“It’s probably a job for the fire department,” he countered. “What building is it?” Main Street was lined with brick buildings that made a smooth façade against the street, but they were of differing heights, ranging from two to four stories.

“Not sure exactly.”

“You’re not sure? Didn’t you see this person? Isn’t that why you called?”

“Come see for yourself. It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m going to send Deputy Chief Powell.” Whatever it was, Olivia would sort it out. Sawyer was exhausted after being on duty all night. It had rained steadily, which usually would have meant a calmer shift, but last night had also been a full moon, which in Moonflower Bay was big business. His sister, Clara, was working this morning, which meant the house was empty. He planned to sleep all day.

“Sawyer,” Karl said in his I’m-your-boss tone. Never mind that Sawyer was twenty-eight years old and hadn’t worked at the hardware store since he was a teenager. “Just come yourself.” He hung up.

Sawyer pushed back from his desk with a growl of frustration.

“What’s up, Chief?” Olivia, his newish deputy, looked up from a pile of paperwork.

He hesitated. If he told Olivia that Karl had called him directly and was insisting that he specifically answer a call, she would kick up a stink. She was trying to professionalize their small, four-person force. To get people to call the station and not Sawyer personally. To get them to accept that a woman could be as good a cop as a man. He agreed with her on all fronts. But he was so tired—summer evenings in the beach town always kept them on their toes, but with last night’s full moon they’d had six drunk and disorderly charges. Right now, doing Karl’s bidding was easier than doing battle with him—and was the fastest path home to a soft bed.

“Someone’s stuck on a roof on Main Street. I have to run some errands anyway,” he said to Olivia—lied to Olivia. “I’ll check it out and go home from there.”

“Sounds good. Call me if you need me.”

When he got out of the cruiser downtown, he scanned the roofs of the buildings on both sides of Main. No sign of anything out of the ordinary.

The bells on the door of Andersen’s Lakeside Hardware jingled, and its proprietor appeared. “Hey, Chief. Let me show you to your damsel.”

“Deputy Chief Powell could have handled this,” Sawyer said, preparing a speech on how damsels could rescue damsels. Or something.

Karl ignored him as he headed for the passageway on the far side of Lawson’s Lager House. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

It was not a beautiful day. It was sweltering, muggy, and overcast. “It’s going to rain some more,” Sawyer countered as he followed.