Page 71 of Backwater Justice

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Maggie headed to the gas station to interview the original witness. She was planning on asking him to recall what had happened that day. He had already changed his story once. When she arrived at the gas station, the attendant approached her with a suspicious eye. “You again?” He was gruff.

“Sorry to bother you, but some new information was discovered yesterday. I was hoping you could run things down for me again.”

“What kind of new information?” He had a wary look on his face.

“Apparently, a couple found a girl in the woods, but when they took her to the hospital, she ran away.”

“So’s what’s that got do with me?” The man was not pleased to see her.

“I thought you could just go over what you saw one more time.”

“Look, I told you and the cops I never seen her get into a Spangler truck. It was a busy day, and I was in a hurry.”

“Did you see her at all?”

“Yeah, but like I said the last time you was here, I was in a hurry. She was there one minute and gone the next. She musta gotten into somebody else’s car or somethin’.”

Or somethin’ for sure,she thought to herself.The guy is too tense. Why wouldn’t he want to cooperate?“Again, I apologize.” She decided to switch to the latest news. “You probably heard that another young woman has gone missing?”

“Don’t know nothin’ about it.” He tapped the toe of his boot on the ground. “If you don’t mind, I got work to do.”

Maggie was relentless. That was a big part of why she was so good at her job. “The paper and media company I work for are doing a story about runaways.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that. We get a bunch of ’em around here.”

“That’s exactly why I’m writing the story.”

He began to turn to walk away and gave her a stink-eye stare. “Like I said, I wasn’t sure, ’cause I was busy. And if you don’t let me get back to my job, I ain’t gonna have one.”

Now he isn’t sure. I wonder how much they paid him to keep quiet. But more importantly, who?“Thanks for your time.” Maggie didn’t need to know any more. The guy was guilty of something.

She wanted to interview the people who’d found Vanessa in the woods, but they refused to “get involved.” Maggie had a feeling things were closing in on someone. Again, who? And how many people were involved in the cover-up?

Her next plan was to go to Eugene and interview the other employees at the inn, but that would be the following day.

* * *

Oliver was effusive. Bombastic. He loved to talk about all of his possessions and adventures. He may have thought he was impressing Annie, but she could not care less. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. It was as if he were trying to prove something. She knew that when people had everything handed to them, they had little or no sense of who they really were. When things were constantly superficial, how could anyone understand substance? “Tell me, Oliver. Why hasn’t some wonderful woman snatched you up yet?”

“I’m elusive.” He chuckled. “Seriously, I haven’t met ‘the one.’” Air quotes.

Annie tried not to roll her eyes. “Describe what ‘the one’ would be like for you?”

Oliver twirled his Negroni cocktail. “Intelligent. Witty.” He paused.

“And attractive,” Annie said plainly. “Why not? With all the treatments and injectables available, there is no reason why a woman shouldn’t be attractive.” She couldn’t believe she was saying this, but she wanted to gain Oliver’s confidence, and the only way was to speak the same superficial language as he.

Oliver looked down at the table. “You’re not wrong.” Then he looked up at her. “You’re a very attractive woman. Intelligent. Witty.”

“And old enough to be your mother.” Annie gave him a sly grin. She had no issues with men dating older women, but this would be a stretch, even for her. She had never cheated on Fergus, but she had been a wild woman at one time.

Oliver laughed out loud. “Would you be offended if I was actually hitting on you?”

“Not at all. But I do have a point.” She raised her glass of champagne. “Thank you, anyway.”

Now that Oliver was squirming in his seat, he decided to change the subject. “So what kind of car do you want to test-drive today?”