Part 34 (2/2)
David frowned. ”Annja.”
”And now you're sitting here with him in your office and I don't particularly like it. I see this and I have to think that's something is rotten in Denmark. And I want to know exactly what it is.”
The gunman cleared his throat. ”Perhaps we should leave, Sheriff.”
David held up his hand. ”No one's going anywhere. Stay put.” He looked at Annja. ”You shouldn't have come in here, Annja. This doesn't concern you.”
”Gun-toting jerks always seem to concern me,” Annja said. ”And I'll be d.a.m.ned if I don't say something about this.”
The gunman s.h.i.+fted in his chair. ”I told you this would be a problem.”
David shook his head. ”You're wrong. It's containable. Just let me handle it, okay?”
”Sure, sure.” The man started picking his teeth with a small toothpick Annja hadn't noticed earlier.
David took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. ”Annja, you've sort of stumbled onto something here that I wish you hadn't.”
”What have we stumbled onto?” Jenny asked, suddenly appearing behind Annja in the doorway.
David shrugged. ”These men are not what they seem.”
”They're not nasty pieces of work?” Annja said. ”Could have fooled me.”
The men didn't even bristle from the insult. Annja frowned. Something had changed about the gunman's demeanor. The look of a redneck seemed to be slowly peeling away. Something far more sinister replaced it.
David turned to Jenny. ”I asked you out here for a reason.”
”What was that?” she asked.
”Your expertise. I did find something that I wanted you to take a look at. Something I think proves the existence of the Sasquatch.”
”Well, where is it?”
”We have it,” the gunman said.
”And why on earth would you have it?” Annja asked.
The man stared at David and then at Annja. ”Because the government happens to be interested in it,” he said coldly.
Annja chewed her lip. That's why he seems so different. He works for the Feds, she thought. She had interacted with enough government agents to recognize one when she saw one. This guy definitely fit the bill. Albeit in a sc.u.mmy way.
”What agency do you work for?” she asked.
He shook his head. ”You don't need to know that.”
Annja pointed at David. ”I take it they showed you some identification?”
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