Chapter 14
The video began to play on the laptop in Paradise’s living room, and she nestled against Blake on the sofa to watch it. The
black kitten on her lap she’d named Merlin, and the mostly white one sleeping on her foot was Luna. “The view from the drone
is incredible. I think I’ll use some of this footage for social media. He got some great shots of the white tigers in the
water with the trainers.”
The video showed a white tiger leaping for a balloon as it played with Evan, and Paradise couldn’t stop the shiver that traveled
down her spine. That would never be her “playing” with a big cat. She pointed out Mason in his wheelchair with the controller
in his hands. The boy’s enthralled expression made her smile.
Blake poked a finger at the screen. “Look there. Is that someone with binoculars?”
She squinted at the figure crouched behind a water trough outside a shelter in the African safari enclosure.
“There’s something in his hand, though I can’t quite tell what it is.
Or even if the person is male or female.
” A hoodie covered the man or woman’s head and hung down over jeans.
“I think it might be binoculars. They appear to be focused on the big cat habitats.”
The video blanked out for a few seconds before changing as the drone moved from the white tigers to the pond where the otters
lived. She spotted Mason in his chair again near a park bench along the stone sidewalk. The picture grew closer and sharper
as the camera angle zoomed down to show the otters frolicking on the grass by the water. “Fast-forward,” Paradise said. “See
if you can find that guy who was watching the big cats.”
Blake nodded and the speed of the video picked up. The camera angle changed again to higher above the park and panned back
toward the shelter’s roof in the safari area again. Zebras strolled after a bus that lumbered through the double gates, and
two giraffes hurried toward the leaves waving outside the open windows of the vehicle. Paradise watched tourists feed the
animals before the drone lifted higher in the sky and moved closer to the shed and water trough where they’d seen the figure.
“He’s gone,” Blake said. “But he left the binoculars behind.”
She spotted them on the lip of the trough. “This was recorded the morning of Ivy’s death. We should see if they’re still there.
Maybe they have fingerprints or DNA evidence on them.”
“I doubt they’re still there, but we can check. A curious zebra probably carried them off by now.” Blake ejected the card
from the portable device attached to the laptop. “See if you can find a video closer to the time she died. Maybe late the
night before.”
Paradise flipped through the container of SD cards, each one carefully printed by date and time. “Here’s one. It’s 10:00 p.m.
on February 14, the night before her death.”
He took it from her and put it in the laptop, then hit Play. The video was surprisingly clear. “Looks like Mason used a night-vision
camera.”
The recorded scenes showed Raj walking through the enclosure to the steps leading up to the zip line platform.
The big tiger urinated on the stairs before padding over to plop down beside a tree and pond.
The drone hovered over the big cat for a few seconds before panning over toward the barn where the tiger took shelter in bad weather.
Paradise studied the lock on the inner gate and touched it on the screen. “Look, Blake, is that gate standing ajar? I don’t
think it’s locked.”
He froze the video in place, then zoomed in. “You’re right. It’s standing open about two inches. Either someone forgot to
lock it or left it unlatched on purpose. Is there a video just before this one?”
Paradise checked and handed him one. “This was taken at eight p.m.” Her pulse accelerated and her breath quickened. Were they
about to find out who had murdered Ivy? The elusive answers had to be out there.
The video flickered by quickly as Blake fast-forwarded through scenes of animals sleeping or roaming about. He stopped once
when a figure leaped from the barn, but it was just a tiger wandering over to get a drink at the pond. Paradise glanced at
the time: 9:44 with only another fifteen minutes of footage left.
A figure on a bicycle came into view from the left side of the screen. That same hoodie covered the person’s head. The hands
on the bike’s handlebars appeared male. Strong fingers squeezed the brakes, and then the guy dismounted, lowered the kickstand,
and walked with purposeful steps to the first lock.
He inserted a key and was inside the first enclosure, then went to the next and unlocked it as well.
He left it standing ajar and hurriedly turned back when a female tiger rose and padded toward him to investigate.
As he slipped through the outer gate and locked it, he looked up to the sky, and the drone captured his face.
Paradise often saw that face in her nightmares, and at first her mind refused to believe it. She gasped at the same time as
Blake when Mr. Adams’s features came into sharp focus. The foster dad who’d tried to molest her had been handsome once, but
though the years had slackened his jaw and softened his neck, she’d never forget that face.
Lloyd Adams should not be in town. As far as Blake knew, the family had left under a cloud of shame and scandal over his treatment
of Paradise. “The last I heard, they moved to Birmingham.” Blake had followed them for a while, and it had upset him that
Adams had gotten a good job as if it didn’t matter that he’d nearly ruined Paradise’s life.
Paradise’s amber eyes flashed, and she rose to pace her small living room with the black kitten in her arms. “And for him
to be here, he has to have some plan. Why would he sabotage the gate? It doesn’t seem like it can only be about me. I’m not a predator
keeper but a vet. It would have been a fluke for me to have gone into that pen. So what is going on?”
