Full Scoop (2 page)

Queenie opened the door and stepped inside. She was breathing heavily. “Henry Filbert is gone.”

Maggie looked at her. “Gone where?”

“Soon as I showed up with that booster injection you ordered, he shot out the door like a bottle rocket.
After
he gave me the finger and called me an ugly black witch doctor.”

“Oh, gur-reat!” Maggie said. “Did you happen to see which way he went?”

“In the direction of that little strip shopping center,” Queenie said. “I chased that boy for two blocks before I gave up. Just look what the humidity did to my new perm.” She pointed to her hair. The once-tight curls had come unsprung and jutted from her head like tiny mattress springs. “Mrs. Filbert is having a conniption fit out front. Somebody needs to put that woman on Valium.”

Maggie looked at Dee Dee. “Would you excuse me for a minute?” She opened the door and started down the hall. She could hear Henry’s mother wailing from the reception room. “Hurry, Queenie! We have to find him.”

Even as tall and lanky as she was, Queenie could not keep up with Maggie. “Hurry, hell,” she muttered. “I’m too old for this nonsense. I should be sitting home watching the Shopping Network and collecting Social Security. I ought to put the root on that boy. I ought to—”

Maggie skidded to a stop and Queenie slammed into her. They both gave a giant
ugh.
“Quiet!” Maggie whispered. “His mother might hear you.”

“Yeah? The way I see it, she owes me a hundred dollars for
not
bringing him back.”

Maggie threw open the door to the reception room where Ann Filbert was in the throes of hysteria and frantically punching numbers on her cell phone. She gave Maggie a dark look and pointed at Queenie. “That woman frightened my son. I demand that you fire her immediately.”

“Everything is going to be okay, Mrs. Filbert,” Maggie said, noting the openmouthed stares coming from the other parents. A toddler in a pink dress yowled and reached for her mother.

“What if he gets lost or falls into a drainage sewer?” the woman cried, flailing her arms. “He’s just a little boy. He has his whole life ahead of him. He has never been to a prom or fallen in love. He doesn’t even have a 401K.” She put the phone to her ear. “Hello? Is anybody there? Hellooo!” she shouted. She looked at Maggie. “Just wait until I tell my husband. We’ll sue. We’ll own this building before it’s over.”

Maggie glanced at her fresh-out-of-business-college receptionist, who was in the process of repairing a fingernail and seemed oblivious to the situation. “Fran, please take Mrs. Filbert into my office and offer her something to drink,” Maggie said, wishing she had straight whiskey on hand.

“ ’Kay,” the girl said without looking up.

Maggie opened the front door, stepped out, and tried to decide where she and Queenie should start looking. She blinked at the sight of a small, caramel-colored goat tethered to a tree and feeding on Maggie’s azalea bushes. She turned to Queenie.

The woman shrugged. “I forgot to tell you. Joe Higgins stopped by to pay on his daughter’s bill just as I was returning from chasing Henry. Her name is Butterbean. She’s a little cockeyed.”

Maggie just stood there for a minute. Joe was a down-and-out farmer who insisted on paying his account with beast and fowl. He was not a man to take handouts, he’d told her proudly. Which was why Maggie had a dozen laying hens in an outbuilding at the back of her property that she’d turned into a henhouse. Not to mention a cage of floppy-eared rabbits, she reminded herself. Her daughter, Mel, referred to her as Mrs. Old McDonald and her farm.

“On second thought,” Maggie said, realizing Queenie had no business running about in the heat. “Please hide the goat so our patients don’t see her.”

“Mind telling me
where
to hide her?” Queenie asked.

“Take her around back. Be sure to give her water. And Frankie Jr. needs his DPT.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I find Henry.”

“Oh, yeah, don’t be surprised if you run into people dressed like Elvis,” Queenie said. “That convention is in town.”

