Caffeine & Killers (A Roasted Love Cozy Mystery Book 3) (14 page)

And as if there wasn't enough excitement in
Roasted Love today, the next person to walk in was the candidate
himself. His little entourage followed close behind him. Carpenter
waved to me as he made his way to a table, which took a while because
he shook hands and greeted everyone in the whole place.

I hurried into the kitchen. "Hey, Jacob! Can
you spare Eddie to take the espresso machine for a few minutes?"
I called out.

Jacob placing some cream cheese scones on a tray.
"Sure, sure. Just take these to the case out front."

"Got it. Thanks Jacob." I picked up the
tray and started back out to the counter. Eddie followed me. I
thought I heard him mutter something about how he'd rather work in
the kitchen, but I ignored him. I knew he didn’t like being in the
front where the customers were, because he was kind of shy in front
of strangers.

But right now, I needed him there. Lily handed him
two orders for cappuccinos and I started at the opposite side taking
orders.

It was close to one o'clock when Lily and I
finally took our break. Jacob joined us, and no one said much at
first. We just collapsed in the chairs.

"That was the biggest crowd we’ve had at
one time since Christmas," said Lily as she propped her feet up
on the empty chair next to her.

"Crazy, huh? Who knew the Councilman would
draw such a crowd?" I agreed.

"Well whatever it is, it'd be nice to have
more of these kind of days. Why don’t you go ahead and clock out
early, Lily?" said Jacob. "You’ll still get your full pay
for your shift."

She grinned. "I think I'll take you up on
that, boss," she said, and after a few minutes she left. Eddie
was due to clock out at the same time and he left, too.

By two-thirty, Jacob and I were working alone in
Roasted Love. The campaign had moved away from the Piazza and we had
the normal run of customers who drifted in and out. Mid-afternoon
brought the usual crowd looking for brownies or cookies to hold them
over until dinnertime.

Jacob stuck his head out from the kitchen. "Need
any help?" he called. "I think I'm caught up in here."

"No, Jacob, we're good out here, too."

He walked out and stood next to me behind the
counter. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and ask him
some questions.

"Jacob – did you know that John had a
brother?" I asked him.

He glanced over at me. "No. I didn’t know
that. Is he homeless, too?"

"Well, not exactly. Not anymore. He's –
he's at Maxfield."

"Oh. I see."

"John always talked about him, though. They
were close. I wanted to meet him and give him my condolences."

Jacob raised his eyebrows. "That was good of
you, Laila. But – why did you really go to meet him?"

I smiled to myself. Jacob knew me pretty well by
now. "You're right. It's just that – I can't believe that John
killed himself, either accidentally or otherwise. I truly believe
someone shot heroin into him on purpose. And his brother thinks the
same thing."

"I hope you aren’t getting yourself mixed
up in all that, Laila," said Jacob, with a deep frown. "That's
some serious stuff. Have you told the Chief of Police about your
suspicions?"

"Yes. I met with him. He told me that nothing
says it wasn't a self-inflicted overdose. But John told me he didn’t
do drugs. His brother told me John was always downtown trying to talk
people into getting away from drugs."

"Yeah, well, my advice is to leave it alone.
This is something that could put you in extreme danger. Let the cops
handle it. That's their job."

I nodded outwardly, but inwardly I knew that I
couldn't let this go. I had the entire day off tomorrow and I knew
what I had to do.

# # #

The next morning I put Thor, my bodyguard, on his
leash, and took him out. He happily jumped into the car, always ready
for a ride.

I drove through the now-familiar dregs of
downtown, all the while scanning for Ricky Thomas. When I got to his
usual area, I parked and then got out of the car with Thor. I stood
for a moment and looked up and down the street.

Two people entered the pawn shop. Neither one was
Ricky. I continued looking around, and then finally I spotted a
different man leaning against the streetlight pole.

Several people shuffled along the broken sidewalk
a block down from the man. I glanced behind me and satisfied all was
clear, I took hold of Thor’s leash and we started towards the man
at the pole.

