Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

Queenie glanced at Maggie. "I think we could all use a little chocolate about now, don't you? We could buy a whole gallon and take it with us."

Maggie almost hated herself for salivating over the thought of chocolate when she was facing serious problems. Queenie parked in front of the ice-cream parlor and cut her engine.

"I'll wait in the car," Everest said. "It might blow my tough-guy image if people see me going into a place like that."

The three of them barely made it through the door before Abby called out to Maggie. "I hear you have a new goat."

Maggie offered the woman a stiff smile.

"We have a goat?" Mel asked incredulously.

"It's only temporary, honey."

Mel gave a huge sigh. "That's what you said about the chickens and the rabbits. I'm the only one in my school who has a petting zoo in her backyard."

Travis Bradley stepped up to the counter wearing a full white apron. "Hey, Miss Queenie," he said. "You're looking mighty fine today."

Mel stared, transfixed.

"Hey, yourself, cutie-pie," Queenie replied. "I'd like a gallon of that new Better than Sex chocolate ice cream. I hear it's good stuff."

Travis grinned. "It must be good because we're selling it faster than I can dip it. I filled some containers in advance for when we get busy." He reached into a freezer behind him and pulled out a gallon-sized carton. "Only problem, you have to be twenty-one to buy it." He looked her over. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for an ID, Miss Queenie."

Queenie preened. "I've always looked younger than my age," she said.

Abby stepped closer and leaned on the freezer case, her gaze fixed on Maggie. "I suppose you've heard about Carl Lee Stanton's escape. It's all over the news. Are you okay?"

Maggie saw Mel's curious look. "I'm fine," she said brightly. "And you?"

Abby went on in a whisper. "They're saying he's probably on his way back here to get that robbery money. I hope he doesn't, um, you know. Try to look you up," she added.

Maggie remembered that Abby had been a big mouth in high school as well. "Honestly, Abby, that's the silliest thing I've ever heard."

Queenie glared at Abby. "When are you going to learn to mind your own business?" she said. "Why, I have half a mind to—"

"Time to go," Maggie sang out and slapped a ten-dollar bill on the counter. She nudged a frowning and grumbling Queenie toward the door.

Everest seemed to pick up on it right away. "Who upset you, Granny Queenie? Give me a name."

"I'll take care of her, Everest, dear. Old Queenie still has a few tricks up her sleeve."

Maggie shot her a dark look. "Don't even think it."

"Who is Carl Lee Stanton," Mel asked, "and who did he rob?"

Maggie and Queenie exchanged looks. Maggie turned to Mel. "He and I attended the same high school, although he was a couple of grades higher than me. He made some very bad decisions and went to prison."

"Did he kill anybody?"

"Yes. An FBI agent," Maggie said. She gave her daughter a brief rundown of Carl Lee's crimes.

Mel looked out the window, but Maggie knew the wheels were turning in her head. Her daughter wasn't finished asking questions. Queenie started the car and backed out. Mel turned to Maggie once more.

"Why would he look you up?"

"Um, well." Maggie hedged. "We sort of went out a few times."

Mel was clearly shocked. "You dated a convict?"

"No!" Maggie gave an emphatic head shake. "I had already broken up with him by then."

"You were going with him? Like what you call 'going steady'?"

"Goodness gracious," Queenie said. "So many questions. Reminds me of those old Perry Mason shows."

"I think I have a right to ask questions," Mel replied. "Everybody in town, except me, knows my mother dated a murderer."

"Melanie Anne Davenport!" Queenie's voice held a note of warning.

Everest shook his head. "I didn't know."

"It was a long time ago," Maggie said. "Those who did know have probably forgotten. Except for that bigmouthed Abby Bradley, but most people ignore her."

"Somebody needs to teach Abby a good lesson," Queenie said.

"I can have one of my little talks with her," Everest offered.

Mel looked genuinely concerned. "Are we in danger?"

"Everest is going to look after you and your mama," Queenie cut in, "and tomorrow I'm going to Savannah to stock up on my supplies. And buy a black hen," she added. "Carl Lee Stanton can kiss his sorry bottom good-bye 'cause Queenie Cloud is on the job."

Maggie frowned but said nothing. She didn't know which was scarier, Carl Lee on the loose or Queenie with her black chicken and heaven only knew what else.

Queenie pulled behind Maggie's car a few minutes later and Everest did battle with the door once more. "Granny Queenie, you need to do something about these doors."

"It's the humidity," Queenie said, as though it made perfect sense.

Everest finally managed to get it open. He climbed out and held the front seat forward so Maggie could get out. "Are you coming?" she asked Mel.

Mel shook her head. "I'm riding with Aunt Queenie."

Maggie hesitated.

"We'll follow you," Queenie said. "Don't worry, I'm not going to scold her and remind her how I raised her better than to talk to her mother that way. That's your job."

"Thanks." Maggie hurried toward her car. She pulled onto the road a moment later and headed home. She tried to clear her head as she drove. She had accomplished one important step; Mel knew about Carl Lee, and she knew her mother had been involved with him. Maggie figured it was best to let the girl deal with that piece of news before landing the final blow.

She noticed the van in her driveway as soon as she turned onto her street. It was hard not to notice. She tried to think who it might be and couldn't. Carl Lee and his cohorts? she wondered and slowed her car. Surely not, she told herself. Like Jamie, she didn't think he would risk getting on an airplane.

She spied a bearded man on her front steps, his long denim-clad legs stretched before him, crossed at the ankles. He wore a red and white floral shirt; a cast was on his right arm and a white bandage on his forehead. She didn't recognize him. Finally, she pulled in, put her car in park, but kept the engine running. She checked the door locks as the man stood and started toward her.

Maggie rolled down her window as the bearded man stepped up to the car. Without warning, and with lightning precision, he reached inside the open window with one hand, hit the master lock and yanked the door open with the other.

"What do you think you're doing!" Maggie demanded in her most menacing tone, at the same time wondering if the man was one of Carl Lee's thug friends. "Get out of here or I'll blow you to kingdom come with my, um, Magnum!" She wasn't even sure what a Magnum looked like, but it sounded pretty scary. She reached beneath her seat, pretending to go for her gun, but all she could find was her compact umbrella. This annoyed the heck out of her since she could never find the damn thing when it rained.

"Amateurs," Zack muttered. "Rule number one, lady," he said. "Don't threaten to shoot somebody unless you have a gun to back it up. Rule number two, keep your windows raised at all times. I can't help you if you're going to do stupid stuff."

Maggie wasn't listening. She put her car in reverse and hit the gas. The tires grabbed the concrete, and the car shot back like a bullet.

The car slammed right into the front of Queenie's car. "Holy hell!" Maggie yanked her head around; she hadn't seen the woman pull in. She cut her engine, grabbed her umbrella, and bolted from the car. She heard a loud yowl and turned, only seconds before Mel jumped the man from behind, wrapped both arms around his neck, and began choking him.