Page 27 of Ambush

“I wish we could confront the sheriff.”

“We can’t talk to him, but his wife is still alive. Maybe she suspected something. She lives here in Pelican Harbor.”

At least they had some direction. She closed the red folder. “That’s all I can stand right now. When can we go see her?”

“Maybe after work tomorrow.”

It would have to do—for now. She glanced at the time. “My first educational session with students is tomorrow. I’d better go study up.”

“How about some beignets first? Petit Charms is right below us. We can hardly walk past without a taste.”

She didn’t want to smile, but her lips took over the reaction for her and lifted. “Beignets, then work.”

Chapter 13

The refuge held lectures every Monday morning at ten, and the room contained about twenty people—more than Paradise expected for her first educational speech. Speeches were easy for her. She was able to distance herself from the audience and focus on facts. And it would provide distraction from the images in her head from the file last night. They hadn’t found the Aldens’ neighbor at home and had discovered she was away on vacation the next two weeks.

She set Rosy’s cage on top of the table in front of her and coaxed the fox out. “This is Rosy, one of our fennec foxes. She doesn’t like being touched, so she will hang close to me.” Several children were in the room, and she suspected they’d be her most active participants. “What do you know about fennec foxes?”

A girl with brown pigtails shot up a hand. She appeared to be about ten, a prime age to know at least something about an animal. “They are the smallest of all the foxes, and they live in the Sahara Desert and North Africa. They’re related to dogs.”

“Very good. They range all over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, and the Arava and Negev Deserts in Israel. Their desert habitathas helped them adapt to going long periods without any water. Anything else?”

“Um, they’re nocturnal, I think?”

“Correct. Are they solitary?”

When the girl didn’t answer, a boy about the same age raised a cautious hand. “I think they live in family units.”

“You’re right. Even young adults stay with their parents until they mate and establish their own families and territories. Rosy here is about two. She recently had an injury to a paw, and I had her stay with me at nighttime.” The audience gasped, and the kids leaned forward. “She has a mate, and they will stay together for life. While she was with me, she roamed the house searching for her family. She had three kits waiting for her at home.”

“Didn’t she poop on your floor?” a little girl asked.

“She’s litter trained and was a perfect guest.”

“What does Rosy eat?” the boy asked.

“She’s an omnivore. Do you know what that means?”

He nodded. “She eats lots of things, animals and plants both.”

“Her main diet is insects, rodents, snails, lizards, geckos, plants, fruits, roots, and eggs. She has long claws for digging below the surface to find insects, and those big ears give her excellent hearing to hunt down her prey.”

She talked a few more minutes about Rosy and her clan before dismissing the group to go wander the preserve.

As the people filed out of the room, Blake poked his head in the doorway. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.” She coaxed Rosy back into her cage and carried it toward him. “Let me return her to her family. She’s getting antsy. We can talk on the way.”

The warm breeze lifted her hair, and she could feel it soaking up the humidity. She should have put it in a ponytail. Blake heldthe door for her, and they walked along the path to the fox’s habitat.

“Creed Greene wants me and Mom to come into the office for more questioning about the Mason murder.”

She stopped. “You think they suspect you and your mom?”

His grim expression answered her question before he spoke. “He made it clear we are his top suspects. And I can’t blame him. I had the altercation with her. Her behavior has impacted our bottom line, and we clearly wanted her gone and out of our hair. She was from California, so there aren’t any family members around they could target. We’re low-hanging fruit.”

They reached the fox habitat, and she released Rosy. Her kits ran to meet her. “When are you going?”

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