I hadn't seen this one before. His tattered grey
pants were stained with an unknown substance and his short-sleeved
shirt was a faded red plaid. A few threads hung from where a breast
pocket once was. He stood an inch or so shorter than me.

As I walked up, his dull eyes flicked in my
direction. I thought he was going to bolt when he saw the big
Doberman with me, but I spoke up fast. "I just want to ask you
one question."

His eyes flicked around, as if assessing the
environment. "Make it fast, lady. I don’t especially like
socializing."

"Have you have seen Ricky Thomas today?"

The man looked at me for a second. "You won’t
find him here. He got arrested last night."

That got my attention. "Arrested! What for?"

He snickered. "Why do you think?" He
wiped a dirty hand across his mouth. "He was caught dealing, of
course."

"Do you know where he was taken?"

"Where else? To the jail, to wait for them to
find him guilty."

I wasn’t interested in talking to this guy much
longer. "Thanks." I pulled on Thor’s leash and the two of
us left.

Once back in the car, the feeling of uneasiness
flooded me. It was becoming a familiar sensation each time I came
down here.

Guilt washed over me when I thought of my promise
to Daniel to stay away from here, and the implied promise to Jacob to
do the same. My tires sank in and out of the potholes as slowly I
drove away. I had given up on dodging them.

I wondered where Licorice Billy had moved to after
the cops ran him off of Roasted Love’s front doorstep. They must
have gotten through to him, though, because he hadn't been back at
our place.

By now, I felt compelled to see what the grocery
specials were for the day. A large hand-printed sign was plastered
across the window, advertising several questionable meat specials.

And who should I see in front of the sign but
Licorice Billy.

I pulled in and parked a few feet from where he
stood. Black licorice juice trickled into his shaggy beard, and I
wondered if he ate any real food – much less a decent meal.

When he spotted me, he didn’t run as I expected.
I pulled Thor out of the car and headed toward him.

"You just after me to make sure I stay where
I belong?" he asked.

I sighed. Steven was right. He was just naturally
mean. "I figured you were back at the shelter at night. But, hey
– do you know where Ricky Thomas is?"

"What makes you think I know where he is?"
he asked. I noticed that his teeth appeared to be a mixture of reds
and yellows and browns.

I shrugged. "I just thought you might know,
since you seem to be friends with him." I kept my eyes on him
while he shifted around like he couldn't wait to run out of there as
fast as he could.

"Look, lady. I’m not a dealer. Or a user.
Sure, I know Ricky. I heard he was arrested the other day."

"So, where'd they take him?"

He snorted. "Sorry, but the cops don’t give
the rest of us information like that. Besides, what do I look like –
the local 4-1-1?"

I reminded myself that I was the one asking the
questions. I ignored his remark and changed my tone from inquisition
to a little more friendly. "Look, I don't like to see anybody
going hungry or sleeping in the cold. Are you doing all right? Do you
need any help?"

There is no way to describe his reaction except to
say that pure scorn shot across his face. He turned and walked away
with heavy stomping strides.

"I guess I'll take that as a no." I
headed back to the car and found several teenagers hanging around it
– but once they saw Thor, they immediately drifted off.

Once driving out of that sordid little part of
the world, I felt a huge relief. Maybe Daniel and Jacob did know best
when they told me this was more than I could handle.

Chapter Nineteen

After I left the downtown area, I arrived home to
get ready for an evening out with Daniel. He'd called me earlier and
made a date to go out and eat.

"We should have a real date tonight, Laila,"
he'd said, and I agreed. I was ready for a night out for a change and
I made up my mind to focus my attention entirely on Daniel tonight.
He had been more than patient with me.

I still had a few hours before he would pick me
up, so I took Thor out back for a little exercise. Playing ball with
the dog always helped clear my mind, and the fresh air felt cool and
rejuvenating.

Glancing at my watch, I walked to the door and
called Thor to come back in. He looked at me as if debating whether
or not he actually would – but, true to his training, he bounded
over to me. I gave him his favorite snack and then went to my cork
board.

