"Sure thing, Chess. Wouldn't want to interrupt your eating," Maxine said, only rolling her eyes when she was past his sight line.

She headed into the kitchen, and was surprised to see Nica already there. "Ah-- I'm guessing you beat me to filling Katie in."

She gave a somewhat sheepish look to both gals, trying to gauge how much Nica had spilled and how much Katie was buying. This was, after all, a kind of delicate subject. It wasn't every day you had to tell one of your friends about a possibly rabid hunter who was dead-not-dead and now dead again.