“It exploded,” one of the men said. “This vampire-looking guy showed up and asked for Hatchet. We said he wasn’t here, that he helicoptered out with Rutherford and Ammon. I guess that was the wrong answer because the vampire guy got real still, and I swear there was some smoke curling out of his head, and the whole house started to shake. And he told us we had three minutes to get everyone out of the house.”
“Did he have fangs?” I asked.
“No,” the guy said. “But he was real white, and had long black hair, and he was dressed all in black.”
“Did everyone get out of the house in time?” Diesel asked.
“Yes. I think so. The security people left when Rutherford and Ammon left. What you see here is the household staff, but I guess we’re all out of a job
since there’s no house.”
“Do you know where Ammon is now?”
“No. They just took off. They didn’t say.”
We made a U-turn and Diesel sped down the driveway. We were on paved road when the first of the police cars and fire trucks passed us, heading for Ammon’s property.
“Wulf isn’t making my job any easier,” Diesel said. “It’s bad enough we’re underground….I don’t want to drive Ammon underground.”
“Maybe it wasn’t Wulf. I mean, it’s hard to believe he could pitch a fit and blow up a house. I’m going with gas leak. I thought I smelled gas when I was in the house.”
“Were you standing by Hatchet?”
—
There was mutiny in the rumpus room when we returned, so we sent everyone home. It seemed like Rutherford and Ammon had what they wanted anyway, and the danger level was insignificant. Broom whacked Josh one last time, but it was halfhearted, and Glo thought Broom might not be all that mad anymore. If it was me, I wouldn’t be so forgiving. But then Glo dated guys with snakes tattooed on their foreheads, and I wouldn’t do that, either.
Cat was waiting at the door when Diesel and I stepped into the house. I picked him up and held him close, and carried him into the kitchen.
“I’m glad you weren’t in any danger,” I said. “I was worried about you.”
Cat probably thought this was stupid. He was self-sufficient. It was unclear how many lives he’d already had, but clearly this wasn’t his first. Still, I wanted him to know I cared. Cat and I had become family.
“Eeep,” Carl said.
I looked down at him. “Yep,” I said. “You, too.”
“How about me?” Diesel asked.
“What about you?”
“Am I included in this happy family?”
“Sure. What the heck.”
He grabbed me and kissed me. “What’s for dinner?”
“Something from the freezer.”
“Is there dessert?”
“I can arrange it.”
My phone rang, and I saw that it was Glo.
“Help,” she said. “Oh crap. Low battery.”
And the phone went dead.