CHAPTER NINE: THE SECOND DISCONNECT

At eleven thirty, the diner lost power again.
This time Jake was standing beside the rear hallway and heard the scrape of a metal handle through the wall.
He ran toward the kitchen door.
Warren blocked his path.
“Stay out of my kitchen,” the manager snapped.
“Someone is at the disconnect.”
“You’re not employed here.”
Jake tried to move past him.
Warren grabbed his sleeve.
Cal arrived from the dining room and stepped between them.
“Let him through,” Cal said.
Warren released Jake.
They reached the back door as the outside handle rattled.
A man in a hooded jacket stood beside the electrical box.


He turned when the door opened.
Jake recognized Russell Dane.
Russell ran toward the parking lot.
Cal started after him, but Jake caught his arm.
“Don’t chase him into the road,” Jake said.
Russell reached the red pickup and drove away without headlights.
Mara called the sheriff again.
This time the dispatcher said a patrol vehicle was already heading toward the highway.
Cal checked the disconnect and restored the power.
Jake noticed that Russell had left a small canvas bag beside the trash enclosure.
He did not touch it.
The deputy arrived twelve minutes later and examined the bag.
It contained a flashlight,

gloves, and several folded papers.
One paper carried the school’s name and a list of pickup times.
The deputy placed the items in an evidence bag.
“Do you know this man?” he asked Jake.
Jake explained his earlier encounter with Russell.
The deputy wrote down the details.
Warren emerged from the kitchen and insisted that the group had created the problem by bringing children into the diner.
The deputy asked whether Warren had seen Russell before.
Warren said no.
Jake watched the manager’s eyes move toward the bag.
“Are you certain?” the deputy asked.
“I said no,” Warren replied.
The deputy did not argue.


He asked to see the security camera covering the rear parking lot.
Warren hesitated.
“It hasn’t worked for months,” he said.
Jake knew that was true.
He had reported the broken camera twice.

CHAPTER TEN: WHAT WARREN KNEW

The deputy left to look for Russell.
Parents began arriving as the rain weakened.
Elena checked every name before releasing a child.
By midnight, six children had gone home.
The remaining five slept on folded blankets in the storage room.
Jake found Warren alone at the register.
The manager was counting the same stack of bills for the third time.
“You know Russell,

” Jake said.
Warren kept his eyes on the money.
“I know a lot of customers.”
“He didn’t come for dinner.”
“That’s not my business.”
“He shut off the power twice.”
Warren set down the bills.
“You think I asked him to do that?”
“I think you recognized him.”
The manager looked toward the dark window.
“He rented the rear lot for a few nights last year,” Warren admitted.
“What for?”
“Parking vans.”
“What kind of vans?”
“The kind with wheels, Jake.”
Jake waited.
Warren rubbed his forehead.
“He paid cash and said he was transporting seasonal crews.”
“Did you see the passengers?”
“Once or twice.

”
“Were they free to get out?”
Warren’s face tightened.
“I didn’t ask.”
Jake thought of Russell’s old job offer and the phones passengers were not supposed to keep.
“You should tell the deputy,” he said.
“I didn’t break any law by renting parking spaces.”
“Then tell him.”
Warren looked at the apron on the counter.
“You always think doing the right thing is simple.”
Jake shook his head.
“I lost my job over a dinner.”
“You wanted to make me look cruel.”
“I wanted a hungry man to eat.”
The manager looked away.
For a moment, Jake thought Warren might apologize.


Instead, Warren picked up the apron and dropped it into a drawer.
“You can leave when the children are gone,” he said.
Jake returned to the hallway without answering.