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The refuge held lectures every Monday morning at ten, and the room contained about twenty people—more than Paradise expected

for her first educational speech. Speeches were easy for her. She was able to distance herself from the audience and focus

on facts. And it would provide distraction from the images in her head from the file last night. They hadn’t found the Aldens’

neighbor at home and had discovered she was away on vacation the next two weeks.

She set Rosy’s cage on top of the table in front of her and coaxed the fox out. “This is Rosy, one of our fennec foxes. She

doesn’t like being touched, so she will hang close to me.” Several children were in the room, and she suspected they’d be

her most active participants. “What do you know about fennec foxes?”

A girl with brown pigtails shot up a hand. She appeared to be about ten, a prime age to know at least something about an animal.

“They are the smallest of all the foxes, and they live in the Sahara Desert and North Africa. They’re related to dogs.”

“Very good. They range all over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, and the Arava and Negev Deserts in Israel. Their desert habitat has helped them adapt to going long periods without any water. Anything else?”

“Um, they’re nocturnal, I think?”

“Correct. Are they solitary?”

When the girl didn’t answer, a boy about the same age raised a cautious hand. “I think they live in family units.”

“You’re right. Even young adults stay with their parents until they mate and establish their own families and territories.

Rosy here is about two. She recently had an injury to a paw, and I had her stay with me at nighttime.” The audience gasped,

and the kids leaned forward. “She has a mate, and they will stay together for life. While she was with me, she roamed the

house searching for her family. She had three kits waiting for her at home.”

“Didn’t she poop on your floor?” a little girl asked.

“She’s litter trained and was a perfect guest.”

“What does Rosy eat?” the boy asked.

“She’s an omnivore. Do you know what that means?”

He nodded. “She eats lots of things, animals and plants both.”

“Her main diet is insects, rodents, snails, lizards, geckos, plants, fruits, roots, and eggs. She has long claws for digging

below the surface to find insects, and those big ears give her excellent hearing to hunt down her prey.”

She talked a few more minutes about Rosy and her clan before dismissing the group to go wander the preserve.

As the people filed out of the room, Blake poked his head in the doorway. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.” She coaxed Rosy back into her cage and carried it toward him. “Let me return her to her family. She’s getting antsy.

We can talk on the way.”

The warm breeze lifted her hair, and she could feel it soaking up the humidity. She should have put it in a ponytail. Blake held the door for her, and they walked along the path to the fox’s habitat.

“Creed Greene wants me and Mom to come into the office for more questioning about the Mason murder.”

She stopped. “You think they suspect you and your mom?”

His grim expression answered her question before he spoke. “He made it clear we are his top suspects. And I can’t blame him.

I had the altercation with her. Her behavior has impacted our bottom line, and we clearly wanted her gone and out of our hair.

She was from California, so there aren’t any family members around they could target. We’re low-hanging fruit.”

They reached the fox habitat, and she released Rosy. Her kits ran to meet her. “When are you going?”

“They want us at three.”

“You want me to watch the boys?”

“If you don’t mind. I could ask another employee, but they like you.”

“I like them too, and besides, I live right there. Creed is a bad man. Be careful what you say, Blake. I get the impression

he wants to close the case and doesn’t care how he does it.”

“I’ll be careful. I asked Hez to meet us there too.”

“That’s a good idea.”

His tight voice and jaw showed his worry. “I think you’re right about Creed. I might need to start investigating the murder

on my own.”

“I’ll help,” she said quickly.

“You’re already knee-deep in finding out what happened to your parents.”

“This is a more immediate threat. The neighbor won’t be back for two weeks, and we don’t have any good leads to follow right

now. I want to help.”

“I could use the support.” He ran his hand through his hair. “The refuge is already on shaky ground, and if word leaks out that we’re the prime suspects, I don’t know what that’ll do to the business. It could be our death knell.”

She knew how a rumor could torpedo a business. “You’ll probably be gone awhile. Tell your mom I’ll handle dinner with the

boys.” Paradise didn’t know how it happened, but she found her hand on his arm. “I know you’re worried, Blake. This is all

still fresh. We can figure it out.”

His hand covered hers. “You don’t know how much that means.”

The moment stretched between them because she didn’t want to move unless it was to step closer to the faint whiff of his cypress-eucalyptus

soap. She forced herself to pull her hand away, but it was an effort. This was not good.

***

The Bon Secour sheriff substation was a small block building that featured three offices, an evidence-processing room, a holding

area, and an interrogation room. Blake had thought he and his mom would be interrogated together, but they were separated

as soon as they arrived. He’d volunteered to go first, and Hez had accompanied him to the room, a small space with a long

table with enough chairs to seat six. He’d never expected to find himself at the center of a murder investigation. A stench

of despair mingled with some kind of strong disinfectant.

An expressionless Creed Greene dropped into a chair on the other side of the table and tipped back the chair. “Let’s get to

the bottom of this, Lawson. The autopsy pinpoints Danielle Mason’s death between 10:00 p.m., January 8, and 2:00 a.m., January

9. Where were you?”

Blake glanced at Hez, who gave a small nod. “I usually go to bed around ten thirty, but I was tired and hit the sack just before ten. Nothing awakened me, and I got up at six like usual, showered, and joined my family for breakfast in the house. My little brother Levi slept with me. He’s the seven-year-old.”

