"Vin, don't move the air inside. Push the clouds overhead." It took all of her will to reach him, but she finally made the connection.
Vin heard Caeli's voice and redirected his efforts to a stream of air he was able to follow outside. He began to combine the air currents around the top of the building, using them to push the approaching storm clouds closer to the building. Vin recognized Caeli's presence as she took hold of the engorged clouds hovering over the burning building. She condensed the water within the clouds and heavy raindrops soon began to fall. Within seconds, the rain came down in torrents and the clouds thickened to such an extent that the emergency crews on the streets below required lights in order to maintain visibility in the storm's engulfing darkness.
Caeli connected to the water both in the cave and in the clouds above the building. She was aware of the water as it ran into the building's pipes and swelled through them. Water burst forth from the sprinkler system, overwhelming its useless trickles, and poured into each of the rooms. It continued to rain down within the hotel for almost fifteen minutes. The early arrival of the dreaded storm turned out to be a welcome relief for those trapped within.
"Thank you, Caeli. The flames are out. You can stop now. We're ok."
Water continued to pour down on them. It did not let up. Caeli heard Vin's voice, but it was growing faint again. She was losing her focus. The numbing haze was returning. Her pain was severe, and her mind could no longer ignore it. She lost sight of the building and could no longer affect the rainclouds above it. Maybe it was her injuries, rather than Vin's, that had made it difficult to reach him. Caeli leaned back against the cave wall and closed her eyes. Vin was safe, and she had fought her way free. Whatever else was tugging at the back of her mind was going to have to wait. She laid her head over on a tall stone beside her and let the calming darkness enshroud her.
It took nearly an hour to complete the evacuation of the building. Everyone who had been trapped in the suite with Salma, where the fire caused the most injuries, was taken to the nearby hospital to be checked out before they were released. Salma was given oxygen for twenty minutes and was soon breathing easier. Vin's head wound was cleaned and bandaged. The cut was not too bad, but the doctor voiced his concern when he learned that it was the second head injury Vin had received recently. The doctor only agreed to release Vin after Salma promised to monitor him for twenty four hours. Apela and Ben escaped without injury. Maku sustained a few minor burns, and Pete twisted his ankle.
The four spent roughly an hour and a half in the hospital before parting ways with Maku and Pete. Apela drove his three guests back to the hotel. It was mid-afternoon when they all came dragging into the lounge. Ben sat down on one of the wicker sofas, inviting Salma to relax with him. Salma preferred to get a shower first.
"I feel like I'm covered in soot. Please keep an eye on Vin while I'm gone."
"Don't worry about me, Salma. I'm gonna crash right here for a few minutes. I think I have had enough excitement for one day," Vin returned, barely able to hold his eyes open.
As she walked toward their room, Salma noticed Ben rubbing his chin. She wondered what was puzzling him. It most likely related to the fire. She was so preoccupied with recent events that she didn't even notice the hole in the far wall.
Vin plopped down across another sofa in the lounge, resting his arm over his eyes. He still felt a bit off kilter. Before he allowed himself to sleep, Vin wanted to talk to Ben about Salma's situation. He, too, noticed Ben rubbing his chin.
"What puzzle are you piecing together?" Vin asked wearily.
"I'm trying to figure out exactly how many different threats we're up against. Dr. Jacobs was clearly the first. Since he is no longer an issue, I expect Salma will no longer be troubled by the government letters. Scott could still be a problem, even without his uncle," Ben answered.
"I find Scott to be the more troubling of the two. His past association with Antonius makes him more dangerous. He is partnered with Lorrie for some reason we've yet to discover. And there is something unsettling about her," Vin shared his observation.
"Yes, she has definitely got her own agenda. I don't have any idea what it might be. The protestors are a continuous issue. I can't figure out who is pulling their strings. I don't think they would remain this active without someone stirring the embers."
