Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

"I made fresh coffee for the men, Dr. D." Everest said, having appointed himself host, "and I set out that box of doughnuts and I sliced the cake and put it on a nice plate and—"

"You cut my chocolate cake!"

He covered his mouth with one hand. "Uh-oh." It came out muffled. He removed his hand. "Uh-oh."

"Never mind," she said miserably. She took the cup and patted his hand. "The way I feel right now I would probably eat the whole thing and blow up like a hot air balloon. Did you check in with Queenie?"

He nodded. "She's still at the office rescheduling your appointments," he said. "She phoned Dr. Gray like you said, and he's going to follow up on the boy in the hospital."

"Jimmy Sanders," Maggie said. "That's good." Queenie had shown up to see if her black hen had finally laid an egg, only minutes after Maggie and Zack had discovered Mel was missing. That the hen had still not produced the egg Queenie claimed she needed desperately in order to stop Carl Lee only added to her distress. Maggie had sent her to the office to cancel her appointments for the next few days.

Everest looked at Jamie. "Would you like coffee?"

"I don't drink coffee."

Maggie looked at her. "Are you, um—?"

"Yes." Jamie smiled.

"That's great, Jamie." Maggie took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm really happy for you and Max." She forced herself to smile, just as she had forced herself to remain as calm as possible while Zack, Max, and Lamar discussed strategy. She was afraid if she let her guard down she would loose it completely. She knew police and volunteers were sweeping the town looking for her daughter, but it did not stop her from imagining the worst.

* * * * *

Carl Lee followed a tray-laden Lydia up the flight of stairs to the second floor and to the guest bedroom that had looked out over the backyard until Carl Lee had nailed a sheet of plywood over the window. He held his pistol in one hand, a key in the other. He unlocked the door, pushed it open, and Lydia carried the tray inside. She set it on the night table.

Mel was awake. Her wrists and ankles had been bound and joined behind her, her mouth covered with duct tape. Her eyes climbed to Carl Lee's face, her gaze sharp and assessing and unwavering.

Lydia looked up at Carl Lee and he nodded. She leaned over the bed and very gently peeled the tape from Mel's mouth. The girl sucked in air. "I'm going to give you something to drink, sweetie," Lydia said, offering a tremulous smile. She reached for a glass of orange juice in which a bendable straw had been placed. Her hands shook as she helped Mel raise her head, then put the straw to her lips. Mel sucked greedily. "I have a sweet roll for you too," Lydia said.

"She doesn't even resemble her mother," Carl Lee said.

Mel's green eyes flickered and filled with contempt.

"Oh, I think she does," Lydia said softly.

"Where's Ben?" Mel asked.

"He's in the next room, dear."

Mel looked at Carl Lee. "I want to be in the same room with Ben. I don't want to be in this dumb Barbie room." Lydia looked hurt. "I'm sorry, but I've never really been a big Barbie fan," Mel said.

"Who are those people with your mother?" Carl Lee said. "They're dressed in fishing clothes."

Mel gave him her "you're so dumb" look. "Fishermen?"

"You've got a smart-ass mouth, kid, you know that?"

"Why did you grab me last night?" she said.

His smile was more of a smirk. "Because it was so easy. That's what happens to little girls who sneak out at night."

"You're not going to get away with this," Mel said. "They'll find you."

"Tape her mouth shut," Carl Lee told Lydia.

"She hasn't eaten."

"When she gets hungry enough she'll answer my questions," Carl Lee said.

Lydia hesitated.

"My mother told me all about you," Mel said.

Carl Lee looked at her. "Yeah, what did she say?"

"She told me what you did. Why did you shoot those men?"

He shrugged. "Because I could," he said. "Put the tape back on the kid's big mouth and let's go," he told Lydia once again.

Tears filled Lydia's eyes as she gently placed the tape over Mel's mouth. Carl Lee motioned the woman toward the door. He looked at Mel and smiled. "By the way, did your mother ever tell you about the time I played a little joke on her?" he asked and laughed. "I put her in the trunk of my car and locked her in. It was funny as hell." He laughed again. "But here's the really funny part. Right after I put her in, I shook this bag over her and all these field mice fell right on top of her. The look on her face was priceless, especially since I'd bound and gagged her, and she couldn't do anything about it. Funniest damn thing I'd ever seen."

* * * * *

Jamie had needed something to fill her time once Maggie had gone into her bedroom to be alone for a while, so she had grabbed a cloth and beeswax and begun polishing the antique pieces Maggie had restored and loved so well. Her cell phone rang, and Jamie grabbed it from her purse. She answered and received an enormous sneeze in response.

"Hi, Destiny," she said. Jamie would recognize that sneeze anywhere.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that in your ear," Destiny said. "I haven't slept all night for sneezing—" She paused and sneezed again. "I had this vision last night, and I keep seeing it over and over in my head. A little girl, tied up, with something covering her mouth. I couldn't see her face or the color of her hair, and I couldn't tell how old she was, but her wrists and ankles were tied together. I didn't really see that her ankles were tied together because somebody had covered her in a bedspread with doll faces on it. I just sort of knew in my vision that they were tied, you know?"

Jamie could feel the tension building inside as she considered what Destiny was telling her.

"I didn't think anything about it until I stopped by the Full Scoop ice-cream parlor," Destiny said. "Abby Bradley has a little coffee area now. She told me Maggie's daughter had run away. So I got to thinking maybe there's a connection or I wouldn't be sneezing like this. You know I sneeze when my visions are true."

* * * * *

Maggie lay very still on her bed with a wet cloth over her face. She had suffered through a case of dry heaves that had left her weak and trembling. Her phone rang, and she almost dreaded answering it in case it was another friend or neighbor asking if there had been any word on Mel. But she had refused Jamie's offer to catch the phone calls in case her daughter called.

Her voice croaked when she spoke into the phone.

"Dr. Davenport, is that you?"

Maggie sat up quickly at the sound of McKelvey's voice. "Yes, I'm here," she said, her heart already beating hard.

"He called me."

Maggie took a deep shaky breath. "And?"

"He was angry. I told him I wanted to help him, and that I had kept my promise about not calling the police. I offered to meet with him. I even gave him my cell phone number so he could reach me at any time." McKelvey paused. "I'm on my way to Beaumont, Dr. Davenport. I'm calling from the Atlanta airport. I'll be flying in to Savannah where I'll rent a car and head your way. I want to help you and your daughter. Please take down my cell phone number in case you need to reach me before I get there."

He called it out to Maggie, and she scribbled it down. "What do you plan to do?" she asked.

"When Carl Lee makes an appearance I want to be there. I can talk to him. I can try to convince him to—"

"You said when," Maggie said.

Silence.

"He's already in Beaumont, isn't he," she said. "He called you so he could tell you he's already here."

"In so many words, yes."

"What words, Dr. McKelvey?"

The man took a deep breath. "He called me and told me to get a message to you. He told me to tell you that he's closer than you think."