Wicked Business (18 page)

“And either Lovey or one of the Society members had the unique ability to energize an object in such a way that another kind of energy would trigger a message.”

“Yup.”

“Do you know where any of this takes us next?”

“No. It would help if something magically appeared on the plaque.”

We looked at the plaque but nothing appeared.

“It’s always something different,” I said. “The first clue was visible to Glo. The second clue was produced by the tone of the bell. The third clue responded to Carl. And the fourth clue was produced by the key.”

“I have no basis for thinking this, but I can’t shake the feeling that the writing on the back of the plaque is the clue.”

I left Diesel to study the clue he’d copied onto paper and returned to the kitchen. I didn’t have fresh greens for a salad, but I had some frozen French bread I could defrost, and there were vegetables in the frittata.

The towels and sheets were still on the windows, and not doing a lot for my decorating scheme or my mood.

“Someone toasted my car,” I said to Cat. “I think it might have been Deirdre Early. She’s a really mean person.”

I took the frittata out of the oven, gave a slice to Cat, and plated the rest for Diesel and me, along with the bread. I brought the food into the living room and we ate in front of the television.

“I found a connection,” Diesel said. “In 1885, a secret society, Sphinx, was founded at
Dartmouth College
. In 1903, the society erected a Sphinx Tomb on a small piece of land on Wheelock Street on the Dartmouth campus. William M. Butterfield was the architect for the Tomb. I downloaded a picture of it, and it’s hard to be sure, because the resolution isn’t as sharp as I’d like, but I think there are markings on the Sphinx cornerstone that resemble the hieroglyphics on the back of the plaque.”

I looked at the downloaded picture and gave an inadvertent shudder. “Whoa, this is solemn. It actually looks like a tomb.”

It was a windowless gray stone structure with stone steps leading up to a large solid door that was bordered by
columns reminiscent of Egyptian temples. Difficult to tell how large the building was from the photo.

“Does this mean we’ll be going to Dartmouth?” I asked.

“It’s the best lead I have so far.”

“Are we going tonight?”

“No. You have to get naked tonight.”

“In your dreams.”

“Frequently,” Diesel said. “You look good.” He stared down at his empty plate. “Is there dessert?”

“Fruit.”

“Fruit isn’t a dessert unless it’s in pie crust.”

I had my cell phone clipped to my jeans waistband, and I felt it buzz. I looked at the readout and saw Glo’s number.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“He wants the Lovey key,” Glo said.

“Who?”

“Wulf. He has me, Lizzy. I don’t know where I am. It’s dark and it smells like dirt, and Hatchet is here and he has knives. And he cut me, and I’m bleeding.”

Her voice was shaking, and I could hear she was crying.

“How bad are you bleeding?”

“Not bad, but it hurts. And he says he’ll cut me more if you don’t bring the key.”

“Is Wulf there?”

“He was, but he left. And now I’m alone with Hatchet.”

“Where are we supposed to bring the key?”

“Hatchet is going to text you the address.”

She sucked in a sob, and the connection was broken.

I felt all the blood leave my brain, and bells started to clang in my head. I felt Diesel’s hand at the back of my neck, pushing my head down between my knees.

“Breathe,” Diesel said.

I got it together and sat up. “Sorry, that was a horrible phone call. They have Glo, and they want the key.”

“Is it a serious threat?”

“It sounded serious. She was crying, and she said Hatchet cut her.” I watched my phone for a text message. “He’s going to text me the address for the drop.”

Diesel had his hand on my shoulder. “She’ll be fine. We’ll do whatever we have to to get her back.” He was quiet for a moment, lost in thought. “It’s interesting that they want the key,” Diesel said. “We used the key to get the clue in the State House. It didn’t occur to me that the key might have another purpose.”

“Maybe they’re two steps behind us.”

Diesel shook his head. “I think Wulf has always been two steps ahead of us. He’s using Hatchet as a dupe to slow us down.”

“Do you think Hatchet knows he’s a dupe?”

Diesel shrugged. “Hatchet sees his job as serving his liege lord in whatever capacity. His role is to do or die and not question why.”

“Jeez.”

“Yeah,” Diesel said. “You’d suck at it.”

My phone chirped and the address came up in my text messages.

“I’ve got it,” I said. “They want the key brought to Carter Street in Salem, and they’ll swap the key for Glo.”

