“Ohhh,” Janet said, trying to get a better look at Rags. Just then Adam returned from the beach. “Hello,” she greeted, when he walked past her.

  Adam acknowledged her. “Hi.”

  “Adam,” Savannah said, “this is one of our neighbors, Janet.”

  He faced her and nodded.

  Savannah smiled. “Adam, would you like to put Rags’s harness on him and bring him out to meet Janet?”

  “Okay,” he said, running toward the house.

  When he returned with Rags, Janet petted the cat, which Rags, of course, encouraged. “He’s a snuggle-bunny, isn’t he?” she remarked. “His fur is so plush. He’s a handsome cat for sure.” After a few moments she stood and announced, “Better scoot. Okay, if I go through the gate to the street? I think I’ll walk home that way.”

  “Certainly,” Savannah said. “I’ll let you out. Thank you for coming over. It was a pleasure meeting you. See you tomorrow evening.”

  Janet shivered with delight. “Yes. I can’t wait.”

  Savannah had just become settled in her lounge chair when she heard another voice. “Cats on the beach; I love it.”

  “Oh, hello,” Savannah called, sitting up to greet the stranger. She chuckled. “Yes, cats seem to like the beach, too.”

  “Makes sense,” the woman said. “Cats and sand kind of go together.” She then asked, “Do you travel with them? You’re renting, right?” She glanced around on the deck. “How many do you have, anyway?” Before Savannah could respond, the woman said, “Oh, I’m Trina, your nosey neighbor from up around the bend there. I only venture down this way when the tide’s out; otherwise I have to walk along the road to get back home.”

  “Hi, I’m Savannah, and yes, we’re renting.” She chuckled. “...and yes, we sometimes travel with cats.”

  “That cat does book signings,” Adam said, pointing at Rags.

  “He does?” the woman asked clearly disbelieving.

  Savannah chuckled. “Yes, he stars in a series of children’s books and we go on tour with him sometimes.”

  “Interesting,” Trina said. “Wow, that’s a first for me.” She looked at Savannah. “Did you write the children’s books? Are you an author?”

  “No...well, yes. I wrote his memoir, which I call a meowmoir. But his agent hired a professional writer to write the children’s books.”

  The woman stared at Rags, digesting what she’d just heard. When she saw Pauline curled up under Michael’s chair, she pointed. “Hey, I’ve seen that cat before. So this is where she lives?”

  “Which cat?” Adam asked.

  “The one under that chair. The sort of Siamese-looking one,” Trina said.

  Adam smiled. “Oh, that’s Pauline.”

  When she heard her name, the cat lifted her head off her paws, stood up, stretched, and rubbed up against Adam.

  “Gosh, she walks quite a distance to visit us. You don’t keep her confined?”

  Savannah didn’t quite know what to say. “Uh, no. We didn’t know she was wandering.

  Are you sure it was this cat?”

  The woman nodded. “Yes, I believe so. She sure looked like that cat.” She acknowledged Adam. “You say her name’s Pauline? I thought I saw her a couple of nights ago, then she visited again yesterday morning.”

  Savannah frowned. “Oh, I doubt it was Pauline that you saw. She doesn’t leave our sight except to go down on the beach occasionally.”

  The woman studied Pauline. “Well, maybe not. But she sure looks like the cat I saw on our deck.”

  Suddenly they heard a voice from behind them. “Too busy to answer your door, are ya?”

  “Craig!” Savannah said. “Sorry about that. We can’t hear the doorbell when the waves are crashing.”

  Michael stood up and shook hands with the detective, who then reached his hand out to Keith.

  “Good to see you again,” Craig greeted.

  “Hi, Iris,” Savannah said, hugging her. “You remember Holly and Keith and the girls.”

  “Of course we do,” Iris said, hugging Keith and Holly and acknowledging the little girls.

  “Oh, and this is Trina, one of our neighbors,” Savannah said.

  “Nice to meet you all,” Trina said waving. “Gotta go. Enjoy your stay.”