“Maybe he hired Ivy. Karen Cook said it was someone from your past who was curious what you were up to.” Had Adams wanted
to eliminate the possibility of Ivy telling anyone he’d hired her? But what could make murder a viable option to silence her
about such a small thing? It wasn’t against the law to gather information about someone.
Blake kept his thoughts to himself. The worry line between Paradise’s brows told him she didn’t need more on her plate. Adams being around was a danger Blake didn’t like, but he couldn’t change the situation.
He struggled to control his desire to protect her. She’d made it clear she wanted—and needed—to stand and face the dangers
on her own. Failing her was his biggest fear, but it was his problem, not hers. She didn’t need to deal with that as well
as the real danger Adams presented.
Just how dangerous was the man? If Hez hadn’t just been conked on the head, Blake would’ve talked to him about it.
Paradise held Merlin to her chest, and the black furball began to purr loudly enough for Blake to hear. Paradise settled back
on the sofa beside him. The tight line of her back softened and she sighed. “I wish we could let Jane know about this. Calling
Greene won’t do much good, but we have to give him the evidence. Maybe he’ll arrest Adams.”
“We can tell Jane about him first. I’ll make a copy of this video and email it to her before we tell Greene. He’ll whisk these
SD cards away and we might never see them again. Mason won’t be happy to have them tied up in evidence.”
“We could make copies for him, put them all on a big hard drive maybe. I have one here. Let me find it.” She rose and went
down the hall.
If only Greene was someone they could trust to really pursue this lead to find the truth. He would likely toss the videos
in a box and never look at them again.
Paradise returned with a hard drive. “It’s empty. Let’s download all of the SD cards onto it, and we can give it to Mason
while he’s waiting for his original SD cards to make their way back to him.”
One by one Blake downloaded the box of SD cards onto the drive before uploading them onto his computer and the cloud.
“We’ll watch all of them eventually.” He ejected the last one and dropped it into the box.
“I’d better call Greene.” Her scent enticed him, and he leaned in to brush his lips across hers.
“I needed a little fortification first.”
“It might not be enough. Let’s try one more time.” She caressed his cheek with her hand and leaned in for a more tender kiss.
“I’ll admit that seeing Adams’s face again after all these years scares me. I’m glad we’ve got lots of locks on this place.”
The fact she admitted it made his gut twist. She never liked to show fear. “It disturbs me more than a little. I wish you’d
come home with me tonight. The boys would be overjoyed.”
She hesitated before shaking her head. “I’m not fifteen anymore. And I’m armed now—not just with a gun and a tranq pistol
but with knowledge and confidence. He won’t push me around. And he may not even be in town. He could have come to town, killed
Ivy, then headed out for parts unknown.”
Overconfidence could be fatal. “Or he could still be here. He’s six-two and two hundred pounds, babe. If he comes around,
don’t let him come close.”
Her gaze went far away. “I wonder if his wife is still with him.”
“I heard she left him after his behavior came out.”
They didn’t have kids. To the community, they presented the image of a model couple who cared about hurting kids. Until the
man showed his true character—a monster hiding behind a pious mask.
She touched his chin. “Your face is getting red. You can’t fix everything evil in the world, Blake. All that weight doesn’t
rest on your shoulders.”
He forced a smile. “I have to remind myself of that a lot. I know I’m not God, but I hate injustice. I want to fix things,
but I’m more apt to make them worse the way I did with your situation.”
“It was the system. In a perfect world I wouldn’t have had to take the punishment for his aberrations.
I should have had the weight of law on my side, but CPS wanted to hide it all under the rug.
They didn’t want me to talk about it, and when I refused to shut up, they wanted me out of town. It wasn’t your fault.”
He smiled. “That’s a big change—you blamed me when you came back to town.”
She cupped his face in her palm. “I’m sorry about that now. I was hurt and angry, still looking for someone to blame. You
helped me see we can’t change other people or prevent bad things from happening, but we can choose how we react and shoulder
the blame that’s pointing our way. It’s easier to play the victim, and that’s what I did for years. I held my anger and pain
like a shield when it was really a prison. I’m glad God set me free from that.”
She released his face, then reached for his phone and handed it to him. “It’s already eight. If you delay calling Greene any
longer, we’ll be too tired to work tomorrow by the time he’s done with us.”
Blake grimaced and took the phone from her. “I know his number by heart, and that’s a sad commentary on how life has been
lately. I want to send the video to Jane first in case Greene comes in here throwing his weight around.” He opened an email
and attached the link to the online video before sending it to Jane. “I’ll call Greene. Wish me luck.”
“He can only yell. His words or actions won’t break us or change anything.” Her gaze softened. “Why does he hate you so much?”
“I think maybe he’s jealous.” He wrapped one of her curls around his finger. “If you looked at him the way you look at me,
I’d be jealous.”
“He’s married and shouldn’t be hitting on other women. I wonder if his wife knows.”
The way her expression hardened alarmed him. “Don’t make any calls to her. The last thing we need is for him to become deranged
and come gunning for you. I can handle him.”
He dialed Greene’s number. “Pray for me.”
“Always,” she said softly.