She kept her eyes on me. The effect was almost hypnotic. “Maeve, first promise me that you won’t have anything to do with him. Then I’ll tell you what I know.”
Since Brent was in the morgue at the moment, I was on safe ground telling her that I wouldn’t have anything else to do with him. So I promised most solemnly.
She drew a sigh of visible relief. “Thank you. No telling what you’ve saved yourself from. He’s a monster.”
“Wow, you can’t leave me like this,” I told her. I broke the death stare to look over at Sabine, who was doing fine by herself. “What happened between the two of you that made you have this reaction?”
She looked around again. “You can’t tell anyone that I told you this. It’s embarrassing, and I’ll explain why in more detail later.”
“No problem. I don’t talk to that many people from college,” I said truthfully. I hadn’t much socialized with anyone from the business school since graduation. A few of them had attended my wedding, but very few. My hours and my new life made it difficult to find time to socialize with people who worked nine to five jobs.
“I had started a hole-in-the-wall business. It was nothing much, just a start-up cleaning and pet-sitting business. But it was my own. Mops and Pups, I called it. I’d been growing the business for about two years when Brent came by to see me.”
I was amazed to learn that Emily hadn’t been scooped up by a Fortune 500 company either after graduation. Of all the women in my class, I would have expected her to get offers. She was beautiful and smart; what was there not to like? She would have been running a department in no time. She’d studied longer and harder than any woman in our program. Yet she’d ended up working for a small company of her own making, just like me.
“He wanted to buy your business? Had paperwork drawn up?” I asked, sensing the pattern here.
“Exactly. Is that what he did to you too?” she asked. I could see the look of fright in her eyes, and wondered what Brent had done to her to evoke the reaction.
“Yeah. I haven’t done anything with the papers yet,” I said, feeling virtuous for my lack of outright lies.
“Don’t do it. I read through everything. The papers were just supposed to allow Brent to do the due diligence to see if he wanted my business. Instead, the fine print gave him majority ownership in the company. He stole all the business assets out of escrow and, in essence, took over the business.”
My eyes went wide. I was shocked at Brent’s brazenness and Emily’s lack of concern over those contracts. Why hadn’t she taken the contracts to a business lawyer? It seemed at odds with the student I’d known.
“What happened then?” I asked. Her last words had trailed off, and I wanted to keep up the momentum to find out all I could about Brent. It seemed like he had a pattern of behavior here, and I wanted to learn how it worked past the offer stage.
“He sold the business to another person and made a nice profit on it. Then he just moved on to the next sucker.” She looked like she might cry for a moment. “That was my entire life savings invested in that business, and he stole it all. And no one really wants to hire a person who lost their own business. It looks like I closed up shop, when in fact I was robbed.”
“So why didn’t you sue?” I asked, wondering if there was any recourse for his behavior.
“On what grounds? I signed the papers willingly. I was just duped.” A single tear rolled down her cheek. I wasn’t used to dealing with other people’s emotions. Sabine rarely cried, and Land held his emotions tightly in check most of the time. I was the most emotional one of the group, and that wasn’t saying much. I was more of a fighter.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said, trying to think of something suitable to offer her for the bum deal. Then I had an idea. “Are you working now?” I asked.
She shook her head without speaking.
“We’re looking for someone to run the new food truck. It’s hard work, but it pays well, and you’d have benefits.” Carter and Land both ran a truck by themselves, while I had Sabine to help me. Both men had experience in cooking, so they were more able to design the menus and whip up the cuisine. I wondered for a moment if my careless words would cost me later.
Emily smiled for a second. “I took cooking classes back when I had a business. I thought about expanding into preparing meals for people who were too busy to cook.”
The set-up seemed perfect. I would have to run the idea past Land, but I’d found a trustworthy person with cooking experience for the new truck.
A few people had begun to gather at the food truck, so I had to make my offer fast. I explained to her that, though I was in favor of the hire, Land would have to approve as well, given that he owned a part of the business. She nodded, but didn’t seem daunted by the interview process. I told her that I’d see him later in the day and that we would be in touch shortly.
She left with a bounce in her step, and I scuttled back into the food truck to help out.
The immediate issue was that I had to talk to Land about the situation. We hadn’t even decided on a cuisine yet, and suddenly I was hiring new employees for the yet-to-be named business. I hoped that he would be in an understanding mood, but I couldn’t be sure.
Sabine seemed interested in my discussion with Emily, but the lunch crowd was not giving us time to chat, so I got to work. Today was bright and sunny, and the crowds were out in full force today. I pushed the thoughts of the new food truck out of my head for the time being. The thought of a new start-up at the same time when we might be getting pregnant scared me. I recognized that I could bite off more than I could chew, and this seemed to be one of those times.
If I had an employee for the truck, then I had no excuses not to push ahead, even with the possibility of a baby. Next up would be deciding on a cuisine and a name for the truck—not the baby.
Time ran by, and I caught sight of Land’s truck arriving from the corner of my eye. I nodded to Sabine, who smiled at me with a big grin. I wasn’t sure what that was about, so I just downplayed her expression and left.
