FOOD TRUCK MYSTERIES: The Complete Series (14 Books)

by Chloe Kendrick

  “I want to find out who profited from the loss of Emily’s business. That person would have a motive for murder, especially if there were strings attached to the sale. I haven’t seen the contracts for taking control of the business. I’ve only seen them for stealing a business.”

  “How do you find that out?” he asked. Land was many things, but hunting down accounting and licenses were not his forte. That wasn’t to sell him short in any way. He had contacts and access to materials that I wouldn’t even know to ask for.

  “It’s routine business paperwork. Sizemore didn’t really seem to worry too much about paper trails. He was very open about the various cases he consulted on, even though he was not supposed to be practicing as a lawyer.” I thought of the names that my lawyer had given me. I held up a finger, so Land would know that I wasn’t done with the conversation, and ran to the spare bedroom, which also served as my office. The lawyer’s file of transactions with clients was on my desk. I snatched it up and went back to the kitchen.

  “These are the reports my lawyer gave me of business transactions by Sizemore. I only scanned the materials to see if any of the names were people at my school. Now I want to see if anyone purchased Mops and Pups, Emily’s former business.”

  Land nodded, and offered to help. I gave him a stack of pages to review, and I took the rest. Within a half hour, I was certain that the owner of the company was not listed in these papers.

  “Are you just looking for the name?” he asked.

  I told him yes, and he pulled up my laptop and sat down to type. I watched as he brought up the website for the company. He scrolled through the contact information, but we only had a first name of Tim. Land went to another site and pulled up the contact information on the owner of the website. That paid off. Tim Hefflin was the owner of the firm, and the site gave his address and phone number.

  “Whosisit is a site that gives the contact information for a domain name. All sites have to have the information. I was concerned that the new owner had kept Emily’s name on the site, but he was conscientious about keeping the records up to date.” Land wrote down all of the phone numbers and addresses and gave it to me.

  I wanted to think best about how to approach the situation. Did the new owner understand how he had come into owing the business? Nothing would get the business back to Emily, but if I could understand the process, perhaps I might find some more people who wanted Collier—and, by extension, Keith—dead.

  I called my lawyer’s office, even though it was far past quitting time. I left a message for him to see if he could learn anything about the transactions that had led to the sale of Mops and Pups to Tim Hefflin.

  By that time, it was getting late. Land and I snuggled up on the couch to catch up on some couple time and watch a good movie.

  ***

  The following morning, I was up and at it long before Sabine made it to the food truck. She rolled in a little after 6:00 a.m., which was about normal for her. She looked a bit tired, and I asked her about the previous evening.

  “Jax and I were up late,” she said simply, leaving out all the details that would have made the story somewhat interesting.

  “Doing? Arguing? Something different?” I gave her an eyebrow wiggle that I’d learned from Carter.

  “Talking about our relationship and where we see it going,” she said. She walked over, grabbed a big cup, and filled it with coffee. She drank it black and hot. Maybe I didn’t want to know what had been said.

  “And?” I asked, despite my best intentions.

  She turned and looked at me. “Do you really want to hear this? I know you don’t like him much. I mean, he’s threatened you with jail and locked up Land for a few days. So I get it. I’m never sure you really want to hear these stories.”

  I walked over, took her hand in mine, and looked into her eyes. “We’re family, and we might not always see eye-to-eye, but you look like you could use someone to talk to. I can be that person without too much sarcasm or personal vendettas.”

  “Okay, you asked for it.” She took a deep breath. “Jax asked me to marry him.”

  Danvers had already told Land about the engagement earlier. This wasn’t news to me. I looked down at her finger. “And the ring is being resized today?”

  “No, that’s just it. I said I had to think about it, and last night he was pushing me very hard to say yes. I told him that I wasn’t ready to give him an answer yet.” I could tell from her expression that this wasn’t the answer she had wanted to give.

  “What’s holding you back?” I asked, knowing that this was the crux of her unhappy mood this morning.

  “Jax is all about this promotion at work. He told me the other day that all the higher-ranking officers are married and most have children. He invites me to the dance so he can show me off. Then he proposes to me a few days later—and he keeps pushing for me to say yes. I have to wonder if he’s just asking me so that he can be officer material.” She looked like she might cry, so I handed her a napkin. She took another sip of that coffee, not even blinking at the heat.

  Much as I didn’t trust Jax, I knew I had to be honest about him in this situation. “Jax asked you to marry him once before, and that was before he was up for a promotion. While the timing definitely could have been better, and the timing of the proposal might be suspect, I know that he wouldn’t have asked you unless he loved you and wanted to spend the rest of his life with you.” Plus, Land would plot out a particularly heinous way to make him die if Danvers messed with his sister’s heart, a fact we all knew.

  She gave me a hug and pulled back enough to kiss my cheek. Sabine and Land’s grandmother could be very affectionate, which always shocked me a little, since Land was more the brush-of-a hand type than a full-blown hug man. Sabine usually behaved more like her brother, but today’s emotional state surprised me.

  “I needed to hear that. Thanks.”

