“Get on with it, then,” Ammon said. “Perform the Ceremony of the Opening of the Gates.”
Rutherford took the Book of Mammon off the altar and began reading. “ ‘Oh, Mammon, I call upon you to welcome this sacrifice and take your place upon this earth.’ ” He leaned forward, toward Ammon. “This is where you kill her, sir.”
“Very well,” Ammon said. “Where’s the garrote?”
“I thought you were bringing the garrote,” Rutherford said.
Ammon rolled his eyes. “Idiot! I’m the demon god. I can’t be expected to bring my own garrote. Do we have a length of rope?”
Ammon and Rutherford scanned the room. No rope.
“Perhaps we could use my tie or my belt,” Rutherford said.
Ammon shook his head. “That would be inappropriate.”
“Of course,” Rutherford said. “What was I thinking?”
“We’ll have to shoot her,” Ammon said. “Give me your gun.”
“Um, I don’t carry a gun,” Rutherford said.
“Well, get one! Do I have to always think of everything?”
Rutherford blinked and gasped, ran to the door, and wrenched it open. “I need someone’s gun!” he said to the men waiting in the vestibule. “I need it now!”
He returned with a gun and offered it to Ammon.
“I think you should do this,” Ammon said. “I have to be ready for Mammon to emerge.”
“Um, excuse me? What?”
“Shoot her.”
“Yes, yes. Ha-ha. You want me to shoot her. Ahhh, well, this will be a new experience.” A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. “I don’t…that is, ha-ha.” He aimed the gun at me. “Uh, where would you like me to place the bullet?”
“Oh for Pete’s sake! In the head. No, wait. In the heart.”
“The heart. Are you sure? It’s um, behind a breast. And, uh, let’s see how we work this gun. I’ve never actually shot a gun before.”
“It’s easy,” Ammon said. “You pull the trigger.”
Rutherford’s hand was shaking and sweat was dripping into his eyes. “Yes, yes, of course, but, ha-ha, am I holding this correctly?” He turned to Ammon. “Do I, ah, have the proper grip? I really think it would be best if you did this, sir. I don’t feel entirely, ha-ha, competent here.”
Ammon’s face went scarlet. His fists were clenched and his face was contorted with anger. “Just freaking pull the trigger and shoot her!”
Ammon grabbed at the gun, there was a small awkward wrestling match, and BANG!
Ammon’s face went blank and a red stain began to spread across his chest.
“Oops,” Rutherford said.
Ammon crashed to the floor, and Rutherford bent over him.
“Mr. Mammon?” Rutherford asked. “Hello?”
No one answered. Rutherford carefully placed the gun on the floor. He stood and smoothed his tie.
“Ha-ha,” Rutherford said, backing up, moving toward the door. “My bad. Ha-ha. Well, I’m just going to leave now. I, uh, I actually have a job offer in…Tasmania. And, um, I might consider it. So it’s been lovely. And you have a fabulous day. The weather should be outstanding today. Outstanding.”
Rutherford slipped out of the room and carefully closed the door behind him. Words were said in the vestibule, but I couldn’t make them out. There was the sound of footsteps and then it was quiet.
I looked over at Hatchet. “Okay, then,” I said. “That went well.”
“I think I hath pooped myself,” Hatchet said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The door opened and Diesel walked in. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. I’d been running on bravado up to this point, but it was fast disappearing, getting replaced with a wash of relief that had me close to tears.
“Who shot Ammon?”
“Rutherford,” I said. “Not entirely intentional.”
“He was running out of the house when I arrived. Everyone was running out of the house. I grabbed him, and he said you were in the basement chapel and you were lovely in your white gown and waiting for me.”
“The waiting part is true. Not sure about the gown,” I said.
Josh and Glo and Clara rushed in.
“Whoops,” Clara said, spotting Ammon. “Looks like we’re late for the party.”
Diesel got Hatchet off the hook and dumped him onto the floor.
“A thousand thanks, sire,” Hatchet said. “I fear I have no blood in the lower half of my body.”
Josh was bent over Ammon. “Whoa, he’s holding a rock. I bet it’s the Stone of Avarice.” Josh took the stone away from Ammon. “You know, I always felt I was on a higher plane than everyone else,” Josh said, holding the stone. “And now I know why. It’s because I really am superior. I was meant to own this stone. I was meant to own everything, to rule the world.”