Land was already preparing the entrees when I arrived. Normally, he stopped to greet me when I showed up, but today he was cutting off fish heads as if they’d kidnapped his children and used his mother for bait.
“What’s up?” I asked, not wanting to get too close to the knife. At the rate he was chopping, finger sandwiches could be in order.
“Sabine and Danvers,” he said without looking up.
I waited for a minute to hear if there was any more explanation coming from him, but it did not appear. Since we’d met, Land had opened up to me more and more. Yet at times, he was still the same taciturn man I’d met the first day at the food truck, especially if the topic involved himself or the ones he loved. He was angry about something, but I knew it wasn’t something I’d done.
“Did they rob a 7-11 after the dance?” I asked, trying to add some humor to ease his mood.
He shot me another look, but there was just a hint of a smile around the left corner of his mouth, which I’d discovered meant that I had won the battle. “I would have been in better spirits if that was all that had happened,” he replied finally. “I could have bailed her ass out of jail and left him to rot.”
“So I take it that it didn’t go well last night?” I said. “Sabine seems in a perfectly good mood, so I’m assuming that Danvers was on the receiving end of whatever happened.”
“You might say that. They’re back together.”
Whatever I had expected him to say in his reply, this fell down the list under robbing a convenience store. I’d heard complaints from both sides of the relationship for months about the faults of the other. Now they were dating again. My mind had some trouble getting around that thought.
“Wow,” was all I could muster on the subject. Sometimes I was just eloquent.
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know which one of them I am madder at.” The knife redoubled its speed, and I worried about him serving two fingers of Basque chef to the
customers.
“How did you find this out?” I asked, trying to change the tone but not the subject.
“I called Danvers to see if my sister behaved last night. Since he wasn’t dating anyone, he had asked me if I thought that Sabine would go with him—just so he wouldn’t be the only one there without a date. She agreed, but then you saw that scene yesterday where she dumped him publically to even the score.”
I thought about the argument yesterday. I hadn’t heard what it was all about, but it had been Sabine getting her revenge. What had happened between revenge and reconciliation?
“And he told you this morning that they’d decided to date again?” I was trying to think of when he had done the calling. I had to assume that it was after I went to work this morning.
“No, they’re not dating. They’re getting engaged.” Land looked up, and his face was red and puffy. I had never seen him this upset before. Normally he was the calm voice, and I was the person who was about to explode.
“Wow. Engaged.” Again, I tried to wrap my mind around things. They’d been on the verge of an engagement before they split up, but that had been months of anger and recrimination ago. Now they were picking up like nothing had happened. The situation seemed too volatile to be considered a good match.
“Yeah,” he said. He took a deep breath and tried to regain some calm. I’d seen him do this on the few occasions where he’d been upset. At some point, he’d taken some yoga classes and had learned about deep breathing to help control his emotions. If that didn’t work, he was known to take a gun out to a shooting range, which also seemed to calm him. I was guessing that there would be some well-placed bullets in a target soon.
Land’s parents had reluctantly let Sabine move to America and live in Capital City with her brother and grandmother. He’d been specifically tasked with trying to keep her out of trouble, and now—in his mind, at least—he’d failed. I knew that this responsibility was eating at him today.
“Want to hear something entirely different?” I asked, trying to take his mind off the matter. “Are you up to business discussions?”
“That would be a pleasant change,” Land said. He set the knife down, for which I was very grateful, and looked at me.
“I think I found someone to work at the food truck.” I held my hands out as if I’d announced a prize winning lottery.
“The one with no cuisine and no name?” he asked. I knew he’d want to move ahead quickly now.
“Yeah, we’ll work on that soon. I talked to Emily Ambler, the woman who texted me last night, and she has food experience and once owned her own business.” I explained about our discussion and her story about the cleaning business she’d lost.
“Sounds okay, unless she’s the one who offed Collier. Then I’d suggest that we pass.” Land gave me a smile, which showed me that he’d calmed down some.
“Yeah, she doesn’t seem like the type to run someone over with a car. She was pretty broken up about it though.” I told him more about the paperwork and the transfer of ownership of the firm tucked away in the forms.
“Before you go see that lawyer, maybe you’d better see if those forms that Collier gave you have any bombshells in them.”
I agreed and, with a long kiss, I went back to my food truck.
I started counting the cash as soon as I returned. Sabine was waiting for me to say something to her about the announcement that she and Danvers were getting engaged, but I said nothing. Land had warned me about him, but it wasn’t until I saw his ability to put himself before everyone and anyone else that I realize the truth of Land’s many cautions. Sabine was even more strong-willed than I was, so I doubted very much that my words would sway her. This would be her lesson to learn.
“So, are we going to drop by the lawyer’s office today?” she asked, trying to get me to speak—even if it wasn’t going to be about her new relationship status.
“No, Land suggested that we go through a reputable lawyer first, to find any nasty clauses in the contracts we were given, and then go visit the lawyer that was likely in cahoots with Collier.”
She nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. Did that lady have anything of importance to say?”
“Just that she was taken by Collier for pretty much everything she had, so we should be happy that nothing came of a deal with him.”
“You weren’t going to sell, were you?” Sabine asked quickly. Selling the firm would have put Carter’s and her employment at risk, something that had weighed in my decision.
“I had no intention of selling at all. I like what I do. Besides, I think I might have found an employee to work at the new food truck,” I said, feeling triumphant.
“That’s great. It must be very difficult to cook and serve nothing.” She sounded just like her brother at times. I tried to ignore her, but she persisted. “You really need to get moving on this project. Think of the lost opportunity costs from just having that truck sitting there.”
I wasn’t sure where she had gotten that business school jargon, but she correctly used the phrase. I was paying for the truck to just sit there, unlike the rest of my fleet. However, I had received the truck as compensation for helping with another murder case, and now the truck felt like blood money—profiting from helping prevent others from cheating the law. I was going to have to get those ideas out of my head. It wouldn’t be easy, since I’d had a few months to let them take root.
“Fine. Come over tonight, and we’ll brainstorm a few ideas for the truck, and then we’ll talk to Land when he gets home.”
Sabine blushed. “I can’t tonight, but I could tomorrow. Jax and I have plans this evening.”
I nodded, but didn’t speak of her newly repaired relationship. Finally, I said, “Tomorrow will be fine.” I assumed that she knew Land would have told me all about the situation, so that I knew what was going on. Part of me wanted to interfere, but I tried to keep my mouth shut—no easy task for me.
After I finished counting the money and prepping for tomorrow, I drove the truck back to the secured lot and headed off to my lawyer’s office by myself. While Land wanted someone to go to visit the man who had worked with Brent Collier, no escort was needed for me to drop the contracts off at my dad’s lawyer, Ryan Smith.
Ryan Smith’s office was in the suburbs, which should give any clients an idea of how staid his business was. Waxman, one of the suburbs out beyond the freeway that circled Capital City, boasted a strong business district, and his office was in one of the three and four story office buildings that strung along the highway. I got off at the exit and waded through six lights to get to his building.
I’d called from the food truck, so he knew that I would be there soon. He stood, greeted me by name, and showed me to a seat. “So, what brings you out here?” he asked, though he already knew the outline of the story.
I explained in more detail how a former college friend had offered me a bid for my business. I had opted not to pursue it, but I had a bad feeling that his contracts were time bombs, and wanted to verify that assumption. He extended his hands and I passed over the folder of documents.
“I’m assuming this isn’t a rush job, since you’re not taking the offer?” he said with a smile as he stacked the folder on top of an impressively full inbox.
“Not immediately, but within a few days?” I asked. I didn’t want him to think that I had secret deals going on, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to wait too long to learn more.
He nodded, as if he’d heard similar comments from every other client he had. I didn’t waste his time now. I wanted him to find the time to read my contracts. He wished me a quick congratulation on my marriage, and after a warning to update my wills and business documents to reflect my new marital status, I headed home.
I must have fallen asleep because the phone woke me. I rolled over on the sofa and found my phone on the coffee table, answering in a groggy voice.
The number that had texted me a warning last night was calling. “I am telling yo
u to stay away from this matter,” the voice said. Then silence came, or rather, no speaking. I could hear sounds in the background, which sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place the noise. I looked at the display, but the caller had hung up.
Given what Land had told me, it was pointless to call the number back, so I wondered who would be calling and warning me for a second time about a dead man. Did they have any specific knowledge that I hadn’t given up my investigation, or was this just the caller reiterating the message so I would get the point?
I nearly shot out of my seat when I heard a noise at the door. I sprinted to the door and checked through the peephole, but it was just Land. I threw the door open and gave him a hug.
“I didn’t bring dinner,” he said, apparently looking for a reason for my welcome.
“That’s okay. I’m just glad to see you.” My stomach rumbled, and I knew I’d have to heat something up for myself in a bit.
“Did you and Sabine have fun tonight?” he asked me, looking around the apartment.
I shook my head. “No, she had plans with Danvers tonight. We’re getting together tomorrow.”
His face darkened. “Are you sure about that?”
“Definitely. She wasn’t here. I took a nap and just woke up. She told me that she’d come over tomorrow and help decide on a cuisine for the new food truck. Did Danvers tell you the same thing?”
“Yeah, he mentioned it when I called about the autopsy on Collier. He was working alone tonight on the case. No Sabine. She was supposed to be with you.”
“What did they say about Collier?” I asked, wanting to hear more—and to change the subject.
Land came in and sat down on one arm of the sofa. “I don’t like this at all. Something is going on, and I don’t want Sabine to get hurt again,” he said, ignoring my inquiry.
“If she dumped Danvers before a dance and is now lying, rather than seeing him, I am not sure that she’s the one who will get hurt here.” I couldn’t guess where Sabine was this evening, but since she’d told me she was with Danvers, and Danvers believed that she was with me, something was going on that she didn’t want either of us to know about.
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