at was hiding somewhere, and Carl was sitting on one of the bar stools. Somewhere toward the end of the shower, I was overwhelmed with a craving for chocolate. Now that I was in the kitchen, the quest for chocolate occupied my entire brain. I snatched three bars of baker's chocolate from the cupboard and cracked one open. "As much as I would like more muffins, we don't have time for baking, " Diesel said, eyeing the chocolate. I shoved some chocolate into my mouth and put the other two bars in my jeans pocket. "I'm not baking. I'm eating. " I looked around. "I need fudge and marshmallow. Make a list. We need to go to the store. Costco. We can buy cases there, so I won't run out. " I broke more off the chocolate bar and nibbled at it. run out. " I broke more off the chocolate bar and nibbled at it. "And I really need some Snickers bars. A couple cases of those. Are you writing this down?" "You've got gluttonitis again, " Diesel said. "I've got the charm on me, and it looks like it's leaking out to you. " "I do not have gluttonitis. That's ridiculous. I'm just making a food list. Suppose there was a hurricane, and I didn't have any Snickers, and the stores ran out? What then?" I opened a jar of peanut butter and ate it with my finger between munches of chocolate. "Stop eating, " Diesel said. I swooped a big glob of peanut butter onto my finger. "Mind your own beeswax. " I had the finger with the peanut butter almost to my mouth, and Diesel grabbed my wrist. "I'm asking you to stop, " he said. "If you don't listen to me, I'll make you stop. " My eyes were narrowed, fixed on the peanut butter stuck to the end of my finger. I wanted the peanut butter bad. "Let go, " I said to Diesel. Diesel put his mouth to my finger and sucked the peanut butter off. "Hey, Mister Jerk, " I said, "that was my peanut butter. " And then it hit me. Heat. And a rush so strong it almost knocked me to my knees. His mouth had been warm and wet, and there was some tongue involved. "Jeez, " I said on a whisper. He was inches from me, our bodies barely touching. His eyes were dark and serious, and his hand was still wrapped around my wrist. For a long moment, I was sure he was going to kiss me, but the emotion changed in his eyes, and he pulled back. "We need to talk to Mark, " he said. "Un-hunh. " The corners of his mouth tipped into a small smile. "Are you hungry?" I nodded. "For chocolate?" I gave him my squinty-eyed eat-dirt-and-die look. He knew perfectly well what I wanted. "I'm hungry for everything, " I said. Diesel grinned wide. "I like the sound of that. " "Can you read my mind now?" "Honey, it doesn't take magic to read your mind on this one. " He gave me a kiss on the forehead and released me. "Let's roll. Wulf is out there on the hunt. I can feel his energy polluting my air space. " The Spook Patrol jumped to attention when we exited the house. One of the guys shoved his gizmo at Diesel, and Diesel snatched it from him and threw it across the street. "This is getting old, " Diesel said. "I'm about done with the Spook Patrol. " CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The More Is Better front office was manned by a tastefully dressed older woman. She was at her desk, hard at work painting her nails dark blue, when we walked in. "We're looking for Mark, " Diesel said. "In the back, " she told him, smiling, waving us through without so much as an eyebrow raise that one of us was a monkey. I guess nothing surprises you when you work for a man who owns forty ferrets. Mark was in the warehouse rearranging his locks, returning them to the original pile. So far as I could see, no one else was in the building. The mint business didn't seem to be booming. "How's it going?" Diesel said as an opener. "Someone broke in last night and moved my locks. " Chump change, I thought. Wait until you see your apartment. Mark shut the backhoe down and glared at Diesel. "I don't suppose you know anything about this. " "Has it happened before?" "Never, " Mark said. "It looks like Wulf's work, " Diesel told him. "Wulf?" "Gerwulf Grimoire. My age and height. Dresses in black. Looks like he's down a quart of blood. He's a really bad guy, and he wants your inheritance. " "He was here this morning!" Mark said. "Caught me in the office, fixing coffee. Scared the crap out of me. I told him I wasn't talking about the inheritance, and he put his hand to the coffee machine, and it caught fire. Whoosh. Went up in a fireball, and nothing was left but black glass and melted plastic. He said he could do the same to me. Is that true?" Diesel shrugged. "Hard to say if he could actually melt you. " "I can't figure if I'm more scared of Uncle Phil coming at me from his grave or this Gerwulf guy roasting me like the coffee machine. " "So you didn't tell him about the inheritance?" "No. " Diesel smiled. Friendly. "Would you like to tell me about it?" "No. " So much for the smile. "Call me when you're ready to talk about the inheritance, " Diesel said, handing Mark a business card. "You haven't seen the last of Wulf. " Mark focused on Carl. "What's with the monkey?" "We're not sure, " I told him. "It's complicated. " The woman was gone from the front office when we left. Probably, she had no reason to stay after she finished her nails. We loaded ourselves into the Cayenne, and Diesel drove out of the lot. "Where now?" I asked him. "Salem. " "And?" "He's at Lenny's house. " "Wulf? How do you know?" "I just know. "