“Good grief,” I said. “Someone take the stone away from him and put it in the silver box on the altar.”
Diesel removed the stone and dropped it into the box. He took a pocketknife out of his jeans, lifted me to my feet, and cut my cuffs away. A tear leaked out of my eye, and he wiped it away with his thumb.
“Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” he said, wrapping an arm around me, holding me close to him.
“How did you know I was kidnapped?”
“Josh was standing in front of the bakery, letting some tourists take pictures of him, and he saw Rutherford and his men drive off with you. He ran inside and told Glo, and Glo called me. I was on my way back from Boston when I got the call.”
“We were worried Diesel was too far away, so we jumped in Clara’s van, and took off to save you!” Glo said.
“Boy, have I got good friends, or what?” I said.
Diesel looked over at Ammon. “Nergal’s going to love talking to this one.”
—
I spent the night next to Diesel. The danger was over but the fear stayed with me, and I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t set the alarm, but in the morning I woke up on time anyway. The room was dark. Cat was at the foot of the bed. Diesel was still asleep. I crept out from beneath the covers, took a shower, and dressed in my usual uniform of jeans and a T-shirt. I went downstairs and made coffee. My kitchen was cheerful and my world felt good again. Everything would be fine until another stone found its way to Salem. I fed Cat, and when I turned around I was face to face with Wulf.
“Good morning, Lizzy,” Wulf said.
He was very close to me, and his personal space hummed with energy.
“You missed the finale,” I said.
His eyes were dark and intense but his mouth curved into the hint of a smile. “We haven’t seen the finale yet,” he said. “Hatchet filled me in on yesterday’s ceremony. An inevitable outcome. Ammon was never meant to have the stone.”
When Diesel and I went to bed we’d hidden the silver box that contained the stone, the coin, and the Blue Diamond in the microwave. Wulf went to the microwave and took the silver box. He looked inside, seemed satisfied with what he saw, and snapped the lid closed.
“Thank you for retrieving this for me,” he said.
“Diesel won’t be happy to hear you broke in and took the stone.”
“My cousin understands that a deal was made. And I’m sure he knows I’m here.”
“The stone and the Blue Diamond are said to be cursed.”
“Then they’re in the right hands.” Wulf smiled again. “I have a way with cursed things.”
He stepped in and drew me close against him. His lips brushed mine, the kiss became more intimate, and I felt fire curl through me.
“We have a mission to find the lost stones,” Wulf said. “There are four left. When the last stone is found it will be our time. And I’ll come to finish what I’ve started here.”
He stepped back and poof he was gone. I turned and saw Diesel lounging against a doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest, hair still mussed from sleep.
“I don’t think so,”
Diesel said.
BY JANET EVANOVICH
THE STEPHANIE PLUM NOVELS
One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to Get Deadly
Four to Score
High Five
Hot Six
Seven Up
Hard Eight
To the Nines
Ten Big Ones
Eleven on Top
Twelve Sharp
Lean Mean Thirteen
Fearless Fourteen
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
Sizzling Sixteen
Smokin’ Seventeen
Explosive Eighteen
Notorious Nineteen
Takedown Twenty
Top Secret Twenty-One
THE FOX AND O’HARE NOVELS
(WITH LEE GOLDBERG)
The Heist
The Chase
The Job
THE BETWEEN THE NUMBERS STORIES
Visions of Sugar Plums
Plum Lovin’
Plum Lucky
Plum Spooky
THE LIZZY AND DIESEL NOVELS
Wicked Appetite
Wicked Business
Wicked Charms (with Phoef Sutton)
THE ALEXANDRA BARNABY NOVELS
Metro Girl
Motor Mouth
Troublemaker (graphic novel)
NONFICTION
How I Write
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
JANET EVANOVICH is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Troublemaker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O’Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.
www.evanovich.com
Facebook.com/JanetEvanovich
@JanetEvanovich
PHOEF SUTTON is a writer, producer, and novelist who’s written for shows such as Cheers, NewsRadio, and Boston Legal. Sutton is the winner of two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody Award.
www.phoefsutton.com
Facebook.com/PhoefSuttonWriter
@PhoefSutton
Wicked Charms Page 21