“Rutherford was explaining his predicament to me, and all of a sudden Martin Ammon burst into my apartment. He was totally nutso. Wild eyed and drooly. His shirt was all wrinkled and not tucked in and full of food stains, and his hair was a mess. There were two security men who came in with him, but they looked like they were afraid to get too close. Ammon was making growly sounds, and between the growly sounds he was saying ‘Mammon wants. Mammon wants.’ It was really creepy.”
“And then what happened?”
“I’d just made myself a ham and cheese sandwich. It was sitting on my kitchen counter, and Ammon ate it. He sniffed the air, spied the sandwich, and dove for it. In two seconds there was nothing left of the sandwich. No crumbs. Nothing. He looked over at Rutherford and growled and snapped at him. And then he turned and ran out of my apartment.”
“And?”
“Everyone ran after him. I could hear them trying to catch him in the hall, and I didn’t waste any time getting out. I grabbed Broom and my tote bag and went out the window. I called Lizzy, but my phone went dead.”
The front door to Glo’s apartment building crashed open and Ammon ran out, chased by three men in suits. Rutherford ran behind them, doing his best to keep up. They ran down the street, cut into a yard, and disappeared in the misting rain.
“I’ve seen some weird stuff since I’ve had this job,” Diesel said, “but this is right up there at the top of the list.”
“On the bright side, we know Ammon is in Salem,” I said. “And I think we can be pretty sure he has the stone on him.”
Diesel pulled into traffic and headed for Marblehead. “It’s even better. We have something Rutherford desperately wants. We have Glo.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
By the time we got home the wind and rain had picked up and streetlights were on. Everyone huddled in my kitchen while I made grilled cheese sandwiches and opened a bottle of wine.
“This would be fun if only I wasn’t terrified that I was going to be attacked by a grinning lunatic and a deranged dog,” Glo said.
I gave Carl the first sandwich. He smiled a hideous monkey smile at me, took his food into the living room, and turned the television on.
“We need a plan,” I said, buttering the frying pan and sliding another sandwich into it.
Diesel sipped his wine. “I have a plan.”
I looked over at him.
“We have Glo, and Rutherford needs her to remove the spell,” Diesel said. “So we lure him out with Glo.”
“And what do we do when they come after Glo?” I asked. “Do we drop a big net over them and wrestle the stone away from Ammon?”
“The net could be a problem,” Diesel said. “I don’t know where to get a big net. I was thinking Taser.”
“I’ve seen videos of people getting tased,” I said. “It’s awful.”
“I like it,” Glo said, taking the second grilled cheese. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Rutherford tased, but I think you should use a tranquilizer dart on Ammon. We don’t want animal rights people coming after us.”
“I need to create a situation where the stone capture is controlled,” Diesel said. “I don’t want Ammon’s henchmen in the mix. And I need to make sure that Rutherford and Ammon are neutralized.”
“And you have a plan for all this?” I asked him.
“I want to have the spell undone at the lighthouse. The condition will be that only Glo, Lizzy, Rutherford, and Ammon will be present. Rutherford can watch the lighthouse beforehand and have his men stand down at a distance. I can access the lighthouse through the tunnel system, and I’ll take Rutherford and Ammon down while they’re distracted by Glo performing her spell removal.”
I gave Diesel his sandwich. “That’s a pretty good plan. Tell me about the neutralizing.”
“That hasn’t totally come together for me yet.”
“It doesn’t involve death, does it?”
“Not by my hand.”
Carl came into the kitchen, handed me his empty plate, and looked up at me.
“He was promised bananas Foster,” Diesel said.
I looked over at my fruit bowl. “Your monkey ate all my bananas.”
“You ate all the bananas,” Diesel said to Carl.
Carl gave him the finger.
“Someone needs to go to the store,” I said to Diesel.
He glanced at the window. “It’s raining.”
“How bad do you want bananas Foster?”
“Can you make cookies?”
“Not unless you go to the store. I’m out of everything. I’ll give you a list.”
“I’d go,” Glo said, “but I’m afraid I’ll get snatched.”
“Yeah, and I’d go, but I’m not motivated,” I said.
Diesel drained his wine glass. “I’m motivated. Give me the list.”
Ten minutes later we watched him jog to the sexy black car and disappear inside.
“Freaking awesome,” Glo said.
“The car?”
“That, too.”
We returned to the kitchen, I topped off Glo’s wine, and washed the frying pan. I gave the pan to Glo to dry, and the back door crashed open and two men in suits rushed in. Glo and I jumped and yelped. Carl hid in a corner and put his hands over his eyes. Cat sat hunched and slitty-eyed, his tail twitching.
“What the heck?” I said. “Are you kidding me?”
One of the men looked over at Glo. “Excuse me, ma’am. Are you Glo?”
Glo nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“We’d like you to come with us.”