Page 57 of Ambush

There had to be a common denominator, but he couldn’t see it no matter how hard he examined the evidence.

He checked the entrance gates and found them secure. Time to head to bed, though it would be a wrestling match all night on the sofa. His pillow never wanted to stay under his head. He could sleep in his apartment with a gun by his pillow, but things had heated up so much, he wasn’t sure how safe it would be to leave his family unprotected. He could install an alarm for thedoor, but truth be told, he liked being in the same space as Paradise. And he wanted to protect his family. An intruder would have an easy time slipping into the main house since it was on the ground floor.

He thought again about what Mary had said about Hank’s death. The thoughts had churned in his brain since yesterday. Could the roots of all of this upheaval lie in what happened to his stepdad? It had never made sense. Hank had no reason to be in the hayloft. The Sanctuary bought hay and had it delivered, and teenage boys willing to work for minimum wage took care of tossing it down when they needed it. Hank had been a good guy—the best. He’d respected Blake’s manhood and hadn’t tried to treat him like a kid but as an equal. They’d become good friends, and his death wasn’t fair. But was it murder?

Had he heard something in the hayloft? Hank left nothing to chance in the park and was constantly checking out the buildings and making sure things were running great. He could have been lured up there. Or maybe he’d never been there and the body was staged under the loft with the rail damaged and hay around to throw them off. It was such a puzzle to figure out on their own.

Mom missed Hank so much, and it hurt to see her bravely carrying on without him. And Blake couldn’t let himself think about the boys missing their father or he couldn’t function. A brother, even a present and loving one like he tried to be, could never replace a father. Hank had loved his boys so much and had taken them everywhere with him.

Blake shook his head and turned to go back when he heard a soft sound. Was that someone crying? The noise came from a copse of trees near the fence around the African safari, and he moved that way. The sobs grew louder, and he stopped as he triedto decide if he should make it his business. Sometimes people required a moment to themselves to deal with hard stuff. His intrusion could make things worse, not better.

It was clearly a woman crying though, and he couldn’t walk away when he might be able to help. Keeping silent in case his presence was an intrusion, he sidled toward the trees and stepped into the cool wash of their leaves. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the deeper shadows, then spotted Lacey on the grass with her knees hugged to her chest as she wept.

Not a good situation for him. Ever since she’d made her attraction clear, he’d tried to avoid her, and this moment of tears could have something to do with that.

She must have heard some slight sound he made because her head came up and the sobs stopped. “Who’s there?”

Trapped. “It’s just me. I’m sorry if I’m intruding.”

She swiped at her face. “You’re not intruding. Sometimes life gets overwhelming.”

“I’m sorry. Anything I can do?”

“Not really.” Her voice trembled. “I don’t know if you knew it or not, but I’m raising my niece after my brother d-died two years ago.”

It must have happened before Blake came back to help. “I hadn’t heard you lost a brother. I’m sorry. That’s hard.” While he hadn’t lost a blood brother, he still deeply mourned Kent’s death and missed him every day. “How old is your niece?”

“Three. She’s very stubborn.” There was a smile in her voice. “I love her though. It’s really hard—I know you understand that since you’re helping out with your brothers. She was in the house wh-when I found Clay.”

Blake took a few steps closer. “Man, how awful. How’d he die?”

“Overdose of sleeping pills. I think it was on purpose. He’d been despondent over some financial stuff. I tried to help, but working as a vet tech isn’t the most lucrative job in the world.” She laughed, but it was more bitter than anything else.

“You were working here?”

“Yeah.” She got up from the grass and brushed off her shorts. “I like working here, so I’m not complaining, but I blame myself, you know? If I’d helped out more, maybe moved in with him, it might not have happened.”

“What about his wife—your niece’s mother?”

“She died in childbirth. Crazy, right, in this day and age? Blood clot. She would have loved Kinsey. All she ever wanted was to be a mama. Now there’s Kinsey and all she has is me and my mom. Sometimes I feel like such a failure.”

He started to reach out to pat her shoulder, then reconsidered. “She’s lucky to have you. She’s in daycare?”

“No, my mom watches her while I’m at work, so that’s good. Her health isn’t great though, and it’s hard for her to keep up with a three-year-old. I worry she’s going to say she can’t do it one of these days. When I’m working nights is easy for her though—she just puts Kins to bed and goes on to sleep, then I pick her up in the morning.”

Lacey tucked her hair behind her ears and took a step toward him. “I don’t know how you do it. Helping your mom with two little boys, running this place on a shoestring, and now all the problems hitting here at once. You’re pretty amazing.”

“All we can do is take it a step at a time. Did you happen to see Evan’s key?”

“I thought he told me he found it in his car, but maybe I was mistaken. I’ll bet Isaac was terrified.”

“Not really. You know kids. He thought it was a great adventure.” Blake backed away. “I’d better get back to the house. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time.”

“Thank you, but I’ll live. It was a weak moment, but I’ll be fine.” She brushed past him and headed for the parking lot.

The encounter was a reminder to Blake that it was impossible to know another’s heartaches. And her comment about Evan sent a tingle of alarm down his spine. Had the lost key been a lie?

Chapter 27

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