Labyrinth. Alex Archer

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       Miraculously, one of the cops was heading toward her. He rushed to grab her as she fell. “Miss!”

       He helped her down to the sidewalk.

       Annja struggled to take a breath. “Men—armed. My…apartment.”

       Concern creased the face of the police officer. He started to reach for his radio as his partner approached them.

       “She okay?”

       “I don’t know,” the first officer said. He pushed a button on his radio and started to speak.

       “Oh, my God, Annja!”

       Annja could barely move her head. She recognized the onset of shock.

       And then Greene’s face swam into view overhead. “Thank God she’s okay!”

       The first cop looked at Greene. “You know her?”

       Greene sighed. “She’s my sister. She’s been taking medication for depression and I was over to discuss some family issues. She got upset. I was in the bathroom, but when I came back out, she was gone. I thought she’d jumped.”

       “Damn near did,” the second cop said. “She took a header off the fire escape. She’s lucky to be alive.”

       Greene feigned a sigh. “Thank God you were here.”

       The first cop stood. “She’s going to need a doctor. And we’ll have to get some information from you.”

       Greene nodded. “Sure, sure. Whatever you guys need.”

       And then Annja saw Greene bring up his pistol almost in slow motion, extend his arm and shoot both police officers dead. The sound suppressor muffled the gunshots and, since they were in the alley behind Annja’s apartment, no one even noticed the two cops go down.

       Greene stepped over each of them and calmly shot them again in the head.

       He looked back at Annja. “Just to be sure. These guys have a bad habit of wearing body armor these days. It’s not as easy to kill them anymore.”

       Annja tried to talk but nothing came out of her mouth. Greene squatted next to her. “That’s the drug we tagged you with. It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s an ancient pharmacological specimen from the Amazon. Does the trick nicely and you don’t have to listen to a twenty-minute lecture on side effects like you do with the shit the big pharma guys hawk on the evening news.” He smiled. “You ought to thank me for not just killing you and being done with it.”

       Annja grabbed his arm and glared at him as best she could. But its effect only amused Greene. “I admire your spirit, Annja. I really do. I have to admit, I don’t know all that much about you—but I intend to rectify that situation immediately.”

       He got his arms under her and Annja felt herself lifted to her feet. Greene’s breathing seemed light and easy and she could feel the strength in his arms and core as he hauled her upright.

       Somewhere in the distance, she heard an engine and guessed that Greene’s associate had gone for some vehicle. Sure enough, seconds later, a dark van rounded the corner and drew to a stop next to them.

       She heard the side panel door slide back on its rails. “All right, Annja, in we go.”

       Annja felt herself heaved into the back and then the door slid shut and darkness closed over her.

       She took a deep breath. The pile of blankets beneath her felt soft. Warm.

       Almost comfortable.

       Western Massachusetts, she thought.

       Well, maybe a little trip wouldn’t be so bad.

       Provided she didn’t end up like the recently deceased Mike Jackson.

      Chapter 3

      Annja tried to blink and realized something had been tied around her head, over her eyes. A blindfold. Had she passed out during the trip? She felt strangely rested, but she could also tell there were some lingering effects from the drug Greene had shot her with.

       Her legs ached and Annja tried to stretch them out. She kicked something solid.

       “So, you’re awake.”

       Annja propped herself into a sitting position. “Can I take this off?”

       “Your hands aren’t tied. You can do whatever you like.”

       “In that case, I want to go home,” Annja said. But she reached up and pulled the blindfold off. The interior of the van was still dark. Judging from the hum of the engine, Annja figured they must have been cruising along at about seventy miles per hour. Fast enough to get to their western Massachusetts destination within a few hours, but slow enough not to provoke any police they’d be passing on the highway.

       Smart.

       In the darkness, she saw a match flare followed by the red glow of what had to be a cigarette. Greene’s face was briefly illuminated before it went dark again. He was sitting in the backseat with her.

       Annja stared. “You smoke cigarettes?” Somehow that seemed directly contradictory to Greene’s avowed mission of saving the planet.

       Greene inhaled deeply. “This is not a cigarette.”

       And a second later, Annja caught a whiff of the smoke. Marijuana. “You smoke pot?”

       “Yes. Is that a problem for you?”

       Annja coughed. “Aside from suffocating on your passive smoke, no. I’m curious how you justify it, though.”

       Greene shrugged. “What’s to justify? It’s not like I’m buying into the massive health conspiracy that was covered up by the tobacco companies.”

       “Yeah, but you’re still smoking.”

       Greene laughed. “I don’t think your argument is going to prove convincing, Annja. I’ve been smoking pot for a number of years now. And I quite happen to appreciate the efficacy of the cannabis herb. It’s wonderful stuff.”

       “I just wouldn’t have expected that sort of thing from you. I mean, I imagine you’re pretty healthy—what, a vegan?”

       Greene shook his head. “Vegetarian, yes. Not vegan. That’s too strict for me.”

       “And fit, too. You work out a lot. Someone trained you somewhere at some point in the past.”

       “Yes.”

       “And yet you put that carcinogenic substance in your lungs. I don’t get it.”

       Greene leaned over and blew a puff of smoke into Annja’s face. “Yes, well, perhaps you don’t deserve to get it. Ever think of that, Annja? Or are you so presumptuous to believe that you have a lock on the workings of the universe?”

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