Page 74 of Ambush

“I’m glad you’re here. We all want you with us. Me most of all, but Mom and the boys need you too.”

“I feel the same way.” She leaned her forehead against his. “So let’s dig into Hank’s life before he died. Maybe there’s something.” She drew back. “I talked to your mom before dinner too. She has no interest in replacing Hank anytime soon. She sees him everywhere here, and she doesn’t want to sell this place. Maybe not ever. She finds purpose here. Your mom has a giving soul, not just to her family but to the animals in need too. She would never want this park closed and housing put in its place. She asked if you put me up to it so you could go back to the Marines.”

He gave a snort of laughter. “Oh man, that would be a trip. I’m not leaving my girl now that she’s back in my life.”

With his arms wrapped around her, she wasn’t going anywhere either.

Chapter 35

Blake had taken full buses on the safari tours today, and his smile felt broken. Paradise’s new social media blitz must be having some positive effect. He loved the job, but the weight of the refuge having a target on its back pressed down on him and made it hard to be himself with the visitors. After a shower, he went in search of his mother and found her with Paradise on the back deck cooking chicken on the grill.

The late-January day was a warm seventy, perfect for an outdoor supper. The boys dug happily in the sandbox in the middle of the backyard—far enough away for them not to hear the questions he intended to ask.

He gently elbowed his mom out of the way. “I’ll take over that duty. Go sip some iced tea with Paradise.” The aroma of grilling chicken made his mouth water, and he lifted the lid and flipped over the pieces before brushing on barbecue sauce. Veggies steamed in foil packets on the top shelf. “What else are we having?”

“Paradise made potato salad and I made white chocolate–macadamia cookies with the boys for dessert. I think there are still some left after the boys ‘helped’ me.”

His mom’s chuckle was relaxed and happy, which eased his worry. Blake shot a glance at Paradise, who nodded for him to go for it. “Um, Mom, Paradise and I were talking last night about everything hitting the refuge at once. She pointed out that we haven’t taken a hard look at Hank’s death.”

She trailed a finger over the lip of her glass of sweet tea. “You mean you still think Hank’s death might have been the first attack?”

“It’s possible,” Paradise said. “We thought we should talk about the months leading up to his fall from the hayloft. Had he mentioned any incidents that puzzled him? Had there been any threats against him?”

His mom’s forehead creased. “No threats that I’m aware of. He did seem strained the month before he died. Kind of skittish, peering out windows—that kind of thing. I asked him why he seemed tense, and he brushed it off as employee problems at the clinic in town.”

“He maintained his vet business after acquiring the refuge?” Paradise asked.

Jenna shook her head. “Hank signed the vet business over to Owen Shaw for quarterly payments on its worth. Owen was gone for three weeks on an anniversary trip, and Hank agreed to fill in for him. I thought his stress was from trying to keep everything going.”

“Did anyone talk to Owen about Hank’s death?”

“Not in relation to it possibly being murder. He got back the day before Hank died.”

Blake flipped the chicken again. “Did you ask him about the employee issue?”

“He dismissed it when I tried, and things were hectic here with starting to homeschool Levi. I should have pushed it more.” Mom’s voice wobbled.

Paradise reached over from her chair and took his mom’s hand. “It wasn’t your fault, Jenna. Don’t ever think that. And maybe it’s not connected, but it seems very strange for such a weird accident to happen and then for all this stuff to start.”

Mom sighed and stood to tell Isaac not to throw the sand out of the box. She settled back in the chair. “It’s been six months though. If it was connected, why the delay?”

“Maybe to let things die down,” Blake said. “I think I’ll talk to Owen. He likely has heard of our troubles, at least some of them. It’s possible he knows something.”

He removed the food from the grill and turned it off. “Food’s ready,” he called to the boys. “Go wash up.” While they ran into the house to wash their hands, he carried the food to the table under the pergola. Tableware and bright blue plates had already been set around the glass-top table along with the cookies in a covered plastic container to keep the bugs out.

The boys came running out of the house in high spirits, and Levi wrapped his arms around Blake’s waist. “Blake, can we go fishing after dinner?”

Blake lifted him in his arms. “It will be dark, buddy, and we just went two days ago.” He pointed to the sun already sinking in the west over the tupelo trees. “But it’s a clear night. We can bring the telescope out and search the skies. We can see Jupiter.”

“And its four moons!” Levi hugged his neck and Blake put him down.

“You’re right. You’re getting good at astronomy.”

“Mom’s been teaching me. Did you know Daddy wanted to be an astronomer when he was a teenager? I think I should be one.”

“I didn’t know that.” Blake glanced at his mom, whose eyes had misted over at the mention of Hank.

The boys wolfed down their dinner so they could have cookies, and Paradise helped Jenna clear the table while Blake set up the telescope. He’d forgotten it had been Hank’s. Somehow it had always seemed to be here, and he thought maybe Jenna had gotten it for the boys. As he adjusted the lens, he stopped and stared at it. This was a high-end piece of equipment and it took pictures. Hank had been using it with the boys the night before his death. Could he have snapped any suspicious photos of the area around the yard? It was unlikely, but after Blake was done here with the boys, he wanted to check it out.

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