Fortune and Glory (Stephanie Plum 27)

“Omigod, omigod, omigod,” Potts said, staring down at the dart. “What should I do? Should I take it out? I’m afraid to touch it. I’m paralyzed with anxiety.”

I grabbed the dart and yanked it out.

“I think my leg is going numb,” he said. “I’m having one of my allergic reactions. I’m having a panic attack. Is my face getting blotchy? It feels blotchy. Next thing my tongue will swell up and I’ll choke to death.”

“Has that ever happened?” I asked him.

“All the time,” he said. “Except I don’t usually die.”

“What exactly was in the syringe?” I asked Trotter.

“Nothing. It was empty. Look at the syringe.”

“I need air,” Potts said. “I need to get out of here. Where’s the door? Everything is going black.”

He staggered into the living room, knocking over a stack of Ritz cracker boxes, a taxidermied groundhog that was miss

ing a leg, and a tower of toilet paper.

“That was a mean thing to do,” I said to Trotter.

“Bite me,” he said. “And anyway, I was aiming for you.”

I caught up to Potts on the sidewalk. He had his finger on his jugular, taking his pulse.

“There was nothing in the syringe,” I said. “You just got stuck.”

“Are you sure? I could feel the serum going into me.”

“I have the syringe. It was empty.”

“My heart is racing,” he said.

“No doubt. Get in the car and I’ll buy you some ice cream. Do you like soft-serve?”

“Yeah. I like when they swirl the chocolate and vanilla together.”

“Me, too.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Connie looked up from her computer when I walked into the office. “Where’s your new best friend?”

“He had a tough afternoon. I bought him ice cream and took him home. Any news from your mom?”

“Yes. None of it good. Charlie Shine arranged the back room remodel. It’s primarily for some bad guys he brought in from Miami. He felt like he needed new muscle to run his operation.”

“He has an operation?”

“Apparently he’s coming out of retirement. My mother thinks he’s two cans short of a case. I think he needs money to hire lawyers to keep him out of jail.”

“Do we know what the operation includes?”

“The usual. Prostitution. Extortion. Old-school stuff. Plus, I don’t know what Jimmy had stashed away, but the word is that Shine wants it bad. And there are people who think the only reason the two witnesses in Shine’s murder charge are still alive is the fact that one or both of them holds the road map to the La-Z-Boys’ treasure.”

“Grandma and me.”

“Yes.”