Savage Bay Read Online Free PDF Page B

education.
    On Quiz’s fourteenth birthday, he discovered a worn copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy on the top tier of the walnut bookshelves. Flipping through the pages, his mind was quickly captured by Dante's prose and the graphic illustrations sprinkled throughout the volume.
    Quiz took the book to his hiding spot in a small closet beneath a stairway. There, in that dark place, Dante told him fantastic tales of his voyage to the underworld. By the questionable light of a fat candle, Quiz devoured the text of the epic poem, riding with Dante across the river Acheron in a boat piloted by Charon the Ferryman. Dante whispered in his ear as they descended into the Nine Circles of Hell.  
    Dante had been Quiz’s constant companion since he first opened the pages of the Divine Comedy ; he was a strong, invisible presence in Quiz’s life. He often hovered, unseen, behind his left shoulder. Sometimes he floated overhead, loitering in a quiet corner near the ceiling.
    Usually, the dead poet just observed.
    But sometimes Dante voiced an opinion, speaking softly in his native Tuscan dialect, directly in the center of Quiz’s mind.
    Quiz was much older now, and perhaps wiser, than he was the day Dante Aligheiri became part of his waking reality. Grandmother Whittington passed on many years ago. Ironically, Quiz’s grandfather still haunts Whittington Manor, and is no longer confined to his rooms in the east wing. Quiz hasn't seen him in years.
    Quiz sometimes misses his grandmother.
    He’s not sure why.
    Quiz lost others too. Others much more dear. Long before Catherine Caine assumed a maternal role in Quiz’s life, his biological parents were killed in a home invasion robbery. They departed this life when Quiz was only six.
    Although years have passed, Dante still hovers near Quiz, still offering an occasional observation.  
    And so Quiz sat alone, on the anniversary of his parent’s death, in a crowd gathered at St. Patrick’s Chapel aboard the Alamiranta . He fidgeted in his seat, drawing a stern look from an older woman seated beside him.
    Quiz’s suit jacket was hot.
    The pew was hard and uncomfortable.
    The odor of incense was unpleasant in his nose.
    And Bishop O’Leary, presiding over the memorial mass, was speaking Latin.
    Quiz hated Latin.
    * Why are we here? *
    Quiz ignored Dante's query spoken directly inside Quiz’s mind and instead cast restless glances around the chapel. Light passing through the stained-glass windows threw bands of color on the floor. In the pew in front of Quiz, a young boy twisted in his seat and peered over the back of the pew. His facial features bore the unmistakable signs of Down’s Syndrome.
    Quiz retrieved a hymnal and opened it. Then he smiled at the boy in the next row. The boy grinned back.
    * I asked why we are here. *
    "Not now," Quiz said to Dante.
    The older woman seated next to Quiz shushed him with a crooked finger pressed against her lips. Quiz briefly considered smacking her in the ear with his hymnal. Deciding against it, Quiz reminded himself for the millionth time not to speak out loud when responding to Dante.
    An attractive young woman in black watched Quiz interact with the boy. Her gaze was both admiring and lustful.
    * For the love of God, will you please tell me why we are here. *
    Because my parents are dead. And this is what people do to honor their deceased loved ones.
    I am sorry. *
    The attractive woman stood and moved to take a seat next to Quiz on the pew. Her hair was short and blond, and her muscular body was lean and firm. Her tight black top revealed an ample chest and prodigious cleavage.
    “Hi Quiz.”
    “Hey, DJ,” said Quiz to the communications operative. “How are you?” 
    A former German special-ops commando, DJ was as deadly as she was beautiful. “Okay. And you?”
    “Same ole, same ole.” 
    For the life of me, I will never understand why you flirt
    with women. *
    It’s fun — and it’s that simple.   
    Very well. She