Storm Surge: A Fast Paced International Adventure Thriller (Storm Thriller Series Book 3) by Steven Becker

Author:Steven Becker [Becker, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The White Marlin Press
Published: 2019-10-27T16:00:00+00:00

Syracuse, Sicily

John Storm might have been his contemporary, but Bishop Maldonado was not about to run through the streets of Syracuse chasing him. His status provided its own set of unique tools, as well as a different set of priorities. He had the Vatican’s interests to protect. Turning back to the church, he noticed a score of tourists who had gathered around the front doors, waiting for the church to reopen.

Involving the police would make the church a crime scene, and he couldn't open the doors to the public, either, so he ignored them as he entered the side door. Stopping briefly to say a prayer over the dead priest’s body, he carefully stepped over it, and moved to the priest’s office. Just then, he heard the front doors open and the buzz of the tourists as they entered the church.

Trying to recall the details of the scene by the altar, he didn’t think there was anything amiss there. He hadn’t thought about a secretary or other member of the church staff having a key, and he scrambled to the door leading to the altar, fabricating excuses as he went to keep whoever had opened the front doors from seeing the body.

He ran into a middle-aged woman in the doorway.

“I’m in the middle of a meeting in the office. I would appreciate some privacy.” He stepped back to allow her to see who he was. Even if she didn’t recognize his face, she would respect his authority.

“Bishop? Oh, of course. Can I get you anything?” she asked.

He almost asked for tea, though it was more of a whiskey kind of afternoon. Realizing that would give her an invitation to enter the office, he declined her offer. “This might take quite a while. If you wanted to take the day off, I’m sure Father would understand.” He cursed himself for not knowing the priest’s name.

“Well, if you say it’s all right, who’s to judge?” She looked up at the ceiling.

“Thank you. I’ll explain to Father.”

Maldonado watched her as she walked out. A few of the tourists noticed him, and nodded their respects. He smiled back, and returned to the hallway, making sure the door was locked behind him.

The first matter was to take care of the body. The Church had people for everything—including cleaners for crime scenes. Constantly riddled with scandal, the Vatican employed a network of the faithful to clean up its messes. Once the body was handled, he would call the Curia and request a temporary replacement for the priest who had suddenly taken ill.

He sat at the deceased priest’s desk, moving papers around aimlessly. He’d called his secretary in Vatican City. Killing time while he waited for her to complete the list of tasks he had rattled off, he shuffled through the papers, thinking of it as putting the deceased’s work in order, rather than snooping.

An invitation caught his eye. One just like it lay in a stack of similar requests in his own office. Having Bishop Maldonado present at an affair was a status symbol.

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