Diesel was on his feet. “Let’s go.”

We locked the house, and in minutes we were leaving Marblehead and crossing into Salem. I was trying to stay calm, but I was shaking from anger and adrenaline. And I was heartsick. I was supposed to be saving the world, but my two best friends were hurt because of me.

Carter Street was in a residential part of North Salem. Most of the houses had been converted to multifamily or apartments and were in various stages of renovation, some showing obvious effects of a bad economy. I counted off numbers and had Diesel stop at a gray Georgian Colonial. Even at night I could see that paint was peeling from window frames and the roof was in disrepair. There were no lights shining from windows. The houses on either side were dark as well.

“Wulf’s here,” Diesel said. “His car is parked in the driveway.”

We walked to the door and Hatchet opened it just as Diesel was about to knock. Hatchet stepped back, and I could sense Wulf more than see him. He was lost in the dark room, with only his pale face visible.

“I want to see her,” Diesel said.

“The emotional drama isn’t necessary,” Wulf said. “This is a simple transaction.”

He snapped his fingers at Hatchet, and Hatchet scurried into another room and returned with Glo. Glo looked disheveled and disoriented, and she had a bandage on her forearm.

“I’m afraid Hatchet got carried away in my absence,” Wulf said. “Nothing serious, but she might drool a little for an hour or two.”

Diesel gave Wulf the key, and Wulf motioned for Hatchet to release Glo.

“You would make a terrible general,” Wulf said to Diesel. “You’re willing to sacrifice the many for the one.”

“I was under the impression the key had already served its purpose.”

“It’s
the key
,” Wulf said. “It’s the last step in the process.”

“How do you know?”

“It was all in the little book. While you were out bumbling around searching for clues, I was studying Lovey’s sonnets. And I finally have the last piece of the riddle.”

“Why did you have Hatchet following us, trying to get the key and the clues, if it was all in the book?” I asked him.

“There was no guarantee that the book would give me the final clue. Lovey was a complicated, devious man. So while I was working my way through his obscure references, I directed Hatchet to ensure you didn’t succeed in your treasure hunt.”

“What did you give Glo?” I asked. “She looks drugged.”

“Hatchet was showing her his prowess with a knife and he sliced a little deep,” Wulf said. “He gave her an herb to stop the bleeding, but it has some side effects. She should be fine in a few minutes. Hatchet acts the fool, but he’s one of the world’s leading experts on medieval torture and toxins.”

“Thank you, sire,” Hatchet said.

We led Glo out to the car and buckled her in.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“Peaches,” she said. And she drooled on her shirt.

We stopped at Diesel’s apartment, got Carl, and put him in the backseat with Glo.

“Eeh?” he said to Glo.

Glo nodded her head like a bobble-head doll. “Pigeon.”

“Maybe we should take her to the clinic and get her checked out,” I said to Diesel.

Diesel drove to the clinic, but by the time we got there, Glo was coming around.

“That was f-f-f-freaking scary,” Glo said, her teeth chattering. “Hatchet is nuts!”

“Do you want a doctor to look at your cut?” I asked her. “Do you think you need stitches?”

“No. I want to go home. I want to take a shower. I can’t get the smell of dirt out of my nose.”

“They must have had you in a cellar with a dirt floor,” I said.

“Maybe, but I think the smell was coming from Hatchet. I don’t think there’s any electricity in that house. It was dark, except for a lantern-type flashlight Hatchet used to show me his knives. He had them all laid out on a table. Some had curved blades, and some had wavy blades, and they were all different sizes, and they were all razor sharp. He said he’s been collecting knives since he was seven years old. And he had a suitcase like traveling salesmen use, and it was filled with powders and potions you could use to poison someone. And he had poisonous spiders in jars and vials of snake venom.

“It might have been cool to see all that stuff if I wasn’t handcuffed. I always thought it would be fun to be handcuffed in certain situations, but turns out it isn’t fun to be handcuffed in
any
situation. It’s scary, scary, scary. Especially when someone picks out a knife and deliberately cuts you with it. And after I talked to you, he wanted to try out another knife and make another cut, but Wulf walked in.”

“Wulf stopped him.”

