Return To Paradise (Paradise Park Book 2)

by Carolina Mac

“Which way is the river?” asked Rob.

  “There’s a path through the woods behind that vacant lot.” Grace pointed. “I don’t think we could get through there with the stroller.”

  “The woods look pretty thick, and I don’t want Joey covered in bug bites,” said Rob glancing at his bare arm. “I’ve got a couple just walking down the road.”

  Grace smiled.

  “I’ll check out the river after Darlene gets here.” Rob waved his arm in a circle. “Let’s finish the loop.”

  They were past the gate and had made the final turn for home when a deafening Harley rumble approached from behind. Rob herded Grace and the stroller off the road to let three bikes roar by. All riders wore the same colors.

  Why did Grace pick this park?

  JOEY WAS SLEEPING when Darlene returned from Dry Springs, late in the afternoon. Ted barked when he heard her Jeep, but then wagged his tail and licked Darlene’s hand when she came through the door. He liked her, and that said a lot. Ted was a watchdog that gave no quarter.

  Rob locked the door behind Darlene and motioned towards the tiny living room. “Have a seat. I’m having a beer. Want one?”

  “Yeah, sure. Where’s Grace?”

  “Lying down with Joey for a few minutes.” Rob took two cold Coors from the fridge and opened them. “Glass?”

  “Nope, I’m okay,” said Darlene. “It freaks me out to see you in a domestic situation like this. Not what I pictured.”

  “I told you I was married.”

  Darlene chuckled. “Guess I had a hard time believing it. You’re like the poster boy for wild and free.”

  “You’re nuts. What’s going on in cop-land?”

  “Not much. Forensics will be done with Grace’s truck by end of day, and she can have it back in the morning.” She took a long pull on her beer. “Hot as hell out there.”

  Darlene set her can on the coffee table and rummaged in her shoulder bag. She came up with several sheets of paper, stapled together at the top corner. “Got a copy of Sid Cowan’s sheet for you. He’s a capital ‘A’ asshole, and has been most of his fucking life.” She handed the pages to Rob and he handed them back.

  “Read it to me.”

  “Read it yourself, super-con. What do I look like? The voice of the ‘Little Mermaid?” Darlene chugged the rest of her beer.

  Rob spoke in a whisper, “You look like you can read better than me.”

  Darlene gave him a hard stare and then nodded her head. “Yep, okay then.” She ran her finger down the first page. “Let’s see.” She read off the first few: ‘possession, disturbing the peace, possession with intent, auto theft, trafficking, assault, assault with a deadly, attempted murder, rape, sexual assault…’ “Goes on and on, year after year, several charges of sexual assault. The guy is a fuckin maniac—especially around women.”

  “Can’t they make anything stick?”

  “Can’t seem to,” said Darlene. “Pled down to a lot of the charges. Did two years for one of them. Other than that, a month or two—here and there.”

  “This probably ain’t his first murder,” said Rob.

  Grace wandered in from the kitchen looking a little sleepy-eyed. “You guys want a snack or anything?”

  Rob shook his head. “Come have a beer with us, Gracie.”

  Grace brought another round from the fridge and sat down beside Rob. “Anything on the warrant for the mysterious building on the other side of the river?” she asked.

  “You think that’s relevant?” asked Darlene.

  “Kiley said she wasn’t allowed to talk about the building, so that gave it huge importance in my mind. Something the bikers are keeping under wraps.”

  “I’ll find out more about it tonight,” said Rob. He smiled at Grace, “while super-cop is keeping you and Joey safe.”

  “Any progress with Detective Kuchma?” asked Grace, “In the romance department, I mean?”

  Darlene’s cheeks glowed a cherry-pink. “Maybe a little. He’s gonna take a lot of work.”

  Rob chuckled. “I should warn the poor fucker.”

  IT WAS MIDNIGHT. Rob went into the bathroom, whipped off his shirt and sprayed himself with insect repellent. He checked his gun, chambered a round and shoved it into his waistband. Before leaving the trailer, he stuck his head into Joey’s room and said a silent goodnight to his son. Love you, little guy. Loved you since before you were born.

