The Trouble with Truth by Kathy Krevat

Author:Kathy Krevat
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-03-28T20:45:42+00:00

Chapter 13

Joss insisted on driving me to the kitchen. We could smell the smoke from blocks away. He parked on the street as close as he could and we rushed around the fire trucks blocking the driveway to the back, dodging firefighters rolling up hoses.

“That’s my truck.” My voice was full of unshed tears and the police officer let me through the barrier.

Quincy was by the truck talking to a man in a rumpled suit with a clipboard as large floodlights cast strange shadows on the wet ground. “Colbie.” Quincy grabbed me for a hug. “No one was hurt. It’s just cat food. It’s going to be okay.”

I nodded into his chest, too choked up to talk.

Joss and Quincy introduced themselves, then Joss moved away to inspect the area surrounding the truck. I looked at the charred mess and Quincy joined me.

The arson investigator with the clipboard was very interested to know where I’d been and why someone had torched a truck half full of only my products. I was about to tell him my best guess—the whole Dennis Franklin murder thing—when Norma showed up.

She looked hopping mad. She didn’t even greet me. Just flashed her badge to the investigator and took him aside for a conversation we couldn’t hear.

Quincy and I stood nearby while I assumed they discussed what I’d been up to in my little side project. “What’s her problem?” he asked.

“It’s complicated,” I said.

He pursed his lips. “Are you digging into that Franklin murder for Mira?”

I nodded. “A little.” Then I shrugged. “Maybe more than a little.”

“Seems like more than a little if this is connected.” He looked at the burned truck. “Maybe someone is trying to distract you from that investigation. If so, he must be feeling desperate.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Don’t you apologize,” he said. “You’re helping our Mira out.” He went back to staring at the damage. “Whoever did this took a big risk. He knew there were security cameras and did it anyway.”

My breath hitched. “People work here twenty-four hours a day. They come out here for breaks. He could have hurt…”

He patted my shoulder. “He didn’t. There were only a couple of workers here tonight. They called the fire department and it didn’t spread.”

“I’m sorry if helping Mira led to this,” I said.

“Don’t be.” His voice became more intense. “We take care of our own.”

Joss returned from checking out the damage. “What can I do to help?” he asked.

I couldn’t answer. The next hour passed by in a blur. We figured out that a third of the product I needed for Saturday was in that truck. I had no idea how I was going to make that up in less than a week.

Security cameras caught a man wearing dark clothes and a ski mask over his face. None of us could see anything familiar about him. We took one more walk around the truck. Quincy had put a huge photo of Trouble in her chef’s hat and an announcement about Take Your Cat to Shop Day on the side of the truck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.