Juliet came through the door so fast her limbs were a blur. She had removed her helmet for better visibility, and the jade ring trailed behind her like a fishing lure on the end of a line.
Butler would never take chances like this, she knew. He would have some perfectly practical, safe plan. Which was why he had his blue diamond tattoo and she didn’t. Well, maybe she didn’t want a tattoo. Maybe she wanted a life of her own.
She quickly assessed the situation. Holly’s aim was true. The two gorillas were rubbing their scorched hands and Spiro was stamping his feet like a spoiled child. Only Blunt was on the floor, going for his gun.
Even though the bodyguard was on his hands and knees, he was still almost at her eye level.
“Aren’t you going to give me a chance to get up?” he asked.
“No,” said Juliet, whipping the jade ring around like the stone that felled Goliath. It struck the bridge of Blunt’s nose, cracking it and effectively blinding him for a couple of minutes. Plenty of time for the Chicago Police to get down the shaft. Blunt was out of the game. Juliet had expected to feel some satisfaction. But all she felt was sad-ness. There was no joy in violence.
Pex and Chips felt they should do something. Perhaps disabling the girl would earn them a bonus from Mr. Spiro. They circled Juliet, fists raised.
Juliet wagged a finger at them. “Sorry, boys. You have to go to sleep.”
The bodyguards ignored her, tightening the radius of their circle.
“I said go to sleep.”
Still no response.
“You have to use the exact words that I mesmerized them to respond to,” said Holly in her earpiece.
Juliet sighed. “If I must. Okay, gentlemen. Barney says, go to sleep.”
Pex and Chips were snoring before they hit the ground.
That just left Spiro, and he was too busy gibbering to be any threat. He was still gibbering when the SWAT team put the cuffs on him.
“I’ll talk to you back at base,” said the captain sternly to Juliet. “You’re a danger to your comrades and yourself.”
“Yessir,” said Juliet contritely. “I don’t know what came over me, sir.”
She glanced upward. A slight heat haze seemed to be drifting toward the elevator chute. The Principal was safe.
Holly holstered her weapon, buzzing up her shield.
“Time to go,” she said, the volume on her P.A. turned to minimum.
Holly wrapped the cam foil tightly around Artemis, making certain no limbs were peeking out. It was imperative they leave while the elevator was empty. Once forensics and the press got here, even a slight shimmer in the air might be caught on film.
As they flew across the room, Spiro was being led from the lab. He had finally managed to calm down.
“This is a setup,” he proclaimed in his best innocent voice. “My lawyers are gonna rip you guys apart.”
Artemis could not resist speaking as they floated past his ear.
“Farewell, Jon,” he whispered. “Never mess with a boy genius.”
Spiro howled at the ceiling like a demented wolf.
Mulch was waiting across the street from the Phonetix lab, revving the van like a Grand Prix driver. He sat behind the wheel on an orange crate, with a short plank taped to his foot. The other end of the plank was taped to the accelerator.
Juliet studied the system nervously. “Shouldn’t you untie that foot? In case you need to use the brake?”
“Brake?” Mulch laughed. “Why would I use the brake? I’m not doing my driving test here.”
In the back of the van, Artemis and Holly simultaneously reached for their seat belts.
CHAPTER 11
THE INVISIBLE MAN
Fowl Manor
They reached Ireland without major incident, though Mulch did attempt to escape Holly’s custody fifteen times. Including once on the Lear jet, where he was discovered in the washroom with a parachute and a bottle of dwarf rock polish. Holly did not let him out of her sight after that.
Butler was waiting for them at Fowl Manor’s front door.
“Welcome back. Glad to see everyone’s alive. Now I need to go.”
Artemis put a hand on his arm.
“Old friend. You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”
Butler was determined. “One last mission, Artemis. I have no choice. Anyway, I’ve been doing Pilates. I feel much more limber.”
“Blunt?”
“Yes.”
“But he’s in prison,” protested Juliet.
Butler shook his head. “Not anymore.”
Artemis could see that his bodyguard was not about to be turned from his path.
“At least take Holly. She can be of some help.”
Butler winked at the elf. “I was counting on it.”