Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 71

Chapter 36.

Annja wiped the grit from her face. Her hand came away moist with the tears that had been trying to flush her eyes. And then her vision finally cleared and she could see at last.

Tom's body lay in a crumpled heap about fifteen feet away, a pool of blood staining the ground beneath him. Annja's sword jutted out of the tree trunk nearby.

"I missed," she said, confused.

"I didn't," a voice said from behind her.

She turned and saw Jenny standing there with David's gun in her hands.

Annja smiled weakly. "Great timing."

Jenny nodded. "Well, life has always been about timing, hasn't it? You just have to know when to do the things you need to do."

Annja got to her feet. "The b.a.s.t.a.r.d threw sand into my face. It got into my eyes and I couldn't see a thing."

"You okay now?"

Annja wiped her face on her sleeve some more. "I think so."

"He might have killed you," Jenny said.

Annja looked at Tom. There was a neat hole in the center of his forehead. "You made an incredible shot for someone who's never used a gun before."

"What makes you think I've never used a gun?" Jenny asked.

Annja shrugged. "I just thought you hadn't. You never seemed comfortable around them."

"Well, not when Tom was aiming that huge cannon at us from the front seat of his truck. I don't think anyone would be cool in that situation. Except maybe for the great Annja Creed."

Annja shook her head. "I'm not great." She checked Tom's pulse but he was already dead. "What did you do with Sheila?"

Jenny pointed over her shoulder. "Back at the cave. I broke her neck."

"How'd you manage that?"

Jenny grinned. "Just a little trick I picked up along the road of life. A single woman needs to know how to take care of herself. Nothing to it, really. You just step up, elbow them in the face and then loop your arm and-"

Annja held up her hand. "I get it."

Jenny smiled. "So they're both out of the way now. At last."

"That means we can get the h.e.l.l out of here," Annja said. "I'm buying the first drink at the airport."

But Jenny wasn't smiling anymore. "What about the bodies?"

Annja glanced back. The thought of cleaning up two more corpses was appalling. But she couldn't just leave them where they were. They'd get ravaged by the forest animals. And if they didn't explain themselves to the police-the real police-there was a chance they'd be implicated in some type of murder charge.

Jenny was right. They had to clean things up.

"Where did David say the nearest state cops were? An hour away or something like that?"

Jenny nodded. "Yeah."

"I guess we should call them, huh? At least when we get back to town and talk to Ellen."

"And what about the other stuff?"

"The drugs?" Annja shrugged. "Beats me. The cops'll take it, I guess. That's their thing. I sure don't want anything to do with it."

"It's worth a lot of money, though, isn't it?"

Annja nodded. "Probably worth millions on the street."

"They were planning on heading down to South America, weren't they? Someplace where they could set up shop without the fear of being extradited back to the U.S. That's quite a plan for them."

Annja brushed her knees. "Yeah, well, their plans are ruined now. Just goes to prove that you can't stop the forces of good." She glanced up. "That'd be you and me."

Jenny smiled. "Yeah, I got it."

Annja looked at her sword sticking out of the tree and then smiled back at Jenny. "I guess I'd better yank that thing out of there, huh? Can't leave it like that for some innocent person to stumble over. That'd be messy."

Annja started to walk over to the tree and then heard the sound of a hammer being pulled back on a gun. "Don't do that."

She turned. "What are you doing?"

Jenny held the gun aimed at Annja. "I'm finally taking control of my life. That's what."

"By shooting me?"

"I don't want to have to do that," Jenny said. "But that sword is far too dangerous. I can't let you get it back in your hands or you'll use it on me."

"Why would I do that?"

Jenny sneered. "Because you're Miss Goody-Goody. There's no way you're going to let me walk out of here with those drugs. You'll try to stop me. And I'm done with people imposing themselves on my personal destiny."

Annja frowned. "You think those drugs are your destiny? Don't be ridiculous. You've already got a great life."

"I don't have a life," Jenny said. "I have an existence. And it's a meager one at that. I've got no real career path other than making tenure at some university no one even cares about. My romantic world is a sham. I'm struggling to make ends meet on my c.r.a.ppy salary and I'm a miserable wreck."

Annja frowned. "If you need money, I'll loan you some to get you back on your feet."

"It's not just about the money. Can't you see that? I'm tired. So tired. Of everything. The daily struggle to survive. And it's all based on the hope that one day things will finally get better. Well, when do they get better? I'm not a young girl anymore. The world isn't my oyster. h.e.l.l, it never was my oyster. All it ever turned out to be was a big pile of c.r.a.p. And I'm sick of it, Annja. "

"And you think this is the answer to your problems? Stealing drugs and then selling them and taking the money to go run off somewhere and live like the spoiled princess you've always wanted to be?"

"Being spoiled has nothing to do with it."