Chapter 32
Paradise checked on the black jaguar and saw him sleeping in the shade with no sign of facial swelling. He was going to be
fine. She checked her phone. Drew and Blake would be waiting for her to discuss the contents of the files they’d gotten from
Roger’s office.
As she crossed the strip of grass, she spotted Angela leaning against a fence by the lemurs. She changed trajectories to join
her. “Lemurs are great, aren’t they?”
Angela turned with a smile. “I don’t know why I find them so enthralling. Something about their eyes.”
Paradise spotted King Julien. “That’s the one I mentioned at lunch. He was held in a crate most of the time and never saw
another lemur for years until we got him. Funny thing about lemurs is they’re such social creatures. He was unhappy, antagonistic,
and short-tempered. Once he saw others like him and was accepted into their conspiracy, he mellowed out. Now he’s got a mate
and a happy life.”
“What a wonderful story. You said something about a conspiracy. Is that what a group of lemurs is called?”
Paradise chuckled. “Sounds odd, right? I’ve always wondered why they’re called that when they’re so social.
Maybe it’s because they conspire together to thwart predators.
They also do something called ‘mobbing,’ where they leap out of nowhere to attack an enemy together.
They aren’t that tall, but they can jump six times their height so it can feel like the attack is coming out of nowhere. ”
“How fascinating! I don’t know much about them except I love them.” She studied Paradise a moment. “It sounds like you’ve
been dealing with your own conspiracy for a lot of years. I’m sorry about your parents.”
“Thank you. I’ve only recently begun to remember the night of the murders. I hope to remember everything eventually.”
“So you were there.” Angela gave a delicate shudder. “I’m sorry you endured something like that.”
“I wish I’d had my parents all these years.” Paradise watched the mama lemurs groom the new babies, and her eyes blurred at
the memory of her mother’s fingers in her hair, taming it into braids. Someday maybe she’d have the chance to do the same
for her daughter.
She mentally shook herself to snap out of her fugue. “You’ve been with the governor a long time?”
“Twenty years. She was quite overtaken at the memory of Ben’s death.”
“I’m sorry we brought it up. We needed to know if she knew them. Blake didn’t think she would.”
“Politics is a funny life. Full of drama, friendship, enemies, and secrets.”
Was the woman trying to tell her something? Did the governor know more than she’d let on? “You sound like you both love it
and hate it.”
“It’s a challenge, but the governor is wonderful to work for. She’s considerate of all her employees.”
“Did Ben ever make a play for the governor? They’re about the same age.”
Angela blinked and frowned. “Of course not. Why would you ask something like that?”
“We know he was a player. Her reaction to my questions seemed . . . odd.”
“It wasn’t odd at all. She’s been a friend of the family for decades.”
“I assume you knew Ben as well?”
Angela waved off her question. “Not all that well. Acquaintances only.”
Paradise studied Angela’s defensive posture and decided to go with her gut. “I still suspect someone in the family, maybe
even Percy.”
“The governor told you he is incapable of violence.”
“I’m not sure I believe her. Everyone is capable of anger and acting out of character.”
Angela’s expression of defensiveness made Paradise decide to dig into the governor’s background a bit. Maybe there was more
here than met the eye.
Paradise straightened. “I’d better get going to my meeting. Enjoy watching the animals. Oh, and if you want to drive the Gator
to the parking lot, feel free. The keys are in it, and you can just leave it there.”
“Thanks for the lemur education,” Angela called after her. “I might do that.”
Paradise thought her tone held a bit of relief. What could she be hiding about the governor?
The guys were on the back deck with the boys when she crossed the yard toward the house. Isaac saw her first and came running to jump into her arms. His thin arms clutched her neck and he clung to her like a spider monkey. She carried him to the deck and deposited him on the cedar boards.
Levi climbed into her lap when she sat beside Blake. “Mom’s making lasagna. She let me add the cheese.”
“I’m sure it will be delicious.” She kissed him on the neck until he squealed.
“I wouldn’t complain if you did that to me,” Blake said under his breath.
Her cheeks heated and she shushed him. “Did you guys find anything interesting in the files, or were you waiting on me? I
stopped to chat with Angela.”
“She said she wanted to wander the park a bit and didn’t leave with Governor George,” Blake said. “I think she finds the refuge
calming. But yes, we got a chance to examine the files.”
She let Levi clamber down from her lap and go off to play in the tree house with his brother before dinner. “Anything of interest?”
“It’s a blackmail list like we suspected. There was more darkness to Roger than we knew. But none of the names were familiar.
I assume Adams wanted the list for his own personal use.”
Drew reached for his glass of iced tea. “How were Roger and Adams acquainted? Maybe Abby would know. We could invite her and
Quinn to dinner.”
She smiled at his hopeful voice. “We don’t need Abby to answer that. They were cousins. But I’d love to see her anyway. I’ll
invite them. Jenna always makes enough lasagna to feed an army.” Paradise tapped out a quick invitation. She got back an almost
instant acceptance. “They’ll be here in an hour.”
Drew’s smile held eagerness. “There’s been no more sign of Adams. Rod tried for a subpoena of Warren’s bank account but hasn’t gotten it approved yet, but I’m hopeful.”
“Things are going well over at the Dillard Ranch at night?”
