I looked at him, and the plan to work him for information flew out of my brain. The flecks in his eyes were liquid gold. He leaned down a bit to kiss me. I lifted my chin. I couldn’t wait to feel again the touch of his lips; the heat of his body.

I closed my eyes …

And heard a harsh cough. Someone was standing not two feet away, interrupting our moment with an infernal hacking. They were quite insistent. Loud, too. How rude, I thought.

Reluctantly, I put a hand on Jeb’s chest and pushed away. I opened my eyes.

There stood Detective Martinez, clearing his throat and staring cannon-ball-sized holes into Jeb and me.

A door slammed. I heard the clomp-clomp of school-principal pumps on the wooden deck between the office and the breezeway.

“What do you mean they’re Mace’s daisies, Rhonda?’’ A familiar voice boomed, scaring any wildlife within a hundred yards. “Who brought my sister daisies?’’

Martinez’s respiratory distress had already spooked me. Now, Maddie’s approach finished the job. I scooted away, like Jeb’s thigh was the campfire and mine was the marshmallow. I moved too slowly: The sight of me cozying up to my former boyfriend stopped my sister so fast that Rhonda ran into her from the rear. Clomp-clomp-smack. Maddie looked from the two of us to Martinez, the eyeglasses on her chain bouncing on her generous bust.

“I let you out of my sight for one day, Mace.’’ Maddie shook her head. “And you go and get yourself into all kind of mess with Jeb Ennis.’’

Rhonda looked uncomfortable. An only child, she was unused to the goings on of dysfunctional siblings. “I’ll just excuse myself.’’ She edged backwards toward the office. “I’ve got a mountain of paperwork.’’

It was the only time I ever envied my boss her forms in triplicate.

Jeb stood up. “Howdy, Maddie. Nice to see you, too.’’ He put his hat back on and brushed his hands along the front of his denim-covered thighs. “Even though I’m enjoying this little reunion, it’s time for me to hit the trail.’’

“Hold your horses, Cowboy.’’ Martinez’s voice was a command.

Jeb looked at him, a question on his face. Martinez took his time with the answer. He extracted a cigar from his top pocket. He sniffed it, then held it up like it was a piece of art he was inspecting for a museum. Finally, he put back the cigar and stared at Jeb.

“You’re not saddling up just yet, hombre.’’

Maddie just about licked her chops in anticipation. “That’s Carlos Martinez. He’s a police detective,’’ she said to Jeb. “Carlos, it appears you already know who Jeb Ennis is.’’

The two men looked at each other, measuring. Long and lean, Jeb might’ve had a few inches in height. But the burly detective outweighed the cowboy by at least twenty-five pounds. They stared across the breezeway like two bucks do, just before they crash antlers to see who gets to mate with the female deer. I couldn’t help but wonder if the doe ever gets her say.

“Could you ladies find something else to do for a little while?’’ Martinez spoke to us, but he never took his eyes off Jeb. “I have a few questions for Mr. Ennis. I was going to visit Ms. Bauer here, to see if she could put me in touch. But it looks like I’ve been saved the trouble of traveling all the way to Wah … Wash … Watch …’’

“Wauchula.’’ Maddie helped him out. “I believe Jeb’s cattle ranch is over in Wauchula, Carlos.’’

“Thanks, Maddie. But your sister here already filled me in with quite a bit of information on her good friend, Mr. Ennis.’’

Jeb shot me a look. I stared at the ground, too late to avoid seeing the betrayal in his eyes.

“By the way, I’m not sure what you’ve got going on here, Ms. Bauer, but you need to stay out of this investigation. I’ve told you it’s dangerous. Leave police work to professionals.’’

The superior tone in his voice propelled me to my feet.

“If I did that, Mama would still be in jail, where the professional tossed her. I’d say the professional has made a few missteps. Wouldn’t you agree, Maddie?’’

My sister examined the links on her eyeglass chain.

“Maddie?’’

“Well, Mace, I’m thinking maybe we should let bygones be bygones.’’

My own sister, a Judas!

“It is dangerous. During the course of a murder investigation, there’s no telling what kind of people you might come in contact with.’’ Maddie stared straight at Jeb.

“You better not be meaning what I think you’re meaning, you old rattlesnake.’’ Jeb’s voice was low and menacing.

“All right, all right.’’ Martinez held up a hand. “Maddie, would you mind taking your sister for a walk? I think everyone needs to cool down a little. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of things. I’m hoping Mr. Ennis can help me do that.’’

“Absolutely.’’ Maddie sounded just like the teacher’s pet she always was. “Mace, why don’t you take me to your compound, and show me the animals? Marty told me Ollie’s getting as round as a barrel on all those chickens you’re feeding him.’’

Maddie’s false enthusiasm didn’t fool me. She likes animals about as much as she likes seventh graders, which is to say not much. She touched my elbow. I shook off her hand. I might go, but I wouldn’t do it graciously.

“Fine.’’ I could hear the pout in my voice. It sounded ridiculous. But something about my bossy big sister makes me act like a six-year-old.

As Maddie and I left, I glanced over my shoulder. I wouldn’t have wanted to wander into the open space between Jeb and Martinez. It would be like stepping into standing water charged by a downed power line.

___

Lifting a forty-pound bag of puppy chow to my shoulder, I edged past my sister in the tight quarters of the animal compound’s storage room.

“Good Lord, Mace. You’re as strong as a man!’’

“You make that sound like a bad thing, Maddie.’’

I rested the feed sack on the slatted wood floor. Any number of animals, including skunks and raccoons, can eat moistened dog or cat food. At feeding time, I supplement the dry chow with everything from fish and eggs to fruit and yogurt, depending on the critter.

“Drag that garbage can over here, would you, Maddie?’’ I nodded toward a fifty-gallon pail against the far wall. “I need to fill it with this chow.’’

Maddie looked at the pail like I’d asked her to move a mountain.

“Go ahead, Maddie. It’s empty. I wouldn’t ask you to exert yourself. I know you’re not used to lifting anything heavier than that paddle you use to scare the sixth graders.’’