last thing I needed was to get pulled over for talking while driving. I picked up the phone and said a quick “hold on one second” before I pulled over.
Once safely on the side of the road , I took a deep breath and lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hello ?”
“Charlotte?” The woman’s voice on the phone was tentative and questioning.
“Yes, this is Charlotte.”
“Hi, this is Linda , we spoke earlier today. I remembered something, I don’t know if it will help, but you said to call if I remembered anything else so …” I honestly had forgotten I had given her my number.
“Yes , Linda, thank you, any way you can help is appreciated. Let me just grab my notebook.” I scrambled with one hand while holding the phone up with the other. “Okay, go ahead.”
“That day that I saw the guy … he was wearing a ball cap, remember?”
“Yes , you mentioned that.”
“Well I remembered that the hat was dark, like a navy color with light lettering on the front. You had me thinking about that day so I Googled dark hats and white lettering.”
“Yes ?”
“ Well I am not sure, but I think he was wearing a Navy hat. The pictures that I saw they looked the most, I don’t know, right. Does that help?” Navy, could that mean he was in the Navy?
“ Yes, yes, Linda, thank you.”
We said our goodbyes and I again encouraged her to call me if she thought of anything. I wasn’t sure what a Navy cap meant. But as with all of the information I had gathered so far, I noted it down. I figured later this evening when I was ensconced in a motel I would try to get it all down, put it all together. I had just started to pull out when my phone rang again. For someone who had only spoken with a handful of people in the last couple of days, I sure was popular.
This time the call was from Jack. We were about twenty minutes from each other. After a short conversation we made plans to meet up in about a half an hour at a diner.
Chapter 16 : April 7, 5:30pm – April 8, 4:43 am
We met at the Freeway Diner. It was about 5:30, we met , walked in together, and got a table all without saying a word. I had my notebook with me. I hoped that the random pieces of information I had gathered would make some sense. Despite wanting to talk about the case, neither of us said a word until after we had ordered. It was surprisingly comfortable.
When we did start talking , we didn’t talk about the case. Maybe we both just needed some normal human interaction.
“That’s quite a dog you have out there.”
“Max , yeah he’s my baby.” I paused to take a bite. “Plus, he has definitely helped me out through all this. He warned me when you guys came to the motel.”
“I would think he would deter anyone from going after you.”
“That is my hope, my plan.” I laughed; feeling surprisingly lighthearted considering the reason Jack and I were sitting together at this table.
For our entire dinner we mostly stayed away from the reason we were here. We talked about anything other than the case. My fur kids, favorite movies, favorite vacation spots. When we walked out of the diner, I knew we were hiding together now. We were working together. We were in this together. In the parking lot the lighthearted mood we had during dinner vanished.
“There is a better chance of my car being tracked than yours. I think we should just leave my car here.”
“Okay.” Honestly, what else was there to say?
Jack pulled a duffle from his car and locked the door behind him.
“Part of being an FBI agent means always being ready to travel. It helps in this circumstance.” He had a slightly sheepish look on his face as he explained why he had a bag ready to go. I responded with a nod. Before getting into the car, I opened the back door and introduced him to Max. I didn’t want Max to feel threatened and attack him. With a hand on Jack’s arm I reached out to Max and called him forward.
“Friend, Max , friend.”
Max thoroughly sniffed Jack’s
Once safely on the side of the road , I took a deep breath and lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hello ?”
“Charlotte?” The woman’s voice on the phone was tentative and questioning.
“Yes, this is Charlotte.”
“Hi, this is Linda , we spoke earlier today. I remembered something, I don’t know if it will help, but you said to call if I remembered anything else so …” I honestly had forgotten I had given her my number.
“Yes , Linda, thank you, any way you can help is appreciated. Let me just grab my notebook.” I scrambled with one hand while holding the phone up with the other. “Okay, go ahead.”
“That day that I saw the guy … he was wearing a ball cap, remember?”
“Yes , you mentioned that.”
“Well I remembered that the hat was dark, like a navy color with light lettering on the front. You had me thinking about that day so I Googled dark hats and white lettering.”
“Yes ?”
“ Well I am not sure, but I think he was wearing a Navy hat. The pictures that I saw they looked the most, I don’t know, right. Does that help?” Navy, could that mean he was in the Navy?
“ Yes, yes, Linda, thank you.”
We said our goodbyes and I again encouraged her to call me if she thought of anything. I wasn’t sure what a Navy cap meant. But as with all of the information I had gathered so far, I noted it down. I figured later this evening when I was ensconced in a motel I would try to get it all down, put it all together. I had just started to pull out when my phone rang again. For someone who had only spoken with a handful of people in the last couple of days, I sure was popular.
This time the call was from Jack. We were about twenty minutes from each other. After a short conversation we made plans to meet up in about a half an hour at a diner.
Chapter 16 : April 7, 5:30pm – April 8, 4:43 am
We met at the Freeway Diner. It was about 5:30, we met , walked in together, and got a table all without saying a word. I had my notebook with me. I hoped that the random pieces of information I had gathered would make some sense. Despite wanting to talk about the case, neither of us said a word until after we had ordered. It was surprisingly comfortable.
When we did start talking , we didn’t talk about the case. Maybe we both just needed some normal human interaction.
“That’s quite a dog you have out there.”
“Max , yeah he’s my baby.” I paused to take a bite. “Plus, he has definitely helped me out through all this. He warned me when you guys came to the motel.”
“I would think he would deter anyone from going after you.”
“That is my hope, my plan.” I laughed; feeling surprisingly lighthearted considering the reason Jack and I were sitting together at this table.
For our entire dinner we mostly stayed away from the reason we were here. We talked about anything other than the case. My fur kids, favorite movies, favorite vacation spots. When we walked out of the diner, I knew we were hiding together now. We were working together. We were in this together. In the parking lot the lighthearted mood we had during dinner vanished.
“There is a better chance of my car being tracked than yours. I think we should just leave my car here.”
“Okay.” Honestly, what else was there to say?
Jack pulled a duffle from his car and locked the door behind him.
“Part of being an FBI agent means always being ready to travel. It helps in this circumstance.” He had a slightly sheepish look on his face as he explained why he had a bag ready to go. I responded with a nod. Before getting into the car, I opened the back door and introduced him to Max. I didn’t want Max to feel threatened and attack him. With a hand on Jack’s arm I reached out to Max and called him forward.
“Friend, Max , friend.”
Max thoroughly sniffed Jack’s
Similar Books
