Sawyer’s head snapped up from looking down into his coffee cup. “What? When?”

Kaegan shrugged. “Friday of that same week when I went over to her place to help her study. It was after eleven, and when I came out I saw my tire flat, and after checking further, I saw the tire had been slashed.”

“Slashed? And you didn’t call the station to report it?”

“I didn’t see the need. I figured it was kids with nothing better to do.”

“On a Friday night? When the Livewire serves free pizzas every Friday night to the local teens?” Sawyer asked, frowning. “I can’t see any teen missing a free pizza to slash a tire.”

The Livewire was a hangout spot for the teens in town. It was a decent place that provided a safe environment for them to play arcade games and fill up on hamburgers, fries and milkshakes. There was even a quiet corner in the back for those who wanted to get an early start on their homework during the weekdays. On Friday nights they always served free pizzas and hosted talent night so the teens could showcase their skills. Usually the place was packed but always orderly. “I changed the tire myself and kept moving. I didn’t even mention it to Bryce,” Kaegan said.

He took a sip of his coffee and studied Sawyer. Anyone who’d been around Sawyer long enough knew how his mind worked. He was thinking. Personally, Kaegan thought he was thinking too hard, but a part of Kaegan understood. Sawyer was sheriff of Catalina Cove and he liked staying on top of things. He was ex-military and ex-FBI, and being suspicious of anything and everything was part of his makeup. Since Sawyer had been sheriff, the residents of Catalina Cove had a positive regard for the law. Sawyer was fair and crime was almost nonexistent. Cops now treated the people with respect.

Before Sawyer there had been Sheriff Phillips, who’d finally retired after his son was killed in a hunting accident. For as long as Kaegan could remember, there had been a Phillips enforcing the law in Catalina Cove. It had been a foregone conclusion that if a Phillips ran for sheriff he would win and always did. As far as Kaegan was concerned, Sheriff Phillips had been a lazy sheriff and rarely left the station. His deputies did all the work and some weren’t all that nice to people.

Sawyer was totally different from Phillips. He was a hands-on sort of sheriff and he got out of his office more than he stayed in. He knew how to connect with the people. He didn’t act like his badge was a sign of privilege, but rather, it was a badge of honor. And he definitely didn’t act like he made the law, like Sheriff Phillips and his regime had. Most of the men who worked for Phillips either quit or joined the New Orleans police force when Sawyer took over. They couldn’t stomach having an outsider come in and run things.