Caffeine & Killers (Roasted Love Cozy 3)

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?"