Caffeine & Killers (Roasted Love Cozy 3)

"Yeah." I looked up at him. "I'd never thought about cops being criminals before."

"By the way," Daniel said, "my cop friend Leo Swenson did not give me a copy of Ricky Thomas’ autopsy report. He did, however, did give me some information. He said it was a self-inflicted overdose of heroin. The needle was still in Thomas's arm."

"Just like John," I said.

"There’s more," said Daniel. "Traces of sleeping pills were in his system, too, among other drugs."

"Do a lot of street people take sleeping pills?" I asked. It seemed to be a common drug when the subject of the homeless came up.

"Sure," he said. "When somebody is in pain – whether emotional or physical, or both – they'll take anything they can get their hands on."

"Yeah, I guess you EMTs would know that," I murmured. Then I tried to keep thinking. "It's pretty interesting that John and Ricky died in exactly the same way, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is." Daniel picked up our empty coffee cups and took them to the kitchen. I heard him rinsing them and setting them in the sink. I felt he was playing for time until ready to say something to me.

"Laila, please," he said, sitting down again. "Please don’t go back down there. Things are really starting to look serious. Not accidental. Not suicide. Deliberate. And now you have a phone stalker who's become a real stalker. You are in danger, whether you want to admit it or not."

I was shaken by the day's events – enough to look up at Daniel and nod. "Okay," I whispered. "I won't go back to Skid Row." I hated giving my stalker the satisfaction of scaring me off, but for right now – the stalker had won.

Chapter Twenty Five

In the following days, I kept my eyes open for Licorice Billy to return to his old spot in front of Roasted Love. And I kept my promise to Daniel and did not return to Skid Row.

Whenever I was at work, I found myself watching the street off and on throughout the day. We weren’t very busy and mostly just saw our regulars. Lily chatted with me about the things that had gone on in the coffee house during my two days off.

"You asked me about Linda Henson," said Lily. "She came in alone yesterday looking for you. I told her you had the day off. I asked her if she wanted me to give you a message – "

"What did she say?"

Lily spread her arms out and shrugged her shoulders. "She just turned and walked out."

After that, business picked up for a while. At about one in the afternoon, it was time for my lunch. The day was sunny and warm and I really wanted to get out for some fresh air. I told Jacob I was going out for lunch.

I headed for Sam’s Sandwiches and hoped my favorite spot wasn’t taken. "It’s about time you came back," said Sam. I smiled at him and saw the empty table in the back. "Do you want your usual?"

"Sure. And a few chips with it." It felt like a watercress sandwich kind of day, along with raspberry iced tea.

I sat down at my table. Gazing through the wide windows of the café, I watched the people strolling along outside.

I thought about Linda Henson and what she could possibly have wanted. Daniel had to work into the evening, so I debated whether or not to call Linda when I got off work, though I knew that the more I thought about it, the more curious I would get.

That was it. A call to her was in order.

# # #

When I finished work later that afternoon, Jacob and I walked out together. He was on his way to the post office and planned to return to the coffee house to finish up. As I backed out of my parking space in the lot, I suddenly thought I saw the familiar stocky form of Licorice Billy.

My tires squealed as I came to an abrupt stop. I swung open my car door and dashed to the back alley behind Roasted Love. Nothing moved in either direction. If it had been Billy, he'd successfully made his escape.

On my way back to my car, I looked everywhere with no results. I was sure it was Billy that I had seen, but he was apparently quite the escape artist because there was no sign of him anywhere.

I drove home knowing Thor would be happy to see me. He tried to wag what little tail he had, and then ran ahead of me into the living room and back again. Nothing like a sincere welcome home, I thought.

I went outside with the dog so he could run off some of his energy, and sat down in the lawn chair to watch him play.

Suddenly a shiver went through me. At the same moment Thor stopped and stared at the tree line at the end of the back yard. I called to him softly and he quickly came to me, even though he turned back to look at whatever had caught his attention.

The short line of Bluebeard shrubs stood still in the windless air. Leaves on the various sizes of assorted trees hung suspended. As for me, the uneasy feeling remained that someone was watching us.