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James led me to believe the changes in Michael happened somewhat suddenly. Could it be related to his murder?
Chapter Nine
During the interview with the Simms couple, no opportunity to find out what Sarah Simms did outside the condo presented itself. I could not shake the plush living quarters from my mind and decided she spent her time in a social life of her own. Her remarks about Michael’s opinions regarding the working poor told me she didn’t do charity work. At least no charity work that followed along the lines of helping the less fortunate. My curiosity about her drove me to resolve to research the lives of Senator Simms’ family, specifically Sarah Simms.
When I returned from New York City that evening I stopped to pick up Thor. I hoped Jacob and my dog had hit it off well. When my boss opened the front door, Thor eagerly greeted me wagging his tail with excitement. His almond shaped eyes lit up, if a dog’s eyes can do that. I smelled fresh coffee brewing.
"I’ll get you a cup of coffee," said Jacob.
Thor followed behind him. A tinge of jealousy shot through me when I thought they hit it off too well. Of course, to Thor, a kitchen meant food and he was disappointed when Jacob didn’t hand any to him. When we sat down, Thor settled at my feet and I was happy to know where his allegiance was.
"I put my own special ingredients in your coffee," said Jacob.
I have to admit that comment shook me somewhat. It seemed a bit out of line considering the circumstances, but Jacob had seemed a bit unstable lately. I took a sip right away to let him know I didn’t suspect him of poisoning Michael, or in this case, me. The taste had a richness that was delicious.
"This tastes better than at Roasted Love," I said.
There was an underlying feeling that his comment had meant to be a test. Maybe he was still hurt at my hesitation in voicing his innocence the day he asked me. I chided myself that I was reading things that weren’t there. Right now, I needed to relax.
"Have the police been back to question you?" I asked.
"They did so again as I was closing the shop today around five. With no evidence, because there is none, they didn't arrest me as you can see."
He set his coffee mug on the glass top table in front of him and leaned back.
"Laila, I will admit that when Michael died, a part of me was more than glad. It was a huge relief that it happened. I was getting tired of the constant battling between the coffee houses and it was making me crazy. The more I think about it, the more I realize his family and friends are suffering from his loss. I’m beginning to look at the incident itself and how some people are probably affected by it. I think of the whole incident more than my opponent no longer here to compete with."
His demeanor was one of remorse. I thought the liberation of not having the owner of Sunrise in his life had something to do with it, whether he realized it or not. A burden had been lifted from Jacob and he appeared the same as before Michael entered our lives.
"I agree with that. I’m sure his family is sad about the whole matter," I said. I hesitated and then said, "I went to New York City to meet with his brother James Simms, the Senator, today."
Jacob sat up straight. "Why did you meet with him?"
"I'm investigating the murder of Michael."
The cloud rose in his face, the same one I recently witnessed whenever Jacob felt he had to defend himself from murdering Michael. The teddy bear transformed to a deeply angered man in a matter of seconds.
"Why would you get involved in something so dangerous? That is pure recklessness on your part. People get killed when they get into situations like that."
"Situations like what?" I asked. "I simply wanted to talk with him."
"You have no experience in solving murders and it is impossible to understand why you would do something like that. Don’t get involved with matters out of your league."
"You may not realize it, Jacob, but you are still under suspicion for his murder. I only wanted to step in and do a little investigating on my own. I plan to take anything concrete that I find to the police. The goal is to exonerate you."
He glared at me and stood up. Thor’s low growl told me the dog was smart enough to be on guard.
"Keep out of this, Laila," he said in measured tones. "I can take care of myself."
He grabbed his coffee and left Thor and me in a dumbfounded state as he stepped onto his patio and slammed the back door. Fear slithered upward in me like a snake trying to find refuge from an enemy. In my haste to gather Thor and his remaining food by the door, I knocked my coffee cup over. Quickly, I reached for whatever I could find to wipe the spill up. As it happened, there were newspapers on the coffee table and I picked up the top sheets. After soaking most of the small pile I pulled the drier pages apart. My intention was to spread them out to dry in case Jacob wanted to read them. It was then that I froze at what I saw.
"Sell Sunrise of else" printed with a black magic marker exposed itself in plain sight. The word ‘else’ was in dark red. I heard the back door open. I scrambled to bury the note back where I hoped it had been.
At the doorway to the living room Jacob looked at me. I grabbed the remaining dog food bag and hurried for the front door. Thor followed all too willingly.
"I have to get home. It is getting late," I said to Jacob. "Thanks for keeping Thor for me."
He remained standing where he was. His silence told me he knew I had seen the threat in black and red letters. For the first time, I knew Jacob Weaver was a threat to me as well.
