Act Two

Part 5

Snow was falling again, like it had been every day for the past week. The house was so snowed in that someone had to shovel the driveway every hour, even though it served no purpose. The tires on the car were still slashed, they still couldn’t call anyone, and the blizzard was only getting worse. Trying to walk to the nearest town was a death wish. You could’ve seen your hand in front of your nose out in the storm, let alone navigate miles to the nearest town. Elliot stared out the window, her gaze unfocused, letting her mind wander. She was thinking. About someone, specifically.

The weight shifted on the sofa as someone sat down next to her. Elliot glanced up.

“Yes?” Her tone was guarded, suspicious even. She leaned away from Benjamin, just slightly, but enough to put out a message. Get away from me.

Benjamin didn’t look at her. He was fiddling with his hands, as if he were nervous about something. “I have something to show you.”

Elliot’s eyes widened. She had been expecting anything but that. What did Benjamin have to show her? And better yet, could it have something to do with the investigation? But Elliot knew better than to trust someone blindly.

She narrowed her eyes. It was only a few days ago that Benjamin had shot at Elliot and Sadie out in the forest behind the house. And then they got back, and Lizzie’s body had disappeared. Elliot supposed the two could be connected, but when would Benjamin have had the time to move the body? Perhaps he was working in tandem with somebody.

Elliot wasn’t sure if Benjamin knew that she and Sadie had seen the gun, but if he did, this could be a trap to get rid of her. Then no one would know he even had a gun in the first place—except for Sadie. Was the person he was working with trying to get rid of her right now?

Sadie. Elliot was still bitter over their skirmish. Her heart clenched. Who was Sadie to tell her to stop the investigation? It wasn’t her aunt who was killed, was it? Suddenly, Elliot felt a burst of determination. She would find out who the killer was, even without Sadie.

“What is it?”