Page 55 of Operation: Reckless Angel

As the call ended, Roth felt a jolt of excitement. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact that he’d be off the PGP Team for a few days and working a case that mattered or if it was because he’d be seeing Briana again very soon. Perhaps it was both.

Immediately, he dialed Briana.

“Hi Sebastian. Did your boss approve you helping me?” she answered.

“Yes, he did,” Roth replied. “He assigned me and my teammate, Jackson, to the case. We’ll both be flying into Portland as soon as we can get flights in.”

“That will probably be tomorrow. It looks like most flights today are cancelled because of the snow storm.”

“Did you make it to that B and B?” Roth asked.

“Yes. I got checked in and I’m in my room now. The woman who owns it is nice and chatty. I’ll be having lunch with her soon, and I plan to pump her for information on the Sheriff and his wife.”

“Tread lightly, okay,” Roth warned. “You have no way of knowing who is one of the Sheriff’s allies and who isn’t. For all you know, he and this woman could be having an affair and she could be in on the wife’s murder.”

“Unlikely, when most men have an affair, they fuck up, not down. And trust me, though Norma Zanders is nice, she’s not in the same league as Amanda Elsworth. But I know to be careful.”

Roth chuckled. “I’ll have our Digital Team check her out, too.” He paused, unsure what he should tell her. But decided to tell her all of it. “One more thing, Briana. My partner and I both carry DEA credentials. In order to justify why we’re investigating Amanda Elsworth if anyone asks, we may identify her as a suspected drug trafficker.”

“I’d laugh if this wasn’t such a serious situation. DEA? I thought you guys were FBI? Whatever. And given that she’s dead, I’m sure she won’t care.”

“Okay, I just wanted you to know the plan. I’ve got to go now and contact our office manager to make my travel plans, depending of course on the weather. I’ll talk to you later. I assume you’re staying put there at the B and B?”

“Yes, Sebastian. I’m not going anywhere,” she said in a tone a teenage girl uses while talking to her mother while rolling her eyes.

Roth didn’t know why he found her so irresistible. Physically, he found her attractive, but her vibrant and snarky personality was what really appealed to him. “Okay, good. Call or text me if you find out anything.” After he disconnected the call, he dialed Angel.

“Hi Sebastian,” she answered. “I’m looking at flights for you now. You’re about a two hours’ drive to either Louisville, Kentucky or Indianapolis. Neither have nonstop flights to Portland, Maine. I can get you on flights this evening, but there’s no guarantee the airport will be open in Portland. As of right now, it’s shut down because of the snow. It looks like the storm should be moving out by midnight or one a.m. so I really think you’re better off flying tomorrow morning. Both airports have flights out at seven-thirty that will get you in by noon.”

“Okay, book me out of Indianapolis, please.”

“Are you going to go stay with your mom tonight?” Angel asked.

“I wish. No, it would be hard to explain what I was doing there overnight. But I know that airport well and all the hotels nearby have airport shuttles. I’ll get one of the team to drive me up there this evening.”

“I’ll get it booked for you,” Angel said. “Jackson will be driving in tomorrow morning. It’s only about a three-hour drive for him. Call him when you land, and he’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“Great, thank you, Angel,” Roth said.

“You’re welcome. Safe travels, and good luck. Bye.”

“Bye.” Roth smiled as he disconnected the call. He tapped out a quick text to Briana, letting her know that he wouldn’t arrive in Portland until noon the next day.

BT rose from his seat at the conference room table after the video call was concluded. He appreciated that Shepherd had sought out his opinion on the case, on the Woods sibling’s business, and asked about Evie’s own experience when faced with needing to flee from a dangerous man, who the police couldn’t protect her from. BT knew before they spoke that Shepherd was already leaning towards approving the mission. He had a feeling, though, that Shepherd was looking to decide on a larger matter than just this one case. In typical Shepherd fashion, he kept whatever he was considering close to his vest.

Knowing that Briana Woods had promised to stop her activities of providing false identities to her clients, he wondered if Shepherd was going to turn her in to the CIA for accessing their database. He seriously doubted it. Briana and Cameron Woods were providing a needed service to these desperate women. His Evie was living proof of that. But what Briana Woods was doing could be dangerous. Had this Sheriff seen her watching him dispose of his wife’s body, she could have joined the murdered wife in the lake.

He returned to Ops but what Shepherd could be considering remained in his thoughts.

***

Briana was disappointed that Sebastian couldn’t arrive for over twenty-four hours. Not that she was going anywhere anytime soon. She watched the snow swirl outside of the window and a shiver went through her. She thought about Amanda Elsworth. Had she already been dead when her husband dropped her into the ice-cold lake? And if so, how and when had he killed her? Tears filled her eyes for the woman she had failed. If only Amanda had been willing to take the risk the day before at the diner.

She was so deep in thought that a knock at the door startled her.

“Lisa, I’ll have lunch ready in about ten minutes,” Norma Zander’s voice called through the door. “I have the fireplace lit. It’s nice and cozy in the kitchen if you want to come down.”

“Thank you, Norma,” she called back. “I’ll be down in just a minute.”

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