FOOD TRUCK MYSTERIES: The Complete Series (14 Books)

by Chloe Kendrick

  Chapter 7

  Land had been busy too. He’d spent the past two weeks with Emily, trying to get her up to speed. Ideally, she would have worked in Dogs on the Roll with me since the food was similar, but Sabine was already there. Land had demurred at working with his sister. Carter had been in favor of working with Emily, but since he was the newest member of the team, I thought she would learn more good habits from Land.

  So far the reports from Land had been positive. Emily knew her way around a kitchen, and she took to the Basque recipes easily. Land was not used to working with anyone besides me, and the day-to-day interaction left him exhausted, since he was teaching and dealing with someone else in his personal space.

  Overall though, he seemed pleased with her progress. I was able to relax on that front, knowing that the truck would be properly handled.

  We had planned for the opening event for the food truck to be in the evening. That would give both of us a chance to finish with our regular shifts and clean up before having to host an event. We had split the bathroom, and I had to turn down Land’s offers to join him in the shower, tempting as they might be. It would not look good if we were late.

  We made it back to Elm Street to find the place already prepared. Aaron and Carter, along with Sabine, had arrived earlier and set up the tables and the decorations. I was pleased with their thoughtfulness, as well as with the end result. The tables had candles in jars and the ambiance was more café than food truck.

  Carter had left something in his car, and Aaron went off to fetch it. Before Land could stop me, I went with him. I hadn’t seen the silver Audi since the news broke about Brent Collier, and I wanted to see the car for myself.

  We walked into the garage, and Aaron opened the trunk. He started to get something out, and while he was bent over, I took a quick tour around the car. There was a broken headlight on the passenger side, and I worried for a moment as to how that had happened. Had they really killed a man by running him over? For what purpose? As far as I knew, they didn’t have the wherewithal to get involved in a business dealing. Collier would have been entirely disappointed with their estate.

  “Maeve, where did you get to?” Aaron said, and I walked back to him, but not before he noticed me eyeing the headlight. “Did you see what one of the kids did?” Aaron asked. “He hit the car with a hammer. He thought he was playing mechanic, and now we need a real one. And, of course, this isn’t covered by insurance.”

  “I thought that Carter said you’d hit a pole?” I asked, feeling the sinking idea that their stories didn’t jive.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, I told him that. He gets freaked out when the kids act up. I can’t imagine how he’d be if he knew the truth. I get it more. They lost their parents, and their whole lives have been uprooted. It’s hard to fault them for an occasional flare up of bad behavior.”

  I smiled, always surprised by how easy they made it look. Except for events like this, I rarely heard a complaint from them about taking on the responsibility of three kids. Carter rarely mentioned them, and since I didn’t see Aaron much, I didn’t hear his side of the story.

  We took the napkins and forks back to the food truck, but my stomach dropped, thinking that now I knew they owned a car similar to the murder weapon, and also that they had multiple stories about how it had happened. While I was convinced of the truth, I knew not everyone else would be sure about the facts. I would have to tell Land, but I was concerned that at some point, I would have to tell the police about this. Worse yet, I was concerned that the police would find out before I told them, and then think that I’d covered up for my employees.

  I put on a happy face though and started going through my checklist of things to do before the guests arrived. Being detail-oriented, I had created a spreadsheet of tasks and who was to complete them. The fact that everyone had jumped in and completed the first few tasks warmed my heart, but threw my schedule out of whack.

  I pulled it out, snatched up a pen, and started crossing off tasks and reassigning the remaining ones to the employees who had arrived. Land had the courtesy (and wisdom) not to laugh at my desire to have it all down on paper, but I saw the wisp of a smile linger around his lips. I would be the one with the last laugh when it turned out perfectly.

  I got back on track in a few minutes. Emily had taken the job at the grill of the new food truck. We’d stocked up on hamburgers, chicken patties, and black bean patties for the vegans. Land was debating turkey, salmon, or possibly bison for other alternative meats, but he hadn’t made up his mind yet. I was fine with that, because it would allow us to add to the menu later and keep things fresh and different over the long run.

  Land had worked up a number of condiments to go on the sliders. My personal favorite was the goat cheese and roasted red peppers on the veggie burger, but he had also come up with a chutney, a parmesan for the chicken, a pineapple jalapeño salsa, and an avocado, cilantro, and lime topping for the veggie burger. I knew most of them from our late-night tasting sessions, and all of them were delicious.

  The guests started showing up around 7:00 p.m. Sabine had apparently made Detective Danvers her plus-one, since I’d intentionally left him off the guest list. Technically she was supposed to be helping out, but I didn’t want to make a scene about her bringing someone. Danvers might assume that I was hiding vital evidence, and the object of my misdirection was in the parking lot with a broken headlight.

  I asked the rest of the food truck staff to each take an hour shift collecting money and serving orders. The flow of customers would be a bit different since many people would be sitting at tables, and we’d have to go to them; however, I wanted a different kind of party, and this seemed to fit the bill.

