Caffeine & Killers (A Roasted Love Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

area of West River. The local cops are on top
of the problem and they make sure it doesn’t go any farther than it
has already."
    I made a feeble attempt to reassure him before we
ended the call. Then I reached for Thor’s leash, and at the sight
of it the dog bounded to the door and sat eagerly while I hooked it
onto his collar.
    A few minutes later, we were both in the car.
Following my GPS instructions, I found myself traveling from the neat
and trim West River I knew so well into far less attractive areas.
    I saw several buildings that were being torn down.
Or maybe they were just crumbling from neglect. The farther I got
into what was supposed to be the "homeless area," the more
I had to maneuver around potholes. Small businesses were secured with
iron bars on their front windows.
    A sprinkling of people sat on the sidewalks and
front steps. A few stood on street corners. One grocery store had a
sign plastered across the front reading "Ground Beef Special."
The price was half of what I paid at my local store, and I wondered
where they were getting their meat.
    Teenagers hung out on the broken sidewalk a yard
or so away from the door. Three of them held cigarettes between
stained fingers.
    I drove another block and then parked my car.
"Stay with me, Thor," I reminded my Doberman, as I caught
up his leash and we got out.
    I took a deep breath and picked one man standing
alone to approach. Thor walked close beside me and I kept his leash
short. The dog was distracted with all the new smells in the air and
all the new sights.
    Stumbling once over the uneven concrete, I
wondered why the city didn’t just tear up the sidewalks and pour
gravel instead. I guessed that money for nice new sidewalks down here
wasn’t exactly in the city budget.
    As I got a few yards past my car, the man I had
targeted eyed me. He shifted from staring at me to staring at my car.
He glanced at Thor’s strong body and white teeth, and a shadow of
fear might have crossed his face. That was good. Thor was meant to be
intimidating.
    I glanced around me. Only two other vehicles were
parked on this part of the street, and one had a flat tire. Both were
at least ten years old and looked like they'd been driven to the moon
and back.
    "Hi. Do you mind if I talk to you?" I
asked the man.
    He looked closely at me with dull grey eyes. "You
want some party favors?" he asked.
    I must have looked confused when he said that,
because he turned around and started to walk away. I had no idea what
he meant at first. When he glanced back at me, I noticed a slight
bulge beneath the thin coat he wore. Facial hair covered any
expression on his face, except for his eyes.
    Then I realized that, of course, "party
favors" meant drugs.
    "Wait," I said. I pulled Thor a little
closer. His sharp gaze was fixed on the disheveled man, and his nose
twitched. Even I could catch the smell of clothes and skin untouched
by soap and water. And there was some other weird scent there, too,
that I figured must have something to do with the drugs he was
carrying.
    "Do you know where I can get heroin and
sleeping pills?" I asked.
    The man turned around again, and frowned at me.
"Yeah, Miss Uptown? You don’t look like somebody who shoots
anything." His voice was hoarse and low. Then he coughed several
times, and at least had the good manners to turn his head when he
did. Then he wiped his bushy mustache on the back of a dirty hand.
    "You look more like the pill type. You don’t
look like no H hype to me."
    I wanted to object to being called the "pill
type," but I let it pass. This was no time to argue.
    "Um – you're right. I don't shoot anything.
I’m down here to buy for a friend."
    He grinned, showing broken yellow teeth. "Sure,
sure! People want stuff for their friends all the time." But
then he frowned again and peered at me with small, suspicious eyes.
"Hey, what makes you think I know where to get that kind of
stuff?"
    There was no visible movement on the dingy street
except for