  She got back to work with a fervor. The mangos for the salsa were done in the flash of a knife.

  I wondered how the news would sit with Land. He would definitely see the darker side of the proposal as well, but if Sabine was happy, he was unlikely to stand in her way. Their grandmother was a force of her own; she had been in favor of the wedding in the past, so I assumed that she would still be in favor of it now.

  I went back to counting cash and ensuring that all of the coffee urns were running at full tilt. It just seemed like a day that needed caffeine.

  I was right about the need for alertness. My lawyer was at the truck before 9:00 a.m. with a sheaf of papers under his arm. I took his order and gave him his coffee. He paid for it, which didn’t bode well for me. I knew that if he was not taking gratis coffee, I would be billed for this impromptu meeting. His rates far exceeded my price for coffee.

  “I got your message last night. My son is in pre-law and he did the work for me after I listened to the voicemail. So you got a discount on the regular rate. I read over the results, and he got the information right--that is, what is included. I’m hoping he didn’t miss something or leave some vital piece of information out of the search.” The half-hearted message from the lawyer made me question the value of the packet. He certainly was not talking up the quality of his offspring.

  I took the papers and tucked them in my backpack to review later. He took a sip of his coffee and headed away from the food truck. I watched him disappear into the morass of people in Government Square. I wondered what the papers would tell me, but I had hours to go before I could sit down with them.

  Danvers was the next to get in line for some coffee. With him, the coffee was always free, one of the perks of being one of Capital City’s finest. I had the cup ready and waiting for him when he stepped up to the counter. His countenance was dark, and I was expecting a lecture from him about meddling in the case.

  He took the cup of coffee and looked at me. “Actually, I came to see Sabine for a minute. Can you survive without her for a few minutes?”

  I nodded, but I al
so noticed that he took the coffee—even though he hadn’t come for something to drink. I didn’t say anything about the proposal or the fact that I knew all about the discussion about it. Some things were best left unsaid. While I was loved in the Mendoza family, I also knew not to stick my neck out getting involved in family affairs.

  They stepped away from the truck and started talking. I was too busy to properly listen in, but Sabine’s tone seemed more conciliatory than accusatory, which likely had something to do with our talk. She nodded a few times, and I wondered if that motion was her acceptance of the proposal. She came back to the truck and began working again. While she didn’t say anything, I did notice that she was humming now.

  I turned to look at her. “I don’t suppose Danvers had anything to say about the murder in the parking garage?” I asked, feeling I already knew the answer.

  She shook her head, while she continued to hum.

  Land showed up at 2:00 p.m. I decided to pay him a short visit since I had seen so little of him the day before. He’d gotten his hair cut, and the sides were shorn to almost a military shortness. I liked the look and slid into his arms so that I could appropriately show my approval.

  After an inappropriate interval, we broke our embrace. Land said, “So, what goes on over at the food truck?”

  I used the moment to tell him that Detective Danvers was pushing for an answer to his proposal, and that Sabine had—for the moment—declined his offer. He gave me a look. “Was that amorous moment just to put me in a good mood?”

  I smiled. “Did it work?”

  He gave me another long kiss. “I already knew about that since Danvers came to the truck two days ago to ask for Sabine’s hand. He was being formal, since I’m the oldest male of the family living in the US who speaks the English language. I also told him that this would not be a quick process with Sabine. She loves him, but she’s also wary after their last attempt at engagement. If he truly wants her hand, he’s going to have to work for it.”

  My eyes grew wide. “So you knew about this for two days and didn’t tell me?”

  Land rolled his eyes. “You remember what happened last time? I didn’t want to get too involved, in case it all came crashing down again.”

  I did remember. Sabine and Danvers had engaged in a long battle over the end of their relationship. It had been an awkward time, especially when I’d ask Sabine to be the maid of honor, and Land had asked Danvers to be the best man at our wedding.

  I had not expected a reconciliation at any time in this millennium. They had moved past angry, to toleration by the time of the wedding, but that was as far as I’d expected it to go.

  I just hoped that Sabine didn’t get hurt again.

  “So, anything else you want to tell me that I already know about?” Land asked with a wicked smile on his face.

  I told him about the lawyer and the buyers for the businesses. I still hadn’t had a chance to open the envelope, but I knew I’d get to it tonight.

  “Tomorrow’s the big day,” he said.

  With everything else going on, I’d almost forgotten, that Let it Slide’s official opening of would be the shift tomorrow. The truck would be working similar hours to Land’s truck, but at a different location. I would be working at Dogs on the Roll until the lunch crowd was gone, and then I’d hop over to the new location to work until that shift ended.

  It would be very long hours for me for a few weeks, but I didn’t trust people easily. It had taken me months to get to a point where I trusted Carter with the business operations of my food truck. Now he was an indispensable member of the team, but back then I had watched his every move.

  I was sure I would be the same way with Emily. While I’d known her slightly at school and she was an amazing chef, she’d shown poor judgment in signing those papers with Collier and Sizemore, and the thought of me putting her in charge of thousands in cash made me wince even now. I’d have to get to where I trusted her to do the right thing.

