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Country music blared from speakers placed around the patio areas that wrapped around the Tiki Hut, just outside Pelican Harbor,

and the aromas of burgers and fries blew toward Blake on the breeze. The building had once been a shotgun house, but additions

over the years had changed its shape.

Blake spotted McShea at a corner table with a sweet tea and a gigantic burger in front of him. McShea lifted a brow when he

saw Blake. Blake hoped he’d listen better than his brainless deputy. He stopped beside the table. “Hey, Rod, mind if I join

you?”

Rod set down his glass of sweet tea. “’Course not. Have a seat.” He motioned for the server. “I’ll even buy your lunch. I

was going to stop by your place when I left here and see how you were doing. That shooter yesterday probably scared your mama

half to death.”

Blake pulled out a chair and settled across from the sergeant. “Yeah, it scared everyone. A server in our snack bar quit.”

He ordered a burger and sweet tea when the server arrived, then leaned toward McShea. “Any leads?”

“Wish I could say yes, buddy, but we’re at a loss just yet. We found some spent 9-millimeter bullets, but they were pretty much destroyed from hitting metal. No casings, so you were right about that. Forensics took some prints, but you know better than me how many visitors touched things around there while watching the bears. Wish you had some outdoor cameras in places other than the entrance and the housing areas.”

Blake made a mental note to grab a few. He wouldn’t tell his mom he bought them from his savings. She worried too much about

him. “Strange things out our way, Rod. Hank’s death, then the body in the horse trailer. Now we’ve got that shooting and the

break-in last night at our house.”

About to take a bite from his burger, Rod closed his mouth and set down his sandwich. “Break-in?”

“Didn’t Creed tell you? Someone rifled through our things. They didn’t take anything, but every drawer in the place was searched—even

the kitchen. Whoever it was didn’t take Mom’s jewelry or our laptops. They found the key to the safe and opened it too. The

documents were moved around, but they didn’t take the cash we had in there.”

“Any idea what they were searching for?”

Blake shook his head. “I know you don’t believe it, but I think Hank was murdered.”

“Buddy, we’ve talked about this before. There’s no evidence of that. None. No forensics, no sign of a struggle. Why are you

so sure it was murder?”

“Hank was the most careful man I ever knew. For him to topple off the haymow is so unlike him as to be impossible. He constructed a barrier up there so his boys wouldn’t fall over easily. He would have had to back up and hit it just right to even fall over. And he always watched where he was going. I don’t buy it. And he was nearly run off the road a week earlier. Add all these other things after his death, and there has to be a connection.”

“I can see where you’re coming from, but we’ve got no evidence. I’ll take another crack at the file just because you’re asking,

but I don’t think I’ll find anything.”

The server brought Blake’s lunch, and he waited until she left before he continued. “Did you hear Paradise is in town?”

Rod put his sandwich down again. “You’re determined to keep me from eating, aren’t you? She’s working for you? Last I heard,

she was in Montgomery. Had a run-in with a black panther that nearly took her arm.”

Rod was Paradise’s cousin, but the two had never been close. Rod was twenty years older, and his mother had refused to take

Paradise in after her parents died, which had led to a gulf between them as big as Mobile Bay. Paradise might not have wanted

Rod to know, but Blake felt her loneliness like a thorn embedded too deep to remove. She needed family, support, people who

cared about her. His mom cared, but Blake was a big believer in the power of family. Paradise had felt abandoned most of her

life, and he wished he could do something to erase the haunted, lost expression lurking deep in those amber eyes.

“I’m sure she’d be glad to see you.” He took a bite of his burger and the juices hit his tongue. No one could make a burger

like the Tiki Hut.

Rod lifted a brow. “She’s a spitfire, that one. Last time I saw her, she told my mom off and said she never wanted to see

any of us again.”

“She was fifteen,” Blake pointed out.

“Did she learn to temper that tongue?” When Blake didn’t answer, Rod chuckled. “I didn’t think so. Still, you might be right. I’ll let my mom know and I’ll have Sheila invite everyone to a cookout one night. It might heal things. If she made peace with you, there’s hope.”

Blake forced a laugh, but he felt anything but happy. The way he’d hurt Paradise couldn’t be undone. The damage went deep

into her soul, and he saw it every time their eyes met. He finished his lunch and left Rod taking a last gulp of his sweet

tea.

As Blake got in his pickup, he stared toward The Sanctuary. A curl of smoke hovered above the trees, and the wail of a fire

truck rose above the chatter in the bar behind him.

Something at The Sanctuary was on fire. He stomped on the accelerator and barreled for home, praying all the way.

