Chapter 38
Paradise backed away from the woman illuminated by the sunlight through the open door. “Angela? I—I can explain. I found the
car when we came to return the iPad, and I wanted another look at it.” Angela moved her hand, and the gun Paradise hadn’t
noticed glinted in the sun. “W-what’s going on?”
Angela left the door open and advanced into the room. “I knew from the start you’d be the problem. You were an inquisitive
child too. We should have taken care of you right from the start, but we were too softhearted.” She smiled when Paradise gulped.
“You thought it was Amelia, didn’t you?” Her tone held self-satisfaction. “If you and your squad thought that, everyone else
will too. With you gone we’ll be able to put this behind us. We’ve laid a careful trail right to the governor’s door.”
“Why implicate her?”
Angela brushed her white hair out of her eyes. “She was another of Ben’s conquests. She needs to be punished just like your
mother. Like Pamela.”
“You wanted Ben?”
“He wanted me, but floozies always focused on him. He had no backbone. We were engaged once, but I asked no one to mention it once it was over, and even his family honored my request. He was mine first.”
This was obsession on full display. Paradise gestured to the gun. “I wouldn’t have known you were the murderer if you didn’t
have that.”
“You saw me that day. You would have remembered.”
“But I didn’t see you at the house. A man killed my mother, though I didn’t see his face.”
“You would have told the police, and they would have figured it out. But you’re going to suffer a tragic accident.” She gestured
with the gun toward the phone in Paradise’s hand. “Give me your phone.”
Paradise handed it over. It was still on, and she watched Angela launch the Notes app. “What are you doing?”
“Adding to your notes. I knew you’d have notes about your investigation. I’m going to add a clue that you’re going to investigate
a caged black panther. They won’t know where to look until it’s too late.” Angela dropped the phone onto the floor and kicked
it under the car. “That will take them a while to find.” She stepped out of the path and gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”
Paradise saw no weapons handy, not even a piece of wood or a metal tool. She exited the garage and was about to dart for her
car when another figure blocked her way.
Bear.
Paradise took a step back. “You killed your own brother?”
“Shut up,” Angela snapped. “Took you long enough, Bear.”
“How’d you know I was here?” Paradise asked.
He gave her a cold smile. “Cameras, of course. You don’t think we’d leave a car this valuable out here with no security, do
you?”
He grabbed her upper arm in a tight grip and pushed her toward a panel van parked behind her car. He opened the back. “Get in.”
If she complied, she was as good as dead. She jerked her arm out of his grip and took two steps before a dart zinged into
her thigh. She gasped and turned to see that Angela had grabbed a tranquilizer gun from the front passenger seat. Paradise
tried to move, but her actions felt slow and awkward. Tranqs took a while to work. What had they given her?
“It’s not a tranquilizer. It’s a little stronger than that.” Bear’s smile held triumph. He grabbed her and shoved her into
the back of the van.
Stay awake. Her mental order didn’t stop her vision from blurring and her lids from drooping. When she opened her eyes again, she was
face down on the dirty carpet of the old van smelling of big cat. “Blake?” she murmured. She was still groggy, but when she
turned her head and saw her surroundings, she snapped awake.
She was in the back of the van. The outlines of two figures in the front seats moved across her blurry vision.
“We have to wait until the drug is out of her system,” Angela said from the passenger seat.
They didn’t know she was awake yet. Paradise closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow while she thought about how
to escape. They planned to hold her somewhere. The stench of big cat made her heart race as she tried to figure out why they
would have a van with that kind of odor. Wait, they’d never discovered the owner of the leopard stalking her. Bear had said
he loved big cats. Was this his vehicle?
The van bottomed out in a pothole and made a sharp turn that rolled her against the van’s side wall.
A cold metal item was at her hand, and she quickly tucked it into the pocket of her denim shorts without identifying it.
Whatever it was might come in handy. The vehicle lurched down an unpaved track with looming trees that cast deep shadows outside.
Paradise kept her eyes slitted enough to glance around for another weapon.
There was a collar that might fit a golden retriever.
Or a big cat.
She took it and stuffed it in her other pocket, then pulled her long tee over her shorts just in time for the van to stop.
She slammed her eyes shut again until she heard both doors open and close. Her plan was to jump to her feet and lock the doors
so they couldn’t get in, but her muscles didn’t want to obey her, and by the time she had crawled two feet, Bear had the back
open and was pulling her out by the ankles.
