A THIEF OF ANY MAN (Food Truck Mysteries Book 6) (7 page)

Detective Danvers finally came up to the guard gate. “Sabine, you’re the only one here who can give us a quick identification. Would you come with me?”

She nodded. While I had seen more than a few corpses in my time, I was still squeamish about seeing another. Sabine, like her brother, showed no such emotion. She followed Danvers like he’d asked her to get a cup of coffee – stolen coffee, most likely.

After she left, Land looked at me. “She’s been working here about six months. After she graduated, she’d been living with my grandmother. She needed a change, she said. I helped get her the job here, and she’s the one who identified Emma for me as the person being strangled from the video feed.”

I nearly dropped my coffee mug. While Land and I talked often about work, feelings, and ideas, that was one of the longest admissions of family and history that I’d ever heard. I considered the discussion to be the result of my good effect on him. My mind spun around the fact that apparently more family members lived here, if Sabine had lived with their grandma.

Before I could respond, a man strode up to the gate. “What the hell is going on here?” he commanded.

I wasn’t afraid of his belligerence, but I was taken aback. It’s not fun to be approached by an angry man near midnight in a darkened parking lot, even a secured one. At closer look, he had dark hair, with the sides of his head shaved and the hair rather long on top. He was carrying a large cup of coffee and a book. I guessed quickly that this was Kristoff, the only one of the guards I had not met. I checked my phone to see that it was nearly 10pm, so he would be coming on duty.

Before I could respond, Sabine was back. She took a long slurp on her coffee. She was not as poised as when she’d left.

“A little bit of trouble, Kristoff. Emma Creech and another guy have been found dead on the lot. The police asked to talk to you when you got here,” Sabine said, looking down slightly at the man.

Kristoff didn’t speak, but walked on back to the corner of the lot. “Kristoff can be a jerk,” Sabine said in a voice that could probably be heard by the jerk. “He’s writing a novel and reminds us daily that he’s only working here until it gets published.”

I nodded. I was glad that I didn’t work with people like that. I knew that the food service industry was made up of people who were waiting to be actors, authors, or another dream. For me, the food truck was actually what I wanted to be doing, and I was glad of that.

“So what happened?” I asked Sabine. I didn’t look at Land, who was standing next to his sister.

“That’s her all right. And another thing, she’s likely to be the thief too. They were taking a wad of bills out of her pockets. Looked like a few hundred dollars by my count.” Sabine pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything else. Perhaps I had underestimated her reaction to the crimes; she was suddenly sullen and withdrawn.

“So robbery was not a motive,” I said. “That’s not helpful.”

Land replied, “Getting the police involved will make this an open investigation. So you’re off the case now. Also not helpful, since I know this won’t stop you.”

Before I could respond, Danvers was there. He looked enviously at the cup of coffee, but he didn’t mention it. “You got your wish, Maeve. Your food truck is officially a crime scene. It’s been sealed off for a few days until we can go through everything.”

I hadn’t realized that my discovery would have that impact. It had been days since the strangulation had occurred in the truck, and Carter and I had scoured the entire truck looking for signs of a struggle or clues to the dead woman’s identity. After that, we’d cleaned the truck per health inspection regulations. Yet the police were still going to take it for crime scene processing after all this time.

I looked at Land, but he shrugged, meaning that I had to just take the consequences. I wasn’t sure that Detective Danvers would like me to have that much time on my hands, but that would be his consequence for taking the food truck.

With Dogs on the Roll out of commission for a few days, I felt like a new person. I could actually stay up past 9pm if I wanted to – and I did. When Land and I got back to the car, I suggested that we take an outing. I didn’t know if he was thinking about a nice dinner or a club or even a movie, but I suggested another look at Emma Creech’s home.

When I’d stopped by before to look at her house, I’d not been sure that she was dead. I’d been concerned that she might catch me and have words for me. However, the facts were different now, and I wanted to see what the home looked like without the possibility for interruption. I didn’t think that we’d find anything, but I wanted to be sure.

Land consented, and in about twenty minutes, we were at the house. His sports car rolled to a stop, but he might as well have just driven by. A warm red glow was coming from the upstairs, which would have been cozy except that the home had no chimney. I dialed 911 and explained the situation to them. I wondered what the record was for reporting the most crimes in a single evening. I had to be coming close.

The firetrucks pulled up in ten minutes, but that time had been long enough for the fire to lick its way onto the roof and out of the upstairs windows. We could see the now bright red lights showing from the downstairs windows as well. The fire would consume the house and everything in it, which is presumably what the killer/arsonist had wanted.

We moved Land’s car from the scene just as Detective Danvers pulled up. He spotted the car. Let’s face it. Land’s car is hard to miss. Danvers flashed his lights for us, and Land rolled around the corner. We got out of the car and headed back to the scene.