***

The wolf pack milled around Paradise’s legs, and they seemed nervous and jumpy. This wasn’t part of her veterinary job, but

she wanted to step in and help wherever she could. Today they’d been short a predator keeper.

One of the wolves, a female, stared past Paradise and whined. What was wrong with them? She rubbed the animal’s ears and tossed

out food for the pack. They didn’t immediately lunge for their meal and continued to move restlessly.

The scent of smoke reached Paradise’s nose and she sniffed. It didn’t smell like trash. The odor was stronger and more acrid.

She gave the wolf a final pat before exiting the pen and turning back toward the buildings. She shaded her eyes from the bright

Alabama sun and stared in the distance at the black smoke billowing above the structures. It appeared to be coming from the

little stretch of cottages, and her heart stuttered.

Wait, was it her cottage?

She took off running toward the buildings. As she neared she heard shouts and saw flames leaping through the roof of her sweet little home. The flames had wasted no time in roaring through the cottage’s old timber in spite of the stream of water pumping out through the fire hose the firemen held.

Blake stopped her as she neared. “Stay back.”

The heat radiating from the burning structure checked her impulse to evade him and dart into the cottage to gather her things.

Everything she cared about was inside. At least Rosy was safe back in the medical building. Her vision blurred as she watched

the last traces of her old life vanish in the flames. The pictures of her with her parents, the necklace her mother always

wore, and the tattered teddy bear she’d taken to every foster home through the years were all... gone .

She sensed a presence move closer, and she glanced over to see Blake on her left side. He didn’t speak at first and squeezed

her forearm as if he knew her pain. But he didn’t. He’d always had roots here. She yanked her arm away and folded her arms

over her chest.

“Stand back, it’s going!” a fireman yelled as the roof caved in and sparks shot into the blue sky.

“I’m sorry, Paradise. All the wiring was redone when we remodeled it. The place was like new. I don’t understand what happened.

The fire marshal should know more when he investigates.”

She stiffened and blinked back the moisture in her eyes. Was he implying she’d done something? “I didn’t even turn on anything

electrical this morning. I had cereal for breakfast and didn’t so much as use a hair dryer.”

He reached toward her, then dropped his hand. “This wasn’t your fault. I didn’t mean I thought it was. With everything happening

around here, I have to wonder if it was set.”

The thought hadn’t been on her radar, but it should have been. She exhaled and stared back at the cottage. “Can you tell where it started?”

“Not really. It’s a small place. Once it cools, I’ll take a walk-through. Insurance will cover your belongings.” His expression

soured. “At least I hope it will. If it was arson, we probably won’t get a payment until they find out who did it.”

“Some things can’t be replaced.” Her voice wobbled.

He didn’t ask what those irreplaceable things were, and she didn’t tell him. She wasn’t sure she could hold her composure

if she laid out what the fire had taken today. Everything that mattered to her was gone.

Jenna approached with a little boy on each side. She kept tight hold of their hands. Tears streamed down her face. “I’m so

sorry, Paradise. All your things are gone.”

They all watched in silence until the flames finally subsided into smoking ruins. A small hand crept into Paradise’s and she

glanced down. Isaac stared up at her with a sympathetic gaze. She picked him up, and he wrapped his skinny arms around her

neck.

“Are you sad?” he whispered in her ear.

“A little bit.”

“Your clothes are all gone?”

She hadn’t thought about the fact she had no clothes for tomorrow. “They are.”

“And your shoes?”

“Shoes too.”

“What about your teddy bear? Maybe it hid under the bed.”

“I don’t think that would have saved him. I’m sure he’s gone too.”

“I have lots of bears. You can have whatever you want.”

She pressed her lips against his soft cheek. “You’re so sweet, Isaac. I wouldn’t want to take your favorite bear.”

“Well, maybe not my favorite one. But you can have any of the others.”

“Thank you, honey.” She exchanged an amused glance with Jenna. “You’re a good mom, Jenna. This little guy wants me to have

any of his stuffed bears except his favorite one.”

“He means it too. He’s got the softest heart.” Her attention moved from Paradise to just over her shoulder. “The fire marshal

is coming over. Maybe he knows something.”

Paradise turned to see a slim man in his fifties approaching. He nodded at them. “Heck of a problem to be having on the heels

of finding that body.”

“Can you tell what happened?” Blake asked.

“We’ll know more when things cool, but I think it was arson. I saw patterns of an accelerant, and I smelled kerosene.”

Arson . Why pick on her cottage? Was it dumb luck or something more?