Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

Queenie blinked. "Um, I, um. It's just gas," she said.

Zack looked amused. "You might want to have that checked out." He turned to Maggie. "Could we chat for a minute? Alone," he added.

* * * * *

Zack followed Maggie through the living room to the front door. He thought she looked a little stiff; she was probably trying to prepare for bad news, and it pissed him off that he couldn't make things okay for her and Mel.

They stepped outside and Zack decided he liked the front porch, with its large rocking chairs with fat cushions, and ferns and potted plants. He'd noticed it first thing when he'd arrived earlier. Maggie Davenport was all about providing and making a good home for her daughter, and it grated on him that some mean son of a bitch would think nothing of destroying it.

He waited for Maggie to sit in one of the rockers before dragging the one next to it closer to her. She turned to him, her eyes troubled and expectant. "Okay, Madden, lay it on me," she said, and he knew she was trying to sound brave. The faint tremble of her bottom lip told him she was having trouble pulling it off.

"I just got some news," he said. "A security guard spotted the red Jeep Cherokee used in Stanton's escape."

"Where'd they find it?"

"Sitting in a Wal-Mart parking lot, not far from the hospital," he said. "I'm pretty certain Stanton wasn't interested in shopping."

"Not unless there was a sale on handguns," she said.

"As I mentioned earlier, I think they had another car lined up. It would be too risky to steal one, although police are checking stolen-vehicle reports as they come in. Until now, all they've had to go on is the Cherokee." He saw the disappointment in her eyes.

"Which means Carl Lee and his groupies have probably been on the road since ten-thirty this morning," she said.

"Unless they had to look for a place to dump a body," he said. "Our witness was right; the guy who pulled Stanton inside got hit. There was blood on the backseat of the car."

"How do they know it wasn't Carl Lee's?" she asked. "It happened so fast. I understand there was a lot of confusion."

He noted the hopeful look on her face. "It's possible. The crime lab in Houston is going over the vehicle now." She raked her hands through her hair, and Zack wondered if it was just a habit or if she was trying to compose herself. He watched the thick dark strands slide through her fingers and fall to her shoulders.

"What do we do in the meantime?" she asked.

"We wait."

* * * * *

Max Holt walked into his wife's office where she was eyeballing her computer monitor. "Hello, gorgeous."

She looked up. "Oh, now you show up." She crossed her arms and tried to look miffed, but miffed wasn't easy with Max standing there grinning. She pulled her thermometer from her desk drawer where she kept it hidden from Vera. She waved it about. "Where were you when my temperature went up?"

He chuckled, rounded her desk, and sat on the edge. "Sorry about that. I was going through the plant, and I accidentally left my cell phone on my desk. I'm not usually so forgetful, but my wife is wearing me down with this sex-on-demand business."

Jamie uncrossed her arms. She knew how anxious Max was to start production at the polymer plant. "We're never going to get pregnant," she said on a sigh. "I'm going to end up on fertility drugs. Women on fertility drugs usually have about eighteen babies."

"Maybe we should stop trying so hard."

Jamie shook her head sadly. "Poor Fleas is going to be an only child."

They both looked at the snoring hound, sprawled on his back in front of the window. Max cocked his head to the side. "Is it me or is he getting better looking by the day?"

"Trust me, it's you." Jamie turned back to Max, her expression suddenly serious. "We have to talk. My friend Maggie is in trouble."

"I know."

She was surprised. "How do you know?"

"Helms called me. You can stop worrying now because there's an agent already in place. Zack Madden will be staying with Maggie and her daughter until this thing with Carl Lee Stanton is over."

"Why did Helms call you?"

"They needed more information on Stanton."

"And they know you don't have a problem breaking the law getting it," she said.

"Only if it's for a good cause," Max said with a grin.

"Uh-huh. So what do you know about this Madden guy?"

"His father was the agent Stanton gunned down."

"Holy crap!"

"Yeah. All of this is strictly confidential," Max said. "Helms pulled a few strings so Madden could have the case. To sort of make up for the fact the bureau screwed up. Evidence was mishandled and lost. Which is why Stanton escaped the death penalty," he added.

"I have a vague recollection of the case," Jamie said, "but we were busy trying to get Maggie out of town and do the whole cover-up thing." She paused. "Does Maggie know it's personal for Madden?"

"No, and it is best that she doesn't. Zack Madden has revenge on his mind. He's going to take Stanton out."

Maggie went about the house pulling shades and closing drapes once she and Zack had finished their conversation. She knocked on the door to Mel's room and found the girl sprawled on her bed sketching. Mel looked up but turned her sketch pad facedown. She was, at times, self-conscious about people seeing her work.

"We need to talk about the new house rules that Zack has put into place," Maggie said, trying to sound casual as she listed them and went about the room pulling the curtains closed. Zack had taken down the cafe curtains over the kitchen sink and covered the window with aluminum foil, even as Queenie had shaken her head and told him how tacky it looked.

"He's just taking extra precautions," Maggie said, "and it's only temporary." She turned. "This is going to break your heart, but you'll have to miss a couple of days of school."

"What about my friends?" Mel asked. "Will I be allowed to visit them?"

"We'll have to discuss it with Zack." Mel didn't look happy. "It's not forever," Maggie reminded. "The police are doing everything they can to find Carl Lee." Maggie clasped her hands together in front of her. "We should talk."

Mel gave a pained expression. "Mom, I don't want to talk any more right now, okay? If you want to talk to somebody why don't you talk to Aunt Queenie about how she's stinking up the whole house?"

"She's boiling basil to, um, protect the house."

"Can't you make her stop?"

"What do you think?"

Mel made a sound of exasperation. "None of my friends have all this voodoo crap in their houses. It's dumb. Everything that's going on here is dumb. My whole life is dumb." Mel turned on her back and stared at the ceiling.

Maggie prayed her daughter would get through puberty quickly. "Yeah, life can be like that sometimes," she said, heading for the door. "Just one dumb thing after another."

* * * * *

Maggie finished her grocery list and pulled a large container of spaghetti sauce from the freezer to thaw in the microwave. She had decided if the house was going to smell Italian she should cook something Italian for dinner to go with it. Mel had left her room in search of a snack and was in the process of spreading peanut butter, cream cheese, and strawberry jam on a warm bagel as Everest watched. The girl cut the bagel down the center and handed him half. "Try it."

Everest took a bite. "Hey, that's good."

"Told you." Mel took a big bite.

Maggie listened in amusement as Mel went through the list of ingredients carefully so Everest could commit it to memory. "Don't tell him how fattening it is, Mel," she said.

"Oh, right, Mom," Mel said with a grunt of a laugh. "This coming from a woman who eats her weight in chocolate."

"Okay, so I have one teeny-tiny vice," Maggie said.