“It’s no surprise to you that I like Abby. We’ve had a lot of good chats in the evenings. She’s been hurt and so have I, so
we’re taking it slow.”
It didn’t seem all that slow to Paradise, but she hid her pleased smile. Nothing would make her happier than having Abby for
a sister-in-law.
Nothing smelled as good as his mom’s lasagna. Blake leaned back in his chair on the deck and groaned. “I should have stopped
at two pieces. That third one did me in.”
Drew eyed the remnants on his plate. “Dude, you should have warned me. I was doing what you did. And those breadsticks . . .
wow.”
“Paradise made those.” Isaac slipped out of his chair with his brother. “Hey, Quinn, want to play Sorry?”
Quinn pushed back her chair. “Sure, I haven’t played that in a long time.”
Blake’s mom got up. “I’ll get the game down for you kids. Frank, would you mind bringing in the lasagna pan? We’ll clean up
and watch a movie.”
Frank’s expression brightened, and he followed with the rest of the lasagna. Blake loved seeing his mom light up around Frank
Ellis. It seemed the feeling was mutual.
Blake watched Quinn go inside too. “Quinn is being kind with the boys. You raised her right, Abby.”
Abby leaned her elbows on the table. “She loves kids. She’s already asking when she can babysit, and I told her I was twelve when I had my first babysitting gig.
You’d have thought I told her she couldn’t have candy for two years.
” Abby glanced around the circle of people.
“Something is up. I can smell it under the scent of lasagna.”
Paradise chuckled. “You always were perceptive. There’s something we want to show you. Blake?” She took out her phone. “I
want to see what I can find out about the governor’s background.” She tapped out a query.
He reached under the table and grabbed the folder leaning against his chair, then slid it to Abby, who was sitting next to
Drew. “It looks like your dad was blackmailing people. It’s a long shot since Ben isn’t mentioned in the file, but I wondered
if you might have seen him or any of his family at the ranch, meeting with your dad.”
“Not that I know of. And we were just at the birthday party with the whole family. It’s odd they didn’t know me.” She stopped
and shook her head. “No, wait. Drew introduced me as McClellan, not Dillard. If they’d ever been there when I was a kid, they
wouldn’t recognize me now anyway.” She scowled at Drew. “You thought I was keeping something from you?”
He took her hand. “Of course not. You’re the same age as Paradise. I wouldn’t expect you to have thought anything about it
when you were nine, but I wondered if we jogged your memory, something might swim to the surface. I have a picture of him
on my phone.” He released her and grabbed his phone, then turned it around to show her the photo of Ben Collins.
Blake stared at it. He hadn’t seen a picture of the man. His daughter, Taylor, had his blond hair and fair skin. In the picture
he stood beside a yellow muscle car with the convertible top down. “That’s the Hemi Barracuda Fletch mentioned. It was missing
from the garage and has never been found.”
The irritation ebbed from Abby’s face, and she leaned forward to stare at the picture.
“He doesn’t look familiar, but the car does.
My dad and I were supposed to go to town to pick up feed, and this yellow car pulled up.
The engine was super loud, and my dad slapped the guy on the back like they were old friends.
They stood and talked so long we never got to the store.
I asked him who he was when he left, and Dad said he was the brother of an old friend. ”
“So Roger knew Bear?” Drew asked.
“He didn’t mention his friend’s name that I recall, but it’s possible.”
“It might be a way to get Bear to talk to us again.” Drew tapped on his phone. “I asked Taylor if her uncle is still in town.”
A message sounded, and he glanced at the screen. “She said he’s in town for another week. I think I’d better have a chat with
him.”
Blake drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “How did a car like that vanish without a trace? If someone took it because it
was valuable, why didn’t they sell it? It’s puzzling.”
“Let’s ask how Ben acquired it,” Paradise said. “Getting its history might be helpful. Didn’t Fletch say it was a 1970? Maybe
it was his dad’s first vehicle.” She sighed and dropped her phone to her lap. “Nothing problematic about the governor. Raised
in a political family, she’s never been involved in any controversy that I can see.”
Blake stared at the picture on Drew’s phone again. “Fletch said Ben collected classic cars. He might have bought it because
he liked it.”
Drew turned the phone around to examine the car more closely.
“I’d like to find out if they searched for the car.
I’d think its VIN number would be listed as stolen so it would pop up if someone tried to register it to drive on the road.
” He tapped on his phone again. “Wow, those things sell for a million bucks and more.”
Drew frowned as he read through the article. “Only fourteen of these E-bodies were made so they’re very rare, which is why
they cost the earth when they get to auction. I wish it was still around. I’d like to see it.”
Drew put his phone away. “Enough about work. I need to rest my brain.” He rose and held out his hand to Abby. “Want to take
a walk by the pond in the moonlight?”
“It’s not dark yet,” she pointed out, smiling as she stood.
“We’ll take our time.” He waggled his brows at Blake as the two of them walked away.
Paradise’s soft chuckle expanded Blake’s grin. “Your brother is on the hunt.”
“I’d love to see him happy, and it would be incredible to have Abby as a sister.” Paradise hopped out of her chair and took
his hand. “Let me gather the plates, and we’ll take a walk ourselves. In the opposite direction.”
Just what Blake had hoped for.