The Maverick Read Free

he hadn’t been able to break away. He’d known who she was, of course. He’d known a great deal about her and her sister, the ex-cop, who ran the family business now that their mother and aunt had retired. But nobody had prepared him for the sheer vibrancy of Cassidy Outlaw in the flesh.
    Cass was an extraordinary lady, but then he was fond of tough Texas women. After all, his mother had been one until she moved to Long Island after she married Griff’s father. In fact, she still flew the Texas flag on the patio at their house. Occasionally, she used to turn the cook out of the kitchen and make chili or tacos or some other Tex-Mex concoctions. Griff hadn’t much liked the food, but he never knew if he didn’t care for the spicy fare in general or if his mother was simply a terrible cook.
    In any event, he planned to have chili for lunch the following day. Maybe he could even talk Cass into going out with him Friday night or Saturday. He’d have to check the Austin American-Statesman he’d bought in the lobby, and find something interesting going on in town. What sort of entertainment would suit Cassidy’s taste? He couldn’t see either one of them enjoying the doings on Sixth Street—the clubs there were more for a younger crowd—but the dossier he had on her didn’t cover entertainment preferences. He’d have to wing it.
     
    G RIFF LOOKED FOR C ASS on the jogging trail the next morning, but didn’t see her. Probably because of her scraped knee. He was sorry about the injury. That part hadn’t been scripted. He skipped out on Friday’s meetings in time to arrive at Chili Witches by a quarter of twelve. There was already quite a crowd, he noticed, as he stood by the door and surveyed the place.
    He spotted Cass talking and laughing with a table of uniformed cops. When she spotted him, she broke away and approached him.
    “Hello,” she said, smiling. “Welcome to Chili Witches. Have you been here before?”
    A bit puzzled by her behavior, he nevertheless played along. “No. This is a new experience for me. How’s your knee today?”
    She frowned. “My knee? It’s fine. Let me find you a seat. Do you have a preference?”
    “Surprise me,” he said, grinning.
    “Sure. Right this way.” She led him to a table for two by the window and plucked a menu from between a small black cauldron of crackers and the saltshaker. “We have three grades of chili—mild, which is comfortably spicy, medium for those who like to sweat a little, and ‘hotter than hell,’ which has about the same kick as a blow torch and is not for the uninitiated. We also have other dishes, as you can see. Our hamburgers and sandwiches are excellent, as well as our chili, and we have a salad bar. May I get you something to drink?”
    “Very good,” Griff said.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Your spiel. Well done.”
    She frowned again. “Thank you, I think. Drink?”
    “Beer would be good.”
    “I’ll have it out right away.” She smiled and left.
    The whole exchange seemed very peculiar to Griff. Surely he didn’t look so different in his suit that she failed to recognize him. He studied the menu and opted for the house specialty, mild.
    A waiter in a red T-shirt and jeans, which seemed to be the uniform, delivered the beer and took his order.
    “Where is Cass?” Griff asked.
    “I don’t know,” the waiter said. “She didn’t come in today.”
    “How can that be? I just spoke to her.”
    The waiter chuckled. “That wasn’t Cass. That was Sunny, her twin sister. Happens all the time. Sunny’s here Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Cass takes over on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.”
    “Oh, I see. I knew Cass had a sister, but I didn’t realize they were twins.”
    “Identical. Some people say they can tell them apart, but me, I can’t tell one from the other. I’ll be right back with your chili. Want cheese or oyster crackers with that?”
    “Sure.” It was a shame he’d picked the wrong day to visit the