I followed Diesel into the house. “Where are they going? And how will they get there?” I asked him. “They haven’t got a car.”
“I guess they’ll go back to the office, wherever that is.”
“You don’t know where the office is located?”
“No. Never had to go there.”
I looked out the window. The women were gone.
“How? What?” I asked.
“They’re very resourceful,” Diesel said.
“Did they get beamed up or something?”
“You don’t want to know. It would freak you out. Let’s say someone gave them a ride.”
Good enough for me.
“I’ve been instructed to defuse Anarchy,” Diesel said. “She’s made herself a sufficient nuisance to catch the attention of whoever makes these decisions.”
“You don’t know who makes the decisions?”
“I know some of the people involved. Their precise responsibilities aren’t well defined. It’s a blurry hierarchy.”
“I have her cell phone number.” I handed her card to Diesel. “She gave me twenty-four hours to get the stone to her, or else.”
“Or else what?”
“She’ll burn my house down.”
“I’d hate that,” Diesel said. “I like this house.”
Diesel had the two cell phones that replaced the ones that had drowned. He gave one to me, and he punched Anarchy’s number into the other. She didn’t answer.
“Probably getting her hair done and a manicure,” I said.
“Do you have an address?”
“No. She said she was between addresses.”
“No doubt.”
“What all is involved in defusing someone?” I asked him.
“I can block certain kinds of destructive energy.
”
“Can you do that to Wulf?”
Diesel shook his head. “I’ve never been sanctioned to try. There are people in high places who protect Wulf.” He looked at his watch. “I have an errand to run. Pack some sandwiches. When I get back, we’re going on a field trip.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I was buckled into the Aston Martin next to Diesel, and Carl was in the backseat. We’d been on the road for two hours, and I wasn’t happy.
“This is a dumb idea,” I said to Diesel.