Footprints

by Alex Archer

  "You got more friends back there?"

  "Yeah, this is Jenny."

  Tom smiled. "Hi."

  Jenny smiled back. "Hi." She turned to Annja. "What's going on?"

  Annja thumbed toward the door. "Sheila and David are in the dining room, huddling like lovers." She blanched and looked at Tom. "Sorry."

  He shrugged. "No matter. I know it as much as anyone in town. It just took longer to admit it to myself."

  Jenny looked sad. "Poor thing, to have a wife do that to you."

  "They're here for lunch," Tom said. "Want some of that nouveau cuisine I was telling you about. She says if it's not good, Dave will shoot me."

  "He can't threaten to do that," Jenny said.

  Tom shrugged. "Why not? Everyone in town knows that something's going on. They don't like messing with him at all. Nice guy on the exterior, but if you cross him he's a dangerous snake."

  "You don't say." Annja shook her head. "Looks like your sheriff might just need to be replaced."

  Tom sighed. "No one around here has the guts to run against him. Last guy who did went missing and that was about the last brave hurrah we ever had. Now most folks have either moved away or stay up in their homes unless there's no choice but to come down for supplies or something."

  "This is crazy," Annja said. "We've got to do something."

  Joey snuck over to the door. "Wow, that's quite a kiss."

  Annja groaned. "Joey."

  Tom caught his breath. "Oh, hell, I have to face facts. And I know that kissing's about the least of it, anyway, so no harm done. At least not by young Joey there." He bowed his head. "Nice to see you again, Joe."

  "You, too, Tom. Sorry we had to sneak in like this."

  Tom shrugged. "No matter. I'm glad for the company. But what brings you in this way, anyhow?"

  "Dave tried to kill us last night," Joey said.

  Tom leaned against the grill. "All of you? How so?"

  "Shot us with tranquilizer darts and then stowed us in the underground cavern up by the river."

  Tom's face grew stern. "They flushed the dam earlier today."

  Joey nodded. "We found out."

  "Rather abruptly," said Annja.

  Tom shook his head. "Killing an adult is one thing. But a kid's another. Don't that guy have any kind of morals?"

  "Pretty sure he doesn't," Joey said. "But he's got to be working with somebody. Someone else pulled the trigger last night, not him."

  Annja moved closer to Tom. "Does Sheila know how to shoot?"

  "Most women in these parts do. It's always good to know how to use a shotgun in case a bear gets too nosy."

  "And Sheila?"

  "Better than most, I'd say," Tom said. "She grew up in the Southwest before coming north with her mom a long time back. She told me her daddy used to teach her how to handle a gun when she was a kid."

  Annja glanced at Jenny. "I think we just found our triggerman."

  "Agreed. But what's she helping him with? What's the goal in David's whole enterprise?"

  Annja looked back at Tom. "You said she's been gone a lot lately?"

  "Been gone a lot ever since the two of them started carrying on together. I don't know whether she's at his house or just out somewhere else with him. She doesn't exactly come home and regale me with tales of their relationship, if you get my meaning."

  "Probably better that way," Annja said.

  "I'd say so," Tom said. "Bad enough that my wife is shacking up with some other man. I don't need updates about it."

  "I wonder what they're up to," Jenny said. "It's got to be something that has the potential for a lot of money."

  "We could just stroll out there and ask them," Annja said. "After all, they're sitting right there."

  "And risk Dave shooting us on sight?" Joey said. "No, thanks. I'm not really looking to see my life ended before I even get to date a girl."

  "You could stay here," Annja said. "That way, in case we get into trouble, you come in with the cavalry."

  Joey frowned. "Great choice of words."

  Annja blanched. "Sorry."

  "Forget it. But if that's how you two want to play this, be my guest. Tom and I will stay here and watch from a distance."

  Annja glanced at Jenny. "What do you think?"

  Jenny took a deep breath. "At this point, I'm honestly so confused about everything, I don't really care what we do provided we have a fair chance of going home safe and sound when this is all done."

  Annja looked at Joey and Tom. "I don't think that will be a problem now."

  "Then let's do it."

  Annja pushed through the swinging doors and headed straight for the table. Sheila and David turned at almost the same time, the shock of seeing her clearly registering on both their faces.

  Sheila started to sputter something.

  David reached for his gun.

  Annja covered the distance fast and slammed the side of her hand down on David's wrist, hearing a snap as she did so.

