The Artemis Fowl Files - Eoin Colfer [36]
Butler did not waste time arguing. “Roger. Keep them talking, Artemis. Promise them the world, and everything under it. Their greed will keep you alive.”
“Understood,” said Artemis, stepping into the tent.
“Well, well, well,” said Derph, Sergei’s second in command. “Looks like the law finally tracked us down.”
Holly planted a foot on Mulch’s chest, pinning him to the earth. She trained her weapon on Derph.
“That’s right, I’m with Recon. Retrieval are seconds away. So just accept it and lie on your backs.”
Derph casually tossed his dagger from hand to hand. “I don’t think so, elf. We’ve been living this life for five hundred years, and we don’t plan to stop now. You just let Sergei go, and we’ll be on our way. No need for anyone to get hurt.”
Mulch realized that the other dwarfs believed he was Sergei. Maybe there was still a way out.
“Just stay where you are,” Holly ordered with more bravado than she felt. “It’s guns against knives here, you can’t possibly win.”
Derph smiled through his beard. “We’ve already won,” he said.
With the kind of synchronization born of centuries of teamwork, the dwarfs attacked together. One dropped from the shadows in the tent’s upper regions, while another breached the earthen flooring, jaws wide, tunnel wind driving him a full three feet into the air. The vibration of Holly’s voice had drawn him to her, as a struggling swimmer’s kicks will draw a shark. “Look out!” screeched Mulch, unwilling to let the Significants deal with Holly, even at the price of his own freedom. He might be a thief, but he realized that that was as low as he was willing to go.
Holly looked up, squeezing off a shot that stunned the descending dwarf, but she did not have time to look down. The second attacker clamped his fingers around her gun, almost taking her hand with it, then wrapped his powerful arms around Holly’s shoulders, squeezing the air from her body. The others closed in.
Mulch hopped to his feet.
“Wait, brothers. We need to interrogate the elf, find out what the LEP know.”
Derph didn’t agree. “No, Sergei. We do as we always do. Bury the witness and move on. Nobody can catch us underground. We take the jewels and go.”
Mulch punched the bear-hugging dwarf under the arm, a nerve cluster for dwarfs. He released Holly, and she fell gasping to the earth.
“No,” he barked. “I am the pack leader here! This is an LEP officer. We kill her and a thousand more will be on our trail. We bind her and leave.”
Derph tensed suddenly, leveling the tip of his dagger at Mulch. “You are different, Sergei. All this talk of sparing elves. Let me see you without the mask.”
Mulch backed up a step. “What are you saying? You can see my face later.”
“The mask! Now! Or I’ll see your innards as well as your face.”
And suddenly Artemis was in the tent, striding across the floor as if he owned the space.
“What is going on here?” he demanded, his accent decidedly German.
All faces turned to him. He was magnetic.
“Who are you?” asked Derph.
Artemis snorted. “Who am I? the little man asks. Did you not invite my master here from Berlin? My name is not important. All you need to know is that I represent Herr Ehrich Stern.”
“H–H–Herr Stern, of course,” stammered Derph. Ehrich Stern was a legend in the field of precious stones and how to dispose of them illegally. He also disposed of people who disappointed him. He had been invited to the tiara’s auction and was sitting in row three, as Artemis well knew.
“We come here to do business, and instead of professionalism we find some kind of dwarf feud.”
“There is no feud,” said Mulch, still playing the part of Sergei. “Just a little misunderstanding. We are deciding how to dispose of an unwelcome guest.”
Again, Artemis snorted. “There is only one way to dispose of unwanted guests. As a special favor, we will perform that service for you, for a discount on the tiara, of course.” He paused in disbelief, his eyes widening. “Tell me this is not she,” he said, picking the tiara off the ground where Holly had dropped it. “She lies in the dirt like some cluster of common stones.