  I had finally decided to charge for the new menu items tonight. The items were priced at cost-only for this evening. It wasn’t the same as offering everything for free, but I had costs to defray, and the location meant that a few thousand people could have easily stopped by at the suggestion of free food. While I’d appreciate the interest and the business, it would mean that I’d lost tens of thousands of dollars.

  I did make an exception for the food critics who deigned to show. They were seated in a separate area of the event and were served free of charge. The local weekly had sent someone down, and I spent some time answering questions about why a slider food truck and why another food truck at all. I was pleasant and honest about the situation and the circumstances around my obtaining a fourth truck. The reporter tried to ask me about some of the murder cases I’d been involved in, but I tried to steer away from the more homicidal aspects of my career and focused on the food trucks.

  I was running back and forth greeting people when I saw Land. He pulled me into a tight hug, which more than one local photographer snapped. I didn’t much care since we were married at this point, but several of them left after snapping that shot.

  “Your ‘friends’ are here,” he said, and I could hear the air quotes. Land had been concerned that adding mystery to the menu would come back to harm us with the event. However, so far, everything had run on schedule.

  I looked over at the truck, and saw that Sabine was taking her turn as cashier. She smiled when she saw me. I gaped. She was wearing a backless dress whose front was covered up with a large apron. She was always the one who believed in marketing in any way possible. I didn’t recognize the dress, and I suspected she’d bought it especially for the event.

  I didn’t see Detective Danvers anywhere. I was nervous that he might be out wandering the parking lots and garages to see if any damaged silver Audis had arrived at the event.

  Neve Smith was the first of my former classmates to put in an appearance. She was still beautiful, with the long blonde hair. She wore a fashionable outfit that looked as much boardroom as restaurant opening. “Maeve Kinkaid, how are you?”

  I explained that my married name was Mendoza, and took the opportunity to show off my ring. I wasn’t sure why I felt a need to compete with her, but I had brought
my A game tonight. Nothing like indulging your personality flaws.

  “How wonderful for you,” she said with what I thought sounded like sarcasm. “And this is your business? Food trucks.”

  I explained to her that Let it Slide would be the fourth food truck for the business and that the other three were in the black.

  “I suppose you know that I was working for Dutton, Symmes,” she said. I specifically noticed her use of the past tense. I waited to hear more about the matter.

  Dutton, Symmes was the top business consulting firm in Capital City and the surrounding areas. The company’s client list read like the Fortune 100. The firm’s elite all lived in the same area of Capital City, one of the nicest neighborhoods in the state. I wondered again what had brought Neve’s downfall from grace.

  “Was?” I asked politely, as if I suspected that she’d received a better offer elsewhere. Unlike Neve, I played it coolly. I had customers here, and I wanted to leave them with good memories of this evening. “Did you get a better offer elsewhere?”

  She shook her head. “No, they let me go without cause, and I filed a lawsuit against them for discrimination.”

  My mind clicked. Her connection with Sizemore became obvious. Most companies in the area hired and fired who they pleased. “At will” employment meant that they could fire you for whatever reason they chose—within the bounds of anti-discrimination laws. If Sizemore had been involved in some manner, then I knew that Neve’s lawsuit either did not hold water, or she’d done something worthy of being fired. In either case, Sizemore would have had no scruples about making a case based on false testimony or improperly obtained evidence.

  “I hope that works out for you,” I said, trying my best to be sincere.

  “It already has,” she said with a smile. “I can’t discuss the results, but the settlement was large enough for me to look around for my next opportunity at my leisure. Do you know of anything available? Do you still keep your ear to the ground about possibilities? Last I heard, you weren’t able to find a job after graduation.”

  My mind shifted again. Perhaps she had managed to purchase a business from one of Sizemore and Collier’s shady deals. I knew that the pair did not run Emily’s business, so perhaps they had sold off the assets to Neve after the take-over was complete. I was also suspicious, because she was now looking at small businesses for herself, instead of getting back into consulting. The change certainly suggested that she’d done something wrong at her previous job.

  I ignored her comment while I assured her that I didn’t know of anything. “I’d be happy to talk to you about small business ownership sometime if you wanted,” I offered. This could make an opening for me to talk to her at length and fill out the suspicions I had about her business dealings.

  “That would be fantastic. I’ve had some people looking for particular opportunities, but nothing has come up yet.”

  She excused herself to try the sliders, and I let her leave. I would never stop people from buying my food.

  I looked around for the other classmates who had been invited to the event. Since I had no idea what Edward looked like, that meant I looked for Adam Alberts.

  Adam Alberts had been a college football player before he attended the master’s program at our business school. He impressed most of the girls back then as an athlete and scholar, but I wasn’t one of his fans. I could do just fine without sports at the college level. Since Land had not grown up here, he was oblivious to many sports, like football. He was partial to soccer and cricket.

  So I wandered around Government Square, hoping to catch a glimpse of Adam. He was another person I hadn’t seen since graduation, so I was eager to see what he’d done with his life.

  I turned around when I heard my name being called. The man’s dark hair was slicked back, showing just a touch of a receding hairline. He’d lost twenty or so pounds, making the oversized football player look younger and more muscular. He wore a pair of khaki pants and a polo shirt that was open at the neck. I stared for a second and realized that this had to be Adam.