“Another one? Really?” Danvers starts. “The operator called me directly, since the same number had reported a murder a couple of hours ago. Is this like a contest with you?” His face appeared red in the glow from the house, but I suspected it would have been red even in the sunlight.

I explained that I’d wanted to look around the house to see if I could spot anything that could be helpful in learning about the murder, when we’d seen the flames from inside.

“This would have been a location of interest in an open case. You shouldn’t have come here at all, and we all know that this was a pretense to break in.”

Land didn’t speak, but he watched the firetruck move into position and begin to spray down the house. The team had already moved the people out of the house next door, so I was assuming that the firemen were more concerned about the blaze spreading than saving something from this conflagration.

“There would have been nothing left if we hadn’t,” I pointed out. “This entire property would have been ashes before anyone else got here.”

Danvers didn’t have anything to say after that. He watched the fire as well, until I asked, “So what do you think is in there that the killer had to burn the place down for?”

Danvers looked at me, but didn’t speak for a moment. Finally, he said, “What worries me more is who knew so quickly that we’d found the body. The only ones who knew were you, Land, and the two lot attendants, Kristoff and Sabine. She’s still at work, and you two came here – and immediately called for assistance because the place was in flames. Do you know how that looks?”

I tried to follow his logic, but I couldn’t. “Are you really saying that you think we set the place on fire and then called you to tell you that it was burning? Come on.”

Danvers looked aggrieved, but he shrugged. “It’s a lame theory, but it’s all I have at the moment. You can’t really tell me that this fire is a coincidence. Whoever killed Emma Creech burned the place tonight because the body was found.”

His point made sense, but obviously I knew that we hadn’t done it. Unlike Big Tony’s body, the corpse of Emma Creech had only been in the lot for a couple of days. It could have been weeks before her body was as pungent as Big Tony’s corpse. So the discovery had thrown a monkey wrench into the killer’s plans.

My mind rushed back to wonder about Sabine again, but I couldn’t voice my fears to Land. What if she’d called someone on her way back to tell us about the identification, or even before that? She could easily have let someone know.

While I couldn’t ask him, I wondered if Land was thinking the same thing. Normally he looks at all aspects of a situation, even when the facts were unpleasant. I was fairly certain he’d done that here, but I didn’t want to ask him to face those likely conclusions. When a family member had been a suspect in a murder case, he had stood by me and helped me to find the evidence to clear him. I couldn’t do any less for Land now.

So if none of us had notified the killer – or worse yet, been the killer – then how could that person have known that time was of the essence in burning down the house? I wanted to question Sabine. Not because I suspected her, but because I wondered if she had told a friend about the multiple murders in the secured parking lot. That could be a lead to finding out who knew. Since I was off the next day, I made plans to contact her and find out.

In the meantime, though, I had to let Carter know that he’d be working with Land for the next few days. I didn’t want him to suffer for my nosiness and desire to get involved in murder. By his own admission, the added benefit of being involved in excitement kept him working for us, but I also knew that he needed the income to help pay for his mother’s overwhelming health bills.

We talked for just a second about the case and his modified hours for the interim. At least he could be excluded from suspicion about telling others about the discovery of Emma Creech’s body. He’d been genuinely surprised, and he wasn’t that good an actor. His shock was not something he could have faked.

Thinking again about who could have told about the murders, I realized that Danvers had a point. We were the most likely people to have spilled the beans to someone who wanted secrets kept.

After a few more minutes, Land drove me home. I asked him to spend the night, but he shook his head. He reminded me that he would still have to get up in the morning to prep the food truck. The full menu that Basque in the Sun offered required significantly more groundwork than making hot dogs. I was grateful for the easier menu and Carter’s help.

In exchange, I was able to get Sabine’s phone number from him without much trouble. We said good-night at the door, and I headed inside for the night.

True to my word, I texted Sabine when I awoke. It was after 9am, and I marveled at how different it was to wake late and have the time off. I yawned and made a pot of coffee. As I inhaled the familiar aroma of Land’s special blend, which I now knew came from his grandfather, I texted Sabine and invited her to lunch. I wasn’t sure what time she started work at the secured lot, but I knew it was after 3pm, which was when I was usually done for the day.

She responded quickly and suggested a restaurant in the South Street area of town, which had become somewhat trendy over the past few years. I’d participated in a few food truck events in the area, but those precluded me from actually sitting down and eating a pleasant meal in that locale.

I spent part of the morning reading articles on Big Tony Borelli. Today’s papers were full of histories of the mobster and a general timeline of events surrounding his disappearance. As Danvers had said, the press had picked up some rumors in the past few weeks about the mobster’s disappearance. As I continued to read stories about him, the information became more detailed as I approached the present time.

I had apparently been too involved in my own daily life to hear the news about his disappearance, but two months ago, he had been out to dinner with friends. After dinner, he’d last been seen heading to his car in the parking lot next door. Neither Borelli or his driver had been seen since. The police had unofficially tracked a few leads, but nothing had come to fruition until the discovery of the body last night.