Maggie had no time to worry about men in Elvis suits. She hit the pavement at a dead run, heading toward the strip mall. Ten minutes later she spied Henry sitting at a table inside the Full Scoop ice-cream parlor. She threw open the door and marched in, unable to miss the two men sitting at the back. They were black-haired with long sideburns, and wore white rhinestone-laden jumpsuits and capes.

She turned to Henry, giving him her most menacing look. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not taking that stupid tetanus shot, and you can’t make me.” He scraped the bottom of the dessert dish, obviously determined to get the very last bite.

“I told him he could get lockjaw and die,” Abby Bradley, the owner, called out from behind the counter.

Maggie shot her a look of disbelief. Abby was a busybody and a gossip. “I would appreciate it if you’d try not to traumatize my patient,” she said coolly.

“I was just trying to help.” Abby gave a huff and disappeared into a back room.

Chocolate fudge dribbled from Henry’s chin. “And I’m not going to let that voodoo woman touch me,” he said. “My dad thinks she’s wacko.”

Maggie put her hands on her hips. “Tell you what, Henry,” she said, trying to keep her anger in check. “You don’t want to take the shot, that’s fine with me. But I’m going to have to insist you come back to my office and sign a waiver.”

He blinked. “What’s that?”

Maggie arched one brow. “Your daddy is an attorney, and you’ve never heard of a waiver?”

“Good grief, I’m only in sixth grade!”

“It’s a document releasing me of any and all responsibility in case you get sick from not following my medical instructions.” Maggie smiled. “In other words, your daddy can’t sue me.” She started for the door.

“Wait.”

Maggie turned and smiled. “Yes, Henry?”

He stood. “Okay, I’ll come back to your stupid office and take the stupid shot, but it better not hurt. If it hurts I’m going to tell my dad I want another doctor.”

She opened the glass door and made a sweeping motion. “After you, Henry.”

Zack Madden tried to ignore the doorbell. He ached all over just lying there motionless; he dreaded the moment when he’d actually have to move. The cast on his arm felt heavy and cumbersome, and his ribs were sore. He touched his forehead. The swelling had gone down, but the stitches were tight and they itched. His beard itched.

Finally, when it was obvious his visitor wasn’t going anywhere, Zack climbed from the bed, grabbed his wrinkled jeans and T-shirt from the back of a chair, and pulled them on. He made his way through the dark condo, trying to steer clear of the furniture. If he so much as stubbed his toe at this point, he would just stick his revolver in his mouth and be done with it. He paused at the door and checked the peephole before unlocking it.

FBI Director Thomas Helms walked through the door, peering at him through wire-rimmed glasses. He carried a Starbucks sack. “I heard you got roughed up. Heard they found the wire,” he added.

“Yeah. After I’ve been dealing with those goons for almost a year they finally decide to frisk me. Luckily the good guys showed up before I was shot and mounted over somebody’s fireplace.”

“Any permanent damage?”

Zack shook his head. “I’ll still be able to have children.”

Helms chuckled. “You need anything?”

Zack closed the door. “A morphine drip, maybe?”

“How about a cup of coffee instead?” The older man handed Zack a tall cardboard cup from the bag. “It’s black.”

“Thanks.” Zack took the cup and peeled off the plastic lid. “Have a seat.” He checked his watch. Eleven o’clock.

Helms sat on the camel-colored leather sofa that faced a large plasma TV screen, a serious sound system, and every other toy a man could wish for. Zack took the chair opposite him. He took cautious sips of the coffee as Helms pulled out a second cup.

“I see you have a lot of signatures on your cast.”

Zack grinned. “The nurses insisted on signing it.” He pointed to the cast that ran from his wrist to just below his elbow. “It’s a real babe magnet.”

“And the beard?” Helms asked.

“Colombian women love beards. Unfortunately, most of the ones I know were recently jailed. I just haven’t had the energy to shave.”

Helms set down his cup. “Nobody knew it was going to be this big, Zack. More than two thousand pounds of pure coke,” he added, shaking his head as though he still couldn’t believe it. “Do you know what that is worth on the street?”

