CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 40

CAT

I stood on the upper balcony and watched as the cars clogged the Ryders’ long lot, black-and-whites with the official seal of Atherton, their lights on, sirens silent. In the dark, black figures with sweeping white beams of illumination moved, their progress partially hidden by shrubbery and trees, their canvass slow and methodical.

“What’s going on?” William stepped out of our bedroom, his chest bare, his silk pajama bottoms on. He shivered in the cool night air and crossed his arms over his chest, his attention immediately caught by the activity next door.

“I don’t know. There’s an ambulance, but they haven’t put anyone in it. I tried to call Neena and Matt, but they didn’t answer. I’m waiting on a call back from the chief.”

As if beckoned, my phone lit up, the Atherton chief of police’s private cell number displayed. I answered the call and put it on speakerphone so William could hear. “Hey, Danika.”

“It was a home invasion,” she said without preamble. “Or armed robbery gone wrong. We aren’t sure yet. Someone in a ski mask came in the home and attempted to shoot the husband.”

I inhaled sharply. “Is he okay? And Neena—”

“No one was harmed. The gun misfired, and the husband chased or scared the man out of the house. But we haven’t located the intruder yet. So it’s important that you stay inside and lock all your doors. We have officers headed to your house now, but please arm your security system, if it’s not already.”

William pulled on my arm, glancing around as he ushered me inside. Shutting the french doors, he flipped the locks.

“I’ll go open the front gates so the cops can get in.” He gave me a stern look as he pulled on a worn Stanford T-shirt. “Stay here.”

I waved him on and moved to the window, parting the curtain and scanning my eyes over the dark stretch of lawn. When the bedroom door clicked shut behind William, I took the phone off speaker and lowered my voice. “Danika, there are some things about the Ryders your detectives should know.”

By the time I pulled on clothes and made it downstairs, an officer was present. I rounded the bottom of the staircase, and the man nodded at me. “Good evening, Mrs. Winthorpe.”

I smiled in greeting but didn’t recognize him. We sponsored the department’s annual Christmas party, along with the Care Fund—generous donations that granted us a special decal to put on our license tag, our names at the top of every donation list, and an open invitation to the station. Every uniform in town knew our name, our vehicles, and would look the other way if they spotted us, tipsy and sluggish, stepping into our car. But while they all knew us, I could only recognize a handful of them. Chief McIntyre, of course. A few of the captains and inspectors. Tim, the main patrol on our side of the city.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Are Matt and Neena all right?”

“They’re both fine,” he said. “But we haven’t located the intruder and wanted to see if you’d seen or heard anything.”

I stepped past him and out onto the front porch, my bare feet curling against the polished wood. Craning my neck, I tried to get a better look at the activity, but the fence blocked the view.

“Cat,” William protested. “Please come in. It’s not safe out there.”

The detective cleared his throat. “Have you seen anyone on your property this evening? Heard anything? Has anything out of the ordinary happened?”

I turned back to him. “No. It’s been a quiet night. I heard their garage door open about twenty minutes ago. It woke me up. But nothing else.”

He glanced up at our porch eaves. “You got a security system?”

“Yes.” William waved him toward the kitchen. “I’ll show you.”

The officer nodded and pulled off his hat, his black hair fringed in gray. “Thank you.”

Following the men inside, I pulled the front door closed and locked it. In the kitchen, I started a pot of coffee as William pulled up the security app, the content accessible from his phone. “The cameras are both interior and exterior and triggered by motion or the window and door sensors. We turn the interior motion sensors off if either of us comes down in the middle of the night. That’s why you aren’t seeing them now.”

“Can I view exterior footage from tonight?”

I gave a regretful frown. “We have the exterior motion sensors turned off the majority of the time. Between the rabbits and the opossums, plus the fox that likes to visit our yard, the alerts were almost constant. I now only have them triggered by a door or window opening—or by the front gate.” I leaned forward and clicked on the folder for tonight. “Here’s when you pulled through the gate.” There were several clips showing his car moving down the drive. Him stepping out and putting on his hat. An adjustment of his pants before he took the steps up to the front door. A moment when he glanced in the front window, then rang the bell.

William spoke. “We were pretty security conscious when we moved in, but over time we’ve grown comfortable. Most of the time we don’t arm the alarms or lock the doors.”

“Well, please make sure that all your cameras are on and doors are locked, at least until we apprehend the suspect.” He stuck out his hand to William, and I hurried to the coffeepot, wanting to at least get him a cup to go. “Here’s my card, with my cell number on it. If either of you think of anything, please call me.”

“Do you know how this guy got in their house?” I pulled a disposable cup from the coffee butler and filled it to the top. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Um, neither. Thank you. And no, we don’t see any evidence of forced entry.”

“They might have left a door unlocked,” William remarked. “And they didn’t have a security system. I remember the neighborhood deputy scolding them for it when Matt had his fall.”

“Yes, it seems Mr. Ryder has had his fair share of bad luck.” The man glanced me, and I wondered how much Chief McIntyre had told him.

“I’m gonna head over there.” I passed him the coffee cup and moved to the coat closet, pulling out a long cashmere cardigan. “I need to see Neena. She’s got to be freaking out.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” William said. “If they haven’t found—”

“Did you see how many cop cars are out there? There’s not a safer place in Atherton right now. Wherever that guy is, he’s not coming back to the scene of the crime.”

“Just—give me a second.” William stepped toward the hall. “Let me put on a pair of jeans. I’ll come, too.”

We approached the Ryder house together, my hands stuffed in the deep pockets of the cardigan. Above us, spotlights moved through the dark, white circles of light illuminating the trees. I moved closer to the officer and glanced behind me, grateful for the well-lit driveway. “Where have they searched so far?”

“The Ryders’ property and the surrounding lots. The back drop-off is pretty steep, and the guy has a fifteen-minute head start on us, at least.”

I glanced at the dark sky. “Could you bring in a helicopter? Search that way?”

He chuckled. “Not for this. If there had been an actual homicide? Maybe. But murder attempts kind of fall into a budgetary gray area.” He caught a glimpse of my face and hurried to reassure me. “Which isn’t to say that they won’t do everything they can to catch him. But things like a helicopter are a bit overkill at this point. Don’t worry. We’ve got a set of dogs on the way. They’ll be able to track his path.” He herded us toward the driveway.

William frowned. “Murder attempt? I thought this was an armed robbery.”

“I’d have to let you get the details from the detective.” He shrugged in apology. “I don’t have the full scope of the investigation so far.”

I walked faster, anxious to be inside the house and closer to some answers.

We stepped into the open garage, and I skirted Matt’s Volvo, heading for the interior door. The officer grabbed my arm just before I touched the knob. “Mrs. Winthorpe?”

I turned and noticed the bright-blue tissues he held out to me. He nodded to my shoes. “They’re booties. We’ll also need both of you to wear gloves.”

“Oh.” I let out an awkward laugh. “Our prints are throughout the house already. We’re over here all the time.”

“Still, we have to preserve the scene as best we can.”

I pulled the booties over my shoes and could see, through the glass panes in the door, more officers inside. Neena had to be flipping out over the intrusion. I worked the gloves on and nodded at the man, holding up my palms to prove my adherence.

When we stepped inside, the first thing I heard was Matt’s voice, muffled, but clearly raised in anger.