"It is certainly a lot to think about. I was hoping we might be able to talk it out, but my head is pounding more than I expected. I'm going to close my eyes and rest until Caeli and Max come out of the kitchen. When I spoke with her earlier, she said they were baking. And I don't want to talk about the full scope of this in front of either of them. Let's pick this up a little later, when we can chat privately again."
"Of course; get some rest, Vin."
Salma returned fifteen minutes later, still unaware of the chaos in her room, and sat down next to Ben. His brow was furrowed as he considered everything that had happened over the last few days. Salma inquired about Vin, and then laid her head on Ben's shoulder and fell asleep. The steady sound of the rain soothed her slumber. Ben promised to wake them both within an hour or two to make sure they weren't having any lingering problems from their injuries.
Apela did not see Caeli or Max, but Salma suggested they were probably down by the water. Caeli loved the water, and Apela agreed that Max would probably be showing her all of his special places along the shore. When he doubted they would be outside in the rain, Salma assured him that Caeli would not have been concerned about getting wet. Wherever they were, Apela was sure that Max would bring Caeli back in time for supper. The boy did love to eat. Apela watched his guests settle in before moving off to attend his own needs. Within thirty minutes of returning to the hotel, the lounge was completely quiet.
When Apela reappeared an hour later, all three of his guests were sleeping. He decided to start dinner preparations, knowing he was going to have two additional guests. Apela wanted to take the time to prepare something especially comforting after the harrowing morning. Not to mention, Apela was aware that Pete's medical condition required him to take in as much additional nutrition as he could and wanted to accommodate him.
As Apela pushed open the partially closed kitchen door, he was surprised at how warm it was inside. He discovered that the oven had been left on. Then he found the cookie dough and unbaked trays of cookies sitting on a counter beside the stove. There was also a rack of finished cookies, untouched, on a cooling stand on the counter. Max would never have left the treats sitting there without tasting at least one of them. Apela was immediately alarmed.
Next, Apela caught sight of the door leading into the laundry room. The hole in its center was surrounded by splintered wood. It looked as if it had been hacked apart. Apela hurried over to check inside. He had to reach through and move the chair which had been used to bar the door from the inside. Once inside, Apela could not believe what he found. The door to the cabinet hanging on the wall had been ripped off its hinges and the contents were strewn across on the floor.
The former archway in the left wall, adjacent to the room formerly occupied by Apela and his wife, was open once more. After his wife's death, Apela had covered the opening with long planks nailed against the laundry room wall and changed rooms. In the room on the other side now stood a decorative alcove where two broken planks had fallen to the floor. Someone made a daring exit through that opening and emerged in the room currently occupied by the Ericksons.
Apela left through the kitchen and noted that Ben was awake and reading the newspaper, though his wife still slept against his shoulder. Apela waved over his head with both hands to silently catch the man's attention. When Ben looked up, Apela motioned for Ben to join him.
"I'll be right back," Ben whispered as he scooted away from Salma. She nodded and lay down on a pillow, continuing to sleep peacefully.
"Can we take a look in your room please? I fear there may have been some trouble while we were gone," Apela whispered to Ben.
"What
do you mean?" Ben replied quietly while he opened the door to his room, allowing Apela to follow him inside. He shut the door behind him so that he and Apela could talk without disturbing Vin or Salma. Ben was shocked to find a hole in the wall to his right.
"I was afraid of that. The kitchen and laundry room look as if a struggle took place in there. I think someone tried to escape through your room." Apela described, in detail, all that he found in the other rooms.
Ben inspected his room carefully, finding a few drops of dried blood on the hardwood floor. The trail led out toward the lounge.
"This blood is dry enough to be several hours old. I don't like the looks of this, but let's not panic. Have you seen Max since we returned? No? Go, calmly, and give his room a thorough search. If Caeli was trying to protect him, she would have hidden him away. Look everywhere; in the closet, under the bed, anyplace where he could hide. I will take a quick look around the rest of this area for any other signs of what might have happened. We've been back for almost two hours. Now that I think about it, it is odd that Caeli did not come in to greet Vin, especially since she knew about the fire. No, I don't like this at all."
