Caffeine & Killers (Roasted Love Cozy 3)

I took a deep breath and told him the scary little story. "Daniel, do you have any thoughts on who it could be?" I asked him. "I hate thinking someone is following me all the time."

"Let’s start by eliminating people that you feel can be taken off the list," said Daniel.

I tried to think. "Now, even though street people might not have much of anything else, a lot of them do have cell phones. But would they have come all the way to my neighborhood just to watch me take their call?"

"I doubt it. You're probably right about that."

"And I think we can eliminate any close friends of mine, too. That's a no-brainer."

"I should hope so," Daniel smiled at me.

"Okay. Next would be people like Ronald Larch or Linda Henson," I said. "I know Larch despises the homeless population, but I really can't see him trying to actually kill them off."

"Yes. But what do you make of Linda Henson? Has she contacted you since your bizarre meeting with her at the mall?"

I shook my head. "I seriously doubt there was any truth that Larch planted drugs in Steven Wilkins’ apartment. It just doesn’t make sense. I know he never liked John Wilkins, but framing his brother wouldn’t serve any purpose that I can see. I think Linda was just angry with Larch for more personal reasons."

Daniel nodded. "I’m glad you see it that way. He wouldn’t have anything to gain by breaking into Steven’s apartment to plant drugs there. Besides, that's kind of a dirty job and I don't think Larch would do that kind of work. You know?"

I thought of the impeccable clothes Larch always wore. "I don’t think he would venture down to Skid Row, either.

I get the feeling that going to a rough, dirty place like that would be – would be beneath him."

"Yeah. I think you're right about that."

We sat in silence and finished our coffee. I stood up and reached for Daniel’s cup. "I’ll do the refills," I said. "You sit here and come up with a good suspect."

He laughed. "I'll do my best."

When I returned, he waited until I'd put down the coffee. Then he reached up and took my hand, drawing me down to him. My heart skipped a beat when he kissed me again. Then he sat back on the couch as I sat down beside him.

"Let me run this by you," he said. "I may have an idea of someone else it could be."

I sat up straight. "Who? Tell me!"

He shrugged, a little self-consciously. "It’s just an idea. I don’t have any proof, of course."

"Daniel, nobody's got any proof of anything right now. So – what's your idea?"

"Well... what if it was someone was hired to do all this dirty work?"

I blinked. "Hired?"

"Yes."

"Like – who? And by who?"

"I don't know. But it is a possibility. We’ve gone through everyone else we can think of. Maybe for political reasons. It's just a wild idea. Maybe the cop on the beat got tired of shooing John away and decided to fix it permanently. There are bad cops. Though I have to admit, I don’t know of any cop in this precinct who turned bad in the past."

My mind was racing. "I suppose. Can we be certain to rule out a homeless person?"

"Well, no. Nobody be ruled out for sure. I was just throwing something else out there. Until this phone call you got, I was sure there was nothing out of the ordinary. But, unless it's a real nut, you must have done something to get someone worried. An honestly, I think the Councilman is the only one you've mentioned that you've out right accused."

"Yeah. I understand. But, as you mentioned at the time, he has too much to lose." I looked at Daniel.

Daniel was silent as I continued to think. "I know only a couple of the cops by name. But – seriously. Would a cop do something like that? I mean, why? It would be a huge risk to his career. Imagine what jail would be like for a cop who'd murdered a homeless guy."

"Or who had framed an innocent person and put them away." said Daniel.