Footprints (20 page)

Annja looked down at her chest.
There was no blood. And the blade of the sword hovered in front of her, flat side toward Jenny. She frowned.
What had happened?
Annja looked at Jenny.
Jenny's shirt had two dark, blossoming stains on it. She looked down and gasped. "What happened?"
Annja groaned. The sword had deflected the bullets and sent them back into Jenny's chest instead of Annja's.
"No," she said. Annja got to her feet and ran to Jenny. The gun had fallen when the bullets impacted. Annja kicked it away.
She helped ease Jenny down to the ground. Jenny tried to smile but a pinkish stream of blood oozed out of her mouth. "I guess things didn't work out quite like I wanted them to, huh?"
"I guess not," Annja said.
Jenny gripped Annja's hand. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you."
Annja nodded. "Forget it. It's done and over with now."
Jenny laughed. "You were always the master of the understatement, weren't you?"
"Old habits die hard," Annja said. "I'm sorry things turned out this way. I couldn't let you do it. You would have died with regrets."
Jenny shrugged and winced as she did so. "I'm not exactly dying with good times etched into my memory."
"No. I guess you're not."
"I only wanted what I thought I deserved. What anyone thinks they ought to deserve. Is that so wrong?"
Annja shook her head. "You did what you thought was best for you. I don't think anyone can find fault with that."
"Do you?"
"No." Annja smiled. "Some of us just don't have the guts to do what you tried to do."
Jenny smiled. "I'll tell you one thing."
"What's that?"
She coughed and Annja could see the pain on her friend's face. "When I get to the other side, I'm going to have a serious sit-down with the man in charge. I've got a lot of questions I want answers to."
"Any chance you'll come back and clue me in?"
Jenny started to cry. "No. I don't think they'd let me even if I wanted to. I've never gotten anything I wanted so far, why start now?"
Annja cradled Jenny in her arms and looked down. Life was rapidly fading from her eyes. "I'm sorry."
Jenny shook her head.
"Nothing to be sorry about.
I did this all to myself. I guess that's the biggest lesson from all of this, huh?"
"What's that?" Annja felt her eyes starting to well up. Tears rolled down her face.
"That we're always in control of our lives. Even when it seems like we're not. We have power over every decision and choice, if we just accept the responsibility that goes along with them."
Annja nodded. "Wisdom is a treasure hard earned."
Jenny clutched her hand. "I'm sorry."
"
Me, too."
More tears flowed from Annja's eyes. Why did it have to end like this? Why this way?
Jenny's eyes rolled over white and a final breath escaped her chest. Annja closed her eyelids and then let her body down gently. She sat there, crying softly for another minute, looking at the peaceful expression on Jenny's face.
Annja used her sleeve to wipe the bloody trail from Jenny's mouth. There, she thought, at least she doesn't look so gruesome now.
She glanced at Tom's body and then back. So much death, she thought.
And for what purpose?
Those damn drugs.
Annja hauled herself up and squatted next to Tom's body, pulling a sheaf of papers from his shirt pocket. Then she walked over to the back of the Tahoe. She fished out one of the sacks she'd carried, opened it. The plastic bags of white powder stared up at her.
No more, Annja thought.
She turned back to the trail and headed toward the cave. She passed Sheila's body on the way inside and found the woman's head bent at an odd angle. Jenny had done a damn good job of dispatching her.
Another life lost to the pull of greed and drugs.
Annja heaved two of the bags on her shoulders and carted them down to the Tahoe. She dumped them inside and then repeated the process ten more times. Each time the bags got too heavy, Annja simply remembered how Jenny's face had looked as she died and her anger gave her strength.
Annja finished packing up the truck. The rain had started again, clouds blew in quickly and she could hear thunder in the distance.
A storm's brewing, she thought. And it's not just out here in the wild forests of the
Pacific Northwest
.
Annja looked at Jenny's body. She had to see someone about this.
But who?
Who would believe her?
And what would they say when they saw all the corpses?
Her options weren't good.
What do I do now?
she
wondered.
"Annja?"
She turned. Joey walked out of the darkness.
Annja ran to him and hugged him close. He wore a bandage on his head. She felt the lump underneath it. "I thought you were dead!"
Joey grinned. "Yeah, well, Tom sure swung for the fences when he hit me. Where is the jerk, anyway?"
"He's dead. Over there."
Joey looked beyond Annja's shoulder and nodded.
"Serves him right.
I can't believe he was using this place.
Disgusting that he soiled the beauty of nature so much."
