Out of habit, Elle looked at the rooftops of the various buildings and didn’t immediately see anything. Walking slowly back to her home, Elle studied the trees for anything that stood out as an anomaly. Sensing that her guest was merely paranoid, Elle hurried baside her home and tossed the red garments in a er. “Good riddance.” She lightly shivered thinking about how she’d worn red. “Charles, It looks like the coast is clear.” Elle procimed as she entered ay living room and picked up a hastily scrawled note from Charles.

  “Agent Miller, I took the opportunity to leave when you went out of the back door. You have everything I discovered and doted. I trust that you will hahe findings with dignity and professionalism. Just get the skull if possible to corroborate what you already possess. -Professor Charles Sheppard.”

  Elle burhe note so as to not leave a trace for the professor. “Happy Trails and good luck.” She grabbed the cryptiote and unfolded it once more. Elle found one of her legal pads and wrote the alphabet starting with ‘K’ and stopped when she reached ‘A’ as the twenty-sixth letter.

  -Step one down.-

  she wrote the letters again, but this time in proper order. Lining up the two strips of paper, Elle quickly substituted the incorrect letters with the right ones until the letter she o read was before her.

  —

  Elliecat,

  A quick little o let you know that no matter what you may see in the ing days, know that I love you and not everything is as seen.

  If you find this little hat I've tucked into your least-used jacket. (Since I know you hate red, this might be here for years)

  Follow the little riddle within. Find our favorite botanical garden, you got it in your head? Where we got engaged.

  There's a building across that we've used often as well. Locker 1031 bination 28159

  I love you and have fun with this.

  -Angelie

  —

  Issues with the professor cleared up, Elle took the time to study the cryptiote that Angelie left behind.

  -Botanical gardens? The only ones I know are just on the border with the City of Norfolk. Angelie, my love, you liked the gardens far better than I did. I love the butterfly exhibit at the sce museum.-

  Using her phone, Elle typed in the generic search for botanical gardens for the area and only one came up. “Just like I figured.” She zoomed in oe and then started looking over the other buildings for the added hint that was also iter. Once Elle saw the yout of the roads, her memory showed her the exact pce that the couple used to attend.

  Called the Greek Orthodox Wellness ter, it was a semi-round building that was across the street from the church itself. Elle recalled that what had attracted the couple to the facility was the non-judgemental attitude of every person who worked there. Unlike many Christian anizations, this gregation had an open-door policy with regards to homosexuality. Elle recalled that the first day they stepped foot in the wellness ter, the couple had beeed with dignity and respect as though they were part of a small family.

  Years and pns for the future were made with the help of the myriad of folks that Angelie befriended, and ultimately they’d decided to get married at the botanical gardens and have the reception at the wellness ter so everyone could have a unique experieher than being dressed in ties and dresses.

  -That’s the gardens.-

  Elle chastised herself in fetting the pce where the two were to be wed, but with good reason. All of their best-id pns were interrupted permaly when Angelie went to work for the group, led by the mysterious entity ‘The Dar’.

  Slowly but surely the future that Angelie had pnned for both of them, slipped away and more time was being spent at that farmhouse. Elle tried to keep up the pretehat things were fairly normal and that Angelie was just busier than before thanks to her new security job. Eventually, Elle stopped showing up to the ter and the church just to avoid the questions.

  -You chose Dar over me, and I don’t know why. You old me the whole story. Now I have this cypher and mystery in our locker. Oddly with a new bination.-

  Finishing up her sed cup of coffee, Elle relutly got off the sofa and headed for her front door. Just as she reached for the knob, her doorbell chimed.

  -What the?-

  Taking a sed to look into the peephole once more, Elle saw Deputy Director Powell standing in the hallway. With a heavy sigh, Elle unlocked the door and stepped out of the way. “e on in, what I do for you boss? I left you a message with my leads.”

  Sarah breezed past her agent and to the living room, and poio the television. “Tell me you have nothing to do with this mess, Elle.”

  “You have to be a bit more specifibsp; You asked that I keep things to myself the best I so the evidence wouldn’t be tainted.” Elle poio the TV, “If you mean, did I have anything to do with the caravan being killed? No, I didn’t.” Taking a moment tle her nose and purse her lips, Elle amended her statement. “I didn’t have anything directly to do with that mess iersburg. I have, however, looked through most of the boxes aers that are now floating down the river.”

  “What about the missileman who worked in the clerk's offibsp; Didn’t you just have a dinner date with the guy?”

  “Yes? So what?” Elle inquired. “How did you know that Noah was missing? It’s not in the news and I just found out myself, through a source I o longer name.”

  Sarah plopped down on the sofa and began rubbiemples. “How many saw you with him?”

  “Only the entire restaurant.” She snapped her fingers and smiled, “They also watched me leave alone. How’s that?”

  “I don’t he sarcasm, Agent.” Sarah looked up from rubbiemples. “This is the sed shit show you have been involved in within a damned week, Elle. First you take on Casey Rivers alone, and that goes viral. Let it get out that you were in the viity of this trut and this bees a fug nightmare.”

  “Let me add a log to the fire.” She poi the crucifix and the little blown-up picture of the waitress. “She even waited on our table and I paid with a credit card.”

  Deputy Director Powell stood up and walked to Elle’s kit and poured herself a cup of coffee, taking the time to let the hazelnut calm her nerves. “Do you have cream or just use milk?”

  Half stomping to her refrigerator, Elle pulled out a small tainer of hazelnut cream to match the coffee. “Help yourself.” Elle sighed and leaned on her ter. “Are you pulling me from the case boss? I did find some iing things out. I was about to look deeper into that skull and the strange happenings around ial Heights, other than the cross-killer.”