I found a certain irony in the fact that Borelli had last been seen in one parking lot and found in another. I skimmed through the stories of Borelli’s life and exploits in the mob. I really didn’t have a reason to read about his past. I have to say that I was glad that I had not known him in life. He was too dangerous for my blood.

I found the restaurant without any problems. It was tucked away between two café-styled eateries with striped awnings and tiny tables out front. The place that Sabine had selected had no such finery; it had ultra-sleek modern booths that looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Sabine was already waiting when I arrived, and she waved me to the table where she was seated. She handed me the menu and took a sip from what I took to be iced tea.

“So I’m sure you want to ask me a million questions about Land? My big brother is not known for his personal sharing.” She smiled at me as if to give permission.

I was not sure what I was supposed to say. Frankly, the whole meeting the family thing was foreign to me. I had seriously dated two men in college, but then the families were hundreds of miles away. It was possible to date someone and break up with them prior to ever meeting a family member. I hadn’t studied the protocols of what to say to your boyfriend’s family, and I stammered around a bit before I finally decided to stick to a few safe topics at first.

I mentioned her business school education, thinking it would be safe territory.

“You’re so lucky,” she said. “I have the same degree, and I’m solving crossword puzzles on second shift at a parking lot.” A frown spread across her face. I remembered the days when I’d sat on my parents’ sofa, wishing for a job too. It had not been the best time in my life.

I explained how I’d come to have the truck, including the fact that my aunt had apparently promised the truck to Land before her death, but left a will with me as the beneficiary.

Sabine nodded a few times as I talked, and I wondered how much of this she already knew. Had Land complained to her about me taking the food truck, or had he talked about my aunt? Other than asserting his claim to the truck, he’d rarely spoken about my aunt to me.

When I was finished, Sabine said, “But yes, you inherited it. Still, look at what you’ve done. You’ve made a business of it, managed to get a second truck – and a business partner.” She let the words hang in the air, as if I was supposed to define my exact relationship with Land.

I chose to ignore the hint. I’d been very conscientious about mixing business with romance, and we’d waited until we were business partners – and not boss and employee – before we started dating. I had been pretty sure that I could date Land for the foreseeable future before I decided to mingle aspects of my life. However, I wasn’t going to tell her all of that. Land knew, and that was what mattered to me.

“Land’s great,” I managed with a smile. “He adds a lot to the truck.”

Sabine just raised an eyebrow and sipped her tea. It was subtler, but every bit as provocative as Carter’s eyebrow wagging. “Land said you don’t have any openings at your business right now? Somebody is helping you at the original truck?”

I was startled by her directness. Land was always so quiet and circumspect, but I guess I should know that families don’t share all attributes. My mother has no clue when my father and I delve deep into the world of finance and numbers. I wondered if others in Land’s family were as taciturn as he was.

“Uh, no. Carter’s been with us a while, and Land is fine working by himself for now. We’ve talked a little about a third truck, so there may be something in the future.” I hoped my words were carefully enough chosen – firm, but hopeful was the tone I’d been trying for.

I was saved by the delivery of our salads. I’d ordered a California Roll Salad, which turned out to be a sushi roll spread into its pieces. I dug in, since I didn’t have to work or cook for myself today. Sabine had ordered a paella couscous salad, but she only picked at it. I wondered if her real reasons for agreeing to meet me here had anything to do with food. I didn’t worry about it too much as I forked another bite.

She bit the end of her straw and looked at me. “That’s just what Land said. I have to give you credit. You’re not what I thought you’d be. Land might have actually picked someone good for him.”

While inside I beamed at the pronouncement, which I hoped she would share with her family, I kept a peaceful demeanor. “Thanks. I would imagine that Land has his pick of women, so that means a lot.” I presumed that her comment was meant to lead into a discussion of Land’s past romances, but I wasn’t about to ask any questions regarding that.

She laughed. “Perhaps he would until they get to know him. You’ve sat here almost through half a meal, and you haven’t asked me a single question about Land or his past or the family. Either you’re dead inside, or you really care about him.”

I blushed a little at the words, which probably answered her question. “He tells me what he wants me to know,” I replied.

“So ask me one question that you really want to know the answer to, and I won’t tell Land that you asked. Deal?” Her eyes sparkled as she talked.

I nodded. “Did you call anyone last night after they found Emma’s body – or did you tell anyone at all about the discovery?” I had been wanting to ask this question throughout the meal, and thought this the perfect time to ask. One question with no ramifications.

The waitress came and filled up our glasses, and then another brought out our entrees. I’d ordered a safe pasta dish of zucchini and bow tie pasta. Sabine had ordered a cod with asparagus. I knew that Land offered a number of fish recipes at Basque in the Sun, so I wasn’t surprised that Sabine’s choice would include seafood too.