MURDER IN THE SPOTLIGHT (Food Truck Mysteries Book 2) Read Free Page B

bowl. Ten minutes later, we’d sold out of the stew, and long before our time was up, we’d finished off the salted cod as well.
    Since I normally take orders and ring up the customers, I can keep a running tally of items sold and how much profit is being made. Back on the stove, I couldn’t do any of that. So when it came time to count the cash, I was unsure how much we’d made.
    Since this was a competition, the cameraman kept an eye on us the entire time we counted our cash. This was one of the conditions of the contest. They could review the film for the competition and see exactly how much was made. This process stopped anyone from sticking an extra five hundred or thousand dollars into the till to ensure that they were the winners.
    Land took over cleaning the kitchen area. I knew it had pained him to allow someone else to despoil his kingdom, but his instincts had been good. This was definitely a shake-up and a step out of our comfort zone. Even though both of us could perform either, or both, roles in the truck, we’d grown accustomed to certain roles. I knew the judges would take kindly to the fact that we’d taken the challenge to heart.
    I counted the cash as he cleaned. I went through the stack of bills twice. We’d done much better than I’d originally estimated. We’d netted nearly $3000 with our new menu. I quietly told Land about the profit, and he gave me one of his rare smiles.
    After we finished our cleaning, the truck went back to the secure lot where I stored it, and then we headed back to the studio for the final tally.
    Marsha took the money from us as we entered and wrote out a receipt for the total. Likely the cash would be used for a future challenge, just as it had been for this round, and it allowed her to find out who had made the greatest profit on the day. It was a shame, because I would have liked to have had that money for a day’s hard work. I still had bills to pay.
    We waited around the set until all of the contestants returned. At some point, Johnny Ruck would make his appearance, announce the winners and then we were free to go home for a few days until the next challenge was ready to begin.
    When the last of the contestants came in, the crew took a few minutes to tally the results. We all waited nervously, which of course the cameras caught for the episode. Jerry was talking to one of the taco truck guys, and Betty was engaged in a heated conversation with the breakfast foods woman. The minutes seemed to drag on until finally Johnny Ruck came out with a clipboard.
    “I have the results in front of me here. If I don’t call your name, you’re free to go. You’ll be returning for the next challenge.” He read off a list of names. They didn’t use the names of the truck owners. They only used the truck names, which is why I didn’t know everyone’s name in the challenge.
    Dogs on the Roll was not on his list.
    “The rest of you will be staying here. The judges want to talk to each of you separately, and then we’ll make the determinations for who wins the challenge and who will not be returning.”
    From my count, six trucks had been asked to stay. Typically that meant three trucks would be at the top and the other three would be at the bottom of the list. Land and I stood next to each other, but not talking. He had a perturbed look on his face until they called our names. He did not do well with people questioning his work, and I hoped that he could sit on his tongue long enough to get through the interview process.
    As we entered the room, I immediately recognized two of the judges as our customers from earlier in the day. The older woman sitting on the right had been with her poodle and had ordered the soup and salted cod. The younger kid had come by on a skateboard and ordered the stew.
    “So what made you switch positions today?” asked the woman, who seemed more focused on her poodle than the questions.
    I explained our normal roles and the desire to break out of