Page 44 of Ambush

“You’re beautiful. No bruise can change that.”

Paradise shook her head at Jenna’s comment and focused on her task. The chicken would go nicely with the blue plates, so she took down the plates and put them in their places around the table.

Blake reappeared. “Levi is reading, but Isaac isn’t there. I checked all the bedrooms and the bathroom.”

“Check the back. Maybe he went out to play in the new sand I had delivered for their sandbox. They’re supposed to tell me if they’re going outside, but sometimes they forget, especially Isaac.” Jenna turned off the burner.

Paradise went to the back door and out onto the deck. Jenna and Blake followed. The green space was empty of a towheaded little boy, and her gut clenched. She and Blake had been on thefront porch for an hour, and Isaac had been on the bed coloring. He hadn’t gone out past them.

She spied an upside-down pail by the fence and went to check it out. A child-sized bare footprint marred the top with traces of red mud. “Blake, I think he climbed the fence.”

The boys were never allowed out of the yard alone. While the protocols for the enclosures were tight, Jenna rightly didn’t allow them too close to any of the animals without adult supervision. Paradise tried to assure herself the little guy couldn’t wander into danger, but her heart didn’t believe it. The sabotage Blake had discovered was probably targeted at him, but it left everyone vulnerable—especially the children.

“Let’s split up and find him,” Blake said. “He loves the otters. I’ll check there first.”

“And the beavers,” Jenna said. “Paradise, would you stay here with Levi in case Isaac comes back on his own?”

Paradise wanted to be out searching too, but she nodded. “I’ll take care of him.”

The darkness swallowed up their figures as they raced off calling Isaac’s name. Paradise jogged back inside and peered in on Levi, who closed his book. “Want to help find Isaac? Does he hide in here anywhere?”

Levi scrambled off the bed. “Sometimes he likes to play in Blake’s apartment. He likes to watch out the window. I’ll show you.”

They hadn’t checked the apartment, so she followed the little boy out the front to the garage and climbed the stairs to the apartment. The door was closed but not locked. A thorough search didn’t turn up Isaac.

She took Levi’s hand and went back down to the porch. “Any other ideas where he might hide? Did he say anything before he left you?”

Levi thought for a moment, then frowned. “He said he was working on a present for Tigey.”

The white tiger was named Tigris but called Tigey by the staff. She was a sanctuary favorite, but the little guy wouldn’t go to the tiger enclosure by himself, would he? And even if he did, there was no danger. The security around the big cats was extensive, and he’d never get past the gate.

“He said Tigey had babies, but I told him that was silly and not true. You don’t think he went to see for himself, do you?”

Her heart sank. “I sure hope not.” She pulled out her phone and tried to call Blake, but his phone went off on the porch. He must have laid it down without thinking. When she tried Jenna, it went to voice mail. She sometimes had her phone switched off and she might not have realized it.

She took Levi by the hand. “Let’s just walk that way. Maybe we’ll find him along the route.”

But hopefully, Jenna had found him gawking at the beavers and just hadn’t been able to call. Levi held her hand as they walked through the landscape lights along the path. As they neared the tiger enclosure, she heard a tiger chuff, a typical welcoming sound they used in various ways. Sometimes it was a welcome to a trainer, sometimes it was a noise asserting their right of territory when they were swapped out of enclosures.

She hoped the tiger was reacting to their approach, but a fist formed in her gut at the soft sound. “Isaac!” she called.

“I’m here, Paradise.” His small voice came from ahead. “Levi was right—Tigey doesn’t really have any babies.”

The bottom dropped out of her stomach.He’s in the tiger enclosure.

She gripped Levi’s shoulder. Blake was likely the closest. “Levi, go to the otter enclosure and get Blake. Don’t stop along the wayanywhere and don’t try to go in any gates. Get Blake and bring him back.”

“Is the tiger going to eat Isaac?” His voice trembled.

“No, I’m going to go get him, but I need Blake.” She gave Levi a quick push. “Run as fast as you can.”

He sprinted away from the big cat enclosures toward the river enclosures. The white tiger tensed and watched him go as if she would like to leap. Paradise couldn’t breathe, could barely think as she approached the enclosure and studied Isaac sitting in the dirt near the big white tiger.

The tigers here had been raised from kittens and socialized with the trainers who went in with them every day, but Isaac was small. He was prey size and a succulent morsel for the tiger, whose tail was lashing back and forth.

Not a good sign.

And she had to go into the inner enclosure and save him. “Isaac, I want you to get up. Don’t run and don’t try to play with Tigey. Keep your face turned toward her and back away toward the gate. I’m coming inside the perimeter gate. I’ll open it and grab you, okay?”

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