Rogue Angel - Footprints Part 81

His eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Looks like you brought all of it, too. Good girl."

Annja frowned. "This is what you wanted, right?"

"Yeah."

Annja used the sword blade to slice open one of the bags and display the contents. Brilliant white powder spilled out.

"Pretty sight," the man said. "Some people call it heaven."

"In that case," Annja said. "Why don't you pay it a visit."

"What?"

Annja grabbed the back of his head with her left hand and shoved him face-first into the powder. He struggled but she felt the rage coursing through her veins at the thought of how something so stupid had so easily seduced Jenny.

She could hear the coughing and retching as the man was forced to inhale the cocaine. His body trembled and his legs jerked in an awful death spasm before Annja finally let him slide away to the ground.

He landed face up, coated in the white powder he'd ingested.

"I hope you like heaven," Annja said.

She spent the next few minutes gathering the bags into a pile and then she found a lighter in the glove compartment. She used the spare gas can to soak the entire parcel and then set it all ablaze. In seconds, the drugs were cooking in the drizzly night air.

Annja took a final look at the scene and walked away, leaving it all behind her.

Epilogue.

"So the leg's okay?"

Annja sat in the police station looking at Ellen. "Seems to be fine. Luckily, there was no damage to the artery." Annja smiled. "That uniform looks good on you."

Ellen grinned. "I'm still getting used to people calling me Sheriff, and I don't exactly know if it feels right, all things considered."

"What do you mean?"

Ellen shrugged. "Well, here I was working right under Dave and yet I had no clue that he, Sheila and Tom were all involved in the drug business. I mean, I was more than a little shocked."

"No one sees everything all the time," Annja said. "That's just the way it goes." She smiled. "In any event, you'll have plenty of opportunities to make sure things go well here in town now."

"Davis and Connor said you left in an awful hurry when they last saw you."

Annja nodded. "I had some unfinished business I had to attend to. They know where to reach me if they need to."

Ellen eyed her. "I heard something interesting on the police bulletin wire. Apparently there was a scene at some parking lot down in the city. Seven dead bodies, a few abandoned cars, including one belonging to the late sheriff, and a smoldering pile of luggage with chemical residue consistent with cocaine."

Annja looked around the office. "Yeah, well, you know how dangerous life can be in the big city."

Ellen nodded. "That I do. It's one reason I stay out here in the backwater of civilization."

"Maybe you'll have a chance to get some more folks coming through here now. Pick up the joint a little bit."

"That'd be great. We've got an abandoned hotel down at the end of Main Street . Might be nice if someone bought it and reopened it for business."

Annja smirked. "Not me. I've got too many other things I need to take care of."

Ellen's eyes glanced down to the package on the desk. "That her stuff?"

Annja looked at the envelope containing Jenny's personal effects. "Yes. I have to take them to her family and explain what happened. I figure it's the least I can do for her, considering all the stuff she went through."

"We never really know, do we?"

"What's that?"

"What people are like. We make friends, we live with them, we love them, but deep down inside they're always a mystery. And sometimes the only way to unravel it is when they die on us."

Annja nodded. "Sometimes death is no solution to any mystery. Only the start of it."

Ellen stood. "You come back anytime, you hear? I'd be honored to call you my friend."

Annja shook her hand and then gave her a hug. "Consider it my honor, as well. You take care of yourself, Sheriff."

Annja scooped up the envelope and walked outside to her rental car.

Joey was leaning against the car with his arms crossed. "I heard you'd come back to town."

"I was going to come see you."

"Were you?"

Annja smiled. "Come on, I'll give you a lift."

Annja climbed into the car and started the engine. As she slid the car into gear, she looked at Joey. "How are you?"

He shrugged. "Fine. Everyone's trying to get over the shock of what happened. Even though Dave never necessarily came out and kept everyone under his thumb, people still felt it. And since Tom and Sheila were in on it, that just reinforced the effect. With them gone, things will blossom."

"Blossom?"

"Yeah."

Annja smiled. "Nice choice of words." She paused. "I found out that it was David who killed Cheehawk. He must have been tracking us that night."

"I eventually figured out it was him, as well. I'm glad I tried to blow up his truck."

Annja whirled. "That was you? Jenny and I were in that truck!"

"Yeah, I didn't know you two would stumble across him or that he'd switched vehicles with the Feds. Obviously, I never meant for that to happen to you."

"Yeah, thanks, pal." Annja had to laugh. "That was a close one."