Joey looked around. "Where's his partner in crime?"
"In the cave they stashed us in this morning. She's dead, too."
"You killed her?"
Annja shook her head. "Not me. Jenny."
Joey grinned. "Nice one for her. Where is she?"
Annja pointed. "She's dead, Joey."
Joey looked back at Annja. "What?
How?"
"
She made a bad decision. And it cost her her life."
"You
killed her?"
Annja shook her head. "No. In a way, she killed herself."
Joey sighed.
"So much death."
"Too much death, my friend.
But I am glad to see you."
Joey smiled.
"Likewise.
I heard those shots and we came running—"
"We?"
From behind Joey, two men stepped into the clearing. One of them smiled and held up his hand. "Hello, Annja."
"
Agent Simpson?"
He shrugged.
"Name's
Davis
, actually.
But you can call me Simpson if you want."
Baker came out into the open, as well.
"Nice to see you again, Annja.
Shame it's under these circumstances," he said.
"You have a different name, too?" Annja moved Joey behind her, ready to unleash the sword.
The way she was feeling, they'd be lucky if she left anything larger than a thimble with which to identify them.
"My name's Connor. But like
Davis
said, if you feel better calling me Baker, then so be it."
"
Annja."
She shook her head. "Not now, Joey. Let me handle this."
Davis
held his hands up. "I think you might want to listen to him. He's got plenty of things to tell you."
Annja frowned, but kept her eyes on the two men. "What do you want to tell me, Joey?"
"They're not here to trap the Sasquatch."
"What?"
"They're not. They're special agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency."
"
DEA?"
Davis
nodded. "We knew there was a heavy drug flow coming into this area but no one knew exactly where. Several towns border this forest, so we decided to set up shop and see what we could find out."
"That's why we had to run you and your friends out of the woods the other day. We didn't want anyone getting hurt in case we found the dealers."
"And the big foot thing—" she glanced at Joey "—sorry, the Sasquatch thing, was just a cover story?"
Both men nodded. "It's amazing what you can sell as a cover story given the hysteria that swept the country since 9/11. Paranoia's at an all-time high. We're not happy about that, but we're not beyond using it for our own purposes, either."
"Swell."
Davis
pointed at Tom's body. "He was the ringleader?"
Annja shrugged. "I guess so. His sister Sheila's up in the cave down the trail there. And there's another body back at the hotel in town.
David, the sheriff.
Seems the partners had a little dispute and he lost out."
"He was in on it?"
Annja nodded.
"Yep."
Connor sighed. "Good lawmen are tough to find these days."
"Whatever." Annja wasn't in the mood to discuss the moral ambiguities of law enforcement. She pointed to Jenny. "I was trying to figure out how to handle the body of my friend."
Connor frowned.
"The cute one?"
"
She would have liked hearing you say that," Annja said.
"I would have liked taking her out on a date." He sighed. "How did she die?"
"Not as happy as she would have been if she'd known you were interested in her," Annja said. "But I guess that's the way it goes."
Davis
pursed his lips. "We need to clean things up here. Call in the state authorities. You have anything else to add to what we've seen so far? Any sign of where they stashed their drugs?"
Annja considered the packages in the back of the truck. She thought about how many people would suffer once those drugs hit the streets. And she thought about how the criminals who peddled them would laugh all the way to the bank.
She shook her head. "No.
Nothing else to add.
I think you guys have got it all sewn up here."
"We have any questions,"
Davis
said, "
we'll
call you. Make sure you leave your number with Ellen back in town before you go anywhere. Okay?"
Annja shrugged. "I'm easy enough to find, anyway. You just have to look me up online."
"Well, give us a number so we can call you."
Annja nodded.
"Fine."
She glanced at Joey. "You must be ready to sleep for a week."
"My head hurts, but overall I feel pretty good. Nothing a few days' rest won't help me get over." He looked at Jenny's body. "It's a real shame she's not still with us."
Annja nodded. "I know. But hopefully she's finally at rest.
And happy."
"
You think she is?"
"I don't know," Annja said. "I just don't know."
"By the way,"
Davis
called out to Annja again. "What exactly were they doing up here with you guys, anyway?"
Annja frowned. "They brought us here to kill us.
Like they did this morning.
Only this time, they actually succeeded in taking one of us down." Annja pointed at the truck. "I'm going to give Joey a ride back to his grandfather's. Any problems with
me doing
that?"
Connor pointed at Jenny. "Leave her here. We'll have the State Police take good care of her."
