Coffee & Crime by Anita Rodgers Page A

followed her. As we rounded the corner, we ran straight into Debbie. We bounced off her like we'd hit a big slab of foam rubber but she caught us before we landed on our asses.
     
    Zelda was impressed. "Wow, good reflexes."
     
    "Cops are here for you." Then she turned back and walked back to the dining room.
     
    Zelda cracked the door and peeked out to the dining room. "We could duck out the back."
     
    "And have them follow us home? No thanks." I rubbed my itchy eyes and sighed. "Let's see what they want. Then we can get cheeseburgers on the way home."
     
    Daniels and Davis bickered at their usual booth. I wondered if they ever agreed on anything. Daniels spotted me and sketched a wave. "Hey, can we get some service over here?"
     
    I pointed to Debbie who sat at the counter, working on her second slab of pie. "That would be her."
     
    Daniels patted the seat. "Aw, come on don't be pissy. Join us."
     
    Like reluctant children, Zelda and I trudged to the booth. I slid in next to Daniels and Zelda plopped next to Davis.
     
    "What's the matter, now?" I asked.
     
    "Nothing's the matter," Daniels said.
     
    Davis sighed loudly. "Look, we're sorry."
     
    Zelda and I drew a blank.
     
    "We weren't trying to hassle you," Daniels said.
     
    Zelda slid out of the booth. "Okay, apology accepted."
     
    Davis pointed at her. "Not so fast."
     
    Zelda surrendered and sat again. "I knew it couldn’t be that easy."
     
    Debbie brought coffees and two pieces of apple pie to the booth. "Scuse me." She set the coffee and pie in front of the cops then walked away.
     
    Daniels beamed at the pie and forked off a bite. "It’s easy as pie, actually. We like you girls. I know it doesn't seem that way lately but we do. We're only looking out for you."
     
    I smirked. "By threatening us?"
     
    "And stalking us?" Zelda added.
     
    The cops exchanged a look and Davis nodded to Daniels.
     
    Daniels poured cream into his coffee and grabbed a couple of sugar packets. "Stalking you?" He laughed and emptied the sugar packets into his coffee. "No ma'am." His spoon clanged against the cup as he stirred the sugar into his coffee. "What we're trying to do is warn you not to get tangled up with that family."
     
    Zelda snorted. "Why, are they crime lords or drug cartels?"
     
    Davis wrinkled her nose. "No, what they are is prominent, wealthy people with connections to very powerful people."
     
    I sighed and rested my head on my hands. "So?"
     
    Daniels lowered his voice "So, people like that don't like outsiders poking into their business. This guy Manston had a lot of big clients. The kind of people who have the money to keep their secrets, secret if you get my meaning."
     
    I frowned and shook my head. "George was a personal injury lawyer. He helped people who were victimized by the kind of people you're describing." Daniels and Davis said nothing. I frowned at their silence. "Right? I'm right, aren't I?"
     
    "It doesn't matter what kind of lawyer he was, Scotti. We're under orders to keep a lid on this cockeyed thing." He shoveled a bite of pie into his mouth and talked around it. "And that's what we're going to do."
     
    The conversation was more frustrating than asking Debbie about the mystery buyer. I shrugged. "And?"
     
    Daniels waved his fork at me. "Maggie Manston is planning to make a big stink and that'll complicate things. You don't want to end up in the middle of that. You understand?"
     
    I slid out of the booth. "Not at all. But I'm too tired to give a shit."
     
    Zelda hesitated and whispered. "What do you mean, you've been ordered to keep a lid on things? Ordered by who?"
     
    Daniels raised an eyebrow. "The powers that be."
     
    Zelda snickered. "You mean like God?"
     
    "The Police Commissioner." Davis's steely eyes said it was no bullshit.
     
    "Whatever." I tugged on Zelda's sleeve and she slid out of the booth. We grabbed our jackets and headed for the door. "We're out of here."
     
    "Just promise us you'll stay out of it,"