“You live over the garage? Does it have a separate entrance?”

“Yes, it’s got its own staircase inside the garage.”

“Can anyone see you coming or going from the house? Can anyone corroborate your statement?”

“Not the actual staircase. My mother would have been able to see me enter the garage if she happened to be looking. I’m sure

she didn’t though. She goes to bed earlier than me, and she’s usually busy with the boys. But like I said, Levi stayed with

me.”

Creed frowned but didn’t answer. “What time did you enter your apartment?”

“After dinner I played Uno with the boys, and we watched cartoons for a bit. Levi and I went to my place around eight so Mom

could get Isaac bathed and in bed. Levi showered at my apartment, and we went to bed at nine and watched a few cartoons. Again,

that’s my usual schedule. I turned the TV off at ten.”

“You don’t go out with friends?”

“I left the Marines to help my mom with the boys after Hank died. My brothers need a male role model they can depend on, and

it’s something that’s important to me. I see a friend on occasion for lunch, but evenings are devoted to the boys.”

Creed blinked, and his nose curled. Maybe that sounded pompous, but it was the truth. Mom couldn’t do everything by herself.

She would try, but The Sanctuary was a lot of work, and there would be little time left for the kids. They deserved more than

the leftovers.

“So you have no real alibi.”

“I have Levi.”

“Who could have slept through you sneaking out.”

“We have video around the house. I didn’t go anywhere. Check it and you’ll see.”

“Would you be willing to take a lie detector test and give us DNA?”

Hez cleared his throat. “Do you have evidence my client committed the crime?”

Creed brought the front legs of his chair down with a thump. “I have plenty of suspicions. The bad blood between them was

well known.”

“We both know lie detector tests are notoriously unreliable, and they’re not admissible in court. I will allow the DNA test

to help you out, but hear me clearly: I won’t allow my client to put himself in a situation where he’s accused of something

he didn’t do. We’re done here unless you can come up with some actual evidence.” Stern-faced, Hez leaned forward. “Do your

job, Detective. The real killer is out there, but you’re wasting time digging in the wrong hole.”

Creed’s eyes squinted to slits in his enraged face. “He knows more than he’s admitting, and I’m going to nail his butt to

the wall. You defense attorneys are all alike—you don’t care about justice. All you want is to let the guilty go free. Wait

here for the tech to take the DNA.” He rose and left the room.

The harsh words didn’t change Hez’s expression. He shook his head. “He’s out to get you, Blake. I think I’ll put a bug in

Jane Dixon’s ear. The sheriff’s department works closely with Pelican Harbor’s techs and resources in this area. The police

chief needs to be aware of Greene’s vendetta. Any personal reason he seems focused on you?”

“I have no idea. I’d called the sheriff’s department when the activist group blocked the entrance, and he came out and ordered them away. He seemed fine then.”

“Maybe it’s career oriented. He wants to clear the case and add a notch to his belt.”

The brunette tech came in. She spoke to Hez before opening the swab package and rolling the cotton tip around the inside of

Blake’s mouth. When she left, Hez rose. “That was Savannah’s best friend, Nora Craft. She’s good, so you don’t have to worry

about her tampering with the evidence.”

Blake followed him out the door, where they found his mother waiting for her turn, and he hugged her before Hez led her off

to the room. They had nothing to hide. Danielle Mason’s determination to shut them down had been an annoyance but hardly worth

killing over.

Blake wandered back out into the late-afternoon sunshine to clear out the stink of accusation still clinging to him. He found

the coffee shop and ordered a black Americano, then went back outside to wait. It seemed an eternity before Hez and his mother

exited the building. From Mom’s somber expression, he knew it hadn’t been fun.

He joined them at the foot of the concrete steps. “At least he didn’t throw you in jail. Did he want to give you a lie detector

test too? And take your DNA?”

Hez answered for her. “He knew better than to ask about the polygraph, but I allowed the DNA. You both did great, but I don’t

think this is over. He’s got a vendetta. Didn’t you say you had a developer ask to buy the property for a lot of money?”

Blake’s mother blew a strand of dark brown hair out of her eyes. “We did. I said no, of course.”

“I’m going to poke around and see if the guy has a connection to the activists.”

The thought hadn’t crossed Blake’s mind. “Whoa, that’s wild. You seriously think Frank Ellis could be behind the activists?”

“It happens. The work you guys do is amazing and necessary, so there’s no reason to try to shut you down. The animals are

well cared for and happy with plenty of space to roam. They’re safely contained too. It makes no sense why you’d be the activists’

target.”

“Thanks, Hez.” His mother hugged him and turned toward the truck. “That’s what we thought, but I never dreamed there could

be a nefarious purpose behind it. I’m exhausted and hungry. Let’s get out of here before they haul us back in.”

Blake couldn’t wait to tell Paradise about Hez’s suspicions. Could Frank Ellis be the culprit?