There was no blood. And the blade of the sword hovered in front of her, flat side toward Jenny. She frowned.

What had happened?

Annja looked at Jenny.

Jenny's shirt had two dark, blossoming stains on it. She looked down and gasped. "What happened?"

Annja groaned. The sword had deflected the bullets and sent them back into Jenny's chest instead of Annja's.

"No," she said. Annja got to her feet and ran to Jenny. The gun had fallen when the bullets impacted. Annja kicked it away.

She helped ease Jenny down to the ground. Jenny tried to smile but a pinkish stream of blood oozed out of her mouth. "I guess things didn't work out quite like I wanted them to, huh?"

"I guess not," Annja said.

Jenny gripped Annja's hand. "I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

Annja nodded. "Forget it. It's done and over with now."

Jenny laughed. "You were always the master of the understatement, weren't you?"

"Old habits die hard," Annja said. "I'm sorry things turned out this way. I couldn't let you do it. You would have died with regrets."

Jenny shrugged and winced as she did so. "I'm not exactly dying with good times etched into my memory."

"No. I guess you're not."

"I only wanted what I thought I deserved. What anyone thinks they ought to deserve. Is that so wrong?"

Annja shook her head. "You did what you thought was best for you. I don't think anyone can find fault with that."

"Do you?"

"No." Annja smiled. "Some of us just don't have the guts to do what you tried to do."

Jenny smiled. "I'll tell you one thing."

"What's that?"

She coughed and Annja could see the pain on her friend's face. "When I get to the other side, I'm going to have a serious sit-down with the man in charge. I've got a lot of questions I want answers to."

"Any chance you'll come back and clue me in?"

Jenny started to cry. "No. I don't think they'd let me even if I wanted to. I've never gotten anything I wanted so far, why start now?"

Annja cradled Jenny in her arms and looked down. Life was rapidly fading from her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Jenny shook her head. "Nothing to be sorry about. I did this all to myself. I guess that's the biggest lesson from all of this, huh?"

"What's that?" Annja felt her eyes starting to well up. Tears rolled down her face.

"That we're always in control of our lives. Even when it seems like we're not. We have power over every decision and choice, if we just accept the responsibility that goes along with them."

Annja nodded. "Wisdom is a treasure hard earned."

Jenny clutched her hand. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too." More tears flowed from Annja's eyes. Why did it have to end like this? Why this way?

Jenny's eyes rolled over white and a final breath escaped her chest. Annja closed her eyelids and then let her body down gently. She sat there, crying softly for another minute, looking at the peaceful expression on Jenny's face.

Annja used her sleeve to wipe the b.l.o.o.d.y trail from Jenny's mouth. There, she thought, at least she doesn't look so gruesome now.

She glanced at Tom's body and then back. So much death, she thought. And for what purpose?

Those d.a.m.n drugs.

Annja hauled herself up and squatted next to Tom's body, pulling a sheaf of papers from his shirt pocket. Then she walked over to the back of the Tahoe. She fished out one of the sacks she'd carried, opened it. The plastic bags of white powder stared up at her.

No more, Annja thought.

She turned back to the trail and headed toward the cave. She pa.s.sed Sheila's body on the way inside and found the woman's head bent at an odd angle. Jenny had done a d.a.m.n good job of dispatching her.

Another life lost to the pull of greed and drugs.

Annja heaved two of the bags on her shoulders and carted them down to the Tahoe. She dumped them inside and then repeated the process ten more times. Each time the bags got too heavy, Annja simply remembered how Jenny's face had looked as she died and her anger gave her strength.

Annja finished packing up the truck. The rain had started again, clouds blew in quickly and she could hear thunder in the distance.

A storm's brewing, she thought. And it's not just out here in the wild forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Annja looked at Jenny's body. She had to see someone about this. But who? Who would believe her? And what would they say when they saw all the corpses?

Her options weren't good.

What do I do now? she wondered.

"Annja?"

She turned. Joey walked out of the darkness.

Annja ran to him and hugged him close. He wore a bandage on his head. She felt the lump underneath it. "I thought you were dead!"

Joey grinned. "Yeah, well, Tom sure swung for the fences when he hit me. Where is the jerk, anyway?"

"He's dead. Over there."

Joey looked beyond Annja's shoulder and nodded. "Serves him right. I can't believe he was using this place. Disgusting that he soiled the beauty of nature so much." Joey looked around. "Where's his partner in crime?"