met each other before yesterday or not, their lives were intertwined. And while he’d expected to feel yet more sadness at all he’d lost through not knowing Nathan as he grew up, Jonah realized he had always possessed something. Even if he never knew it. Nathan had been a part of his life always. A fact that made the long years since Martin’s death—the years when he hadn’t been able to find Elise—feel a little less like a yawning chasm of loneliness.
Jonah brushed away the heaviness and set his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Your dad loved this bike the minute he saw it.”
Nathan looked up then, a world of hope in his eyes. “Really?”
Jonah nodded. “Martin and I planned to work on it together.” He paused then, wondering if the kid was feeling one iota of what he was. Maybe the kid didn’t think this was a big deal, but something nagged at him to believe otherwise. To trust. “Maybe, if you want, you could help me work on it.”
The light in Nathan’s eyes spread to his whole face. “I—” His voice cracked with emotion and he cleared his throat. “That would be cool.”
Jonah squeezed Nathan’s shoulder. “Great.”
* * *
Elise backed up from the barn door. This whole experience was a bizarre mesh of not wanting to let go of her son just yet and being ecstatic that Nathan was bonding with his uncle because she loved him and wanted good things for him. It was like being pulled in two different directions, but one thing was clear. If Jonah hurt Nathan he’d see how fast she could go “mama bear.”
The dog sat patiently beside her. Elise looked out over Jonah’s land. She could see the neighboring ranch, and the drive that stretched out at least half a mile to the road. A car pulled up by the mailbox and deposited a newspaper in the holder below Jonah’s mailbox before it drove off, disappearing between the trees.
Elise wrapped Jonah’s coat tighter around her. She didn’t want to face the awkwardness of having to produce small talk with a man who was essentially a stranger.
She clicked her fingers and the dog fell into step beside her. Elise soaked in the brisk morning air as she walked the drive, reveling in the stretching of her muscles. The world was quiet but for the brush of wind on branches and the distant sounds of traffic. The valley where the town was located sat to the north, down a tall hill.
What had made Jonah want to live so removed from everything? She could understand not wanting work to intrude on his personal life. He probably wanted to keep his home life separate from the fugitives he was chasing—one of whom was her own brother.
If she had her phone she’d try and call Fix, but she had no idea what her brother’s phone number was now. Even if she did, it’d been on the floor in the office when Jonah carried her out and the building exploded. Too bad she couldn’t even afford another one. Not when her salary would go toward their basic expenses and every extra dollar matched Nathan’s car savings. She’d have to see if she could get an inexpensive replacement phone online.
Elise pulled out the newspaper and unrolled it. The headline read Local Source Uncovers Exotic Animal Trade.
Under the bold type was Elise’s picture. Her breath caught in her throat at the image that had been posted online by the sanctuary she’d worked for previously. It was from their annual fund-raiser, and she was dressed up with her hair fixed in a complicated updo so tight it had made her head ache all night. They’d given her a commendation that day for all her work with a pair of tiger cubs found when the ATF raided a compound of activists and impounded their stockpile of weapons.
Elise scanned the article—all about the explosion that had further destroyed the zoo. The reporter knew all about her having been hired back to rebuild. But imbedded in the lines of text was the implication the zoo had previously had ties to local exotic animal trading.
The reporter even claimed to have evidence directly linking the zoo to local traders.
It was the last thing they needed. Now the reopening, and Elise’s position, would be marred by these accusations. Couldn’t he have just stuck to talking about the incident last night? Didn’t the reporter know she would be as concerned about the animals’ well-being as he seemed to be?
Instead he made it sound like she was involved in something huge—and incredibly wrong.
Growing up, she’d had a reputation for being the kid who always talked about animals, who brought them home to take care of. She’d spent countless hours at the zoo as a kid, watching the previous zookeeper—Zane Ford—do his work. She’d learned so much from him. Could he really have been involved in exotic animal trading? It was almost unconscionable. He’d loved the animals. Yes, he’d also been concerned about money, but she’d thought that was because he needed it to feed and care for the animals adequately.
She’d grieved when she heard he’d been lost in the flood. Could he really have been deceiving everyone? Selling animals?
Sam barked once. Elise turned back to the house. She needed to tell Jonah about the newspaper article.
The mailbox clanged. She looked back to find it had imploded, struck with something small that had torn through the metal. The sound of a gunshot echoed across the hill.
Sam’s paws collided with her before she even realized someone was shooting at her.
“Stay in the barn.” Jonah yelled the command to Nathan over his shoulder and flew out the barn door. It wasn’t the gunshot that propelled him down the drive. Those were common enough in his line of work—though not usually this close to his house. It was Elise’s scream.
He pulled his gun as he ran, glad he hadn’t decided to forgo wearing it at home because of Nathan and Elise. Their possible discomfort at his having a gun on his person was less important than the danger they were in.
Danger that had now visited his doorstep.
Sam barked but didn’t move. It looked like he was sitting on something at the mailbox. Or someone.
Jonah slipped his phone from his pocket and held it to his ear. “Call emergency dispatch.”
The phone rang and immediately connected. “Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”
“Shots fired.” He gave his credentials and his address.
“Units are on their way.”
Jonah hung up and stowed the phone. He was close enough he could see the person on the ground under Sam was Elise. “Sam, stay.”
Elise lifted her head. “Jonah!”
She shifted to get up, so Jonah yelled again, “Stay down.”
Elise stilled, and Sam lowered his head, his ears still pricked. Jonah could see in the dog’s eyes that he was fully alert. “Don’t move.” This time the command was for both of them.
Jonah crouched beside her, checking her visually for injuries.
Eyes full of fear, Elise looked up at him. “Where’s Nathan?”
“In the barn. What happened?”
“Someone shot at me and Sam tackled me to the ground.”
Jonah surveyed the area, his gaze lighting on the destroyed mailbox. Large caliber, a rifle round most likely. He took in the tree line, and his neighbor’s house and barn. The shooter could be waiting in any of the spots that would’ve provided cover. If he’d even stuck around after firing.
He rubbed Sam’s neck. “Good dog.” The old army dog nuzzled his hand.
“Can I get up? The ground is kind of hard.”
Jonah looked around again. He could hear police sirens in the distance, so he stowed his weapon in the holster on his hip.
The