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,
