Part 81 (1/2)

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.”