  “Thank you,” Savannah said. “And please let us know if Pauline actually does come up to visit, will you?” She thought of something else. “Hey, do you have a cell phone? I can give you my number.”

  “Okay,” Trina agreed. She punched in Savannah’s number, then gazed at the cat again. “Sure looked like that cat.”

  Once the Sledges had settled in and Savannah had served them each a tall glass of iced tea, she said, “You just missed our new cousin.”

  “New cousin?” Iris asked.

  “Yes, Mom found her on a genealogy site and she lives right here in the beach community.” Savannah giggled. “She looks a lot like Mom and Aunt Maggie.”

  “Really? She must be a first or second cousin.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” Savannah said. “I think she’s a distant cousin.”

  “Who’s this,” Craig asked, looking down at Pauline, “a stray?”

  “No. She’s our new cat,” Adam said, petting her. “A waitress gave her to us.” He hugged Pauline. “She has a secret, but we don’t know what it is.”

  “How do you know she has a secret?” Craig asked. He chuckled. “Don’t all cats have secrets? Mine sure do keep mum about what’s going on in their furry heads.”

  “Well, I think this cat has revealed her secret to us,” Michael said.

  “What is it?” Savannah asked.

  “Well, she won’t tolerate being confined—you know, in a harness on a leash.”

  “You think that’s her secret, do you?” Savannah asked, seemingly amused.

  Michael winced. “I hope so.”

  Craig studied Savannah, then Michael before saying, “Hey, Iris, did you tell Savannah about Rags’s competition?”

  “What competition?” she asked.

  “You know, in that story we read when we stopped at that café on the drive down.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Iris said. “You tell them.”

  “Tell us what?” Savannah egged.

  Craig looked down at Rags, who lay sleeping under Keith’s lounge chair at the end of his leash. “It looks like he’s not the only cat that works for law enforcement.”

  This piqued Savannah’s interest. “Oh?”

  “Yeah, we picked up a newspaper and there was this story.” He chuckled. “I guess a cat along one of those beach communities in Monterey County found some money that had been hidden for several months and kind of blew a burglary case wide open.”

  “Is that right?” Savannah said, grinning.

  “Yes. They didn’t give his name or anything, but they said he dug up some money that the police had been looking for.”

  “Wait!” Adam said after listening to Craig. “Savannah, I think he’s talking about Rags.”

  “What?” Craig said, almost spilling his glass of tea. He looked down at Rags.

  “Yeah,” Adam said excitedly, “we stopped to eat and Savannah was walking around with Rags and he went behind a bush and dug up a bunch of money. They arrested Savannah’s friends, John and...I don’t remember the other guy’s name.”

  Craig looked at Savannah, who was grinning sheepishly. “No kidding?” he asked. “So he got involved in a crime—what—not even two days into your vacation?”

  “Yes,” Savannah said. “And I don’t think the detective on the case believes that I didn’t know the money was hidden there.”

  Craig looked confused. “What?”

  She nodded. “Yes, he called me, then he showed up here and asked me questions that made me kind of uncomfortable.”

  “Oh, that’s just because of the cat,” Michael said. “He’s obviously never met a cat like Rags. It makes more sense in his mind that you knew something about the money and you coached Rags to dig it up.”

  “Who is this detective?” Craig asked.

  “Oh...a Detective Aaron Shively.”

  “Shively!” Craig shouted.

  “You know him?” Iris asked.

  “Yeah, I know him,” he grumped. “I worked with him on a case some years back.” He shook his head. “That was a gnarly one—a missing person from his jurisdiction who had relatives in Hammond. It was quite a baffling mystery. Nothing seemed to go together like it should. I think the entire family was a pack of liars.”

  After a while Iris asked, “Craig, why are you so quiet?”

  “Huh? I’m on vacation. I’m at peace with nature; just trying to chill.”

  “Oh, I thought you were mulling over what Savannah told you.”

  “That too,” he said quietly. “I think I’ll call Detective Shively and see if I can find out where he stands with Savannah’s testimony. I think he needs to be educated about the cat too.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah said. “I’d like to know what’s going on with John—you know, the guy I was with when Rags found the money.”

