Blowout

doesn’t play a big part in looking good. Hey, maybe you should get your mom to work out, she’ll be healthier for it.”
    He took her arm when one of her boots went out from under her. He couldn’t imagine his mother walking on a treadmill or pumping iron in a gym. But now that he thought about it, she and his dad had begun walking together in the evenings, quite a lot, in fact. He said, “Careful, this drive isn’t for wusses.”
    “I wish I could have been at your meeting at the Hoover Building yesterday afternoon.”
    “A reporter in the Hoover Building? Are you nuts? They would have locked you in a detention cell if you’d managed to sneak in. They would have turned you over to Big Matron Bubba, and she’d have strip-searched you and taken the fillings out of your teeth. The good Lord knows what would have happened to you then.”
    She couldn’t hold back the laugh, but sobered immediately. She pulled her hat down over her ears because the temperature was sitting about three degrees above freezing. “I’ll just bet there were hardly any women included, were there? All you machos, sitting there preening, believing it’s up to you to solve all the world’s problems—”
    “You’re being sexist, Ms. Markham.” His voice was perfectly easy and mild, although he was tempted to let her slide around on the driveway on her own. “Maybe if I don’t support you, you’ll go right down on your butt. Of course, the macho is here to haul you back up.” Then, of all things, he found himself looking at her butt, realized hers was an excellent butt, and looked away quickly.
    But she saw it in his eyes and arched an eyebrow. “I believe that’s approval I see. Well, now, let me say that you’ve got a very fine butt, too, Detective Raven. When I don’t want to kick it, I admire it. Now, so you can get your mind onto other things, let me ask you how many female agents were important enough to be included in the meeting?”
    “As I recall, more than a dozen of the special agents present were female. Your point?”
    “That’s a start, pathetic though it be.” She stared at his Crown Vic, and said nothing more.
    “When I’m able to get rid of you later, why don’t you shovel the driveway? Or you could arrange to have some macho guys come here and do it for you. You wouldn’t want any of your mother’s lovely rich friends to break their necks, now would you?”
    She looked thoughtful for a moment, then frowned up at him. “Well, of course not. That’s a good use for macho guys.”
    He’d hoped she’d take the bait, but she’d turned it around on him. Well done, dammit. “All right. You were bragging about how helpful you’d be, so tell me about the four women.”
    “Well, they and their families have always been in my life. The only person I don’t like is Juliette Trevor’s son. He’s a spoiled trust-fund baby, and really smart. That combination always irritated me. No, I didn’t sleep with him, but it wasn’t for his lack of trying. I remember Mrs. Trevor gave me a Hermès scarf from Paris when I graduated high school. Wasn’t that nice?”
    “What’s the big deal about a Hermès scarf?”
    “They’re very expensive, and so beautiful they make you weep.”
    “Yeah, right, I can see myself crying over a scarf.” He gave her a look. “Only a woman.”
    When he started the car, she said pleasantly, “Did I mention that you’re a pretty sharp dresser? Maybe you’d like to hear about the shoes I bought to go with the Hermès scarf?”
    He groaned, rolled his eyes. “All right, I can see where this is all going.”
    “Probably so. I’ve always felt sorry for guys. Even though you obviously know how to dress, are doubtless well aware of the effect you have on the female population, you still don’t have the gift of the shoe-shopping gene. No man alive has it that I’ve ever seen. That’s the gene that forces a credit card right out of your wallet when you pass a neat pair of shoes, no matter how many are already in your closet. No, all guys have is the Home Depot hard-wired into your brains. It’s really sad.” She turned the heater on full blast.
    He laughed at her. “Another good use for macho guys—fixing toilets.”
    “All right, you got me fair and square. Tell me everything that happened yesterday.”
    To his surprise, he did. She asked questions, grew thoughtful. She said finally, “The pancreatic cancer, that will come out soon, won’t it?”
    “Oh yes, too