To Die Fur (A Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Mystery) by Dixie Lyle

Author:Dixie Lyle [Lyle, Dixie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781466824270
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I goggled at him. I don’t goggle very often, and as a result I’m not that good at it. “Whatwhatwhat?”

“Eli explained the whole thing to me,” Ben said. “I can do this—I think—but I’m going to need help. You’re it.”

<Well, well. This is interesting.>

[I suppose we shall have to hold down the fort. Any instructions before you leave?]

“Wait! Leave? I can’t just—I mean, I’m not even packed—I can’t just—”

<You’ll be fine, Toots. Remember, your boss has faith in you.>

The glare I turned on her could have melted glass. Tango, of course, ignored it completely. “You two keep an eye on Augustus. Don’t do anything so stupid it can’t be fixed.”

[Yes, boss.]

<Whatever. Bon voyage.>

“You two better stand clear,” Ben said. “I’ve never done this before and it might get a little messy.”

“Done what, exactly?” I asked him nervously as Whiskey and Tango trotted away.

“This.”

Ben raised his hands and closed his eyes. A wind began to blow, but not in any normal direction; it was a circular wind that blew around both of us. A whirlwind. It expanded, until it was about a dozen feet wide, with us in the middle. I could see dust and dirt and bits of grass and leaves as they spun past, counterclockwise. The air in our immediate vicinity was utterly still, the unblinking eye of a miniature hurricane.

“Oh, boy,” I breathed. “You aren’t going to do what I think you’re going to do, are you?”

The whirlwind sped up and got louder, a hollow roar all around us. Lightning arced from Ben’s outstretched hands into the spinning walls of the vortex, turning the whole thing into a crackling, sparking tube. It was like being trapped in the center of a supercharged merry-go-round, electric horses blurring past in a furious gallop of flashing hooves and thunderbolts, everything on the other side somehow getting farther and farther away …

“If we land on a witch,” I yelled, “she damn well better take a size eight shoe!”

Ben didn’t reply, but the lightning arcing from his hands stopped. The vortex slowed. The roar softened to a growl, and then a whisper.

The whirlwind died. And we were someplace else.

It was obvious at first glance this was Apedemek’s domain: A yellow-brown African savanna stretched in all directions, and flat-topped acacia trees were visible in the distance.

I turned an accusing eye on Ben. “I can’t believe you just Dorothied me like that.”

“Sorry. But Eli told me the situation was urgent, and he’s pretty damn convincing.”

“Really? All I saw was him whisper a few words in your ear.”

“What? No, we talked for…” He frowned. “Hours? Days? But…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I learned a lot. Some of it was stuff I already knew, too—I just forgot that I knew it. Does that make any sense?”

“No. What the hell am I doing here?”

“What you’re good at. Facilitating.”

“I can’t facilitate without any facts!”

“Eli said you already know everything you need to. Just trust your instincts.”

I’ve been asked to do the impossible before. I have been tasked with finding fresh organic strawberries in January and a size nineteen tuxedo in Tokyo.

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