Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

Mel helped Maggie put the grocery items away before heading toward her room with a handful of cookies. Maggie checked her telephone messages and was relieved to find the lab from Beaumont Memorial had called. She quickly dialed the number, spoke to one of the techs, and learned that the tests she'd ordered on eight-year-old Jimmy Sanders had indeed pointed to lead poisoning. She found the doctor, also a personal friend, who was taking her calls that weekend, and they discussed an aggressive treatment plan.

Zack came through the door just as she hung up and gave a smile of relief.

"Good news?" he asked.

"Yes." She told him about Jimmy Sanders.

Zack looked pleased for her. He crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Your grandfather was a doctor," he said. "Is that why you decided to practice medicine?"

"Hey, I've been practicing medicine since I was five years old," Maggie said with a chuckle. "Right at this very table," she added. "My grandfather discussed all of his cases with me. My mother claims my first word as a baby was 'diverticulitis.' "

Zack grinned. "Was your grandfather disappointed when your father didn't become a doctor?"

"You know a lot about my family," she said, only to get a shrug in return. "He was at first. But my dad had no desire to be stuck inside an office all day, which is why he became a cattle farmer." She crossed her arms as well. "Since you know about my family tell me something about yours."

"I grew up in Richmond where I still live when I'm not out of town on a case. My mom is still there and works in real estate. Each time she finds a house she can't live without she buys it and sells the old one."

"What about your father?"

"He hasn't been around for a while."

"Oh." Maggie didn't pry.

"I'm an only child like you."

"Was it lonely for you?"

He shook his head, and his smile was nostalgic. "I had a best friend. He's the reason I went to work for the bureau."

Maggie opened the refrigerator and pulled out two decaffeinated sugar-free soft drinks. She offered one to Zack who arched a brow. "They're not that great," Maggie said, "but I like to think they cancel out my morning coffee and chocolate."

"I think I'll pass," he said.

Maggie put the second one back and closed the refrigerator. "What does your mom think about your working a dangerous job?" she asked, turning in time to see the surprised but troubled look in his eyes.

He shrugged. "You know how moms are. But my job isn't as dangerous as it sounds."

"Uh-huh." She clearly didn't believe him. She opened her soft drink and sat at the table.

"You just have to know what you're doing, Maggie. There's a lot of up-front work, a lot of planning. I don't just walk in blindly."

"Have you ever been scared?"

"Never."

"Liar." She laughed.

"Okay, I was a little nervous when the guy broke my arm. I just do my best to act the part and not flub up my lines."

"Like performing in a play," she said.

He looked thoughtful. "I guess."

* * * * *

Zack was still thinking about the conversation with Maggie an hour later as he cleaned his rifle in the upstairs guest room. When she had likened his work to being in a play, he should have mentioned that he didn't usually kiss the other characters. Or notice their legs and the way their hips swayed when they walked. Okay, that was a lie. He noticed. He'd fantasized. But he hadn't touched.

Maggie folded back a small section of the aluminum foil from the kitchen window and gazed out at the backyard. She knew Zack would insist she re-cover the window once he came downstairs, but she did not like having the world and the light blocked from view so that it felt as if she were living in a tightly sealed box.

The shadows, cast by the tall oaks and pines, had lengthened. It would be dark in an hour, making it easier for Carl Lee to slip unnoticed past police who had embedded themselves in the neighborhood woodwork and would go unnoticed by most people. But Carl Lee Stanton was not like most people. He was dangerous and cunning. And he might already be in Beaumont. He could be watching the house this very minute. She was comforted by the sound of Zack's footsteps overhead.

She was not comforted by their earlier conversation.

I just do my best to act the part and not flub up my lines.

He hadn't been referring to people like Mel and her, Maggie reminded herself. He was talking about the bad guys who did things like break his arm. She and Mel posed no threat. He did not have to hide behind another character. He was free to be himself, and the real Zack Madden genuinely liked her daughter. He genuinely cared about their safety. Of that she was certain. What she didn't understand was why he had checked them out beforehand. And where the hell did that kiss fit in? And when it was all over, then what? Would he just fill out his paperwork, stick them all into a file, and stamp it CASE CLOSED?

* * * * *

Queenie and Everest arrived at Maggie's shortly afterward. Maggie disarmed the alarm system, and the two stepped inside the kitchen, Everest grasping the handle on a pet carrier that contained a squawking black hen. Mel came into the room and peered inside the carrier.

"She looks strange," the girl said.

"She's not your average hen," Queenie told her. "This is a special hen. She cost me seventy-five dollars."

"You paid seventy-five dollars for a chicken?" Maggie said in disbelief.

"She's not a chicken," Queenie said, clearly insulted. "This hen comes from championship stock. She has breeding. She's a blue blood."

Everest held up the carrier and talked to the bird inside. "Her name is Flo."

Queenie gave a sigh. "I guess we have no choice but to keep her out in that chicken coop with the others."

"You want me to take her out there, Granny Queenie?" he asked.

"Yes, Everest. Be very gentle with her," Queenie said. "And watch where you're walking. You don't want to drop her and shake up anything inside of her that might interfere with her egg production."

"All the floodlights are on," Maggie said, but handed Everest a flashlight to help. Once again, she disarmed the security, waited for him to step outside, and then turned it back on. "This security business is driving me crazy," she said irritably. "I feel like I'm guarding a bank vault." She went back to preparing a cold-cuts platter of turkey, fat-free ham, fat-free cheese, and carrot sticks.

"Not in a cooking mood tonight, huh?" Queenie said, looking over Maggie's shoulder at the simple fare.

"Nope."

"You sound tired."

"Yep."

"Uh-oh, somebody is in a bad mood tonight," Queenie said, and turned for the table.

Mel sat in one of the chairs, an annoyed look on her face. "Ask Mom why she's in a bad mood."

"Okay, why?"

"Because she had to undo one of your hexes," Mel said before Maggie could speak.

Queenie gave Maggie a questioning look. "What's she talking about?"

"Mike Henderson is covered with a rash and he was practically clawing himself because he was itching so badly. He already had blisters popping up. If his fever had gotten any higher I would have had to get him to the ER."

"Sounds like chicken pox."

"Exactly." Maggie turned to Queenie. "The problem is, you threatened to do something to him last night so he swears you put a hex on him. The fact that he's a hypochondriac and planned to report you to the police made it even more fun."

"I didn't do anything to that smart-aleck boy."

"You didn't have to," Maggie said, raising her voice slightly. "With some people just saying it is enough, but you already know that. So I spent two hours trying to make him think I was undoing a hex."