  In the kitchen, he grabbed a flashlight from Grace’s junk drawer next to the sink and stuck it in his pocket. He was ready.

  Grace and Darlene were watching a movie as he passed through the living room on his way out. Grace looked up and said, “Be careful, cowboy.”

  “Yep. I’m always careful.” He pointed at Darlene. “You got your gun handy, hot shot?”

  Darlene pointed a finger at the Glock on the coffee table.

  Ted saw Rob heading for the door and jumped to his feet. “Yeah, you can come, but I’d better leash you.” Rob grabbed the leash from the hook behind the door, clipped it onto Ted’s collar and locked the door behind them.

  They headed out into the heat of the night. Rob lit a smoke and strolled slowly along the road. Most of the trailers they passed were in darkness. Not a soul out walking around or sitting on their decks—the few that had decks. Where was everybody? This was the weirdest trailer park he’d ever seen. No neighbors being friendly, or walking down the road with their dog, or hollering hello to each other like in Paradise. Not that he’d done a lot of those things, but it was a feeling. A feeling that was missing here.

  Rob was drenched in sweat by the time he and Ted jogged to the bend in the road. The outside light was burning bright on Sky Brady’s trailer, attracting a swarm of moths, but no other lights were on. No glow from the TV inside.

  Rob turned to his right and Ted took the lead through the long grass in the vacant lot. Cicadas sang in the trees and the closer Rob got to the river, the louder the frogs croaked. He had to find the path. Not an easy task in the pitch dark. Did he want to risk a flashlight?

  Ted’s nose was glued to the ground. He growled and pulled on the leash. “Shit,” mumbled Rob, “possums or coons out at night. I should have left you home, Ted.”

  Without turning on the light, Rob followed the sound of the river and fought his way through the trees, the prickly bushes and the bugs. One sharp branch caught him right above his left eye and he bit back a curse.

  He stood on the river bank as Ted waded in and slurped up a drink. With a hint of moonlight glinting off the water, Rob could see the other shore—not a huge river, but wide enough you’d need a bridge or a boat to cross it. He couldn’t see the building Grace was talking about, but he sure as hell could smell it. He recognized the unmistakable stink right off. Somebody was cooking meth. A meth lab, and it’s not far away. That’s where the bikers are.

  How are they getting across the river? He’d find that out tomorrow.

  CHAPTER NINE

  GRACE KISSED JOEY goodbye. She had to leave him with Rob because there was no car seat in Darlene’s Jeep.

  “Wave bye to Mommy,” said Rob as he held Joey in his arms on the front step.

  “Boggles my mind to see him with a wife and a kid,” said Darlene as she backed out the short driveway. “I usually have a good read on cons, but he fooled me. I didn’t peg him as that kind of a guy.”

  “Family is number one with Rob. He never had a family life growing up,” said Grace. “Just an older brother who raised him when their mother took off and left them. Rob was only six.”

  “Where’s the brother now?”

  “He died,” said Grace.

  “Oh,” said Darlene. She turned onto the highway and headed for town. “Rob say anything about what he found last night? He was quiet this morning.”

  “He couldn’t see much, but he was positive he could smell a meth lab, not too far away.”

  Darlene cranked her head around and stared at Grace over the console. “Oh, yeah? A meth lab? That could be interesti
ng.”

  “Interesting and dangerous,” said Grace.

  “I’ll need confirmation before I go to the stud with the info.”

  “Uh huh. That would be best,” said Grace, “you won’t get too many Brownie points for a maybe.”

  Darlene cruised through town, parked and showed Grace where to sign for her truck at the forensic’s garage. “Not a big operation here, but adequate. They can handle one or two vehicles at a time.”

  “Hope they don’t have murders too often in Dry Springs,” said Grace. She accepted her keys and followed the officer to her truck.

  Darlene trailed along behind. “I’ll spend some time in the sheriff’s office, then drive out later. Need me to pick up any groceries, beer, whatever?”

  “No, that’s okay,” said Grace. “I’ll do it now. I need juice boxes and a couple of things for Joey anyway.”

  Darlene leaned in the truck window. “He’s a cute little boy, and he looks a lot like Rob.”