  David shrieked and grabbed his wounded wrist. "What the hell!"

  Jenny slapped Sheila across the face. "That's for lying to us."

  David cradled his gun hand and frowned. "You're supposed to be dead."

  "They would be if you did it properly," Sheila said.

  "I tied those ropes tighter than anyone could have gotten loose. They must have had help," David said.

  Did we ever, Annja thought. "You're a real piece of work, David. Not only are you a loathsome scumbag, but you'd kill a child as easily as draw a breath. Real nice, aren't you?"

  "Joey would have told someone. I couldn't take the chance. He had to go just like you two."

  Annja leaned forward and put her face inches from David's. "And all that sweet talk last night on your porch? About how you lured me out here through Jenny? What was that all about?"

  "Whatever it takes to achieve the goal," he said.

  But Annja could see her comment had hit the mark. Sheila didn't look happy. Annja saw her face darken momentarily. "Your man here has a bit of a libido problem, doesn't he?" she said pressing the point.

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Sheila snapped.

  "Don't you? You think you're the only woman he's led astray? He's probably got a dozen more dumb chicks like you in Canada."

  Sheila looked at Dave. "Tell her that's not true."

  "It's not. There's only you, babe."

  Annja laughed. "I'll bet."

  David frowned. "Don't listen to her. She's just trying to get you upset so you'll turn on me."

  Annja pulled up a chair and sat down. "Do you mind telling me what this is all about in the first place? We're all a bit tired of guessing and you clearing up some of this would be greatly appreciated."

  David smirked. "You haven't figured it out?"

  "There hasn't been much to figure out. We've got you contacting Jenny, but for what reason I can't fathom. Simpson and Baker are intent on capturing big foot. And then there's you two running some kind of illegal operation here and trying to get us all killed. I can't connect the dots, so why don't you do it for me?"

  "Why would I make your life any easier?" David said.

  Annja smiled and then leaned forward to grab his hand. He yelped as she did so. Annja held his wrist. "I think the bone's broken here."

  "Which one," David said. "You nailed it good."

  Annja twisted the wrist a little and David screamed. "Wow, you're right. Maybe I did get a couple of them. I guess I just don't know my own strength sometimes, huh?"

  David's face paled. "Stop it. You're killing me!"

  Annja shook her head. "Not yet, sweetheart. But I will if you don't start talking about what you two are cooking up around here."

  David looked at Sheila. "Ask her."

  "Why would I do that?" Annja asked.

  "Because she's in charge of the entire thing, that's why!"

  Annja frowned. Sheila shook her head. "He's delusional from the pain of his broken wrist. I don't know what he's t
alking about."

  "She does! You have to believe me. I'm not the one who knows everything. She is. They are!"

  "They?"

  David nodded furiously. "Of course. I couldn't pull this off without their help. You've got to believe me."

  "Who are they?"

  David eyed Annja. "God, are you really so stupid? Tom! Him and Sheila are running this show, not me."

  Jenny started to speak. "But Tom just told us—"

  The sound of a ratcheted shotgun behind them made both Annja and Jenny turn around. Tom stood there, leveling the mean-looking Mossberg pump action on them. "I guess you might as well stop torturing that poor man," Tom said.

  "You sure don't look brokenhearted anymore," Annja said.

  Tom smiled. "Time heals all wounds. Isn't that what they say?"

  "Some people say that, yeah."

  "Wise folks, those people," Tom said. "Now, slowly get on up and stand over by that wall on the far side of the room. I think it's about time we all had ourselves a nice little chat."

  Chapter 32

  Annja edged over to the wall and Jenny followed. I hope Joey's okay, she thought.

  "Your friend Joey has been taken care of," Tom said.

  "You killed him?" Annja shouted.

  Tom shook his head. "I gave him a rap on the head and he's likely got a concussion. He won't be a problem for a while." He sighed. "Eventually, though, we're going to have to make a decision about what to do with him."

  "He's a child," Jenny said.

  "He's a pain in the ass," David replied. "Just like that damn wolf of his before I shot him. Things'll be better when they're both gone." He got up from the table and walked over to Tom. "You got any bandages or something? I'm going to have to get this thing set down in Maynard at the clinic," he said, holding his wrist.

  Tom eyed him. "You're going to leave now to get that set?"

  David held up his useless hand. "What would you suggest I do? I can't handle my piece if my hand's useless."

  "You won't be able to handle it, anyway, once you get a cast on it," Tom said.