“I did the math. I could buy Rhode Island.”

“One of the guys is already begging to turn state’s evidence. He can give us names and addresses.”

Zack nodded. “That’s what we wanted.”

Helms grinned. “Hey, you played one hell of a mob boss, my friend. We’re going to use the videos in training.”

“I miss being Tony Renaldo,” Zack said. “I miss the Miami Beach penthouse and the yacht and the fancy cars and Italian suits. It never gets cold in Miami. Not like here in Richmond. Women in Miami don’t wear much. A thin coat of suntan oil and a bikini, and they’ve got a full summer wardrobe.” Zack sighed. “I miss the smell of suntan lotion.”

“I feel your pain, Zack.”

“I want to be a
real
mob boss when I grow up, Thomas.”

Helms looked amused. “Right now you’ll have to settle for being a hero. CNN is all over this thing. Everybody from Larry King to Anderson Cooper and Paula Zahn want an exclusive. They want
you,
Madden.”

“I want Paula Zahn.”

“They’ve sworn to protect your cover if you’d grant an interview.”

“Not interested,” Zack said, “but hey, I’d still like to have Paula sign my cast.”

Helms leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Look, I know this is bad timing, but the bureau could use some good publicity. Maybe we could work a deal. You agree to go on TV and make us look like heroes, and we give you something in return. We’ll even let you have yours first since time is of the essence.”

“I can’t think of anything I want bad enough to agree to an interview where I’d have to sit in the dark and have my voice distorted so I sound like Darth Vader.”

“Have you seen the news?”

“I’ve been sacked out. I’m on medical leave, remember?”

“Does the name Carl Lee Stanton ring a bell?”

Zack gave Helms his full attention. “What about him?”

“He’s on the run, and we suspect he’s headed to Beaumont, South Carolina, to pick up the stolen money. Plus, there’s the old girlfriend who rejected him. I feel sure he’ll pay her a visit, so she and her daughter could probably use some protection. I’d like to have an agent inside her house waiting.”

Zack looked thoughtful. “Any other agents involved?” he asked.

“Not at the moment. The police are on it, of course,” he added, “but I don’t have a lot of confidence in those sworn to protect and serve in Beaumont. I plan to keep close tabs on the situation and pass on information as I get it.” He paused. “I also have a close friend in Beaumont. He can get anything on anybody at any time because he doesn’t have to jump through hoops and deal with red tape like we do.”

Helms produced a folded sheet of paper from within his jacket and passed it to Zack. “This printout has all the facts. And this—” He handed Zack a business card. “My friend can be reached at this number. He can be trusted.”

“Max Holt.” Zack was impressed.

“There’s a jet waiting at the airport, and a rental car in Beaumont, South Carolina. If you’re interested,” he added.

“I can be ready in an hour,” Zack said.

It was coming up to one o’clock by the time Jamie returned to the office, having gone by the convention center after leaving Maggie’s office so she could cover the Elvis convention. She found her receptionist/assistant editor/bossy office manager, Vera Bankhead, staring at a sheet of paper. Vera looked up, and the expression on her face stopped Jamie dead in her tracks. “What’s wrong?”

“Bad news,” Vera said. “From the Associated Press,” she added. “Carl Lee Stanton has escaped.”

“What!”

“Here’s the printout.”

Jamie took the sheet of paper and quickly read the article. She looked at Vera. “What are we going to do?”

“Somebody has to warn her,” Vera said. “You’re her friend.”

Jamie reread the article. Carl Lee Stanton had been bad news long before he’d robbed an ATM van and wounded the driver, then, two days later while on the run, killed an FBI agent. She could only imagine how dangerous he was after serving thirteen years of a life sentence at a Texas prison.

“Authorities think he’s headed back to Beaumont where they suspect he hid the money before he was captured,” Jamie read out loud, her expression deeply troubled.

Vera met her gaze. “We both know that’s not the only thing he’s after.”

“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked.

“Um, no,” Jamie said, and Vera agreed.