Page 30 of Ambush

“I helped!” Isaac said. “We made cookies. Since we were so good, could we use Daddy’s telescope tonight?”

“I’m sure Blake could be talked into that,” Jenna said.

Levi clung to his mother’s slim form like a spider monkey. “Mine is a zombie with chocolate chips for teeth.” He bared his own teeth and growled.

Jenna gave a mock shudder. “You might have to eat that one.”

Levi shook his head. “Blake is brave enough to bite its head off.”

Suppressing a smile, Paradise flipped on the burner. “I’ll cook the green beans.”

She checked the cookies and the potatoes again. Just a few more minutes. She grabbed forks and shredded the pork, then checked the oven again. The cookies were perfect, and so were the potatoes, so she pulled them out.

Blake’s presence filled the room. “I’m starved. I don’t think I got lunch.”

“It’s ready.” She’d already set the table. “Want me to fix you a plate?”

“I can do it.”

“How did the interrogation go?”

“It’s clear he’s out to pin this on me or Mom. Maybe both of us. He took DNA, but Hez told us to refuse the polygraph.”

“I’ll bet that fired up Creed.”

Blake snagged a hot cookie and juggled it from hand to hand. “It did.” Gooey chocolate clung to his fingers after he popped pieces in his mouth.

Her gaze lingered on the chocolate around his firm lips and she imagined the taste. She gave a slight shake to her head to reprimand her stray thoughts. “Creed’s attitude cements what we have to do. We’ll have to find the culprit.”

“I’m game.”

He gave her a warning glance when his mother came into the room, and she understood he didn’t want to worry Jenna. She’d likely tell them to let the police handle it, but it didn’t appear that would happen.

Jenna prepared plates of food for the boys. “I hadn’t thought about Frank’s offer to buy our land until the interrogation.” She set their plates on the table and called them in to eat.

Blake heaped food on his plate and sat between the boys. “I hadn’t either. Are you reconsidering selling, Mom?”

“No, I didn’t mean that, but I’m surprised Frank hasn’t returned.”

“We were emphatic we weren’t interested. Hank had turned him down too.”

“What do you know about Frank Ellis?” Paradise asked.

“He was born and raised in the Gulf Shores area. His housesare top-notch and sell for big bucks. I don’t really know him though.”

The boys scampered from the room and ran to get their iPads for their allotted evening time.

“I do,” Jenna said when they were gone. “I dated him in high school.”

“You never told me that,” Blake said.

She rose and began to clear the table. “It was a long time ago.”

Blake carried his plate to the sink. “Do you think he’d do anything underhanded?”

“Back in high school he was a straight shooter. Time changes people. So many wear masks. Maybe it was always that way, but it seems worse now. So I don’t know.”

“Hez is on it, and he’ll find out.”