Page 68 of You Chive Me Crazy

My food truck, my pride and joy, and my livelihood were gone.

What on earth was I going to do now?

ChapterFourteen

LUCAS

My heart was breaking for Zoe. She was devastated, not just for herself, but for her family. Just knowing how much the food festival meant to her made me even more determined to help her.

“We’re going to find your truck,” I said. “You will be preparing your tater-masterpieces at the food festival tomorrow. Don’t give up hope.”

“How can you be so sure?” she said, her shoulders slumped, leaning onto me for support, as if I had become a source of strength or stability for her. “This is a nightmare. We need to call the police.”

“They’re already on their way,” Axel said.

“Please tell me you have security cameras,” I said.

He nodded. “I do. Follow me.”

Zoe practically flew down the hallway behind Axel, to the office in the back of the building. I could barely keep up with them.

“This was obviously Damian’s doing,” I said. “We just need proof for the police, then they can arrest him. Hopefully, the video will show him stealing the truck.”

“I’m so sorry, sincerely,” Axel said. “This has never happened to any of my customers before.” He sat down at his desk and fired up his laptop. “I feel horrible.”

“This is not your fault.” I shook my head. “It’s mine.”

Zoe turned to me. “What are you talking about?”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “The only reason Damian took your truck was because of me. If I hadn’t been here at the festival, he would have never connected us. Savannah said he wanted to get revenge on me, through you, remember? Well, he sure didn’t waste any time, the bastard.”

First, I got her kicked out of culinary school, then when she got her life back together and started a successful business, I tore it apart again.

Was there such a thing as terrible fate?

Maybe I was her bad-luck charm.

“No—you’re not taking the blame,” Zoe said firmly. “This is my fault. This never would have happened if I hadn’t crashed my truck.”

I opened my mouth to disagree and—

“No, not another word about it,” Zoe said, holding up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m sure this would have happened, one way or another. Things happen for a reason.”

Rolando would’ve been the first person to agree with her, but I didn’t know what to say to that. That didn’t make any sense at all.

Zoe’s gaze was fixed on the monitor as she chewed on a fingernail.

Axel logged into his security camera program on his laptop, then clicked on the history tab. “The system has a motion detector and starts recording every time there is movement, inside or outside. There are only four recordings in the last twelve hours.” He clicked on the first recording.

We watched a black cat cross through the parking lot.

Then he clicked on the second recording.

“There he is,” Zoe said, moving closer to the monitor.

We watched as a bearded man with a hoodie over his head looked around suspiciously before he broke into the shop, grabbed the keys, and then drove off with Zoe’s food truck.

I pointed to the monitor. “Wait—that’s not Damian.”