Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [573]
“It looks like the same M.O. Plus—” Maggie stopped while Marco placed a goblet of Diet Pepsi with a wedge of lemon in front of her.
“I’ll be back with your appetizer. Is there anything else I can get either of you at this moment?”
“No thanks,” Gwen told him. Then to Maggie, she said, “Go on,” before Marco was gone.
Maggie, however, waited until he was out of earshot. She couldn’t believe Gwen. Usually she wasn’t so abrupt and never was she indiscreet. In fact, lately she seemed to be only humoring Maggie by listening, at times appearing bored and tired of the grisly details. Why was she so anxious? Almost overly anxious. Maggie leaned forward, wrapping her hands around the goblet and keeping her voice hushed. “A third head was found today.”
“Jesus,” Gwen said and Maggie watched her sit back as if the comment had shoved her against the booth’s cushion.
“Oh, and Racine’s first detective on this one,” Maggie said, shaking her head as she took a sip. “I think she’s already in over her head.” Then she gulped half her glass. When she had raced back home to shower and change, Harvey convinced her they had time for a quick run. Only now did she realize how thirsty she was.
“Are you sure you’re being fair?” Gwen asked. “After all, you’re not Racine’s biggest fan.”
It wasn’t the first time Gwen had reminded her that she wasn’t exactly objective when it came to Detective Julia Racine. Maggie thought about it while she chewed some ice, a recent nervous habit that kept her from replacing her empty Pepsi goblet with a Scotch. Whether she liked it not, Gwen was right. She had started out years ago with very little respect for Julia Racine. The detective had advanced her career by taking advantage of too many shortcuts given to her just because she’s a woman, while Maggie had always fought to be treated like any of her male FBI colleagues. The result was that sometimes Racine got careless, oftentimes even reckless. It didn’t help matters that she had made a pass at Maggie several years ago while they worked their first case together. Throw into the mix the fact that Racine had saved Maggie’s mother from committing suicide. But Maggie had repaid that favor by rescuing Racine’s father from a serial killer. Theirs was, indeed, a complex relationship. Okay, so maybe Maggie wasn’t quite objective when it came to Julia Racine, let alone her job performance.
“She’s dragging her feet on identifying the other two victims,” she said anyway.
“Is that her responsibility or the M.E.’s? Maybe it’s him who’s dragging his feet? Sounds like you need to give Racine a break.”
Maggie shrugged. She wasn’t sure why Gwen wanted her to play nice with Racine all of a sudden. How could Gwen defend a woman she’d never met? “She doesn’t play by the rules,” Maggie offered as a weak defense and realized her mistake as soon as she saw Gwen’s smile.
“And you do?”
“Sometimes I bend the rules. Weren’t you the one who told me about a dozen years ago that there are no rules in battling evil?”
“There are always rules,” Gwen said, serious again. “Good is held to them, evil is not. Sort of an unfair advantage right from the start.”
Marco chose that moment to deliver the plate of steaming, garlic-scented mushroom caps and small serving plates. “Ladies, enjoy. I’ll return in a few minutes.”
Both of them stared at the appetizer even though Maggie had been starving.
“So what about Stan?” Gwen said and scooped up several of the mushroom caps onto Maggie’s plate. She served herself a couple as well, but kept her plate to the side. “Why is he dragging his feet?”
“From what I understand there was little tissue left.” Maggie glanced around the restaurant. The tall wooden booths allowed much privacy, but this was also a regular hangout for high-level politicos. Which meant plenty of eavesdroppers, too. Satisfied that no one was trying to listen to their conversation, Maggie continued, “There were no dental records to match, either. Stan says he wasn’t able to do an autopsy, but he also hasn’t sent them to a forensic