Page 64 of Operation: Reckless Angel

“Don’t ask,” BT said with a grin. “We can’t tell you exactly who we are.”

Brielle smiled at that statement. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she joked. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

BT laughed with Brielle.

“Your group is helping me get justice for Amanda Elsworth. That’s all I need to know.”

“You must have felt so helpless watching her body get dropped into the lake,” Brielle said. “I stopped asking myself how people can be so evil a long time ago.”

“Evil’s a good word for it,” Briana agreed. She hoped she’d get to meet this woman in person. She liked her and would love to sit down and have a drink with her and chat.

Victor

Jackson and Roth drove until the one-lane, semi-plowed path dead ended past the three houses they saw that backed up to the lake. Not a soul was in sight. They’d hoped they’d see someone out so they could stop and inquire about Amanda Elsworth. Through the trees, they saw another house which lay a few hundred yards ahead. It wasn’t accessible from where they were. There must have been another road that led to it.

They caught sight of movement, a person shoveling what looked to be a small porch on the house. Both men exited the vehicle, realizing they’d have to hike through the trees and snow to get to that house, as GPS showed no other road that could lead to the place they saw.

Roth knew the snow was deeper than the height of his hiking boots. His legs were going to get soaked. “There’s no use in us both getting our pant legs wet,” he told Jackson. “I’ll hike in and hopefully can voice guide you to drive in with help from whoever that is up there shoveling.”

“I’ll drive back the way we came and take that little road we passed that should head in that direction.”

As Jackson turned the vehicle around, Roth hiked through the deep snow and snarled underbrush that covered the rugged terrain. The woods ended just feet from the cabin. The woman shoveling snow was startled when she looked up and saw Roth standing at the edge of the trees. She stopped clearing the porch, which Roth now saw, faced another lake.

“Hello,” he greeted.

Her gaze scrutinized him and behind him. “Are you lost?”

The woman appeared to be in her mid-forties. She wore a bright pink winter cap on her head, with her black hair falling a few inches lower than it onto a plaid jacket of browns and oranges. Her dark blue jeans were tucked into black winter boots, topped with fur.

“No, I saw you out here and came over to talk to you.” He stepped closer. His gaze swept towards the driveway and her car, which was parked in it. The drive looked as though it had been plowed at some point during the snow storm but was now partially re-covered. “We actually saw you through the trees from the road back that way.” He pointed over his shoulder. “My friend is going to drive around to pick me up, if I can give him directions to make it over here. These little dead-end roads all back in here are like a maze. They don’t even show up on our GPS.”

“That’s because they’re not actually roads. It’s all private back here, the way we like it.” She said it with meaning to clearly convey that he was trespassing.

“It is beautiful here,” he said, taking another step closer. “I’m looking for information on Amanda Elsworth. Do you know her?”

“You can just go back to wherever you came from. We don’t like strangers poking around about people, either.”

“So, you do know her. She lives down that road back there with her husband.”

“That’s her brother,” the woman corrected him.

Roth ignored her correction. “The thing is, Amanda was supposed to meet one of my colleagues and she didn’t show. We’re concerned about her.”

“Did you check with her brother? He is the sheriff, you know.”

Roth continued to ignore her statements. “Do you know her well? When is the last time you saw her or talked to her?”

“Just who are you? And why are you asking?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself.” He pulled his wallet containing his badge and creds from his pocket and flipped it open. “Agent Roth, DEA.”

“DEA?” she repeated. “What do you want with Amanda? She’s not mixed up in anything like that. We don’t have problems with drugs around here, so whatever you think is going on can’t be.”

“Amanda Elsworth, when’s the last time you saw or talked to her?” He crossed the remainder of the distance between them as he spoke. He now stood on the porch in front of the woman. He brushed the snow from his pant legs with his gloved hands.

“It’s been a while. She keeps to herself. I think it was about two weeks ago when I ran into her at the grocery. Yes, two weeks ago Thursday. We both do our shopping on Thursdays.”

Roth found that statement odd. Did people really do that? Have set days to do their grocery shopping on? “Which store is that?”

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