses to hide his eyes. His face was well known in this community. If anyone did see him, he did not want to take the chance of being recognized. Of course, there were no neighbors on the isolated property, but he still took precautions.
He knew he had time to look around. The cops and first responders would be preoccupied with a fire he set at another house in town. The house now belonged to a former colleague against whom Sam harbored a personal grudge. Sam took great pleasure in destroying the man's home as a distraction while he searched this house. Nobody would be too concerned if a call came in about a break in at a supposedly abandoned house when a fire raged in the middle of town. Sam had thought of everything as he planned this venture. The last thing he wanted was to get caught and sent back to prison.
After not being able to locate his prize among the bookshelves on the ground floor, which were now considerably less tidy than before he arrived, Sam moved upstairs. To his dismay, he found even larger bookcases holding vastly more volumes. It was just his luck that these two were avid readers. There must be several hundred, if not a thousand, books in the collection of bookcases throughout the house. Sam went through each one, but did not find the book he wanted. He did not actually expect to find it out
in the open. The book he sought was ancient and valuable. If the lady brought it here at all, it would be well hidden.
Sam knew the lady had survived because he had seen her once since the incident. She came into the courtroom with Captain Erickson and left with him immediately afterward. Sam remembered her limited words, along with those of the captain, which combined to seal his fate the day of his trial.
"Yes, your Honor. The chief took an interest in my case when I went to the station to give a statement about the men who broke into my house and attempted to abduct me. He came to the hospital when I was taken there as well, though I did not speak with him that time." Her words were few, but damaging. They placed Sam in the wrong places at the right times. The jury felt sympathy for everything Caeli endured and decided to punish him for it. When she left the witness stand, Caeli didn't even look at Sam. If she had, she might have read the blatant hatred in his glare as it followed her out of the courtroom.
Her testimony laid the groundwork for Captain Erickson's damning evidence.
"I discovered that Chief Matthews helped arrange for a suspect's escape from custody and for evidence to disappear. He also put a tracking device on my jacket, which enabled Mrs. Harding's abductor to intercept us on the way to a safe house. His actions endangered her life and aided the criminal intentions of the man who paid him." Ben produced all the supporting physical evidence and related documentation as confirmation of his words. Sam expected no less from Ben. Over the years, Sam developed a healthy respect for Ben's skill and integrity. He knew that Ben would not miss any of the details and would not rest until Sam was appropriately punished for his actions.
Ever since the jury convicted him, in record-breaking time, Sam had been living in hell. Sam endured cruel torments from inmates he had helped put away. Guards, whose loyalty Sam betrayed by the deeds exposed during the trial, turned a blind eye to his suffering. It was a nightmare! It took nearly six months before his ex-brother-in-law could arrange his escape. Sam intended that both Caeli and Captain Erickson would pay dearly for their roles in putting him behind bars.
Sam pushed those thoughts out of his mind and returned to the task at hand. He assumed that Caeli returned to her home, this house, when the ordeal was over and had been keeping a low profile to avoid the lingering media interest. If Caeli brought the book with her, as he had been told, then she would have hidden it somewhere safe.
Recalling the details from the police report after her attempted abduction, Sam remembered that she hid from the two thugs until Captain Erickson and his men arrived. The specific location of that hiding place was not listed in any of the reports, which meant that she probably never disclosed it. She was a smart lady, even under duress. Sam was, nonetheless, confident that he could figure it out. He needed to think like her to discover the secret hiding place. There were clues to its existence, if only he could decipher them. If he could locate the place where she hid that night, then he would likely find the book in the same location.
He mentally reviewed the notes retrieved from Ben's personal files. Mrs. Harding came down the stairs to meet the officers. Of course! Sam was wasting his time searching the ground floor, though it would suit his purpose to make this look like a routine burglary. The hiding place was obviously on the second floor. One of the would-be abductors had been found dead in her bedroom closet. It looked like a struggle took place in there. Excellent! Now Sam was thinking properly. There must be a panic room built into the closet. The guy must have been getting too close and paid for it with his life.
Sam silently went up the stairs and turned to the left, entering the bedroom and moving into a large, walk-in closet also on his left. He glanced around at the clothes hanging neatly. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place, except for the fact that she had not yet discarded her late husband's wardrobe, if he truly was dead. Sam heard rumors that her husband had been found alive, but could not confirm them from his jail cell. If Vin was dead, then Caeli was still suffering that loss, and Sam found that thought gratifying. Sam wanted her to suffer. Regardless, he would learn the truth when he arrived in Hawaii. But, again, he was letting himself get distracted from the task at hand.
