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Paradise and Blake found Jenna in the living room with her feet up on the sofa and a novel in her hand. The living room was

neat and orderly, and Paradise sniffed the aroma of pizza hanging in the air.

She dropped her purse on the table by the entry. “I’m glad to see you relaxing.”

“There’s leftover pizza if you’re hungry.”

“I’m starved,” Blake said. “Want some, Paradise? I’ll nuke it.”

“I like it cold.”

He nodded and headed for the kitchen while she settled beside Jenna, who obligingly moved her feet away. “We went to talk

to Mary Steerforth. Jenna, we’re still reeling from what she told us.”

Paradise launched into Mary’s suspicions. “Blake and I talked on the way home. You used to date Frank. Would you want to have

a little chat with him and see if you can feel out his involvement?”

“I wouldn’t mind at all, but I need a ruse to contact him. I don’t want him to think I’m about to cave and sell him the property.”

“I wasn’t sure where you were on those thoughts. After the tiger ordeal, you seemed to be willing to reconsider the idea.”

Jenna put a bookmark in her novel and set it aside. “It was sheer fear talking. If people don’t stand up against evil, what

kind of world will we be living in? I still want to turn tail and run so I don’t endanger my family, but what am I teaching

the boys about having courage and facing down the wicked who want to destroy us? I would be cementing cowardice into their

hearts. At least death isn’t final, but cowardice is on a whole other plane.”

Paradise’s spine lengthened just listening to her friend. She’d always heard courage was not lack of fear but acting in spite

of fear. Jenna was doing that now, and Paradise had done the same when she faced the tiger. Being courageous led to more courage,

while being afraid led to more and more fear. She’d have to remember that.

She stood as Blake returned with paper plates of pepperoni pizza. “Yours is cold, crazy person that you are. The cheese on

pizza should be all melty and gooey.” He handed her a plate and a piece of paper towel. “I’ve never eaten cold pizza and never

will.”

“Have a bite?” Paradise tried to get him to open his mouth, but he kept it firmly clamped. When she persisted, his hand shot

out and grabbed her in her ticklish spot just above her waist. She shrieked and nearly dropped the pizza as she danced back.

“Tickling is no fair.”

His grin widened. “Neither is forcing down cold pizza.” He pointed to the sofa. “Go to your corner and I’ll stay in mine.”

He lifted one of his pizza slices. “Ooh, nice, stringy, warm cheese.”

It was the first time they’d joked with each other like the old days. Still smiling, Paradise reclaimed her spot beside Jenna and found Blake’s mother watching them with a bemused smile. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to—her joy in their clowning around was clear to see.

“Blake, I’m going to go see Frank, but the two of you need to help me come up with a good reason to ask to see him. I don’t

want him to think I’m going to sell out.”

Blake swallowed his bite of pizza. “Don’t you have a class reunion coming up? I thought I saw a postcard about it.”

Jenna gasped. “You’re right. All I have to do is pull him to one side. I hadn’t planned to go, but the deadline for the RSVP

isn’t until next week, so it’s not too late. I’ll contact our class president and change my answer. We generally have ours

in the winter because it’s outside and we don’t have to deal with the heat and humidity. I have to admit, I didn’t want to

go by myself. It’s so soon after Hank’s death that it will hurt to go alone. But I’ll take one for the team.”

“I could go as your plus one,” Blake said. “It’s not unusual to take a date.”

“That’s a great idea. Everyone knows I’m recently widowed, so they won’t think anything about your escorting me.”

“And I can take care of the boys.” Paradise fixed a severe stare on Blake. “I’ll need frequent text updates.”

“I’ll agree to that stipulation as long as you bake your favorite magic bars while we’re gone. I haven’t had those since you

left, but I sometimes dream of them.”

A laugh bubbled up in her chest, the kind of mirth she hadn’t felt in so very many years. “Deal.”

Jenna uncurled from her spot on the sofa. “I think I’ll head to bed and leave you two to duke out the terms of the surrender.”

Blake took her abandoned spot. He popped the last bite of pizza in his mouth and wiped his fingers on the paper towel in his lap. “Just you and me, kid.”

Paradise wiped her fingers on the paper towel and rose. “I think I’d better get to bed too.”

“Coward,” he said under his breath as she fled for the bedroom.

***

Final round of the night with the birds hushed and the park devoid of squealing children and boisterous teenagers. Blake loved

strolling through the Thursday night darkness, listening to the sounds of predators interacting with their packs and exploring

their spaces. The stars twinkled like diamonds on velvet in the inky sky. He should bring the telescope out for the boys again.

The only thing missing in this moment was Paradise.

One minute she’d acted like she wanted to talk about them , and the next second she pulled back. Just like last night, but he couldn’t blame her when he felt the same way. There would

be time to face their feelings when they got to the bottom of who was plaguing the park. If he didn’t discover the culprit,

or culprits, behind the constant attacks, their donors would pull out and these animals would have to find new homes.

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 the door, 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 tried to 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 adven ture.” 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?