Bug Man Suspense 3-in-1 Bundle Read Free

of them, consuming the body at an astonishing rate. As the famous taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus once said, ‘The progeny of three flies can consume a dead horse more quickly than can a lion.’”
    She closed her eyes and held up one hand. “Nick.”
    â€œSince insects pass through distinct developmental stages, by studying the insects on a corpse we can determine almost exactly how long they’ve been there—and thus, the time of death. All you have to do is collect maggot samples from the various orifices. Take your filet, for example: It’s basically a thick slab of muscle tissue, much like—oh, let’s say a cross section of the human thigh—”
    â€œNick!”
    Nick stopped. The woman had a strange look on her face—the sort of look a person gets when they first learn that calamari is really squid.
    â€œCan we talk about something else?”
    â€œYou asked me what I do.”
    â€œI know, but I didn’t know you did . . . that . Do you really have to work with dead people?”
    â€œIt helps.”
    â€œHow can you stand it?”
    â€œAs coworkers go, I recommend them.”
    She shuddered. “Well, let’s talk about something else.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œSomething besides work— your work, anyway.”
    Nick shrugged. “Okay. What do you do?”
    She glared at him. “I’ve been telling you that for the last forty-five minutes.”
    Nick blinked. “Would you excuse me a moment?” He pulled out his cell phone and checked for messages again.
    â€œYou keep looking at your cell phone,” she grumbled. “A woman notices that too.”
    â€œSorry. I’m sort of on call.”
    â€œIn case somebody dies?”
    â€œIn a way, yes. I volunteer with an organization called DMORT—the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team. DMORT is a part of the National Disaster Medical System, under FEMA. Whenever there’s a disaster involving mass casualties—like the World Trade Center or United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania—then DMORT is called in. Whenever the number of casualties is too big for the local coroner’s office to handle, we show up. Our job is to help collect and identify human remains.”
    â€œYou volunteer to do that?”
    â€œSometimes I can’t believe the things I volunteer for.”
    â€œHas there been a disaster somewhere?”
    â€œThere’s a hurricane called Katrina moving northwest across the Gulf of Mexico right now. It was a category 1 when it hit Florida the night before last; then it was downgraded to a tropical storm. But now it’s out over the Gulf again, and it’s sucking up energy from the hot sea; it’s up to a category 4 now, and some say it might become a 5. The National Hurricane Center says it’s heading for New Orleans; if it keeps going, my DMORT unit will be activated—just in case.”
    At that moment, Nick’s cell phone mercifully rang. He scrambled to open it.
    â€œNick Polchak.”
    â€œNick. It’s Denny with DMORT.”
    â€œIt’s about time.”
    â€œI called your office first. You’re usually there on a Saturday night.”
    â€œI should be there now.”
    â€œSome grad student answered your phone. He said you were on a blind date —in a restaurant —with a woman .”
    Nick didn’t reply; he just kept nodding and staring straight ahead.
    â€œNick, is it true?”
    â€œDenny. Please.”
    â€œJust tell me: How’s it going?”
    â€œA disaster of unprecedented proportions,” he said. “It makes you wonder if there’s a God.”
    â€œThat bad, huh?”
    â€œAll the needless suffering—all the wasted resources—it could have been prevented. Why don’t we ever learn?”
    â€œWell, then, I’ve got good news for you. We just got word from the Emergency Operations Center: NDMS has activated