“Wait! You don’t know that. Don’t you dare go outside and investigate. I’m sending Sawyer over. He just got back from being out on the ship and hasn’t gotten ready for bed yet.”

Bryce rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Vash. It’s close to midnight. Like I said, it’s probably Mr. Chelsey’s cat.”

“And like I said, you don’t know that.”

“Get real. This is Catalina Cove and not Amityville. Nothing sinister or crazy ever happens around here. You lived in New York too long.”

“That might be the case, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m sending Sawyer over.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WHEN BRYCE HEARD the sound of her doorbell, she crossed the room and, after taking time to make sure it was Sawyer, opened the door. “Sorry Vashti sent you out tonight, Sawyer, after being out on Kaegan’s boat all day. You have to be tired.”

“It doesn’t matter. Until I make sure everything is safe here Vashti won’t go to sleep, so let me check out back. Lock the door behind me until I return.”

He went back out and she locked the door behind him as instructed. She went back into the living room to drink the rest of her wine. Tonight she’d done things in reverse. Wine first, then she would take a shower. Although she hated Sawyer coming over to her place for nothing, at least Vashti had sent Sawyer and not called the police station for one of his deputies to come and investigate. While out on the ship Bryce had heard Sawyer mention that he’d traded shifts tonight with Deputy Bob Fireside. Everybody in the cove knew Deputy Fireside would find any excuse to flash the blue lights on his patrol car.

She stood when she heard the knock at her door that signaled Sawyer’s return. She put down her wineglass, quickly went to the door and checked out the peephole before opening it. “Mr. Chelsey’s cat, right?”

Sawyer shrugged. “Not sure. Your garbage bin had been turned over and there were footprints near your back patio.”

“Footprints?”

“Yes.”

Bryce nodded and smiled. “They’re Mr. Chelsey’s. It wouldn’t be the first time Butterball got out and he had to come in my backyard to get him. The footprints looked like a pair of sneakers, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then the case is solved. It was Mr. Chelsey’s footprints since he always wears sneakers.”

“I’ll go next door and verify it was him.”

Bryce rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Sawyer, you’ve been hanging around Vashti too long or vice versa. The two of you are getting paranoid in your old age. If it makes you feel better, I’ll ask Mr. Chelsey about it tomorrow when I see him.”

He stared at her for a minute with that Sheriff Sawyer Grisham look, and she stared back and saw for herself how tired he was around the eyes. It was near midnight and Vashti said he’d just gotten home a short while ago. That meant he had stayed out on Kaegan’s boat for over fourteen hours.