"You're sure?"
"Least we can do," Connor said.
The rain had tapered off, but still dotted their faces.
Connor looked at Annja. "This is the part of the drug war people never really see—the invisible casualties."
Annja nodded. "Maybe it's time someone let the criminals know they can't get away with this stuff."
Connor eyed the truck for a moment and then looked back at Annja. "Maybe you're right."
Annja backed away. "Get in the truck, Joey."
Connor nodded at Annja. "Good luck."
"I'm not the one who's going to need it," Annja said quietly. Then she hopped in the truck and gunned the engine. In seconds, she and Joey were speeding down the road in the rain-slicked darkness.

Annja dropped Joey off at Dancing Deer's house. Joey jumped out of the truck and looked at her as the rain continued to fall. "You're going off on your own, aren't you?"
Annja nodded. "It's something I have to do, I'm afraid."
Joey smirked. "You're not afraid. You don't seem to be afraid of anything.
At least to me."
"
I'm afraid of plenty of things," Annja said. "But I can't let that fear stop me from doing what's right."
Joey looked up into the rain. "Even if it means you might die in the process of doing what's right?"
"
Even if."
Joey looked back at her. "If I was older, you know I'd insist on coming with you."
"I know you would, Creeping Wolf. And I would be grateful for your help. But tonight, this is going to have to be all about me. Any other time and I'd welcome your assistance."
Joey nodded. "I understand. Sometimes the path of the warrior is surrounded on all sides by many foes. But only the warrior can fight his way out of the bad situation. Help is not help at all."
"
That another one of your grandfather's sage sayings?"
Joey shook his head.
"Nope.
Mine. I'm trying some out to see how they sound."
Annja smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. You'd better get inside now before you catch a cold to go along with that concussion."
"Will you come back?"
Annja shrugged. "I don't know. What I'm about to do might just be the last thing I ever attempt."
"In that case, I hope the spirits of all my ancestors travel with you and help you on your quest.
Even if the final battle is yours alone."
"
Thank you."
Joey shut the door and stood in the rain while Annja backed out of the driveway. A light came on over the porch and she saw Dancing Deer with his right hand upraised. She held up her hand and felt a sensation of warmth come over her.
Joey stood there for a second and then turned and ran into the house. In another moment, the light was off and the night reclaimed its dominance.
Annja took a deep breath and then slid the Tahoe into Drive.
As she drove down the road, she took the map and directions out of her pocket. She pulled over and studied them briefly. She hadn't driven in this part of the country before, but the directions seemed easy enough to follow.
She made it back to the interstate after twenty minutes of hard driving. Every once in a while, she flipped the blue lights on to pass a car on the stretch of road leading to the highway, but otherwise the dense rain seemed to keep everyone at home.
Annja hoped it stayed that way.
She drove south through small towns and hamlets of scattered homes and ranch houses. People worked hard for very little in these parts, it seemed. To Annja's mind, it just enraged her all the more that someone was polluting their area with the drugs she was transporting.
It ends tonight, she thought.
Annja reached for the glove compartment and found a cell phone in the box. She flipped it open and dialed the number on the paper that had been in Tom's pocket. It rang three times on the other end before picking up.
"Yeah?" a voice said.
"I'm coming to you now. I've got the merchandise." Annja frowned. She felt like she was on an episode of
Miami
Vice.
The voice on the other end sounded gruff. "Good. You know the place?"
"I've got the address."
"
How long?"
"Maybe forty minutes until I get there."
"Tom with you?"
"Nope, just me."
The voice chuckled. "He's making you do all the legwork now, huh?"
"I guess so. What else are brothers for, huh?"
"You sound different. You okay?"
Annja frowned. Damn.
"Just a cold.
Been out in the rain all damn night getting the stuff.
Now I'm coming down with something."
"Well, we finish up our business maybe we can get a drink."
"Sure."
"It'll be nice to see you again, Sheila."
"Yeah.
Gotta go."
Annja disconnected the call. So much for the idea that maybe she could pull this off without anyone knowing about it. If the guy on the other end of the phone knew Sheila and what she looked like, then Annja's plan would be up the moment they saw her.
She took a deep breath and checked her speed. While she doubted any State Police would haul her over, given that she was driving a police vehicle, she had to make sure she didn't chance it. Getting busted with drugs would not help her situation.
Annja navigated her way to the outskirts of the city and then pulled over long enough to check the map again for the directions. Fortunately, they'd been written well and Annja found the signs easily enough. After another twenty minutes of travel, she rolled into the rendezvous site.