Apela moved off in one direction to search for Max, while Ben walked around his own room again before continuing out into the hall. He crept through the lounge and outside onto the beach, quickly getting drenched in the process. Apela, at the same time, searched Max's room. As he opened the closet door, he found his son huddled up on the floor, crying without sound. Apela reached to pick him up, but Max suddenly sprang up, started shouting Caeli's name, and dodged around his father's arms. Max sprinted out of the room, ran down the hall, and made a mad dash straight through the lounge. The poor boy was scared senseless, but seemed to be running with a purpose. His shouts were loud enough to wake both Salma and Vin, and to draw Ben's attention from outside.
Upon hearing Caeli's name being shouted, Vin instantly sprang to his feet and caught hold of Max. He attempted to calm the boy, but Max was beyond consolation. He bit Vin on the forearm, causing him to loosen his grip. Max took off again, running down the beach, toward the water, heedless of the rain. All three men and Salma were following him. Ben caught hold of the scared child before he could run out into the water and tossed him to Apela.
"What's going on, Ben?" Vin asked with a look of fear on his face.
He had been so tired and out of sorts when they got back that he did not check on Caeli as he intended. He knew that something went wrong when she aided them at the hotel. She had not been able to stop the water. Guilt weighed heavily on Vin knowing that something had obviously happened. Yet, he had slept for a couple of hours while Caeli might have needed him. Vin was already wondering if it had anything to do with the man Caeli was worried about earlier. Caeli had good instincts. Perhaps he should have given her fear more consideration.
"I'm not certain yet. Once Max calms down, I'm hoping he will be able to tell us."
"What do you know already?" Vin insisted. He wanted details.
"There are signs of a struggle in the kitchen."
"Caeli said she and Max were baking cookies," Vin confirmed what Apela found.
"It looks like she tried to protect Max; to hide him away; maybe draw somebody away from him. It's hard to read because it happened several hours ago. At least, that's how long I think it has been. Blood takes a little while to dry."
"Blood? Whose blood?" Vin was alarmed by the limited number of possible answers.
"Easy, Vin. It wasn't much; a few drops on the floor in my room. She might have cut herself on the boards she pulled loose in order to escape. Apparently, Max has been hiding in his room ever since, but I don't know about Caeli. We need to find out what Max knows, but Vin, we need to go easy. The boy has clearly been traumatized. Did you see how he ran directly out here? This must be where he last saw her."
"Up there." Max wiped tears from his eyes, gasped out the words, and pointed to a spot on the top of the ridge.
"What was she doing on the ridge?" Apela asked calmly.
"She made the bad man let me go. Pretty Caeli told me to run and hide. She said not to come out until you opened the door, Papa. She didn't come back to get me. I've been waiting a long time. I did what she said, Papa. I was quiet and didn't come out. Pretty Caeli will come back, won't she, Papa? The Sea Queen won't keep her, too, will she, Papa?" Max was sobbing again, and Apela was rubbing his back to calm him down.
At the first mention of the ridge, both Vin and Ben immediately climbed to the top and searched from one end to the other. They found only a piece of blue and green fabric that looked like the same material as the blouse Caeli was wearing that morning. Blood, more than a few drops, stained it. They returned as Apela was finally getting Max settled down.
"There now, Max. It's ok. You're safe. Mrs. Caeli made sure you were safe, didn't she?"
"Yes, Papa."
"Good. You're all right, Son. It's ok now. You did well. I'm proud of you."
Vin added a comforting breeze around Max to help settle the small boy's nerves and to help keep the increasing rain at bay.
"Caeli! Caeli, please answer me. Caeli, where are you?" Vin attempted to reach Caeli through their link, but received only silence in response. He could not hear her thoughts, nor could he feel any emotion from her. Vin's first assumption was that Caeli must be unconscious.