  Grace smiled. “Yeah, he does.” Grace started the truck and was halfway across the parking lot when her cell rang. She stopped and answered. “Jerry, how are you? How’s the baby? How’s Kate?”

  “We’re all fine, Grace and we’d be a lot finer if you’d come home. I want you to move back here where I can see you once in a while. I hate living like this—so far apart. I almost lost my mind when I couldn’t contact you.”

  “I… I wasn’t in a good place, Jerry. I couldn’t think, and in the upset of the move, I lost my phone charger. When I finally found it, it wouldn’t work. This town was too small to get a replacement. I had to get a temporary phone.”

  “Why did you wait so long? Didn’t you think I’d be worried?”

  “That was just it, Jer, I didn’t think. I couldn’t think at all. I was in a bad place. An emotional disaster, but that’s over now. I’m tons better now that Rob is home.”

  “Home? That sounds like you’re going to stay there.”

  “That’s not what I meant. No decisions have been made. We haven’t even had time to talk about it.”

  “Why not? What’s going on that you’re too busy to talk?”

  I’m not telling Jerry about Sid or the murder.

  “Oh, Rob brought a police woman home with him and I’ve been cooking a lot.”

  “What? That’s nuts. Rob has an aversion to cops. Why would he do that?”

  “Umm… she helped him with a couple of things.”

  “I’m getting crazy vibes from you, Grace. Something’s going on down there, and I don’t like it one bit.”

  “I’ll call you later, Jerry. Love you.”

  Grace pressed end. “Shit. He’s so worked up. If he knew about Mike’s murder he’d be on the next plane to Texas, and that’s the last thing I want.”

  Grace sighed, reached for the key and her phone rang again. “I’m not talking to my brother any more. Not right now.” She checked the screen. “Damn, now it’s Derrick.”

  My writing is at a standstill. What the hell am I going to tell him this time?

  “Hi, Derrick. How are you?”

  “No, Grace, forget how I am… I read in the paper about the murder up there in the hills. The question is, how are you? And what the hell is going on?”

  “There’s a lot of activity with the police in the park investigating. It’s been hard for me to finish the chapters that you want.”

  “Forget about the fucking chapters, Grace. I’m concerned about you being alone up there. Why wouldn’t you listen to me and take a place in the city?”

  “I don’t want Joey to live in the city, Derrick, although San Antonio is a beautiful place.”

  “Was the murder anywhere near you?”

  “Umm… it was my next-door neighbor.”

  She heard him suck in a breath. “I’m driving up there right after I leave the office.” Before she could say anything to deter him, he ended the call.

  I never should have given him my new number.

  ROB SAT ON the carpet in Joey’s tiny bedroom looking through his toy box. He didn’t have much, but how much did a kid need? He’d never had a toy. Gary always used any money they had for food, smokes and beer.

  Joey handed him a book with a puppy on the front. “Read a story, Daddy.”

  “This is a story about a puppy,” said Rob. He opened the book to the first page and the words were a blur. He looked at the picture above and made up words thinking Joey wouldn’t know any different.

  “Wrong words, Daddy. Start over.”

  Shit. What do I do now?

  “I’m hungry,” said Joey.

  “Me too.” Rob let out a breath, put the book down and took Joey by the hand. “Let’s look in the fridge.”

  I don’t know what he can have. What kind of a loser-dad am I?

  Joey pointed. “Apples, Daddy. Wash them first.”

  “Right. Rob took two apples out of the crisper and washed them. He handed one to Joey and he shook his head.

  “No?”

  “Mommy peels it with a knife and cuts it in little pieces. I can’t try to do it myself, because the knife is too sharp. I have to wait until I’m bigger.”

  “Okay, gotcha. No problem.” Not an expert with the paring knife, it felt too small in his hand, but he peeled the apple and cut it up. He put the pieces into a plastic bowl and gave it to his son.

  Joey smiled. “Good job, Daddy.”

  Rob laughed out loud. “Thanks.”

  Joey munched his way through half of his apple pieces, then pushed the bowl away. “All done.”

  “Okay. We’ll save the rest for later.”

  “Where’s my sister, Daddy?”

