Labyrinth

Greene looked pained. “I don’t know.”

Annja shrugged. “Listen, I can’t help you. I’m dead tired. You tell Reggie to call me. That’s about the best I’m going to be able to do for you.”

“That’s not good enough, Annja.”

Before Annja could react, she heard the small pop, and Jackson crumpled to the floor beside her love seat.

Greene hadn’t even hesitated. And Jackson was dead.

Annja watched a thin trail of smoke issue from the end of the suppressor on the pistol Greene had whipped out from his holster, beating his colleague to the punch.

“I think it was a good idea that you see how very serious I am about this, Annja. I don’t like being told I can’t do something.”

“Apparently,” she said.

“You’ll come with us now,” Greene said. “Otherwise I’ll have my associate here shoot you.”

“And how would that help you with Fairclough?”

Greene smirked. “I’d find another way. I always do.”

And somehow Annja didn’t doubt that.

Chapter 2

The body of Jackson sprawled on her floor made Annja acutely aware of her predicament. Greene didn’t need to shoot Annja, despite his threat to do just that. He’d already placed Annja in one hell of a pickle. How was she going to explain the corpse in her home?

The pair could leave her right now and all she’d be able to tell the police was that Greene had been here. But would they believe it?

Greene gave her a moment and then cleared his throat. “I take it you’ve run through all the alternatives before you?”

Annja glanced at him. “You didn’t give me very many to choose from.”

“Why would I? I need you, Annja.” Greene scratched his goatee. “The sooner we’re out of here, the better.”

Annja shook her head. “We can’t just leave Jackson. Eventually, he’ll start to decompose and the smell will bring the cops.”

Greene shrugged. “Don’t worry so much, Annja. I’ve got that handled. I’m not a complete monster.”

“I think I’ll wait before I make up my own mind on that one,” Annja said.

Greene’s associate stepped up and produced what looked like a large garbage bag. He unrolled it and spread it around Jackson’s body. Annja looked up at Greene.

“You knew this was going to happen.”

Greene shrugged. “I believe in planning ahead. I wasn’t sure how receptive you’d be to my request. Jackson was pretty much obsolete as soon as he agreed to track you down for us.”

The other man rolled Jackson into the bag and then zipped it up.

“I’m amazed you’re using a plastic bag for that. Doesn’t that go against everything you stand for?”

“It’s recycled plastic,” Greene said. “And besides, it contains the effluence better than cloth.”

Annja cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve done this before, I take it.”

He laughed. “Many times. Where other environmentalists like to preach wholesome universe nonsense, I prefer to act. I’m not about to sit idly by and watch the planet ravaged by politicians and their corporate masters. Not a chance. I’ll remove whatever threats are dangerous to Mother Earth.”

“Results oriented,” Annja said.

“Results, yes. I firebombed a cosmetics factory that had been testing its products on animals and flushing toxic waste into the drinking supply of a small village in Cambodia. And when that building was reduced to ashes, I went after—and got—the people who owned it.”

“How?” Annja asked, buying time as she tried to think how to extricate herself from this situation.

“I made them drink the poison sludge they’d been spewing for decades into the drinking water. Unfortunately for them, the concentration was so much higher than the water normally held. I guess they came to see that the stuff they used to make cosmetics with wasn’t healthy.”

“And what happened to the people who were employed by the factory? How are they supposed to make a living now?”

Greene shrugged. “They’ll find a way. Their welfare isn’t my concern. If anything, they ought to be thankful to me for cleaning up their water. But they were secondary. The primary goal was to stop the factory from polluting the environment.”

“So you’re not a humanitarian at all.”

Green laughed. “I make no pretense of being a humanitarian, Annja. My goals are simple—wipe the toxicity of the human stain from the planet. Help rebuild the wonder that once was nature.”

Annja frowned as the other man finished hefting Jackson’s body over his shoulder. “What now? Is he just going to walk out of here with the corpse?”

Greene smiled. “You really think anyone is going to ask him questions?”

Greene’s associate must have stood more than six feet two inches and weighed about two hundred and sixty pounds. He was big and muscular. Annja didn’t think any of her neighbors would bother him.

“No,” she said simply.

Greene nodded. “Exactly. Now let’s get going downstairs.” He stopped. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer I let my associate leave the body here and then we call the police?”

Annja sighed. She could argue her way out of the murder; she felt confident of that. Plus, she knew a few of the cops at the local precinct. She’d be able to straighten it out, but was it worth the grief?

I need to install some serious surveillance on this place, she thought. Video cameras would forestall this type of bull.

“Annja?”

She stared at the floor. A tiny residue of blood remained on the hardwood. Greene followed her gaze and chuckled.

“We’ll leave that here as a souvenir.”

“Be hard to clean once I get back,” Annja said. “I’d prefer to clean it up now, if you don’t mind.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Greene said. He studied her for a moment before relenting. “You’ve got thirty seconds to get it done.”

Annja ran for the kitchen and grabbed a sheaf of paper towels, holding them under hot water. Through the window, she saw a cruiser parked on the curb across the street. If she could just get the two cops’ attention…