  “Who is this guy?” Craig asked, scrunching up his face.

  “I’m not sure—a vagrant or a veteran or both. He did time for something once, I don’t know what. And he was shot, which is why he’s in a wheelchair.”

  “You befriend interesting characters, Savannah,” Craig observed, amused.

  Iris patted his arm and quipped, “Yeah, like you.” She asked more seriously, “So, Craig, are you going to get involved in that case?”

  The detective stretched out on the chaise and pulled his hat down over his eyes. “Yeah, after my nap.”

  Chapter 5

  The conversation around the dining room table was lively Friday evening as Janet and Gladys each shared stories about their lives. Everyone was astounded at the similarities between them. They were born on the tenth of the month, ten months apart. They both had had two children, and their ages were similar. Both of them married at a young age to older men and were now widowed. They established that they like reading and needlework, they’re devoted grandmothers, and they’re both open to adventure, as long as it isn’t too wild and crazy.

  “So, Gladys,” Iris said, “I hear you two found each other on an Internet dating site.” The two women chuckled. “Something like that,” Janet said.

  “Yeah, they have genealogy sites where you can learn about your ancestry and even meet people with the same genealogical profile,” Gladys explained. She turned to Janet. “Have you met any other relatives through the site?”

  Janet made a face. “Yes, but none that I felt a connection with. Some of them were kind of weird.”

  “You must have been in contact with the same ones I was.” Gladys agreed, “Yes, weird.” She patted Janet’s hand. “I’m just glad we found each other. I’ve really enjoyed our emails and phone calls these past months. I can’t wait for my sister, Maggie, to meet you. She’s going to love you.”

  “What’s her passion?” Janet asked.

  “Cats,” Gladys said.

  While Gladys helped Lily put more olives and strawberries on her plate, Savannah explained, “My aunt—Mom’s sister—and her husband run a shelter for homeless cats.”

  “Cool,” Janet said. “Now that’s a worthwhile lifestyle—doing something to help other beings. I admire people like that.”

  Gladys stepped into the conversation. “Janet’s involved with a local land-conservancy program. So she follows her passion. Tell them about it, Janet.”

  “Oh, well, I’m on the board and our goal is to buy up land and keep it natural for our local wildlife. We have a large section of land we’ve returned back to a natural state, and the wildlife is thriving. We also try to protect estuaries, which have a life of their own when it comes to the critters that flourish in that environment or stop over to partake of what these unique waterways offer.”

  “Fascinating,” Michael said. “Must be satisfying work.”

  “Do you get down and get dirty?” Iris asked.

  Janet smiled. “If you’re asking if I volunteer in the trenches, yes, actually, I do sometimes.” She focused on Michael. “And yes, Michael, it’s immensely satisfying, especially to see the owls and other birds nesting and reproducing on site, the wide variety of birds that visit, and the population of mammals that have moved into these areas.” She winced. “I’d show you some pictures, but my phone died and I can’t find my charger.”

  “Oh, what kind is it?” Savannah asked. “Maybe we have a charger you can use.” Janet pulled her phone out of her pocket, and Savannah said, “Yes, we have two chargers for that phone. You can take one home with you tonight and get your phone charged up, if you’d like.”

  “Great! Thank you,” Janet said. She frowned. “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m becoming more forgetful or if the burglar took off with my charger.”

  “Burglar?” Craig questioned.

  “Down, Detective,” Iris teased. “We’re on vacation.” When she saw the puzzled look on Janet’s face, she explained, “His passion is crime.”

  This caught Janet’s attention. “You don’t say? So you’re a detective? Well, Detective Craig, maybe you can solve the crime of the century here in this nice, usually quiet and relatively crime-free beach community.”

  Craig leaned forward with interest. “Tell me about it. Someone’s taking things from your house? Has this been going on for long? What sort of things, other than your charger? Are you missing anything of value?”

  “Well, it actually started fairly recently, as far as I know. And yes, it’s trinkets and useful items like my charger cord, as well as very expensive things.”

