She nodded, relieved he was tracking with her. “Our romantic evening got derailed.”
His thumb made lazy circles in her palm. “I have you all to myself, so I wouldn’t say it’s completely derailed. And we’re about to have grilled oysters, so that’s a plus. I’ll take you home and we can make a plan of action.”
“You always do that.”
“What?”
She smiled. “You always know what to say to give me hope.”
“God has plenty of hope to pass around.”
A quote fromThe Two Towersby Tolkien came to mind. “‘You can only come to morning through the shadows.’”
He grinned. “Exactly.”
The server came with their drinks, and Paradise forced away her worries. Blake was right—there was always hope. And she was determined not to stop until she found out the truth.
Chapter 13
A full truck of visitors always made for a fun day. Blake was able to put aside his worries about the murder on park property as well as the “surprise” left in Paradise’s car. Her stressful day was likely to blame for her irritation with him last night.
A large homeschooling group occupied most of the seats, and he drove into the fenced Serengeti preserve. Animals roamed the acreage freely. One boy chattered about having seen a rhino sleeping under a tree this morning, and he exchanged an amused glance with the kid’s mom. “Are you learning about rhinos in school?”
The boy nodded. “Did you know their horn is made of keratin and not bone? It’s like hair and fingernails.”
“You’re right,” Blake agreed.
“I didn’t get a good look at the one this morning. I was too scared it would see me and charge.” The boy pointed. “Zebras!”
All the kids squealed when several ostriches ran alongside the truck. The giraffes and zebras moseyed over as well, and he parked to hand out fronds to feed the giraffes. The tall animals lumbered over to stick their heads in the windowless openings of the safaritruck, and one of the girls squealed when a giraffe licked her with its long tongue. The chatter rose to deafening proportions as kids vied for the best spots to interact with the animals.
It was part of a normal day’s work, and he loved seeing the kids’ excitement at simple things like animal dung. He parked and moved the large steps into place for his guests to disembark. Most of the moms stuffed tips into the coffee can by the door as they exited, and he thanked them. He high-fived several of the boys as they finally got off the vehicle. The group moved toward the parking lot to their vehicles.
His phone dinged with a message from his mom.Can you get here ASAP? Dozer is missing!
He bit back a gasp. He’d thought the boy was playacting. He shot a text saying he was on his way and started driving for the Serengeti exit. The rhino enclosure wasn’t far. Maybe he should walk and look for Dozer along the way. The boy said he had been sleeping under a tree. Blake should have asked more questions.
Dozer was normally a calm rhino and enjoyed rubs and attention. This was the first time he’d escaped. Blake shot Evan a text and asked him to find out how the rhino got out of his enclosure and to repair any damage. Blake grabbed a tranq rifle and a rope from the truck, then headed for the open field behind the tree line.
His mother came around a curve in the inside walkway and spotted him. “Thank goodness you’re here. I had our employees close the park and start evacuating visitors. I told them not to mention the reason.”
“Good. The last thing we need is more grist for the rumor mill to impact our bottom line. I’ll find him first, and then we can form a perimeter with park vehicles to guide him back to theenclosure.” He spotted Evan in the distance and waved him over. “Any sign of him?”
Evan shook his head. “Not yet. There’s a break in the electric fence, so I called and asked Clark to fix it pronto.”
“Great, now let’s find Dozer.”
Evan nodded. “I’ll take the west quadrant.” He grabbed a catch pole and headed for the park’s vehicle lot.
Blake turned back toward the tree line. A stiff breeze from an approaching storm moaned through the eaves of the building and rustled the leaves of the trees. As he headed toward the field, he saw Clark talking with Mason Taylor, a fourteen-year-old volunteer, near the lemur enclosure. The boy sat in his wheelchair with a drone on his lap, and he petted Clark’s German shepherds as he and Clark talked. The boy was always so enthusiastic about the animals, and everyone loved having him around.
From the right Paradise exited her car and approached the two. She still wore her pale green clinic uniform, and Blake doubted she knew about the rhino escape. She reached Mason and Clark and stood talking to them. Blake’s smile faltered when he saw movement just past the trees in the field.
Dozer snorted and swung his head toward Clark and Paradise when she laughed. The rhino charged a few feet and stopped at the tree line.
“Don’t move!” he shouted as he ran that way. The wind snatched his words away, and they still smiled and talked.
Blake cupped his hands. “Don’t move! Escaped rhino!”
