Caffeine & Killers (Roasted Love Cozy 3)

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.

"Did you have a long night?" asked Jacob. It mystified me how he could be so alert so early in the day. His laugh at my appearance irritated me.

"Very funny, Jacob," I said. "Just pour me some coffee and I’ll be fine."

Putting myself into action, I woke up enough to greet customers in a friendly way. I managed to get their orders right and for the time being, I didn’t think about the calls that had gone on all night long.

Later on, when I did think about them, I hoped that is was just my lucky night to be pranked by some teenagers. Hopefully they move on to someone else tomorrow.

I couldn't think of any customers from Roasted Love that would have anything against me. Most had known me for quite a while and were always friendly.

"Maybe it was just an old-fashioned wrong number," I said aloud.

"What are you saying, Laila?" asked Lily.

I laughed. She'd caught me again talking to myself. "Aw, I had a couple of prank calls last night and was just trying to figure out who it could have been."

Lily’s face showed real concern. "I hope they don’t keep that up," she said, and then tried to reassure me. "It was probably someone who had nothing better to do than to keep somebody awake. They probably don't even know you."

I agreed with her and dismissed it all from my mind. Instead, I filled my head with thoughts of Daniel, a much more pleasant subject.

I got off at mid-afternoon and started for home. My mind had wandered back to thinking about who could have caused John’s death when my cell rang.

I felt a twinge of concern, but the caller turned out to be Jacob.

"Laila, I just thought you should know that someone asked me for your cell number. I didn’t give it to her. I told her I'd have to clear it with you first."

"Who was it? Anyone you know?"

"Yeah. It was Linda Henson."

Linda Henson? "Well, I don't know why she'd want my number... but I'd sure like to find out. Shoot."

Jacob gave me Linda’s number and I quickly wrote it down. "Thanks, Jacob. I’ll think about calling her back."

I hung up, and tried to think. Why would Linda Henson want to talk to me? She hadn’t been back in Roasted Love since the one time I'd seen her with Larch. I realized she may have come back when I wasn’t there.

I got home and spent a little time playing with Thor, still thinking about why Linda would call me. Maybe she knew something about John’s death – but if she did, why would she call me?

My curiosity was more than I could take. I walked back inside my apartment and dialed Linda's number.

The voice sounded the same way she looked: silky and smooth. I imagined her shaking long blonde hair away from her eyes as she said hello.

"This is Laila," I said. "Jacob said you called and wanted to talk to me."

"Do you think we could meet someplace and talk?" she asked.

"Um – sure," I said. "What do you want to talk about?" Last night’s hang-up calls weren’t far from my mind, but I listened closely to her.

"I've heard that you think John was murdered. I may have some information that would help you."

"Okay," I said, "but why call me? Why not take it to the police?"

I could almost see that long blonde hair falling around her face as she shook her head. "Too risky for me," she said. "We have to meet in secret."

She paused. I didn’t respond immediately. "I have to tell you what I know," she continued. "Then you can do with it what you want. I don’t want to be involved any more, not once I talk with you."

"Okay," I finally agreed. "Okay. We can meet at the West River Mall. There will be people around and security cameras everywhere. It'll be safe."