Chapter 39
Paradise kept one eye on the jaguar and the other eye on her two captors. Her head still felt fuzzy with scattered thoughts
from the drug they’d given her, but the cobwebs blew away the longer she was awake. The big cat sprayed urine her way, and
the stench cleared her fog even more. She spotted more animals in another enclosure deeper in the trees. A couple of foxes
and a wolverine.
Angela and Bear’s plans for her were clear. They intended to let the jaguar in with her. Every time she thought of that gate
opening, her breath came hard and fast. Her fear could be her undoing, and she had to master it. The animal would be able
to tell and she wouldn’t be able to assert dominance.
She moved closer to where they stood talking quietly. “The authorities will know you did this. You own the property, Bear.
What will you gain by killing me?”
The gun was in Bear’s possession now, stuffed in his belt. He stared back at Paradise impassively. “Neither of us own this
property. You will have simply vanished.”
“You paid Warren? Is this his property?”
“I told you she was too smart for her own good,” Angela said.
“How did you even know him?”
Angela shrugged. “He mowed lawns for your parents when he was a teenager, and I paid him to keep an eye on Becky for years.
He was useful when it was time to end it.”
Paradise managed to swallow down the ball of terror forming. “Why kill my parents? They did nothing to you or Bear. They were
innocent.”
Angela’s fists clenched and her face reddened. “Nothing? Your mother was just a whore. She was married yet she still got in
Ben’s head and confused him. Ben and I were finally going to be together like it should have been all along until she came back into his life.”
Paradise saw it all in the woman’s twisted mouth and angry eyes. That final rejection had snapped her sanity. “This was all
you, wasn’t it, Angela? He rejected you and if you couldn’t have him, then no one could, right? You drugged him, then bludgeoned
him with the golf club.” She stared at Bear. “She couldn’t kill both my parents alone. How did she talk you into doing her
dirty work? And how did you even know Warren, Bear?”
He shrugged. “I thought a cable guy would seem innocent enough. I saw Warren a few streets over one day and offered him five
grand if he’d do a couple of things for me. He thought the music box was a surprise birthday present for you, and I convinced
him to leave the door unlocked for a surprise party. After the murders he was too scared to go to the police. I kept feeding
him money through the years to keep him quiet.”
She hated his arrogant expression. “There was missing evidence on the murders, but with your power, you could get it removed.
Did you threaten Sheriff Davis and he felt he had no choice but to hide it? Was he your mole inside the department? And how
did you know the music box was something I would want?”
He shrugged. “Ben had bought it for you before he died. He would know what you liked.”
“Enough!” Angela took a step closer. “The drugs are out of her system, Bear. It’s time to shut her up for good. Shoot her
and let the panther have the remains.”
His jaw flexed. “The murders were a long time ago, Ang. Why commit another one now and make it worse?”
“We’ll be long gone before her remains are ever found. No one will know what happened to her. The investigation will die with
her. She’s the one driving it all.”
Paradise gripped the fence with both hands. “You’re wrong. Ben was Drew’s father. He’ll keep pushing for the truth. Taking
him down will be a lot harder than killing me. He has the entire police force to help him.”
Bear moved restlessly. “She might be right. I can’t just shoot her. Let’s hop on our plane and leave her here and get out
of the country.”
“And then what? She’ll die without food or water anyway.”
“If she’s ever found, the police will think she got trapped in here and the panther got to her. You left the note about her
following a lead on a black panther. She came in here to check out the cat and got trapped. I thought letting the cat kill
her was the plan.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Shoot her and get it over with.”
“I thought it was all behind us. The guilt has eaten at me.” Bear’s tone turned coaxing. “We’ll be on the beach sipping pina
coladas. We can spend the rest of our lives forgetting about what happened. I still can’t believe after it was all over, we
found each other.”
Paradise had to know everything. How had Angela convinced Bear to help her?
And how had Pamela died? She thought through the sequence of events.
“You found out my mother was pregnant, didn’t you?
You finally realized Ben was never going to be with you, so you drugged him and killed him.
Did Pamela figure out you killed him? Or did she think it was Bear? ”
Bear and Angela exchanged a dismayed glance, and she knew she was right. “She accused Bear and he spilled the truth, didn’t
he?”
“I didn’t touch her,” Bear said.
“But Angela did. She went back to the house and took care of her since you couldn’t do it, right? You’re not a killer, Bear.
Don’t let her do this.”
“Shut up!” Angela’s face reddened. “Shoot her, Bear.”
But he didn’t raise the gun in his hand. “Let’s go, Angela. A bullet will be proof we killed her. Let’s be smart about it.”
“Why did you help Angela kill my parents? What was in it for you?” Paradise had to ask the questions aloud to think through
them on her own, and then it all clicked into place. “At least part of it was quid pro quo, wasn’t it? You wanted his Senate
seat. Ben had to die for his infidelity, and if she killed him, you’d kill my mother. Only Dad came home unexpectedly, and
you had to kill them both.”
Angela’s agitation grew with every question. “Ben led me on, for years and years. He was always going to leave Pamela, and
then when he finally told her he was leaving, it was for Becky. And she was having the baby that should have been mine.”
