Page 7 of Ambush

Blake was done talking about Paradise. The bigger problem still loomed. “Let me know what you find out from the sheriff’s office.”

“I’ll be in touch. Try not to worry.”

“Easier said than done, but I’ll give it a shot.” Blake signed off and put his phone away.

His favorite red wolf, a female named Daisy, pressed against the fence and yipped a greeting. The preserve had acquired her after hearing of her need for a home. She’d lived most of her life in a crate, and when they’d brought her to the park, she’d run around the acres allotted to the wolves for hours as if she had to stretch her legs and never stop. Red wolves were critically endangered. Daisy had given birth to four pups, bringing the pack of red wolves to a total of twenty-one.

Daisy wagged her entire rear end and yipped at him. Her pups rolled and tumbled together, and their fat bellies made Blake chuckle. He rubbed their warm bellies, then loved on Daisy a few minutes.

He left the wolf enclosure and walked to where the black bears slept in the shade, then moved on to the big cats and on through the African bush area, where zebras roamed with antelope and wildebeest. He was especially fond of the capybaras and river otters. The aviary exploded with sound when he paused and spoke to the parrots. They all tried to talk to him at once.

By the time he’d made the rounds to the easily seen enclosures, it was nearly time for the next safari. He’d been here with his mom and the boys for six months, and he couldn’t imagine living any other place now. Or doing anything else—not even paramedic work. These animals had helped him as much as he’d helped them. Mom thought he’d given up his career, when the reality was he’d been relieved for an excuse to try to forget that final week when he’d been responsible for the death of his best friend. If only forgetting was possible.

The current situations developing threatened this place he loved so much. And it wasn’t just for himself that he wanted it to succeed—it was for his mom and little brothers. And it was for these animals he cared about so deeply. If The Sanctuary failed, where would they go? He had to do everything he could to save this special place.

Chapter 4

Paradise pressed her fingertips to her eyes, burning from lack of sleep. Every time she’d closed her eyes last night, she’d seen the body in the horse trailer. Some kind of distraction would help. She settled at her minuscule desk in the clinic and opened her MacBook. She called up the list of online articles she’d saved in a Scrivener file and began to read through them again. The first one was the article blaring a brief note about the murders:

Nova Cambridge Couple Murdered. A neighbor reported a disturbance at the home of Granger and Becky Alden just after midnight on February 2. Law enforcement found the bodies of the couple in the home. A child was reportedly unharmed. Police are investigating.

Then she called up the next article announcing the sale of the Steerforth property to Hank and Jenna Anderson. The initial paragraphs mentioned the vision they had for founding a sanctuary forabused animals. Paradise knew some of Jenna’s early story. She’d married Blake’s dad at seventeen, right out of high school, and had given birth at eighteen. Her first husband had died in a Marine helicopter accident when Blake was a year old, and she’d raised her son alone.

When Blake enlisted in the Marines, she’d finally remarried. She would have been forty-two or so when Levi was born. Hank had been a wonderful man who’d inspired Paradise to become a vet herself. Paradise found the article a fascinating addition to what she knew about the family, but it was the final paragraph that had brought her here:

The 120-acre preserve had been in the Steerforth family since the late 1800s. The property initially served as a working farm and ranch until the Steerforths added a roadside zoo. The property went up for auction after the owner, Mr. Steerforth, died in an auto accident. Hank and Jenna Anderson purchased the property and moved their animals to the ranch, then opened The Sanctuary Wildlife Preserve to the public.

Paradise stared at the words until the screen blurred. While there was no guarantee the answers to the murder of her parents were here, she had to come and find out for sure. And she had to find her way back to the career she loved. Her future depended on her success here.

“Knock-knock,” a female voice said from behind her.

She turned to see Jenna smiling at her from the doorway. Though Blake’s mother was nearly fifty, she didn’t look a day over thirty-five with her stylish chin-length bob and boho-chic senseof style. Blake had gotten his thick dark hair and blue eyes from his mom, and they could have passed for siblings.

Jenna stepped into the office. “Settling in all right?” She dropped into a wooden chair near the desk.

“It’s been a quiet morning.” Paradise told her about the fennec fox. “I’m going to take a cart around the place and see what all we have to work with.”

“Take Blake’s expedition this afternoon. It’s a behind-the-scenes excursion, and you’ll see everything we’ve got.”

Paradise would rather do it on her own, but she gave a jerky nod. Working with Blake came with the job. “I like what I’ve seen so far. The animals are well cared for and seem happy.”

“We do our best.”

Now might be a good time to dig out some truth. “How’d you decide to buy the property? I remember this place when I lived in town. The Steerforths let me help out sometimes when I wasn’t working for Hank, but they only had a few animals. A couple of lions, a tiger, a zebra, and an ostrich named Katie. I think there was a bear too.”

“You worked for Hank, so you already know of his love for animals.”

Paradise nodded. “His passion was contagious, and when I left here, I knew I wanted to be a vet too.” She didn’t pry with more questions. When Paradise had lived here, Hank had been married to someone else. Paradise didn’t know the details of his first wife’s death.

“Too many people want an exotic pet without taking into consideration the needs of the animal. Those animals are often kept in tiny cages or enclosures and have poor quality of life. They’re abused and abandoned. The animals the Steerforthstook in here were in terrible shape, and the wife, Mary, was mauled by a tiger. The animal had to be put down, and the husband abandoned the farm, just walked away and left them. Then a week later he died in that auto accident.”

Paradise winced. “That had to have been hard to watch.”

“It was terrible. Hank went over twice a day to feed the animals, and we ended up buying the farm along with the animals three years ago. Blake went into partnership with us too, but he didn’t participate except monetarily at first. When Hank died, Blake was discharged from the Marines and came to help out. I don’t know what I would have done without him. He handles the boys like a pro and jumps in everywhere I need him. I won’t sugarcoat it though—things have been tight, even with our generous donors.”

“I know you kept some of the employees from the farm. Are you trying to keep too many of them employed?”

Jenna shrugged. “We can’t run it alone, and at least they were familiar with the animals. I probably could let go of a couple, but I hate to do that. They love the animals.”

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