She didn't expect anyone to be there yet. She'd told the guy on the phone that she was still forty minutes away to buy
herself
some time. Getting there first, Annja could check out the environment and see if there was any way she could pull off a successful ambush.
The pickings were slim. She looked around and saw that the meeting place was in the middle of a parking lot at the end of an alley next to a warehouse. The warehouse was long boarded up and shuttered so Annja wouldn't have access to it during the meet.
Just as bad was the fact that the parking lot was wide open from all sides. It would have been tough positioning a sniper at distance for this meet, let alone finding a way to handle the group who were no doubt already on their way.
Great, she thought. What am I going to do now?
Another burst of rain opened up on the car and the water fell down so hard that it drummed a steady rhythm onto the roof of the Tahoe. Annja was glad she wasn't out in the rain.
But it did give her an idea.
She would have to stay inside the truck until the last possible second. Once her contacts arrived, they wouldn't be able to see inside the car because of the rain-streaked windows. They wouldn't know who she was until she got out.
So she would have to throw herself out of the truck and come up attacking them as they arrived.
It was the only way.
If she could get to them before they all got out of their cars, then she'd have a fighting chance. But if she messed up and they were all out, they could simply mow her down as she came at them.
It was not what she had in mind when she'd decided to follow this trail to the end. She realized she hadn't had anything in mind other than doing
something.
The timing would be critical.
The cell phone chirped and Annja put it up to her ear.
"Yeah?"
"
It's me. We're five minutes out.
You there?"
"Just got here.
It's pouring down."
"I know."
"How do you want to do this? You want to come to me or you want me to come to you?"
She heard the chuckle in her ear. "I'll come to you. I wouldn't want you getting wet. We do the deal and then my guys take the stuff from you while we conclude our paperwork."
"
Paperwork.
Right."
"
See you in five minutes."
The line went dead and Annja stuffed the phone back into the glove compartment. She closed her eyes and saw the sword in her mind's eye, right where it should be.
If he was going to come to her, then that might tip the odds in Annja's favor. She could even hold him hostage.
Maybe.
She frowned. Once they arrived, they'd want to finish things up fast and get out of there. No sense hanging around, waiting for the local cops to cruise by.
A set of lights cut through the darkness.
Annja frowned. Had it already been five minutes? She didn't think so. That meant someone else was arriving.
But who?
She started the engine just in case she needed to get out quickly. The car coming across the parking lot slowed down. Annja couldn't see a thing aside from its lights with all the rain sluicing down.
Is this them?
It couldn't be. What happened if they showed up while this car was there? Would more innocent people be killed?
Maybe it's just a pair of high-school kids looking for a place to make out, she thought. Talk about bad timing.
But then the car turned and headed right for Annja. So much for that, she thought.
The car slowed to a stop and the headlights remained on. Annja licked her lips and steeled herself. She checked the sword again and felt a measure of relief seeing it right where it belonged.
This is going to get messy, she thought.
She heard a car door open and then close. In the rainy night she saw a figure walking over, but he seemed completely unconcerned about the rain that must have been drenching him.
Annja heard the tap on her window and nearly jumped through the roof. She lowered the window just a crack.
"Yeah?"
"You going
to let me in?"
"Why would I do that?"
A laugh filtered in through the crack in the window. "Because I'm getting soaked standing out here in the damn rain, that's why."
"Hang on a second."
Annja slid the power window back up and checked herself out in the mirror. She looked a mess. Dirt streaked her face. Her hair was a shambles.
Maybe this guy hadn't seen Sheila in a long time. Maybe he forgot what she looked like. Any one of those things could help Annja out.
But it was a big chance.
From outside the truck she heard the guy call out. "Hurry up."
Annja unlocked the doors.
She heard footsteps going around to the other side of the truck where Joey had been sitting only an hour or so before. But Joey was a great kid. The person about to sit there was a drug dealer.
Annja heard the door start to open and she turned away toward her own window. She wanted to keep this going until the very last second.
In a rush, the guy hopped into the front seat and started brushing himself off. "Damn, it's a mess out there tonight. You weren't kidding. Maybe we should have just arranged to do this tomorrow, huh?"
Annja nodded.
"Hey, you okay?"
"
Yeah."
"
It's been a while, Sheila. How have you been?"
Annja turned and looked at the man sitting next to her. "I've been good, thanks. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be saying the same thing in a few moments."