Page 57 of Something’s Brewing

“Any idea who would do this?” His eyes searched hers, steady and kind.

She looked away. The manila envelope flashed in her mind—the one she’d slipped to Madison. If they were willing to break into her home, they must be desperate to get back the information she’d gathered. Frankie knew Sawyer to be a kind and gentle soul, but he was also the mayor’s nephew. She didn’t believe he’d have anything to do with his uncle’s nefarious acts, but she couldn’t risk telling him her suspicions. Not yet.

“No,” she said finally, shaking her head. “No idea.”

Sawyer’s jaw tightened, and she caught the flicker of doubt in his expression as he scribbled notes in his notebook. He didn’t believe her. Not entirely.

This was her fault, she thought. She’d started this chain reaction. She shouldn’t have taken what she had. The randomness of what she gave Madison didn’t make much sense to her but obviously, she had something someone wanted back. Was Madison safe? How did anyone know she had copied the files?

She decided to play dumb. “I don’t have anything worth stealing.” She gestured toward her ten-year-old television. “I don’t have expensive jewelry. No coin collections or anything of value. I don’t know why someone would do this to me.”

She didn’t know if the mayor was responsible or if she would be safe at work, but when she returned, she’d act as if she didn’t know why anyone would ransack her place—maybe that would throw off the mayor.

“I’ll file the report,” Sawyer said quietly. “Sheriff Reid will want to be notified. Do you have somewhere safe you can stay tonight?”

“I’ll be fine,” Frankie insisted, though her voice shook with fear as her eyes darted around the room.

He didn’t argue, but his frown deepened.

Sawyer clocked out after his shift, but his unease lingered. He couldn’t shake the image of Frankie’s pale face, the tremor in her voice. She wasn’t telling him everything, and that scared him more than the trashed apartment.

They hadn’t been close in school, but they saw each other at City Hall now and then, and they’d exchanged numbers at their class reunion. He sent a text:

You doing okay?

He paused, then typed some more and hit send.

It’s Sawyer.

He was an idiot. Could he be any less cool?

I’m okay. Cleaning. Thanks for coming so quickly today.

Frankie finished cleaning her small apartment, salvaging what she could, and stacked garbage bags at the door to take to the trash in the morning.

There was a knock at her door, one rap followed by two more in quick succession. She startled. Breathe, Frankie. In. Out. She looked through the peephole. Sawyer stood with a grocery bag in hand.

“Hey, Frankie, it’s Sawyer,” he called.

She looked down and cringed. She had on her most comfy comical dog pajama pants and a tank top. Her hair was piled on her head in a messy bun. Should she answer the door? Did she want Sawyer to see her like this? He could probably hear me breathing.

She opened the door.

“Hey, Sawyer, what are you doing here? Do you need to look around again? Need something else for your report?”

“No, I’m off duty,” he said, holding up the bag. “I thought you might need some comfort food. I brought ice cream. My sister always eats a pint when she’s stressed or sad.”

“That’s so sweet. Thank you. Come on in.”

He glanced around the room. “You’ve got everything cleaned up. I hoped I’d be here in time to help you.”

“I just finished. All I’ve got left to do is take out the trash in the morning.”

“I’ll bring it down now.” He gathered the three garbage bags. “I’ll be right back. Lock the door while I’m gone.”

Sawyer scanned the area as he made his way to the dumpsters behind the apartment building. The sun hadn’t gone down yet so there was still enough light, but Frankie was smart not to venture out here alone. He listened and took note of his surroundings, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Birds chirped and a cat strolled by. The closest apartment had its windows open and the television volume up; the theme song from The Big Bang Theory drifted out into the evening air.

When Sawyer returned, he knocked the same way, one followed by two more. He wanted Frankie to know it was him. He didn’t want to freak her out like he had when he knocked the first time. He could tell from the way she’d stood silent by the door for a beat before answering that she was a little jumpy.