A GRAVE CONCERN (Food Truck Mysteries Book 8) by Chloe Kendrick Page B
Authors: Chloe Kendrick
Ads: Link
the center of attention, even when it wasn’t a good attention.
She turned her head quickly, which snapped her hair around her artfully. It looked natural, but I had a hunch she’d practiced that move before. “Mr. Preston, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave him a finger wave as we headed out the door.
The man she waved at must be the Preston patriarch. He had stooping shoulders, but a powerful build that exuded energy. Black eyes danced under their thick brows. I understood who ran the family business, just from looking at him. He wouldn’t let go of control of the gallery—and likely his children—until he was dead.
“So what did you learn tonight?” she asked with a challenging grin as we left. “I learned that I have a job at the Preston Gallery, if I show up tomorrow.” She quickened her step so that we had to rush to keep up with her. “I should be able to clear up this entire matter in a day or two,” she added as she headed back to the car.
Chapter 5
On the way home, we learned that Sabine had found out that Mr. Preston was the head of the local chamber of commerce, and his attendance at the event had practically been required. As a result, she found him quickly and gave him her undivided attention. The ploy had netted her a job interview and then a job offer.
“Not only can I keep an eye on the family,” she said, “but I’ll have better pay and benefits.” I could tell that she felt accomplished in that moment, and I let her enjoy it. I left it to Land to tell her that she was walking into a dangerous situation.
I wasn’t sure if the idea had been her own or Detective Jax Danvers’s, but Land would not be happy with it either way. He wasn’t in favor of the people he loved deliberately putting themselves in danger, and that’s what Sabine would be doing if the murderer turned out to be a member of the family.
Land didn’t speak at all on the way home, even after we dropped Sabine off at her apartment. It was still early, and I wondered if she would be calling Danvers to let him know the developments in the case.
He excused himself from spending the night, but he made up for it with a passionate kiss that nearly made me forget why we’d gone out tonight. He waved good-bye and headed down the hall. I closed and locked the door before heading to find my tablet.
My first search was on the name of Hamilton Preston’s brother. It only took three articles to find it. He was Milton Preston, Hamilton Preston’s rarely mentioned brother. The article gave a little bit of background on the black sheep of the family. Like the rest of the family, he’d been born into money. The Prestons had been in Capital City for nearly a century. No one knew where they’d been before moving here, but since then, they had made a mark on the city and its culture and politics.
Except for Milton. He’d been involved in some banking scandal. I wished that the article had spelled out the details of the crime. It was just the type of thing that appealed to a money nerd like me. Whatever the indiscretion, he’d been forced out of the bank, and the family had sent him to a friend’s real-estate business out of town. The job didn’t stick, and he’d arrived back home like the proverbial bad penny a few years later.
Things had gone downhill from there. He’d lost three more jobs in quick succession. The last job he’d had was with the gallery. While the article didn’t spell it out, I assumed the incident was the embezzlement mentioned by his sister, and he’d been asked to leave his family’s business.
From there, he’d lived with various friends and relatives. My impression was that he stayed until they couldn’t take it anymore. Then he moved on to the next. He’d been engaged to one of the Chesterfields, but the engagement had been called off after he’d left the family firm. I hadn’t recognized the woman I’d seen tonight, but apparently she was related to one of
She turned her head quickly, which snapped her hair around her artfully. It looked natural, but I had a hunch she’d practiced that move before. “Mr. Preston, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave him a finger wave as we headed out the door.
The man she waved at must be the Preston patriarch. He had stooping shoulders, but a powerful build that exuded energy. Black eyes danced under their thick brows. I understood who ran the family business, just from looking at him. He wouldn’t let go of control of the gallery—and likely his children—until he was dead.
“So what did you learn tonight?” she asked with a challenging grin as we left. “I learned that I have a job at the Preston Gallery, if I show up tomorrow.” She quickened her step so that we had to rush to keep up with her. “I should be able to clear up this entire matter in a day or two,” she added as she headed back to the car.
Chapter 5
On the way home, we learned that Sabine had found out that Mr. Preston was the head of the local chamber of commerce, and his attendance at the event had practically been required. As a result, she found him quickly and gave him her undivided attention. The ploy had netted her a job interview and then a job offer.
“Not only can I keep an eye on the family,” she said, “but I’ll have better pay and benefits.” I could tell that she felt accomplished in that moment, and I let her enjoy it. I left it to Land to tell her that she was walking into a dangerous situation.
I wasn’t sure if the idea had been her own or Detective Jax Danvers’s, but Land would not be happy with it either way. He wasn’t in favor of the people he loved deliberately putting themselves in danger, and that’s what Sabine would be doing if the murderer turned out to be a member of the family.
Land didn’t speak at all on the way home, even after we dropped Sabine off at her apartment. It was still early, and I wondered if she would be calling Danvers to let him know the developments in the case.
He excused himself from spending the night, but he made up for it with a passionate kiss that nearly made me forget why we’d gone out tonight. He waved good-bye and headed down the hall. I closed and locked the door before heading to find my tablet.
My first search was on the name of Hamilton Preston’s brother. It only took three articles to find it. He was Milton Preston, Hamilton Preston’s rarely mentioned brother. The article gave a little bit of background on the black sheep of the family. Like the rest of the family, he’d been born into money. The Prestons had been in Capital City for nearly a century. No one knew where they’d been before moving here, but since then, they had made a mark on the city and its culture and politics.
Except for Milton. He’d been involved in some banking scandal. I wished that the article had spelled out the details of the crime. It was just the type of thing that appealed to a money nerd like me. Whatever the indiscretion, he’d been forced out of the bank, and the family had sent him to a friend’s real-estate business out of town. The job didn’t stick, and he’d arrived back home like the proverbial bad penny a few years later.
Things had gone downhill from there. He’d lost three more jobs in quick succession. The last job he’d had was with the gallery. While the article didn’t spell it out, I assumed the incident was the embezzlement mentioned by his sister, and he’d been asked to leave his family’s business.
From there, he’d lived with various friends and relatives. My impression was that he stayed until they couldn’t take it anymore. Then he moved on to the next. He’d been engaged to one of the Chesterfields, but the engagement had been called off after he’d left the family firm. I hadn’t recognized the woman I’d seen tonight, but apparently she was related to one of
Similar Books