“Nice try,” he said, lifting her out and setting her upright.
She swayed where she stood and her head spun. Angela prodded her with the gun, and Paradise staggered forward a few feet before
falling to her hands and knees again. When Bear yanked her up again, she recognized the woods in the picture on the wall in
the garage. How far had they gone? No one would know where to look for her, not with her phone left behind in the garage.
She heard the big cat hiss before she spotted the enclosure, and her gut clenched. Her guess had been correct. Bear or someone
he’d hired had sent the leopard to The Sanctuary to warn her off, and he had another big cat here. She tried to run, but her
legs still barely held her. Bear grabbed her in a fierce grip and marched her toward the gate Angela had opened. He shoved
her inside and locked her in.
The biggest black jaguar she’d ever seen stalked the inner enclosure and bared his teeth at her. He couldn’t get to her. Not
yet.
Paradise’s car was still parked outside, but she wasn’t in the garage or anywhere on the property that Blake could see. He’d even checked the trunk of the Barracuda. Someone had taken her. It was the only answer, and he had no idea where to look.
He pulled out his phone. “Her phone pings here somewhere. I’m going to try calling her.”
Drew nodded and went to the framed photograph on the wall. “Jane said she lingered over the picture of this print. Do you
know where this is?”
“The vegetation is similar to this area, but it could be anywhere.”
Blake’s call went through, and music sounded from somewhere in the building. Blake tracked the sound to under the car. He
dropped to his belly and reached under the ’Cuda to retrieve Paradise’s phone.
The light was on, and he swiped it to answer his own call, then ended it. It immediately went to locked screen. What might
her password be? He tried her birth date, but that didn’t work. His password was the last six digits of his social security,
but he didn’t know hers. Mom would have it. He shot a quick text to his mother asking her to check Paradise’s employment records.
While he waited for his mother to answer, he went to check the photograph on the wall. “It looks familiar, but I can’t quite
place it. I’m sending it to Mom.”
Drew glanced up from his phone. “I’m having my former partner see if Bear owns any property nearby. It’s somewhere to start.”
“I’m glad you’re here because I don’t know where to look. I’m texting Jane and Rod.” Blake shot off texts to them asking for
help identifying the spot in the picture. His phone pinged with a message from his mother.
I looked up property near here on the county website. Warren has a plot of land close to here. I’m sending you the address.
Blake showed the text to Drew. “Jane said the collars were sold to the park. I think Bear might have been working with Warren.”
His phone sounded again. “Here’s the address. We can head back toward the park since we know it’s in the general neighborhood.
Come on.” He rushed for the door with Drew on his heels and climbed into the truck. He handed Drew Paradise’s phone. “Mom
is sending me Paradise’s social security number. See if you can get her phone unlocked.”
Drew took it and Blake stomped on the gas to get out to the main road. The truck tires slammed into potholes all the way out,
but it was smooth sailing once they reached pavement.
His phone sounded with another text from his mom, and he had Blake try the last six digits, but it didn’t work. “Try the first
six.”
“That’s it, and I’m in! I’ll check her emails and texts first.” Drew fell silent before shaking his head. “Nothing pertaining
to the investigation. I’ll check her Notes app.” After a minute he growled, a sound of frustration. “She says she saw a black
leopard and is going to follow it. I don’t like the sound of this, Blake.”
“That makes no sense. Her car is still at the garage, and she wouldn’t follow a black leopard on foot. She’s terrified of
them. She has no weapon or any way to capture it. Someone else put that in her phone. She’s in trouble, Drew.”
Think, think! It was hard to grab hold of his thoughts with fear clouding his mind.
“My text still isn’t going through to Jane,” Drew said. “I tried calling too, but it’s dead air. Jane must be having trouble
with her service.”
“I’ll call Mason.” Blake placed a quick call to The Sanctuary’s young volunteer. “Mason, can you put your drone up over the Dillard Ranch and any other land around the park? We’re looking for Paradise.”
“Sure, Blake. If it’s too far, my dad can get me closer. Is she in trouble?”
“I think so, buddy. We need to find her as soon as possible. And keep an eye out for a black panther.”
“Okay. I’m on it.” The teenager ended the call.
Drew was tense and jumpy. Blake wanted to comfort him, but he didn’t have the words when fear choked his own throat too. This
was bad, very bad. Mason might be looking in the wrong place, but they had no better directions to send him.