Chapter 38
“Ready or not, here I come!” Blake called out. The aroma of grilled brats and burgers wafted from the small grill his mom
tended to on his tailgate. He opened his eyes and listened for the telltale giggle from Isaac. His littlest brother had trouble
staying quiet during hide-and-seek.
He walked through the replicas of Stonehenge, called Bamahenge. The massive structure looked like the original, but the stones
were made of fiberglass filled with cement. It was amazing to find this sight down a country road near Elberta. He hadn’t
brought the boys here in a while, and they wanted to explore the dinosaurs next.
He heard a giggle and whipped around to see Isaac duck back behind an upright block. “Found you. Now where are Paradise and
Levi? I think they might be hard to find.”
His dimple flashing, Isaac came to join in. “I know where they are.”
“No cheating. I have to find them on my own.” He lifted the five-year-old to his shoulders, and the little guy entwined his
fingers in Blake’s hair.
The sky held the magic of impending dusk, and Blake was ready to find his woman and enjoy dinner with the family. He and Isaac wandered from stone to stone and didn’t catch a glimpse of them. “I might need your help after all,” Blake said.
Mom called out that supper was ready. That should get a reaction from Levi, who was always hungry. There was no answering
call or giggle from either of the two missing players.
“Levi was right there behind that tree.” Isaac leaned down to direct Blake. “He must have moved.”
Blake headed that direction and found the grass flattened where Levi had been. He lifted Isaac off his shoulders and set him
down. Had they circled around to go back to the truck without being seen? Maybe this game hadn’t been the best idea when Blake
was already worrying about keeping everyone safe. “Let’s check and see if Mom saw them dart off.”
When he exited Bamahenge, he spotted Paradise coming from the direction of the stegosaurus. “Do you have Levi?” he called.
She shook her head and broke into a jog. Her expression was troubled when she reached him. “He was right there.” She pointed
out the same location Isaac had identified.
“He knows better than to wander off.” Blake cupped his hands and shouted for his brother. “Time’s up, Levi. Olly olly oxen
free.” No answering shout came back, and he turned toward the trees. “Isaac, you go help Mom while Paradise and I find your
brother.”
A tear slid down Isaac’s cheek. “The T-Rex didn’t eat him, did he? I knew that dino was dangerous.”
Mom joined them, and she called for Levi too. “Levi, dinner!”
There was still no answer to Mom’s shout, but maybe he was out of range to hear. That wasn’t good, but it didn’t mean anything had happened to him. Blake patted his teary-eyed little brother’s head. “The dinosaur didn’t eat him—they’re pretend, remember?”
Isaac’s lip trembled. “Maybe they came to life.”
“Paradise and I will go look for him. Mom will feed you, and we’ll go get ice cream later.” He glanced at his mother and mouthed,
Keep him distracted.
She bit her lip. “Paradise, you want to take Isaac? I’d like to look for Levi.”
“Sure.”
As Paradise started that way, Isaac started to wail. He clung to his mother. “I want you, Mommy. Hold me.”
“We’ll find him, Mom. I’m sure he’s just out of earshot. He’s fine.” The words felt hollow, but his mother’s frown eased and
she carried Isaac toward the food.
Blake and Paradise walked toward the stones. He eyed the stone on top of two others. “I don’t think he could climb up there.”
It was probably twenty feet tall, maybe more. There were no good climbing holds either.
He and Paradise walked around every stone and didn’t find Levi. His little brother had never been able to hide for so long.
He was still young enough to get bored if he wasn’t found, so he’d make noise like a faint whistle or a sinister chuckle,
but there’d been nothing. Blake didn’t want to admit he was worried.
Paradise turned away from Bamahenge. “Let’s check out the trees. He might have climbed one.”
He followed her into the tree line, and they took turns shouting Levi’s name. Blake tried checking the ground for prints,
but it was too hard for any impressions to be made. They could be searching in the wrong direction. “Did he know you were
at the dinosaurs?”
“I don’t think so, and I know he didn’t come with me. He was right there in the stones when I saw him last.” She clutched his forearm. “Blake, I’m scared. I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight with everything that’s happened.”
“Let’s stay calm. He loves hiding in small, tight places. Like closets. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found him in
one with the door shut. Are there any caves or dens around? Let’s see what we can find.” He didn’t think there was anything
like that in the area, but for all he knew, his brother could have wedged himself in an old well or a raccoon den.
Alarm fired along his spine at the thought that Levi might be in trouble.
Blake shouted for him again and traipsed through last year’s dead leaves as they circled every tree and looked up into the
overhanging branches. After half an hour Blake pulled out his phone. “I’d better call for help. Something’s wrong.”
Tears rushed to Paradise’s eyes. “I’m going to keep looking while you make the call.”
Blake placed the 911 call and reported his brother missing. His voice skipped when he had to say the word missing. He watched Paradise search, and some secret part of his soul knew Levi was in trouble. Had someone taken him? The thought
nearly buckled his knees.
He ended the call so he could shout for his little brother. “Levi!” Panic edged closer as he joined Paradise, who was staring
at something in her hand. “What do you have?”
