Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 64

"A little?" Sheila smiled. "It's more than that."

"Well, they get the picture," Tom said.

"And what about Simpson and Baker? What are they-your hired muscle?"

Tom shrugged. "No idea what those two idiots are doing." He looked at Sheila. "Didn't you say that Ellen said they were here to trap big foot?"

"Yep."

Tom shook his head. "d.a.m.n fools. There's no big foot in these hills."

Jenny cleared her throat. "There isn't?"

"Of course not. But it helps keep folks from buying up land and settling here. Plus, the state's real big on conservation land. That enables us to have a ready s.p.a.ce to store our product until it gets picked up."

"How do you get it from the cavern to the hotel?"

"Nothing that a little hike can't help."

"And no big foot?" Jenny asked.

Tom smiled. "Sorry, sweetheart. I've been all up in these woods for years. I know every inch of the ground and I've never seen a big foot in all my travels."

Jenny fell silent. Annja wanted to scream at her to forget the d.a.m.n big foot and concentrate on getting out of there alive, but she could see that Jenny's hopes were dashed.

"What are you going to do with David's body?" Annja asked.

Tom gestured with the gun. "You two are going to drag him into the back so he's out of view in case someone happens to wander by."

"There's a lot of blood on the wall and the floor. Anyone who sees that will know what happened," Annja said, stalling for time.

"In that case," Tom said. "You and your friend had better be real good at using sponges to clean up. Because if it's not perfect, there will be two more blood splatters on that wall."

"And two more bodies to clean up after," Annja said. "You're not that stupid, are you?"

"Don't try to find out," Tom said. "Now get to work."

Annja glanced at Jenny. She's not going to cope well with this, she thought. But they walked over. Annja reached down and got her hands under David's armpits and pulled. Jenny vomited and Annja blanched, choking back the rising tide of bile in her throat.

"Hurry up," Tom said. "Drag him in the back."

Annja tugged David's body into the kitchen. The corpse left a trail of blood behind, staining the floor a brownish red. It was all Annja could do not to heave her guts all over the place.

Jenny followed her into the kitchen with Sheila bringing up the rear, David's gun trained on them both.

Tom gestured with the shotgun. "In the back there. Just leave him be."

"The smell's going to let everyone in town know you killed him," Annja said.

Tom shook his head. "Don't matter. We'll be gone after tonight. And then as far as anyone knows, we just left."

"Cop killers will provoke an international manhunt," Annja said. "They'll find you."

"I don't think so," Tom said. "It will be too much trouble and they'll eventually give up."

Sheila pointed with her gun. "Get the sponges under the sink and the bucket that's in there, too. Fill it with hot water and follow me back outside."

Annja leaned under the sink, looking for anything that might help them. Tom kept the shotgun trained on her. If she tried to pull the sword out, she'd risk taking all that buckshot in the face. She had to wait until Tom had his focus diverted.

But when?

She got the sponges and tipped the bucket under the sink, running hot water into it. She'd never cleaned up after a corpse before, and it wasn't something she was looking forward to doing.

In the dining room, Sheila went to the front door and put the closed sign in place on the window, pulled the blinds and then turned and smiled. "So we won't be disturbed by anyone."

Annja and Jenny got down on their hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. Jenny gagged several more times.

"Keep it together," Annja said. "I don't want to have to clean up any more than necessary here."

"Can't help it," Jenny said. "The smell is awful."

"It's not as bad as it will be if we don't hurry up."

Jenny leaned into the scrubbing, her hands already red with David's blood. "What are we going to do?" she asked in a whisper.

"I just need a second when Tom isn't looking at us and then we'll make our move."

The barrel of the shotgun edged up under Annja's nose. "Keep your mind on cleaning that floor and less on any thoughts of escape."

Annja nodded. She'd have to time her move perfectly or she and Jenny would be the next to die.

Sheila checked the slide on David's gun. "You know he didn't even have a round chambered? What a moron."

"He was your boyfriend," Tom said. "You never said he was a genius."

"I still don't understand why David wanted Jenny to come out here," Annja said. "Why was there a need to involve her in all of this?"

"What better way to sell the case for preserving the conservation land around here than by having an expert on big foot declare that there was a high probability that the creature lives in the area? With her endors.e.m.e.nt, we would have virtual control of the surrounding countryside."

"Or a huge influx of gawkers desperate to see the creature themselves," Annja said. "It's not the brightest plan I've ever heard."

"Shut up and keep cleaning," Tom said. "Yours isn't to question the plan. It's to do as we say until you've outlived your usefulness, too."

"At which point you'll kill us," Annja said.

"At which point you're absolutely right," Tom said.

Annja frowned. There wasn't much time left. She just hoped that the fact she hadn't seen Joey when they dragged David's body into the kitchen meant that he was out getting reinforcements.