“I’m not sure who sent this.” She showed him the text.
“I’d better go. Is it okay if I text the sender and ask for the address?”
She nodded and handed him her phone. He tapped out a response. “It’s an owner over in Magnolia Springs. He wants to turn the animal over to us. It’s already bitten him, and he’s bleeding. He doesn’t want to call animal control because he doesn’t want it injured.”
This was something she needed to help with. “I’ll go with you.”
The boys’ faces fell, and Isaac’s brown eyes filled with tears. “You said you’d play dominoes with us.”
“I know, buddy, but there’s a lemur that needs us.” She reached down to slip on her sandals.
“I’ll play,” Drew said. “You two go rescue the lemur, and I’ll whip these boys into shape.”
“Yay!” Levi threw his arms around Drew’s neck. “Can you be our brother too? Paradise is going to be our sister.”
“I’d be honored.”
When Drew grinned at her with such joy, Paradise wanted to hug him. He’d grown up without siblings too. Blake’s family was quick to welcome people searching for a place to belong, and she mouthed athank youto Jenna. Having Drew so quickly assimilated into the family warmed Paradise’s heart.
She grabbed a banana and a container of blueberries from the kitchen before they left the house. Bribing the lemur would help them calm it.
Blake interlocked his fingers with hers, and they walked out to his truck together in the fading sunshine. “You sure you’re up to this? I can go tranq the little guy and bring him back.”
“It helps to have two of us, and I need to walk some of the soreness off. My legs and arms ache.” She clung to his hand and relished his proprietary grip. He’d been there for her throughevery minute of this ordeal. If not for Blake, she might be dead in that dumpster.
“Getting thrown out like trash isn’t for the faint of heart.” He opened the passenger door and helped her into the truck.
Magnolia Springs was only ten minutes away. “Did the guy tell you anything about the situation?”
“No, just what you saw. He or she texted me the location.”
She fell silent as they drove the short distance to the house. It was in one of her favorite neighborhoods. She stared at the address. “You know what—I think this is Elowen and Wade’s house.” Wade Greene, a firefighter, was Detective Creed Greene’s brother, though they were estranged.
The address on Bay Street wasn’t far from Jesse’s Restaurant. Live oaks draped with Spanish moss stretched their branches in a green arch over the roads, and the sun’s dying rays bathed the neighborhood with a welcoming glow that wouldn’t last long.
The shotgun-style home was just as she remembered it with white shutters and a charming porch. No one was outside tonight. She climbed out of the truck while Blake grabbed the tranquilizer gun, a medical kit, and a net from the back of the pickup and followed her.
She rang the bell, then remembered Elowen was likely still trapped in the bedroom. “It has to be Elowen who texted. Wade wouldn’t be frightened of a lemur even if it was biting and scratching.”
“Unless he had Tessa with him. She’s only two, so the lemur could hurt her.”
“I’m going in.” Paradise twisted the doorknob, and it opened into the living room cluttered with toys and stuffed animals. She spotted one of the pandas from the gift shop at The Sanctuary.She picked it up and carried it with her down the dark hall she guessed led to the bedrooms.
There was no mistaking the lemur shriek ahead of her. The animal grunted and barked, vocal signals of agitation. She held the banana out. “Let me try calming it first. Maybe you won’t have to use the tranquilizer. I’d rather use the net.”
“Me too, but this guy sounds mad.”
Enraged was more like it. What had set it off? She ran her fingers over the wall of the windowless hallway and found the switch. She flipped it on and light flooded the snug space. The lemur stood on its back legs at the bedroom door and shook the doorknob. The animal turned when the lights came on and barked at her. It was a male and would be more docile than a female. Females ruled the pack.
She extended the banana. “Hey there, buddy. It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.”
“Paradise, thank the Lord you’re here.” Elowen’s tearful voice came from the other side of the door. “I’ve got Tessa with me, but I haven’t been able to reach Wade. He’s at a fire and probably doesn’t have his phone with him.”
“We’ll take care of it, Elowen.” She took a step nearer the lemur. “You hungry?” she asked in a coaxing voice. The lemur’s tail quit lashing so hard, and it reached out agile fingers to pluck the banana from her hand. It didn’t bother to peel the banana but bit off a chunk and chewed.
“Is that good? I have blueberries too.” She planned to scatter them on the floor so the lemur would have to pick them up. That should distract it long enough for Blake to toss the net over it.
She waited until the animal finished the banana, then opened the container lid and rolled a handful of blueberries toward the lemur. It dropped onto all fours and began plucking up the berriesand throwing them in its mouth. The agitation leached out of its face.