“It’s a note.” She gulped and read it. “‘You’ll find Levi by the Knights in the Woods. The next time, you’ll never find him.
Vacate The Sanctuary.’” She stared up at him. “We were looking in the wrong direction.”
He grabbed her hand, and they ran toward the marina.
Levi’s face was muddy and tearstained when Paradise and Blake knelt beside him. Paradise gently pulled away the tape over his mouth while Blake worked at freeing his hands and feet. Tears spilled down his cheeks.
Paradise pulled him into her lap and rocked back and forth. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
“I want my mama,” he wailed as Blake tore away the last of the duct tape on his ankles. “I’m never playing hide-and-seek again.”
Blake balled up the tape and tossed it into a trash receptacle. “I’m with you, buddy.” He held out his arms and Levi lunged
into them.
“I’ll call your mom.” Paradise pulled out her phone and called Jenna, who sounded frantic as she promised to come right away.
They’d taken a shortcut to the knights through the trees and Jenna hadn’t heard everything yet. The note wasn’t something
they could talk about in front of the boys.
Blake’s truck came fast up the road, the tires spitting gravel as it came to a hard stop. The door flew open, and Jenna leaped
out with Isaac right behind her. “Levi!” She ran to them and fell to her knees to take him in her arms. “You scared us so
much.”
“There was a boogeyman.” Levi’s brown eyes were wide with fear, and he held out his hand for Isaac. “Stay close to me, bro.
He might take you next.”
“I’ll punch him!” Isaac stood back, wide-eyed and with his fists clenched at his sides. “Did he hurt you? If he did, I’ll
beat him up.” He took a fighter stance and flung his arms out in jerky moves.
“You can’t beat him. He’s the boogeyman.” Levi buried his face in his mom’s chest. “I want to sleep with you, Mommy.”
Jenna smoothed the tufts of his dark brown hair that stuck up. “You sure can.” She took his face in her palms and nudged him back from her so she could see his face. “What did he look like, Levi?”
“I don’t want to think about it!” He buried his face against his mother again.
Paradise exchanged a glance with Blake. Counselor, she mouthed. He nodded. “You’d better let the police know we found him but he was abducted.”
The police would have a child expert ask questions and try to get a detailed description of the abductor. Who would have been
depraved enough to use a little boy? She needed to discuss all this with Blake and Jenna, but it would have to wait for now.
Levi was much more important, and he needed a lot of comfort and reassurance. Tonight would probably be rough.
It was dark by the time the police cars left and the boys and Jenna were safely curled up on the sofa in her cottage. The
food she had prepared had gone cold, and Paradise whipped up some grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup. She made
brownies while they gobbled up their meal, and the chocolaty aroma calmed the jitters she’d had since she first read the note.
Blake joined her in the kitchen. “He doesn’t want Mom out of his sight. He’ll probably have nightmares tonight.”
“I thought so too. I think I’ll stay. I can sleep with Isaac. He’s probably going to need comfort too. He cries when he thinks
no one is looking.”
“I know. I can sleep in his room, but I’ll feel better if you’re here with us.
” Blake ran his hand through his thick dark hair.
“We all need each other tonight. I’ve never been so terrified in my life.
Not even with artillery landing all around me in Afghanistan.
Mom wants to move, like, right now. Turn the will over and get out of here. She’s as traumatized as the boys.”
“You think it was Dean?”
“I don’t think so. The police sent me the composite sketch the artist drew. Take a look.” He pulled up a picture on his phone
and showed her.
She gasped. “It’s Adams.”
“I think so too. We know he’s working on running us off. I don’t know how he got hooked up with Dean, but I’m sure they’re
both involved. He’s probably doing what he’s told.” Blake turned the phone’s screen back around to face him and stared at
it. “I emailed Jane and told her it looked like Adams. She’s still got officers out on the hunt for him, but he must have
a good hidey-hole to have evaded them all this time.” His eyes narrowed and his mouth grew tight. “I’d better not run into
him myself, because he wouldn’t make it to jail.”
“Do you really think Adams would hurt a child next time?”
“You’re the best one to answer that—you know what he’s capable of.”
She tried to rid her memories of the man’s soulless eyes. “I think it’s all scare tactics. He’s a weasel at heart. Stand up
to him and he backs off. That’s why I knew I could handle him when I was a teenager. He was never violent—and he didn’t hurt
Levi physically.”
“Dean would have no compunction about hurting a kid, not when he seems to have killed his own uncle.”
She pulled the brownies out of the oven and set them down to cool.
“I haven’t had a minute to tell you about talking to Elowen yesterday.
I didn’t want to bring it up in front of the boys with all of us riding to Bamahenge together.
She said Dean told her he killed his uncle.
” She told him about the meth and the way Dean had rationalized his actions.
“And Dean asked Elowen to forge Allen’s signature on the will.
That was a few weeks ago, which proves the will isn’t an original, just like Hez’s program showed. ”
“I’ll tell Jane all about this. Maybe she’ll talk to Dean and get to the truth.”
Paradise listened to him tell Jane what they’d found out, but she didn’t have his hope that this would end it.