“Yeah. Wulf got real mad. And let me tell you, when Wulf gets mad, you’re afraid to even breathe. I could see him from the light of the lantern, and he didn’t have any expression on his face, except his eyes were black and hard, like black glass. And when he spoke, his voice was soft, but every word was clear and precise, like he knew he was talking to an idiot. And I got the feeling if the idiot
didn’t do the right thing, he could be drinking the snake venom.”

“Did Wulf say anything about the Luxuria Stone?” Diesel asked Glo.

“No. He doesn’t talk much. He asked Hatchet if I made the call. He looked at my arm to see if I needed stitches and decided it wasn’t necessary. Then he told Hatchet to clean it and bandage it. And when Wulf was near me, he smelled like Sambuca. Totally terrifying and at the same time I had this crazy desire to lick him.”

“I’ve noticed that same scent,” I said. “Whenever Wulf is near, I always catch a faint hint of anise. You always smell like Christmas,” I said to Diesel. “You smell like butter cookies, fir trees, and cloves.”

“It’s a curse,” Diesel said. “Women and small children follow me around.”

Glo looked out the window. “This is your street,” she said to me.

“I thought you’d be more comfortable spending the night here with us.”

“Thanks. That would be great. I’m still pretty freaked out. I never even saw Hatchet coming. I parked my car, and I was walking to my apartment, and all of a sudden he grabbed me. I guess he used a stun gun on me, because in an instant I was on the ground. Next thing I knew, I was handcuffed and there was something over my head so I
couldn’t see. I’m surprised I didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack, because my heart was pounding like it was going to jump out of my chest. I had no idea who kidnapped me or where we were going. And then there was the dirt smell. When you’re handcuffed and have a bag over your head, dirt smells like death. I was sort of relieved when I found out it was Hatchet, until he insisted on doing knife demonstrations.”

Diesel pulled to the curb and cut the engine. We all got out and Diesel stopped us at the door.

“Someone’s been here,” he said, opening the door, going in first. “I locked the door when we left, and it wasn’t locked just now.”

I followed him in and my first thought was of Cat. Everything I owned could be stolen or destroyed as long as Cat was okay. Diesel flipped the light on, and I looked down and saw drops of blood on the floor. My breath caught in my chest for a beat, until Cat strolled in from the kitchen. I scooped Cat up and inspected him, relieved that he wasn’t bleeding.

“The plaque is gone,” Diesel said. “It was on the coffee table. Check on the other empowered objects to see if they’ve been stolen as well.”

I went to the laundry, and then I ran upstairs and looked under my bed. Diesel and Glo were in the kitchen when I came down.

“Everything else is here,” I said.

Diesel was at the cookie jar. “Someone broke one of the windowpanes and unlocked the back door.”

“So we know it wasn’t Hatchet, because he was with Glo. And we know it wasn’t Wulf, because, like you, he can unlock doors.”

“Yeah,” Diesel said. “That leaves Deirdre Early. I should have known the instant I stepped in and smelled smoke.”

“And the blood on the floor …” I said.

We all turned to Cat, who was sitting, calmly grooming. Ninja Cat strikes again.

“He deserves a steak dinner,” Diesel said.

Cat looked over at him and blinked. And I’m pretty sure Cat was smiling.

I sent Glo and Carl into the living room with the cookie jar, and put Glo in charge of the channel changer. I scrubbed the blood off the floor, and Diesel tacked a board over the broken window.

“We need to get an early start for Dartmouth tomorrow,” Diesel said. “Fortunately, you have the day off. Maybe Glo will stay here with Carl.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Diesel’s idea of an early start is sometime before noon. I made French toast and a gallon of coffee for everyone, and asked Clara if she would please retrieve my license plate when she returned to the bakery. I’d deal with the rest of the car carcass when I got back. I expected that would be sometime before dark. I had no idea what we’d find when we got to the Sphinx, but I couldn’t imagine there would be much left. I was sure Wulf had a good head start on us.

It takes about
two and a half hours to drive
to Hanover, New Hampshire. The beginning of the trip is almost as enjoyable as the drive to Boston. Which is to say, it sucks. Little towns, lots of traffic, annoying ways to get lost. Once you hit Route 89, it all changes, and the closer you get to
Hanover
, the more jaw-droppingly beautiful it becomes. Forested foothill mountains with granite cliffs and long vistas, an occasional marshy bog, beautifully maintained roads with little traffic.