  After a long good-bye, I went back to Dogs on the Roll and finished up the rest of the end of shift duties. I drove the truck back to the secured lot, deposited the cash, and went home to enjoy my last evening of freedom for a while.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning broke bright and early. Land gave me a kiss, and I was off to my marathon day. While this was the third time that I had opened a truck (since my aunt had left me hers, Dogs on the Roll, in her will), I still enjoyed the excitement of something new. The day buzzed at Dogs on the Roll, and I walked over to the other truck after a quick stop at Land’s truck for a good-luck kiss.

  When I arrived at the new location, I didn’t see Let it Slide. I had a moment of panic, thinking that perhaps Emily had hijacked the truck or had an accident. However, it was just a matter of placement, and she’d parked a short distance from where I’d asked her to station the truck.

  After greeting her, I showed her where I wanted the truck to be, and we moved it before the shift started. There was no coffee to make here, since we were selling sliders in the afternoon. So there was no prep work for drinks. The offerings would be soft drinks, and it only took a second to see that they were all functioning properly. I took a cup and held it under the hose to make sure each drink was available and ready.

  While I wasn’t a fantastic cook like Land, I was functional when I needed to be, and I helped cut up the red peppers for one condiment. Emily had the sliders on the grill, preparing for a few with the opening of the truck. We saw a few people milling around the truck even before I opened the window for business.

  Indeed, when I did open the window, there were four people in line already. Two of them were customers from Dogs on the Roll, who wanted a second meal that day from our trucks—and to try something new.

  I didn’t expect the customers at Dogs on the Roll to come back to my food truck every day. That was one downfall to having a single-product menu. The customers would only come once a week or once every two to three weeks. So for that truck, I had to build up a sufficient enough customer base that the truck remained profitable. That involved Land’s coffee recipe, which he still had not shared with me, even though we’d been married for weeks now. We made a good portion of the daily revenues from coffee.

  So I didn’t mind the fact that customers also ate at Let it Slide. If they ate on the same schedule as they did with hot dogs, then we’d be fine, according to my business models.

  Emily didn’t say much as we opened the truck. I wasn’t certain if she was nervous or distracted. Certainly on some level she would have to be reminded that she’d lost her own business due to the shady contracts. How must it feel to be working for someone else again?

  Emily continued to cook and create condiments while I took the money and told her the orders. The truck was busy until after 6:30 p.m., which was our planned quitting time. After I counted the cash register receipts, I helped her clean up and prep for the next day.

  I had the receipts finished in record time, not because of low sales, but because the numbers just worked out. I hoped that things would continue this way. It certainly seemed like a good omen for the truck.

  “How do you think things went today?” Emily asked as we finished up. She was going to drive the truck back, and I’d wait with Land to make the deposits, then go to the lot with him.

  “Fine. I was a few hundred dollars over what I thought our first week would be like, and when you add in what we did with the opening, we’re far exceeding my plans.” I gave her a smile to show that I was being sincere.

  “That’s great. I was just wondering. I heard about that man who was killed the night of the opening, and I was worried that the news would dampen sales.”

  I laughed. “One thing I’ve found is that, if anything, murder boosts sales every time—not that I’m recommending that as a marketing strategy, but it’s nothing to be concerned about. At this rate, we’ll be in the black soon.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I was just worried about losing anot
her job.”

  The phrase gave me pause. I knew that she had lost her business, but I would never call my food truck “a job.” Had she worked for another company which had gone under? She hadn’t mentioned any other employment history when we had spoken. I decided to keep it to myself, since I knew that Land would call me paranoid for worrying.

  We closed up, and I waved at Emily as she drove off. I would have been happy, but now I had something new to worry about. I’d done a search of her employment history, but she hadn’t listed any other jobs, and nobody had listed her as an employee from the time that she’d lost her business to the current day. She certainly had not offered any recommendations from employers for me to call.

  I went home feeling slightly dejected. Land and I talked about it on the way. His opinion was, as always, that I had trust issues. I knew that was true, but it wasn’t as much as a trust issue as an aspect of Emily’s life that she perhaps had not been honest about. I had to wonder if she’d lied about anything else.

  “You always get worked up about these things. Do I need to remind you that you didn’t trust me at first?”

  I knew he was right. Back then, I had considered him a potential suspect for my aunt’s death.

  Still, I had thought that I was getting things together. Instead, I found that I had more questions than ever.

  I poured myself a large glass of iced tea when we got home. I actually cooked dinner that night, though, in all honesty, I merely brought home some of the sliders from our first day.

  We ate, talking about sales and profits for the day. I knew that Land was trying to keep the discussions off the trust issues, but I couldn’t get past the feeling that something else was wrong.

  After dinner, I went back to looking at the papers for the purchase and sale of various businesses that had gone through Sizemore’s hands. The one thing that I kept finding was that several of them had been purchased at insanely low prices by Edward Keith. That put him in the same universe as Collier, which, in my book, made it all the more likely that their deaths were connected.