Caffeine & Killers (Roasted Love Cozy 3)

We sat down after getting sodas. "What do you want to say, Linda?" I said.

She twisted her hands together. I noticed two rings on her slender fingers, though neither ring was on a ring finger. One was a rather large opal and the other was made up of tiny colorful stones that looked like varied semi-precious gems – amethyst, turquoise, and things like that.

Linda tossed her head and flipped her long blonde hair unnecessarily from her ivory skin. I decided it must be a habit for her to do that, whether her hair was falling over her eyes or not.

Then she sat very still, looking down at her drink. "I wasn’t totally truthful with you the last time we met," she whispered.

If she expected a comment from me, she was mistaken. She picked up her drink, but then put it back down. I took a drink of mine while quietly waiting.

"Ronald never told me he planted drugs in Steven Wilkins’s apartment. In fact, he's someone who wouldn’t be caught dead in an area like that. He’s too particular about cleanliness and not terribly brave."

I nodded. "Maybe he wouldn’t be caught dead down there as you say, but now two homeless men are dead. And both of them did spend time in the downtown area you are speaking of."

From the expression on her face, she didn't seem to be too accustomed to frank discussion. "You're right. We have to focus on John, don’t we?" she said.

"Well, that's all I'm focused on. Now – you said you had some new information about John Wilkins?" I raised my arms in a stretch and turned my head back to the shop where I'd seen Daniel in earlier. I noticed then that he stood just inside the west door entrance, pretending to look at the menu posted above the counter.

"Look, Linda," I went on, "if you have anything to say, just say it. I have plans for this evening and can’t spend a lot of time here."

"I’m sorry. Yes, I’ll get to the point. Ronald and I have been back together again – at least, more than we've been for a while. I brought up John’s death and how there are doubts he died of a self-inflicted overdose of heroin.

"And he told me – " She paused, and glanced around the restaurant. "He told me the cops should be looking at one of their own."

I let that piece of information drop between us. "What made him say that?" I asked.

"Well – he said that there's someone on the inside who wants to get rid of the druggies down there even more than he and Calvin Carpenter do. I’m sure you know that Carpenter’s strongest campaign slogan has to do with ridding the city of the homeless. They mean to rid it of drug users and pushers once and for all.

"There's a dedicated group of West River police working towards that goal. They were even able to get the Drug Enforcement Agency to send agents to this small town. They must have convinced the DEA that it really was that serious out here."

Once again, my mind was racing. "Did Larch give you any names?"

Linda shook her head.

"Then maybe you should talk to Chief Hayes,

" I suggested. "If you expect me to take this to him, once again – it's hearsay. Plus the fact I'm getting it all second hand."

I sighed. "The best thing you could do would be to get real proof and then go to the chief. Better yet, convince Ronald to take solid information to the Chief. He's someone Chief Hayes would listen to."

Just then, Linda raised her head. She was staring at someone outside the café. When I looked around, trying to follow her gaze, I saw no one I recognized except for Daniel. He still sauntered along in the mall as if window shopping.

"What is it?" I asked Linda.

She sighed, and looked down again. "I’m sorry. I guess I’m just jittery. It’s nothing. " She looked up at me again. "All I know is that Ronald said something about a dirty cop."

Then Linda fumbled for her purse and got ready to stand up. Her hands shook when she reached for her Diet Coke, and instead of drinking it she set it back down on the table. She looked at me, and started to say something, but then turned and left Little Italy Pizza as fast as she could walk.

Well, something had happened to make her extremely nervous. I looked again through the store's doorway into the mall. A few people were going out through the mall's main exit, and a couple more walked inside the same way. But I saw no one who was familiar to me.

I quickly dialed Daniel. I watched him as he answered. "Do you see anyone out there you know?"

"The only person I recognized was Ronald Larch. He looked into the pizza place, but didn't go in."

Larch was here? "Do you see Linda? She just bolted like a scared rabbit."

Daniel looked towards me, and then up and down the wing of the mall where he stood. "She must have gotten out fast. Wait! Yeah, I see her now. She's with Larch. Aw, but they just turned onto the main part of the mall. I can't see them."

I walked out of the restaurant and joined him, quickly filling him in on what Linda had told me. "I wonder if Larch knew she was meeting with me. She got very nervous and left right away."