Full Scoop by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes Page B

smell?”
    “Queenie is boiling basil to protect the house from evil,” Maggie said as though it were an everyday occurrence. “She practices folk medicine.”
    Zack looked intrigued.
    “This is powerful stuff,” Queenie said. “Carl Lee Stanton will not set foot in this house after I’m done.”
    Maggie sat quietly for a moment, rolling her pencil back and forth on the table. “Um, Zack?” she said. “I need to discuss something with you.”
    He joined her at the table. “I’m all ears.”
    “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Mel, but I think it’s too dangerous for her to stay here. I have an old college friend in Charleston. I could take Mel there.” Maggie heard a sound from the doorway and looked up.
    “No way am I leaving,” Mel said. “I don’t even like your friend Cheryl. All she does is complain because she can’t find a boyfriend.”
    “I could help her with that,” Queenie said.
    “Excuse me,” Maggie told her daughter, “but I’m having a conversation with Zack.”
    “I’m not leaving, Mom. You can’t make me go.”
    Queenie stood at the stove stirring. “I should probably stay out of this. I should probably keep my big mouth shut.”
    Mel crossed her arms. “If you make me go I’ll force myself to throw up in your car. Then, as soon as you leave Cheryl’s house I’ll run away. I’ll hitchhike back.”
    Mel turned, strode across the kitchen floor and into the hall. A second later her bedroom door slammed.
    Queenie made a tsking sound with her tongue. “The girl is scared something is going to happen to you,” she said to Maggie. “As much as I dislike hearing back talk from a child, I’m going to have to cut her some slack this time.” Queenie turned to the stove. “Once this is all past us though, I think you should ground her until she’s thirty. Everest, look in my satchel and grab more basil. Get the big jar. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”
    “Would she actually run away from your friend’s house?” Zack asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Maggie assured him. “She is willful and stubborn and spoiled. Tell him, Queenie.”
    Queenie looked at Zack. “That girl is willful and stubborn and spoiled.”
    “You’ll have to keep Mel out of school for a couple of days,” Zack said. “I want her at your office where I’ll be able to keep tabs on both of you.”
    “I’m really trying hard not to get freaked out over this,” Maggie said, her eyes bright with tears.
    Zack nodded. “It’s tough with kids.”
    Maggie looked at him, noted that his eyes had softened. She did not want Zack Madden feeling sorry for her. She did not want him looking at her like that because it made her feel even more vulnerable, and if she let down her guard she might start crying and never stop. She cleared her throat and tried to sound casual. “Do you have children?”
    “Nope.” Zack grasped his hands behind his head. “I discovered early on that my line of work doesn’t make for a good family life.” His cell phone rang, and he pulled it from the pocket of his jeans and checked the readout on his screen. “I’ll take this outside,” he said.
    “Man, oh man,” Everest whispered once Zack left the room. “I’ll bet that call is from FBI headquarters. This is like watching a movie. Zack is one slick dude.”
    “Yeah,” Queenie said. “But I’m thinking it might be tough for him to keep an eye out for Carl Lee Stanton when he can’t keep his eyes off Maggie.”
    Everest nodded. “I noticed it too, Dr. Maggie.”
    “Know what I think?” Queenie said, mopping her face with a paper towel. “I think under that beard is one fine man. And he’s got the nicest behind I’ve seen in a long time. If his front side is as good as his back side—”
    “Queenie!” Maggie glanced toward the kitchen door. “Mel might hear.”
    “Oh, good grief, the girl is thirteen years old,” Queenie said. “What? You don’t think she knows a man has a front side?”
    Maggie