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Carter leaned back in his chair in the Blackwater Diner and waved to the server for more coffee. The Blackwater Diner could hardly be called more than a greasy spoon. Instead of the wonderful aromas of fresh-baked pies or the sauce on barbecue ribs he enjoyed at Aunt Betty’s Café, this place smelled like old cooking oil. The coffee was tolerable but even the atmosphere inside was lacking. He’d decided to take Jo’s advice and contact Kalo about a computer problem and pressed his phone against his ear. “Can you do something to my laptop remotely that an IT guy could fix it a few seconds?”
“Just how bad do you want it? A complete breakdown or just the inability to get into files?”Kalo sounded amused.
Carter growled deep in his throat. “Come on, man, you’re the expert. Think of something.”
“Okay, what about an app that you can’t close? Will that do?”
Carter looked across the table at Jo and grimaced. “Yeah, and be quick about it. I’m calling the guy now.”
“Sure, sure. There it’s done.”Kalo chuckled.“If he can’t fix it, I guess you’d better call back and ask me, but you’d better be nice.”He disconnected.
He called Joshua Sage and the IT expert picked up in a few seconds. Carter explained the situation. He mentioned being an FBI agent and needing to access his laptop. “It’s an emergency. I’m in the diner in town. Can you come by now?”
“Yeah, no worries. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”Sage disconnected.
“How are you going to bring the conversation around to our missing persons cases?” Jo peered at him over the rim of her coffee cup. “He’ll get suspicious if you just start right in with questioning him.”
Carter took a spoonful of the apple pie and pulled a face. “Dining at Aunt Betty’s Café has ruined my taste buds. Everything I eat in this place tastes like it’s made from cardboard.” He pushed the plate away and reached for his coffee. He looked over as the bell over the door rang. “This has to be him.” He indicated with his chin to a man carrying a small case and waved him over. “Joshua Sage?”
“Agent Carter?” Sage smiled. “This is the first time I’ve worked for the FBI. It will look good on my page.”
Carter pushed his laptop across the table. “Maybe not. Sit down. I can’t close the app on my screen, which means I can’t get into any of my files, and as I’m on a case at the moment, it’s important that I do.”
“Okay, let me see.” Sage hit a few keys and a box came up. He selected the app in the box and closed it. It took him all of six seconds. “Just a second. I’ll access the app again and make sure it doesn’t get stuck on the page. It’s very unusual for something like this to stop responding.” He hit a few more keys and then nodded. “Yeah, it’s all good now.”
Carter pulled out his wallet. “What do I owe you?”
“I don’t think I can charge you for six seconds’ work, Agent Carter. It wasn’t a callout. I was driving by.” Sage pushed the laptop back toward Carter and went to rise.
Carter held out his hand. “Do you have time for a cup of coffee and something to eat? My treat?”
“Sure.” Sage sat down and smiled at him. “What brings you to town?”
Unable to believe his luck, Carter bit back a smile and exchanged a knowing glance with Jo. “We’re hunting down people who live in Blackwater and move back and forth between here and Black Rock Falls.”
“I move between the two towns all the time.” Sage ordered a burger and fries from the server and then turned back to Carter. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Before you go on”—Jo stared at Carter, lifted one eyebrow and then tipped her head toward Zorro sitting beside the table in his FBI coat—“I think Zorro needs a walk. As you’re busy, I’ll take him across to the park.”
Hoping that Zorro would go without him, he looked at the dog and pointed at Jo as she got to her feet. “Go with Jo. Playtime.” He handed Jo the dog’s leash. “Call me if you need help.”
Zorro was looking at him and tipped his head from one side to the other as if trying to make out exactly what he was asking him to do. Going with somebody else was a new command. To Carter’s surprise, when Jo tugged on the leash, Zorro stood, shook himself and wiggled his backside in a happy dance. Carter watched with interest as Jo led him out the door. On the sidewalk, she paused beside an SUV with the signit-fix-r-us, pulled out her phone and took images of Joshua Sage’s ride and tires. He smiled to himself. Jo never ceased to amaze him. He turned back to Sage. “Yeah, maybe if I ask you a few questions, you could help me track down the people we’re looking for? They’re not criminals. They’ve been reported missing recently.”
As Sage ate his meal, Carter went through the list of missing persons and asked if Sage had worked for them. When Sage replied in the negative, he moved on to the areas where the missing persons had vanished. Sage hadn’t been anywhere near Paradise Falls or Broken Wolf Forest in the last few days, but he had noticed a beaten-up old truck on Stanton on Tuesday morning when he drove into Black Rock Falls. He mentioned being there late on Wednesday as well, when Billy Stevens went missing. “So, you would have driven past Pine when you were heading back to Blackwater on Wednesday afternoon?”
“Yeah, it was late, around six-thirty.” Sage stared into space for a few seconds and then snapped his fingers. Come to think of it, I do recall seeing a truck crawling down Pine as I went past. I saw a young guy with a backpack heading in the same direction and I figured the guy in the truck knew him and was slowing down to give him a ride.”
Pulling the notebook out of his pocket and searching for his pen, Carter leaned forward on the table and looked up at the man. “Can you describe the truck?”
“It was just a glimpse and I only saw the back. Dark in color, maybe blue, black or green. I didn’t see who was driving. They’d already turned the corner by the time I passed. The young guy was carrying a backpack and I assumed he might have been a student from the college. Although, now as I think it through, he didn’t seem to know the truck and wasn’t hurrying toward it as if he was expecting to get a ride.”
Interested, Carter smiled at him. “That’s very valuable information, thank you. Did you happen to see what happened next? Did anyone get out of the truck?”
“No, I was way past it in a few seconds.” Sage shook his head. “Like I said before, it was just a glimpse. Although, I do recall the truck was a pickup with a tall metal cover over the tray and it was the same color all over.” He drained his coffee cup and let out a contented sigh. “If you’re done with me, I really need to get back to work. Thanks for the meal.”
Carter smiled. “Thanks for fixing my laptop.” He pulled a card out of his inside pocket and handed it to him. “If anything else comes to mind, give me a call.”
“Yeah, I will.” Sage stood, picked up his tool case and walked out of the door just as Jo was heading back in.
