Page 84 of Ambush

He typed in a response. “I asked him if there was any news from Nora’s evidence collection.”

Paradise stirred the bubbling fudge. “Greene is a menace. I don’t know how you’re going to get off his radar.”

“I don’t think it’s possible.” Another message sounded and he read it, then glanced at the boys. “Hez says the evidence matched.”

So the blood on the knife was a match to Danielle Mason. “Did you tell Hez what Quinn said about Owen?”

“I did. He didn’t know what to make of it. I still want to talk to him, but it will have to wait until the storm mess is over.” He pocketed his phone. “I’ll shower and come help with dinner. What does everyone want to eat tonight?”

“Tacos!” the boys said.

Blake ruffled Isaac’s hair. “My specialty. I’ll need some help.”

“We always help,” Levi said. “You don’t even need to say it.”

“Point taken, big guy.”

Paradise watched him leave, then checked the fudge. “It’s at softball stage. Get the butter ready, Isaac. Levi, grab the spatula and get ready to spread. It’s a finely tuned dance to make sure it’s not too hard and not too soft.”

And wasn’t that like life? There were hard places and soft ones, but the trick was remembering it didn’t ruin the delight.

Chapter 40

Blake awakened to howling wind and pounding rain trying to batter its way into the house. Isaac cried out, and he heard Paradise comfort him. Levi would be scared too. Blake tried to flip on a light, but the power was out, so he found his way through the dark house and down the hall to where Paradise slept with his little brothers. Both boys had crashed in there last night—Levi on the top bunk and Isaac with Paradise.

Blake struggled to see in the dark. “I should have brought my phone so I could use the flashlight. Everyone okay?”

“We’re fine,” Paradise said. “My phone is across the room on top of the dresser if you want to feel around for it.”

Levi whimpered. “I want you, Blake.”

“I’m coming.” The storm outside obliterated every bit of light, and he felt his way through the dark until he bumped into the bunk bed. “Here I am, guys. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“I can’t see you, Blake,” Levi said. “Can you get me? I’m in the top bunk.”

Blake ran his hand up the bedpost and touched Levi’s leg. Hefound his brother’s arms and pulled him out of the bunk. “I’ve got you.”

“I’m with Paradise,” Isaac said to his right.

He heard his mother’s bare feet hurrying down the hallway to check on the children. A faint glow entered the room with her phone flashlight illuminated. “Everyone okay in here? We knew the storm was coming, remember?”

Lightning flickered outside and the glare pushed its way past the blinds. Levi’s arms tightened around his neck. “I’m scared,” he whispered in Blake’s ear.

“We’re safe and snug in the house.”

The lights flickered outside and then came on. The welcome glow showed enough for him to see the white moon of Paradise’s face with Isaac clutched to her chest. His mother strode to the wall switch and flipped on the light. Her hair was mussed, but she was calm.

Mom held out her arms. “It’s only three, guys. Anyone want to sleep with me?”

“I do,” both boys chorused.

Levi reached for her, and she tucked him into one arm while her other grabbed for Blake’s littlest brother.

“You’ve been abandoned,” Blake told Paradise. “Aren’t you scared?”

She rose from the bed and came to stand in the circle of his arms. “Do you remember when we were teenagers and we used to sit on your porch in the old neighborhood and watch the storms roll in off the Gulf? Sometimes we’d go to the beach and shelter in a pavilion and watch the waves from a tropical storm.”

“I remember. That one time we nearly got caught in a storm surge. You always were a daredevil when it came to storms.” Herested his chin on her head and inhaled the plumeria scent in her hair. “You sleepy? I can let you get to bed.”

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