  “What?” Rob thought he hadn’t understood the question.

  “Mommy said when you came home, I’d get a sister.”

  “No kidding?”

  Joey shook his head. “Nope.”

  Tears burned behind Rob’s eyes and he hugged his son.

  GRACE STOPPED AT the grocery store to grab a few things before she drove back to the park. Halfway down the second aisle, in front of the cereal, she saw Kiley with Merrilee sitting in the front of her cart.

  “Hi, Kiley. How have you been?”

  “Busy, but not too bad.” Kiley turned her head and Grace caught a glimpse of the bruising down the left side of her face. Her left eye was puffy and half closed.

  Should she say something? Or would that make things worse for Kiley.

  “Do you have a cell phone, Kiley?”

  She took a box of Froot Loops from the shelf and nodded as she put it into her cart. “Yeah, why?”

  “I want to give you my number.”

  “What for?”

  “In case… you need me to come over.”

  “For a visit?” Kiley shook her blonde head. “Sky don’t like me to have friends over.” She touched the side of her face.

  Was it my fault she got that beating?

  “Uh huh, or for an emergency.”

  Kiley leaned down on the cart handle. “Oh, I get it. You think I need help with Sky.”

  “Do you?”

  “Nope. I’ve got it covered.”

  “Okay. I believe you, but put my number in anyway.”

  ROB SAT ON the front step smoking and watching Joey play with his trucks in the dirt. Ted was stretched out in the grass that needed cutting, under the only tree.

  Rob was thinking of looking in the shed to see if Grace had a lawnmower when her truck turned the corner. “Look out, Joey. Mommy’s gonna park there.” He scooped up his son and his trucks and moved him onto the grass.

  He opened the door of the truck, helped Grace down and kissed her. “I missed you, baby.”

  Grace giggled. “I wasn’t gone long.”

  “Felt long to me.” He pulled her tight to his body and kissed her again. This time he explored her sweet mouth with his tongue and pressed her against the side of the truck.

  “Mmm… that’s a nice welcome home. Want to help me with the groceries?”

&
nbsp; “Sure do.”

  “How was Joey?”

  “Perfect.” Rob chuckled. “I have a perfect child. How did that happen?”

  “Good genes,” said Grace. “I’ll take the bags, you can carry the beer.”

  Once everything was unloaded, Grace made a pot of coffee and told him about the call from Jerry.

  “He’ll probably call me next if he’s getting in a fuckin knot. I wasn’t gonna tell you this, babe, but Kate told me he’s been drinking more than a little.”

  Grace made a face. “It’s my fault. I know how attached he is to me, and yet I moved to another country.”

  “He has his own family now,” said Rob. “He has a wife and a baby to take care of. You have me. He’ll adjust.”

  “Maybe,” said Grace, but she didn’t sound convinced.

  Rob finished his coffee and took the mug to the sink. “I’m going out for ten minutes to see if I can find the bridge. There has to be one, and it can’t be too far away if the bikers are running across the river every night to cook. It was too dark last night. I couldn’t see a damn thing.”

  “I’ll be fine. Ted can stay here with me.” Ted thumped his tail on the floor at the mention of his name.

  “Lock the door behind me, Grace. If anyone comes that you don’t know. Call the cops.”

  Rob heard Grace call out, “Don’t worry.” as he ran down the steps.

  I am worrying. Things are too fuckin quiet in this park. All hell is gonna unravel. I can feel it.

  No sign of any neighbors outside their trailers as he retraced his steps to the river bank. He had clear sightlines to the other side and didn’t see anything but trees and rocks. Where had Grace seen the building? She said she saw it from a little sandy beach.

  Rob turned right and searched the shore for anything that looked like a patch of sand. He strode along a narrow path, worn down almost to the dirt. The day was heating up and he was sweating bricks. His t-shirt stuck to his ribs. As he trudged along, he thought about what Joey had said about a sister. He did want a baby girl, more than anything, but not in this place—not in this park from hell. His family would be raised in a safe place. He’d make that his first priority.

  Five minutes farther along the bank, the trees thinned a little and he came to a place where the river widened. The bank dipped lower, and clear shallow water lapped against a strip of sand.