  David shrugged. "So just kill them all now and be done with it."

  "If you'd done your job properly," Tom said, "they'd already be dead and we'd be finished with this thing."

  David sighed. "Look, like I told Sheila, I did my best. They must have somehow gotten help to get free. I made sure that the tranquilizer drug you shot them with was strong enough to knock them out cold."

  Annja looked at Tom. "You shot us last night?"

  Tom smiled. "I suppose I ought to come clean about that. Name's Tom Slackmore. Former sniper with the Marines. It's kind of a skill of mine."

  "That explains the gillie suit," Annja said.

  Tom raised an eyebrow. "You know about gillie suits?"

  "I met a Marines sniper once—a far better man that you'll ever be apparently—who taught me about what it meant to do his job. He had honor about him. Courage, too. Both of those traits seem absent in you."

  Tom laughed. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I served my country and my country forgot about me. I got wounded in a little war no one ever wanted to know about, so they kicked me out and I wound up in this dump with nothing to show for all my hard work. You think honor's something special? It's not. At the end of the day, it doesn't get you a damn thing, except a flag on your casket when you die."

  "Touching," Annja said. "I'm sure that will go over real well with the judge and jury when you're brought up on charges."

  Tom laughed louder. "And who exactly is going to do that?"

  Annja smiled. "Day's not over yet."

  David grunted. "This damn thing's killing me."

  Tom glanced at Sheila. "Get his gun."

  David looked at him. Tom smiled again. "Relax. No sense in you having it if you can't even use it, right?"

  "Yeah. Guess so."

  Sheila unholstered the automatic pistol and slid it into her waistband. She looked at Tom. "What now?"

  Tom motioned at David. "Didn't I tell you this guy was going to be trouble?"

  "We needed him. How else could we bring the stuff in?"

  "Yeah, well, he's a liability now."

  David looked up. "What did you say?"

  "Uh-oh," Annja said.

  But her voice was drowned out by the sudden explosion in the dining room that took David clean off his feet as the shotgun barked once and cut him open at the midsection. He fell over backward and lay there in a spreading pool of blood.

  Sheila gasped. "You know, I used to like him. A lot. Now you killed him!"

  "You never did have good taste in men," Tom said. "And he's served his purpose."

  "You just killed a cop," Annja said. "That's not going to go over well with the authorities."

  Sheila stared at David's body. "She's right."

  Tom shook his head. "What difference does it make? By the time anyone clues in we'll be long gone. They can chase us all they want but they'll never find us. Not with what we've got."

  Annja looked at Sheila. "You could stop this right now. Just shoot him and be done with the whole thing. Jenny and I will back you up. We'll tell them that it was all his plan. That you were just a hapless wife who got herself mixed up in something she couldn't control."

  "Hapless wife." Tom chuckled. "That's a good one."

  Annja looked at him and then back at Sheila. "You can do it, Sheila. Just shoot him now and set us free. Come on. We can call in the State Police."

  Sheila looked at her and frowned. "I can't do that. I love him."

  Annja shook her head. "But I thought you just said you liked Dave."

  "I did."

  Annja sighed. "Man, things sure get weird in these small towns."

  Sheila frowned. "Tom's my brother."

  "Weirder still," Jenny said, rolling her eyes. "And people thought rednecks were inbred."

  "Don't be gross," Tom said. "We only pretended to be husband and wife in public. It helped create the illusion we needed."

  "Illusion for what?" Annja asked.

  Tom shook his head. "Aren't you supposed to be some type of scholar? And aren't you a teacher or something?"

  Jenny nodded. "I am a teacher."

  "Well, both of you are a little dense."

  "You should see it from our perspective," Annja said. "We've almost died several times in the past few days. People are stalking big foot and we don't know what the hell is going on."

  "Drugs," Tom said. "The ultimate entertainment product."

  "This is all about drugs?"

  Tom shrugged. "Does it need to be about anything else? We bring them in from Canada through the woods and hold them in the underground cavern you saw earlier today. The one that should have been your grave site until idiot boy over there wrecked the whole thing."

  "And what happens after that? You sell them?" Annja asked.

  Tom smiled. "Every few weeks we have a visitor come in to stock the hotel kitchen. They bring us supplies, they take back the drugs. And they leave us a little extra cabbage, as well."

  "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. "Damn 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 space 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 o
f the ground and I've never seen a big foot in all my travels."