  “Yeah,” Holly interjected, “one woman had a tennis bracelet taken.”

  He looked confused. “What’s a tennis bracelet?”

  Iris explained, “A diamond bracelet.” She asked Holly, “Was it real?”

  “I think so.”

  “The thief also takes money,” Janet said. More dramatically, she added, “Not from anyone’s purse, as I understand it, but random cash you might leave on your dresser or kitchen countertop after emptying your pockets.”

  “He comes inside?” Iris asked.

  “Yes. He’s brazen.” Janet looked sheepish. “However, we’re kind of lackadaisical out here on the beach. We love the out-of-doors so much that we don’t always keep things locked up like we should.”

  “Even though you get a lot of renters in the area?” Holly asked.

  “Even though,” Janet said. “But we rarely have problems like this, so we’re used to being lax about locking our homes.”

  “When does he strike?” Savannah asked. “Any certain time of day or night?”

  Janet contemplated the question. “Things seem to go missing without being noticed right away, so I don’t really know how to answer that. Like my charger cord, I have no idea when it disappeared. I used it night before last and when I went to plug my phone in last night, I couldn’t find it.” She shook her head. “Oh, it still might be around my house someplace. I’ll keep looking.” She raised her eyebrows. “Carmella, next door, had her small wallet with credit cards and driver’s license taken. But the thief didn’t get very far with it. A neighbor a couple of houses down the street found it in his driveway.”

  “Was anything missing?”

  “No. That’s what’s odd about this.”

  “The same thing is happening here along the beach. Every day...” Savannah started.

  “Several times a day,” Holly added.

  “Yeah, people stop by to ask if we’ve lost something or if we’ve found something—wads of money, jewelry...it’s crazy.”

  “Hmmm,” Craig said. He focused on Savannah. “What’s your cat been doing?”

  “Huh?” she asked, not sure what he was implying. She then said, “Oh, you mean...no, it’s not him. Not this time. He hasn’t been out of our sight. He’s either inside sleeping during the day or on his leash with us out on the deck, and we put him in his pen at night.” She shook her head. “No, the worst trouble he’s gotten into so far on this trip is finding that loot in Monterey and taking an oil bath.”

  “An oil bath?” Iris shrieked. “At a spa?”

  “Well, he did end up having a spa day,” Holly said, laughing.

  When the Sledges looked confused, Savannah said, “He ran under a car that was leaking oil and Holly took him to a beauty shop for a shampoo.”

  “Oh,” Iris said, seemingly even more confused.

  “You should set a trap for the burglar,” Adam suggested. When the others looked at him, he explained, “You know, string a rope across your deck so he’ll trip. You could hook the rope to a loud bell and when it rings, you just call the cops.”

  Craig chuckled. “Hey, kid, you’d make a good partner. I could use you in my business.”

  “Really?” Adam said, his eyes wide.

  After a few moments of silence Janet said, “I think Adam has something there.”

  “What?” Gladys exclaimed.

  “Let’s do a stakeout.” Janet placed her fork on her plate and spoke more excitedly, “We could use a piece of my jewelry as bait. We’ll put it on my deck and watch from inside the house. When we see him take it, we rush him. He won’t have a chance.”

  “Attack him?” Gladys screeched.

  “Sure,” Holly agreed, “we could do that.”

  “What if he has a gun?” Iris suggested.

  Janet frowned. “Oh, well, I guess our fingernails wouldn’t be much of a defense against a gun, would they. Yeah, we’d better come up with a plan B.”

  “You said you’ve reported this to the local police, right?” Savannah asked. “By the way, did you get your bracelet back from that gal?”

  Janet nodded. “Yes. She’d actually reported finding it. She evidently wasn’t the one who took it. Yeah, I got it back. We’re working with an Officer Perot.” She smiled. “He’s a peach. He actually lives not too far from here, so he has a vested interest in catching this guy.”

  “Could we call him if we see someone?” Savannah asked. “I mean during a stakeout.”

  “Savannah,” Michael warned.

  “What?” she challenged.

  “I don’t think you should...”