Apela was able to get Max to tell them about baking cookies, the man in black coming into the lounge, and Caeli hiding him in the laundry room. Max wasn't sure what happened after she left the laundry room. He only knew that Caeli said she was going to lead the bad man away. Max waited in the cabinet, but the bad man came back and grabbed him by the throat, carrying him down to the end of the ridge.
"I thought he was going to throw me to the Sea Queen, and I would never see Papa again, but pretty Caeli found us. She would not let him take me. She said that he could not take me to pay for her, and she looked really mad at him. I think she scared him, and then he let me go. That's when she told me to hide and wait for Papa."
Vin's brow furrowed as he tried to sort through what Max was saying. Only pieces of it made sense. The rest of it would have to be translated from a child's perspective and was more difficult to understand. He glanced over at Ben, hoping that he might be having better luck with the translation. Ben was rubbing his chin. It was Salma who finally came through with the proper questions to ask. Salma walked over and laid her hand gently on Max's shoulder as he clung tightly to his father's neck.
"Max, did the bad man hurt you?"
"He pinched my neck, and I got cuts when he pulled me out of the cabinet, but they don't hurt anymore. I tried to be brave like pretty Caeli."
"I will get you some Band-Aids in a few minutes. You have been very brave to wait this long. Max, can you tell me if the bad man was the same man that was on the beach when you went for a walk with Caeli this morning?"
Max's eyes got very big around as he nodded his head to confirm Salma's suspicion. Until she called to him at the seminar, Vin hadn't even known that Caeli left the room. He must have been sleeping like a brick not to have noticed.
"Salma, what did Caeli tell you about that man?"
Vin wanted to know as much about the encounter as possible. He wanted to know if this man did or said anything to threaten Caeli. Caeli told him that nothing happened, but sometimes the things that Caeli considered to be nothing were more important than she realized. She often had a tendency to see the good and overlook the bad in people.
Salma didn't answer. Instead, she gave him a stern look he had already seen once on this trip; so Vin withheld any further interruptions.
"Max, can you tell me one more thing? Do you know if this man hurt Caeli?" Salma asked in a very soft and sweet voice.
"Pretty Caeli will need a bigger Band-Aid."
Tears welled up in Max's eyes again as he looked at Salma and then over at Vin. Ben put a supportive hand on Vin's shoulder as he watched shades of anger and fear run across Vin's face.
<
br /> "Caeli, please! Can you hear me? Please, please answer me, Honey," Vin called desperately.
"It's ok, Max. Can you tell me how she got hurt?" Salma continued.
"The bad man hit her when she left me in the towel cabinet. Then she told me with her secret voice that she was all right; that I should not be scared. She told me not to come out." Max seemed to gather his courage with that last statement and climbed down from his father's arms. He walked over to Vin, who had turned away with his hand over his eyes. Max tugged on Vin's pant leg. Vin made an effort to set his anger and fear aside before turning to look down at the boy.
"Yes, Max?"
"I'm sorry that pretty Caeli got hurt because she helped me again. And I'm sorry that I bit you."
Salma couldn't contain a slight giggle at the last part, and even Ben grinned, despite the severity of the situation. Vin knelt down beside Max and smiled slightly at the innocence before him, though he was trying to put on a stern look.
"Now Max, we've talked about this already. You cannot say you are sorry for her choice. But, if I get rabies from that bite, I might have to feed you to the sharks myself." Vin did grin this time.
"Vin is only teasing you, Max. He wouldn't really feed you to the sharks; would you, Vin?" Salma prompted Vin to look at Max's face. The boy could not tell if Vin was serious or joking.
"Of course I wouldn't. Don't worry, Max. Caeli can be tough when she needs to be. I promise we will find her. I bet she got lost on the beach and is trying to find her way back right now. She never was very good with directions." Vin's reassurance was as much for himself as it was for Max.
Wrath of the Sea Queen Page 45