  I went up and greeted him with a handshake that managed to flash my wedding ring. He had always been a lady’s man, and I didn’t want him to think for a second that I’d invited him here for anything more than a casual get-together. We exchanged pleasantries, and I asked, “Did you see Emily or Neve?”

  He shook his head. “I thought I saw Neve earlier. She looks just the same, but I haven’t seen Emily. Is she here in a limo?” he asked, with a hint of sarcasm in the tone.

  “No, she’s working at the food truck.” I hadn’t meant the comment to sound dismissive, especially as it was my business, only to highlight the differences between the expectations and the reality.

  “Really?” he asked with a touch of malice in his voice. “What happened to her?”

  I told him the entire story, making a special point to mention Sizemore and Collier, hoping for a reaction since there were records showing a relationship between Adam and Sizemore, the lawyer.

  “How about that?” he replied. “Just goes to show that you always need a good lawyer.”

  I was surprised that he’d mentioned nothing else about his relationship with that same lawyer. Did he think that I didn’t know anything about the situation? I wanted to ask him straight out, but if he was omitting the information about this matter, then I wasn’t likely to get a straight answer from him.

  “So, what have you been up to?” I asked, hoping that he’d slip up if the subject changed.

  “I went to work for my dad’s firm. It’s okay, but nothing special. I kind of wanted to branch out on my own, but he’s getting up there, and it will be mine one day.”

  I nodded, trying to figure out what use he would have for Sizemore. Perhaps he had done more than hope for a new business. Maybe he’d actually reached out to the shady former lawyer and looked at firms.

  We talked for a few more minutes and then Adam started to leave. “Have you seen Edward Keith here?” I asked, hoping to get a lead on the third person who had done business with the lawyer.

  “Who?” he asked. He seemed genuinely puzzled, with no wariness in his expression.

  “Just a guy that we all went to business school with,” I answered honestly. “It’s been a long time, and I’m not sure I’d know him.” That was more truthful than he’d been with me.

  “Never heard of him, but good luck finding him,” Adam said as he walked away. “It’s getting to be a big crowd,” he said, with a certain admiration in his voice.

  Carter approached me a few minutes later. “Who was that guy you were talking to?” he asked.

  “A guy I went to business school with,” I said, and then added all the information about why he’d been invited to the opening.

  Carter laughed. “I certainly didn’t think he was here for you.”

  I took a certain offense. I know that my Irish genes shone through, and some people might not find them ravishingly attractive, but I certainly didn’t think that I couldn’t even catch the eye of a man my age.

  Apparently, my ire showed. “Wrong team,” Carter clarified.

  “But he was with all the women I knew in college,” I stammered.

  “That may be, but now he’s definitely not interested,” Carter explained. “Aaron knows him from somewhere.”

  The last piece of information was not something I wanted to hear. Not only was Aaron’s car a damaged silver Audi, but now he knew one of Wayne Sizemore’s clients. He had means and, now, I had a lead on a possibly motive.

  “What’s wrong?” Carter asked. “You can’t be that upset that Adam is gay. You’ve done much better for yourself than that.” He gave me one of those knowing smiles, since he’d been around when Land and I started dating.

  “I’m just surprised, that’s all,” I lied. “You know someone a particular way, and then you find out that you were all wrong. It just takes a minute to get used to.”

  “Still the same guy,” Carter offered. “Are you thinking
of including him in the new truck?”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. He’s got his own business. Besides, four is more than enough at this juncture in the business. I don’t know how many I can juggle. Not all employees are as wonderful as you,” I said with a wide grin.

  “You got that right,” Carter said. “Sabine is waving her arms. I think it’s your turn to serve.”

  I checked my phone, and Carter was right. Land would be cooking, and I would be performing my normal food truck duties. I strode over to Let it Slide, just as Land came from the opposite direction. He opened the door for me, and I walked in, just as Sabine took off the apron. I’d already seen the low-cut back of the dress, but now I saw the revealing front of the dress as well. I wasn’t sure if she was dressing that way to keep Danvers, or to find a new beau to replace the detective. Either was a possibility with her these days.

  We did good business during the hour we worked. I kept my eyes open, looking for signs of the mysterious Edward, but since I wasn’t sure what he looked like, I was merely speculating on the identity of strangers. I did see Danvers. He was alone, walking around the perimeter of the area, looking more like a security guard than a detective.

  When we finished up, Aaron and Carter came up for the last shift. The party was in full swing, and I’d seen a few of the known restaurant critics in attendance. They were typically scornful of food trucks, thinking less of them than of sit-down restaurants. However, since I was opening my fourth truck, they thought that perhaps my business was here to stay for a while.

  I walked around, greeting people and introducing myself. I hoped to find Edward, but at the end of the hour, I still had not met him. A few times, I saw Danvers from my peripheral vision. I suspected that he might be following me, which disturbed me. What piece of information did he know or suspect?

  I wondered why Edward had not come. Did he have something to hide, or was he just not interested in keeping up with classmates? In either case, I’d have to come up with another way to talk to him. It was just a shame, since this had seemed like a casual and low-key way to talk.