Devil Days in Deadwood

Devil Days in Deadwood
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” ~William Shakespeare
Violet Parker knows better than to play with devils. They always cheat, especially when lives are at stake. Deadwood’s charming, troublemaking, and soul-sucking devils are no different, and they’re biting at her heels.
But the clock is ticking and Violet has no choice—she must risk her life to save her treasured Aunt Zoe. With any luck, she might be able to trick the devils and beat the old terrors at their own game. If not, Deadwood could end up short one Executioner.
“Executioners don't duck, they swing.” ~Violet Parker


Table of Contents
Start Reading
Dear Reader
Cast
About the Author
Contact Information
More Books by Ann
Acknowledgments
Copyright
Chapters
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25
Epilogue


Dear Reader,
During the writing of this book, a pandemic occurred. How crazy does that sound? I was halfway through the story when the state of Arizona went into lockdown and the news reports turned extremely grim. At that time, I decided to bury my head in Violet’s world and wrote, wrote, wrote until I hit the end.
What is going on throughout the world is wild. Change is often difficult, and we are neck-deep in it right now, but we still have each other. The same is true in Violet’s world. She now accepts what she is—an Executioner. That doesn’t mean this change from what used to be normal is easy for her to handle. There are times she wants to stay home and hide under the bed, the same as many of us during this period of uncertainty (and me after every book release). But she has to step up, do her part, and keep humanity going … at least in her version of Deadwood. The same goes for all of us in our world, no matter our role.
This book picks up where Fatal Traditions (Deadwood Shorts 5) left off in early January. Natalie, Cooper, and Harvey have returned from Arizona and their visit with the Morgan sisters (if you haven’t read In Cahoots with the Prickly Pear Posse, you’re missing out on exciting times with Nat and Coop), and Violet is back to her new “normal”—trying to sell real estate when she’s not protecting those she loves and fighting for her life.
I hope you are as happy to hang out with Violet on the page as I was to escape into her world! Now, go forth, read, and be merry … or rather, be careful, because it’s devil days in Deadwood.
“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” ~English Proverb
Ann Charles
www.anncharles.com


Also by Ann Charles
Deadwood Mystery Series (Book #)
Nearly Departed in Deadwood (Book 1)
Optical Delusions in Deadwood (Book 2)
Dead Case in Deadwood (Book 3)
Better Off Dead in Deadwood (Book 4)
An Ex to Grind in Deadwood (Book 5)
Meanwhile, Back in Deadwood (Book 6)
A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Book 7)
Rattling the Heat in Deadwood (Book 8)
Gone Haunting in Deadwood (Book 9)
Don’t Let It Snow in Deadwood (Book 10)
Devil Days in Deadwood (Book 11)
Short Stories from the Deadwood Mystery Series
Deadwood Shorts: Seeing Trouble (Book 1.5)
Deadwood Shorts: Boot Points (Book 4.5)
Deadwood Shorts: Cold Flame (Book 6.5)
Deadwood Shorts: Tequila & Time (Book 8.5)
Deadwood Shorts: Fatal Traditions (Book 10.5)
Deadwood Undertaker Series
(written with Sam Lucky)
Life at the Coffin Joint (Book 1)
A Long Way from Ordinary (Book 2)
Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series
Dance of the Winnebagos (Book 1)
Jackrabbit Junction Jitters (Book 2)
The Great Jackalope Stampede (Book 3)
The Rowdy Coyote Rumble (Book 4)
In Cahoots with the Prickly Pear Posse (Book 5)
Jackrabbit Junction Short: The Wild Turkey Tango (Book 4.5)
Dig Site Mystery Series
Look What the Wind Blew In (Book 1)
Make No Bones About It (Book 2)
AC Silly Circus Mystery Series
Feral-LY Funny Freakshow (Novella 1)
A Bunch of Monkey Malarkey (Novella 2)
Goldwash Mystery Series (a future series)
The Old Man’s Back in Town (Short Story)


For Les
I’ll miss seeing your smiling face every time I visit Lead and Deadwood.


**KEY: Character (Book # in which they appear)—Description**
Violet Lynn Parker (1–11)—Heroine of the series, real estate agent
Willis “Old Man” Harvey (1–11)—Violet’s sidekick and so-called bodyguard
Dane “Doc” Nyce (1–11)—Violet’s boyfriend, medium
Detective “Coop” Cooper (1–11)—Deadwood and Lead’s detective
Zoe Parker (1–11)—Violet’s aunt and mentor in life
Layne Parker (1–11)—Violet’s nine-year-old son
Adelynn Parker (1–11)—Violet’s nine-year-old daughter
Natalie Beals (1–11)—Violet’s best friend since childhood
Jerry Russo (4,5,6,7,8,9,11)—Violet’s boss, owner of Calamity Jane Realty
Mona Hollister (1–9,11)—Violet’s coworker and mentor in realty
Ray Underhill (1–9)—Violet’s ex-coworker and nemesis at work
Benjamin Underhill (1–9,11)—Violet’s coworker
Jane Grimes (1–9,11)—Violet’s previous boss
Cornelius Curion (3–11)—Violet’s client; so-called ghost whisperer
Reid Martin (2–11)—Captain of the fire dept., Aunt Zoe’s ex-lover
Jeff Wymonds (1–9)—Violet’s ex-client; dad of Addy’s best friend
Prudence (2–9,11)—Ghost who resides at the Carhart/Britton house
Zelda Britton (2,4–9,11)—Owner of the Carhart house in Lead
Tiffany Sugarbell (1–9,11)—Rival Realtor; Doc’s ex-girlfriend
Susan Parker (1–10)—Violet’s evil sister; aka “the Bitch from Hell”
Quint Parker (1–3,7–10)—Violet’s brother; Layne’s hero
Freesia Tender (5–9)—Owner of the Galena House
Stone Hawke (5–9,11)—Coop’s ex-partner on the force in Rapid City; detective called in to solve cases
Rex Conner (3–9,11)—Biological father of Violet’s children
Rosy (6–9)—Camerawoman from TV series called Paranormal Realty
Eddie Mudder (3,6–9)—Owner of Mudder Bros Funeral Parlor
Dominick Masterson (4,7–9,11)—Previous client of Violet’s old boss, Jane, and well-known Lead businessman
Mr. Black (2–4,6,8,9,11)—Mysterious, pale-faced Timekeeper
Ms. Wolff (5,8,9)—Previous resident of Apt. 4 in the Galena House


“This thing doesn’t want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It’ll fight if it has to, but it’s vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it. And then it’s won.”
~R.J. MacReady, The Thing


Chapter One
Friday, January 11th
Lead, South Dakota
“What dumbass thought catching a Hungarian devil made of smoke and shadow was a good idea?” I scowled up at the crumbling brick Sugarloaf Building, which had been perched on a hillside looking across at the Homestake Mine in Lead for a century … and then some.
The sun was hiding behind a thick bank of clouds,