I'm a detailed list maker, and I use my board to
keep track of things. The present subject was John’s murder case.
I'd written several names on index cards and pinned them up – all
of them possible suspects in the murder of John.

I put the Councilman’s name up there, but drew a
pencil line through it since I didn't really think he fit as a
suspect. Licorice Billy’s name was up there, along with Ricky
Thomas.

I added cards for Ronald Larch and Linda Henson.
They were up there only because they'd been associated with John in
the past. I was tempted to draw a pencil line across Billy’s name,
but decided I wasn’t ready to do that yet.

I was so engrossed with my index card suspects
that I almost missed my cell phone ringing. I picked it up to greet
Daniel.

"Hey, Laila," he said, "do you want
to go down to the museum before dinner? There's a display of Egyptian
art there, and it's only got a two-week run."

This would be the perfect chance for me to cater
to Daniel. He was big into Egypt’s past and had actually traveled
throughout the region one summer after college. I liked art, too, and
even though I didn’t know much about Egyptian art, I was game to
learn.

"Sure, I'd love to," I said. "What
time do you want to go?"

"I'll pick you up in an hour."

I was ready when he arrived at my door. He gave
Thor a pat on the back of his neck while leaning over the dog to kiss
me.

"You look wonderful, Laila. How was your day
off?"

I turned to pick up my purse and said, "It
was great. Thor and I spent most of the day together." I kept my
fingers crossed that Daniel didn’t ask any more questions about my
day. "I am really looking forward to this exhibit," I said.

His eyes lit up. "I am, too. I hear that it's
traveling all around to various museums in the eastern part of the
United States, and then it's going to Europe."

"Wow! Sounds like it's pretty popular."

"Oh, it is. Now, the museum will be open
until eight, but I thought that if we went there first we wouldn't
have to rush dinner."

"Perfect. Let's go."

# # #

Daniel's voice was animated as he told me about
the fantastic Egyptian displays, which he said dated to somewhere
around 800 B.C. He described the artifacts in great detail and I was
amazed at his knowledge.

"How do you know so much about these things?"
I asked, with a big smile on my face. "You're better than Google
when it comes to this."

He just beamed back at me. We took in one more
room before hunger took over. By the time we left, I was totally
relaxed and looking forward to dinner with him at Delano’s.

"Delano’s is fine dining but at a decent
price, too," said Daniel. "Not that I’m cheap, but if we
were in the city at their main restaurant, we'd probably have to turn
around and go find a hamburger joint instead."

We both laughed. "I know you're not cheap. I
like that you know how to pick top spots without forking over too
much money simply because of a name." He had the palate to know
good food when he tasted it, and that was something we both shared.

We lingered over dinner. I promised myself I would
not bring up John’s case and I stuck to that.

Later on, after Daniel brought me home, he came
inside for a little while.

"I really enjoyed our night out, Laila.
Getting to spend time at the museum with you and then relax over
dinner was fantastic!"

"I enjoyed it too. I was blown away by how
much you know about ancient Egypt. It makes it much more fun to go to
a museum when you're with someone who knows the subject matter well.
And dinner, of course, was great, too."

"I'm going back on call in about six hours,"
he said as he stood up and stretched. "I guess I’d better get
some shut-eye."

We reluctantly parted company, and I locked the
door behind him when he left. I found that I was happier than I'd
been in some time – certainly since John’s death took over my
life. I let Thor out one more time and then we headed for bed.

I awoke at a quarter to midnight when my phone
rang. I looked at the caller I.D., but there was no name. When I
answered, no one was on the line. The same thing happened again at
around one o’clock and again at three a.m. with the same results.

At four, it rang again. I didn’t answer it that
time. Whoever was harassing me would not get the satisfaction of me
answering.

# # #

When I dragged myself out of bed at six, I felt
like I had been awake all night long – because I pretty much had
been. My shift today at Roasted Love started early, and I downed
three cups of strong coffee before arriving at work.