Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

"I really need my pills from my suitcase," Ed said. "It's important that I take them first thing in the morning and every night."

"I'll get them for you." They returned to the car. "I need the keys," Cook said, "so I can get Ed's medicine."

Carl Lee sighed and tossed him the keys.

Ed took his pills and lay down on the seat, pulling his blanket with him.

"Is he asleep?" Carl Lee asked Cook some twenty minutes later. "I want to listen to the news."

Cook turned around. "Yeah, he's out."

Carl Lee switched on the radio and punched several buttons. He finally settled on a country-western station. They sat through two songs before a newsman came on.

Escaped prisoner Carl Lee Stanton is still at large and thought to be traveling with Raymond Boyd, one of the two men who aided Stanton's escape from a medical facility Friday morning at 10 a.m. A car fitting the description given by a witness was found early this evening in a ravine.

Carl Lee and Cook exchanged looks.

In other news, an explosion rocked I-20, east of Atlanta, this afternoon as rain and fog made driving hazardous and created a gridlock that surprised motorists and resulted in an accordionlike collision course. An eighteen-wheeler, bearing the name Prayer Mobile, exploded shortly after impact, when sparks ignited a gasoline spill and engulfed the fuel tank. The driver, the Reverend Will Jones, was pulled unconscious from the cab only minutes before the blast. He and several bystanders were rushed by ambulance to the emergency room and are listed in critical but stable condition.

"Oh, thank goodness," Cook said. "Jonesy is still alive."

"I hope he's not stupid enough to think he's going to get any money out of me," Carl Lee muttered.

Witnesses reported seeing two priests jump from the cab and run from the truck before the explosion. Shortly afterward, the priests were caught on camera entering a nearby convenience store, and one of them robbing the store. Police are presently reviewing the tapes and plan to show them to TV viewers.

Turning to politics—

"Shit!" Carl Lee hissed between his teeth and cut the radio. "It won't take them long to figure out we're the ones in the video." He yanked off his priest's collar and tossed it out the window.

"I can't believe you did that," Cook said. "You're a litterbug. They put people like you in jail and give them a stiff fine."

Carl Lee ignored him. "Put on your country-western shirt and cowboy hat. See if you can find something I can slip over this stupid shirt. And hand me the teeth and glasses."

Cook reached to the backseat floor for the bag they'd stuffed their belongings into and shook his head sadly at the sight of his ten-gallon hat. "It's smushed," he said.

* * * * *

Zack found Maggie sitting on the sofa in the living room, feet propped on the old trunk, when he returned from checking the property. The house was dark; the only light in each room was provided by the night-lights that Zack had plugged in.

"You okay?" he asked, sitting next to Maggie.

She nodded. It was a lie. Her thoughts were spinning in her head like a child's top.

"You've been crying."

"It helps with stress."

"So does sex."

She heard the smile in his voice, but that didn't stop the small flutter in the pit of her stomach. "So does chocolate, and it doesn't hog the covers or snore." She sniffed.

"That's why I'm such a great bed partner. I'm warm-blooded and don't like sleeping beneath a pile of blankets. And I've been told I don't snore."

Maggie decided it was best to ignore the remark, even as the flutter in her stomach suddenly turned into one gigantic quiver. He sat too close. It should have made her feel safe. Instead, she felt even more anxious.

"You know, I have a friend with a daughter close to Mel's age," Zack said. "From what I understand, it's normal for them to rebel a little now and then."

Maggie looked at him. "She put herself in danger. You and I both know what could have happened."

"But it didn't. She's okay."

"I've been too lenient with her. I should have put my foot down a long time ago, but I didn't want to be like my parents. They were so strict. That's why I preferred being around my grandfather," she said, a hint of a smile on her lips. "He let me get away with murder."

"How old were you when he died?"

"Seventeen. I was a senior in high school. I'd already lost my grandmother by then, and even though I was really sad when that happened, it was nothing compared to losing him." She paused. "He was my best friend."

Zack nodded thoughtfully. "I lost someone close shortly after I signed on with the bureau. It was tough. I got through it by focusing on my job."

"I got through it by focusing on Carl Lee Stanton," she said.

"You left out the part about what happened in your parents' barn," Zack said.

Maggie looked up. "What are you talking about?"

"How he drove to your parents' house and hid his car in the barn. And waited for you to get home from school," he added. "He wanted you to go with him, and when you didn't he punished you."

"It could have been worse. He could have shot me. I think I sort of halfway convinced him that I was afraid to go with him while he was running from the police, but if he could maybe go to Mexico or some other safe place I would agree to join him."

"That would have taken a lot of convincing," Zack said.

"I did this 'Oh, I'm so terrified' thing, backed it up with a lot of tears and trembling. Of course, I actually was terrified since he had a gun; but I still like to think I put on an Oscar-winning performance." She paused. "Sort of like you do in your job," she added. "So he grabbed the keys to my dad's old truck and took off.

"Unfortunately, when my parents got home they just assumed I had taken the truck so, of course, nobody looked inside the barn until late that evening. I'm really too tired to go into the rest of it, but I'm sure you already know so why are you asking?"

"Would you believe it's because I need material for the crime novel I'm writing?"

"That's, like, so lame, as my daughter would say."

"Okay, let me give you one of the lines I use to impress women." He stroked the back of her hair. "It's because the more I know you, the more I want to know you."

Maggie looked at him. "That's it? That's your best line? Are there really that many desperate women out there?"

"I wasn't finished."

"It gets worse?"

"The other reason I asked you is because files tend to be impersonal, and I'm feeling like I'm sort of personally involved with you. Maybe even a lot," he added. "Much more than the FBI manual thinks I should be."

Maggie did not see the teasing light that she often found in his eyes. She saw hope and tenderness and what looked like uncertainty, although it was hard to imagine that Zack had ever doubted himself in his life. He was putting all his cards on the table, and she was holding a full hand.

"Zack, where are we going with all this?"

"I'm hoping it's a good place."

She shook her head in confusion. "Is it me or does this feel like bad timing?"

"Yeah, I'd have to agree the timing could be better."

"I don't know what to say. I have so much unsettled stuff going on in my head, and not all of it is about Carl Lee. I've got to get my kid under control, and then I've got to settle some business with her and it's not going to be pretty."

"Maybe I can help. Mel is crazy about me and with good reason."

"No, you can't help with this one, Zack. I've done Mel a terrible injustice, and I have to set it right, and there are going to be consequences." Her eyes misted. "I've lied to her about things. I can't even begin to count all the lies. I thought I was protecting her, but I was protecting me, too, and now Mel is going to hate me for the rest of her life. She'll never trust me again. You don't want to get involved with me, Zack. I'm a terrible mother."