Naturally, the secret door would be concealed. Sam began on the far left and tested each panel, knocking and listening for hollow sounds. On the back wall, Sam located it. He pushed all the clothes to one side and looked for a release mechanism. There must be a quick and easy way to enter the room.
After several minutes of searching, he finally pushed on the correct section of wall to open the door. Sam had to duck down to step into the small room. A cot, a chair, and a bookcase were revealed within. On the bookcase to his right, a medium-sized box caught his eye. Sam walked over and carefully lifted the lid. Inside, he saw the linen wrappings that were described to him. They would be covering the aged book. This is what he came to retrieve. Sam replaced the lid and pulled the box from the shelf, knowing he could not directly touch its contents.
Sam looked around the small room once more. There was a cell phone on a small table, a backpack on the cot, and a small blanket folded and laying across a pillow. He admitted to himself that the couple's attempt to be prepared was admirable. Unfortunately, it had not been enough to keep Caeli completely safe.
Although he had seen her resilience firsthand, Sam knew it would not be enough to save her this time. He would make sure of it. His involvement, although arranged by his ex-brother-in-law for other reasons, included his revenge against the two people responsible for taking away his career and sending him to prison. Now that he was free, Sam intended to see that mission completed. The former chief of police walked out of the room, down the stairs, and left the house in a hurry, a prized bundle tucked securely under his arm.
CHAPTER 16
"Did you get through to your friend? Or is she your girlfriend?" Dr. Jacobs asked of Scott as his nephew walked into the infirmary.
"Yes. I got through, and no, she is not my girlfriend. She is a means to an end; nothing more than a pleasant stepping stone. Lorrie will make sure that Dr. Erickson gets her fifteen minutes of fame. But, is it really necessary? I planted the tracking device on her at the airport and verified that it was still inside her bag on the second plane. We can use the signal to find her whenever we want. What's the point of following her right now?" Scott did not fully understand his uncle's plan.
"It's not about knowing where she is so much as it is about letting others know her location. Dr. Erickson needs to get a taste of the unrest and controversy that her work has stirred up," Neal began.
"Don't you mean that Lorrie stirred up?" Scott interrupted to correct his uncle.
"Of course that's what I mean. Try to keep up Scott. My point is that Dr. Erickson needs to feel vulnerable so that she will be willing to accept assistance from a trusted colleague when the time is right. I have already planted the seed for that trust. All it needs is an opportunity to grow. I've got an idea or two for that as well, but that will come later. After so much planning, I'm not about to waste our chance of success by limiting myself to a single attempt. When is Sam arriving?"
"He will be here tomorrow. I didn't want him to show up before we set everything in motion. He would only want to hang around and put his hands into our plans," Scott informed Neal.
"That's good. It will give us time to make arrangements for his welcoming party. Afterward, perhaps Dr. Erickson can test our theory about the book. If it works with her, then the donor's blood will be invaluable."
The ship finally settled in port. Passengers and guardsmen began moving toward the ramp. Vin retrieved both his and Ben's duffle bags, and Caeli picked up Salma's and her own carryon bags. Salma and Vin each held Ben on one side, though Vin also supported him by more inconspicuous means. Ben laughed like a kid at the fair when his feet left the ground on Vin's first attempt to adjust the wind correctly so that there would be no pressure on Ben's injured back. After a small tweak, Vin found the correct balance, and they walked toward the ramp.
<
br /> As they were about to step off the ship, one of the crewmen called out to them. They stopped to wait as the man ran to catch up.
"I'm sorry to stop you, but we just got word that the local police are on their way. They want to talk to you before you leave. They have some questions about the shooting. You are supposed to wait on board. It shouldn't take more than an hour."
"I'm sorry, son, but my husband needs medical attention as soon as possible." The look on Salma's face told the young sailor that the messenger was about to take the brunt of her irritation at such a suggestion.
"We do not have any idea what that shooting was about, and we will not spend an hour sitting on this ship waiting to tell some officer looking for a career nudge the same thing when he finally decides to grace us with his presence. I am taking my patient to a hospital. If the sheriff or anyone else would like to talk to us, they are welcome to meet us there. I would appreciate it if you relay that message to whoever arrives after we're gone."
At that, Salma returned her attention to Ben and started walking. Vin and Caeli joined her without hesitation. They were certainly not going to question Salma's motives and had no desire to stay on board any longer. Salma made her intention abundantly clear. The poor young man, who got caught between Salma and the request of the local police, merely stood there, speechless, watching them walk away.
When the four reached the end of the pier, they found the black van waiting for them beneath a bright lamp, as the captain had promised. Vin opened the front passenger's door and was motioned inside by the driver. First, Vin helped Salma, Ben, and Caeli get situated in the back seats.
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