Paradise took a step back. Obsession was an ugly thing, so hideous that it had led to the murders of four people.
Bear took a step closer to Paradise. “If you’d just let it go, we wouldn’t be here. We tried to warn you off, but you just
kept digging and digging.”
“I wanted justice,” Paradise said.
“Instead you get to be dead,” Angela said in a monotone voice.
Bear took Angela’s chin and turned her face toward him. “Let’s just leave her here. It was twenty years ago, Ang. Let’s not
taint our future with a fresh murder. The others were bad enough. I don’t want to do this.”
Angela stared at him, then finally nodded. “All right, all right, Bear. Whatever you say. We’ll drive straight to Pensacola
and fly out. We can buy all new things when we get there.”
Hand in hand they walked toward the van. Paradise eyed the fence and kicked off her shoes to try to climb it, then she caught
Angela’s expression as she gazed back. She was smiling and her expression was triumphant.
This wasn’t over.
The lush green turf of the property spread as far as Blake could see. Though the map had shown the land was farmed, he’d held
out hope there would be some barn or other structure where he’d find Paradise imprisoned, but there was only a small, empty
garage. He slammed the steering wheel with his palms but managed not to scream out his frustration.
Drew pointed out the truck window to his left. “The land ends at that fence and the one on the other side. The line of scrubby
brush is the back property line. Nothing here.”
The dejection in his voice matched how Blake felt. Jane and Rod were looking too, but they were stymied. What if he talked
to the governor himself?
“I’m calling the governor.” Blake turned off the radio, then yanked out his phone and called up her number. When the receptionist answered, he gave his name and said he was worried about his fiancée. “If you tell the governor my name, I think she’ll speak to me.”
“Hold, please.”
After what seemed an eternity with music playing in his ear, Governor George was on the line. “Blake, what’s going on?”
He plunged into the story about the car and Paradise’s disappearance. As he spooled it out, he realized how crazy it sounded
that he’d called the governor. They’d trespassed on her land. And what if she was behind Paradise’s disappearance? But no,
she was in Montgomery at her office. That was the number he’d called.
“Whoa, whoa, back up. You’re saying this land and garage with the car is in my name? I don’t have any land in Baldwin County. This is very puzzling. And Ben’s stolen car is there?”
“Yes, ma’am. Drew checked the VIN number, and it’s the missing car.” He flipped his phone speaker on. “I have you on speakerphone,
Governor. Drew is here too.”
“That’s fine. Maybe the three of us can get to the bottom of what’s happened. Of course you thought I had something to do
with Ben’s murder. That would make sense. I’m surprised you called me if you thought I was complicit.”
“I ran through what I know about you and thought maybe you were given the car quietly and the Collins family didn’t want anyone
to know. I believe you’re a woman of integrity, Governor.”
“Thank you for that vote of confidence, but this is all news to me. You’re sure it’s the same car that my father gave to Ben?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The governor cleared her throat. “I’ve been concerned about, um, about Angela’s behavior lately.
She’s been short with me and the staff and was missing a lot of work.
She tendered her resignation last week, and I’ve tried to call her several times, but she hasn’t answered.
The car is all mixed up in it too. Her father bought it for her originally.
She gave it to my dad and was upset when he gave it away.
She said if he was going to give it away, he should have given it to her.
Dad tried to find another one like it to make things right with Angela, but they’re very rare. ”
“That’s what we found out when we were researching it. Is it possible she took it because she felt it belonged to her?” Blake
glanced across the truck at Drew, who was busy on his phone with something, and Blake hoped it had to do with Paradise’s whereabouts.
“It’s possible.”
Drew muttered something, then held up his phone. “Governor, this is Drew. I did a search on our database about when the property
transferred to your name. It was six months ago. It was originally in Angela’s name. She’s owned it for twenty years.”
“Since the murders,” Blake said. “We suspected Bear, but Angela might be the one behind everything.”
“It’s hard to think she could be a murderer. She’s been my friend and confidant for many years. She dated Ben for a while.
Maybe you didn’t know that. Angela dated him for a year and they were engaged, though he never gave her a ring. She was crazy
about him and thought she could change his philandering ways. He broke up with her when he met Pamela.”
Blake pointed to Drew’s phone. “Drew, can you check and see if Angela owns any other property around? Maybe she’s taken Paradise.”
“Sis is fierce. A woman would have trouble forcing her to go with her.”
“She could have knocked her out. And if Angela committed the murders, she’s no slouch.”
“Angela is stronger than she looks. She’s been a gym rat the entire time I’ve known her,” the governor said. “And maybe she’s not working alone. She’s been seeing Bear Collins for about two years. They’ve been talking about marriage.”
“We suspected Bear after talking to him. He held a lot of animosity toward his brother. But there isn’t enough evidence to
put out an APB on either of them. It’s all speculation. One other thing—have either of them mentioned having a black panther
in captivity? Or any kind of leopard, really?”
“What an odd question. Bear loves big cats, but he’s not around enough to keep one.” Taps on a keyboard sounded in the background.
“I might have something. I’ll call you back.”
Where could they look? Who might Bear have connected with around here?