Wicked Charms (Lizzy and Diesel 3)

It wasn’t a very long driveway, but there was valet parking and cars were lined up on either side. Diesel carefully drove toward the gate, and halfway there a man burst out from between two cars and jumped in front of us. It was Martin Ammon. He was crazy mad, waving his arms and shouting.

“Help! Police! Rutherford!”

“This is a real pain in the

ass,” Diesel said.

Diesel inched the van up to Ammon, but Ammon wouldn’t budge. He banged on the hood and kept shouting.

“What are you going to do?” I asked Diesel.

“Run him over,” Diesel said.

“You can’t do that! You’ll kill him.”

“And?”

“You don’t have permission to kill.”

“Extenuating circumstance,” Diesel said.

Ammon gave the hood one last thump and moved to the driver’s side door, trying to pull it open.

“You’re not leaving with my map,” he yelled.

“My Magic 8 Ball is telling me that in five minutes this place is going to be swarming with police,” Glo said.

“I’ll have you arrested, and you’ll rot in jail,” Ammon said. “The police are on their way. I can hear their sirens.”

Diesel rolled the van forward. Ammon staggered back, pulled out his cellphone, and dialed.

“This isn’t good,” I said. “He’s calling 911.”

“We’ll have to take him with us,” Diesel said. “Get him!”

Glo, Josh, and I jumped out of the van and ran at Ammon. He took off down the driveway, and Josh tackled him at the gate. Diesel pulled the van up, we wrestled Ammon into the back, and Josh and Glo sat on him while I climbed into the front. There was a lot of grunting and swearing and scuffing going on in the back of the van while Diesel motored off the property and headed for the causeway. There was a loud “Unh!” And thunk. And then there was quiet.

“What just happened?” I asked, trying to see beyond the racks for dishes and holding trays.

“The Magic 8 Ball jumped out of my hand and beaned Ammon,” Glo said. “Ammon seems to be sleeping.”

“Omigod, we knocked Martin Ammon out cold, twice, and now we’ve kidnapped him!” I said. “We’re all going to prison. My mother will have to be sedated.”

“I have Ripple’s with me,” Glo said. “I can put a forgetful spell on Ammon, so he won’t remember anything.”

There was a moment of silence. No one had a lot of confidence in Glo’s spell-casting abilities.

“Here it is on page thirty-seven,” Glo said. “And I have almost all the ingredients with me.”

“Almost?” I asked.

“I’m missing the powdered newt snot, but I don’t think it will matter. Powdered newt snot is mostly used as a binding agent.”

Diesel smiled, and I bit into my lower lip to keep from whimpering.

“Candle burn, smoke expire, Martin’s brain will now retire,” Glo said.

“Do you have a candle back there?” I asked her.