Wicked Appetite - By Janet Evanovich Page 0,4
Magic Tricks for Dummies.”
“Why did he leave?”
Diesel went to the door, closed it, and threw the dead bolt. “He left because I was here.”
“Are you really his cousin?”
“Yeah. We grew up together.”
“And now?”
“Now we’re playing for different teams.”
He handed me the lasagna dish and his fork and laced up his boots.
“I need to follow Wulf,” he said. “Stay here and keep your doors locked.”
“So Wulf can’t get in?”
“No, so the weird guy across the street can’t get in.”
I looked out the front window. “That’s Mr. Bennet. He’s ninety-two and he thinks he’s General Eisenhower. He lives in the house with the red geraniums in the window boxes.”
I turned back to Diesel, but Diesel was gone. No smoke. No flash of light. Nothing. Just gone. I went to my small second-floor office and did a computer search for Gerwulf Grimoire. Nothing. Clean slate. No Facebook page. No matches found.
I called the bakery and got Glo.
“When I came home just now, Diesel was inside my house, waiting for me,” I told her.
“Who’s Diesel?”
“The big rude guy from the bakery.”
“His name is Diesel? Like a powerful engine pulling a freight train?” Glo said. “That is so sexy.”
I thought his personality was freight train engine, but his appearance was more unkempt ruler of the pride male lion.
“Is he still there?” Glo asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, and he’s gone. I thought I should tell you in case I turn up missing or dead or something.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No. He ate some lasagna. And then Wulf walked in. And then they both disappeared.”
“What did Wulf look like?”
“Scary in a sexy vampire sort of way.”
“Wow.”
“Am I being punked? Is this going to show up on Funniest Home Videos?”
“Not on my dime,” Glo said.
I looked out my back office window. No sign of anyone lurking in my bushes or hiding behind the maple tree. Beyond the maple tree, the boats peacefully bobbed in the harbor. Marblehead was business as usual. And that meant not much business at all. It was originally a fishing village with narrow, crooked streets moving inland from the water. The nineteenth-century cod boats have been replaced with dories and fancy sailboats, and Marblehead is mostly a bedroom community for Boston and the North Shore now, but the low-key character of the colonial town hasn’t been entirely lost.
“I’ll be over as soon as I’m done here,” Glo said. “I’ll bring my book, and we can put a spell on your house to ward off vampires.”
“I said he looked like a vampire. I didn’t say he was one.”
“I’ll bring garlic, too.”
“Put it on a pizza, and it’s a deal.”
CHAPTER THREE
Glo showed up a little after six. She had her book of spells, a pizza box, and a short-haired tiger-striped cat.
“What’s with the cat?” I asked her.
“It’s yours. It’s a watch cat. It’ll help protect your house. I got it at the shelter.”
“I don’t think I’m ready to commit to a cat.”
“But this is a special cat,” Glo said, setting the cat on the floor.
“How do you know it’s special?”
“It was like the book of spells. You know how the book called me into the store? Well, this cat called me into the shelter. I was driving by the shelter on my way here, and the car just turned into the parking lot all by itself. I swear I didn’t have anything to do with it. And then before I knew it, I was inside and there was the cat.”
“Waiting for you?”
“Actually, he was waiting to get . . . you know.”
Glo pantomimed throat-slashing.
“Euthanized?” I asked.
“Yep,” Glo said. “They were gonna snuff him.”
“How horrible!”
“Okay, so they weren’t really going to snuff him. I just said that so you’d keep him. I think they were going to give him a bath.”
The cat looked up at me.
“There’s something odd about his eyes,” I said. “And isn’t his tail kind of short?”
“Word at the shelter is that he was sort of a brawler. Lost one of his eyes and part of his tail somehow.”
I looked more closely. “He’s got a glass eye?”
“Yeah. Cool, right?”
“Does he have a name?” I asked Glo.
“It says on the paper I got when I adopted him that he’s Cat #7143.”
“Maybe you should keep him.”
“I’m not allowed. I rent from a guy who’s allergic to cats.”
This is how it happens, I thought. A series of unexpected events and wham, nothing will ever be the same again. Yesterday, everything was comfortable and going along as planned, and now I’ve got two scary men and a cat