Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [607]
“YOU’VE GOT MAIL,” the computerized voice told him and it brought a sense of comfort almost as strong as the tea. His friend from the States, it had to be. It was the only person he had given out his e-mail address to. Although they had exchanged very little personal information about each other, they had shared some wonderful in-depth discussions on current events and moral quandaries. It was the closest to a friend that he had had in years…actually, maybe ever.
He clicked on New Mail. Yes, it was his friend, the clever e-mail tag always making him smile: TheSinEater@aol.com.
There were never greetings, a detail he appreciated, not wanting to waste time on pleasantries that were no longer necessary. This message contained two separate links that looked like news articles. It was something they did quite frequently, drawing each other’s attention to particular events and starting a whole new discussion. At the end of the message his friend simply wrote: YOU MAY BE NEXT. Probably another attempt at humor; he liked his friend’s dry sense of humor, their occasional exchange of playful barbs.
He clicked on the first link and again sat back to wait for the ever-slow connection. When the page finally came up, the headline startled him enough that he jolted upright, almost spilling his tea: Omaha Monsignor Knifed To Death In Airport Restroom.
CHAPTER 27
University of New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
Maggie stood back and watched Professor Adam Bonzado turn the flesh-eaten skull around in his hands, holding it and examining it as if it were a jeweled treasure. She had never realized before how strong his hands looked. The long fingers like that of a piano player, careful and gentle yet probing the loose flesh, inquisitive without hesitating and without cringing. Gwen had given her a hard time, suggesting she had met her match with Bonzado—finally a man just as obsessed with evil as she was.
“I know there’s not much to go on with either of these,” Racine said, also standing back. She had placed the metal cooler on one of his classroom lab tables and let him open it. Maggie wondered if it wasn’t a professional courtesy so much as Racine wasn’t anxious to handle a human head with or without maggots.
“These are in much better shape than some of the ones that pass through here,” Bonzado said, lifting and looking at it from all angles. “I enjoy teaching, but this is the stuff I live for. Keeps me on my toes. Besides, I get to take two attractive women out to lunch.”
Maggie thought she saw Racine blush, but she looked away, pretending to be preoccupied with the contents of the room. Was it possible Racine had a crush on Bonzado? Long before Racine had hit on her, Maggie had heard rumors that Racine was bisexual. Still, it had come as a surprise. At the time, Maggie was married, obsessed with her work and naïve—or perhaps oblivious was a better term—to anyone’s advances whether they be male or female. Actually, when she thought about it, that wasn’t much different than what she was like now. Except for the married part, she was still pretty oblivious.
“And Maggie, I promise lunch will be much better than vegetable soup on one of my Bunsen burners.”
He glanced up at her as if to see if she remembered or perhaps to see if she would catch this one, this advance, this attempt at flirting. Case in point. Could he read her mind? Maggie couldn’t help smiling. Of course she remembered. The last time she had been to his classroom lab he had a pot of soup cooking alongside a boiling pot of human bones. It had sort of freaked her out when she saw him scooping up a bite. That was before she knew it was his lunch and not more human remains.
Bonzado laid the skull down carefully on the table in front of them and brought